Invasion [Guide/Sentinel] Section 61

Such a coincidence?

Only two days ago, he and she had been fighting side by side in the sea of clouds.

But now, the tentacles that had once guarded his side were protecting another sentinel, their sharp tips pointing uniformly at him.

They had assumed a combat posture against him.

In truth, this was probably quite a normal occurrence.

For Ni Ji, friends who had fought side by side turning into enemies overnight was nothing rare.

Tan Shu had once been a brother who fought by his side. Yet the current Tan Shu was plotting to kill him. Ni Ji felt nothing about this, other than a mild sense of disgust.

Moreover, he and that girl had never truly had any real affection for one another; they hadn't even exchanged a complete sentence.

It was just that—just when those tentacles coiled across the ocean floor, pointing sternly at him as if he were an enemy—

A trace of inexplicable sorrow welled up in Ni Ji’s heart.

It felt as though a very soft spot within him had been stabbed hard by those sharp tentacle tips, and he couldn't help feeling a wave of distress. He had thought that such a tender place no longer existed deep within his heart.

If I insist on going against you, what can you do?

Ni Ji narrowed his eyes, a nameless anger rising in his chest. Knowing it was unnecessary, he still failed to control his emotions.

The skin on the back of one of his hands began to itch inexplicably.

If it were with that person...

He realized that if he were to do such a thing, that person might fiercely lash out at him just like last time, though this time it might not just be a strike across the back of his hand.

The massive killer whale halted its body.

He stopped moving forward. Transforming his upper body into human form, he swam upward, breaking the surface of the water, and exposed half his head amidst the rolling waves.

Across the undulating, rippling ocean, he saw the guide.

She was sitting in a small boat, beneath the starry sky, upon the sea not far away from him.

Carefully guarded in the center by several sentinels, she seemed to have only just noticed him, a trace of slight surprise showing on her face.

Lin Yuan saw the sentinel who had surfaced.

So it was him, what a coincidence.

The sentinel emerged from the sea, his hair dripping wet, droplets of water tracing the line of his jaw and flowing down past his Adam's apple.

Only his head was exposed above the water, and through the transparent sea, dark patterns on his body were faintly visible.

Yet inexplicably, Lin Yuan felt a strong sense of familiarity, as if without even looking, she knew what the hidden part beneath the water looked like—possessing a sleek black back, fluid lines, and a smooth tail.

She had no idea why she felt this inexplicable familiarity, as though she had caressed it with her own hands before.

This sentinel was very strange; every time she saw him, Lin Yuan felt a sense of novelty and intimacy.

Clearly, they hadn't even formally spoken a single word.

Yet it felt as though they were already well acquainted with one another.

The last time, which was two days ago on the airship in the sky, Lin Yuan had heard this person's wild, uninhibited laughter.

Laughing heartily, he had leaped directly down from the high altitude, slicing open the monster's huge skull with a single blade—a worthy powerhouse.

Back then, that laughter had been exhilarating.

When they met this time, however, he had swum up quietly from the depths of the ocean, offering no greeting, just watching her from afar.

Lin Yuan vaguely felt she had stumbled upon a bizarre emotion, a complex human feeling known as "resentfulness."

It was as if she were a mermaid princess betrayed by a prince, looking at the prince's ship, on the verge of crying from grievance.

Lin Yuan decided she must be mistaken. Her tentacles had been a bit out of sorts lately, frequently bringing her things she couldn't understand.

"Did you guys bully him just now?" Lin Yuan quietly asked her mental constructs.

[No.]

[You gave the primary command to protect the seal.]

[We executed the primary command and didn't even have time to notice the big fish.]

[Ah, it's the big fish.]

[The big fish, let me have a look.]

[I'll just say hi.]

[The little fish seems to be in a bad mood.]

[It's fine, in a moment we'll pet him... ugh, who covered my mouth?]

While Lin Yuan's tentacles were bickering noisily, the sentinels' small boat had drawn close to the shore.

For them, if a battle were to ensue, land was the better choice.

That fellow floating in the water, who was extraordinarily powerful yet neither closed in nor ceased his sullen staring, was truly rather terrifying.

"To actually encounter a guide in the contaminated zone is a rare event indeed." Tan Shu, guarding the shore, flashed a smile at the disembarking sentinels. "No need to be so tense. Considering the guide is from the White Tower, we won't do anything."

When he smiled, he bore a striking resemblance to the polite, etiquette-abiding aristocrats at high-society banquets. Smiling and gentle, he looked like a person willing to reason.

But Little Bird and the others weren't buying it at all; they each kept a hand on their weapons, facing a formidable enemy.

Although this man was smiling on the surface, his people had dispersed, stepping into tactical positions that sealed off all possible retreats.

The safeties on their pulse rifles were off, and the fully charged energy bars on the weapons glowed with an ominous fluorescent light. They were ready to murder to cover up their tracks at a moment's notice.

"I won't be discourteous to a guide." Tan Shu bowed slightly, extending a hand toward Lin Yuan. "As long as this guide lady is willing to hand that box over to me."

Lin Yuan was quite reluctant, pouting as she clutched the wooden box that Little Shepherd had brought back with such difficulty tightly to her chest.

The box was dilapidated and looked utterly worthless. Yet through the slightly cracked opening of the box, a breathtaking, colorful luster gleamed.

All sorts of escape plans flashed rapidly through Little Bird's mind. None of them were viable.

Big Tiger's face turned red, and he bit down hard on his lower lip.

"Sister Lin Yuan." Little Shepherd gently tugged at the hem of Lin Yuan's clothes.

They all felt a profound sense of humiliation, but there was nothing they could do.

They knew that in front of such a formidable enemy, they possessed no capital to act rashly at the moment.

When left with no other choice, naturally, preserving one's life was far more important than completing the mission.