Invasion - Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Lin Yuan had always thought that Ni Ji was a very impressive Sentinel. One of the reasons was that Ni Ji could always perfectly conceal his emotions in front of her.

This was something very few people could do, even among Sentinels.

Lin Yuan’s tentacles could, most of the time, detect all the outwardly projected emotions around her.

Such as Yunyun being depressed today, the little crab being very happy today, the boy selling apples wanting to eat an apple, etc.

But this often didn’t work on Ni Ji.

This sentinel had a very strong mental barrier, he could, most of the time, control his outward consciousness, hide himself well.

The tentacles had once even mistaken him for a lifeless rock.

But just now, when Lin Yuan unconsciously asked whether she was human or a monster, the tentacles instantly captured a clearly projected emotion.

That consciousness, clear and firm, it was just hard to express with words. If she had to describe it, it could be summarized as:

No matter what you are, you are still you.

The one I know and like is Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan instantly understood. The heart that had been inexplicably fluctuating and uneasy since entering this underground city was somehow comforted.

They were clearly just two people, incredibly small in this vast underground city, yet Lin Yuan inexplicably felt at ease.

As if, as long as they were together, the place they were in could become a safe haven, a fortress, a place of peace.

The tentacles, influenced by Lin Yuan’s emotions, emerged, climbing up the coffee table, wanting to touch the head of the sentinel sitting on the sofa opposite.

Ni Ji instinctively dodged.

【?】

【He… he’s avoiding us?】

【Sob, why?】

【Did we make him unhappy just now?】

【It’s all your fault for not performing well.】

【Little Fish, I was actually touched just now, and you’re avoiding me?!】

The tentacles, angrily, expanding their bodies, tensing their muscles, surged forward, pinning Ni Ji down on the sofa.

Holding his head, they messed up his hair.

The faint light from the flashlight on Ni Ji’s shoulder, as he was pressed on the sofa, illuminated half of his face. The line of his jaw was tense, but his lips were smiling.

He was smiling.

Lin Yuan, who was about to stop the tentacles, stopped.

He also liked playing with the tentacles, it seemed the tentacles were right.

Lin Yuan, having already woken up, let Ni Ji continue resting, she would be on guard duty.

Ni Ji just raised his head, wanting to say that he was a sentinel and could go without sleep for a long time, only to be pushed back onto the sofa by the tentacles.

Messing up his hair again, they transmitted their thoughts directly into the sentinel's mind through touch.

【Sleep, sleep.】

【Hurry up.】

【Rest when we tell you to rest.】

【Sweet little fish.】

The powerful sentinel, pressed on the sofa, his head being rubbed, didn’t resist at all, Lin Yuan saw him smile again.

He looked so good when he smiled. Lin Yuan noticed this for the first time.

Perhaps he used to be someone who smiled a lot.

"Go to sleep, I’ll watch over you," Lin Yuan said to him.

With the tentacles accompanying him, Ni Ji quickly fell asleep on the sofa.

Lin Yuan sat in the darkness, keeping watch, holding the small flashlight.

The tentacles, bored, began exploring the dark world.

【New discovery.】

【What?】

【What, what, what did you find?】

【There's more candy in Little Fish's pocket!】

【Really? I also found one.】

【There’s some here too, and there, he hid so much candy.】

【He really is a sweet fish.】

The chattering tentacles’ lively voices dispelled Lin Yuan’s boredom in the quiet.

{Come.}

A hollow voice suddenly rang out.

The excited tentacles instantly fell silent, as if someone had grabbed them by their throats.

It wasn't human speech, but a will of some kind.

Coming from a very deep place, breaking through Lin Yuan’s mental barrier, directly into her mindscape.

Powerful and ancient, with a strange sense of familiarity.

It sent chills down Lin Yuan’s spine.

{Come.}

That sound, like a bell, suddenly ringing in the silence, its echo lingering, slowly spreading like ripples, making one’s soul tremble.

Like the sweetest food tempting a starving person, the sweetest spring water enticing the thirsty, that voice aroused a deep longing in Lin Yuan's blood.

Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat, she felt a strong desire welling up somewhere, making her want to follow that faint voice.

To go to that mysterious place and see.

To see what good things were there, so sweet and so tempting.

To see who was calling her.

{Come here.}

Lin Yuan unconsciously took two steps forward.

The tentacles blankly followed, moving forward.

【What about Little Fish? Are we leaving him here?】 One tentacle, its small brain muddled, asked everyone.

It was wrapped around Ni Ji's head, feeling conflicted.

It very much wanted to follow the call, yet it also felt reluctant to leave the sleeping Little Fish.

Lin Yuan looked back, the flashlight in her hand turning with her body, illuminating the figure sleeping on the sofa.

The light was very weak, only showing a hazy silhouette. The sentinel was lying on the armrest of the sofa, sleeping peacefully.

Yes, how could she leave Ni Ji here alone?

