Invasion - Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Ni Ji reached out and pulled Lin Yuan back, shielding her from the incoming attack.

He turned and fired a shot.

The anti-gravity weapon in his hand caused a gravitational collapse in the space ahead.

A large, circular pit suddenly appeared in the decaying monster’s body.

All the flesh and blood within the circle were crushed into mincemeat. On the edge of the circle, countless neatly severed, withered tentacles twisted and struggled.

Ni Ji discarded the overloaded anti-gravity gun, casually picked up a plasma weapon, and the silent light beam fired from its muzzle cut the giant body attacking them.

This place really was a warrior's paradise. Powerful weapons could be found easily.

Ni Ji didn’t know why a scientific research institute would have so many powerful weapons.

When he jumped into the temple, he had taken quite a few from the institute. Each one felt good in his hand, fully loaded with ammunition, incredibly destructive.

If it weren't for the sheer size of this dying monster, the battle would have been over long ago.

Blinding electric arcs flashed continuously, huge chunks of flesh and blood flying everywhere. Amidst this bloody battle, a question arose in Ni Ji's heart.

Back then, with such powerful weapons, so many warriors, and such strong fortresses, how had humanity still been unable to withstand the Deviants’ attacks, retreating step by step to the current situation?

In the dim underground world, thick tentacles coiled in the dark temple, severed tentacles bloody and mangled, strange cries echoed from the depths like a tide.

It had lived for hundreds of years, devoured countless mental powers, and had grown into such a powerful behemoth, its size enormous, its mental control even more boundless, worshipped as a god by all the creatures in this underground city.

Even now, weakened, on the verge of death, it was still terrifyingly powerful.

Zero's mental power completely disappeared from this world, the Pillar supporting the Land of No Eyes Contaminated Zone was gone.

"Chu," who had coexisted with Zero, also weakened, unable to turn the tide.

The Land of No Eyes was starting to disintegrate, and Its will and body would also completely disappear soon.

The pure white altar, the crimson stairs, the walls and floors, were all slowly dissolving. The thick, dark world gradually peeled away like a falling curtain.

The nightmare was ending, time and space separating.

At this moment, Chu, having lost the Pillar, itself on the verge of death, lost all reason, only the most primal rage remained.

The withered tentacles, constantly destroyed by the powerful firepower, continued surging from the ground, covering the sky and the earth, almost filling the entire temple.

In Its chaotic rage, It only wanted to kill, to tear, to crush all the creatures before It.

In the dark temple, the withered tentacles attacked Lin Yuan like a storm.

Lin Yuan dodged desperately, injured several times, her life constantly on the line.

In the mental world, overwhelming mental power attacked Ni Ji’s mind.

In Ni Ji's mental world, the clear sky above the ocean vanished instantly.

The starry void suddenly appeared in the sky. In the depths of the starry sky, the ancient being revealed its enormous figure, its rage towering, countless tentacles surging, its low groans echoing from afar.

A primal, powerful mental force surged towards Ni Ji.

The cold, strange, giant mental body forcefully crossed the void, stepping into the ocean, trying to destroy the mental body of this human sentinel.

Compared to the ancient It, he was just a small fish. Even weakened, on the verge of death, crushing such a small fish was still an easy task.

A violent storm surged in Ni Ji’s ocean, using the deep sea as a barrier, trying its best to resist the invading foreign entity.

The orca with the black back and white belly swiftly swam in the stormy ocean, dodging the powerful mental attacks again and again.

The sentinel, fighting in the temple, stopped, clutching his aching forehead, his trembling arm struggling several times before he could barely lift his heavy gun.

At this moment, Ni Ji understood why humans had lost to these monsters back then.

It wasn't because they were defeated by the Deviants’ brute force.

No matter how many humans there were, how powerful their weapons, their fragile mental worlds could not resist such forceful and terrifying mental pollution.

Even he, a powerful Sentinel, was still completely suppressed by such an enormous mental force.

