Chapter 31: His Gaze part 1
The teeth in that mouth were packed so tightly they completely filled his oral cavity. Fighting back the urge to retch, Mǐ Qiū raised the gun with her eyes squeezed shut. Before leaving, Commander Fù had described the appearance of every monster to her. This one, with its terrifying visage, was clearly Experimental Subject No. 1—the most horrifying existence of them all…
She simply didn’t dare to aim at him; just one glance was enough to give her nightmares.
Because the monster was massive at this moment, Mǐ Qiū was certain she wouldn’t miss. The only question was whether she could hit a vital spot. If she could maintain continuous fire, she should be able to kill him.
Mǐ Qiū had already rehearsed the scene in her mind: in an instant, the half-human, half-monster Sentinel before her would fall, his body splitting apart completely, shattering and scattering into the mud. However, his pitch-black blood would still splash onto Mǐ Qiū’s face, sticking like a layer of viscous oil paint.
She found it difficult to open her eyes. Vaguely, she heard a man’s voice: “Take her to the shower room.”
“If anyone is inside the shower room, you have two minutes to get out! Now!”
It was late, but there was indeed someone still in the shower room. The man frantically pulled up his pants, grabbed his basin of dirty laundry, and bolted out faster than a hundred-meter sprinter.
Mǐ Qiū couldn’t open her eyes right now, so she had to ask someone to help her get a change of clean clothes. Her pajamas were completely stained with blood. Since the monster’s blood was corrosive, these clothes were basically destined for the trash.
Fù Róngqīng asked, “Guide Mǐ, do you have clean clothes in there?”
“They’re all in my backpack.”
“You guys go get… forget it, I’ll go into the tent and get them myself. Wait here!”
Fù Róngqīng walked into his tent and found Mǐ Qiū’s backpack. It had several compartments. He rummaged briefly through the layer containing clothes and found a thin long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers. As for the underwear inside… she probably didn’t need that right now, right?
Fù Róngqīng walked back out and asked her, “Do you need to change… underneath?”
At first, Mǐ Qiū didn’t even hear what he said clearly. When she realized what he meant, her cheeks burned with a belated heat. She couldn’t even describe how embarrassed she was at that moment…
Her pajamas were a long dress, so she was still covered up relatively well. She replied, “It shouldn’t be dirty. No need for now.”
Three minutes later, Mǐ Qiū entered the shower room. After washing her eyes, she could finally open them and see the light in front of her. She rushed to rinse off the black blood as quickly as possible; otherwise, her face would likely be corroded before long.
Here, she could shower directly with hot water. It was a large shower room with basically no partitions; when the Sentinels showered here, they were all “open and honest” with each other.
Mǐ Qiū had never been in a shower room like this before. Showering naked in such an open space felt a bit uncomfortable, but her clothes had already been burned with a large hole by the blood, so she had no choice but to take them off.
The night was deep, making the dim light in the shower room seem even gloomier. It was empty and hollow inside. She washed all the mud and black blood off her body—it was quite a major project. Since Mǐ Qiū hadn’t actually seen the moment the blood splattered, she wasn’t as terrified while washing it off.
But was her aim really that accurate? It seemed the power of that short gun was indeed significant. She had assumed it would take several rounds to kill him completely, so she hadn’t expected it to be this easy. It was just a pity her pajamas were ruined; if she had known, she would have brought an extra set.
After showering, Mǐ Qiū changed into the set of clothes and came out. The man’s voice she heard earlier hadn’t been a mistake; it was indeed Fù Róngqīng.
Mǐ Qiū put on the form-fitting outfit. Although she was only 1.65 meters tall, her proportions were excellent. Sentinel Code 14 and Code 16 stared straight at her.
Mǐ Qiū walked up to Fù Róngqīng and said, “It looks like Commander Fù has returned victorious! The short gun you taught me to use really came in handy. My clothes and face are a mess, but at least I didn’t lose my little life.”
