Invasion - Chapter 30
Chapter 30
The sentinels from the imperial capital carried the injured uphill.
Actually, they didn't quite understand why Ni Ji wanted them to bring these burdens.
Fifty imperial coins was a lot in the eyes of the youngsters in this remote and impoverished place, but for a formally employed sentinel in the imperial capital, it really wasn't much.
If Ni Ji hadn't ordered it, they would never have brought these unrelated burdens with them in such a dangerous place for such a small amount of money.
Although they had only traveled a short distance, each of them had been completely won over by the new captain, willing to obey his arrangements, and not daring to disobey his orders.
Ni Ji wasn’t just individually powerful, but also an experienced, strategic, and responsible captain. Several times, when they encountered large groups of mutated creatures, it was thanks to Ni Ji’s calm and precise commands that the entire team managed to escape danger safely.
These were qualities honed from hundreds of trips into contaminated zones. Never abilities that could be trained in the training rooms of the sentinel academy, it was very admirable.
To be honest, if Ni Ji hadn't been leading the team, traveling in a contaminated zone during "nighttime," their casualties might not have been any better than these Dongbin sentinels. At least they wouldn't be unscathed like they were now.
The sentinels moved quickly, carrying the wounded through the rain, soon finding a high ground where they could take shelter from the rain.
It was a house built of stone, with walls on three sides and a protruding roof. Sheltered from the rain, with a good view, it was suitable for hiding.
They lit a bonfire in the stone house, drying their clothes around the fire, eating hot food and drinking hot water. After a day of fighting, they could finally relax their tense nerves. The sentinels sat around the bonfire, talking softly.
Ni Ji sat alone under the eaves, away from the lively bonfire. His tall body leaned against the door under the curtain of rain, looking out at the shimmering sea in the heavy rain.
Song Yuansi handed him food, inviting him to eat with everyone. He politely took it, waved his hand, and continued sitting there alone.
"You guys eat, I’m on guard duty."
Song Yuansi had no choice but to walk back. Under the rain curtain, Ni Ji’s back looked unusually thin, his tight tactical suit outlining his slender waist, the shape of his shoulder blades faintly visible through his clothes. He sat outside the door, silent, like he was melting into the night.
Song Yuansi always felt that his senior looked very lonely now.
He admired Ni Ji very much and wanted to get close to him from the bottom of his heart. But since Ni Ji’s return, he had clearly felt Ni Ji’s distance. Not just towards him, but towards everyone, maintaining only a superficial politeness.
As if he no longer wanted anyone to approach, no longer wanted any attachments in his heart.
The terrain here was high, and they could clearly see the coastline not far away. The mutated creatures that had been dormant during "daytime" had awakened during "nighttime", crawling out of the sea one by one, like ghosts, their bodies shimmering with faint light, lining up as they walked back to their former homes.
From here, the earth looked like a chessboard, countless flickering fireflies flowing towards their brightly lit homes.
In the center, the light was the strongest. Looking from afar, the flowing light formed a huge vortex.
The No. 5 Contaminated Zone, after countless expansions over hundreds of years, had swallowed a large amount of land and lives, covering a vast area.
On the outer edges were buildings from ten or twenty years ago. Further inside, the architectural styles gradually changed, and in the very center, ancient, heavy buildings were mixed with high-tech neon lights.
Those were remnants of the old era, and also the nest where mutated creatures had been stationed for hundreds of years.
Lin Yuan sat by the bonfire, dozing off.
Surrounded by sentinels, she, the only Guide, was like a sheep among wolves. She should have been anxious and uneasy.
But Lin Yuan slept soundly, as if she had done some very tiring work, her small, fair hand supporting her chin, her head nodding, as if she could fall over at any moment.
Xiao Mu was very busy, taking care of Dahu, taking care of Xiao Niao, bandaging the wounds of every seriously injured companion. He also boiled a pot of hot water on the fire, baked a few flatbreads, and called Lin Yuan to wake up and eat.
Lin Yuan rubbed her eyes, woke up, took the flatbread from Xiao Mu, and checked on Xiao Niao and the others while eating.
Both Xiao Niao and Dahu were seriously injured, their powerful physiques as sentinels sustaining their lives. If they could get out in time and receive proper treatment, their lives probably wouldn’t be in danger. But if they stayed here, it would be hard to say.
"When can we get out?" Lin Yuan asked.
"There's no 'key'," Xiao Mu said with a troubled look. "'Nighttime' in the No. 5 Contaminated Zone lasts 72 hours. It’s only just begun."
Entering a contaminated zone was easy, but getting out required a specific "key" to open the exit door.
In the core area of every contaminated zone, there was a most powerful mutated creature, called the "Pillar." Any part of the Pillar's body, whether it was its eyes, fingers, teeth, or hair, could serve as the "key" to open the door.
During "daytime", the Pillar was mostly asleep. Quietly taking a part of its body basically wouldn’t awaken it. Mutated creatures all had strong regenerative abilities, it would heal itself in its sleep, not even knowing that someone had taken the key from it.
But at "nighttime", the Pillar would fully awaken. Taking an organ from it at this time would be incredibly dangerous, like a nightmare.
If they had to wait for "nighttime" to completely pass, it would be three days later.
Lin Yuan looked at Xiao Niao’s unconscious face, knowing they couldn't wait.
"One of them went to get the key just now," Xiao Mu whispered in Lin Yuan's ear. "Maybe he can bring the key back."
Lin Yuan didn't even need to ask who had gone out.
As soon as she woke up, the tentacles had been grumbling about the big fish disappearing again.
