Sentinel Ni Ji, who returned from the contaminated area, met Luther, the commander of the Royal Guard, in the White Tower.

Luther was very happy to see Ni Ji, and he strode towards him.

"You've taken down another contaminated area. You're so capable. You really make me proud."

"I have already submitted a petition to commend you for your achievements. In the next few days, the Minister of War will personally present you with a medal and give you a higher military title."

Luther grabbed Ni Ji's shoulders and patted her several times. He looked careless.

"Haha, you got a promotion and a raise, aren't you happy? You, kid, have to treat us today."

Ni Ji's attitude towards him was the same as before, not too intimate nor too distant.

The voice is calm and gentle, like the calm water of a lake.

"Thank you, sir. How about tonight? I'll treat you, Adjutant Ji, and the brothers to a drink."

When he heard Ji Xuan's name, the hand that was patting Ni Ji's shoulder passionately stopped in the air, and Luther's expression froze at that moment.

Ni Ji's eyes were like the dark stones at the bottom of a cold pond. They moved slightly and glanced at the commander beside him.

That bold and confident commander was gone. Luther's face looked frightened and confused, and he opened and closed his mouth several times in panic.

But this is the White Tower, and everything is shrouded in holy light.

He was stunned for a moment, then said hesitantly, "Ji Xuan... Ji Xuan had something to do, so he left for the time being."

Ni Ji nodded and didn't ask any more questions, looking like he didn't care about the matter at all.

At night, in Kyoto, in a quiet and private tavern far away from the White Pagoda.

Several non-commissioned officers of the Royal Guard gathered together to congratulate Ni Ji on his promotion.

Ni Ji usually has a quiet personality and doesn't like crowds. This time he made a contribution and invited guests, which was a good opportunity to get close to him, and many people came.

At the table, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate, and Ni Ji was also very straightforward and accepted everyone's invitation.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere quickly warmed up.

The sentries clinked glasses, spoke freely, and gradually became more and more unrestrained.

"Ni...Ni Ji, brother, this is my first time drinking with you. You are more generous than you look, very nice."

"Captain Ni is not a talkative person, but his true character is revealed at the table. We are brothers from now on."

"Captain Ni is treating us today, so I have to eat more. Boss, give me another dozen beers."

"It's a pity that Adjutant Ji was not here, so I didn't get to drink Captain Ni's wine."

I don’t know who mentioned Ji Xuan.

Ni Ji casually echoed, "Yes, Adjutant Ji is always very caring, and I wanted to have a drink with him. What a pity."

The topic quickly turned to Ji Xuan.

Although Ji Xuan is an adjutant, he is usually low-key and considerate. He never competes for credit and always strives to obtain benefits for the grassroots sentries.

In the Royal Guard, he has very good popularity from top to bottom.

"When I first entered the camp, I was still a rookie who knew nothing. I was fooled and committed a serious offense. It was Adjutant Ji Xuan who took the blame for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here drinking with you guys today."

"Last winter, the outposts couldn't collect money, and my team of brothers didn't even have enough winter clothing, and they had to set out for the northern border. It was the adjutant who kowtowed and humbled himself in front of the fat pig of the Minister of Finance, and only then did he allocate a sum of money. I remember him in my heart."

"Yes, Adjutant Ji is a good man."

"It's a pity that Adjutant Ji didn't come today."

"Next time I'll catch him and force him to drink a few cups."

Ji Xuan, Ji Xuan, Adjutant Ji...

Luther was particularly drunk tonight. He usually drank a lot and was moderate, so he rarely drank like this.

I don't know why today, but I felt particularly depressed and drank too much without realizing it.

Lying on the table with red eyes, the commander began to talk nonsense, mumbling about his past.

He said that he and Ji Xuan were brothers who grew up together.

They both had a hard time during their teenage years.

He has a younger sister, and Ji Xuan has a twin brother.

His sister died of starvation during the period when the contaminated area spread.

Kiyoshi's twin brother was discovered to be a guide and was forcibly taken back to Kyoto.

"You know what? Those...those bastards from Kyoto forced his passion for union, forcing him to give himself to the Sentinel."

Luther was drunk and spoke with his tongue clenched.

I have already forgotten that I am now in the same circle as those bastards in Kyoto.

"Ji Xuan was hiding in my house at the time. We watched through the crack in the door as his brother was pushed into the car."

"Later... Later I heard that his younger brother committed a serious crime and died miserably, very miserably, haha..."

"What crime has he committed? He is just seeking revenge for himself."

Luther was in the pub's restroom, hugging the toilet and vomiting all over the place.

