Invasion - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Lin Yuan arrived at the white building. Only when she got closer did she realize how tall it was.

Lin Yuan stood at the foot of the wall, looking up, barely able to see the roof.

Here, the starry sky above was even more brilliant, colorful streams of light slowly swirling, converging into small vortexes.

The pure white high walls, against such a starry sky, shone with a bone china-like luster, giving off a sense of holiness and solemnity.

The kitten, which had been docilely lying in Lin Yuan's arms, suddenly seemed frightened by something in front of this building, struggling in her arms.

Lin Yuan put it down, letting it leave on its own.

The surroundings were very quiet, not a single living being. Lin Yuan's mental bodies explored outwards, and discovered that the wall in front of her blocked them.

This was the first time Lin Yuan had experienced this feeling, as if it was a barrier that could block mental bodies.

It wasn't a solid obstruction, the tentacles felt like they were stuck in thick gel, moving very slowly and with great difficulty, even their perception becoming muddled.

But Lin Yuan could still vaguely sense a huge presence inside. It was an unusually large mental body.

It stayed inside the building, as if noticing Lin Yuan’s probing, it vaguely stirred from behind the thick barrier.

Lin Yuan reached out and gently touched the porcelain-white wall, as if greeting it.

There was a large, closed door on the wall, with many ancient images carved on it.

They were murals about the ocean, simple lines outlining the sea, ships, monsters, and deities. Like a record of the mysterious stories that took place in the ocean during ancient times.

The door lock, however, was a high-tech sensor lock.

Lin Yuan took out the round, thin object Ni Ji had given her and gently touched it against the lock.

The pure white door beeped, slowly opening a crack, revealing a dark, lightless world inside.

The tentacles eagerly went in first. They had always been bold and unafraid.

Lin Yuan wasn’t afraid either. She pushed open the heavy door and slowly stepped into the dark mystery.

Behind the door was a staircase that spiraled upwards. Lin Yuan touched the cold wall as she walked up the steps.

She suddenly felt that this place was a bit like the White Tower. Inside the White Tower, there were also countless such intersecting, spiraling staircases, layer after layer, endlessly extending towards the top of the tower.

Only, the White Tower was much larger, covering a vast area, its top so high that almost no one had ever been up there.

Lin Yuan walked up the stairs for a while before she saw a faint light.

The round dome was made of glass, starlight scattering in from the high roof, illuminating the hazy scene within the building.

The interior was hollow. Other than the intersecting staircases, there was only a giant "tree", or rather, a giant "pillar", standing there.

Lin Yuan didn't know how to describe this being.

In any case, the moment she saw it, Lin Yuan understood what Xiao Mu had meant by "towering, very large, you’ll know when you see it."

Undoubtedly, the "Pillar" she was looking for was right in front of her.

Like a very, very tall pillar supporting this world, its body composed of countless pure white arms intertwined.

Downwards, the pale palms opened, deeply rooted in the earth. Upwards, countless hands extended, reaching for the sky.

Lin Yuan remembered the sentinels’ words.

Whether it was an arm, hair, or an eye, as long as it was taken from the Pillar, it could open the door of the contaminated zone.

She hadn't quite understood before, but now, seeing the densely intertwined arms, Lin Yuan finally understood what stealing a part of the Pillar’s body meant.

She began climbing down along the inside of the staircase. This wasn't easy for Lin Yuan, but she still reached the bottom floor.

Approaching the enormous, pale pillar bathed in starlight.

Within the Pillar’s giant body, there was a huge human face fused within.

The face had gentle features, a serene expression, androgynous, its eyelashes lowered as if asleep.

She, or he, had thick, curly silver hair. The long hair cascaded down, perfectly blending with the tall pillar’s body. Looking closely, the hair was also composed of countless thin, long, white arms.

The starlight converged on that fair face, strangely beautiful, and frightening.

Lin Yuan stood at the very bottom of the pillar, looking up at the behemoth supporting the world, and the person sleeping within the pillar.

A faint sigh came from somewhere.

The long, silver eyelashes on the giant face slowly lifted, and her eyes, like the starry sky in the dome, were brilliant, with colorful, swirling lights.

She looked down at the small Lin Yuan standing on the ground.

"Ah, a Guide," the beautiful face smiled, a gentle look in its colorful eyes. "It’s been so many years since I last saw a Guide, how nostalgic."

Lin Yuan felt some long, silvery-white arms reaching towards her, lightly touching her tentacles.

A polite gesture, touching each other, like a greeting.

With this light touch, their mental bodies quickly exchanged surface consciousness, gaining a basic understanding of each other.

Like two powerful beings, while tentatively probing each other, they firmly held onto their strong shields, not giving the other a chance to easily break through their defenses.

"So young, yet so powerful. How lovely," the silver-haired face showed a gentle smile. "So it was your arrival that woke her up early. I was wondering why she suddenly awoke ahead of time."

