Invasion - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Lin Yuan boarded the long-distance bus leaving the capital.

The Tuomeina Outpost she was going to this time was very far away. There wasn’t an airship she could take, so she had to go to the city gates and take a long-distance bus, which only departed every few days.

Many passengers were waiting at the city gates, most carrying large and small bags of luggage, bidding farewell to their families who had come to see them off.

In these times, leaving the safety of the capital, going on a long journey, was like a parting of life and death, there was a good chance they would never see each other again. Everyone cherished this last bit of time, saying a few more words of farewell.

Lin Yuan came alone, got on the bus early, and sat by the window, boredly staring at the tall White Tower in the city center.

The first time she left this place, her heart had been numb, she felt like it was the same no matter where she was, whether she could return alive didn’t seem to matter.

Now, looking at the distant White Tower, she felt that if she could come back, she would try her best to.

Near the White Tower, there was a desolate courtyard, although a little dilapidated, but it was her home.

There were friends who would come visit, a little crab waiting for her to come home. And a chubby orca doll on the windowsill.

The White Tower under the sunlight looked more holy and majestic than ever.

A faint white light lit up from the top of the tower, the hemispherical, transparent arc of light spreading, covering the earth, enveloping the entire imperial capital.

"Look, it's the holy light," a child who had come to see someone off pointed at the light and shouted.

His mother and all the pedestrians stopped what they were doing, praying towards the holy light.

"Thank you, White Tower."

"Thank you, White Tower."

People said this sincerely.

The White Tower’s "holy light" was a gift from the gods. Under the holy light, contaminated zones couldn't approach. Under the holy light was humanity’s last pure land, the only sanctuary for human survival.

Outside the White Tower, on top of every outpost, a “holy brick” from the White Tower was enshrined. Those bricks, taken from the White Tower, their color like bone, could protect a small area around the outpost in the wilderness.

In the most dangerous times, as long as people could make it back to the outpost in time, there was hope of survival.

The bus, full of passengers, drove unsteadily through the wilderness.

When they first left the White Tower, they would see many temporary human settlements and densely placed outposts, guarding the White Tower.

Further away, they gradually couldn’t see any signs of human life.

Green clouds floated in the sky, and outside the window were endless barren mountains and desolate ridges.

Occasionally passing by one or two magnificent ruins from the old era would excite the passengers.

The city buildings of the old era were as majestic as mountains, standing dimly in the wilderness, watching the small vehicle that had intruded like an ant.

The cities at that time were incredibly large, seemingly boundless.

Now, the entire imperial capital couldn't even compare to a small corner of them.

The bus drove through the eerie ruins.

Passing under a very tall arch, covered with moss and vines, a giant human-shaped sculpture vaguely visible above.

Past the arch, a wheel-shaped building, dozens of meters tall, was covered with vines, like a forest in the air.

"This is an amusement park, a place in the old cities specifically for children to play," the driver casually mentioned as he drove.

The driver was in his early forties, with dark skin and muscles, a veteran driver who regularly drove this route.

He also employed two sentinels as bodyguards along the way. So his fees were especially high.

This driver had a bad temper, but most passengers who took this route were willing to wait for his bus.

The passengers looked out the mottled windows.

Near the windows, a long section of huge, undulating steel tracks could be seen. Those tracks, their purpose unknown, were broken into several sections, lying by the roadside amidst dense vegetation, some of their faded metal skeletons exposed.

Like a giant dragon, dead for many years, its flesh and blood corroded.

Human technology back then was truly impressive, the metal, having endured hundreds of years of weathering, still hadn’t completely corroded. Stubbornly displaying the past glory of mankind to future generations.

Only, from the current perspective, it was hard to understand why the humans at that time would build such structures that consumed so much material and energy, yet served no practical purpose.

Just for the entertainment of children?

In a world where children as young as teenagers were sent to the battlefield, this was incomprehensible.

