Chapter 218: Not Very Normal
Chapter 218: Not Very Normal
The girl stood very close to Lu Xin, leaning in to peer at him.
This made Lu Xin feel akin to watching a pre-Cataclysm old film, pressing close to the screen to see a character’s close-up.
The Jeep was right behind him, leaving Lu Xin nowhere to retreat. Thus, he could only look at her from this intimate distance. He could clearly see her skin, which appeared as though it lacked pores, and distinctly smell the cool, faintly sweet scent emanating from her.
The girl’s pert, pretty nose twitched slightly; it seemed she was also sniffing Lu Xin’s scent.
However, she showed no reaction to his outstretched hand.
She merely glanced down at it, looking somewhat at a loss.
So, Lu Xin smiled, took the initiative to reach out, grasp her hand, and shook it gently.
Looking down at their joined hands, the girl’s large, blank eyes gained a faint focus.
The expression on her face also became slightly more vivid.
…
…
“Lone Soldier, what are you doing?”
“Why are you holding Doll’s hand?”
Chen Jing’s tense inquiry crackled through the speaker.
It made Lu Xin blush. He turned, wanting to explain: “I wasn’t, I was just shaking her hand…”
But before Lu Xin could finish, Chen Jing commanded, “Put on your earpiece.”
Only then did Lu Xin register. He pulled his bag over, retrieved the earpiece, and inserted it. Simultaneously, the broadcast audio cut out, as if the microphone had been directly switched off. A moment later, after a faint buzz of static in the earpiece, Chen Jing’s voice came through: “Emergency Processing Team channel established… Testing now… Lone Soldier, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can…”
Chen Jing’s voice in the channel immediately pressed: “What do you see now?”
Lu Xin looked at the girl gazing intently at him, keeping his own voice low.
He whispered, “I see that she’s quite pretty…”
“…”
Chen Jing was silent for a beat before asking, “What I meant was, has she shown any abnormalities?”
Lu Xin thought for a moment. “She’s sniffing my scent like a little puppy. Does that count?”
“…”
Chen Jing fell silent again.
After a while, she seemed to gather her thoughts. “First, try to see if you can communicate with her…”
“Take care to speak gently.”
Lu Xin considered this, asking softly, “What counts as gentle?”
“…”
Chen Jing’s third silence stretched a little longer. Then, she said flatly, “The tone you just used. Like that.”
“Alright then…”
Lu Xin felt an inexplicable pang of guilt, sensing his leader’s reaction implied some dissatisfaction.
But an order was an order. He looked up at the girl before him, even tilting his head slightly as he regarded her.
She wore the same style of dress adorned with pretty ruffles as when he’d last seen her, though this time it was black. Her inky hair, smooth and soft, was arranged in an adorable hairstyle. Her entire body levitated silently about thirty centimeters off the ground.
It gave the impression she had escaped gravity’s pull.
At this close distance, however, Lu Xin could sense immense, invisible waves of Mental Power swirling around her.
It was this Mental Power, acting as Telekinetic Power, that kept her hovering in the air.
What puzzled Lu Xin was how she could maintain such constant use of mental energy for so long without showing any sign of fatigue?
Banishing the distracting thoughts, Lu Xin fixed his gaze on the girl seriously.
Employing a particularly gentle tone, he asked, “What are you looking at?”
The girl before him, known as Doll, merely blinked her large eyes once. She didn’t answer his question.
“…”
Chen Jing’s voice, carefully modulated, came through the earpiece: “Is that your idea of talking to a girl gently?”
Lu Xin felt helpless. “Then what should I say?”
Chen Jing paused briefly. “Try to see if you can lead her back to the Safe House.”
“…”
Lu Xin nodded. Shifting his gaze back to the girl in front of him, he gestured lightly towards the direction they came from. “Come with me?”
The girl made no move to follow. She offered no reaction to his words.
But when Lu Xin began to turn and walk toward the Hotel, he felt a light breeze.
The girl held an umbrella and followed closely behind him.
Both Lu Xin and Chen Jing, who was watching the scene through the monitor, clearly sighed slightly in relief.
“After entering the lobby, turn right and go into the elevator area.”
“Take the elevator to the thirty-third floor.”
“……”
Chen Jing directed Lu Xin through the channel, guiding Doll all the way into the Hotel.
The lobby, which had just been filled with numerous staff members, now appeared empty and deserted. Only an unmanned sign-in desk stood isolated in the lobby, with scattered messy papers and document boxes lying haphazardly around. As if disturbed by the Mental Power emanating from the girl, the lights in the lobby flickered faintly but did not go out.
This signified that the girl’s Mental Power was powerful, uncontrolled yet stable.
After pressing the up button, the elevator door quickly opened; at the moment, all the elevators seemed to be empty.
