Lao Yao is a long-distance driver, about 40 or 50 years old, with a thin and dark face.

He was squatting on the open space near the front of the car, holding a cigarette in his mouth, looking at the people coming and going nearby, with a gloomy face.

This trip was not smooth. On the way here, we encountered the expansion of the golden tree pollution area near the Tomena outpost and almost couldn't escape.

On the way back, they ran into several mutants that escaped from the contaminated area, and one of the sentinels they hired was killed and one was injured.

I can only stop at this checkpoint and try my luck to see if I can recruit a bodyguard on short notice.

In front of Lao Yao, people passing by were walking hurriedly, all of them were discussing the big event that happened nearby.

It is really shocking that the golden tree pollution area that existed for hundreds of years collapsed yesterday for some unknown reason.

A complete town from four hundred years ago has appeared in the world. It has never been explored by anyone. It is like a huge treasure trove.

Hundreds of years ago, human resources were not as scarce as they are today.

The weapons, energy stones, medicines, treatment cabins, vehicles in the town of that period...are all valuable treasures to humans today.

This treasure trove was opened to the world overnight.

Before it was completely controlled by the imperial army, it was a gold rush site.

First come first served. Be quick.

The sentries and even countless civilians who heard the news rushed to that area desperately. Almost no one was willing to pay attention to him, a small civilian bus driver.

A team of sentries excitedly walked past Lao Yao carrying a new type of treatment cabin.

Several blood-soaked sentries passed by, guarding a small electromagnetic cannon. Each of them had a murderous look on their face, full of vigilance.

In the distant sky, scarlet flames lit up, and the sound of gunpowder exploded, causing the car windows to shake.

There, a team of sentinels had already started fighting recklessly in order to seize supplies, even resorting to using powerful high-energy weapons.

In the end, Lao Yao failed to recruit bodyguards, and only waited for two young people who were taking a ride back to the imperial capital.

Lao Yao remembered the girl among them. She was a tour guide and had come here from the capital a few days ago by taking his car.

It was rare to see a guide leaving the White Tower, and even rarer to see one heading to the sentry post alone.

Although the girl was silent and quiet all the way, Lao Yao still remembered her face.

This time, on her return trip, she had a companion by her side, a tall and thin young man.

The man was wearing a pair of military boots and tactical pants, and a strange set of clothes from an unknown era. He had a stern temperament and a cold expression, and looked like a soldier, but there was no identification badge belonging to any sentry team on his shoulder. He was carrying a long and large box in his hand.

"You can't take such a large piece of luggage on the bus." Old Yao said unhappily.

The box looked strange, like a hollow cage, with a layer of breathable blackout cloth wrapped around it to hide the contents. It didn't look like a suitcase, but rather like it contained some living creature.

According to Lao Yao's habit, he never allows passengers to bring such unknown objects on board.

The quiet girl raised her eyes and said, "I can buy tickets for three people."

Lao Yao wanted to refuse. No, it was just not possible, no matter how many tickets he bought. He was a very cautious and stubborn person.

But in a trance, a shadow passed through my mind, and I didn't know what was wrong with me. The words I said inexplicably changed.

"Okay then, get in the car."

When he came to his senses, the two passengers were already on the bus. He had arranged them in the two best seats behind the driver's seat - there was a larger space there that could just accommodate the large luggage.

The vehicle drove slowly out of the sentry post.

The passengers on the bus were still discussing the collapse of the contaminated area.

"Is this area safe from now on?"

"Yes, in the short term, you can walk safely."

"I guess the weapons and equipment of several nearby outposts can be updated, and there will be a lot of land available for cultivation."

"It would be great if this happened a few more times." Someone said with excitement, "Slowly, all the polluted areas will return to their original state."

"Hahaha, it would be nice if that were possible."

"My childhood home was swallowed up by the polluted area. I dream of going back to visit it one day."

The atmosphere in the car was lively and pleasant.

Although these ordinary travelers cannot directly gain anything from the polluted area.

But they were still very happy, as excited as if it was New Year's Day.

Human beings have suffered in polluted areas for many years, barely surviving in the limited space squeezed to the limit by the polluted areas.

It's rare to hear the good news that mankind has defeated the contaminated area.

It's very uplifting.

"That's wishful thinking. This is just a coincidence." Old Yao said indifferently, "Besides, do you know how many sentries died in this incident?"

The car was slowly driving out of the sentry post gate.

Looking out of the car window, on the wasteland beside the road lay the bodies of sentinels that had been searched out from the contaminated area.

White cloth covered the cold and mutilated bodies of the warriors, neatly placed in rows and lines outside the cold city gate.

The vehicle moved slowly forward, and the passengers in the car windows calmed down, looking through the windows at the dead lives on the roadside.

Many of the bodies under the white cloth were obviously incomplete. Some had become grotesque, and some no longer looked like human bodies at all.

So many people died. So many young and lovely lives.

The funeral bell at the sentry post was rung.

The bells rang out over Tomena's post. Their comrades stood guard near the corpses, many of them shedding tears and singing a requiem.

This is a unique farewell ceremony among the sentries at the border posts.

They were saying goodbye to their friends who had fought side by side with them and were friends through thick and thin.

Lin Yuan leaned against the car window, looking out at the funeral sentinels.