Ni Ji glanced at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan at this moment was in a similar state as he was, bloodstains on her face, a hot gun in her hand, rolling around in the dirt to avoid the overwhelming tentacles, having almost been seriously injured several times.

Disheveled, in constant danger, only, her eyes remained bright, the fighting spirit within not extinguished.

The two exchanged a look, and Ni Ji opened his mouth slightly, saying something.

The next moment, that familiar will entered his world.

He gave his body to his Guide.

Consciously handing over control of his body felt completely different from when his consciousness was lost.

He clearly felt Lin Yuan's mental power, like a cold stream, washing over every nerve, flowing through every joint, extending to his fingertips, his instep.

Like someone hugging him tightly from behind.

That feeling was so distinct that Ni Ji almost lost his focus in the middle of the battle.

His consciousness sank, releasing control of his body, hiding himself in the palace deep in the seabed.

The Guide’s mental power controlled the Sentinel's body, the Sentinel raising his gun again, protecting her. The loud sounds of gunfire constantly echoed in the darkness.

Lin Yuan’s mental power, inside Ni Ji, watched over his fragile mindscape.

And Ni Ji’s body, in the real world, was using all its strength to protect Lin Yuan’s fragile body.

The two extended their hands, protecting each other’s most vulnerable parts.

Merging, embracing each other, protecting each other, inseparable.

Ni Ji felt that at that moment, they were almost a single entity, indivisible.

This feeling of excessive intimacy, so close, made his scalp tingle.

The big fish, sinking in the seabed palace, looked up at the surface of the sea, and quietly used its tail to push a few memory-containing pearls to a more visible location.

Those pearls contained important memories, of what happened in a dark, damp cave.

Hidden deep by the Sentinel, he had been ashamed of being discovered.

At this moment, while everyone's attention was on the battlefield, the big fish quietly swept them out, pushing them towards a more visible spot.

The big fish swayed its tail in the depths of the sea, a secret longing in its heart.

If only she could find them.

The light of explosions flickered bright red in the darkness. Before the scorching light could even fade, the light beams from the electromagnetic weapons, leaving long, arcing trails, tore through the air.

With their seamless coordination, the battle gradually turned in Lin Yuan and Ni Ji’s favor.

The enormous shadow rampaged amidst the flashing gunfire, frantically moving, but its strength was waning.

Lin Yuan heard Chu’s roars.

Heard the despair and sadness in Its anger.

Heard It calling out a monosyllabic name.

Lin Yuan understood that word.

{Zero.}

{Where’s Zero?}

{My Zero, my friend, where are you?}

…

That voice gradually faded away, the charred tentacles on the ground no longer moving, stiffening, decaying, slowly turning into ash.

The pure white altar in the ancient temple broke in two, its magnificent pillars collapsing. Falling stones covered the crimson carpet.

Countless fine ashes rose with the wind, like snow, like cottonwood fluff, scattering in the dark underground temple, dancing in the vast underground city of the Old Era.

In the swirling ashes, Lin Yuan vaguely saw a scene from hundreds of years ago.

Two young little girls, huddled together, nestled in the dark, damp underground temple, a pile of tentacles as their blanket, one softly telling stories to the other, talking about her dreams.

"Zero's dreams are so interesting, when I become stronger, I'll turn it into a real world."

"I’ll find eyes for Zero, so you can see any world you want."

"Zero, live with me, let's always be together, live in your dreams."

In the collapsing world, the two small figures holding hands from hundreds of years ago finally disappeared.

Lin Yuan only heard a long sigh.

{I’ll leave it to you, let her see this world.}

A cold tentacle touched her palm, placing a round stone in Lin Yuan's hand.

"This place is about to collapse, let’s go," Ni Ji's voice rang out, and he held Lin Yuan's hand, running outwards.

