Invasion - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Ni Ji ran very quickly.

But Lin Yuan could still feel something chasing after them.

Those things emerged from the ground, hidden in the earth, hidden in the shadows, surging as they pursued them.

From afar, she could only see black smoke rising from the streets and alleys in the distance.

Lin Yuan knew what that was. Although they had only clashed once, Lin Yuan was already very familiar with that style, it was those twisted and abnormal black arms that had been trying to keep her there.

Ni Ji ran all the way to the seaside, and by that golden shore, he suddenly put down Lin Yuan, who he had been carrying on his back.

"Don't turn around yet," he said.

Lin Yuan was puzzled until she heard the sound of splashing water. She turned around and saw that the sentinel beside her was gone, only a tattered black combat suit was left on the beach.

An orca emerged from the white-capped sea.

It was a male, adult orca, with a huge body six or seven meters long, a broad back, and a tall, erect dorsal fin.

"No one can catch me in the sea," Ni Ji's voice came from underwater.

Lin Yuan kicked off her shoes and lay down on the orca's pure black back. The whale's tail swayed, its body breaking through the waves, speeding forward.

"Can you hold on?" Ni Ji’s voice came from the water.

Lin Yuan didn't speak, the waves hitting her face, it felt very comfortable. She reached out and touched the orca’s smooth skin.

Ni Ji realized he had asked a pointless question.

The Guide’s feet had undergone some kind of change, something Ni Ji was very familiar with emerged, a smooth, cold, familiar feeling, small suckers firmly gripping him.

The Guide, riding on the orca’s back, firmly held onto him.

The giant whale swam very quickly in the sea, and Lin Yuan felt the strong wind, the waves, and the sound of flowing water.

This was the first time she had tried to partially transform her body. The tentacles tightly wrapped around the orca, and the orca carried her, swimming freely in the seawater.

Lin Yuan discovered that her mental body and this sentinel were truly compatible, no matter the circumstances.

She also discovered that she really liked the ocean, even at a time like this, when they were escaping.

In the ocean, her consciousness seemed to be able to expand further. The tentacles sent warnings, they sensed something in the depths of the seabed, restlessly surging upwards.

Perhaps right below that sunken Mary, or perhaps in a deeper, darker place.

Something turbulent, dark, and filled with malice was chasing after them.

Lin Yuan confirmed this time that those black arms that had been chasing them, the thick malice emerging from the seabed, were all coming for her.

Or perhaps for the inconspicuous little box in her backpack.

She stood up on the orca’s back, holding onto its tall dorsal fin, and looked back.

Huge waves rose on the distant sea. Those black arms twisted and solidified under the sea, chasing after them, merging with countless corpses on the seabed, gradually forming an extremely strange behemoth, raising its grotesque, giant head in the ocean.

That monster made a noisy and strange sound, like countless lives screaming and clamoring at the same time.

They roared and surged, aggressively, rolling forward, as if they swore to catch up with the man and the whale, melt them into a pure black world, and drag them into a dark abyss.

However, even such a strange, giant creature couldn't easily catch up to Ni Ji’s speed after he had transformed in the sea.

The incredibly fast orca, without looking back, split the sea, like an arrow leaving the bowstring, speeding forward.

But Lin Yuan knew that this whale, this sentinel, was using his own flesh and blood, burning his life, to achieve this speed.

"I won’t let you catch him again,"

"And I won’t let you have another chance to torture him like that."

Lin Yuan stood on the orca’s back, her feet on the rolling waves, the bright light of the moon appearing in her eyes.

At first, it was the clear light of the cold moon, then it gradually turned red.

The thousands of brilliant stars in the sky instantly disappeared, replaced by a giant blood moon.

Under the blood moon, the young woman standing on the orca's back, her hands slender and fair, her figure graceful, but her eyes shone with an eerie red light, facing the sea monster that was closely pursuing them.

An even more ancient, even more massive creature, under the light of the blood moon, revealed a faint shadow in the deep sea.

Numerous giant tentacles moved, touching the reefs on the seabed, slapping and stirring up huge waves, slowly moving towards the black-handed monster that was chasing after them.

Those aggressive, surging black arms hesitated.