The drunken sentries in front were still shouting and making loud noises.

The restroom was dimly lit and empty, with no one else in it.

The sound of noisy conversation came over one after another, so ethereal that it seemed to come from an empty dream.

Luther sat in the small cubicle, his back against the partition, feeling very cold. He seemed to have lost something important, but he couldn't remember what it was.

The alcohol had clouded his brain.

No, his mind has been in this foggy state all these years.

It was like a pair of slender white fingers reached in and violently messed up his brain, making it impossible for him to think in the right way anymore.

Luther heard the sound of clear footsteps.

The footsteps stopped outside the door panel of the compartment.

Outside the gap in the door panel, there was a pair of black standard military boots - most of the sentries who came to drink tonight were wearing this type of boots.

The pair of boots walked there and stopped, without knocking on the door or showing any intention of coming in to help him.

Luther looked at it with his eyes slanted, and saw only a dark shadow, which was dragged on the ground by the bleak light of the toilet.

A cold voice sounded.

"Do you remember how you got that scar?"

The voice was hoarse and low, as if it came from the darkest nightmare deep in the soul.

Luther got goosebumps all over his body and was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

This is what Ji Xuan said, and this is a conversation that only Ji Xuan and he knew about.

However, Ji Xuan could not possibly be here. Ji Xuan had made a mistake and became a criminal. He had seen with his own eyes that he had become a prisoner of Her Majesty the Queen.

Who is that person outside?

Luther struggled to stand up, but his body was paralyzed and his legs kicked the ground in vain, without any strength at all.

The alcohol completely numbed his nerves.

In the corner of the bathroom, there was a kind of incense burning, which made his hands and feet weak and his head buzzing.

Who is it? Who is outside?

"You have completely forgotten everything. You don't remember how everyone died. You don't remember how that scar came from!"

The voice from across the wall rang out again.

It was like "cold water was poured over his head," like "the souls of the wronged dead were asking questions," a wake-up call, questioning his soul.

"I... I haven't forgotten." Luther trembled and closed his eyes. Tears flowed down the corners of his scarred eyes. "I will never forget it even if I die."

"Where is Ji Xuan?" the voice outside the door asked very quickly and in a low voice.

Luther opened his mouth but said nothing.

He wiped the vomit and tears from his face, and took out a pen from his chest and a piece of waste paper from his pocket.

Lying on the ground, shivering, he drew a simple map on the small piece of paper and marked a few words on it.

My arms were shaking when I was writing and the words were crooked.

Tears and cold sweat fell on the paper, and he wiped them away carefully and fiercely.

With sweat all over his forehead, he pushed the small piece of paper along the ground and out through the crack of the door.

Doing such a small thing was like having a desperate battle with some huge power rooted in his mind. He was so tired that he was completely exhausted and fell completely powerless in the narrow compartment.

The hazy fragrance kept coming, and the exhausted commander completely lost consciousness.

When he woke up the next day, his mind was completely fuzzy and he could hardly remember what had happened that night.

Outside the door, a hand wearing a black glove picked up the piece of paper from the ground and put it into his pocket.

The drinking party was very pleasant and the guests enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

Not only was Luther drunk, he collapsed in the toilet. The host, Ni Ji, was also drunk by everyone and was carried home by several colleagues.

The sentry who sent Ni Ji home put the drunk Ni Ji in his own bed?.

Looking around Ni Ji's residence, we found that there was no clutter in the small house except a bed, a closet and some simple fitness equipment. It was very clean and could be seen thoroughly at a glance.

The sentries couldn't help but admire Captain Ni's self-discipline.

The powerful Captain Ni Ji was really drunk this time.

He fell on the bed, his face flushed, motionless.

"Captain Ni is so drunk, I don't think he will be able to get up tomorrow, right?"

"I have made such a great contribution, and I got a promotion and a pay raise. I am very happy."

"It's okay, commander? Are you drunk too?"

The sentries closed the door quietly, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

In the dark room, Ni Ji, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes.

The light in his eyes is as cold as an icy spring under a snowy mountain. Where can you see it? You can detect a hint of drunkenness.

He sat up quietly, walked to the balcony silently, pushed open the balcony door, and looked into the distance through the crack in the door.

The sentinels' footsteps had become extremely faint several blocks away, and gradually could no longer be heard.

The streets were silent late at night, and the world was shrouded in thick darkness.

Ni Ji, dressed in black, supported himself on the balcony with his hands, turned over lightly and jumped into the balcony of the room downstairs.

The house downstairs looked just like the one he lived in, old, narrow, gray and inconspicuous.

