Chapter 77: Brother, Save Me
After the space-time rift twisted, Chi Wan was blinded by a brilliant light.
Once her eyes had adapted to the light, she slowly opened them and saw a beautiful landscape that left her in awe.
There was no pollution mist here. The crystal-clear air and light allowed one to see the horizon where the sea and sky met.
Orange-pink light, swirled with iridescent spots, reflected on the floating surface of the sea, creating ripples of exquisite water-light like a dreamlike painting.
The beach by the sea was clean and translucent. Tiny creatures and strangely beautiful stones were scattered across it. Even the plants had a unique vitality that was absent on other planets.
Chi Wan was stunned by such beauty. The Sentinels behind her were also filled with continuous amazement.
“This is an illusionâan illusion of Planet C-1 from years ago.”
Shi Yeâs voice sounded behind Chi Wan.
“It’s so beautiful. Is it an illusion that restores the scenery of Planet C-1 back then?”
“Yes.”
As he spoke, he walked forward with slow steps, his black eyes filled with shimmering silver light:
“Planet C-1, known as the Sea God’s Star, was filled with treasures. However, because the planet was surrounded by a powerful gravity vortex, it wasn’t easy for outsiders to enter unless they gained the approval of Planet C-1 and had the gravity channel opened for them.”
Chi Wan followed his pace. In her ear was his low, magnetic voice:
“After Planet C-1 was wiped out by Polluted Entities, the gravity vortex was also completely destroyed. The entities all moved away, and people from countless planets swarmed onto the scarred C-1, attempting to find even a trace of treasure from this destroyed, mysterious planet.”
Chi Wan looked at him in confusion:
“The planet was completely polluted, and it wasn’t a resource planet like A-73. What treasures could still be found?”
Shi Ye looked toward the distance.
On the surface of the sea, a massive, translucent blue Kun-Whale leaped up. Within the giant waves it kicked up, schools of exotic-colored fish surged. The whaleâs celestial-music-like cry harmonized with the sounds of the fish.
“Even if it were completely polluted, the rare treasures on Planet C-1 still possess a lethal attraction for outsiders.”
“The treasure-hunting phenomenon at that time was unprecedented, attracting intense attention from many planets.”
Human greed can never be underestimated or peered into deeply.
Chi Wan bent down, wanting to catch a purple dry-land jellyfish in the sand by her feet. She caught nothing. She continued asking:
“Then what happened later?”
“Later, the only survivor of Planet C-1, Yun Qi, used some unknown method to restore C-1’s gravity vortex, permanently preserving this fallen, mysterious sea-star.”
Hearing this, Chi Wan fell into silence.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a heartbreaking story.
In the next second, the beautiful scenery before her began to distort.
In the transparent blue sky, orange-pink clouds began to gather and rotate. The entire scene was like a canvas gripped by a giant hand, beginning to twist and pull. Even the beach beneath her feet began to distort.
Immediately after, a vast expanse of red began to appear!
The pouring blood was like a giant waterfall falling from the sky, gradually devouring the beautiful scene.
Amidst the violent fluctuations of pollution energy, only sharp red remained in Chi Wanâs eyesâa red so dark it turned black, exuding a hopeless air of rot.
After the final patch of red swallowed the colorful image, the red began to recede.
What appeared before Chi Wan and the others was nothing but black devastation.
On the gray-black ground, there was black blood and charred, unrecognizable objects everywhere. Dense smoke mixed with the pollution mist, making it hard to breathe. The rivers and seas were like stagnant waterânothing but a deathly black.
As if witnessing the fall of a beautiful planet with her own eyes, Chi Wanâs heart sank heavily. She looked at the waste soil beneath her feet and immediately constructed a mental barrier.
This was the true Sea of Lost Souls.
The voices of other bases came through Chi Wanâs earpiece.
There was no signal in the space-time rift, so light-brains couldn’t be used; the empty-wave communicator became the only tool for communication.
“Let’s go. Weâll meet up with them in the center.”
The massive wolf body tenderly picked up Chi Wan. The troops of the K1 Base advanced in an orderly fashion.
As soon as they stepped into the ruins, Polluted Entities appeared one after another. At this moment, those on the periphery were mostly around the fifth rank, and their combat power wasn’t particularly strong. The Sentinels dispersed to open fire and engage them, which went smoothly.
After traveling more than a kilometer, the surrounding buildings began to look even more dilapidated. These grotesque structures were quite different from those on most planets in the galaxy; their structures were complex and rare, with buildings of varying heights. Entities hid within them, waiting for a chance to ambush. The Sentinels’ alertness was instantly pushed to the maximum.
Chi Wan followed behind Shi Ye, concentrating fully on the battle.
With an SSS-rank Sentinel with a Control-type ability and an SSS-rank Guide working together, they could break through a sudden ambush by a massive number of entities in an instant.
Under the strengthening of the silver energy, the Control ability could practically control a giant entity directly, causing it to fall from a high altitude and be smashed to death. Her energy was infused into his, and their mental powers merged as well.
The dual fusion of mental power and energy made the two almost inseparable on a level beyond the physical.
The perception that belonged to her climbed onto his mental landscape, making him unconsciously more accustomed to, and even longing for, her presence in every second of the battle.
Like an irresistible poppy.
Shi Ye naturally perceived this point.
But he wasn’t repelled by this gradually spiraling feeling at all. Clearly perceiving his own sinking, he even felt that the speed could perhaps be faster.
