Invasion - Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Captain Luther of the Royal Guard was a serious and silent man.
It was said that he was a sentinel personally promoted by the Queen from a border outpost, a true powerhouse, who was only responsible to the royal family and loyal to Her Majesty alone. If it weren’t for his sudden arrival, no one would have even discovered that the Count had died tragically in his bedroom.
Luther stood in that luxurious bedroom that was covered with blood and other bodily fluids, and kicked at an energy stone rolling by his feet, revealing a look of disdain. "Idiot, he was a level A sentinel after all. He couldn't even trigger the alarm before being killed.”
A subordinate officer entered, stood at attention, saluted, and reported the results of the investigation, “It was an expert. He used the Count's personal terminal to erase all video recordings, and he also disabled most of the security systems. He was very thorough. The data is basically unrecoverable. We probably won't be able to find any information, we don’t know who he is or where he came in and out from.”
"He’s a jack-of-all-trades. He had an invitation, and was familiar with the layout of the place. He was even able to kill a level A sentinel without alerting the guards." Luther squatted down and rubbed his fingers against a mark on the floor. "He also knew to destroy the brain to prevent us from tracing the deceased’s memories. Interesting.”
He stood up and pointed to a collapsed sofa in the bedroom. The sturdy sofa was completely deformed, and even the floor had a terrible dent, but there wasn’t a trace of blood.
“Here, there are traces of a mental body battle. The murderer is most likely a sentinel. He's at this banquet, and he won't be unscathed. James isn't that incompetent.”
He took off his gloves, strode out, and gave orders, “Have all the sentinels gather in the banquet hall, including the guards from the Public Security Bureau and the manor.”
“Have them take off their clothes, and check for any fresh wounds. Immediately, without exception.”
The soft music in the hall stopped, and the lights became bright.
The guests gathered in various corners according to their status, whispering and murmuring to each other. The Countess's face was very pale. She was sitting in the seat of honor, covering her face with a feather fan, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
All the sentinels were summoned to the center of the hall, standing neatly. They were asked to take off their outer clothing so their wounds could be checked.
Although the sentinels complained, whether male or female, they all calmly took off their coats and trousers, leaving only their tank tops or underwear.
The sentinels were calm about taking off their clothes. They were even keen to show off their strong physiques to the many Guides who were there.
In contrast, the Guides who were hiding in the corner, whether male or female, were mostly blushing. They averted their gazes and didn't dare to look. Only a few brave ones peeked secretly.
It was a common understanding in this world that sentinels could take pride in their physical beauty, but Guides needed to be gentle, loyal, and modest.
Ni Ji unbuttoned his coat and shirt, and there were no other clothes underneath.
His black tank top and headscarf were stained with blood during his operation. He had already cut them into pieces and flushed them down the sewer while Tan Shu was still sleeping.
At this time, when he took off his coat, his bare upper body and toned muscles attracted a lot of attention.
Ni Ji looked thin, but he had a good physique when he took off his clothes. Broad shoulders, a strong waist, tight abdominal muscles, and old and new scars from the battlefield crisscrossed all over his body.
Many people were looking at him, but he calmly stood there. However, his gaze repeatedly landed on the corner where the Guides were several times.
The Guides had been herded into a corner of the banquet hall. As the group deemed least likely to be the murderer, they would be investigated last.
Lin Yuan stuck her head out from the crowd. She wanted to look for the person she had seen in the ventilation duct just now, while all the Sentinels were present.
The Count had been murdered, and a sentinel had been in the ventilation duct, plus the scenes of blood and hatred she had seen in his memories.
Lin Yuan had a faint suspicion about what had happened.
Could that Sentinel be looking for her too? Could he be planning on silencing her?
She thought that according to normal logic, when doing such a covert and dangerous thing, it would be impossible to let an outsider who had witnessed the truth go.
But who knew for sure.
That person, just like her, was a gambler whose thinking wasn't normal.
Lin Yuan did not recognize him at first glance. She had only seen Ni Ji many years ago, and the second time, a few days ago, Ni Ji was tied up on the rack with his face covered in blood.
She simply hadn’t associated the handsome sentinel in the crowd, who had a neat and tidy hairstyle, with that disheveled prisoner from the other day.
It was still the tentacles that pointed him out to her.
They all bent their tips in the same direction.
【That one, that’s the one.】
【It’s that fish, that’s the one.】
【There, he’s over there.】
【He’s also looking at us. I caught him.】
Lin Yuan saw him. He was thin and tall, and he had a straight physique. For a sentinel, his features were even more handsome than many Guides.
When he noticed Lin Yuan's gaze, the handsome sentinel, who was bare-chested, gave her a look of shame and indignation.
Shame and indignation?
Why that kind of emotion? Lin Yuan wondered for a moment if she had sensed it wrong.
Not killing intent, nor threat, nor anger?
But something very complex. It was resentment mixed with a hint of indignation, along with a little bit of gratitude and kindness.
Lin Yuan knew that she often couldn’t read the emotions of those around her. It was like that in the past, and now, she simply didn't understand it.
It’s all your fault. What rude thing did you do to him?
She complained to her mental bodies.
【Nothing, I just touched his head.】
【I tickled his feet, that was me.】
【I, I touched his fingers.】
【I burrowed inside his collar, just a little bit.】
【I love ankles, you know that.】
【I swear, I didn't do anything. Ah, he’s so sweet.】
In the end, they all swore in unison, 【No, it wasn’t us. We didn’t do anything impolite to him.】
Lin Yuan put her hand on her head.
This was probably what they called the emotion of shame. At this moment, she seemed to understand it a little bit.
