Invasion - Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Lin Yuan lingered in the sentinel’s arms for a long time. She stubbornly believed that this was her sentinel.
Of course, she could stay as long as she wanted.
When she got up, suddenly leaving the warm embrace, she felt a chill.
She realized that she could now feel cold and warmth.
Knowing joy and anger, understanding cold and warmth, she was changing.
And at the same time, as if dreading this change, the hunger in her body became even more prominent.
An intense hunger burned within her, a part of her body felt empty, and a voice deep in her blood was screaming,
Making her crave something to eat, to fill the void in her.
Fortunately, Lin Yuan at least knew now that the sentinel before her was very important to her.
No matter what, she didn’t want to hurt him.
But there were many things to eat in this underground city. Countless lights flickered in the darkness, they were beautiful mental powers, enticing her to hunt.
I have to go out and eat something, I’m too hungry.
Thinking this, Lin Yuan, wriggling her tentacles, hazily walked towards the outside of the lair.
Ni Ji noticed something was wrong with Lin Yuan.
Of course, something was wrong with Lin Yuan.
Ever since he found Lin Yuan in this underground city, she hadn’t been normal, she had appeared before him in a completely different form, hardly a human.
Only, this Lin Yuan right now gave him a terrifying feeling.
The moment Lin Yuan left his embrace and got up, Ni Ji’s intuition told him that he had to stop her immediately.
Perhaps it was their still faintly connected mental states that made him sense the danger, or perhaps it was just a sentinel's intuition.
A strong sense of crisis arose in Ni Ji’s heart.
He had to keep her here, he couldn’t let her leave at this moment.
He called Lin Yuan's name, but Lin Yuan didn't respond.
As if summoned by some voice, her face expressionless, she moved towards the outside of the lair.
He wanted to grab Lin Yuan, but the smooth, wet tentacles slipped from his grasp.
He hadn’t yet recovered from the sensitivity adjustment, there was no way he could forcefully restrain a Kraken this large.
He had to stop Lin Yuan, no matter how.
…
Lin Yuan, having reached the entrance of the lair, heard a strange sound of water.
Like waves crashing against reefs by the sea, a large fish beached on the shore.
Lin Yuan turned her head and saw a long, pure black fishtail appearing in the dimly lit lair.
The wide, wet tail fin gently swayed, shyly twitching in the air.
The fire in the cave flickered, then dimmed. A scent from the deep sea seemed to diffuse in the air, mysterious and alluring.
The Sentinel she had left in the depths of the lair propped himself up.
His skin looked very pale in the shadows, smooth, black lines appearing on his firm abs.
His legs below the waist were gone, replaced by a long, wet fishtail.
A whale.
The upper body a man, the lower body a black tail, beached in her lair.
Soaked, nowhere to swim, his body covered with wounds and bloodstains, like a Siren caught in a net.
Lying in the moist darkness, his eyes watching her.
Lin Yuan’s mind went blank.
Her heart split in two, one half, driven by her bloodline, starving, wanting to go out and hunt immediately.
The other half, itching, wanting to turn back and rub the fish.
How did he know? Lin Yuan wondered, a little dazed.
How did he know that the half-human, half-fish form, a big fish with a black top and white belly, was her favorite?
That fish, that sentinel in his half-beast form, extended a hand.
That hand, unusually, wasn’t wearing a glove, those slender fingers exposed in the air.
That hand held a tentacle that hadn't yet left, his dark eyes watching Lin Yuan, a faint blush rising on his face, his fingers gently stroking.
The wriggling tentacle froze, a numbing sensation traveling all the way to Lin Yuan's brain. She felt like her heart had been grasped by that hand.
Lin Yuan forgot about her hunger, abandoned the idea of finding food, and turned back to her lair.
This sentinel was too cunning.
He knew how to lie and deceive, and was also so good at acting spoiled. She was completely under his control.
And she just happened to fall for this, incredibly fond of him.
This fishtail felt too good to touch, so smooth, so soft.
The tentacles wrapped around the fishtail, humming comfortably.
This was his own choice, after all.
【We’re not being impolite.】
Strange, this line seemed very familiar, it was as if they often said this.
The air was filled with the unique scent of a marine creature, the firelight dim, water dripping.
The fishtail gently slapped, the tentacles moved between them.
Lin Yuan lay among the pile of tentacles, her fingers pinching the narrowest part of the tail fin, repeatedly playing with a small, protruding fishbone.
This feeling made her feel very at peace.
As if she had once done this, in a warm and familiar place, under a dim light, drowsy, lazily pinching this fishtail.
That place, the safest and most comfortable place in the world, with a slightly messy courtyard.
The intense hunger seemed to be leaving her body, cut off.
Lin Yuan yawned, feeling a little sleepy. It seemed like she hadn’t slept for many days, and now she finally wanted to have a good sleep.
The tentacles curled around the big fish, the sentinel’s arm resting on a tentacle, the two curled up, close together, sleeping in the dimly lit cave.
