Invasion - Chapter 40
Chapter 40
In the vast wilderness, a long-distance bus, full of passengers, sped across the dark brown land.
The bus had been modified, its roof pieced together with various weapons from different eras. Those messy gun barrels and cannon muzzles, pointed in all directions, made the entire vehicle look like a bristling hedgehog.
In this era, long-distance travel was a very dangerous thing. In the wilderness, without the protection of watchtowers, the dangers one might encounter weren’t just the occasional monsters that escaped from contaminated zones.
The greater danger came from humans themselves.
In deserted places, killing and plunder could happen at any time. Countless bandits lurked along the journey, preying on travelers, they were the greatest threat to passengers’ lives.
In an era of extreme food and resource scarcity, the predatory and murderous beast within human blood had been magnified to the extreme.
The cruelty and savagery of those bandits who ambushed in the wilderness, burning, killing, and looting, were often more terrifying than non-human monsters.
High in the sky, a pure white gyrfalcon let out a clear cry, its white wings spread under the sunlight, following the bus speeding across the wilderness from afar.
In the withered woods on one side of the road, a majestic golden lion moved through the trees.
On the other side, a striped tiger, carrying a sentinel's uniform bag on its back, followed the vehicle from a distance.
"Are those, sentinels?" A young woman in the bus asked her boyfriend, who was sitting beside her.
"Yes, looking at the logo on their backpacks, they should be sentinels from the Dongbin outpost," her boyfriend looked at the birds of prey outside the window. "Looking at this, they must be seeing someone off on this bus."
"Wow, who is it? To have so many sentinels seeing them off," the girl, on her first long-distance trip, was very excited.
Her boyfriend smiled relaxedly. "Anyway, thanks to them, with these sentinels around, we can be much more at ease."
No matter how ferocious those bandits were, when they saw a vehicle escorted by so many powerful sentinels, they would stay far away.
They finally didn't have to be scared and worried throughout this journey.
The girl, very excited, looked around the bus, trying to find the "important person" who had so many powerful warriors escorting them.
She didn't see any passenger who looked particularly special, but noticed that the passenger sitting next to her was a girl about her age.
The girl seemed to be traveling alone, with a bulging backpack and two net bags full of snacks. She was extremely beautiful, but her face was expressionless, looking out the window with an indifferent look, not as excited as she was.
"Are you going to the capital by yourself?" The girl started talking to the person sitting next to her. She had an enthusiastic personality and was very outgoing.
"These were all packed for you by your family, right?" She pointed at the snack bags in her neighbor’s hands, and also opened her own backpack to show her.
"It seems we’re all the same. My mother, when she heard I was leaving, insisted on packing so many things, whether they’re useful or not."
The girl next to her looked at her backpack, then at her own, thought about the word "family" for a moment, and nodded.
"This is my first time going to the capital, I don’t know what it’s like there. I heard it's as beautiful as paradise."
"Who do you think those sentinels following behind the bus are seeing off? They've been following for so long, it must be someone very important to them."
"When I get to the capital, my mother and my friends will definitely miss me very much. But it's okay, I'll write to them often."
"Although my mother is a bit naggy, sometimes I think it's pretty nice to have someone who cares about you. Don’t you think?"
Amidst the girl's chatter, Lin Yuan looked out the window, at the small bird flying high in the sky, seemingly reluctant to leave.
The bird’s wings were pure white, soaring in the blue sky, free and unrestrained.
Fish swam in the ocean, the vast ocean, free and unrestrained.
If she could, she really didn’t want to return to that small city, to that small tower.
Guides, why did they have to be protected in the capital, kept in that White Tower?
Lin Yuan stood outside the gate of her home, using her key to open the heavy carved door.
The cleaning lady who regularly came to clean her house stopped her outside.
"Miss, this is your package," she handed over a courier box. "It arrived yesterday, but you weren’t home. So I kept it for you."
Lin Yuan nodded and took the box.