Lin Yuan, running, looked down. In the dim light, she saw a brilliant gem in her hand. The spherical gem had mottled patterns, like a beautiful eye.

…

A female sentinel, carrying a backpack, climbed out of the crack in the underground city.

Looking up at the giant, teary eye in the sky, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She patted the pockets on her back. It seemed she had, luckily, survived another trip.

She was a sentinel stationed at a nearby outpost, frequently entering and exiting the Land of No Eyes Contaminated Zone.

It was an extremely dangerous world, and many of her comrades had been left behind forever, in the dark abyss below.

But she still had to repeatedly venture in, she knew clearly in her heart that perhaps next time, it would be her turn to stay behind.

The ground above was barren, and the giant eye hanging in the sky shed waterfall-like tears of blood.

The crimson waterfall fell from the sky, into the crack in the earth, into the depths of the dark underground city.

This was a sight she saw every time she came and went. Even so, she still couldn't help but look up.

Every time she saw that blind, weeping eye in the sky, she couldn’t help but wonder in her heart, whose eye was this? Who had been shedding tears of blood, weeping, for so many years?

Just at this moment, she saw that eye, which had been motionless in the sky for hundreds of years, move - the eye was slowly closing!

The crimson waterfall that had flowed for countless days gradually lessened, drying up.

The sentinel watched in stunned silence as the last few drops of red tears fell from high above into the abyss below her feet.

Above her head, that eyeless eye completely disappeared, the sky, like a canvas, began to dissolve, the dream-like colors of the entire world fading away.

A newborn sun, behind the canvas, revealed its true and beautiful form.

The orange light shone diagonally into the crack in the earth, illuminating the underground city that had been shrouded in darkness for hundreds of years.

"It’s… disintegrating?" the sentinel, standing at the edge of the crack in the earth, murmured in disbelief. "Is the Land of No Eyes… disintegrating?"

The earth beneath her feet rumbled. Countless explorers and strangely shaped Deviants emerged from the depths below.

"It’s collapsing!"

"The Land of No Eyes is disintegrating!" The escaping people shouted.

The thick curtain faded, and a real underground city, in its true form from hundreds of years ago, appeared before the world.

A magnificent human fortress, built underground, layer upon layer, its pipes crisscrossing, its buildings stacked high.

Hundreds of years ago, this underground fortress was destroyed from within by a giant monster, a huge crack appearing.

Now, the desolate underground fortress reappeared in the world, the bright light of dawn shining into that crack in the earth.

In the deepest part of the underground city, amidst the rumbling, the Deviants raised their heads in fear.

The earth beneath their feet rumbled, and high, high above, the edges of the narrow fissure were tinged with gold, a bright white sky visible.

The Deviants underground had no eyes, but they could still sense the forcefully invading sunlight. That bright light shining into their dark world, dazzling, illuminating everything, making them feel uneasy.

The shaking world was undergoing a drastic change.

Countless Deviants poured out from the depths of the caverns, some running outwards, and some slowly retreating into the even deeper underground.

"I want to go outside. How about you?" Seven Arms asked his companion beside him.

The god protecting this world had completely disappeared, and he instinctively sensed danger.

Many humans would come here, this place would soon become a fierce battlefield.

He didn’t want that kind of life. He wanted to go to the outside world, to see the place where humans lived, roam the wilderness and the ruins for a while, or perhaps find another contaminated zone with a god and live there.

"I want to stay," One Wing shook his head, "I don’t like unfamiliar places, I was born here, I only want to stay here."

"Not leaving? Many Sentinels will be coming," Seven Arms said.

"Isn’t that even better? It means more food," One Wing grinned.

She liked sentinels, they had sweet blood and powerful mental energy, which could make her stronger.

"I’ll hide in a deeper place and hunt quietly, until I become very strong, until I become the new god.”

"Alright, be careful, eat more humans, don’t be killed by a sentinel," Seven Arms reluctantly glanced at her, didn't say anything more, turned his head, and ran upwards, toward the light on the surface.

