Because Yuan Zi was still nearby, Ning Li couldn’t conveniently take out the Amber Bead for a closer look and study.
She spread out her hand, and the few newly picked-up beads lined up neatly on her palm.
The beads were covered with black and red lines like a spiderweb, as if they were cracked.
“Do you want a few?”
Yuan Zi put both hands behind her back and shook her head frantically.
“No……………..I don’t want them.”
Just thinking about how these beads came to be, Yuan Zi didn’t dare reach out for them.
Besides, nothing from inside the Domain could be taken out.
Once the Domain broke, everything inside it would turn to dust.
Ning Li didn’t insist.
She casually put the four newly picked-up beads into her pocket, and, taking advantage of the motion, brought out the Amber Bead from her mental sea to play with.
Although the four new beads were tightly wrapped with resentment and deathly aura, her Spirit Entity was the Necromancer.
Other Guides might be affected by the resentment and deathly aura, but she would not.
The Necromancer itself symbolized death and destruction.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have failed at making desserts every single time.
Besides that, whenever she did flower arrangements, the vibrant and fresh flowers would wilt little by little soon after being put in the vase, as if they had lost all vitality, completely different from the lively bouquets her classmates made.
Every time Yuan Zi saw this, she would always laugh and call her “the ruthless flower destroyer.”
It wasn’t that she intentionally destroyed the flowers, but rather that the Necromancer’s destructive instinct ruined the bouquets.
So, aside from cooking class, Ning Li hated flower arrangement class the most.
It wasn’t that she disliked arranging flowers itself, but she was afraid the abnormal state of her bouquets would arouse suspicion.
Moreover, she actually cherished flowers and didn’t want to see one after another wither away in her hands.
As soon as the Amber Bead appeared, Ning Li held it in her hand.
The bead felt wonderful to the touch, like jade but not quite; it was about the size of an egg, yet perfectly round and smooth from every angle.
Thinking of those three soldiers who had come to the girls’ dormitory specifically to look for the bead, Ning Li pondered slowly.
The bead they were searching for was definitely not just for decoration; it must have a greater purpose.
Now, she knew where the bead came from, but she still hadn’t found out how to use it.
Of course, more important than how to use it was what it was for.
Only by knowing its purpose could she decide whether or not to use it.
Even if she didn’t use it, just keeping it nearby would allow her to admire and play with it from time to time.
[Hehe.]
[Pretty bead.]
[I picked it up.]
[It’s mine.]
Ning Li responded with an “Mm,” generously praising her own Spirit Entity a few times. This bead was snatched from the jaws of a tiger; it could be said her Spirit Entity was lucky, not leaving any clues at the scene.
Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have been able to keep this bead.
[Hehe. Hehe.]
Inside the Domain, the one-sided battle was about to end.
Ning Li and Yuan Zi stood amidst fire and blood, with black smoke billowing behind them.
The stars in the sky, as always, silently witnessed the changes of the world.
The eternal were the stars; what changed were the people, year after year.
All around them lay the bodies of innocent residents, most of whom died with their eyes open.
Yuan Zi’s eyes were red as she dared not look too much.
These departed souls were all their own people.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t save them.
This was the brutal war that happened four years ago.
Even though she hadn’t experienced it personally, Ning Li could sense the overwhelming resentment in the air through her Necromancer Spirit Entity.
The grievances of these wrongly killed people lingered for a long time; the 201 District was filled with the unwillingness, regret, and sorrow of the dead.
The 201 District became the first sacrifice when the Abnormal Species declared war on humanity.
Throughout the ordeal, Ning Li and Yuan Zi didn’t encounter any major danger, as long as they stayed away from the Abnormal Species in time.
But was it really that easy?
The Little Milk Cat was trembling in Ning Li’s other pocket.
Xiao Hei kept muttering,
[Little Milk Cat. Little Milk Cat.]
Ning Li patted the Little Milk Cat’s head.
She didn’t have time to feed it goat’s milk right now, so whoever picked up the cat was responsible for it. Xiao Hei eagerly took on the job of feeding the Little Milk Cat.
[Eat up.]
[Not hungry.]
[Kitty, so cute.]
[Super cute.]
With Xiao Hei taking care of the Little Milk Cat, Ning Li could focus her attention on the Domain.
She and Yuan Zi hadn’t run into any danger so far, but what would happen next?
Could the Domain really just disappear so easily?
Just as Ning Li had that thought, the environment around her and Yuan Zi changed again.
All the corpses vanished, as did the fire, the Abnormal Species, and the black smoke, as if none of it had ever existed.
Everything returned to how it was at the very beginning.
The stars shone silently above.
Around them, the quiet wilderness created an illusion of peace.
It was like the calm before water boils—though the surface was still, beneath it, chaos was already brewing.
Yuan Zi grabbed Ning Li’s arm tightly, trying to steady her voice as she analyzed,
“We’re back at the start. Are we going to keep witnessing the Massacre of 1353 in 201 Zone over and over?”
Ning Li said in a low voice,
“It might not be that simple.”
The entire Domain of the 201 District was especially vast.
The first round of slaughter had ended, and they still hadn’t encountered any familiar classmates or teachers.
It was only after cramming history recently that Ning Li realized the planet she was on now was a thousand times bigger than Blue Star.
A single District here was about the size of a small country on Blue Star.
