In just a few seconds, the Water Jellyfish Commander recalled his brief life…
The joy upon discovering that his spirit was that of a Jellyfish, the excitement noticed by Commander Qi Si, the eager anticipation to serve the Officer, the ecstasy and pride of becoming the captain of the personal guard squad…
In the end, all those hopes came to nothing.
He closed his eyes with growing reluctance, and as he died, his spirit—the Jellyfish—dissolved little by little.
Long tentacles, like tassels, swayed beneath the umbrella-shaped body.
Like a snowman melting under the scorching sun, that beautiful, mysterious Jellyfish vanished from this world.
Until his death, the Water Jellyfish Commander never managed to leave his name before Ning Li and Yin Que, as if he were an insignificant being unworthy of remembrance.
After him, his two infamous subordinates were also killed by Yin Que.
Initially, Yin Que had intended to spare their lives, but he quickly realized they did not deserve to live.
He gave them a swift end.
After dealing with the three, Yin Que crouched down, removed the light brain worn on the Water Jellyfish Commander’s thumb, and used his biometric data to unlock the password.
As expected, there was a wealth of information inside.
Ning Li, having waited a long time for the two Sentinels she hoped to see, could no longer hold back and chose to return the way she came.
By the time she returned, everything had settled.
The Water Jellyfish Commander was dead, and so were his two subordinates.
The trouble was temporarily resolved.
She had done nothing—just waited nearly twenty minutes inside the abandoned building.
Xiao Hei looked around here and there in the Spirit Sea, shouting loudly, “One hit kill!”
“One hit kill!”
Ning Li strode over to Yin Que, looking down at the three lifeless Sentinels on the ground and asked, “Why didn’t you leave me two of them?”
Yin Que replied, “Protecting the Guide is every Sentinel’s duty.”
Though there are rotten elements among Sentinels, Yin Que believed that most still upheld the Sentinel Spirit, keeping their ideals and beliefs firmly in heart.
Compared to the aggressive Sentinels, Guides, who only possess supportive Talents, are much more fragile and in need of protection.
Ning Li had no comment. Once they left the Forbidden Zone, their cooperation would end.
Perhaps they would never meet again; there was no need to argue over such matters.
Xiao Hei eagerly picked up three beads from the ground, tangled with black and red threads.
One bead’s original color was already unrecognizable; it was filled densely with black threads, looking eerie and disgusting.
Those tangled threads reflected how much hatred and unwillingness to accept death the bead’s owner had before dying!
Such intense resentment—it could only belong to the Water Jellyfish Commander.
Ning Li held the bead and commented, “Far inferior to the one I found before. That one was truly beautiful—clear and pure, smooth to the touch, a genuine treasure. This one’s ugly, just like his heart.”
Holding the Amber Eye, Ning Li couldn’t help but disparage the Water Jellyfish Commander.
In mindset and character, the Water Jellyfish Commander was nowhere near her new teammate.
His resentment was darker than ink; no doubt he cursed fiercely inside before his death.
Ning Li thought slowly, the Water Jellyfish Commander and her new teammate were indeed mortal enemies.
Judging by the density of those black threads, if they weren’t enemies, then what were?
Yin Que chuckled softly, “Thank you.”
Ning Li feigned ignorance.
Some tacit secrets are better left unspoken; knowing is enough.
She would never admit that she resurrected the new teammate.
Now, they were near the abandoned building on the outskirts, a sparsely inhabited area.
Ning Li had originally planned to lure those two Sentinels into the abandoned building.
She had deliberately chosen the building best suited for Xiao Hei to strike, but after waiting left and right in the stairwell, no one showed up.
Yin Que didn’t concern himself with the Water Jellyfish Sentinels or others.
In the Forbidden Zone, corpses soon assimilate into Abnormal Species due to the environment, so no special disposal was necessary.
He glanced at the sky and said, “The easiest way to find clues to exit the Forbidden Zone is to blend into the environment.”
Blend into the environment?
How to blend in?
After Ning Li officially became part of the 520 Convenience Store staff, she finally understood what her new teammate meant by blending into the environment.
Five minutes ago.
Following her new teammate, she stepped into the busiest street in the city.
After observing and searching for a while, she watched him enter a convenience store named 520 and request two job positions from the manager.
Without asking any extra questions, the manager agreed immediately.
Just like that, the two of them formally became employees of the 520 Convenience Store.
That simple?
That simple.
The most intimidating aspect of the Cosmic Rose Talent is that the skills it copies remain until replaced by the next Talent.
Therefore, the Cosmic Rose still retained the Jellyfish’s Paralyzing Thought Talent.
Paralyzing Thought allows for many possibilities: For example, forcing the opponent to speak the truth.
