Lin Sanjiu removed her mask and locked eyes with the woman in front of her. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, with only the occasional rustling sound of the wind in the distance breaking the stillness of the surroundings. Just as she was about to speak, Bohemia suddenly turned around and walked away. She took big and hurried steps, never looking back, as if afraid that she would be too late.
"Why are you running? Am I going to eat you?"
Lin Sanjiu quickly caught up, and in the blink of an eye, they passed by the signboard of the orange grove. Bohemia paid no attention, her jewelry jingling as she moved, and it felt as if there was a gust of wind beneath her feet. Lin Sanjiu hastened her pace, but before she could reach out to grab Bohemia's wrist, the latter suddenly stopped, twisted her body, and narrowly avoided colliding with each other.
"Why am I running?!" Bohemia's expression was complicated, as if she was both wary and summoning courage. "I didn't even have ti to settle the score with you. It should be you who should be running!"
Of course, Lin Sanjiu had no intention of running. She raised her hands like an old man and slowly scrutinized Bohemia, the joy of their reunion gradually fading away.
She sighed, disappointnt evident on her face. "I can see that you haven't found Magus, right? How long have you been searching?"
"What do you an, 'haven't found her'?" When faced with Lin Sanjiu, Bohemia seed particularly prone to getting angry. "Don't give that disappointed face! I've been searching for months. Let tell you, my 'attachnt condition' is still in a contaminated state. I haven't dared to enter the realm of consciousness for six months. It's all your fault!"
If she hadn't found her in such a long ti, could sothing have happened to Magus? And what about Qing Jiuliu?
"Yes, yes," Lin Sanjiu suddenly beca worried about the two of them, absentmindedly nodding her head. "I shouldn't have had such high expectations of you. Sigh, after all, you are Magus, and you... you are you."
Even though Lin Sanjiu had no intention of provoking her again, she couldn't help but rush forward like lightning and interrupt Bohemia's activation of the [Bard].
"Why are you always thinking about attacking ?" Lin Sanjiu reached behind her and clasped Bohemia's arm, while her other hand covered Bohemia's mouth. As a Growth-type, she rarely encountered an evolutionary with physical strength comparable to hers. Seeing that Bohemia was indeed restrained, she whispered, "We are currently in a Pocket Dinsion. If you want to fight, wait until we get out!"
Bohemia remained silent for a few seconds. Just as Lin Sanjiu was about to release her grip, she felt her palm becoming gradually damp.
"How could your strength be even greater than mine?... You... you stole my Growth Potential Value." As Bohemia quickly pulled her hand back, her voice trembled with a hint of crying, "You contaminated my 'attachnt condition' and even kidnapped my special item... I'm done for. Pocket Dinsion or not, I'll fight you today..."
Is that wetness tears? Not snot, right?
Lin Sanjiu discreetly wiped it on her pants, unsure of what to say to comfort Bohemia. She felt a bit embarrassed herself as she whispered, "Your special item will be fine in a little while. Stop crying."
"What about the rest?"
"I promise I'll find a way to help you, isn't that enough?"
"What can you do?" Amidst her teary eyes and red nose, Bohemia couldn't help but sneer.
"It's quite a coincidence, actually. I just rembered you a few days ago." Although Lin Sanjiu thought of her because she could help her enter the realm of consciousness, Bohemia didn't need to know that. Lin Sanjiu walked to her side and said softly and gently, "How about this? I'll accompany you to the realm of consciousness again, but this ti I'll bring my friend along—his na is Silvan, and he has strong abilities. He might be able to help you."
"You're becoming more wicked," Mrs. Manas sighed. "You're the one who needs to go back."
Sotis she didn't know whose side this person was on—if she told the truth, unless she managed to convince Bohemia, there was little hope of her helping.
"It's a win-win situation," Lin Sanjiu muttered silently. The woman beside her, however, was incredibly sensitive and imdiately raised her head. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. What do you think?"
Those lively brown eyes looked at her skeptically for a mont.
"...Who is your friend?"
Puppeteer probably wouldn't be able to help with this, and the Grand Prize was far away, with no information on Hei Zeji's whereabouts... Lin Sanjiu felt that she needed to know more people. "Have you heard of Silvan?"
"I have, isn't he so pretty boy from the Munitions Factory?" Bohemia scoffed.
She really wanted to see the expression on her face when she t Silvan in person.
"He's very capable," perhaps because the other person was shorter than herself, Lin Sanjiu felt like she was coaxing a child. "If you don't believe , go out and ask around. I'll go with him and accompany you to the realm of consciousness. I promise you'll be able to restore your attachnt condition safely. How about it?"
