Invasion - Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Ni Ji asked Lin Yuan to wait for him here for a while.
He took out a small spray bottle.
Only a little bit of liquid was left at the bottom of the bottle. He sprayed it onto his fingers and drew a circle around the spot where Lin Yuan was sitting.
"It's a mimicry agent," he said. "Although the effect isn't very strong, behind a door, it should last for a while."
The mimicry agent could mask the scent of human characteristics, making it difficult for mutated creatures to immediately discover people hiding nearby.
It had a very short effective duration, a high chance of being detected, and was also extremely expensive.
Clearly, Ni Ji had just used this agent, along with that strange fish bone, to successfully blend in here.
After doing this, he glanced at Lin Yuan, opened the door, and slipped out.
The metal guards coming and going in the corridor outside果然 didn't search this storage room.
Lin Yuan yawned a few times in the dim, narrow room, and Ni Ji returned.
He brought back several two-finger-thick red envelopes, neatly wrapped in red paper, and gave them to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan opened one of the paper packets. Inside the red paper was a fine, powdery food, the light brown powder pressed into neat little squares.
"It's food from the contaminated zone," the sentinel said to her. "I tasted it, it's edible."
Lin Yuan tasted a small piece.
The fine powder dissolved as soon as it entered her mouth, spreading a thick sweetness over her taste buds, with a rich peanut aroma mixed within.
Such high-sugar, high-calorie food was perfect for replenishing energy after a tiring battle.
Not to mention, Lin Yuan also loved sweet things.
She very much cherished and ate all of the food wrapped in red paper, even pouring the remaining sugar powder into her mouth, licking her lips with satisfaction.
She instantly felt like she was recharged, revived.
Lin Yuan recalled something from when she was with her former fiancé.
At that time, a very young Jiang Yangshuo had given her a ring that was said to be very valuable.
Lin Yuan had looked at the ring and put it on her finger.
"What's wrong? You don't like it?" Jiang Yangshuo had asked her.
"I like it," Lin Yuan, at that time, had still been trying very hard to be a normal person.
"Xiao Yuan," Jiang Yangshuo had sighed helplessly, "when you receive a gift you like, you should at least smile a little."
Jiang Yangshuo was a sentinel, and so was the person before her. Sentinels’ thoughts were probably similar.
So Lin Yuan smiled at Ni Ji.
Thank you for the food, she liked it very much.
Thank you also for finding food for her at such a dangerous time.
Of course, for Lin Yuan, having a full stomach had always been a very important thing, no matter the environment.
Ni Ji watched as the Guide ate all the snacks he had found, not disliking it at all.
Those listless eyes instantly lit up, and she even licked her lips with satisfaction.
The worst part was, she even turned around and smiled at him.
Ni Ji looked away, he realized he didn't dare look directly at that smile.
He didn't ask Lin Yuan why she had come here alone.
Ni Ji knew very well that Lin Yuan of course had the qualifications to come here alone.
Although they had only interacted a few times, he knew better than anyone the true strength of this seemingly fragile girl.
She had powerful abilities, the confidence to act alone, and the courage to make decisions. She and he were the same kind of people.
Sometimes, he even felt that this girl was more capable than he was at pulling chestnuts out of the fire.
And she had indeed done it, that small white arm was in her backpack — Lin Yuan, after finishing the candy, had opened her bag to show him.
Ni Ji controlled himself, not thinking about anything else.
He lowered his head, took out paper and pen, put a thin tactical flashlight in his mouth, and explained the escape plan to Lin Yuan on the floor of the small storage room.
During the short time he had gone out to find food, he had also observed the general distribution of enemies nearby.
He drew the layout of the palace and the surrounding area on the white paper for Lin Yuan, telling her his thoughts and plans.
There was a very hidden passage that they could use to escape this palace. It was an escape route discovered by people who had ventured in here before.
Those who came in during "daytime" to get the key all took this route.
Only, the situation was different now. The monsters were all awake, and alarms were ringing throughout the courtyard. To pass through the dense crowds of monsters, avoid their searches, and reach the escape passage, was very difficult.
