Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1108: Lin Sanjiu's Apology

There truly couldn't be anyone better at doing business than the snow-white star.

Lin Sanjiu didn't realize this until the shock had worn off. When she turned around and saw the person behind her, she remained silent for almost a full minute, like a stone frozen in winter.

It had been a year or two since they last met, but he still looked the same in her memory.

His eyes were like a lake just beginning to thaw in early spring, rippling with life. His long, dark eyelashes hung halfway down, reminding one of the reflections of clouds on a water surface. Strands of his long hair cascaded from the sides of his head, making the skin on his ears seem even paler, like faint pink-white jade, almost transparent.

When it came to transparency, it was doubtful one could find a smile clearer than his. Sometimes, after smiling, he seemed almost embarrassed, unable to resist gently biting his rosy lips, like he did now, followed by a soft "Sis."

Only someone who knew him as well as Lin Sanjiu could sense a hidden layer of darkness in that soft and slightly trembling 'Sis.'

She blinked, just realizing that she had already taken human form, and it was no wonder that he recognized her. She knew she would meet him sooner or later, but she hadn't expected it to be at this place and time. Even though she had anticipated all this, her long-standing defenses, speculations, agonies, and struggles receded like a tide when she saw him. What remained were heartwarming nostalgia and reluctance.

"You're here," she looked at Ji Shanqing and spoke softly. She didn't know when she had started to smile, "Grand prize, you found me."

She didn't ask how the war with the Veda had gone, how he was, or if he had been in any danger. She didn't even ask who the person who had pretended to be the grand prize and contacted her back then was. Many questions had already been answered by time.

Instead, Lin Sanjiu asked, "Did you know I would come to the Astral Plane?"

Ji Shanqing nodded.

"I heard that Magus is still here. I knew you would come sooner or later," his voice was like a gentle breeze through the trees, "so I came to wait for you."

Lin Sanjiu nodded and glanced at the snow-white star, who was not far away. She started to understand. The grand prize couldn't have sensed her entering the Astral Plane as soon as she did. "Aren't you supposed to pay him now?"

This snow-white star was indeed a born businessman. Even after just a five-minute meeting, he had already closed three deals. Pig Eyes was his first client, Lin Sanjiu was the second, and Ji Shanqing was the last. The snow-white noticed her gaze and immediately started to justify himself like an unwilling child, "I sell what I have. If your brother—your brother, right?—has been wanting to buy your whereabouts all this time, and I happen to know, why shouldn't I sell it? This is business... By the way, is Mr. Mo officially mine now?"

Although he benefited from both ends of the deal, his hearty demeanor made it impossible to dislike him. Lin Sanjiu waved her hand to indicate that he could that person away, and the snow-white star didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. First, he received his reward from the grand prize, which appeared as a small bundle of light. He was thrilled, though he didn't know what it was. Then, just like the J7 had done in the past, he left a distinctive mark of Higher Consciousness for Lin Sanjiu as a contact method. "In the future, if you need anything, I'll give you a VIP discount!"

Lin Sanjiu secretly hoped she wouldn't need his services in the future. After he led Pig Eyes away, Bohemia murmured, "I didn't know you had a brother like this."

"Is she sister's friend?" The grand prize's eyes brightened, and he looked at Lin Sanjiu, making her heart skip a beat.

"Yes," she thought for a moment and added, "Without Bohemia, I couldn't have entered the Astral Plane."

The grand prize's eyes lit up, and he immediately smiled as if spring had returned to his face, "Thank you!"

Bohemia floated hesitantly in mid-air, not even returning to her human form. She still looked like a golden-brown star, half-hidden behind Lin Sanjiu's shoulder. She glanced at the person in front of her again and again before saying with reservation, "...You're welcome."

Bohemia had always had no control over people's beauty and charm, but somehow, when faced with the grand prize, she suddenly became very cautious, reluctant to speak more than necessary—perhaps this is what they call the instinct of a beast.

"Sis,"

Just as Lin Sanjiu was entertaining this thought, the grand prize's voice brought her attention back. "I put in a lot of effort to come from the Data Streams Library... because I have something very important to tell you."

On his jade-like face, a shadow gradually cast over, like clouds passing by.

"What is it?" Lin Sanjiu inquired.

"It's about Yu Yuan."