Bohemia turned her head sullenly and wiped her face. The anger from earlier dissipated instantly, leaving her looking dejected and tired. "If you deceive again this ti, I'll definitely find a way to kill you," she said nasally.
"I won't deceive you," Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at her words—she finally managed to pacify her and avoid a real fight.
Although she had suppressed Bohemia earlier, even in their brief exchange, Lin Sanjiu faintly felt that Bohemia was actually a very powerful posthuman. This could be seen from the level of her consciousness ability. Fortunately, it seed that her evolution focused less on physical prowess, which gave Lin Sanjiu a slight advantage.
As they spoke, they had already passed the entrance where the path and the forest rged. The path beneath their feet gradually blurred, and the shade of the trees beca darker and more profound. As they walked deeper, Lin Sanjiu surveyed her surroundings and asked softly, "Can you tell what this pocket dinsion is all about now?"
"I have no idea what it's about, and I don't know what you're here for either," Bohemia snorted, seemingly regaining so pride. "You outsiders really don't understand anything. Don't bother yourself. The Orange Orchard pocket dinsion is not dangerous at all, and there are no restrictions on entering or leaving. Just pick an orange and you'll be fine."
Pick an orange?
"You just said you don't want oranges from common fish... What do you an? Where are these oranges from?"
"You really don't know?" Bohemia looked at her with a hint of surprise, then turned her head away. "Of course, there are many oranges in the Orange Orchard. Well... how can I explain it to you? These oranges are all from posthumans. The contents are put in by posthumans..."
Unable to co up with a better explanation, she suddenly beca impatient and quickened her pace. "It's hard to explain. Co here, and I'll show you."
Following her turn, Lin Sanjiu entered the forest—she had intended to say that there wasn't even a single orange on the tree branches, but as soon as she looked up, that question was instantly swallowed.
...She had never seen such large oranges before.
In the shadow cast by the trees, a giant orange asuring over two ters tall occupied the entire open space in front of her. The orange skin had a slightly moist sheen under the sunlight, appearing round and smooth. If it weren't for its imnse size, it would be no different from a regular orange.
"What... what is this?"
Lin Sanjiu thought that after encountering the Companion Tea, she wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore, but clearly, she was mistaken.
"It's an orange," Bohemia walked a few steps around it, squinting as if searching for sothing. "This one seems plump, indicating it's already ripe. Can you also check if there's an indication of the realm of consciousness on it?"
Lin Sanjiu, who had just approached the orange, suddenly stopped in her tracks. "The realm of consciousness? Are you here in the Orange Orchard for that?"
"Nonsense. Why else would I co in here for a walk, just like you?" Bohemia's true character, incongruent with her charming appearance, erged. "Hurry up and take a look. I can't just put all my hopes on you."
Indeed, there were characters growing on the orange—not like sothing soone had written later, but rather like natural patterns in the orange peel. It wasn't any known language but resembled the graphical symbols Lin Sanjiu had seen in the Abyssal Rift. For so reason, after a quick glance, those patterns left clear ssages in her mind.
"Chain Reaction," "ntal Health Record 1," "Traversing the Marsh Chronicles"... Every half ter or so, a line of "characters" would appear on the orange peel. As Lin Sanjiu circled around and t Bohemia again, she made a preliminary estimate: There were probably four to six ssages on one orange.
"Let's go. Let's find the next orange," Bohemia waved at her, stepping toward the deeper shade of the forest.
"What are all these?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"The things you see... well, let put it this way. They are titles that appear on the orange peel based on the content that posthumans put in, such as their experiences, mories, and so on."
What?
"Are the mories of posthumans stored inside the oranges?" Lin Sanjiu could hardly believe her ears. "Why would they do that? Don't they want them?"
"It's not like that," Bohemia quickly found another orange, studying it while explaining, "What's put in is just a copy, and the person's actual mories are still intact. Moreover, these things are very valuable. Just think about it, if you have already experienced a certain world through soone else's experience, then your safety factor would greatly increase when you go there again, right?"
"So, it's like... it's like a ga guide?" Before the apocalypse, Lin Sanjiu had played a few computer gas.
"What is that?" Clearly, as soone from the Twelve Worlds, Bohemia frowned in confusion. "We call it 'preparation.' It not only allows you to experience soone else's journey, but the Orange Orchard also serves many other purposes, such as ssage transmission and training... Let's go, this orange doesn't have a realm of consciousness indication either."
"Ah," Lin Sanjiu responded and followed along.
So, the "World Zone" and "Character Zone" were categorized based on the content of the oranges?
Would any of her friends have been here?
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