It required skill, luck, and a reasonable plan.
Lin Yuan reached out, her fair fingers, still stained with a bit of sugar powder, pointed at the drawing, giving her suggestions.
She felt that at some checkpoints where enemies were particularly concentrated, they didn’t need to fight or take detours. She was confident she could cover the two of them, allowing them to sneak through undetected.
With the cooperation of a sentinel, they could pass through those places very quickly. Completing large-scale mental interference in such a short amount of time wasn’t difficult for her.
It was even easier than many of the situations she had encountered on her way here.
Ni Ji thought for a moment, then, with the flashlight in his mouth, used his pen to modify a few locations.
If he were alone, these places were checkpoints he would have to avoid. If he couldn't avoid them, a bloody battle would be unavoidable.
But with Lin Yuan by his side, things were different.
An extremely difficult escape seemed completely feasible just because of this one companion.
The sentinel knelt on the floor, drawing the route map, his tactical suit rolled up to his elbows, revealing a perfectly toned arm.
His black-gloved fingers held the pen, quickly and precisely drawing lines on the paper, marking tactical icons.
Then he turned to look at Lin Yuan, waiting for her opinion.
Lin Yuan looked at the route drawn with black ink.
She noticed that the terrain varied greatly at many key locations. The route was very concise, but if she were alone, with her physical fitness, she couldn’t take this route. She couldn’t possibly climb such high walls or jump across such wide gaps.
Just because there was a sentinel by her side, just one person, many extremely troublesome things suddenly became easy.
Eh?
The two of them almost simultaneously thought.
With her (him) here.
It was so good to have this person by their side.
The storage room was very narrow, dimly lit, with only a thin tactical flashlight illuminating the space.
They were very close, pointing at the map spread out on the floor together.
Ni Ji found his heart wavering again.
The moment he saw her, when she said other people were her sentinels, the moment she smiled at him.
Actually, the little bit of self-righteous defense in his heart had long been shattered.
Ni Ji had never known he was such a weak person. Not long ago, he had made up his mind to no longer pay attention to her, to no longer approach this person.
He was someone who, once he made up his mind, even if a blade pierced his chest, tearing through his flesh and bone, he wouldn’t easily change.
Too… useless.
"What’s wrong?" Lin Yuan tilted her head and asked him.
In the dark, enclosed space, the faint light shone on her face, like a hazy moon peeking into a dream.
The moon didn't know her beauty in the night.
She wouldn't know what he was thinking.
If he couldn’t control his heart, at least he wouldn’t let her know.
Ni Ji looked away, folded the paper, and put it in his chest pocket.
"Let’s go," he pressed the door handle. "The fight won’t be easy."
The fight was very difficult.
Sharp alarms rang in every corner of the palace.
All the metal-headed soldiers frantically and angrily darted back and forth through the buildings and the garden.
They weren't just muddle-headed monsters, but warriors with thoughts and intelligence, and also powerful bodies and ferocious attack capabilities.
This made each individual incredibly strong.
"Thief! Find the thief!"
"Find them! Despicable thieves!"
Red eyes everywhere, the clanging of metal, the sound of hurried footsteps like a hurricane.
Ni Ji stood firmly on a railing, catching Lin Yuan as she jumped down from above.
Then he hung upside down, extending his arm to gently place Lin Yuan onto the corridor on the next level.
Almost at the same moment, a team of metal guards with glowing red eyes appeared at both ends of the corridor.
They had heavy metal heads, but their footsteps were as eerie as a ghost’s.
Holding their weapons, their bodies leaning forward, their feet on the walls, they silently swept past like the wind, their speed fast enough for them to move along vertical walls.
Ni Ji exerted force in his waist, nimbly retracting his body before the enemy’s red eyes looked up.
His fingers and toes gripped the cracks on the outer wall of the railing, almost like a gecko clinging to the outside of the corridor.
The monsters swept past the walkway, only half a person's height away from where Ni Ji was hiding.
If any of the monsters had poked their heads out even a little bit, they would have seen Ni Ji hanging there.
