Chapter 999: Tit for Tat
"Let her go!"
2
Just as Lin Sanjiu rushed forward to rescue Bohemia, her eyes met with the exhausted, drooping eyes of the middle-aged man.
Like a bolt of lightning striking through her mind, she suddenly froze in place.
Wait a minute...
As she stared intently at the struggling middle-aged man in mid-air, the Night Wanderers were shifting from offense to defense, busy adding layers of protection. Amidst the reverberating sound of the distant airflow, she heard Puppeteer slowly standing up from the wooden box. Accompanied by the creaking of tightly wrapped black leather, his abnormally intense fragrance approached.
Lin Sanjiu turned her head and locked eyes with the pair of eyes immersed in deep gray. She stuttered, "W-Wait! If Bohemia were wearing a mask..."
"No need to rush, take your time," Puppeteer encouraged almost kindly. "I want to hear the Century's Waste Heart's great discovery."
Lin Sanjiu didn't have the energy to argue with him now. She reached out her hand and forcefully pulled off the face skin — the mask immediately fell off, revealing a distorted unfamiliar male face underneath.
The power of human cognitive bias was truly tremendous, sometimes blinding people to the truth.
Under the impression of "Bohemia," there were two voices lingering in her consciousness: one was Bohemia's original soft voice, and the other was the deep male voice disguised by the mask. The [Mask] not only altered appearance but also changed the voice. Otherwise, a middle-aged man wouldn't be able to speak with the voice of a young woman, making it impossible to conceal his true identity.
During the recent chaotic battle, where there was no time to catch her breath, she clearly heard Bohemia's original voice but didn't have time to think deeply about it. Since Bohemia's voice was heard outside the mask, didn't that mean the person beneath the mask wasn't her?
"Hold on, where is Bohemia?" Lin Sanjiu urgently turned around. "I heard her just now... Who is this person?"
"Why would I know who this fly attracted by a toilet bowl is?" Puppeteer glanced at the man. "...Whoever he is, it's perfect timing. I need a puppet."
"No, wait. Since he knows how to disguise himself as Bohemia, it means he knows a lot about me—"
"Oh, that's truly unfortunate for him."
"I need to interrogate him!"
"And I still need you to die. Who in the world has their wishes granted?"
Even Lin Sanjiu was finding it difficult to handle Puppeteer's remarks. It was clear that he was only suppressing his anger due to the current situation. Every word he uttered seemed poisonous, capable of poking holes in her.
Don't argue with him, Lin Sanjiu reminded herself in her mind.
"What about Bohemia?" she asked with little hope. "Do you know where she is? They might start attacking anytime—"
Puppeteer gave a cold hum. His voice was sinister and soft, carrying an uncommon bone-chilling coldness that could crawl down one's spine, causing goosebumps to rise.
"Do you think I'm still alive because, like you, I rely solely on blind luck?" He looked up at the posthumans at the other end of the corridor, a half-smile forming at the corner of his mouth, devoid of any amusement. "These people know very well that their best course of action now is to stop attacking and reinforce their turtle shells as much as possible until I finish playing my cards..."
This was the second time he intentionally avoided mentioning Bohemia.
Holding back her impatience, Lin Sanjiu asked, "Why?"
"Because now I can store all their attacks—"
Before Puppeteer could finish his sentence, it was abruptly cut off. Lin Sanjiu's eyes widened in surprise as she scanned the area, only to let out a low gasp, "He... he's gone?"
The unfamiliar man, who was hanging in mid-air, struggling and kicking just moments ago, suddenly disappeared without a trace, as if he had never existed.
This scene was all too familiar to her!
"Really?" Puppeteer snapped his head around. After missing the chance to obtain a puppet, his gloomy anger could almost devour her whole. "You have such keen observation skills. If it weren't for you telling me, I wouldn't have noticed that he disappeared!"
"Wait, don't panic. I've seen this disappearing method before," Lin Sanjiu, pale-faced, continuously scanned the posthumans across from them, trying to find someone who seemed familiar. "I think I know who he is."
The man from earlier must be one of the twelve personalities!
But how could one of Luther's personalities be so familiar with her and Bohemia? After all, she hadn't encountered any of the twelve since their disappearance... Wait a minute...
With that thought, Lin Sanjiu bit her lip.
During the past two days on the ship, she must have encountered Luther's other personalities. She might have even had a lot of interactions with them, otherwise, they wouldn't be so familiar with her actions. The question was, among those she had interacted with, who was one of the 12 personalities?
The young man from earlier was a new personality she had never seen before. He disguised himself as Bohemia and approached Puppeteer with her. What was his purpose?
"The fly you attracted, deal with it yourself. I have no interest in who he is," Puppeteer's tone grew even darker. The corners of his eyes sparkled with a storm-like color, occasionally flashing under the light like lightning breaking through thick clouds. His gaze swept back and forth in front of the group of about twenty people, assessing the invisible protective layers. When he slowly smiled, it was like a snake revealing its venomous fangs.
"The turtle shell reinforcement is complete. Get that woman named Bohemia out, the two of you should start being useful," he said in a low voice. Only when one got closer could they faintly detect the almost imperceptible breathlessness caused by his severe injuries. Having spent two days in Exodus' medical pod, Puppeteer not only regained the strength to stand but also hadn't forgotten how to threaten people. "I'll settle the score with you once they're all dead."
"Bohemia?" Lin Sanjiu was taken aback. "Get her out from where?"
Without turning his head, Puppeteer simply raised his pale, frail hand and lightly snapped his fingers. Almost in the next instant, a relieved sigh came from the wooden box where he had been sitting—like a sigh of relief after a long time of holding one's breath.
"I'm here," Bohemia's voice sounded intermittently through the wooden box, tinged with a teary tone. "I called you earlier, didn't you hear me? Hurry and let me out!"
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