She should stay and watch over him.

He had even smiled at her before he fell asleep.

Lin Yuan walked back and sat down next to Ni Ji, not moving again.

{Come.}

{Hurry.}

{Come here, to me.}

That voice seemed anxious, calling out repeatedly, making one's heart tremble.

But Lin Yuan no longer paid attention to it, just sat there beside Ni Ji, watching over him, occasionally letting the tentacles get her a candy from one of his pockets.

She unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth, under her tongue, one after another.

There were already such tempting sweets here, there was no need to go anywhere else.

When Ni Ji woke up, he saw candy wrappers all over the floor by his feet.

Lin Yuan had eaten almost all of his candy.

"I rely on eating sugar to stay alive, otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on when I’m sleepy," Lin Yuan said, making a perfectly serious excuse.

The two took turns keeping watch and sleeping. They rested for the night, and when the time was almost up, when it was almost “daytime” in the contaminated zone, the relatively safe period, they got up again and left.

Ni Ji, as a top sentinel, could, even with only faint light, observe any subtle movements in a large area.

Lin Yuan, with her powerful mental strength and numerous tentacles, could, even in complete darkness, sense any living being with emotions approaching.

The two relied on each other's strengths, complementing each other, detecting the mutated creatures attacking from the darkness in advance, killing countless enemies.

Traveling like this, they gradually became used to relying on each other's abilities to determine danger.

But because of this, they almost had an accident.

When the sentinel appeared, he was silent, like a black cat hidden in the night. Not making a single sound.

Even more terrifyingly, he didn't have any emotions at all, no killing intent, no anger, no nervousness, not even the slightest fluctuation.

When he emerged from the darkness, he was already very close to Lin Yuan, a short blade in his hand, silently attacking.

It was Ni Ji’s instincts, honed from years of being on the battlefield, that made him instinctively reach out and grab the sharp blade with his bare hand.

His black glove was cut, and blood dripped to the ground.

At this time, the tip of the blade was only half an inch away from Lin Yuan’s body.

Ni Ji, enraged, kicked the man in the calf, twisted his arm behind his back, and pressed him to the ground.

Instantly subduing the enemy, his bloody demon blade already in his hand, the menacing red blade pointing towards the man pinned down by him.

"Wai- wait," a human girl’s voice rang out.

Behind a broken wall in the distance, a kerosene lamp was lit. A young woman in a white dress, carrying the lamp, timidly peeked out from behind the wall.

"I’m sorry, we didn’t do it on purpose, don't hurt A Ren," the girl, holding the lamp, took a few steps forward, the light from the oil lamp reflecting in her dark eyes.

Lin Yuan, having not seen bright light for a long time, uncomfortably narrowed her eyes.

"I can’t believe someone could actually reach such a deep place," the sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl smiled shyly, "My name is Teng Lu. We’ve always lived here, it’s been so long since we last saw anyone come this far, we mistook you for monsters, we're very sorry."

The person who appeared before them was actually a human girl, sixteen or seventeen years old, her eyes bright, thin, her smile shy.

Judging from her outward appearance, she shouldn't be a Sentinel or a Guide, just an ordinary person.

From what she said, it seemed they had been living here after entering the deep underground, hiding and living like this for a long time.

Lin Yuan didn't know how such a fragile ordinary person and a not-so-powerful sentinel had survived in such a dark and dangerous place underground.

Ni Ji frowned slightly, not loosening his grip, still pinning the struggling man beneath him.

"Please, forgive us, let A Ren go,” the girl who called herself Teng Lu clasped her hands together, repeatedly apologizing. “We really didn’t expect you to be humans.”

"There’s something on the blade," Ni Ji said in a deep voice.

"Yes, but it’s just a little bit of anesthetic, we use it when hunting, it shouldn't have any effect on a powerful Sentinel like you."

Teng Lu looked very pitiful, making a gesture of pleading, and even winked at A Ren, who was pinned down by Ni Ji.

A Ren, pressed to the ground, reached out, wiped his fallen blade, and made a cut identical to Ni Ji’s on his palm.

Showing that the blade didn't have any deadly poison.

"I can invite you to our home, we have an antidote for that anesthetic, and a lot of food," the girl said with a smile, inviting them, two dimples appearing on her face when she smiled, making it very hard to dislike her.

"It's very safe there, no monsters come during 'daytime'."

Ni Ji and Lin Yuan exchanged a look and finally let go.

Teng Lu, carrying the kerosene lamp, and the Sentinel A Ren, led the way. Teng Lu seemed very excited and kept talking. "I’m truly overjoyed. It's been so many years since I last talked to anyone other than A Ren. We have a lot of food stored at our place, I’ll definitely treat you two to a good meal."

It could be seen that their relationship was very good.

A Ren was very attentive to Teng Lu. The two stayed very close, and when they encountered a difficult path, A Ren would always stop, supporting Teng Lu.