Ni Ji held his breath, suppressed his emotions, clinging to the wall, motionless.
His black tactical suit almost completely blended him into the night.
A whole team of mutated creatures passed by him.
Among them, a huge mutated creature, dragging heavy shackles, slowed his pace as he passed the wall where Ni Ji was hiding.
"I… I seem… to sense something," a hesitant voice came from his hexagonal head.
【No, you didn’t find anything.】
A voice rang out in his mind.
Hexagon froze. “Ah, yes… nothing.”
He caught up with his teammates.
At the other end of the corridor, the search team that had passed through was about to disappear at the end of the walkway.
The mutated creature walking last suddenly stopped.
The single eye on his triangular pyramid head blinked, a puzzled look appearing.
"I seem to sense something."
He turned back, the color in his single eye gradually turning blood red. His white-gloved fingers lightly scratched the wall beside him.
The solid wall easily turned to powder in his slender fingers.
Triangular Pyramid brushed the powder from his hand, straightened his tie, and slowly, unhurriedly, walked towards where Ni Ji was located.
【No, you haven’t found anything.】
A powerful and simple command forcefully rang out in his mind.
Triangular Pyramid’s eyes became blank for a moment, before regaining clarity a moment later.
A deep red, the anger of being tricked, appeared in his eyes. But the next moment, he became confused again.
This repeated several times.
【Go back, you haven’t found anything.】
【Turn around.】
【Go back, immediately!】
He heard majestic voices coming from somewhere.
One after another.
Heavy, powerful, irresistible.
Like some giant beings he didn’t dare look at, vaguely appearing in the darkness, right before his eyes.
Huge, mysterious, indescribable, like the feeling their king gave him.
Triangular Pyramid felt his consciousness dissolving.
Something, a powerful and irresistible will, was dismantling his metal brain, invading his still unstable mental world.
His young mental world couldn’t withstand the powerful and focused invasion.
It began to dissolve, to collapse.
His will became muddled, and he gradually lost control of his body.
In front of those indescribable giant beings, Triangular Pyramid suddenly felt pathetically small.
He once thought he was very powerful. He had a strong body and a thinking mind.
More powerful than those muddle-headed, ignorant companions beside him.
Today, he finally realized he was still very young.
Young, fragile, without the ability to protect himself.
Just a little more, and that being would tear him apart, destroying the small core that had finally formed in his mind.
Returning him to that muddled, ignorant world.
The metal head experienced an emotion called terror. His heart clenched, his body trembled, sweat soaking the shirt on his back.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but could no longer speak. He could only open his single eye, waiting for the final blow.
Just at this moment, a soft sigh rang out.
“Sigh.”
So you also know fear. A soft voice said.
The powerful invading presence receded like a tide, disappearing without a trace, just as it had come.
Triangular Pyramid collapsed to the ground, touching the cold, half-corroded metal head on his neck.
He knew he had been spared. He also knew who that sigh came from.
A lady whose voice he had heard twice, a voice he was already familiar with.
But he knew he couldn't tell anyone about this, couldn't call any of his companions.
If he still wanted to live.
Triangular Pyramid supported himself against the wall, stood up, bowed slightly, and silently chased after his companions.
From then on, he gained something that his companions didn't have.
He learned selfishness.
The corridor became quiet.
Ni Ji silently moved along the outer wall, landing on the building's bottom floor, exchanging a hand gesture of praise with Lin Yuan, who was hiding there.
They continued moving stealthily like this.
After several unavoidable battles, Ni Ji's blood-red blade appeared, cutting his palm, drinking his blood, the red blade shattering the countless monsters surging towards them.
"I got this weapon from the No. 100 Contaminated Zone. It's very useful, just a little… unusual." He showed the blade to Lin Yuan.
The blade was like a living thing.
Fresh blood stained its edge, its hilt, having sucked Ni Ji’s blood, bulged with crooked blood vessels. Held in his black-gloved hand, it even spoke.
"Hi, how rare, a Kraken," the hilt, when Ni Ji showed it to Lin Yuan, greeted her in a strange voice.
