Chapter 127 Casualties

Holding the warm yet heavy emerald crystal core, Ruan Ning, accompanied by the raging fire, quickly retreated with Qin Li and the others to the warehouse area on the edge of the town.

The atmosphere was somber in the open space in front of the warehouse. The true number of casualties was being tallied.

A total of eight people died.

On Ruan Ning's side, five of the women led by Sun Hong died; they were all ordinary people who had not awakened any special abilities.

Four of them suffered brain death due to mental breakdown during the hallucination, while one died of sudden cardiac arrest caused by excessive fear. The circumstances of their deaths varied, but none were related to direct physical attack, highlighting the eeriness and cruelty of hallucination-induced murder.

Qin Li's soldiers died three times. One was a scout who was most focused and completely disoriented in the illusion; another was pierced through the chest by suddenly emerging, animated vines when he broke free from the illusion; and the third was killed by the giant tree's last mental energy before it died while trying to cover his teammate who had just escaped the illusion and was moving slowly.

Few words were spoken. The survivors silently carried their companion's body to a relatively clean spot on one side of the open space. Da Huo stepped forward and, at Ruan Ning's signal, unleashed a relatively gentle but powerful flame that was enough to completely incinerate the body.

The orange-red flames illuminated every silent, weary, and sorrowful face. There was no time for a ceremony; this was perhaps the most common farewell in the apocalypse.

The body turned to ashes, mixing with rainwater and soil, and gradually cooled. Someone sobbed softly, but was quickly restrained by a companion. Tears were a luxury at this moment, and easily triggered further emotional breakdown.

The condition of the wounded is also not optimistic.

Besides those who were already injured, the newly added injuries were mostly headaches, vomiting, auditory and visual hallucinations caused by psychological trauma, or abrasions, sprains and minor lacerations left when breaking free from the hallucination and fighting against the living plants.

The most troublesome are the people who were directly impacted by the giant tree's spiritual power. Although they were lucky enough to survive, they are in a daze and occasionally wake up screaming, requiring constant care.

Ruan Ning herself was also in a bad state.

By forcibly impacting the spiritual core of the giant tree and excessively activating the black wooden whistle until it shattered, her spiritual power was greatly depleted. She experienced sharp, needle-like pains in her sea of ​​consciousness, her vision would occasionally go black, and her temples would throb.

This is a sign of psychological trauma, which is far more troublesome than physical injury and requires time and rest to recover.

The fire had several marks on its body from being whipped by the living plants and strangled by their roots. Its golden fur was covered in mud and had some burn marks. It lay at Ruan Ning's feet, licking its wounds, and its spirits were somewhat weak. The continuous high-intensity battle and the final all-out fire breath had consumed a lot of its energy.

Qin Li's scratches on his arm reopened and bled. He bandaged them up simply, his face pale from blood loss and the fierce battle just now, but his eyes remained sharp as he scanned the heavily wounded team and Ruan Ning, whose condition was obviously not good.

“It’s safe here for now,” Qin Li said, walking up to Ruan Ning. His voice was hoarse but clear. “That strange tree was the source of the anomalies in this area. It’s dead, and the activity of the other plants is declining. But it’s still raining, and our condition, especially yours and the others who are mentally injured, is not suitable for a long journey right away.”

Ruan Ning pressed her throbbing temples, nodded, and said weakly, "I need at least two days to recover my mental strength. The fire also needs rest. The wounded need to be stabilized."

“Then let’s rest for two days.” Qin Li made a decisive decision. “Use this warehouse and repair shop as the core to establish a defensive perimeter. My people will be responsible for the main guard duty and outer patrols. Your people will handle internal affairs, take care of the wounded, and prepare food. All ability users should avoid expending their power unless necessary and recover as quickly as possible.”

This is the most reasonable option at present. Both teams need to heal their wounds and regain their strength. To force an army to march through the mud and rainy season with so many wounded and emotionally scarred soldiers would be tantamount to suicide.

The order was quickly relayed.

The soldiers demonstrated remarkable efficiency, using existing materials from warehouses and repair shops to reinforce doors and windows, set up sentry posts, and clear away small plants in the surrounding area that might pose a danger.

Sun Hong also mustered her spirits and organized the women to clean up the relatively clean corners and settle the wounded.

Supported by Lin Yan and Zhou Min, Ruan Ning entered a relatively dry and quiet compartment in the warehouse. Da Huo followed them in and stood guard at the door. Ruan Ning drank two bottles of military-grade mental energy sedatives that Qin Li had sent, and then drank a few sips of spiritual spring water from her own space. She then sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began the arduous task of sorting out and repairing her damaged mental core.

This process is slow and painful, and cannot tolerate the slightest disturbance.

Qin Li stood at the warehouse entrance, looking at the indistinct figures inside, then at the rain outside and the silent town in the distance. Eight lives lost, several seriously injured, and core combat power damaged—the price was undeniably heavy.

However, if Ruan Ning hadn't seen through the illusion at the crucial moment and used that strange wooden whistle and his resolute mental attack to destroy the giant tree's body, the casualties would probably have been far greater, and the entire army might have been wiped out.

He touched the blood-soaked bandage on his arm, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Ruan Ning is very likely... his cousin.

This realization became clearer and heavier after the bizarre and brutal battle that afternoon.

The fragmentary words left by the mother, the old photograph, the two identical necklaces, the matching ages, and the vague clues about being separated in childhood... more and more evidence points to this conclusion.

The phrase in his mother's notes, "You must protect the person who owns the necklace," had once been interpreted by him as some abstract responsibility or other related mission. But now, if Ruan Ning really was his aunt's long-lost daughter, then that phrase had become a very specific instruction: Protect your cousin.

This realization left him with mixed feelings. In the apocalypse, blood ties and kinship were already a luxury; people valued power and interests more.

Suddenly having a close relative feels strange and abrupt. But what makes Qin Li feel even more uncomfortable is not the shock of the perception of kinship, but the misalignment between reality and expectations.

He, Qin Li, was a member of an elite special forces unit before the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, he rose rapidly through the ranks with his strength and intelligence, leading an elite squad composed entirely of people with superpowers to carry out important military missions.

He was used to making plans, taking control of situations, protecting his teammates, and completing tasks. Protector—this was a responsibility he inherited from his mother, and also how he defined his own abilities.

However, today, in that perilous and illusory battle where truth and falsehood were indistinguishable, the situation has been completely reversed.

It was Ruan Ning who first saw through the illusion. It was Ruan Ning who took out that strange wooden whistle and launched a crucial mental interference attack.

It was Ruan Ning who pinpointed the true location and spiritual core of the giant tree. It was Ruan Ning who, with her mutated beasts, braved the ferocious plant attacks and struck at its heart, ultimately destroying that terrifying giant tree.

It was Ruan Ning who "protected" him and his entire team, pulling them out of a meticulously woven mental nightmare and saving them from a more tragic end amidst infighting and fear.

Although they fought desperately to resist the attacks of the physical plants, buying Ruan Ning time, everyone knew that the key to breaking the deadlock and securing victory was Ruan Ning.