The tentacles were exposed to extremely strong emotions, and the sad mood spread and permeated inside and outside the car. Many people had tears in their eyes, and farewell songs rang out all the way.

But Lin Yuan's heart was numb and he could not feel much of the emotional fluctuations.

She felt a little strange, perhaps because she had been on the verge of death. When she woke up in the treatment chamber, she felt like she had had a long dream.

Looking at the green water waves floating in front of her eyes, she felt as if she had been sleeping in the cold seabed for countless years and had just woken up. She felt cold and numb.

It seems like something is different.

Clearly, when Windsor left, she also felt the reluctance and sadness.

Lin Yuan squeezed the golden pendant on his chest and tried to recall the feeling at that time. He was just like an ordinary human being at that time.

She has been working very hard to make herself an ordinary person who can laugh and cry.

"Although I won't cry, if I die, maybe someone will cry for me."

When Lin Yuan thought of this, she felt inexplicably happy. She even counted on her fingers how many crybaby guys would shed tears for her.

She turned her head and looked at the sentry beside her.

The sentry sitting next to him had his back straight, his right hand hanging consciously at his side - always in a position where he could quickly draw his weapon, and his left hand on his knee. He was always on alert and ready to join the battle at any time.

Lin Yuan recalled how he looked when he jumped out of the scarlet egg, covered in blood and filled with murderous aura, like an incredibly sharp knife, a well-deserved weapon in the world.

But he cried for himself, and he looked so beautiful when he cried.

It makes people feel their hearts soften. Even ice and snow will melt.

The burning sensation when the tears fell on my cheeks seemed to still remain on my skin, but it has become very faint and a little itchy.

Ni Ji noticed her gaze and gave her a faint smile.

He has a beautiful smile, a clean temperament, and gentle eyes and eyebrows.

Lin Yuan thought about it and couldn't find any other more appropriate adjective to describe him.

He was like a killer whale, swimming in the pure sea at the edge of the glacier, tumbling his black and white inlaid body freely, his whale calls soft and sweet.

Lin Yuan began to feel sleepy and dozed off against the car window with his head tilted.

In a daze, she heard Ni Ji ask her, "Does the injured area still hurt?"

She hummed, "It still hurts, but it's okay... I'm not too afraid of pain."

Ni Ji glanced at her and finally said nothing.

He looked a little sad, and a little strangely embarrassed.

The tentacles were already very familiar with him and could easily capture his various superficial leaks.

I want to care, but I'm inexplicably afraid. I want him to be close to me, but I also want to stay away from him. It's very contradictory.

Why did he become afraid of himself?

The carriage was bustling with noise and the sound of bells outside continued to come, but within the small space for two people, there was a strange silence.

In a drowsy state, Lin Yuan seemed to smell a faint sweet fragrance. The fragrance seemed to be very far away, yet seemed to be close at hand, sweet and tempting.

It was like the most delicious candy she had ever tasted, making her swallow her saliva in her sleep.

She didn't know where the taste came from, nor could she remember when she had ever eaten something so delicious.

Ni Ji looked at the guide beside him in silence for a while. The young girl had a pale face and was sleeping soundly on the swaying car body in the wilderness full of dangers.

Although she had left the treatment cabin, her body was still very weak from her severe injuries. She got tired easily and fell asleep soon after getting on the train.

Ni Ji used his own personal terminal to send a message to Ji Xuan, informing him that he had left the contaminated area on his own and was preparing to return to the imperial capital.

He knew that such unauthorized action might cause dissatisfaction from the adjutant. But he didn't want to think about the problem rationally at the moment, he just wanted to walk with Lin Yuan for a while.

I didn't want to think about anything. I just accompanied the injured girl on the shaky bus and crossed the wilderness together.

Outside the car window was a wasteland that kept receding. The sound of the sentry bell had become very distant and faint. The sunlight outside the window shone on Lin Yuan's sleeping face. She was sleeping peacefully, with soft breathing.

She was still alive, not dead, and was sleeping peacefully beside him.

Ni Ji felt a little dazed. She felt that the shaking car would never stop and she could just sit here and look at the person sleeping beside her.

There is nothing else to worry about in the world.

However, Ji Xuan was probably very busy at the moment, busy controlling the suddenly collapsed contaminated area. It was not easy to stop those crazy rushing sentinels and take the precious materials in the contaminated area back to the state.

I probably don't have the time to pay attention to his actions for a while.

Lin Yuan fell into a deep sleep in the car. His little face swayed as the car moved, and his head hit the glass window several times.

The sentry beside him tightened his fingers on his knees slightly, and finally just straightened his back, sat upright, and looked straight ahead.

Finally, an ugly little tentacle emerged, yawned, and pushed Lin Yuan's tilted head to the side. Lin Yuan's body slid down, and his face rested on Ni Ji's shoulder. His long black hair was scattered, and some of it fell on the sentry's wrist.

Ni Ji's body became stiff.

There were only a few strands of black hair, lightly hooked around his wrist, but he didn't know what it reminded him of, and his body was stiff and motionless for a long time.

But he did not push Lin Yuan's face away in the end. Instead, he tilted his shoulders slightly to allow Lin Yuan to sleep more comfortably.

Lin Yuan's throat moved in his sleep, as if he had eaten some delicious candy.