"That…" the cleaning lady said with an apologetic smile. "I’m sorry, my daughter-in-law wants me to go back and help take care of the baby. I won’t be able to do this job anymore, starting today."
Lin Yuan calmly stated the facts, "When you came to apply for the job, didn’t you say that your daughter-in-law had just given birth, and that your family needed money, and you really needed this job?"
The cleaning lady became embarrassed, her fingers nervously rubbing the corner of her clothes.
How could this miss be like this, not giving her any face?
Lin Yuan looked at her for a moment. "I can give you double the salary, you know, my family really needs someone to help with shopping and chores regularly."
Hearing "double the salary", the cleaning lady was tempted, her knuckles turning white as she rubbed the corner of her clothes, struggling for a long time before finally saying,
"Miss, it's not that I think the pay is too low, but I really don't dare to do this job anymore."
She looked around, leaning closer to Lin Yuan, and whispered, "Your house is really, too desolate, it’s not suitable for living in."
"I advise you to move too. I've seen it several times, seen that…"
A gust of wind blew past, and from the open gate, came creaking sounds from the deep courtyard.
The cleaning lady suddenly shivered, looking at the young woman standing at the entrance of the large, desolate courtyard. She inexplicably didn't dare to continue.
This young woman, so beautiful, with a fair face, slender arms and legs, living alone in such an overgrown courtyard.
Just thinking about it, she didn’t seem like a normal person, especially frightening.
She remembered some rumors about this family, remembering the tragic accident that had happened to the family who used to live in this courtyard. Finally, she couldn't even care about the double salary anymore, stuffing the key into Lin Yuan’s hand.
"An- anyway… I really have to go home and take care of my grandchild, I’m sorry, miss."
Lin Yuan watched the back of the cleaning lady hurrying away after receiving her pay.
The tentacles brought back a genuine fear from her.
Towards her, and towards the house behind her.
Lin Yuan found a familiar feeling from her childhood.
That feeling of being feared, dreaded, and loathed by everyone. Everything here, was still the same as before, nothing had changed at all.
Before even entering her house, she started to miss the ocean and the small outpost by the sea.
Even the battles in the contaminated zone seemed to become something to yearn for.
Lin Yuan closed the courtyard gate and walked inwards along the overgrown path.
Winter had arrived, the leaves of many plants in the courtyard had withered and turned yellow, looking even more desolate, it really felt like a haunted house.
Not to mention that several cleaning staff had run away, even her friend Cao Yunyun didn’t dare to come to her house to play.
She should at least hire a gardener. Lin Yuan thought.
Although her parents had left her a lot of inheritance, she couldn’t manage housework.
It wasn’t her fault, she had grown up in the White Tower, and only after becoming an adult did she gain the right to return home and live here.
What "home" was, was only a vague concept in Lin Yuan's mind.
Lin Yuan walked through the overgrown courtyard, remembering Shen Fei’s small courtyard, filled with evening primroses and roses.
She could drink a little wine amidst the fragrance of flowers, the evening primrose petals swaying in the wind, the slightly tipsy feeling brought by alcohol.
It was always lively there, always filled with people.
In the dark main building, a small lamp was still left on in the entrance hall.
Lin Yuan put the courier box on the cabinet in the entrance hall and took off her shoes at the door.
The entire building was silent, not a single sound.
"Come out, what are you hiding for?" Lin Yuan said.
From the shadows under the stairs, a small, pale face peeked out. Like she had done something wrong, not daring to look at her.
"We can hire another cleaning lady," Lin Yuan said indifferently, putting the pile of food she had brought back into the kitchen.
Then she walked back to the dining table, sat down, and started opening the courier box.
A figure in a maid uniform quietly slipped into the kitchen.
The kitchen lights came on, and the sounds of chopping vegetables and boiling water came from inside. Soon, the aroma of food drifted from the kitchen to the living room.
"Miss, was your trip this time smooth? You were gone for so long," the girl’s soft voice came from the kitchen.