Or causing their thoughts to become chaotic, agreeing to conditions they shouldn’t, without any awareness afterward.
What was barely effective in the Water Jellyfish Commander’s hands was fully realized by Yin Que, unleashing powers the Commander could hardly imagine.
Currently, the convenience store had three employees—two women and one man—so there was no shortage of workers.
Ning Li and Yin Que only took up two employee spots without having to do much.
The employees wore blue aprons stamped with “520 Convenience Store” logos.
The store wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either.
Shelves were stocked with various food, drinks, and ready-to-eat items, much like convenience stores outside the Forbidden Zone.
“Once you become an employee, you can do many things, like gathering information from the locals,” Yin Que’s clear voice echoed inside the store.
A day passed, and his voice had long lost the hoarseness it had immediately after resurrection.
“If you try to gather information as an outsider, you’ll likely be turned away coldly. Worse, you might provoke the locals’ wild instincts. But once you become ‘one of them,’ these problems disappear.”
Ning Li carefully took note of the experienced advice.
While they were talking, a loud explosion sounded a few hundred meters away.
With the blast came chaos on the street outside.
Noise, cries for help, shrill laughter, the sound of fleeing footsteps—all mixed together, spreading uneasy emotions.
Employees, who had quietly been tidying up inside, emerged one by one from behind the shelves.
Ning Li noticed some inhuman changes appearing on their bodies.
Without external stimuli, they looked like ordinary ancient people—aside from their clothing, indistinguishable from humans. But once triggered, they began transforming into Abnormal Species!
Luckily, the stimulus was hundreds of meters away, so the convenience store employees showed no violent behavior and returned to normal after a few seconds.
Worry flickered in Yin Que’s eyes.
Such a huge disturbance indicated someone had triggered the absolute taboo inside the Forbidden Zone.
Sentinels know what to watch for when entering the Forbidden Zone; Guides should also receive temporary training beforehand.
As for Ning Li—
She was targeted by the Water Jellyfish Commander and hadn’t received any training.
“I’ll go check it out. You stay here; it’s safe.”
With that, Yin Que strode outside the convenience store.
Ning Li hesitated but decided to follow.
Something serious was happening in the Forbidden Zone, and she didn’t want to be left in the dark.
Outside, Ning Li realized how grave the situation was.
The once quiet, era-filled street was now engulfed in towering black smoke, twisted flames crawling and burning.
People engulfed in fire writhed on the ground, screaming in pain and sobbing.
That area had become a ruin, scattered with broken stones, mud, and bloodstains…
Distant natives watched coldly, while those closer had already partially transformed into Abnormal Species!
The area closest to the explosion had become a stronghold for Abnormal Species!
Ning Li instantly gathered several pieces of information: 1. The farther from the incident site, the safer.
Unless approached actively, there would be no attack.
2. Many were injured; they likely came for the 10,000 Universal Coins but failed miserably, bringing disaster upon themselves immediately.
At such times, self-preservation meant keeping distance.
Yet her teammate wasn’t retreating—he was moving toward the epicenter, seemingly to rescue people.
Xiao Hei clamored loudly in her Spirit Sea to come out, but Ning Li suppressed it without mercy.
She observed her new teammate from a moderate distance.
Since crossing into the Sentinel world, her personal code had always been to keep a low profile.
Most of the time, she thought only of self-preservation.
Had it not been to integrate faster into the group, she wouldn’t have bothered befriending Yuan Zi.
Yuan Zi seemed the easiest to fool, the softest-hearted, which is why she approached her first.
Just as she expected, Yuan Zi was kind, soft, and emotional.
After Ning Li repeated several times how lonely she was and that she had no friends, Yuan Zi volunteered to befriend her.
With Yuan Zi’s support, Ning Li adapted easily to this new world without revealing any flaws or raising suspicion.
Because she always said she was somewhat introverted, never had anyone talk to her, had a younger brother, and was unloved by her parents, Yuan Zi could empathize with her struggles and forgive her ignorance and eccentricities.
Yuan Zi was a genuinely good person.
She always knew that.
But she likely wouldn’t become someone like Yuan Zi.
If someone deliberately approached her, her first reaction was suspicion and wariness, not naïvely saying, “Then I’ll be your friend.”
Similarly, seeing her new teammate rush into the heart of danger, her first thought was that they were not on the same path.
She didn’t have that much kindness nor ability.
Since crossing over, her goal had been low profile and self-preservation.
After leaving the Forbidden Zone, they would part ways anyway.
The Water Jellyfish Commander was dead, and their cooperation was complete.
So be it.
She wasn’t a meddlesome person, but she would respect every choice her teammate made.
Each person is unique; she had no right to interfere.