At the top of the White Tower, far away in the imperial capital,

Luther, the Commander of the Royal Guard, straightened his clothes, and strode through the pure white palace.

He saw his Majesty, sitting by the only small window at the top of the tower, her face covered with a veil, playing chess alone.

Her delicate, porcelain-like fingers held a white chess piece, seemingly pondering where to place the queen on the checkered board.

The morning light shone on her white dress, a dreamlike scene, she looked as beautiful as a goddess sitting by the window.

A warm feeling of attachment welled up in Luther's heart, he slowly approached and knelt down at the Queen’s feet.

Her Majesty, veiled, listened to his report, and looked up slightly, surprised, "Collapsed? That Land of No Eyes?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Luther said, his voice full of excitement, "Great news, in such a short time, victory after victory, we've taken back another city from the old era.”

As the commander of the Royal Guard, he knew how huge this underground fortress was.

Countless weapons and strategic resources were hidden inside, things that previously required warriors to risk their lives for, only able to retrieve a little bit each time, now, everything there was readily available, and would all become the property of the empire.

Thinking of this, his blood boiled. He was even already planning in his heart how to distribute those weapons and equipment, how much it could improve the combat capability of soldiers and outposts.

"Yes, what joyful news," he heard Her Majesty say.

There wasn’t anything wrong with these words, yet it felt like someone was gripping his collar, pouring a glass of ice water down the back of his neck, the chill making him shiver.

Why such coldness?

He raised his head to look at the person he had always admired and respected.

That person, in a white dress, sat by the window, her back to the light, her features somewhat obscured.

"That child, truly unexpected."

She whispered, slowly extending a hand.

Her fair and soft fingers gently lifted his chin, lightly moving, stroking his cheek, repeatedly caressing the scar across his eyelid.

Luther knelt on the cold ground, his entire body stiff.

It was as if something was crawling along his spine, he felt an intense surge of emotion tearing at his nerves.

He couldn't describe this feeling.

Rationally, he knew that he had always admired Her Majesty, and intensely craved her touch.

But for some reason, he felt inexplicably afraid, a trembling fear rising from the depths of his heart.

As if his entire being was about to be torn apart, cold sweat sliding down his back, his toes curled.

That person sitting by the window, her back to the light, looking down at him, her face obscured, seemed incredibly terrifying, yet also someone he madly admired.

The pale veil, the red lips, her cold fingertips gently stroking that scar, repeatedly, not letting go.

He felt a pain, a mental pain.

He even started trembling in pain.

He wanted to beg for mercy, but couldn't make a sound.

The powerful Sentinel Commander felt incredibly small at this moment, his mind completely caught in a chaotic vortex, losing himself.

After who knew how long, he saw those bright red lips curve slightly, saying, with a tone of pardon, "You may leave."

Luther stood up, feeling faint, and realized there were two wet marks on the ground where he had knelt.

He left the White Tower in a daze, coming back to his senses only after being hit by the cold wind outside.

He heard someone calling his name.

"Old Lu?"

His good friend and deputy, Ji Xuan, stood beside him, watching him.

"Old Lu, what's wrong?" Ji Xuan looked at his face with a hint of worry. "What happened with Her Majesty?"

Luther shook his head, his memory a little blurry, he couldn’t remember some of the details of his audience with her Majesty. He only felt a burning pain from the scar on his eyelid.

It was an old scar, it had been on his face for a long time, from when he was still at the outpost, a scar from an incredibly fierce battle.

Although he could easily erase this scar in a treatment pod, for some reason, he had never treated it.

As if letting this scar disappear meant a part of himself would also completely vanish.

"No- nothing," Luther pulled himself together and said to Ji Xuan. "Oh, and, there's news from the front, the Land of No Eyes has collapsed, send people there immediately.”

"The Land of No Eyes? Collapsed? That place Ni Ji went to?"

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