Invasion - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

      Tan Shu took Ni Ji, who was too injured to walk, to the clinic.

    The clinic was an expensive place with a treatment cabin that claims to heal wounds all over the body just by lying in and sleeping.

    Although he was reluctant, Tan Shu couldn't just bring a bloody man to his teacher.

    His teacher was a very sophisticated man. He was in the rising stage of his career, and was focused on gaining profits in those aristocratic circles. He had high requirements on the appearance of himself and everyone around him.

    When he usually went to see his teacher, he would even carefully wipe off the few drops of rain from his shoulders.

    The doctors in the clinic fussed about Ni Ji's horrific trauma for a long time.

    And he expressed that only their clinic happened to have the latest treatment solution that the search team had just brought back from polluted area No. 5. It can ensure the effective treatment of the critically injured person who has been lying in the treatment cabin.

     "Fortunately, he was a Sentinel. An ordinary person would have died eight hundred times earlier." The doctor sorted out various data on the dashboard through the observation window, and kept shaking his head, "He still has many old injuries on his body, which have not been properly treated."

     In the room he was in, there was a very old sealed treatment cabin that had been repaired several times. Ni Ji was lying inside with his eyes closed, wearing a breathing mask, and his whole body was soaked in a special liquid, which was constantly bubbling, and various body data were running quickly on the yellow dashboard.

     "These joints are obviously deformed. It is obvious that they have been seriously injured, and they will be very painful when it rains. And the lungs have been corroded by the inhaled poisonous gas, and they have not been treated properly at all. Tsk tsk, don't know how he survived. It will take a lot of money and time to fully recover now."

     The doctor turned to Tan Shu who was standing beside him, "Do you want to take advantage of this treatment to heal some vital old injuries together?"

    This man just came in with the wounded in the heavy rain, with a concerned and anxious expression on his face. It seemed that the relationship between the two should be very good.

    "Can he hear us talking like this inside?" Tan Shu answered a completely irrelevant topic.

    "Hear? How could he hear?" The doctor laughed. "This is a genuine product brought back from the ruins, specially modified for the healing Sentinel. The sound insulation effect is top-notch, ensuring that the Sentinel can be healed with peace of mind while lying in it. Even if it is an A-level sentinel in here, they can't hear a single sound from outside."

     Tan Shu felt an inexplicable complacency in his heart. This was the myth from his student days, but now he lived like this, far inferior to himself, which makes him almost unable to control his expression.

     It's so pitiful, you are so poor, don't you even have money to enter the treatment cabin? At the beginning, you offended the teacher and went to the northern Sentinels. You must regret it now, right?

     The doctor was still rambling, "Look at these old injuries, it is most appropriate to treat them together while this treatment is in progress."

    The man beside him interrupted him, and said coldly in a low voice, "Shut up, don't meddle in our business."

     The doctor shrugged and had no choice but to stop talking. The two adjusted the data and went to the next room.

     After all, the healing process in the treatment cabin, after adjusting the operating data of the machine, did not require manual participation. It was very convenient. Apart from the fact that it was a bit more expensive and most low-level Sentinels cannot afford it, there were no other problems.

     After the footsteps disappeared, Ni Ji in the treatment cabin opened his eyes.

     He heard the conversation just now, and he could even hear the voice of a patient's family member farther away, as well as the sound of rain falling outside the window.

     Lying in the airtight treatment box, the translucent treatment liquid wrapped his body, and the gurgling bubbles continued to sound,

    Like being in that familiar seabed.

    Ni Ji remembered the battle at the bottom of the sea today, and the girl floating in the deep sea.

    He really didn't expect to meet such a Guide like this.

    With a slender body, an indifferent look, and a layer upon layer of white dress spread out in the sea, she plunged straight in like that, floating in the deep sea within his spiritual realm.

     Her mental body was terrifying to even the battle-hardened Sentinels. Those indistinct, criss-crossed spiritual bodies floated behind the girl in white, huge, cold, terrifying and mysterious.

     It seems that just peeping into a part will bring great pressure to people.

     When the tentacles entangled, tightened, and dragged him all the way down to the bottom of the sea, Ni Ji even thought of death.

     Death is not a big deal to him. Since everyone was gone, he would die anytime as a matter of course. Long sleep may be a kind of eternal peace and relief.

     However, after those cold and greasy things entangled his tail and imprisoned him on the rocks on the seabed, they did not bring him the torture he imagined.

     They didn't even hurt him. After seeing those memories that he deliberately placed in the periphery, the Guide suspended in the deep sea still had that expressionless expression, showing no trace of happiness or anger.