Every time this happened, Lin Yuan’s gaze would subtly scan the young Sentinel, seemingly thinking about something.

"You’ve been living here? Why don’t you go back to the surface?" Lin Yuan asked.

"We can’t go back," Teng Lu’s long eyelashes drooped, her voice low. "We’ve gone too deep, although there are relatively few monsters on these first two floors, there are just too many monsters on those levels above, we’re not as strong as you, we can’t go back anymore."

She added in a low voice at the end, "And after living here for so many years, we’ve gradually gotten used to it, we might not be able to adapt to life outside anymore."

The Sentinel beside her gently reached out and stroked her hair.

These words felt a little strange. Lin Yuan’s gaze once again scanned the sentinel.

They walked a long way.

Under the dim kerosene lamp, they passed through abandoned shops, streets, markets, even a high-end, luxurious movie theater, finally arriving at the home Teng Lu had mentioned.

The small house was neatly organized, fully stocked with supplies, densely arranged. Fuel, batteries, cookware, a bed, and several large bookshelves against the wall, filled with all sorts of books.

The most abundant thing was food. Cans of food, sorted and stacked high in the corners.

They didn't look old, like the common military rations used by sentinels in this era.

Lin Yuan even saw several backpacks in a corner. She even saw a few sets of sentinel uniforms.

"Please come in, please come in," Teng Lu greeted them warmly, "A Ren, bring our Sentinel guest the medicine."

A Ren stood up, left Teng Lu's side, and went to a storage cabinet to get the antidote to the anesthetic. He pulled out a large first-aid kit, opened the lid, and searched through the countless medicines inside.

"Oh dear, I'm so happy, Big Sister," Teng Lu smiled. "After all these years, other than A Ren, I haven't had anyone to talk to.”

Lin Yuan looked into her eyes, her face expressionless, and said, "But, isn’t he already dead? How can you talk to a dead person?"

The smile instantly disappeared from the girl’s dimpled face.

Lin Yuan had been observing for a long time, and she had determined that the sentinel, A Ren, was an empty shell without consciousness.

Although he seemed to be able to walk and talk, could touch Teng Lu’s hair, his mind was empty, no thoughts, no emotions, his mindscape, a blank slate.

He was already dead, at least the soul inside his body had dissipated, he was just a walking corpse.

All his actions, his intimate behavior with Teng Lu, were all under Teng Lu's control.

At the same moment Lin Yuan spoke, Ni Ji attacked. His blade flashed, straight towards the strange girl’s vital points, swift and decisive, without a trace of mercy.

But it didn't succeed.

A Ren, who had been quite far away from them, had moved over like a ghost, using his body to block Ni Ji’s sharp blade.

The white blade pierced his chest, and red blood flowed out, but his face was expressionless, he seemed to feel no pain, like a puppet wearing a mask, controlled by strings.

"Your speed has become much slower, Mr. Sentinel," Teng Lu stood behind A Ren, the corners of her mouth upturned, her eyes smiling, "The medicine's finally taking effect, hasn't it?"

Ni Ji frowned.

A sentinel's physique was very strong, ordinary anesthetics, even in large doses, had little effect, not to mention that the blade had only grazed his skin, he hadn't taken that small wound seriously.

At first, he had only felt a slight numbing sensation in his palm, it hadn’t affected his movements at all.

Only after entering this room did the powerful effect of the drug suddenly start.

What kind of drug was this? There was no anesthetic with this kind of potency on the market nowadays, it wasn’t something from this era.

It was probably a powerful drug unique to this contaminated zone, left over from the old era.

Ni Ji withdrew his red demon blade, using it to support himself, clearly feeling he was losing control of his body.

The sentinel, whose body had been pierced by his blade, was now standing next to Teng Lu, his face expressionless, moving normally.

His body, impervious to pain, without any human thoughts or emotions, could keep fighting until completely destroyed.

Ni Ji suddenly remembered that this person had originally intended to use this blade to cut Lin Yuan.

Their target was Lin Yuan.

But he was about to collapse.

"Lin Yuan," Ni Ji, supporting his weakening body, said through gritted teeth, "Try that."

Lin Yuan's eyes turned to look at him.

She understood what Ni Ji meant. That method required extremely close coordination and was very dangerous, she wasn’t confident that she could do it properly yet.

"I'm giving… my body to you completely," Ni Ji knelt down on one knee, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. "Hurry."

Lin Yuan looked at him once more, and finally, a tentacle emerged from the ground, touching the center of his brows.

The sentinel, who had been on the verge of collapse, unable to even stand, suddenly opened his eyes again.

His eyes cold, his face expressionless, he slowly stood up from the ground.

He lightly swung his saber and stood before Lin Yuan.

Before Teng Lu stood A Ren, his soul gone, controlled by her.

Before Lin Yuan stood Ni Ji, offering his body completely, willingly.

The gazes of the two girls, over the shoulders of the warriors before them, met in the air.

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