"Do you think he can get the key?" Lin Yuan asked Xiao Mu.
"I don’t know, I think it’s very difficult," Xiao Mu pointed. "Over there, at the center of the vortex, the brightest spot. That’s where you get the key. It’s the most dangerous place, even the strongest person might not be able to get it."
By the bonfire, two sentinels from the Public Security Bureau were talking.
"I really don't understand Ni Ji. Why does he have to go get the key now? Wouldn't it be safer to wait for three or four days?" The sentinel who spoke glanced at the injured lying on the ground. "It can’t be for these country bumpkins, can it?"
His companion laughed. "That's impossible. I guess he's probably just highly skilled and daring, wants to get out early and take credit in front of the principal."
"Yeah, how could we guess what they’re thinking?"
"Speaking of which, this mission is really strange. This is the first time I’ve heard of ‘nighttime’ in a contaminated zone arriving early."
"Yeah, who would have thought? Brother Shu died here, 'nighttime' arrived early, and the mutated creatures are even more abnormal than we imagined. Everything is strange. We even encountered a Guide in this hellhole."
"Strange, where's that Guide? Where did the Guide go?"
When Lin Yuan snuck out, Xiao Mu was very panicked.
"Big sister, wh- what are you going to do?"
"I’m going to try and get the key."
"But, that sentinel has already gone."
"The more important something is, the more you should do it yourself," Lin Yuan said matter-of-factly. "How can you place your hopes on someone unrelated to you?"
Xiao Mu was stunned, speechless.
He no longer thought that Guides were the kind of weak people who relied on sentinels for protection. But Big Sister Lin Yuan was a bit too daring, she would always do some shocking things, often scaring him, a sentinel.
For example, she actually wanted to go get the key herself, at night.
"Th- then I'll go too."
"You can't, you’ll only slow me down."
Lin Yuan’s words severely hurt the little boy’s self-esteem.
【Hey, that’s too much.】
【Seals are people too.】
【Seals are also very cute.】
【He’s still a child.】
Lin Yuan had no choice but to imitate Xiao Niao and reluctantly pat the boy's head.
"In two or three years, if you work hard, and become a formal sentinel, we can work together then."
"It's not possible now. Besides, Xiao Niao and the others need someone to take care of them."
Lin Yuan forced Xiao Mu to stay behind and walked down from the high ground alone.
She first encountered the three identical middle-aged women carrying baskets to buy eggs.
The mutated creature that had been cut into three pieces by Dahu saw her and immediately revealed a ferocious and angry expression, ready to pounce.
Lin Yuan stopped, opened her eyes, and calmly looked at the three monsters lunging at her.
A light shone in her eyes, like the light borrowed from the bright moon, shining brightly in her eyes.
Under this gaze, the three mutated creatures stopped their movements, their twisted expressions of anger receding, gradually becoming confused.
"The eggs at the supermarket are on sale," they muttered to Lin Yuan.
"Yes, you have to hurry," Lin Yuan responded.
The three middle-aged women clapped their hands and happily walked forward.
"Yes, we have to hurry."
【The plan worked.】
【We can handle it.】
【No different from humans.】
【As long as they have emotions, it’s easy.】
【They call them mutated creatures, but their thinking is only a little different from humans.】
Lin Yuan continued forward, reaching the area densely populated with mutated creatures.
She didn't avoid them by jumping between rooftops like the sentinels.
She simply slowed her pace, tentatively, taking step after step, slowly walking forward.
One step, then another, she got closer.
The tentacles guarded her, surging underground, connecting to all beings with thoughts and emotions, linking to their mental worlds.
Strange images kept appearing in Lin Yuan's mind.
Chaotic scenes, incomprehensible babbling, a twisted world baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
These eerie images echoing in her mind didn't scare Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan had never experienced the emotion called fear.
She had always been living in a world of chaos and absurdity.
Lin Yuan continued forward step by step, her breathing gradually becoming more natural, her steps lighter.
The strange mutated creatures, when they saw her, either looked at her with slight confusion, or simply ignored her, letting Lin Yuan pass by, as if she was one of their own.
"My cat’s gone missing, have you seen it?" A mutated creature, three stories tall, with the appearance of a young child, lowered his head and asked her.
"I haven't seen it. I'll go look for it up ahead," Lin Yuan said.
The mutated creature, which seemed to have some sentience, stared at her with confusion for a while before letting her pass.
Along the way, there were many strange incidents that needed to be dealt with. It required a high level of concentration, it was very dangerous, like walking on a tightrope.
Perhaps a single moment of panic, a single misstep, and she would be trapped among the monsters.
With Lin Yuan’s current ability, it was barely enough for her to walk through this dense crowd of monsters alone.
But this kind of thing made Lin Yuan feel a little excited.
Lin Yuan suddenly felt like she was back at the White Tower.
Every time she escaped from the White Tower, it was like this, slowly walking among a group of humans she didn't quite understand.
To her, those people weren’t that different from monsters.
She knew that those people didn’t like her, they thought she was a monster. So she didn't like them either, treating them as creatures different from her.
She liked playing pranks, making everyone unable to see her, sneaking out into the outside world right in front of them.
No one could see her, it was very interesting, but also a little lonely.
After running away so many times, it was always her who went back on her own accord, she had never been found.
Except for that one time, when the young sentinel descended from the sky, snowflakes splashing all around him.
"I found her," he said.
Yes, that sentinel was here too.
She could compete with him again, this time to see who could find the key first.
How interesting, Lin Yuan thought.
Comments
Post a Comment