Nearby Sentinels and Guides had all fled far away.
No one lingered.
Veteran Sentinels who frequented dangerous zones had long been numb to life and death. They had grown indifferent to such scenes.
Apart from the three or four fully rampaged Abnormal Species at the center, the rest of the natives were only partially transformed.
Their expressionless stares toward the explosion still brought immense pressure.
A crowd of potentially transforming natives, countless in number, exerted overwhelming intimidation.
No one wanted to face such pressure directly.
No one wanted to rescue those burning and crying.
Except—
Her teammate.
Ning Li watched as her new teammate resolutely walked against the crowd toward the burning, wailing group.
Seeing this, she didn’t continue watching but stayed inside the 520 Convenience Store for a while.
The employees all returned to normal, going about their tasks.
Half an hour later, estimating the time was right, Ning Li planned to check on her teammate’s situation.
Her spirit was unusual; she didn’t want to reveal her true form before her new teammate.
She thought, she had done nothing wrong.
She just wanted to live well.
What was wrong with that?
Besides, the teammate had told her to stay in the convenience store.
Upon stepping out, Ning Li found that the natives who had been staring at the explosion had left.
The Guides and Sentinels who had stayed far away hadn’t returned, nor did anyone plan to come investigate, likely fearing residual danger.
In the Forbidden Zone, every newcomer’s first concern is survival; no one has time to meddle in others’ affairs.
That’s what “normal” is.
But among all the “normal” people, her new teammate was an “outlier.”
What was that?
Knowing the danger and still rushing in?
What was he thinking?
Just to save a group of people who looked doomed to die, single-handedly plunging into the heart of danger—was it really worth it?
Yes, Ning Li knew those people wouldn’t survive.
Her spirit, the Necromancer, was most sensitive to death energy.
Half an hour ago, she had vaguely sensed death energy on those seven or eight people.
They couldn’t survive.
Her teammate’s arrival was only to let them die more with dignity.
After all, if he hadn’t gone, they wouldn’t even have intact bodies left.
Half an hour passed; the small-scale battle ended, and the battlefield calmed.
The three Abnormal Species were all dead.
The sun had set below the horizon.
A crescent moon rose silently.
Silver moonlight lightly spilled over, casting a pale glow on the bloodstained battlefield, adding a lonely and desolate hue.
Amid the ruins, her new teammate stood before neatly piled corpses.
Motionless, surrounded by scattered stones and mud, head bowed slightly, lost in thought.
In this desolate, silent scene, he appeared very lonely.
This small world seemed to contain only him.
Ning Li hesitated, then chose to approach him.
As she drew near, her new teammate whispered, “They were just ordinary people.”
The dead weren’t Sentinels.
Nor were they Guides.
They were just ordinary people lured by the promise of 10,000 Universal Coins, blindly risking everything to enter the Forbidden Zone.
They knew nothing, understood nothing, only wanted Universal Coins.
So they didn’t know the taboos inside the Forbidden Zone, nor what was right or wrong, and unwittingly triggered the death conditions.
“How did they get in?”
“How could they get in…”
The remaining words scattered silently into the quiet night.
[Wuwu…]
[He looks like he’s about to break.]
[I’m breaking too.]
[I don’t want him to be so sad.]
[Hug him.]
[Hug him, Master.]
Ning Li wasn’t surprised that a group of ordinary people flooded into the Forbidden Zone.
Among those who once allowed Abnormal Species to infiltrate Guide students, there must have been Patrol Team members too.
Although they obeyed the Water Jellyfish Commander, Ning Li saw them as cut from the same cloth.
When she turned to look at her new teammate, she accidentally caught a glimmer of something shining.
If one didn’t look carefully, it would be hard to notice.
But under the moonlight, that faint glow burned like a flame, scorching Ning Li’s gaze and her heart.
Her heart trembled slightly.
Had her new teammate— cried?
In that instant, Ning Li seemed to understand something.
He pitied those ordinary people, despaired at being unable to save them, mourned their deaths, raged at the reckless Patrol Team for letting them in, and shed tears for life lost.
At this moment, in this small world filled with fire and ash, Ning Li felt as if she had touched her new teammate’s heart—and immediately withdrew, burned.
“Xiao Hei.”
“Hmm?”
“Master, are you going to hug him?”
“Hurry, hug him!”
Xiao Hei was very sad now.
It didn’t want him to be so sad.
Ning Li sighed silently.
“What to do…Our new teammate—seems like a saint.”
Someone completely different from her.
On the first night entering the Forbidden Zone, Ning Li experienced for the first time a person crying for the death of strangers…
Though brief, she admitted that at some moment, her heartstrings were lightly touched.
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