"After so much time has passed, there are still beings like you in the world. I don't know whether I should be relieved."

After saying some inexplicable things, she asked, "Is there something you need here?"

"I want the key," Lin Yuan said. "The key to leave this place."

The beautiful face lowered its silver eyelashes, looking at Lin Yuan indulgently for a while.

A strand of silver hair extended, held before Lin Yuan. That strand of hair was a long, soft arm, with a moving hand at its tip.

The hair broke off on its own in front of Lin Yuan, the small, pure white hand at the end severing. It rolled to Lin Yuan's feet.

It was a delicate hand, just like the thousands of hands on the "Pillar", slender and beautiful.

After breaking off, the hand solidified, becoming as hard and smooth as jade, like a small, delicate piece of ceramic art. Shaped like an orchid, white and jade-like, it quietly lay at Lin Yuan's feet.

Lin Yuan picked up the beautiful, jade-like “hand”, holding it in her palms.

It was cold to the touch, shining faintly.

"Thank you," Lin Yuan said. She opened her mouth, feeling like she had a lot more to say to this person in front of her.

But the tentacles became alert at that moment, surging, in a defensive posture.

A layer of black had seeped up from the base of the "Pillar" at some point. The rich black spread, quickly creeping upwards.

"She’s coming," the giant face showed a shy smile. "You have to run quickly, otherwise…"

She didn’t finish her sentence, her eyes already closed, the colorful light in them covered, her entire face becoming still, turning into a motionless sculpture, a gentle smile still on her lips.

As if the one about to appear was just a mischievous sister. As if her last words, about running quickly, were just a casual joke.

But Lin Yuan knew that something very dangerous had happened, she had to leave immediately, escape from here.

Without another word, she turned and ran.

---

Sometimes, Lin Yuan felt that her logical thinking abilities were far inferior to her intuition.

Before she even understood what was happening, her feet had already started running.

Behind her, a thick, ink-like black seeped up from all directions, slowly dyeing the pure white arms of the "Pillar" black.

Lin Yuan, holding the “key”, ran quickly, not even looking back.

She knew that countless black hands were chasing after her.

Soft, infinitely extending black hands, breaking off from the giant pillar one after another.

At first, like they had just awakened from sleep, their movements were slow, but soon, they became nimble, surging, covering the ground, climbing up the stairs, chasing after her like a tide.

They were laughing, each one happily chuckling as they ran, an infinite joy radiating from them.

Lin Yuan's tentacles could sense their sincere and intense emotions.

That single-minded desire to catch her, to have her, to keep her by their side, was incredibly strong and pure.

Lin Yuan ran very quickly. She felt her feet sprinting, the blood in her veins flowing rapidly, her heart beating violently.

It seemed like, when she was very young, she had also experienced this feeling of a racing heart, of running quickly, somewhere.

More and more of Lin Yuan's tentacles gradually awakened from their mysterious habitat.

The tentacles surged out behind Lin Yuan, coming into contact with the black arms that had caught up first.

A sense of pain came, the tentacles were injured.

And at the same time, they also injured the other side. Many messy, indescribable memory fragments mixed within, chaotically and fragmentedly transmitted into Lin Yuan’s mind.

Lin Yuan sprinted, her feet running down the spiraling staircase.

The overwhelming darkness surged behind her, frantically trying to catch her, cover her.

Finally, a light appeared before her eyes. It was the exit, that pure white door was still open.

Lin Yuan felt the black hands behind her about to reach her face, touch her shoulder.

She lunged forward with all her might, rolling towards that bright opening.

Her vision blurred, dust flew everywhere, and the surroundings brightened.

She was out.

After catching her breath, Lin Yuan realized she had fallen to the ground, clutching the hand-shaped "key".

That pure white door was slowly closing before her eyes, countless black hands surging within, seemingly unable to come out.

Fortunately, she hadn’t been too far from the gate, fortunately, she had run fast enough, managing to roll out of that pure white door just before being caught by the surging black hands, at the very last moment.

Lin Yuan lay on the ground, looking at the door that had closed, licking her lips, thinking she was truly amazing.

The black hands were shut inside, Lin Yuan felt that they might have other exits.

But at least for now, she had won.

The mental bodies Lin Yuan had encountered before had all been small, delicate, and cute compared to her.

They made Lin Yuan feel a little lonely, and she wasn't very interested in them. Except for that boundless deep sea, and the big fish within the sea.

This was the first time she had encountered a mental body more powerful and larger than herself.

And she had even won, entering and exiting its domain.

At the moment she clashed with those black arms, she seemed to catch a glimpse of a vaster and more boundless world.

So there were even greater things in this world.

I’ll become even stronger in the future. Lin Yuan thought.

【So exciting.】

【They seemed like they wanted to eat us.】

【What? I thought I wanted to eat them.】

【You want to eat everything.】

【I wonder if you'll explode from eating too much.】

【Don't rest yet, it’s not safe yet.】

The black arms hadn’t chased after her, but a sharp alarm rang throughout the giant palace.