     But those tentacles climbed up along his muscles, and touched his head in turn, a little rudely.

     Perhaps because he has suffered too much despair and suffering for too long, he will subconsciously grasp a little bit of warmth from others, and magnify it to savor it.

    What's more, he also saw those memories that were screened publicly.

    Seemingly impartial, impersonal watch and playback. But he knew that the Guide deliberately truncated and concealed a little bit.

    This cold Guide, that he once even offended, treated him tenderly after invading his spiritual realm.

    A little tenderness from a stranger,

    but it protected what those dead soldiers want to protect with all their heart.

    The rain outside the window was heavy, and the rain was beating the glass of the window intensively, leaving crooked traces.

    Ni Ji closed his eyes, thinking of the northern outpost where he had fought for many years.

    In such a season, the place was covered with snowflakes, the universe was as vast as jade, and the earth was icy cold.

    The cold winter had already arrived. Survival was tougher than ever.

    The memory fragments that were broadcast publicly in the military grounds had a short tail cut off.

    After the researcher was killed and the living insect jade was crushed, there was also a little follow-up segment.

    The vengeful Sentinel bent down and picked up the fragments of the insect jade bit by bit.

    Even though it was broken like this, even if dead insect jade had lost most of its value, even though it would no longer be looked down upon by those high and mighty figures... But placed in a barren place like the northern outpost, they can feed many people and become winter supplies for many families.

    He picked up the blood-stained pieces and carried them out of the contaminated area, where he traded them for charcoal, cotton, grain and candy on the black market.

    Inside the snow-covered northern outpost, a small wooden house was lit with warm lights.

    The pregnant hostess was sitting at the table, knitting a sweater, and patting her sleeping little daughter.

    The door of the house was knocked at this time.

    "Who is it?" She held her stomach and went to open the door.

    It was an orderly from the Outpost, a very old woman, both arms were broken, and they were replaced with mechanical prosthetics.

    She braved the snow to drag a cart full of food for the winter.

    "These are all rations for your family's Tazi." The elderly aunt with disabled hands smiled, and couldn't help but move things into the house with her slightly rusty robotic arm, "Tazi and the others may not be able to come back in time to take care of your baby. Don't worry, I'm still here." 

    After she finished moving her things, she took out a bag of imperial coins from her pocket, and put the coins warmed by her body temperature into the hands of the hostess.

    "The captain asked me to give it to you."

    "Oh, why are there so many?" The pregnant wife was surprised and delighted.

    The sad thing was that her husband couldn't accompany her to wait for the arrival of the child, but luckily there was so much food and money. At least she and the baby could get through this winter safely.

    She raised her head and looked outside the house, where there was only deep darkness and random flying snowflakes.

    There was no man who was tall, ugly, but gentle to herself.

    The woman felt a little uneasy in her heart, but also summoned up the courage to be a mother.

    Not far away, at the entrance of a dark alley.

    The girl with big wavy hair opened the cigarette case, took out a cigarette with her fingers painted with black nail polish, lit it, and took a puff.

    "What does he mean?" The girl skillfully exhaled smoke rings, and sneered, "If he doesn't come, what does he ask you to send this money for, breakup fee?"

    "No, he..." The Sentinel standing in front of her had red eyes. He choked up and said nothing. He just stretched out his hand stubbornly, and handed out the money bag containing a lot of imperial coins.

    The girl who had been in the brothel for many years was disdainful at first, then slowly revealed doubts, and then reacted.

    She was stunned for a while, shaking her hands several times before putting the cigarette into her mouth accurately, took a deep puff, exhaled the smoke in a panic, and raised her face against the wind and snow, as if this could dry the tears from her eyes.

    "He... that person, does he have anything to say to me?"

    "Yes, he said——I hope you can take the money and live a good life, and change your way of life."

    It was extremely quiet,

    only a woman was squatting on the ground, covering her beautiful eyebrows with her hand holding a cigarette.

    "Bastard, that bastard." She cried and cursed.

    Pure white snowflakes fell from the sky one after another, like soothing, gently touching her shoulders.

    In the dilapidated orphanage, a large cart full of winter supplies was parked outside the courtyard gate.

    The children cheered and came out to receive the candies distributed to them. They have never tasted so much sweetness, they are as happy as if it was a festival.

    But they didn't see that the matron¹, who was always smiling in the past, was standing in the corner at this moment, lowered her head in front of a strange veteran, covered her face and wept bitterly.

    ...

    After a night of heavy rain, the sun shines again.

    Lin Yuan sat in the living room of Cao Yunyun's house, watching her busily feed the two twins dinner.

