Lao Yao is a long-distance driver, in his forties or fifties, with a thin, dark face.
He was squatting in the open space near the front of the car, holding a cigarette in his mouth, looking at the people coming and going nearby with a gloomy face.
This trip was not smooth. On the way here, we encountered the spread of the golden tree pollution area near the Tomena outpost and almost couldn't escape.
On the way back, they encountered several mutants who escaped from the contaminated area, and one of the sentinels they hired was killed and one was injured.
I can only stop at this outpost and try my luck to see if I can recruit a bodyguard at short notice.
In front of Lao Yao, passers-by were walking hurriedly, all of them were discussing the big event that happened nearby.
It is amazing to say that the Golden Tree Contaminated Area, which existed for hundreds of years, collapsed yesterday for some unknown reason.
The discovery of a complete town from four hundred years ago, which has never been explored by anyone, is like a huge treasure trove.
Hundreds of years ago, human resources were not as scarce as they are today.
The weapons, energy stones, medicines, treatment cabins, vehicles in the towns of that period... are all precious treasures to humans today.
This treasure house was opened to the world overnight.
Before it was completely controlled by the imperial army, it was a gold rush destination.
First come, first served. Be slow.
The sentries and even countless civilians who heard the news rushed to that area desperately. Almost no one was willing to pay attention to him, a small civilian bus driver.
A team of sentries excitedly carried a new type of treatment cabin past Lao Yao.
Several blood-soaked sentries passed by, guarding a small electromagnetic cannon. Each of them had a murderous look on their face, full of vigilance.
In the distant sky, scarlet flames lit up and the roar of gunpowder sounded, causing the car windows to shake.
There, a team of sentinels had already started fighting recklessly for supplies, even resorting to using powerful high-energy weapons.
In the end, Lao Yao failed to recruit bodyguards, and only waited for two young men who were taking a ride back to the imperial capital.
Lao Yao remembered that the girl was a guide who had come here from the capital a few days ago in his car.
Guides leaving the White Tower are rare, and even rarer still are those travelling to the outposts alone.
Although the girl was silent and quiet all the way, Lao Yao still remembered her face.
This time on her return trip, she had a companion by her side, a tall and thin young man.
The man was wearing a pair of military boots and tactical pants, and a strange outfit from an unknown era. He had a sharp temperament and a cold expression, and looked like a soldier, but there was no identification badge on his shoulder that belonged to any sentry team. He was carrying a long and large box in his hand.
"You can't take such large luggage on board the car." Old Yao said unhappily.
The box looked strange, like a hollow cage, wrapped in a layer of breathable blackout cloth to hide the contents inside. It didn't look like a suitcase, but rather like it contained some living creature.
It is Lao Yao's habit to never allow passengers to bring such unknown objects on board.
The taciturn girl raised her eyes and said, "I can buy tickets for three people."
Lao Yao wanted to refuse. No means no, no matter how many tickets he bought. He is a very cautious and stubborn person.
But in a trance, a shadow passed through my mind. I didn't know what was happening to me. The words I said changed inexplicably.
"Okay then, get in the car."
When he came to his senses, the two passengers were already in the car. He had arranged them in the two best seats behind the driver's seat - there was a larger space there, just enough to accommodate the large luggage.
The vehicle slowly drove out of the sentry post.
The passengers on the bus were still discussing the collapse of the contaminated area.
"Is this area safe from now on?"
"Yeah, in the short term, you can walk with peace of mind."
"It is estimated that the weapons and equipment of several nearby outposts can be updated, and there will be a lot of extra land that can be cultivated."
"It would be great if this could happen more often." Someone said with excitement, "Slowly, all the polluted areas will return to their original state."
"Hahaha, it would be nice if it were like that."
"My childhood home was swallowed up by the polluted area. I dream of going back to visit it one day."
The atmosphere in the car was lively and joyful.
Although these ordinary travelers have no way to get anything directly from the contaminated area.
But they were still very happy and excited as if it was New Year's Day.
Human beings have suffered in polluted areas for many years, barely surviving in the space squeezed to the limit by the polluted areas.
It is rare to hear good news about humanity’s victory over polluted areas.
It's uplifting.
"That's a nice thought. This is just a coincidence." Lao Yao said coldly, "Besides, do you know how many sentries died in there this time?"
The car was slowly driving out of the sentry post gate.
Looking out of the car window, on the wasteland beside the road lay the bodies of the sentries who had been searched out from the contaminated area.
White cloth covered the cold and mutilated bodies of the soldiers, neatly arranged in rows outside the cold city gate.
The vehicle moved forward slowly, and the passengers in the car windows fell silent, looking through the windows at the dead lives on the roadside.
Many of the bodies under the white cloth were obviously incomplete. Some had become grotesque, and some no longer looked like human bodies at all.
So many people died. So many young and lovely lives.
The death knell of the sentry post was sounded.
The bells rang out over the Tomena outpost. Their comrades stood guard over the corpses, many of them weeping and singing a requiem.
This is a unique farewell ceremony between the sentries at the border posts.
Lin Yuan leaned against the car window, looking at the funeral sentinels outside.
The tentacles came into contact with extremely strong emotions, and the sadness spread and permeated inside and outside the car. Many people had tears in their eyes, and farewell songs rang out all the way.