"Not bad, I got what I wanted, and made a lot of…" Lin Yuan thought for a moment, choosing a word, "friends."
The courier box was opened. This seemed to be the first time Lin Yuan had received a package at home, she felt that it was a novel experience.
Inside the cardboard box was a double-layered food container.
She pulled out the top layer. It was a box full of tribute candy, each piece wrapped in red paper.
The simple red paper was neatly folded, placed side by side, the aroma of sugar and peanuts mixing together, wafting out.
Lin Yuan remembered the last time she had eaten this candy.
In that dim, narrow little room, starving, the sentinel beside her had handed over two such red paper packets, wearing black gloves.
Lin Yuan knew who had sent this gift.
It was Little Fish.
Since they last parted ways, although they had added each other on their personal terminals, he hadn't sent her a single message. Lin Yuan had thought he had forgotten her.
She opened the second layer of the container, and a small dagger lay quietly inside.
The dagger was very light and delicate, she didn't know what material it was made of, but it wasn’t cold to the touch, instead, it felt slightly warm.
The hilt was pure black, the rich black extending to the back of the blade, but the edge was pure white. The black and white blending together, it was very beautiful.
That thin blade was too sharp, Lin Yuan gently touched it with her finger, and a cut appeared on her fingertip.
A red bead of blood rolled along the snow-white blade, not absorbed by it at all.
Lin Yuan waited expectantly for a long time, but didn't hear any voice from the hilt.
It seemed that this blade was different from Ni Ji's blood-sucking, talking blade.
Lin Yuan was a little disappointed. She took the blade out of the box, played with it in her hand, and with a thought, the black and white blade seemed to melt like a liquid.
The short blade melted, elongated, and smoothly formed a thin ring, wrapping itself around Lin Yuan's wrist, like a beautifully crafted bracelet, no longer looking like a blade at all.
"Wow," Lin Yuan was delighted.
Carrying weapons wasn't allowed in many places in the imperial capital.
But she had just learned how to use a blade, her hand itching for it, she wanted to carry a blade with her everywhere.
This special dagger, which she could carry with her at any time, was exactly what she wanted.
Ni Ji had been back for a long time, he seemed to know that she had also returned these past few days, but hadn't contacted her at all.
She didn't know what that whale was busy with.
Cao Junmin from the Public Security Bureau had been having a good time recently.
Originally, his biggest backer, Count James, had died, and he, having been at the banquet, had only learned about it later, shouldering the blame for inadequate security. He was very worried for a while, thinking he might lose his position.
But the situation had recently improved because he had successfully gotten on Minister of Military Affairs Jiang Yimei’s good side.
Minister Jiang Yimei, over fifty years old, came from an old aristocratic family, held great power, and was arrogant, harsh, with many unknown quirks, very difficult to please.
The last time, when the Mary shipwreck had appeared in the No. 5 Contaminated Zone, to get those ancient energy stones for her, Cao Junmin had spent a lot of effort and resources to get firsthand intelligence, even sending out his most capable elite team to the No. 5 Contaminated Zone.
But that team of sentinels, handpicked by him from the academy, led by Tan Shu, with the latest intelligence, had returned from the contaminated zone in a sorry state.
Not only had they not brought back the treasure, they had also lost their captain, Tan Shu, and a skilled sentinel, Ni Ji, in there.
Cao Junmin had been furious for several days. Fortunately, after two days, Ni Ji actually managed to escape on his own, returning safe and sound, and had even handed over all the energy stones in Tan Shu’s backpack to him, not one missing.
Several groups in the upper echelons of the White Tower had heard the news and gone to the No. 5 Contaminated Zone. But only Cao Junmin had gotten the treasure from the shipwreck.
He presented those rare energy stones to his new master, Jiang Yimei, successfully boarding the ship of Minister Jiang.
After that incident, Cao Junmin realized that when it was time for real action, he still needed someone like Ni Ji.
