Chapter 861: The Orange Orchard

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 pa.s.sed 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 time 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, disappointment evident on her face. “I can see that you haven’t found Magus, right? How long have you been searching?”

“What do you mean, ‘haven’t found her’?” When faced with Lin Sanjiu, Bohemia seemed particularly p.r.o.ne to getting angry. “Don’t give me that disappointed face! I’ve been searching for months. Let me tell you, my ‘attachment 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 time, could something have happened to Magus? And what about Qing Jiuliu?

“Yes, yes,” Lin Sanjiu suddenly became 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 me?” 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 Dimension. 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 ‘attachment condition’ and even kidnapped my special item… I’m done for. Pocket Dimension 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 embarra.s.sed 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 remembered 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 time I’ll bring my friend along—his name 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.”

Sometimes 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 immediately raised her head. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. What do you think?”

Those lively brown eyes looked at her skeptically for a moment.

“…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 some pretty boy from the Munitions Factory?” Bohemia scoffed.

She really wanted to see the expression on her face when she met 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 me, 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 attachment 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 me again this time, 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 seemed that her evolution focused less on physical prowess, which gave Lin Sanjiu a slight advantage.

As they spoke, they had already pa.s.sed the entrance where the path and the forest merged. The path beneath their feet gradually blurred, and the shade of the trees became darker and more profound. As they walked deeper, Lin Sanjiu surveyed her surroundings and asked softly, “Can you tell me what this pocket dimension 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 some pride. “You outsiders really don’t understand anything. Don’t bother yourself. The Orange Orchard pocket dimension 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 mean? 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 come up with a better explanation, she suddenly became impatient and quickened her pace. “It’s hard to explain. Come 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 measuring over two meters tall occupied the entire open s.p.a.ce 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 immense 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 something. “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 come in here for a walk, just like you?” Bohemia’s true character, incongruent with her charming appearance, emerged. “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 something someone 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 some reason, after a quick glance, those patterns left clear messages in her mind.

“Chain Reaction,” “Mental Health Record 1,” “Traversing the Marsh Chronicles”… Every half meter or so, a line of “characters” would appear on the orange peel. As Lin Sanjiu circled around and met Bohemia again, she made a preliminary estimate: There were probably four to six messages 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 me put it this way. They are t.i.tles that appear on the orange peel based on the content that posthumans put in, such as their experiences, memories, and so on.”

What?

“Are the memories 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 memories are still intact. Moreover, these things are very valuable. Just think about it, if you have already experienced a certain world through someone else’s experience, then your safety factor would greatly increase when you go there again, right?”

“So, it’s like… it’s like a game guide?” Before the apocalypse, Lin Sanjiu had played a few computer games.

“What is that?” Clearly, as someone from the Twelve Worlds, Bohemia frowned in confusion. “We call it ‘preparation.’ It not only allows you to experience someone else’s journey, but the Orange Orchard also serves many other purposes, such as message 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?