But Lin Yuan's heart was numb and he could not feel much emotional fluctuation.
She felt a little strange, perhaps because she was on the verge of death. When she woke up in the treatment cabin, she felt like she had a long dream.
Looking at the green water waves floating in front of her, she felt like she had been sleeping in the cold seabed for countless years and had just woken up. She felt cold and numb.
Something seems to be different.
Obviously, when Windsor left, she also felt the reluctance and sadness.
Lin Yuan tightly grasped the golden pendant on his chest, trying to recall the feeling at that time. At that time, he really was like an ordinary normal human being.
She has been working very hard to make herself an ordinary person who can laugh and cry.
“Although I won’t cry, if I die, maybe someone will cry for me.”
When Lin Yuan thought of this, she felt inexplicably happy. She even counted on her fingers to see how many crybaby guys would shed tears for her.
She turned to look at the sentry beside her.
The sentry sitting next to him had his back straight, his right hand subconsciously hanging by his side - always in a position where he could quickly draw his weapon, and his left hand on his knee. He was always on alert and ready to join the battle at any time.
Lin Yuan recalled how he looked when he rushed out of the scarlet egg, covered in blood and full of murderous aura, like an incredibly sharp knife, a well-deserved human weapon.
But he cried for himself, and he looked so beautiful when he cried.
It makes people feel their hearts soften and even the ice and snow will melt.
The burning feeling of the tears dripping on my cheeks at that time seemed to still remain on my skin, but it became very faint and a little itchy.
Ni Ji noticed her gaze and gave her a faint smile.
He has a beautiful smile, a clean temperament, and gentle eyes and eyebrows.
Lin Yuan thought about it and there was no other more appropriate adjective to describe him.
He was like a killer whale, swimming in the pure sea at the edge of the glacier, rolling his black and white body freely, his whale calls gentle and sweet.
Lin Yuan began to feel sleepy and dozed off with his head leaning against the car window.
In a daze, she heard Ni Ji ask her, "Does the injury still hurt?"
She hummed, "It still hurts, but it's okay... I'm not too afraid of pain."
Ni Ji glanced at her and finally said nothing.
He looked a little sad and a little strangely embarrassed.
The tentacles were already very familiar with him, and could easily capture his various superficial consciousnesses.
I want to care, but I'm inexplicably afraid. I want him to be close to me, but I also want to stay away from him. It's very contradictory.
Why had he become afraid of himself
The carriage was noisy and bustling, and the sound of long bells could be heard from outside, but within the small space for two seats, there was a strange silence.
In a drowsy state, Lin Yuan seemed to smell a faint sweet fragrance. The fragrance seemed to be very far away, yet seemed to be close at hand, sweet and tempting.
It was like the most delicious candy she had ever tasted, making her swallow her saliva in her sleep.
She didn't know where the taste came from, nor could she remember when she had ever eaten something so delicious.
Ni Ji looked at the guide beside him in silence for a while. The young girl looked pale and was sleeping soundly on the swaying car body in the wilderness full of dangers.
Although she had left the treatment cabin, her body was still very weak from her severe injuries. She was easily tired and fell asleep soon after getting on the car.
Ni Ji used his personal terminal to send a message to Ji Xuan, reporting that he had left the contaminated area on his own and was preparing to return to the imperial capital.
He knew that such unauthorized action might cause dissatisfaction from the adjutant. But he didn't want to think about the problem rationally at the moment, he just wanted to walk with Lin Yuan for a while.
Without thinking about anything, he just accompanied the injured girl in the shaky bus and crossed the wilderness together.
Outside the car window was a receding wasteland. The sound of the sentry bell had become distant and faint. The sunlight outside the window shone on Lin Yuan's sleeping face. She slept peacefully with soft breathing.
She was still alive, not dead, and was sleeping peacefully beside him.
Ni Ji felt a little dazed. He felt that this shaky car would never stop and he could sit here and look at the person sleeping next to him.
There is nothing else in the world to worry about.
However, Ji Xuan was probably too busy at the moment, busy controlling the suddenly collapsed contaminated area. It was not easy to stop those crazy sentinels and nationalize the precious materials in the contaminated area.
I probably don't have the time to pay attention to his actions for the time being.
Lin Yuan fell into a deep sleep in the car. His little face swayed as the car moved, and his head hit the glass window several times.
The sentry beside him tightened his fingers on his knees slightly, and finally just straightened his back, sat upright, and looked straight ahead.
Finally, a small tentacle that was not to be seen emerged with its tentacles, yawning, and pushed Lin Yuan's tilted head to the side. Lin Yuan's body slid down, and her face rested on Ni Ji's shoulder. Her long black hair was scattered, and a few strands fell on the sentry's wrist.
Ni Ji's body became stiff.
There were only a few strands of black hair, lightly hooked around his wrist, but he didn't know what it reminded him of, and his body remained stiff and motionless for a long time.
But he did not push Lin Yuan's face away in the end. Instead, he tilted his shoulders slightly to allow Lin Yuan to sleep more comfortably.
Lin Yuan's throat moved while he was sleeping, as if he had eaten some delicious candy.
(End of this chapter)