The security measures inside the house are much more advanced than those in the small house upstairs.

There are two layers of anti-theft doors at the front and back, and a self-destruct device with a large equivalent is installed inside the door, which must be unlocked with the iris.

Ni Ji opened the door and slipped in.

The layout of the house is the same as that of the upper floor, but inside the house are various old weapons brought out from the contaminated area.

The rarest, most sophisticated, and most destructive weapons of all types are densely packed on shelves that fill an entire wall.

Anti-gravity guns in the Pupilless Land, white phosphorus bombs in the Golden Tree Contaminated Area, electromagnetic cannons, pulse guns, grenades and explosives.

An eye opened on a jet-black long sword, looked at Ni Ji, and then closed again.

This is Ni Ji's arsenal, a "warehouse" stockpiled by the sentinel who has entered and exited the contaminated area hundreds of times, and a private ammunition depot for the Avenger to arm himself.

Ni Ji sat down at a square table with familiarity, reached out and picked up a brand new personal terminal on the table, and turned on the virtual screen.

On the anonymous personal terminal, there is an email signed by "Xinhuo".

When was the email sent? The moment Ji Xuan was summoned by the Queen.

Adjutant Ji, who received the summons, calmly arranged everything and erased all traces.

Then he walked calmly towards the imperial palace on the top of the White Pagoda and disappeared into the depths of the White Pagoda.

In this email he had prepared in advance, many secrets were recorded in detail, including what Ni Ji said to Luther outside the bathroom door.

Ni Ji opened the email sent by "Xinhuo" and read it again from the beginning.

At the end of the email, Ji Xuan in the video took off his glasses and smiled at the people outside the screen and said,

"If one day, I disappear deep in the White Tower, I hope you can pass on this feeble flame."

The screen was frozen at that moment. Ji Xuan on the screen had a gentle expression and a calm smile.

In the darkness, the dim light of the virtual screen was reflected on Ni Ji's face. He silently browsed through the videos in the email carefully, memorizing them one by one in his mind.

A communication request lights up at the bottom of the virtual screen.

Ni Ji stretched out his hand and clicked it, and a virtual meeting box popped up. Four or five figures with their faces covered appeared beside Ni Ji.

No one spoke, just stared at Ni Ji in silence. The atmosphere was very solemn.

Some of these people were far away at the border outposts, while others were close by in Kyoto.

Although they were thousands of miles apart, at this moment, they shared a common sorrow and anger for the sake of publicity.

"We got the position." Ni Ji said calmly, "The plan to save Xinhuo has officially begun."

Several of them looked at each other, and one of them spoke hesitantly, "It's too dangerous for you to go by yourself. If something happens to you again..."

The man's nickname was "Spore" and his voice sounded very familiar.

His original name was not this, but he was almost parasitized by spores in a contaminated area of ​​the golden tree, so he changed his name to this nickname.

At the beginning, the sentinel captain named Dazhen was actually a close friend of Jixuan.

In order to test Ni Ji, he pretended that they didn't know each other and acted as if he was dissatisfied with the other party.

Later, Da?Zhang was rescued by Ni Ji in the contaminated area.

Ni Ji officially joined their team, and the two became partners who were thousands of miles apart but had a common goal.

Ni Ji interrupted him, "If I fail, you will inherit my position and lead us all to lie low for a while."

Spore opened his mouth, wanting to object, but he knew that Ni Ji was the only one who was most familiar with the internal conditions of the White Tower and the most suitable candidate for the battle.

Finally, he could only say in a deep voice: "What about you? Be careful. We have already set out from the sentry post and are ready to respond at any time."

"Good luck to you, Avenger."

"Be sure to stay safe, mate."

The virtual meeting ended and the figures of my companions disappeared from my side.

In the quiet little room, Ni Ji stood up.

"Wow, are you planning to do something big this time?" The dagger on his waist said excitedly.

"I won't take you with me this time." Ni Ji took down the bone-white dagger and placed it on the shelf.

"Ah! Hey! Why? On what basis? I want blood. Take me there and give me blood!"

Ni Ji ignored its noise and started to select suitable weapons from the dazzling array of weapons racks.

"You? You're too conspicuous. You'll expose my identity."

"No matter what, you have to take me with you. This is going to be a great drinking party." The stranded Dagger became irritable.

"You are a guy who loves novelty and hates old things. You are fickle and don't recognize people when you pull out that thing. Ugh, I hope you will be abandoned by that Kraken... Wuwuwu"

The sentinel in the darkness grabbed the hilt of the knife that was babbling.