    Cao Yunyun was her only friend when she was in the Guide Academy. She was two years older than her and married her matched Sentinel early on. She no longer needed to perform the duties of a Guide, and only concentrated on caring for her husband and raising her children at home.

     The TV set on the cabinet in the living room is playing a piece of news. Viscount Klein, wearing a formal attire, distributed condolences to the families of some sacrificed Sentinels amidst the sunshine and flowers.

     The family members of the soldiers who were placed in front of the screen were neatly dressed and gratefully received the gifts from the Marquis.

     Showing kindness to all living beings², the guests and hosts had a great time, and it was very lively.

     The whole world was bathed in the sun, against the holy brilliance of the White Tower, full of love and tenderness.

     "It's all about superficial work." Cao Yunyun opened the oven, took out a piece of roasted sauced beef, cut them up and placed them on a plate, and put them in her husband's lunch box, while talking to Lin Yuan, "According to the survey we did at that time, most of the Sentinels who died in the polluted area hardly received any pension. Their pension was deducted layer by layer, and when it finally fell into the hands of their families, it was outrageously meager.”

    When she was in the Guide Academy, she was a fast-moving, courageous and capable girl. She wrote many investigative reports on sensitive topics.

     But now, she had left that world, and her eyes were only allowed to focus on the family, becoming a gentle wife and mother.

     As she spoke, she put two spoonfuls of pureed fruit into the twins' bowls and demanded that they finish eating. At the same time, she asked the maid in the house to get the dress for her husband's dinner.

    Taking a break, she dug out a large spoonful of blueberry jam that she made herself, spread it on the freshly baked small cake, and handed it to Lin Yuan.

    Their family's financial situation had been poor these years, but they had to maintain the face of being a noble family traveling outside. All the expenses of the family had been reduced as much as possible.

    There was only one maid left, helping to take care of trivial matters between the nobles.

    Lin Yuan took a bite of the cake. The blueberry jam had a rich layering. The cake was soft and sweet, very delicious.

    She actually admires a Guide like Cao Yunyun very much.

    While taking good care of her Sentinel, she can complete so many trivial and complicated things in an orderly manner, and she can also maintain an optimistic and gentle mood.

    If it was her, even if all the tentacles came out to help, it probably wouldn't be possible.

    Of course, each of those little ones had a small but not very useful brain, which was also a major cause of confusion.

    "Oh, dear. Are you really going to those polluted areas?" Cao Yunyun finally found a spare moment in the rush, and sat in front of Lin Yuan, "My God, I can't believe there will be a Guide applying for such a job. But I feel like it's worthy of being you.”

    The two of them have different life concepts, but they can always understand and tolerate each other, so they had been friends for many years.

    "Yes. I have a reason to go." Lin Yuan showed her pass, "And, as long as I go there, I don't have to attend these banquets endlessly, right? You know, I'm not good at dealing with these."

    The Guides in the White Tower have obligations that must be fulfilled every year. Among them was participating in the incredible extravagant banquets held by the nobles.

    After all, Guides are the most precious flowers cultivated by the empire, and they must be used to put on plates and decorate the table when necessary.

    "Yes, the banquet." Cao Yunyun was successfully changed the subject, and she clapped her hands, "Are you going to dress like this for today's dinner?"

    Lin Yuan looked down at her clothes and shoes, and felt that she didn't find any problems. She took off her dress and stepped on shoes that made her unable to walk.

    "You have to know, that bastard Jiang Yangshuo will also come at night." Cao Yunyun put her hands on her shoulders, her face serious, "Especially like this time, the more we have to straighten our back. We can't let that bastard looks down on you.

    "Xiaoyuan, this is the battlefield. It belongs to us, a Guide's battlefield."

    The battlefield...?

    Although she was a little sorry for her friend who cared about her, Lin Yuan was still distracted by Cao Yunyun's passionate remarks.

    She recalled the memories she saw on the seabed a few days ago.

    A body pierced by huge fingers.

    Flesh smeared on the ground like mud.

    Those eyes that were still desperately unwilling to close after death.

    That was the battlefield, Yunyun, the real battlefield was like that.

    Fighting around a Sentinel, pulling each other's hair, could it be considered a battlefield?

<<Previous | Index | Next>>

 

¹ Matron: original text 院长妈妈; direct translation 'dean mother'. I took some liberties to change it into matron, as in orphanage matron.

² Original text 慈泽众生; literally 'kindness to all living beings'. A quick Google search shows that it has something to do with being benevolent and kind to others.

I thought the story was too sad to put random translation notes amongst the text haha. I don't want to disrupt the atmosphere so I put them at the bottom. Anyway, thanks for reading!