Invasion - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Lao Yao was a long-distance bus driver, a man in his forties or fifties, with a thin, tanned face.

He crouched in the open space near the front of his bus, a cigarette in his mouth, watching the people coming and going, a gloomy look on his face.

This trip hadn't been smooth. On his way here, near the Tuomeina outpost, he had encountered an expansion of the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone, and had almost not made it out.

On his way back, he ran into a few mutated creatures escaping from the contaminated zone, one of the sentinels he employed died, the other injured.

He had to stop at this outpost to try his luck, to see if he could temporarily recruit a bodyguard.

Before Lao Yao, pedestrians hurried past, all excitedly discussing the recent major event.

It was quite astonishing, the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone, which had existed for hundreds of years, for some unknown reason, had collapsed yesterday.

A complete town from four hundred years ago had appeared, untouched by anyone, no different from a giant treasure trove.

Hundreds of years ago, human resources weren’t as scarce as they were now.

The weapons, energy stones, medicine, treatment pods, vehicles… in the towns of that era, were all precious treasures to the people of today.

This treasure trove had been opened to the world overnight.

Before being completely controlled by the imperial army, that place was a goldmine.

First come, first served, those who were slow would get nothing.

Sentinels who got wind of it, even countless civilians, were all desperately rushing towards that area. Almost no one was willing to pay attention to him, a small, civilian bus driver.

A team of sentinels excitedly carried a new treatment pod past Lao Yao.

A few blood-covered sentinels escorted a small electromagnetic cannon, each with a fierce look, full of vigilance, as they passed by.

In the distance, a bright crimson light appeared on the horizon, followed by the roar of explosives, shaking the glass of the bus windows.

There, teams of sentinels, to fight for resources, were already fighting each other recklessly, even using powerful high-energy weapons.

Lao Yao, in the end, couldn't find a bodyguard. Only two youngsters, who wanted to hitch a ride back to the imperial capital, came.

Lao Yao remembered the girl. She was a Guide who had taken his bus from the capital a few days ago.

It was rare for a Guide to leave the White Tower, even rarer for one to travel alone to an outpost.

Even though the girl had been silent and quiet throughout the journey, Lao Yao still remembered her face.

This time, on the return trip, she had a companion, a tall, thin young man.

The man was wearing military boots and tactical pants, with a strange, mismatched top from who knew what era, his temperament sharp, his expression cold, he looked like a soldier, but there was no identifying badge of any sentinel team on his shoulder, he carried a large, narrow box in his hand.

"You can’t bring such large luggage on the bus," Lao Yao said unhappily.

That box looked very strange, like a hollow cage, wrapped in a breathable, light-proof cloth, covering whatever was inside. It didn’t look like a suitcase, but like it contained some living creature.

Lao Yao, as a rule, never allowed passengers to bring such unknown items onto the bus.

The quiet girl looked up. "I can buy three tickets."

Lao Yao had wanted to refuse, no means no, no matter how many tickets she bought. He was a cautious and stubborn man.

But a shadow seemed to flash through his mind. He didn’t know what came over him, but the words that came out of his mouth changed.

"Alright, get in."

By the time he came back to his senses, the two passengers were already on the bus, he even arranged them in the two best seats behind the driver's seat — there was a larger space there, just enough to properly place the large piece of luggage.

The vehicle slowly drove towards the outpost gate.

The passengers were still excitedly discussing the contaminated zone’s collapse.

"So that area is safe now?"

"Yes, for the time being, we can travel safely."

"The weapons and equipment of the nearby outposts will probably be upgraded, and there’s a lot more land that can be cultivated."

"If only this kind of thing happened more often," someone said excitedly, waving their hands. "Slowly, all the contaminated zones will return to normal."

"Haha, if only that could happen."

"My childhood home was swallowed by a contaminated zone, I’ve always dreamt of being able to go back and see it one day."

The atmosphere in the bus was lively and joyful.

Although these ordinary passengers couldn’t directly benefit from this disintegrated contaminated zone,

They were still very happy, as excited as if it was a holiday.

Humans had suffered from contaminated zones for many years, barely surviving in the limited space squeezed by contaminated zones.

It was rare to hear such good news about humans defeating a contaminated zone.

It was encouraging.

"Don’t get your hopes up, this time was just a coincidence," Lao Yao poured cold water on their excitement. "Besides, do you know how many sentinels died in there?"

The bus was slowly driving out of the outpost gate.

Looking out the window, the bodies of sentinels retrieved from the contaminated zone were laid out in the wasteland by the roadside.

White cloths covered the cold, broken bodies of the warriors, row after row, neatly placed outside the city gates.

The vehicle slowly moved forward, the passengers inside quiet, looking through the window at the dead by the roadside.

Many of the bodies under the white cloths were clearly incomplete, some twisted into strange shapes, some no longer even resembling human bodies.

So many people had died, so many young lives.

The outpost's funeral bell tolled.

The bell echoed over the Tuomeina Outpost. Their comrades stood by the bodies, many with tears in their eyes, singing a requiem.

This was a unique farewell ritual among the sentinels of the border outposts.

They were saying goodbye, to the friends they had fought alongside, the brothers they had entrusted their lives with.