"Ah, hello. Why do you have to make him bleed?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Without blood, I can't exert my full strength. This is our contract," the voice said. "This brat’s blood is very sweet. You can also try it sometime."
Ni Ji, his face expressionless, gripped the hilt and put the blade back into its sheath.
"You can find many good things in contaminated zones. Strange functions, but very suitable for battle," Ni Ji said to Lin Yuan. "If one day…"
If one day, I find a blade suitable for you, I'll bring it out for you.
He swallowed the rest of the sentence, not saying it out loud. It would have seemed too intimate.
Some things didn’t need to be said, as long as he remembered to do it.
Lin Yuan also wanted to show Ni Ji something of hers. Reciprocation was a human custom, wasn't it?
She suddenly realized she didn't have any noteworthy possessions.
Other than those mental bodies that often didn't listen to her commands.
The sentinel’s mental body materialized into a not-so-large orca.
The black and white whale floated in mid-air, accompanying them, taking on important tasks such as vigilance and providing cover.
And because Lin Yuan’s mental bodies were too numerous, she often couldn't control those guys, who all had their own ideas, when she was concentrating on fighting.
Often, before she realized it, one of them would slip out and cling to the orca floating in the air.
【I’m so tired, I need to recharge.】
One especially shameless one was the first to do this.
【I’ve worked so hard, can't I even rest for a bit?】
【Oh, so naggy.】
【I didn’t do anything rude.】
【He's very strong, he won’t mind carrying me for a bit.】
【Big fish is actually very happy.】
【Look, his calls sound so nice.】
The orca's soft calls did sound nice.
Lin Yuan, distracted by the sound, didn't manage to stop the one clinging to the orca’s tail.
And so, the others couldn’t be stopped either.
The crooked tentacles hung on the orca, refusing to walk on their own.
This seemed a bit too much.
Lin Yuan wasn't sure if her actions were wrong.
Without a reference, she often couldn't tell whether her actions were like a normal person’s.
Fortunately, the battle was too intense, another wave of mutated creatures chased after them from downstairs, preventing her from thinking too much.
And fortunately, the sentinel beside her was a professional warrior, a powerhouse on the battlefield.
He held his red blade, his brows furrowed, his face cold, focused on the dangerous battle. As if he didn't mind the noise between the mental bodies.
This made Lin Yuan relax.
I should learn from him, focus on the battle, stop thinking about what the mental bodies are doing.
Lin Yuan was very good at imitating the behavior of those around her.
Soon, according to plan, they ran into a crude-looking building.
According to Ni Ji’s explanation, there was a garbage chute here, long and narrow, that led all the way to the outside of the palace.
Ni Ji had said, look, the residents of this palace think that this building was created by some mysterious power, but that's not the case.
Originally, real humans lived here, it was a man-made product.
As long as it was a place where people lived, there was no such thing as being completely impenetrable, there would always be various entrances and exits.
Ventilation, sewage, garbage disposal, servant entrances, etc.
Sentinels would enter the contaminated zone during "daytime," find these openings, sneak in, and take the contaminated zone’s key.
The passage to leave the palace was right in front of them. The sharp alarm that had been constantly ringing in every corner suddenly changed.
It turned into giggling laughter.
Lin Yuan had heard that sound before, in that white birdcage, those black hands that chased after her had made this strange, girlish giggling sound.
"They're in the decontamination building."
"They're in the decontamination building."
That giggling voice, almost like a nursery rhyme, sang out Lin Yuan and Ni Ji's location.
"They’re in the basement, hiding in the first room on the left."
"They're in the basement, now they’re in the second room on the right."
The clear nursery rhyme rang out, exposing Lin Yuan and Ni Ji's hiding place.
There was nowhere to hide.
Countless enemies swarmed towards them, and the two could only stop hiding, fighting with all their might, running forward through constant bloody battles.
One wave of enemies fell, another wave chased after them from corridors, from windows, from all sorts of passages, as if they were endless.
"It's okay," Lin Yuan heard the sentinel beside her say.