“Warning! Warning!”

“Someone has stolen His Majesty’s arm.”

“Warning! Warning!”

“Someone has stolen His Majesty’s arm.”

So “she” was His Majesty? She thought he was a prisoner trapped in the pillar.

Countless mutated creatures with metal heads appeared, the single eyes on their heads glowing red, angrily searching the jungle and the buildings.

Within the giant palace, there were dense gemstone plants and countless rooms and platforms.

Lin Yuan, holding the backpack containing “His Majesty’s arm”, climbed out from behind a small bush with crystal-clear leaves, sneaking into a building with countless intersecting corridors.

“We must catch the thief!”

“We must catch the thief!”

“It injured His Majesty.”

“It injured His Majesty.”

A group of fully armed guards ran past the corridor.

Lin Yuan hid behind a porch, avoiding them.

Upstairs and downstairs, there were metal guards like this everywhere.

They moved quickly, angrily, their attention focused, single-mindedly wanting to catch the “thief.”

It wasn't easy to avoid them.

Several times, Lin Yuan felt like she wouldn't be able to escape.

She had understood one thing from a young age, most things in this world were like this, not everything would go your way just because you put in effort.

Like when she was little, she hadn't liked living in that White Tower, but she could only sneak out for a short while, and in the end, she still had to go back.

Like how she had once wholeheartedly wanted to be a normal person, she had used all her strength, but others still treated her like a monster, the emotions they transmitted still filled with dark disgust.

Lin Yuan ran, hiding, the tentacles sending warnings from all directions. There were enemies everywhere, above, below, all around.

If she were caught, trapped here, what would happen?

Lin Yuan had thought about this question.

Perhaps she would be offered to those black arms, and turned into a monster.

Fortunately, she was already a monster.

So it didn't matter, it was the same no matter where she lived, living here probably wouldn't be much different.

It was just a little bit regrettable.

She had thought that after going through such a crisis, such danger, she would at least be able to experience a little of what it felt like to be afraid, like a normal person.

She still didn’t know what fear was.

She really hoped that while she was still human, she could experience a little more of what normal humans felt.

Lin Yuan felt hungry again, the hunger burning in her stomach, making her limbs weak.

Overusing her mental strength always made her body hungry.

I have no more energy, Lin Yuan thought.

The hurried footsteps of another group of metal guards came from around the corner, quickly approaching.

Just then, an arm reached out from behind, covering her mouth, pulling her back.

That hand was very large, and wearing a black glove.

Lin Yuan didn't resist.

She didn't need to look back, the tentacles had already recognized who it was. Exhausted, they even started to crawl towards the person.

When the half-corroded metal head appeared around the corner, the person behind her pulled Lin Yuan into a storage room.

The door gently closed, and the sentinel in the tight combat suit turned around, his tactical-gloved fingers making a silencing gesture.

It was that sentinel. That big fish.

Ni Ji.

She didn't know how he had found her in such a vast palace, when so many mutated creatures couldn't.

The sentinel pressed his ear against the door, listening for a long time, until the footsteps of the metal-headed guards completely disappeared. Only then did he truly turn around to look at Lin Yuan.

"You…" the sentinel said to Lin Yuan.

He had discarded the mutated fish bone he had been wearing on his head. Now he was in a tight black combat suit, looking tall and slender, with powerful core strength.

Ni Ji’s voice was low, a slightly troubled look on his face.

"What’s wrong with it?" he finally asked, very tactfully.

She had thought he would ask about the key first. As a result, he was asking about a certain tentacle.

A tentacle emerged from the ground, materializing, listlessly wrapping around the sentinel’s straight calf.

Lin Yuan crouched down weakly.

She really didn't want to deal with those mental bodies that were still trying to emerge from the ground, but she had to restrain them.

"Do you have any food? I'm hungry," she asked without much hope.

She had heard that sentinels had excellent physical fitness and could even go without food for several days when carrying out stealth missions.

The sentinel’s tactical suit was very tight-fitting, with daggers, firearms, ammunition, and various combat tools attached. He didn't look like he would be carrying any food.

Who knew that the sentinel reached into a certain pocket and actually took out two tinfoil-wrapped candies.

He used his black-gloved fingers to hold the two delicate little candies, offering them to Lin Yuan.

"Replenish your sugar levels first," he said. "I'll think of something."

Then he tilted his head to listen to the sounds outside, not pulling off the tentacle wrapped around his leg.

Lin Yuan unwrapped a candy, put it in her mouth, and rolled it on her tongue.

A very rich sweetness.

【It’s candy!】

【So sweet.】

【I have some strength now.】

【Little fish is the best.】

【I said little fish is the best.】

【Much more reliable than that Triangular Pyramid.】

【How did he know I like sweet things?】

【You come down, let me climb up.】

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