They slowed down, hesitantly and unwillingly wandering on the seabed. Unwilling, resentful, frustrated, yet still hesitant, not daring to rashly move forward.

In this contaminated zone, in this nightmare that belonged solely to them, this was the first time they had encountered a giant mental body that made them wary and hesitant, that they didn’t dare approach.

Only, after a while,

The blood moon in the sky dispersed, and the shadow of the giant sea monster blocking them also dissipated.

However, just this short delay, the figures of the man and the whale could no longer be seen on the sea.

They had swam to the escape gate, leapt up with the waves, and jumped into the doorway half-opened in the void.

…

Lin Yuan and the orca jumped out from the escape gate open in the air together.

The dreamlike, brilliant starry sky disappeared.

The outside world was early morning, a cool morning breeze blowing on their skin, the light of dawn dyeing the sky white, two or three ordinary stars dotted the horizon.

This was the normal world.

They were finally out, they had escaped from that eerie and strange No. 5 Contaminated Zone, alive.

This time, the escape gate in the real world was also opened on a blue sea.

Lin Yuan, having just emerged from the sea, fell into the cold seawater again. The orca swam up from below, carrying her towards the shore.

"Are you alright? Should I undo everything now?" Lin Yuan touched the orca's smooth back.

"Wait a little longer," Ni Ji's deep voice came from underwater, calm, without any unnecessary words.

This was the deep sea, still far from the coastline. The moment the block was undone, hundreds of times the pain would surge through the sentinel’s body.

This wasn’t a suitable place to suddenly lift the block.

The orca quickly carried Lin Yuan towards the shore.

Halfway there,

"Lin Yuan, I seem…"

Lin Yuan heard Ni Ji's voice. It was very soft, already very wrong.

The next moment, the force carrying her suddenly disappeared.

Lin Yuan reached out, grabbing a smooth, cold arm.

The arm's owner had returned to his human form, completely unconscious, sinking into the sea.

Lin Yuan, having grown up in the White Tower, had never swum in the sea of the real world.

She grabbed Ni Ji’s hand, being pulled down into the water by the unconscious sentinel.

The moment her entire body was submerged, the seawater covering her face, Lin Yuan felt a very familiar feeling, as if she had swum in the sea many times before, as if she naturally knew how to swim.

She moved her legs and arms, quickly surfacing. She pulled Ni Ji, holding his chin to keep his mouth and nose above the water, struggling to swim towards the distant shore, carrying the unconscious sentinel.

Lin Yuan didn't know how long they swam in the sea, her strength was completely exhausted. In the end, it was the waves that washed them ashore.

When she woke up on the beach, it was already bright daylight.

Lin Yuan opened her eyes and saw several seabirds circling in the sky.

She sat up and realized she had fallen asleep on the beach. She looked around, finally finding the sentinel under a large reef.

The sentinel, who had returned to his human form midway, was naked, curled up in the shallow water under the reef.

The seawater, carrying white foam, rolled up, washing over his bare back, submerging his lowered head, face, and black hair, then receding.

Again and again, but the body half-soaked in seawater remained motionless.

His back to Lin Yuan, crisscrossing scars covered his bare back, his long legs curled up, stained with yellow sand and blood, pale from being soaked in seawater.

He looked like a corpse washed ashore by the waves.

Lin Yuan slowly stood up, walking towards him.

She came to the body lying in the water, and put her hand on the sentinel’s shoulder. The skin there was cold, without any warmth.

She turned the sentinel over, holding his cold shoulder, pinching his chin, turning his seawater-soaked face towards her.

Half of that face was covered with sand and seawater, his eyes tightly closed, his lips bloodless.

Had he, also died?

Lin Yuan felt that she shouldn't feel anything.

Wasn’t this normal? She had already experienced this when she was very young, experiencing it again didn’t mean anything.

Only, her heart, for some reason, felt like someone had stuffed a heavy piece of iron inside.

That rusted piece of iron fell in her chest, pulling at her heart and lungs, making her irritated, making her want to bite her fingers.

Lin Yuan didn't know if time had stopped, or a long time had passed.