When Lin Yuan woke up, she felt like it was dawn.
Of course, in this dark, lightless Land of No Eyes, there was no day or night.
It was just her internal biological clock waking her up.
She stretched and no longer felt that intense, soul-consuming hunger.
The tentacles' strength seemed to have weakened, their size reduced, even the range they could search the underground city decreased.
Or rather, the connection between her and the underground city was weakening, much of it severed.
Before, she had felt her body connected to the entire Contaminated Zone.
This world felt alive, bit by bit merging and permeating with her, in this small world, the tentacles endlessly spreading throughout the underground city.
She had been very powerful, her strength boundless, almost omniscient and omnipotent, like a god.
But she also seemed to be becoming increasingly indifferent, rational, gradually losing something.
Now, most of that connection was severed, and Lin Yuan seemed to awaken from a state of chaos.
She vaguely remembered that she wasn't a creature who lived here, she should be living on the surface, a human, with her own memories, her own life.
She looked back and saw a bare foot between the intertwined tentacles.
There was a purple bruise around the ankle, something the tentacles had done.
When Lin Yuan looked over, the person there moved, withdrawing his foot.
"I need a set of clothes," a deep voice came from the pile of tentacles.
It sounded very calm, not panicking at all, just calmly and rationally making a reasonable request.
But Lin Yuan was a Guide, easily capturing the sentinel's strong, outward emotions, knowing he was blushing, his body burning.
Yes, she was a Guide - she was gradually remembering more and more.
Now wasn’t the time to think about it, if she didn’t find her sentinel a set of clothes first, he might cook himself alive.
After all, her sentinel, yesterday, completely unprepared, had transformed into his half-beast form.
The giant fishtail had suddenly appeared, tearing his clothes.
Her sentinel — this term should be correct, right? Although her memories were still very chaotic, and she hadn't completely remembered yet, but such a close and compatible fellow, must belong to her.
Lin Yuan withdrew her tentacles, smoothed the skirt around her legs, and walked out of the cave.
She hadn't used her legs to walk for many days; it felt a little unfamiliar.
An eyeless, pale monster with a long tail clung to the area near Lin Yuan’s lair, it had originally had eight arms on its back, one of which had been broken off by Ni Ji earlier, the wound, wriggling with new flesh, was still slowly healing.
Hearing Lin Yuan coming out, it raised its face, twitched its nose, its expression wary and confused.
Lin Yuan felt very unfamiliar to it, yet with a familiar scent, making it unable to tell who Lin Yuan was, why she had come out from the deity's lair.
It arched its back, bared its teeth, and slowly backed away. Only after a while did it finally determine Lin Yuan's identity.
"You… you seem different, your scent has completely changed, I almost didn’t recognize you."
"I need clothes, a set of male Sentinel uniform, go and find them for me," Lin Yuan stood there, giving her command.
She didn’t want to leave her lair, especially not when the sentinel inside didn't even have any clothes.
The Deviant hesitated for a bit, and habitually obeyed Lin Yuan’s command, he climbed upwards using his hands and feet, disappearing into the darkness.
Not long after, he came running back, each of his arms carrying one or two backpacks.
He placed over a dozen bags of various sizes at Lin Yuan’s feet.
"Teng Lu likes to collect these, she has a room specifically for these backpacks, that’s where I took them from.”
Lin Yuan found a Sentinel uniform among the many backpacks, carrying it, she crouched at the entrance of the lair, and had the tentacles pass it to Ni Ji from afar.
No more randomly touching or entangling, no longer with that unrestrained presumptuousness.
The Sentinel silently took the clothes in the darkness and put them on, his back to her.
"Did you remember something? Did you remember who I am?" the Sentinel, very perceptive, noticed the change in Lin Yuan, and asked.
"Just a little, some very fragmented images," Lin Yuan gestured, "but I know we are companions."
There was only a little bit of light here, and Lin Yuan only saw a hazy back, a warrior's body, very beautiful, his muscles hinting at his strength. Only, there were too many scars, as if, on his way here, he had been torn apart by Deviants countless times, and had struggled to get up again and again, finding her covered in wounds.
In addition, there were many obvious bruises and swellings, they were marks left by the tentacles when his sensitivity had been increased excessively.
I should find some medicine for him, Lin Yuan thought, damn it, why did I do that to him?
When Ni Ji tidied himself up and came out from the darkness, he didn't see Lin Yuan.
Many backpacks were piled on the ground outside the lair.
The Deviant with the missing arm climbed down from above. Seeing him come out, it growled softly at him, but didn’t approach.
Ni Ji recognized this Deviant, he was one of the powerful Deviants he had encountered on his way down from the upper levels, a little troublesome.
He had used explosives to blow off one of its arms.
Forced by Lin Yuan's orders, although this underground creature hated him, it didn't dare to actively attack.
Even after smelling him, after hearing him come out, it only made a few threatening growls from a distance.
Ni Ji bent down and relit the dim bonfire. After starting the fire, he fetched water, cleaning up the bloodstains in the cave.