Suddenly, from the depths of the ruins where steel and vegetation intertwined, a large flock of bats flew out.

Those dark creatures of the night, as if startled by something, swarmed out of their nests, covering the sky.

The driver quickly braked, pressing a red button on the dashboard. A layer of old, yellowed soundproof film dropped from the roof, covering the entire vehicle.

"Keep your mouths shut, if anyone makes a fuss, don't blame me for making them permanently quiet," the driver picked up a pulse gun leaning against his seat and knocked on the engine cover.

Just as the driver finished speaking, a giant, pale, non-human creature slowly emerged from the ruins, half of its body visible.

It had no eyes, no nostrils, only a pair of bat-like ears on its flat head.

Its huge and twisted body was a fusion of various biological genes, with regenerated bone tumors, complex and cumbersome. Only its skin looked human, a thin layer, pale and wrinkled, without any hair, a horrifying sight.

The monster climbed out of the steel ruins step by step, slowly approaching the bus.

Its completely human-like skin twitched, gradually covering the sky above the vehicle.

A man in the bus couldn't help but throw up.

A sentinel stood up, pulled the safety on his pulse gun, and pointed the muzzle at the man's head.

Tears and snot streamed down the man’s face, his hands clasped together, repeatedly shaking, he bit his lip tightly, no longer daring to make a sound.

The monster outside seemed to sense something, lowering its huge head, its faceless head rubbing up and down against the soundproof film outside the window.

That face was right in front of where Lin Yuan was sitting.

Lin Yuan, through the thin layer of glass, calmly looked at that deformed creature that shouldn’t belong to this planet.

The tentacles heard a repeating wail.

So painful, I’m in so much pain, it hurts so much, it hurts…

That sound repeatedly echoed, seemingly without end, until the giant monster left, slowly walking away, gradually disappearing from Lin Yuan's mind.

The driver whistled, raised the soundproof film, and restarted the bus.

As if the thrilling scene just now was just an insignificant event on the journey.

The sentinel who had pointed his gun at the passenger smiled, reaching out and patting him on the back. "Are you okay, buddy?"

As if the killing intent just now, as real as it had seemed, was just Lin Yuan's illusion.

---

The bus drove through the wilderness for several days, stopping at a temporary human settlement to rest when the sun was about to set.

The Tuomeina outpost was nearby, along with several well-known contaminated zones, including the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone.

Teams collecting supplies and excavating ruins came and went, passing through this place.

So, many people gathered here for temporary trade.

Where there were people, naturally, small vendors and hawkers from the surrounding areas gathered to do business.

Vendors selling all sorts of things moved through the resting crowd.

Selling drinks and beverages, dried food and snacks, and even weapons, equipment, maps, and information. It was very lively.

A little boy selling malt candy clung to Lin Yuan.

"Buy some, big sister. One imperial coin for a scoop, it's very delicious."

Lin Yuan, looking at the grayish candy, wasn’t interested.

But the boy's appearance reminded her of Xiao Mu from Dongbin, that little seal who hadn't yet become a formal sentinel.

They were about the same age, and the sly and clever look in their eyes was almost identical.

So Lin Yuan threw down two imperial coins and casually took a small bag of malt candy.

Before she could even eat it, the driver reached out from the driver's seat, slapping the car door.

"Get in, get in, I’m leaving!"

The passengers started complaining.

"What? We’ve been on this bumpy road for days, my back is about to break, we just sat down, haven’t even had a sip of water yet."

"Let us rest a little longer, driver. We're almost there anyway."

"Driver, wait a moment, I'm buying some food."

The driver, his temper flaring. "Get in or don't, stay here if you don't want to come."

The roar of the engine started, as if he was about to speed off at any moment.

The passengers had no choice but to put down what they were doing, hurriedly getting on the bus.

The moment the last person stepped onto the footboard, before the door was even fully closed, the impatient bus sped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Something's not right, Lin Yuan thought.

The driver sitting in the front was extremely tense at this moment.