He also had some doubts in his heart. He called in the team members who had participated in the operation, questioning them individually. Every single one, even Tan Shu's closest brothers, swore to him that Tan Shu’s death was just an accident, and had nothing to do with Ni Ji.
It was Tan Shu himself who had chosen the route, and when it happened, Ni Ji himself was trapped in battle, the two were very far apart.
Cao Junmin thought about it, even if Ni Ji had done something, it wasn’t a big deal.
He even enjoyed seeing his subordinates use some underhanded methods to compete for a higher position in front of him.
So he put the matter aside, and even praised Ni Ji, promoting him.
As for Tan Shu, it was a pity, but there were plenty of people like him.
Cao Junmin knew in his heart that people like Tan Shu, who were good at flattery, were easy to find. Only someone like Ni Ji, truly capable, a sharp and useful blade, was rare.
Cao Junmin’s gaze searched the banquet hall, and quickly found Ni Ji standing in the corner.
The sentinel was very tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, a pair of long legs, a perfect clothes hanger. No matter where he stood, he was easily noticed.
In the corner of the banquet hall, several people stood around Ni Ji, even though his position was only a small officer in the Public Security Bureau. But he was simply too handsome, and beautiful people were always liked, no matter where they were.
Ni Ji’s hair was loosely styled with hair gel, a few stray strands falling down, a wine glass in his hand, a casual smile in his eyes as he spoke.
He no longer had the cold and stiff appearance from when he had just returned, as if he was already at ease in such settings.
Only, there was still something about him that was different from everyone here. It was a mark burned into his bones from years of being on the battlefield.
Whether it was the stable core strength in his movements, or the occasional sharp glint in his eyes when he narrowed them, he was different from the drunken, loose, and dissolute sentinels around him.
This uniqueness added a special charm to him.
"Got a new person under your command?" Someone, holding a wine glass, came up to Cao Junmin, tilting his chin towards Ni Ji.
Cao Junmin raised his glass in acknowledgement. "He’s a former student of mine. I sent him to the northern border for a few years of training, just called him back.”
"Looks good," the person said. "Good looks and temperament, just the type the Minister likes. Might be favored soon."
Cao Junmin smiled, his demeanor gentle, dignified, and proper, like a leader truly caring about his subordinates.
"He's made quite a few contributions recently. I've shown him to the Minister, the Minister even praised him."
The two exchanged a knowing look and clinked their glasses.
In the transparent crystal wine glasses, amber-colored wine, very expensive. Just one sip was equivalent to several months of living expenses for the poor at the bottom.
The extravagance and luxury of the banquet were unimaginable.
How many of the people present at Jiang Yimei’s banquet didn't understand the little quirks of these nobles?
That important figure from the Jiang family always appeared polite, graceful, and dignified in public, with the elegant demeanor of an aristocratic family.
But in reality, she was extremely greedy and ruthless, never taking the lives of ordinary people seriously.
The bodies she had stepped on to reach her current position could be described as mountains and seas.
The banquet was held at the Minister of Military Affairs’ private residence, with pavilions, waterside terraces, and countless rooms.
The lights everywhere were dim, the air filled with the smell of alcohol and something obscene.
Ni Ji stood alone by the water, watching the few fish in the pond.
His position was very clever, some scattered lights illuminated the side of his face, neither too bright nor too dark.
This dim light made his features appear delicate and gentle.
Those long fingers, which had held guns and killed, now pinched some bread crumbs, casually tossing them into the pond, teasing the fat carps to eat.
His fingers were very beautiful, slender and strong, with perfect lines.
Delicate black cufflinks fastened the cuffs of his white shirt, revealing a small section of his wrist, a small, but noticeable scar on the side.
Standing by the pond like this, his face seemed to be dyed with the cold color of the night water, like a thug in a suit.
A little dangerous, with a hint of exciting temptation.
He was looking at the fish in the pond.
In a room upstairs, a pair of eyes watched him through the glass.
"Go, bring him up," a voice said. "Just him, don’t alert anyone."
Oh my, another assassination?
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