After the largest entity fell, Shi Ye put away his gun and looked at Chi Wan behind him.
Her serious eyes were scanning the surroundings, her earnestness movingly beautiful.
“Guide Chi Wan, after we successfully reach the center of the Sea of Lost Souls, are you willing to be my Designated Guide?”
His chest rose and fell more heavily due to the intense combat. The sweat at his temples was slightly damp, and his eyes were serious to the point of being almost stubborn. Chi Wan looked at him upon hearing this.
This Sentinel Commander, whom she wasn’t repelled by, was so strong in combat and was very mindful of boundaries, which she didn’t dislike.
She didn’t give it too much thought and just nodded:
“Once we’ve fought our way out.”
A ripple appeared in the depths of Shi Yeâs eyes. He chambered a round with one hand and strode out.
Fighting through this area, they were met with a mountain path that had been completely polluted. On the rocks, various mutated entities twisted their viscous bodies. The pitch-black mountain path obscured the scene inside, but the aura of high-level entities drifted out from within, impossible to block.
“At least one entity above the eighth rank. Stay safe.”
“Understood, Commander.”
Shi Ye was the first to enter. The Black Wolf King walked behind Chi Wan, protecting her between it and him.
However, once they entered the passage, the space was eerily quiet.
They walked straight for nearly several hundred meters without seeing a single entity. Yet the energy of an entity never disappeared, getting closer and closer.
Soon, Chi Wanâs keen mental power sensed an abnormality. She pulled out a short knife and aimed it at that spot. Shi Ye sensed it at the same time; the rocks before him flew into the air under his Control ability!
The rock wall broke open. Under the searchlights, a giant black mushroom head charged out, only to be struck hard by the rocks, spraying out a massive amount of dense fog!
“Poisonous Mist Mushroom. Put on your respirators.”
All the Sentinels urgently put on their respirators and pulled out cold weapons to fight.
Within the mountain path, high-power thermal weapons could easily cause the mountain to collapse, so they could only use cold weapons.
One poisonous mushroom after another emerged. The mountain wall began to shake violently. Immediately after, the wall began to split like a living thing, cutting off the Sentinel groups!
A giant rock fell behind the Black Wolf King, separating Chi Wan and Shi Ye from the main force.
Chi Wan, who was manipulating energy to control the Essences of the entities, was a bit flustered by this strange change. In the next second, amidst the chaotic energy and light, she felt the warm Black Wolf King nuzzle her body and continue to carry her.
“Don’t worry. This is a normal differentiation phenomenonâa common energy trap among Polluted Entities. We just need to break these entities one by one to destroy this trap.”
With Shi Yeâs explanation, Chi Wanâs heart stabilized significantly. She focused on the battle, but suddenly found a red-green light coming from deep within the mountain path ahead. Immediately after, a girlâs sweet and pleasant voice drifted out from within:
“Brother, save me!”
Following that, she noticed Shi Yeâs back stiffen visibly.
Even the Black Wolf King beneath her stopped its movements and arched its back.
“What’s wrong?”
Chi Wan asked hurriedly.
Although Shi Yeâs voice sounded the same as usual at first, it was significantly raspy due to his suppressed emotions:
“There are hallucinatory mutated plants ahead.”
There are many types of hallucinatory plants. Some can create illusions, while others can even change physical characteristics, mimicking important people in a Sentinelâs heart.
Chi Wan used all her strength to construct a mental barrier.
She sensed his abnormality. To avoid hindering his combat, she very sensibly rolled off the wolf’s body on her own.
Shi Ye walked forward with his blade. Any entity he encountered along the way, he killed decisively.
But when he saw the girl trapped within the plants at the end of the mutated growth, he still stopped his footsteps.
The red light illuminated the girlâs clear face. She appeared to be only seven or eight years oldâclean and pure, like an angel. However, the girlâs body was covered in wounds, and her thin face was covered in helpless tears.
Seeing his sister standing alive before him with his own eyes… although he clearly knew it was an illusion, Shi Ye still suffered a massive shock.
He felt as though he had returned to the year he was fourteen. He had finally seen the rules of this world clearly. After planning for a long time and awakening his Sentinel constitution early, he fought his way out of the underground boxing arena, only to see that corpse.
His sisterâthe relative he had protected with all his might for so many yearsâlay in a pool of blood without a single trace of life.
At the moment he gritted his teeth and relied on his sole will to endure until victory, he discovered that his will had left him.
In that instant, his world seemed to turn gray.
Since then, joy and sorrow were no longer present, and happiness and pain were hard to distinguish.
“Brother, save me!”
The girlâs fearful voice pulled Shi Yeâs consciousness back.
He looked silently at the trapped girl.
In just an instant, he suppressed the overwhelming, surging emotions. The hand holding his blade was so tight his knuckles turned white. His Control energy destroyed the illusion without hesitation.
The shattered plants were blown away by the energy shock. The trapped girl also began to look full of pain, frantically calling out to him, calling him “Brother” again and again.
“You are not her.”
Shi Yeâs gaze turned cold. His hand holding the blade tightened further, almost drawing blood, yet his ability destroyed everything before him even more powerfully.
Until the illusion completely vanished.
The black corridor also returned completely to silence.
He turned to look, only to realize that Chi Wanâs figure was no longer behind him.
His heart tightened suddenly. Shi Ye quickly began searching for traces of Chi Wan.
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