Lin Yuan pressed against the window, watching the sentinels at the funeral.

The tentacles sensed incredibly intense emotions, grief permeating the air inside and outside the bus, many people’s eyes filled with tears, the sound of the requiem echoing.

But Lin Yuan’s heart was numb, she couldn’t feel many emotional fluctuations.

She felt a little strange, perhaps because she had been close to death. When she woke up in the treatment pod, she had felt like she had woken up from a long dream.

Looking at the swirling green liquid before her eyes, she felt like she had been sleeping in the cold seabed for countless years, just awakened, her entire being cold and numb.

It seemed like something had changed.

When Windsor left, she had clearly felt that reluctance and sadness.

Lin Yuan clutched the golden pendant on her chest, trying to recall that feeling. She had truly felt like a normal human then.

She had always been trying very hard to be a normal person, someone who could laugh and cry.

"Although I don’t cry, but if I died, perhaps someone would cry for me," Lin Yuan, thinking of this, inexplicably felt happy, she even started counting on her fingers, which crybabies would shed tears for her, she turned to look at the sentinel beside her.

The sentinel sitting next to her had a very straight back, his right hand subconsciously hanging by his side — always in a position to quickly draw his weapon, his left hand on his knee, he was always on alert, ready to fight at any moment.

Lin Yuan remembered how he had looked when he came out of the crimson egg, covered in blood, his body radiating killing intent, like an incredibly sharp blade, a truly terrifying weapon.

But he had cried for her, he looked very beautiful when he cried.

It made her heart soften. Even ice and snow would melt for him.

The burning sensation of tears on her face at that time seemed to still linger on her skin, now very faint, a little itchy.

Ni Ji noticed her gaze and gave her a faint smile.

His smile was very beautiful, his aura clean, his eyes gentle.

Lin Yuan thought about it, and there weren’t any other, more suitable adjectives to describe him.

He was like a killer whale, swimming in the pure ocean by the glaciers, freely, its black and white body rolling, its calls gentle and sweet.

Lin Yuan started to feel sleepy, her head nodding against the window as she dozed off.

In a daze, she heard Ni Ji ask her, "Does the wound still hurt?"

She made a sound of acknowledgement. “It still hurts, but it’s okay… I’m not very afraid of pain.”

Ni Ji glanced at her and didn't say anything more.

He seemed a little sad, and a little strangely embarrassed.

The tentacles, now very familiar with him, easily captured his subtle, outward consciousness.

Wanting to care, yet inexplicably afraid, wanting to be close, yet wanting to stay away, very conflicted.

Why had he become afraid of her?

The bus was noisy, the faint sound of the bell constantly coming from outside, but within the small space where they sat, there was a strange silence.

In her drowsiness, Lin Yuan seemed to smell a faint sweetness, the fragrance seemingly far away, yet also close by, so tempting.

Like the most delicious candy she had ever tasted, it made her swallow in her sleep.

She didn't know where that smell was coming from, and she couldn't remember when she had ever eaten something so delicious.

Ni Ji silently watched the Guide beside him for a while. The young woman’s face was pale, sleeping soundly on the shaky bus, in the dangerous wilderness.

Although she had left the treatment pod, her seriously injured body was still very weak, easily tired, she had fallen asleep not long after getting on the bus.

Ni Ji sent a message to Ji Xuan on his personal terminal, reporting that he had left the contaminated zone and was preparing to return to the capital.

He knew that acting on his own like this might displease the adjutant. But he didn’t want to think rationally right now, he just wanted to accompany Lin Yuan for a while.

Not thinking about anything, just accompanying the injured her, sitting on the shaky bus together, crossing the wilderness.

Outside the window, the wasteland receded, the sound of the outpost bell had become very distant and faint, the sunlight outside shone on Lin Yuan's sleeping face, she slept peacefully, her breathing soft.

She was still alive, hadn’t died, sleeping peacefully beside him.

It made Ni Ji feel a little dazed, as if this shaky bus would never stop, as if he could keep sitting here, watching the sleeping person next to him.

Without any other troublesome things in the world.

But Ji Xuan was probably very busy right now, dealing with the suddenly collapsed contaminated zone. It wasn’t an easy task to stop those sentinels who were frantically rushing there, to claim the precious resources in the contaminated zone for the state.

He probably didn’t have the time to pay attention to his actions for the moment.

Lin Yuan on the bus was in a deep sleep, her small face swaying with the movement of the vehicle, hitting the glass window several times.

The sentinel’s fingers, resting on his knee, slightly tightened, in the end, he just straightened his back, sitting upright, his eyes forward.

Finally, a tentacle, unable to bear it, emerged, yawning, and pushed Lin Yuan's swaying head to the side. Lin Yuan's body slid down, her face landing on Ni Ji’s shoulder, her long black hair loose, a few strands falling onto the sentinel's wrist.

Ni Ji's body stiffened.

Only a few black strands of hair, lightly brushing against his wrist, yet he didn't know what it reminded him of, his body stiff for a long time, motionless.

But he didn't push Lin Yuan’s face away. Instead, he slightly tilted his shoulder, making her more comfortable.

Lin Yuan in her sleep moved her throat slightly, as if she had just eaten a delicious candy.

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