Until she finally detected a slight emotional fluctuation, until the seawater-soaked eyelashes on the face she was holding trembled slightly.

Those eyes slowly opened.

The sentinel saw her, weakly, almost unable to speak, but he smiled at her.

As if saying, see, we’re both okay.

Lin Yuan remembered what her friend Yun Yun had once said to her.

“You ask me when you should smile?” Yun Yun, at that time, had helplessly touched her head. “Xiao Yuan, people smile when they’re happy.”

“As long as you’re truly happy in your heart, you’ll naturally smile.”

Lin Yuan felt that she must be smiling now. Smiling at the sentinel who hadn’t died in the morning light.

The sentinel slightly turned his face away.

"I’m so cold," a hint of color appeared on his earlobes.

Lin Yuan took off her coat and wrapped it around his naked waist.

"It’s okay, just bear with it a little longer, I'll take you to see a doctor right now," she soothed the sentinel happily.

There was a small outpost near the No. 5 Contaminated Zone, looking barren and messy.

But Lin Yuan actually found a clinic with a treatment pod inside.

The doctor in charge of reception, when he saw Lin Yuan bringing in an injured person, became very excited, praising the only, old-fashioned treatment pod in his clinic to the skies.

"Guaranteed, guaranteed. Any sentinel injured in the No. 5 Contaminated Zone, I’ve cured them all here."

Ni Ji was placed inside a semi-transparent, enclosed treatment pod. Light green treatment fluid flowed out, slowly submerging his entire body.

So painful, he thought, so painful.

He was a soldier used to pain.

But he hadn't imagined that there could be such pain in the world.

Clearly floating in warm treatment fluid, yet it was like his entire body was being tortured. Red-hot iron nails repeatedly pierced his body, all his bones melting, even every breath bringing sharp pain.

He couldn't even control the constant trembling of his arms.

This was the backlash, the price of overdrawing his body.

But he felt that he was willing to bear this.

At least he was still alive, at least he hadn’t implicated anyone.

He hadn't died, and hadn't caused that Guide to experience that kind of pain again.

Ni Ji gritted his teeth, not letting a single sound of pain escape his throat.

"This sentinel is very seriously injured," the doctor, wearing glasses, looked at the sentinel in the treatment pod, nimbly adjusting the data on the instrument panel. "It's a miracle he even managed to escape the contaminated zone alive in this state."

"But it’s nothing, as long as he lies in my treatment pod here, any injury can be cured." He quickly showed the adjusted data panel to Lin Yuan, pointing at the price column. "Discounted price, a special offer for you. Guaranteed to return a lively sentinel to you."

Lin Yuan’s cold, expressionless face made the enthusiastic doctor feel a little frustrated.

"Where's the anesthetic?" Lin Yuan, after looking at the panel, asked.

"Anes… anesthetic?" The doctor was very surprised. "He’s a sentinel, you know? Ordinary anesthetics don't work on sentinels.”

Ordinary anesthetics had no effect on sentinels with their enhanced five senses. Special anesthetics for sentinels were very expensive. Most outpost sentinels couldn't afford such luxury.

Moreover, the doctor felt it wasn’t necessary. Sentinels had strong physiques and recovered very quickly, a little pain, they could just endure it.

"But he’s in a lot of pain right now," the young woman said flatly.

Ni Ji in the treatment pod opened his eyes.

"Are you sure? That’ll cost quite a bit more," the doctor muttered. "Almost double the cost of normal treatment. Such a waste, he won’t die from a little pain."

He opened the safe, took out a thin syringe, and after getting Lin Yuan's consent, injected it into the treatment pod's medicine tube.

The sentinel, floating in the treatment fluid, finally relaxed his tense shoulders.

He couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sigh.

Like he had been brought out of an endless hell of burning torture and had fallen into a warm ocean.

No one understood this feeling. Because no one knew what kind of pain he had been enduring.

No, there was one person, she knew. Ni Ji thought of what Lin Yuan had just said.

Give him an anesthetic, he's in a lot of pain.

Ni Ji didn't turn to look at the Guide talking to the doctor outside the glass window, he looked up at the treatment pod above him.

The green treatment fluid floating before his eyes was beautiful, a little like the sea in his mental landscape.

