Chapter 924: Guilty Lin Sanjiu
Like catching a breath in the midst of a storm, after a while, Lin Sanjiu felt the numbness on her face gradually returning to sensation. As her consciousness regathered, she realized that a heavy metal mask was pressed against her face. It was devoid of warmth, yet still retained the residual body heat of another person, like the remnants of sunlight that had settled from day into night.
This is truly a sorry sight.
She freed herself from Silvan's arm, propping herself up on her knees, and let out a bitter smile in her heart. Her legs were still trembling violently, almost on the verge of collapsing. But he didn't reach out to help her again, just waiting silently for her to regain her strength.
Fortunately, Lin Sanjiu was physically weak at the moment, so even if she intentionally kept her head down, avoiding looking at Silvan's face, it didn't seem too unnatural. In her narrow field of vision within the mask, Silvan's pair of black combat boots stood not far from her.
She really wished she could read his emotions from his shoes.
"...What was it?"
As her breathing gradually steadied, Silvan's voice suddenly sounded low and gentle. He always treated women with tenderness, and even this question seemed soothing — although it sent Lin Sanjiu's heart sinking heavily.
The air became unbearably quiet for a moment.
She couldn't play dumb with this question... Lin Sanjiu was well aware of what he was asking, and Silvan knew that she knew.
After a few seconds of silence, she sighed, "It was Bohemia."
The blond man remained silent, but she could keenly feel the weight of his gaze on her. He was waiting for her to continue explaining.
"In every room, there is a voice-activated broadcasting system that can communicate with Silas."
It could have been anyone who saved her, but it had to be Silvan. Lin Sanjiu felt as if several ropes were tightly twisted together, pressing heavily on her chest—making it even more difficult to voice what came next.
"The volume of the broadcasting system in your room... was set very low, though not so low as to be inaudible." She sighed, still not looking up at him. "But because there are often broadcasts playing in Exodus, I thought that after you heard it a few times, you would become accustomed to the white noise and not be alert to it anymore."
Silvan let out a deep "hmm" from his throat. With his quick thinking, he probably already understood her small trick. However, Lin Sanjiu continued speaking, as if it could alleviate some of her guilt. "After you went to rest, I let Bohemia into the control room. The sound she emitted from the broadcast channel there could be selectively transmitted to different areas of the spaceship... such as your room. She chose a medieval poem, and then her ability took effect. Don't blame her, it was my idea for her to do this."
No posthuman, especially not someone like Silvan, would simply fall into a near-comatose sleep for nearly two days just from exhaustion, despite the injuries he had. Regardless of whether it was Lin Sanjiu's intention or not, she had indeed taken advantage of Silvan's injuries. It was because of this that Bohemia's ability, the Bard, was able to hit him so effectively and sustain the effect for such a long time.
After answering the first question of "how did you do it," the next question was "why did you do it." Lin Sanjiu tightly closed her eyes, uncertain of how to answer. Silvan had been of great help to her, and she didn't want to lie to him. But she also couldn't—or rather, didn't dare—tell him her speculations.
However, when Silvan spoke again, what she heard was not "why."
"...White noise is a good idea," he said slowly, and there was something in his voice that made her look up. "But it's unnecessary."
Distant beams of flashlight-like light diffused through the air, casting a faint glow around Silvan. His fine blond hair floated in the mist, almost transparent.
"I have never been guarded around you," he continued, his voice soothing as if comforting her. "And I won't be in the future."
Those few words took Lin Sanjiu by surprise, leaving her momentarily blank in her mind.
"Why?" she asked unconsciously when she regained her senses.
Silvan took a deep breath, his breathing seeming slightly labored. Suppressing a gasp, he asked, "You don't know what my evolved ability is, do you?"
Lin Sanjiu shook her head, realizing that he couldn't stand unprotected in the center of the force field—even Silvan couldn't.
"You'll find out in the future," he said as he raised his hand and instinctively adjusted the mask on her face. Then he took something small off his ear and switched to another language when he spoke again—although he spoke quickly, Lin Sanjiu only caught half of it: "...for every minute I share with you, I will be punished hard in the future. Nothing you do to me could be worse than my own fate. I was kissed by a curse, you see."
She heard it but didn't fully understand. Before Lin Sanjiu could ask further, Silvan turned away and put the small object back on his ear. It was clear that he wouldn't continue speaking. Lin Sanjiu silently repeated those words in her mind, hoping her subconscious could remember them. Then she asked, "Aren't you curious why I made you fall asleep?"
"You believe that it's best not to tell me something, and perhaps it's best that I don't know," Silvan quickly replied, as if it was an instinctive response. He withdrew his gaze from the distant towering gate and glanced at Lin Sanjiu. "If it's something that would make us confront each other in battle, I'd rather not know."
It was as if a burden had been lifted, only to be replaced by a mountain of pressure. Lin Sanjiu pondered for a moment and couldn't help but smile. "I understand. So, are we still going to the Munitions Factory?"
"Of course," Silvan turned around, and a straight line of light illuminated his nose from the distant mist. His facial features were blurred in the dimness, but he seemed even more awe-inspiring, like a deity deep in the forest. "This time, I'll lead the way."
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