Invasion [To the Outpost] Section 6

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Maybe this really is some special method. After all, everyone who gets into the Special Research Department is... strange. That department is neither here nor there, with no proper leader, and full of oddballs. Ah, still can’t figure it out.

She glanced at Roy out of the corner of her eye. Roy was sitting there with his legs spread wide, looking utterly indifferent, as if explaining was beneath him.

What he didn’t know was that inside, Roy was completely baffled.

What kind of scene was this little girl making?

He didn’t understand, but he didn’t care—the little girl was one of their own. Whether those fools in the Military Management Office could get their work done or not was none of his concern.

Lin Yuan pinched the man’s chin and forced the entire glass of water down his throat.

She watched as he drank the last drop, his cracked lips parted slightly, breathing out two shallow breaths.

After drinking, the man shook his head, freeing himself from her grip and lifted his eyes to look at her.

His face was smeared with blood and dirt, his hair hanging messily over his eyes. The sight was as wretched as one could imagine.

But when he lifted his eyelids and looked at her from behind the grimy bangs, his gaze was just like that boy in the snow long ago.

Cold and aloof, fierce yet unwilling to yield—like a blade reflecting the snowy landscape.

Lin Yuan rubbed her fingers together, wiping the blood off her pale fingertips.

Then, she opened her palm, covering the man’s eyes and pressing it firmly against his entire forehead.

...

Lin Yuan found herself standing on the edge of an immense sea, the water stretching endlessly. In the distance, it was a clear blue; up close, an emerald green.

Without hesitation, she plunged into this vast ocean.

Waves surged around her, sunlight filtering through the surface, gilding every ripple with golden edges.

Diving into this sea felt like being immersed in a huge, pure jade, as beautiful as a dream.

This boundless beauty was both mysterious and awe-inspiring.

This, she realized, was Ni Ji’s mental barrier. His mental barrier was, astonishingly, an ocean.

The sentinels each possessed their own mental landscapes, fragile and deeply private.

Their inner worlds visualized their moods and emotions, storing secrets and memories unknown to others.

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Thus, they erected high walls to protect this most intimate garden of their souls.

A mental barrier was a sentinel’s stronghold guarding their inner landscape.

Lin Yuan had seen many sentinels’ mental barriers.

Most took the form of sturdy, bounded structures—metal walls, massive stone fortresses, or sharp thorns.

This was the first time she saw a mental barrier that was an infinite ocean.

The sea was the softest element, yet also the most turbulent and powerful.

Lin Yuan thought that if it weren’t for herself, no guide would dare to plunge unreservedly into such a deep sea.

She kept diving deeper, sunlight dimming as it pierced the water, thin strands of gold thread falling upon her.

The surrounding water appeared calm and gentle, showing no resistance to her intrusion.

It truly felt like a real ocean.

But Lin Yuan knew this was Ni Ji’s spirit realm, where huge waves and whirlpools could arise at any moment, ruthlessly attacking intruders.

She felt no fear and calmly awaited the moment of confrontation.

Swimming further into the depths, the layers of her flowing skirt billowed behind her like seaweed drifting in the currents. She moved with the ease of a creature born to dwell in the ocean’s depths.

Faintly, unseen great shadows extended from beneath her seaweed-like skirt, joyfully spreading in all directions.

Lin Yuan felt oddly uplifted. Despite undertaking such a perilous task, she found herself strangely happy.

It had been a long time since she’d felt such emotional fluctuation.

At this moment, she recalled how Jiang Yangshuo always said she lacked emotion and wasn’t like a normal guide.

In truth, she had tried hard all these years—striving to be normal, to maintain the appearance of a proper guide, to live the life everyone expected of a normal person.

All efforts, utterly fruitless.

The ocean floor was quiet, so peaceful it made her feel at ease. From the depths came faint, distant, and elusive sounds—calls like those of whales, fish, or ancient marine creatures beckoning her onward.

Lin Yuan saw not only the seabed but also the garden hidden in its depths.

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There grew soft seaweed and splendid coral, forming a vast underwater forest that seemed to breathe, swaying with the rhythm of the waves. Schools of small fish darted through it, and adorable sea snails and shells rested in the sand.

The towering coral reefs, uneven and sprawling, shimmered with colorful, faintly glowing hues, layered deeply, their extent stretching beyond sight.

This was, astonishingly, the mental world of a sentinel.

So rich, mysterious, gentle, and alluring.

Her tendrils had already begun to long for it—they each wanted to rush into that underwater realm, to frolic recklessly, break a few things, and explore the coral reefs everywhere.

Lin Yuan suppressed this dangerous impulse.

A guide should be gentle and serene, filled with love and compassion for beauty.

Not like herself.

She heard a clear whale call from the depths of the giant kelp forest.

From the shadowy thickets of seaweed appeared a massive whale.

Its back was jet black, belly pure white, with a large powerful tail, a tall, spear-shaped dorsal fin, and white eye patches beneath both eyes.

It was an orca, a fierce beast of the deep sea.

Strong, powerful, colossal—an unmatched hunter of the ocean.

This was the prisoner’s spiritual form, a shape of the sentinel’s psychic power, like a doppelgänger.

Lin Yuan hadn’t expected the sentinel to allow her to advance unimpeded, choosing instead to engage her in battle at the boundary of his mental landscape.

This guy was crazy, Lin Yuan thought. Strong and reckless enough to lick the blade.

Suddenly, she felt a thrill of excitement. She even wanted to nibble on her own fingers.