You could imagine how huge the 201 District was.
In such a large area, it was perfectly normal not to run into any teachers or classmates from the Peripheral Guide Academy.
So, just as Ning Li had planned earlier, if they wanted to break the Domain, they absolutely couldn’t pin their hopes on others.
Otherwise, disappointment was almost certain.
This round, the Abnormal Species were coming on even stronger.
In the flickering fire, the twisted faces of the Abnormal Species became even more distorted and blurry.
They grinned and cackled, and a head floated up into the air—covered with countless densely packed human faces.
Ning Li grabbed Yuan Zi and turned to run.
This time, she noticed that the Abnormal Species were even faster, and the sense of oppression was even stronger.
Yuan Zi’s body trembled slightly from fear.
As Ning Li pulled her along, she comforted her,
“Think of your white moonlight.”
Yuan Zi looked like she was about to cry,
“Reciting his name doesn’t work this time.”
Being scared was still being scared; unless her white moonlight could come back to life and save the day.
But after silently reciting Yin Que’s name a few times, Yuan Zi managed to regain a bit of courage.
Yuan Zi,
“What should we do?”
Ning Li,
“Find the weak point of the Domain.”
This was something Yuan Zi had just taught Ning Li herself.
Maybe in the previous round of clashes between the Abnormal Species and humans, Ning Li and Yuan Zi hadn’t met a single person, so as soon as the second round began, they ran into people.
Based on appearances and their mental state, it was easy to tell whether someone was a part of the Domain.
But they didn’t encounter classmates or teachers; instead, they ran into senior Guides from the First Guide Academy who had come to support them.
One Guide looked anxious,
“When will the Frontline send people to rescue us?”
Another replied,
“The fighting is intense right now. We were sent as reinforcements, so maybe they’re too busy.”
“Isn’t the Commander on the Frontline?”
“I heard so, but his exact whereabouts are top secret.”
“The Commander won’t abandon us, right?”
Hearing this conversation, Ning Li frowned slightly.
Could it be that Commander Qi Sigui was really on the Frontline?
They were so close to the Frontline, yet hadn’t heard a word—no wonder it was top secret.
As Ning Li and Yuan Zi ran, they brushed past that group of Guides.
The Guides from the First Guide Academy were all proud and aloof, not even sparing a glance at Ning Li and Yuan Zi, as if afraid they’d get dragged along.
Seeing that the two of them didn’t try to approach, the Guides subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
But the Guide who’d said “the Commander’s whereabouts are top secret” hesitated and spoke up,
“Shouldn’t we invite them to join us?”
In this situation, running into allies was rare; the more people, the stronger they’d be, and they should gather all available strength.
As soon as she said this, the other Guides immediately objected.
“Remember, we’re Guides, not Sentinels! Protecting the weak is the Sentinel’s duty, not ours!”
“At times like this, more people doesn’t mean more strength; it could mean more dead weight!”
“If you want to play the good guy, do it alone—don’t drag us into it!”
Seeing her companions react so strongly, the Guide could only sigh and say no more.
In times like these, all she could do was try to protect herself and not burden others.
After hearing this conversation, Ning Li had no reaction, but Xiao Hei was quite upset.
[They’re useless!]
[Don’t team up with them!]
[Hate them!]
They didn’t want to team up with Ning Li, but truthfully, Ning Li didn’t want to team up with them either.
Her Spirit Entity was very unique.
Even though Xiao Hei always appeared as a domineering flower outside, who knew if those senior Guides might notice something?
Teaming up was completely unnecessary.
As Ning Li and Yuan Zi fled, they found themselves in an area they hadn’t been to in the first round.
In such chaos, it was hard to stay in one place for long.
Everywhere was filled with fire, slaughter, and black smoke.
The dim light of night made it hard to tell direction.
But even if you could, Ning Li wasn’t familiar with the 201 District, so she could only take Yuan Zi and run around like two headless flies.
In the second round, Ning Li still didn’t forget to pick up beads.
All the beads she’d collected in the first round had vanished.
The ones she found in the second round were almost the same—covered with dense black and red lines, full of resentment.
The black and red lines were woven like a spiderweb, breaking up the images inside into scattered fragments.
The only bead that was crystal clear and free of any impurities was the Amber Bead Xiao Hei had picked up.
Precisely because it was so rare, it was all the more precious.
No wonder so many people had come looking for beads.
Because a bead so pure and flawless was truly extremely rare.
As the battle between the Frontline and the Abnormal Species intensified, this bead was probably a relic left behind by a Sentinel who had died not long ago.
So pure, so untainted, it was like seeing a heart full of great love—clear and bright.
Ning Li had just stopped to catch her breath with Yuan Zi, when a familiar face suddenly appeared not far away.
[Scarface!]
[It’s him again!]
Ning Li, who had been bent over and panting, straightened up bit by bit when she saw Scarface walking over at a leisurely pace.
His two team members were gone; he was alone.
When he saw Ning Li and Yuan Zi, Scarface’s face twisted into a sinister smile.
He was clearly wearing a crisp Sentinel uniform and carried the air of someone who’d survived blood and fire, but there was also something vulgar and sleazy about him.
He sneered and greeted them—
“What a coincidence, we meet again, suspects.”
He strolled over in his black combat boots.
“I want to see, this time, how you’re going to escape?”