He, calm and indifferent throughout the journey, now had anxiety burning in his heart like a fire.

The intense fear didn't even need her tentacles to actively explore, it was directly transmitted into Lin Yuan's mind.

Lin Yuan poked her head out the window. The bus was going at its maximum speed, raising a cloud of dust along the small dirt road.

A few people in the settlement, as if also realizing something, rode out on their vehicles, chasing after the fleeing bus, desperately racing along the dust-filled road.

Lin Yuan’s eyes widened, looking at the sky.

The sky was calm and beautiful, the setting sun slowly descending, the green and purple glow of dusk intertwining, more beautiful than usual.

It seemed too quiet.

Other than the few speeding vehicles, the entire wilderness was filled with a suffocating silence.

Something was silently approaching.

Lin Yuan could see the cold sweat on the back of the driver’s neck, the almost grim look of fear on the face of the rider on a motorcycle closely following the bus.

Finally, Lin Yuan realized what was happening.

She leaned out the window, opening her mouth towards the bustling settlement.

She wanted to shout, run, run away.

She even saw the boy who sold malt candy, that child who was about the same age as Xiao Mu, happily counting the two imperial coins she had given him.

But it was too late, her voice was lost in the dust.

Those passengers drinking water, those children running around selling malt candy, the merchants trading goods, suddenly, as if swallowed by something, disappeared from Lin Yuan’s sight.

So many people, so much life.

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

The settlement, filled with people, goods, and vehicles, was silently swallowed by something unknown, not even a single footprint remained on the ground.

On the road, where the bus raised a cloud of dust, only the boundless wilderness remained.

Some invisible monster was closely pursuing them.

A motorcyclist, his vehicle lacking power, his face pale, was left behind. He reached out pleadingly, and Lin Yuan, her head out the window, watched as his vehicle, half his body, his head… disappeared bit by bit.

Lin Yuan blinked.

The last thing to disappear was the hand reaching forward desperately.

The bus driver floored the gas pedal, the vehicle practically flying.

The sky gradually darkened, and a few stars appeared.

The shadow of an outpost appeared in the distance. The roof of the small Tuomeina Outpost glowed faintly in the dim night.

Like a lighthouse suddenly appearing on a stormy sea.

The suffocating pressure behind them finally seemed to relent, slowly disappearing.

The long-distance bus, its engine overheating, about to fall apart, drove unsteadily into the outpost within the walls.

The shaken passengers slowly got off.

"What just happened? That was terrifying…"

"The contaminated zone expanded, those people who were left behind were swallowed."

"Swa- swallowed? So many people, just gone?"

"Gone, all gone."

"Fortunately, our bus was fast, otherwise we would have been the same. Turned into monsters before we even knew how we died."

The driver jumped out of the car, slammed the door shut, and crouched alone in a corner by the road, lighting a cigarette.

"He was too heartless, wasn’t he?" Someone started whispering. "He didn't even shout a warning, so many people didn't even have time to escape."

"Exactly, it would have been better if he had told everyone to run together. How could this person be so selfish?"

"Charging so much money, with such a bad attitude, and such a black heart, I wonder if he'll even live long enough to use that money to buy himself a coffin."

The man heard those words, didn’t speak, just kept smoking.

The red glow of the cigarette flickered, illuminating his weathered, cold face.

He had been driving this route for over twenty years, he knew every danger along the way, every possible desperate situation.

He also knew the human heart.

Just now, if he had shouted a warning, these people who lived on the border outposts would have immediately descended into chaos.

They would have crowded the road, those without vehicles would have fought to squeeze onto the bus.

Then no one would have been able to escape.

Whether they called him selfish or cold-blooded, he had, in the end, brought the people on this bus out safely, worthy of the fare he had charged.

Lin Yuan opened the paper bag she had been holding, took out a piece of the grayish malt candy, and put it in her mouth.

It really didn’t taste good.

Such bitterness.

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