Lu Xin entered the elevator first, then waited for the girl to float in on her own.
Looking at the umbrella in her hand, almost touching the top of the elevator car, Lu Xin said, “Don’t hold an umbrella indoors; it invites ghosts.”
The girl glanced down at Lu Xin, slowly folded the umbrella, then gently descended and stood in a corner of the elevator.
“This……”
Chen Jing, watching the scene inside the elevator through the monitor, had an expression that became vivid once again.
At the same time, the scene of Lu Xin and Doll together was transmitted to screens in front of many people.
Seeing Doll’s actions, every one of them showed unusual surprise: “Not only does Doll understand what he says, but she also obeys him. Has a situation like this……ever occurred before during previous observations of Doll?”
On one screen, Professor Bai watched with great interest and said, “Doll rarely refuses people’s requests. Even when facing requests she dislikes, she only pretends not to hear. But previous requests to her were more like commands, much like teaching your puppy to sit or shake hands; it follows the command to react but doesn’t grasp the meaning of your words.”
“But now, the interaction between Lone Soldier and her feels more like communication than a command…… The clearest evidence is that few people have ever been able to make Doll put down her umbrella or touch the ground before, as it would make her feel insecure……”
“If so, why can Lone Soldier do it?”
On another screen, Minister Shen frowned deeply and asked in a low voice.
On a few other screens, researchers from the Special Clean-up Department, who had just connected their signals, were present; Professor Chen, responsible for Doll’s research and guidance, was also there. He frowned tightly and said, “It doesn’t seem like Lone Soldier’s command made her unable to refuse.”
“Then, does this mean…… Lone Soldier can replace the umbrella in providing her with a sense of security?”
“……”
Everyone thought hard, and Professor Chen excitedly said, “Have them return to the Safe House first.”
“I’ll advance the observation and research into her contact with Lone Soldier……”
“My grandson?”
“Tell him to get to his homework quickly!”
“……”
Lu Xin couldn’t hear the many discussions in his earpiece.
He simply followed Chen Jing’s instructions, taking Doll to the thirty-third floor. They waited in the stairwell for a while until he heard heavy footsteps fading away outside, then he brought her out. Next, he saw a thick glass room, like something out of a fairy tale, made entirely transparent. This room, by the window, occupied nearly half the entire building.
Inside were piles of Toys and animated figurines, with all kinds of cute cartoon decorations on the walls.
In the center sat a furry sofa, and opposite it was a 262-inch TV almost covering most of the wall, which hung from the wall; it played uninteresting-looking advertisements with no sound on.
A large hole was visible on the floor-to-ceiling window near the building’s edge, but it had been patched with new glass.
This must be why Chen Jing had asked Lu Xin to stay in the elevator area for a while.
Doll had probably broken the floor-to-ceiling window and jumped down when she saw Lu Xin approaching.
So, she needed to arrange for staff to come and replace the glass first.
This room, made with toughened glass, could partially block Doll’s abilities to prevent disturbance to others; but for an Ability User of her high Psychic Magnitude, it couldn’t confine her – she could easily break it with her Telekinetic Power.
“Enter the room.”
Under Chen Jing’s instruction, Lu Xin stepped into this unrealistically beautiful cartoon kingdom, looking around without knowing where to sit.
Just as he was about to ask Chen Jing what to do, she exclaimed slightly, “Did you not take off your shoes?”
“Right……”
Lu Xin turned curiously and saw obvious dusty footprints on the spotless floor of the room.
“……”
Chen Jing paused and then said, “What is Doll’s reaction?”
Lu Xin quickly glanced around and flushed instantly: “Can’t you see it?”
Chen Jing’s voice tensed: “There are no regular cameras in Doll’s Safe House usually……”
“Quick, tell us, what is she doing?”
“……”
Lu Xin felt awkward: “She is taking off her clothes……”
Chen Jing was greatly surprised: “What?”
Lu Xin suddenly relaxed and said to Chen Jing, “Fortunately, she only removed her outer dress……”
“……”
After a moment of silence, Chen Jing used a tone that tried to be calm and natural but actually sounded tense: “By now……”
“Up to this point, have you……had any thought of doing something?”
“……”
“Yes I have.”
Lu Xin answered honestly: “I wanted to put the clothes back on for her; otherwise, it’s too awkward……”
“This……”
Many people heard Lu Xin’s words at that moment and exchanged bewildered looks.
“Put the clothes back on for her……”
In front of a vehicle screen, Professor Chen, who was rushing to the Special Clean-up Department for an emergency meeting, murmured softly.
“Tell him not to move and wait for our instructions.”
After speaking, he frowned and muttered to himself: “Is it that I’m old, or what……”
“Clearly, that’s just what a normal person would think……”
“But why does it feel abnormal to me?”