Anyway, she would be leaving this place soon, and she would never see this person again.
Would never see him, would never see him.
Forget it, forget it.
It’s fine, it’s fine.
After doing her mental exercises, she exhaled deeply, and managed to calm down the rare emotional fluctuations.
In the ranks of sentinels, Jiang Yangshuo just happened to be next to Ni Ji.
The man standing next to Jiang Yangshuo was standing there as still as a bell, with his legs spread out and his hands behind his back. His body was covered with scars. His aura was entirely different from theirs, and it was clear at a glance that he was a sentinel from the border.
Jiang Yangshuo reached out his hand, “Ni Ji, I’ve heard of you. The hero from the northern outpost, The Blade of the Ice Field. When did you return?”
Ni Ji turned his gaze when he heard him speak. He immediately recognized this person from his voice.
Just now, he had been lying in the dim and enclosed ventilation duct and had heard everything this man had said to her.
Ni Ji smiled subtly and shook Jiang Yangshuo’s hand, neither warmly nor coldly.
But a strange and complex emotion surged in his heart for no reason. It was like a thorn that had pricked his heart. He couldn’t pull it out, yet he couldn't pinpoint its location either. It was stuck there, uncomfortably, making him inexplicably angry.
This man was very lucky to have been matched to her.
And yet he had rejected her.
Was it because he couldn't bear it? What an incompetent fool.
The officer in charge of the inspection went around and did not find a single Sentinel with any injuries.
“Then, it was a mental body,” Luther said after hearing the report, his gaze sweeping the audience.
“The only trace of fighting left at the scene of the crime was from the mental bodies. James's mental body was a caiman, and it would be very difficult for the murderer to break through it and instantly kill James without having to pay a price. Whether it’s his physical body or his mental body, there will definitely be obvious bite marks from a crocodile.”
He looked down and thought that all of the Sentinels at the banquet, including the rookie from the Jiang family, who had been very high-profile these years, were mostly just all style and no substance.
If it weren't for the fact that this murder had challenged the Queen’s dignity and that he just happened to be there, he would not have bothered activating his senses to even look at them.
Among so many people, there were perhaps only a few who were worth his attention. The tall and thin young man was the one who had attracted his attention the most.
Luther narrowed his eyes, carefully sizing up the young man who was covered in scars.
The person quickly noticed his gaze and looked back at him calmly, frankly and naturally. He wasn’t even scared by his aura.
He was an interesting person.
I hope he’s not the murderer.
The Sentinels' mental bodies appeared one after another.
As if it was a competition, they all transformed their mental bodies, revealing their most ferocious forms. Eagles, coyotes, brown bears, caimans all appeared in turn. The roars and growls filled the large banquet hall.
There were rarely opportunities like this, where they compared their strengths without looking at their background or appearance.
The mental bodies of high-level Sentinels deliberately released their aura. The mental bodies of low-level sentinels were so scared that they started to tremble, and they couldn’t lift their heads up as they crawled on the ground.
Therefore, some people looked proud, and others felt ashamed.
Jiang Yangshuo’s mental body was a majestic cheetah.
A beast with golden pupils appeared from the void. It was gigantic, several times larger than a normal cheetah. It was even as large as an African elephant and almost took up half the space of the banquet hall.
The giant cheetah glanced around the crowd majestically, and then with a roar, it attracted a wave of exclamation from the surrounding crowd.
The more powerful the sentinel, the larger their mental body could become.
Jiang Yangshuo, even though he didn’t show it on his face, secretly felt proud. He gestured humbly to Ni Ji, indicating that it was his turn. But he turned to look at the group of Guides to see if Lin Yuan was looking at him.
Among so many sentinels, his mental body was the most outstanding. Did Xiao Yuan see it? Was she regretting it?
Just as he was indulging in his thoughts, the arrogant cheetah trembled, and its gigantic body visibly shrunk. It even tucked its tail between its legs and hid behind Jiang Yangshuo.
Almost everyone at the scene felt a chill at the same time. It was as if icy seawater had surged in with waves, sweeping through the entire banquet hall. Cold water had crept up to their ankles.
A unique and ethereal call rang out. As if it had come from the underworld, from the deep sea, and was echoing in everyone’s minds.
The high dome turned into the starry sky, the nine hells connected, and the void descended.
A giant whale, large like a mountain, poked its black and white head through the dome.
With a mysterious, ancient whale song, the head of the big fish slowly appeared in the air, right above the heads of the crowd.
Everyone blankly raised their heads, stunned as they watched that huge body slowly appear. The orca’s head, which was almost taking up the entire roof, was now showing the beautiful patterns that were drawn with smooth lines.
The unscathed upper body and powerful, robust mental body, could not be from a mental body that had been injured.
Moreover, it was simply too large. It almost couldn't even fit inside this room. There was no longer a need to continue observing it.
“Okay, okay, put it away.” Luther waved his hand. He didn't let the entire whale continue displaying its enormous body. He understood the sentinels’ little thoughts in front of the Guides. “Why make such a fuss, with each of you strutting around like peacocks? If the whole fish were to squeeze in, it would tear the house down, wouldn't it?”
Ni Ji calmly recalled his mental body, as if he felt a little regretful.
No one knew that if they had waited for a few more moments, the tail fin that had been bitten by the caiman, and was now showing its bones, would have been revealed to everyone.
But, hadn’t he won the bet?
He smiled and glanced at Jiang Yangshuo.
He, similarly, looked at the area where the Guides were located.
That person, had she seen it?
Aww the little whale is trying to show off to the octopus~ ☺️
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