He found a larger pot, organized the edible ingredients in the backpack, opened a few of them, and put them in the pot to boil.
He was silent, busy for a long time, as if such busyness could make him temporarily forget everything.
Forget the unsettling night, forget his embarrassing state.
Only when he could no longer find anything to do did the sentinel finally sit down by the fire, staring at the food bubbling in the pot.
The firelight reflected on his face, giving his handsome features a rosy glow.
Warriors needed high-calorie foods. Many carried canned meat in their backpacks.
Ni Ji picked a few out, poured them out, and boiled them in a pot.
The savory meat simmered in the broth, its enticing aroma wafting through the dark and silent underground world.
The sentinel by the fire, facing the fragrant food, didn’t eat, just sat there in a daze.
His hand, holding a wooden stick, occasionally stirred the flames. He seemed lost in thought.
"If you’re not going to eat it, I can help," the seven-armed Deviant climbed down from above.
He stopped at a safe distance, the nostrils on his eyeless face twitching.
In the dark underground, creatures without sight had extremely developed senses of smell and hearing.
This hateful sentinel, he didn't know what he was doing, it smelled too good.
He cooked it, yet didn’t eat it. Just staring at it, he didn’t know what he meant.
The smell of stewed meat wafted into its sensitive nose, making it unable to resist coming down.
Ni Ji scooped a spoonful of stewed meat, put it in an empty can, and pushed it towards the drooling monster.
A large mouth split open on the monster’s eyeless face, and a long tongue stretched out, wrapping around the entire can.
It didn't even seem to mind the heat, swallowing the can and meat together, chewing for a while, and finally spitting out the crumpled metal.
"Delicious," the Deviant circled the wall above Ni Ji. "Give me more. The arm… forget about it."
His words were a little disjointed, but Ni Ji understood. Another serving of food, and he would forget about his severed arm.
Ni Ji often ventured into contaminated zones, although the monsters in each were different, he still generally understood their habits.
They were mostly cruel, yet simple-minded, living in their strange little worlds, their worldviews completely different from those of humans.
Some had the same level of intelligence as humans, some even retained memories from when they were human. But no matter what, they were no longer the person they once were, they were completely different creatures.
Ni Ji found a larger can, rinsed it, filled it with stewed meat, and pushed it over.
The seven-armed Deviant cautiously approached, taking the food.
He crouched down by the fire not too far from Ni Ji, holding the can with both hands, licking it bit by bit.
"Delicious, delicious," its saliva dripped down, smacking its lips. "So, it was with this skill that you seduced ‘that one’, and climbed into ‘Its’ lair?”
Ni Ji stirred the fire, not answering. For a while, the surroundings were silent, only the sound of the monster eating could be heard.
"It’s just heating it up, very simple, I can cook many other delicious things," the sentinel by the fire said slowly.
"Slurp Delicious... really? Then I want it every time," the monster’s voice was muffled. "I’ve never had anything warm before, we only eat raw food."
"Have you been in this place for a long time? Do you still remember things from before?"
"Me? I've lived for a very long time, been here since long, long ago, before? I don't remember anymore, even if I did, it’s all the same, I hate humans, I hate sentinels," the monster said as it ate, its head lowered, "I’ve seen many Sentinels like you before. You’re the ones who came in first, with your terrifying weapons, disrupting our lives."
"Very annoying, whenever we see one, we catch them, tear them apart, and eat them."
The monster finished the food in the can and was about to leave. Ni Ji lifted his spoon and refilled the can.
The seven-armed monster sat back down. "But you’re a good sentinel, I don’t hate you anymore."
"Next time I’ll bring you some meat, fresh meat, and you can heat it up like this," the Deviant bared its teeth at Ni Ji, it was unclear whether it was smiling. "There's a lot of fresh meat, which part do you like?"
Ni Ji knew what he meant by "meat."
"We don’t eat our own kind," he said calmly.
"Really? Why?" The Deviant looked puzzled, as if Ni Ji’s actions were what was strange, "Then aren’t your dead companions very pitiful? Their bodies wasted, completely disappearing from this world without their companions eating their flesh."
"You even eat your own companions?" Ni Ji asked him.
"Silly sentinel, devouring is the greatest form of respect," the Deviant lifted its head from the pot and said seriously. "Our greatest fear isn't death, but not having the right person to devour us, to inherit our power, that is true disappearance."
Ni Ji looked at the monster by the fire. "Then do you know how she—I mean It—came to be?"
"Hee hee, you’ve been here for so many days, living in the lair, together with 'that one' day and night, so close," the Deviant mocked him. "Didn't It tell you? The way the Divine race is passed down?"
"Actually, ‘that adult’ has only just been born, It’s not yet fully formed…”
"You've said too much," a human girl's voice cut in at this moment, interrupting him. "Why would you tell despicable humans such things?”
Teng Lu, in her white dress, along with several blank-faced sentinels, appeared in the distance, her expression grim.
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