Lin Yuan talked to the doctor, she didn't expect him to hear everything she said, to carefully collect her words, turn them into beautiful pearls, and store them in the deepest part of his mental landscape.

"He has a lot of old injuries," the doctor said to Lin Yuan. "Do you want to treat them at the same time this time? That way, the patient will suffer less in the future."

"For example, the old injury on his leg, we can do surgery while he’s here. And also his elbow, finger bones, there are some issues with his lungs too…" The doctor kept talking, looking at the growing bill, he himself felt that it was an exorbitant amount, even though he had minimized his profit, it was still a shocking amount.

He hesitantly looked up at the young woman beside him.

"Of course," the cold-faced Guide said. "Give him the best treatment. Money is no object."

Ni Ji, isolated in the treatment pod, closed his eyes, slightly curling his palm.

"Change this U55 to U96, and the regenerative fluid, do you have No. 233 regenerative fluid? Change it to the best one."

"I do, but are you sure?" The doctor gasped, calculated it again, and handed the digital tablet over. "This is not a small amount."

The voices of the conversation outside the treatment pod continued.

Ni Ji felt a little dazed. He remembered his time at the sentinel academy. Back then, he was still very young, he had been seriously injured to win a game for the school, and needed to enter a treatment pod for there to be hope of a complete recovery.

Cao Junmin had looked very troubled. "Xiao Ji, the school really can’t afford such an expense, you’ll have to make do for now.”

It was many years later that he learned, it wasn't that they couldn’t afford it, but that it wasn't worth it.

In Teacher's eyes, a disobedient student like him wasn't worth spending so much money to treat.

"Use the best medicine, cure him completely. Money is not a problem."

The Guide's voice came through the water.

She didn’t even know that he could hear everything.

Ni Ji really didn’t want to fall asleep at this moment, but the pain had subsided, his body was tired, and his heart was so peaceful.

In the end, he couldn't resist the drowsiness, floating in the treatment fluid, he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the body-splitting pain had subsided considerably.

His legs, which had been broken once, his lungs, which had been tormenting him for years, seemed to feel much better.

He felt like he had truly come back to life.

Floating in the turquoise treatment fluid, looking at everything outside, the world felt unreal.

The lights in the treatment room were dim, the doctor had left, and it was very quiet.

He looked through the turquoise glass and saw the Guide sleeping on the sofa not far away.

There were grains of sand from the seaside on her delicate, porcelain-like face. Her head rested on her slender arm, lying on the square table by the sofa, sleeping soundly.

The warm yellow light from a ceiling lamp shone on the girl's sleeping face, illuminating her small, exposed shoulders, softening her outline.

Ni Ji couldn't help but think, how had she, with such slender shoulders, carried him on her back?

How had she, with such soft fingers, pried open the iron lock on his neck, rescuing him from that humiliating predicament?

A small orca materialized in mid-air, picking up the seawater-soaked, wrinkled coat from the edge of the sofa, and gently covering Lin Yuan’s shoulders.

Lin Yuan, in her sleep, slightly moved her shoulders.

A tentacle, having woken up at some point, saw the little orca, and happily wrapped around it.

Taking advantage of no one controlling it, this tentacle, which often caused trouble, freely rubbed the little orca’s head and dorsal fin, not forgetting its soft belly.

The little orca uncomfortably swayed its tail, but didn't run away, and didn’t make a sound.

It just stiffly stood by Lin Yuan's feet, indulging a certain tentacle’s actions. Lin Yuan was sleeping soundly, having dreamt of something good, a slight smile on her lips.

The tentacle wrapped around its tail, touching the seriously injured area.

Its pointed tip curled, first cautiously touching, then gently stroking, repeatedly, carefully licking the exposed white bone in the wound.

The little whale let out a soft whimper, its dorsal fin and tail fin softening, drooping to the ground.

The wound that pierced its tail slowly began to heal at a visible speed under the tentacle's touch.

If the doctor came here at this moment, he would discover that the data on the instrument panel outside the treatment pod was abnormal.

The red, heart-shaped symbol kept flashing, indicating that the patient lying in the solution, his heart rate, was abnormally high.

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