The sentinel was very close, sweat dripping from his forehead, murderous purple light burning in his eyes.
But his voice was gentle.
Lin Yuan detected an emotion of trying to comfort her in his voice.
Comfort.
She thought about this word.
It was a complex human characteristic.
She seemed to have done this kind of thing before.
Touching the trembling little seal’s head was comfort.
Wrapping the wet little lion in her clothes was also comfort.
Lin Yuan was slightly distracted as she ran and fought.
The image of her huge mental bodies appeared in her mind. She thought of a small human arm reaching out, trying to touch the huge mental body’s head, and saying to them, "Don't be afraid."
Thinking of this scene, Lin Yuan found it very funny.
Not bad, at least she had experienced the feeling of wanting to laugh several times recently.
It could be considered a gain, perhaps.
A flash of red blade light.
Several deep cuts appeared on Ni Ji’s limbs at the same time, fresh blood flowing profusely, but not a single drop fell to the ground, all absorbed by the bloodthirsty long blade.
The blade became extremely wide and long, its giant back resting on Ni Ji’s shoulder, horizontally blocking the corridor.
Ni Ji lowered his body and struck!
A flash of a giant, blood-red crescent!
Just this one strike.
A swathe of enemies were cut in half, along with several layers of stairs and walkways, collapsing and falling downwards with a rumble.
Ni Ji pulled Lin Yuan, put away his blade, and sprinted forward through the flying dust and smoke.
They finally arrived at the inconspicuous garbage chute.
The sound of the collapsing walkway still rumbled, and the smoke hadn't dispersed yet. But they both knew that more people would be chasing after them soon.
Ni Ji opened the chute's dusty little door.
It was a square duct that extended downwards, who knew how far, barely big enough for one person, its metal walls smooth, its bottom invisible in the darkness.
Sliding down from here, if they weren’t caught by the enemy, they would escape.
Ni Ji, panting, took off his black tactical gloves and put them on Lin Yuan’s hands.
His movements as he put them on were very careful, trying his best not to touch the Guide’s delicate skin.
The tactical gloves’ elasticity was very good. Worn on Lin Yuan’s small hands, they were only slightly loose.
"You'll slide down very quickly," Ni Ji instructed. "Use your palms and shoes to increase friction, don't let your skin touch the walls of the duct."
"After you get out, find the others, and immediately open the ‘door’ to leave the contaminated zone."
Only then did Lin Yuan realize that the sentinel didn’t seem to intend to leave with her.
"Then what about you?" she asked.
"The passage is very long. If we go down together, they'll catch up when we’re halfway there," Ni Ji checked Lin Yuan's backpack, calmly explaining the situation to her. "Trapped in a duct like this, we'll have no way out."
Hurried footsteps came from the walkway, the enemies were here again.
Lin Yuan asked him one last time, "Then how are you getting out?"
"The contaminated zone’s door will stay open for 24 hours," Ni Ji put away the hand-shaped key, fastening the backpack onto Lin Yuan. "Before the door closes, I'll find a way out."
His voice was very calm, as if talking about something that could be easily done.
He held Lin Yuan's hands, slowly lowering her into the narrow duct.
He held her hands, bent down, looking at her from the opening of the duct.
"It’s okay, they don’t want to kill anyone, at most they’ll only catch me."
Lin Yuan’s entire body had already slid into the smooth duct, her black-gloved hand holding onto Ni Ji’s.
The world below her feet led to a path of survival, while behind Ni Ji, flames of war raged.
She looked up at the sentinel's eyes.
The sentinel held her hands, his eyes gentle, a beautiful emotion seemingly hidden within.
Lin Yuan looked at those eyes, almost forgetting the world around her.
This was the first time, without using her tentacles, using only her own eyes, her own hands, that she could see, could touch, another person's emotions.
Those eyes were looking at her, not at a monster, but at a beautiful life that brought him joy.
This feeling was so good, it almost pierced Lin Yuan’s heart.
In someone else’s eyes, I’m not a monster.
Lin Yuan opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
But he had already let go of her hand.
The square world above her head rapidly shrunk.
She fell.
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