Yellow sand filled the sky, blocking out the original sunlight, leaving only a blurry sand path visible.
“Is a storm coming?”
Xi Si Te woke up the still-sleeping team members one by one.
Hai Shi wasn’t in her own tent, but Xi Si Te knew where she would be.
She walked softly into Wu Yin’s tent and, sure enough, found Hai Shi sleeping soundly, pressed tightly against him.
‘Hehe, both of them look so cute sleeping.’
Xi Si Te mischievously poked both their faces.
Hai Shi frowned slightly, while Wu Yin showed no reaction, instead burying his head deeper into the blanket.
“Mmm… you can’t sleep anymore. Time to get up.”
Xi Si Te leaned close to their ears and whispered to wake them.
“Five… more… minutes…”
Hai Si uttered a few words in fragments and then fell silent again, but at least her intention was clear.
“What am I going to do…”
Xi Si Te rested her head on her hand, watching the two fall back asleep.
Seeing them so soundly asleep made her feel a little sleepy herself.
“Then I’ll… just a little… just a little.”
Xi Si Te looked left and right, then lay down to Hai Shi’s right, sandwiching Hai Shi between herself and Wu Yin.
As if sensing another wave of warmth, Hai Shi’s hand reached toward Xi Si Te, and Xi Si Te gently wrapped it in hers.
“Hehe, how cute.”
Xi Si Te smoothed Hai Shi’s messy hair to make her sleep more comfortably.
Following Hai Shi’s head, she could see Wu Yin’s face turned toward her, also sleeping peacefully.
Xi Si Te looked at them with affectionate eyes.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and sleep a little, she suddenly realized what this looked like.
“Just like… a married couple…”
Saying that word made Xi Si Te feel a tremor in her chest, and she could feel her temperature rising—something she had never felt so distinctly even when encountering extreme environments.
“Mmm…”
Xi Si Te rubbed her hands together nervously, then carefully slipped them under the blanket, crossing over Hai Shi in the middle, gradually reaching toward Wu Yin’s hand.
She was almost there.
The distance between their hands was less than a fingertip.
“Hehe~.”
A familiar, elegant laugh suddenly entered her ears.
Startled, Xi Si Te immediately pulled back her hand and turned to face Le Paxi standing at the tent entrance with an awkward expression.
“Is… is everything already prepared?”
“Of course it is. Only a few VIPs are still nowhere to be seen.”
Le Paxi’s words carried a pointed meaning, making Xi Si Te’s face even redder.
“I’ll… I’ll get ready right away!”
Xi Si Te quickly scrambled to her feet and ran out of the tent, leaving behind Wu Yin and Hai Shi, whom she had woken up, and Le Paxi, who was quietly laughing to herself.
“What’s wrong? Sounded like something happened.”
“Nothing, Captain. Hai Shi, please hurry and get ready. The weather doesn’t seem good today.”
Le Paxi turned to leave, but I called her back.
“What is it?”
“Le Paxi, your collar—it got blown open.”
Le Paxi looked down and saw that the collar of her black dress had indeed flipped up, revealing the underwear underneath.
“It’s fine if the Captain sees a little more.”
“No, no. My mind is clear enough. I don’t need this to wake me up.”
Hehe.
Le Paxi chuckled lightly and straightened her collar.
“Then I won’t disturb you.”
I patted my own face.
That woke me up a lot.
Hai Shi was still sleeping next to me.
No choice.
I would have to carry her into the vehicle.
“Did you find something?”
I asked Xi Si Te, who was about to pack up the camp.
“It seems there’s a storm forming in the distance. To avoid colliding with it, we need to leave as soon as possible.”
“I discovered it, Captain!”
Ou Mi You suddenly ran up behind me and hugged me tightly.
“Good, good. Good job, Ou Mi You. Now let go of me.”
“You’re so cold.”
Ou Mi You pouted and let me go, kicking a small stone on the ground with boredom.
“So, is everything ready?”
“All the stuff is packed. Next… Leng Qiongling hasn’t come yet.”
“Leng Qiongling isn’t here?”
I looked around.
Indeed, there was no sign of Leng Qiongling.
“I’ll go find her.”
I gestured for them to push the vehicle outside the circle formed by the Mad Beast corpses, to divert the attention of any Mad Beasts that might be hiding in the shadows, while I climbed to the highest nearby rock and scanned the area, trying to spot any trace of Leng Qiongling.
“Hmm… can’t find her.”
After searching for a while, I suddenly remembered that rock from last night.
I quickly ran over there and sure enough found Leng Qiongling crouching there.
“What’s wrong? We’re about to leave. Come on.”
“Captain…”
Leng Qiongling lifted her head from behind her knees.
Her eyes were full of fear, and her hands were trembling nonstop.
Noticing her abnormal state, I immediately reacted.
Instead of urging her, I leaned against the rock beside her and waited quietly.
How long passed?
Even though we needed to move immediately, if I forced her to go now, I might miss the opportunity and leave her trapped.
The sun was gradually shining onto our heads.
Leng Qiongling stared at the distant horizon for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“This morning, I heard it again… the sound that destroyed my life, my family.”
“The Giant Mad Beast?”
Leng Qiongling nodded silently, recalling the disaster of that day.
“When that Giant Mad Beast broke through the city walls, we were completely unaware. The people farther away even thought it was just a demolition somewhere. It wasn’t until it stormed into the city and started wreaking havoc that people reacted, scrambling to prepare escape vehicles. But it was futile.”
“Why didn’t they react until it entered the city? What about the alarms? Why didn’t the autonomous defense system respond?”
Leng Qiongling shook her head.
“I don’t know either. But afterward, an investigation was sent. I heard there were signs of human interference.”
“Human interference?”
I couldn’t help raising my voice.
This was hard to believe.
A city’s central defense system is practically its lifeline.
If it gets destroyed, it basically spells the city’s doom.
But human interference?
That would mean someone hacked into the central defense system.
But that’s nearly impossible, because the technology is entirely in the hands of the Defense Headquarters’ upper echelons, and its operating method is different from ordinary systems.
If it was human interference, besides violent destruction, it would mean someone inside the Defense Headquarters was a traitor.
That possibility… maybe not nonexistent.
Although I hadn’t encountered it often, the continent was not lacking in fanatical groups that worshipped Mad Beasts.
Like in most sci-fi works, they believed that Mad Beasts were divine envoys sent by God to purify humanity, so humans should unconditionally accept their judgment.
If someone in Defense Headquarters was part of such a fanatical group…
“Captain?”
“Ah, sorry.
I got distracted.”
I made a gesture to Leng Qiongling indicating it was nothing.
She looked at me, and the previously worried expression on her face finally relaxed.
“Captain, you think even more than I do. I’m the victim here, yet you care more than I do.”
“I’m not that great. I just think too much. Anyway, you said you heard the Giant Mad Beast’s voice. What did you hear?”
“I…”
Leng Qiongling propped her head in her hands, as if her mind was being torn apart.
“It connected its mind to mine.”
“That…”
Hearing such words that seemed to belong only to fantasy stories, my reaction slowed.
“You mean… a Mental Link?”
“I… I’m not sure. But I can often feel it. It keeps trying to talk to me.Lately, it seems to have learned human language, and our conversations have become more frequent.”
“Has it affected your mind?”
“No… not at all. But it’s always talking to me in a tone I can almost call sympathy.”
Sympathy?
It was the very cause of her suffering, and it dares to sympathize?
I unconsciously clenched my fist, and a long-dormant anger stirred inside me.
“What did it say to you?”
Leng Qiongling was dazed for a moment, then spoke.
“It said… become its companion.”
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