Yes, it had to be about Yu Yuan. She had thought about everything related to the grand prize over and over again, berating herself for her recklessness and negligence, and finally, the day had come.

"What happened to him?" Lin Sanjiu could hear her own voice trembling slightly.

"He wants to migrate," Ji Shanqing said, tilting his head, and a few strands of dark hair fell from behind his ears, floating in the void. He observed her expression and spoke each word with caution, "He wants to become a part of the Veda."

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, remaining silent.

"I... I thought it wasn't a good idea," the grand prize continued, seeming somewhat surprised at her lack of response. He went on, "I didn't think you'd be willing to let him go without seeing him once. He's your friend, right? So I advised him to wait for a while and speak to you before deciding whether to migrate. So... sis, would you like to go back with me and meet him?"

He used 'go back' as if that place originally belonged to Lin Sanjiu.

No matter how powerful he had become, he always appeared somewhat cautious and tentative when facing Lin Sanjiu. It was as if he were a stray dog lingering at her feet, afraid of being driven out with a single misstep. He knew Lin Sanjiu cared deeply about her friends. After their long separation, he didn't dare to say anything affectionate and jumped straight to the topic of Yu Yuan. This made her heart twinge, but she wasn't sure for whom.

"Bohemia, please step outside for a moment," she instructed, "wait for me out there. I need to speak with him."

Bohemia was her only way to exit the Astral Plane, and if there were any issues, she hoped Bohemia could promptly pull her out from the outside.

Sometimes, Bohemia's perceptions were so acute that it left others bewildered. Before leaving, she whispered to Lin Sanjiu, "Take care of yourself." You know, in other people's eyes, this clearly seemed like a reunion between siblings.

With only the two of them left, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but cross her legs and sit down. Although she was floating in the void now, there wasn't much difference between sitting and standing. She was just mentally exhausted at this moment, and sitting made her feel a little better.

Seeing her sit down without saying a word, Ji Shanqing's expression appeared even more uneasy.

"How did you enter the Astral Plane?" After pondering for a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu looked up and asked as if having a casual chat, deliberately avoiding the mention of Yu Yuan. "You don't have a Higher Consciousness, do you?"

"No," he paused and replied in a hushed tone, "But as long as you understand how consciousness is formed and what it's made of, it's not too difficult to create one."

"In other words... this isn't your real body?"

The grand prize laughed as if he had heard something funny, showing a row of gleaming white teeth. "Sis, when did I ever have a real body?"

That was true, Lin Sanjiu slowly exhaled.

She had never brought up Yu Yuan, and that seemed to have been a signal to the grand prize. He gazed at Lin Sanjiu but didn't mention Yu Yuan further.

"I want to apologize," she broke the silence between them after a long time.

"Why?" The grand prize inquired.

"I... I am not indifferent to your well-being. In fact, I worry about you a lot," Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and looked at her fingertips folded in her lap, which felt as vivid and real as her own flesh. "At that time, you must have been very upset, right?"

The grand prize's smile slowly faded, and his mood became harder to discern. "What are you talking about? When?"

"When you contacted me using your communicator with your original voice but deliberately left a flaw to make me think someone was impersonating you. That time," Lin Sanjiu still didn't look up – she was afraid to meet the grand prize's eyes. "Afterward, I didn't go to the Data Stream Library as you hoped... and later on, I even turned the communicator card into an ornament, so you couldn't contact me anymore. You... were you sad?"

Ji Shanqing gazed at her, blinking a few times. Following Lin Sanjiu's lead, he also sat down in the void, perched on his heels.

"You know everything?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you angry with me?"

Lin Sanjiu shook her head without looking at him. "I promised you when we parted that I would visit you someday... you just wanted me to fulfill that promise sooner."

Ji Shanqing fell silent.

"Is everything okay with the Veda?" Lin Sanjiu asked. The presence of the grand prize indicated that his war with the Veda was likely over.

"You could say that," he seemed to chuckle lightly. "After all, most of the things I knew were learned from them, and as a result of using their own weapons against them, we ended up in a standoff, with neither side able to overpower the other. Lately, it seems like they've just ignored me; the universe is vast, after all."

"So, about Yu Yuan..." Lin Sanjiu finally lifted her head and asked, "Did you send him to the side of the Veda?"