After Mǐ Qiū finished speaking, Fù Róngqīng replied, “You didn’t even aim the gun at your target. Just now, if I hadn’t saved you, it wouldn’t be the monster’s blood on your body, but your own.”
Only then did realization dawn on Mǐ Qiū. It turned out she hadn’t hit the monster at all; Fù Róngqīng had killed it with his short gun. And here she was, thinking she was somehow impressive. She had fired so many shots—surely at least one had hit?
Fù Róngqīng added, “Luckily I dodged in time, otherwise my body would have been turned into a sieve by you.”
He spoke faintly, his tone devoid of ripples.
Behind her, the two Sentinels burst out laughing upon hearing this.
It made Mǐ Qiū feel incredibly awkward.
Fù Róngqīng ordered, “No need to stand guard. Everyone go back to sleep. Take your medicine and get a good night’s rest. No one is allowed to get up tomorrow until the sun is shining on your ass!”
Mǐ Qiū had guessed correctly; this was a complete victory. She felt happy about it. Once she and Fù Róngqīng entered the tent, Fù Róngqīng explained slowly, “It took a few days to wait for the mysterious alien’s signal to appear, then we caught them all in one net. It had nowhere to hide. We’ve preserved its complete body and will send it to the main base for research. As for the remaining Sentinels brought back who have been injected with hormones, we will proceed with purification work later.”
Mǐ Qiū asked, “Is this purification work something Guides need to do?”
“Bào Fú is already figuring out a way.” Bào Fú was the name of the First Guide of the main base, and also Mǐ Qiū’s teacher.
Mǐ Qiū asked if she needed to participate in the relevant purification work, but Fù Róngqīng rejected the idea, telling her, “Guide Mǐ, you shouldn’t need to worry about these things for the time being.”
Mǐ Qiū nodded at him. Fù Róngqīng seemed to want to say something else but swallowed it back, simply saying, “Rest early.”
Mǐ Qiū originally wanted to run toward the sofa, but the man added a follow-up sentence: “By the way, you sleep on the bed.”
Mǐ Qiū had no choice in the matter. She had promised him anyway, so whatever he said went.
Although she had been attacked by the D411 alien tonight, the outcome was quite good. Mǐ Qiū could finally sleep properly without living in fear.
In truth, in the Field Zone, even though she had a place to stay, she had never been able to sleep well. Perhaps it was the sound of gunfire and ammunition outside, or maybe because the place was unsafe and fraught with danger, making it hard for Mǐ Qiū to truly fall into a peaceful slumber.
When Mǐ Qiū woke up again, it was already noon the next day. She went directly to eat lunch. Code 14 and Code 16—it was those two again.
Mǐ Qiū sat down next to them.
Code 14 said to her, “Guide Mǐ Qiū, eat a bit more. You look quite thin. Stock up on nutrients. After all, we’ll be hitting the road first thing tomorrow morning!”
Mǐ Qiū hadn’t known this yet. They were leaving tomorrow? It made sense; they had caught the mysterious alien, so their mission here was complete. Naturally, they had to leave and withdraw from the A-Z Field Zone.
However, she heard them discussing something else. Mǐ Qiū didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but since they were sitting right next to her, she couldn’t help but hear.
Sentinel Code 14 said to Sentinel Code 16, “You say we’re withdrawing just like that, but isn’t the matter still unresolved?”
“Unresolved? The ones to be caught are caught, the ones to stay are settled, and the Sentinels who needed to be sent away have all left today. What are you trying to say?”
“Commander Fù didn’t tell you? That mysterious alien… its lair isn’t here. There were traces of pollution on that thing’s tentacles, which means someone might have been using it for dark experiments.” Although he said this, since the body hadn’t been fully sent for research and Fù Róngqīng hadn’t expressed anything, this was just his own speculation.
“I just feel like this might not be over! We caught this mysterious alien at this stage, but it might not be the leader. Behind it, maybe someone else is controlling things? For example, do you think a monster that looks like a giant squid has the brains to inject hormones into Sentinels?”
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