Maybe it was the full moon affecting the sentinels’ biological rhythm, but on a night that should have been pitch-black and silent, nearly ten thousand sentinels were still contributing activity on the online forum.
The sign-in buttons on every section of the Deep Sea Forum were lit up.
Among them, the special section with a gray interface was different from the usual areas for experience sharing, casual chat, or the specialized Folded Zone monster archives. To enter this board, one had to meet a specific requirement: the registered sentinel identity must be at least eighteen years old.
[December is coming, December is coming… time to start praying… time to start performing rituals…]
[Say goodbye to bad luck once a day, stick to the Law of Attraction and make daily positive affirmations: The Major General is my wife, the Major General is my wife…]
[I must get one of December’s mental guidance spots, okay?]
[Offering one rare feather dropped by the Major General]
[Hehe, I’m not really offering, I picked it up after the last mental guidance session. I’m not sure if it’s from the Major General’s mental body, but I’ve kept it as a private treasure. I just posted to show off a bit [wink]]
[[Explosive] He got out of the Major General’s car, and even got invited for dinner tomorrow night. Who is he really?]
OP: I am at the Joint Military Academy, just got off the plane. No more words, look at the pictures.
[Attached photos x2]
37L: Isn’t that our freshman brother with 3S combat power… keyword hint: “I can’t let the Major General keep living like a lonely widow anymore.”
39L: I was there, he said it with such damn arrogance.
43L: Even though he said exactly what I was thinking, his face looked so punchable… I’m just very jealous of his 3S combat power and secretly cried in a dark corner… What kind of genetic lottery is this…
66L: PS another hilarious hint: When this guy made that wild statement, Lieutenant General Wei Zhuo happened to walk into the training hall for class and overheard…instant death glare.
70L: I can’t take it anymore. Didn’t the Lieutenant General deal with him? Wei Zhuo and General He used to be good brothers, right? If it were me, I’d go crazy too, some stray dog from who-knows-where is coveting my good brother’s widow? [angry]
71L: Upstairs, you mean go crazy because you want to be Lieutenant General Wei, right? You look at the widow your best brother left behind and can’t help but pounce and lick? Hehehe, if Wei Zhuo really wanted to deal with it, the first thing he’d do is dig up every sentinel in this forum who ever fantasized about the Major General, and drag us all offline for a “chat.” None of us would escape.
72L: It seems like the Wei family still has some integrity. No wonder he became a Lieutenant General.
88L: Wait, does no one remember the original rumor from a few years ago that the Major General was actually engaged to Wei??
89L: That’s fake, right? If Wei really had a fiancé, how could he have come into the picture? I don’t know who fantasized this rumor and spread it around. You really believed it?
311L: Woc, what kind of thread is this, forwarding it to Brother Wei immediately.
312L: Upstairs?
999L: So who exactly is this freshman, can someone dig up their background?
……
: No, it’s been over half a month, who dug this thread back up again?
: Because the freshman brother joined the reserve legion and it stirred up drama again. I saw the reserve list, wait a minute… born in the Northern Frontier, 3S combat power sentinel, already in the reserve legion in his freshman year… doesn’t this match that person’s early life? It overlaps too much…
: Damn it, I don’t want to see another story about a poor grassroots kid chasing a rich beauty!!!
: Is it possible he’s the ex-husband reborn into a new body?
: Don’t talk about fantasy, you’ve read too many webnovels, go uninstall your green app.
: Why?! Another mutt from the Northern Frontier, when will it be the turn of our Imperial City?! White Tower, are you just going to let a mangy dog lick the little cat?!
: I heard this guy already got the keys to the Major General’s villa?!
: It seems that December is going to war with me:) I just checked the Black Tower system, I didn’t get selected for the Major General’s December mental guidance slot again.
: Aaaaah I’m going to die! Someone added me using the Major General’s avatar, and said they’d offer me mental guidance. After getting scammed of a hundred thousand yuan, I learned what “you just haven’t met the right scam” really means…
: No but did anyone notice the Folded Zones in the Northern Frontier all got updated? Is it just my bug? Why did over forty Northern Folded Zone record threads all simultaneously update with mutated monsters that only show up in the tropical rainforest zones of the West???
: The wind that missed you finally blew into the North… Sorry, I just realized today is the Major General and the Lieutenant General’s three-year anniversary of being in love… It’s a bit creepy. I’m uninstalling the green app right now. It’s this app that made my brain rotten in the first place.
……
After seeing the screenshot, Xin Hexue asked Wei Zhuo if he had any clearer pictures.
Although the general pattern of the silver shoulder epaulettes looked quite similar to the one on He Botian’s combat uniform, the screenshot was as blurry as static on a black-and-white TV that had lost its satellite signal, completely fuzzy.
Sometimes, it might just be overlapping light and shadow that caused such an illusion.
Wei Zhuo replied that the picture was the clearest frame he could extract while exporting combat footage from the micro camera.
He sent the entire unedited combat log to Xin Hexue.
That was when Xin Hexue understood why the picture was so blurry.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, frowning, and projected the footage onto the white wall across from him, enlarging it for viewing.
The beginning was a long segment of standard combat footage. Aside from the screen shaking due to movement and the lens being smeared with blood and then roughly wiped clean, it was fairly normal.
No, not really normal.
Xin Hexue knew well that Wei Zhuo had gone to the Northern Territory. It was now almost the end of the year, and the deep winter forests of the north were blanketed with heavy snow. Entering the Folded Zones meant facing not just monsters but also dangers like avalanches.
But the footage showed monsters that didn’t belong to the native mutated species of the Northern Frontier.
They had encountered those monsters in Folded Zone 122 of the Western tropical rainforest.
Swarms of insects, skulls, sal trees, rotting swamps….
And the red rain that poured from the sky…
At this moment in the recording, these things were interwoven with the snowy subalpine terrain.
A blood-red tumor flapped its wings, baring jagged fangs located at the abdomen and lunged at the lens!
At the same time, it emitted a distinct, piercing screech.
A cold blade suddenly slashed the tumor down the middle!
The next frame captured only a fleeting blur at the edge of the screen.
Xin Hexue hit pause, but he was still two beats too slow. The shadow twisted and disappeared entirely off the right edge of the screen.
He had to drag the progress bar back and set playback to 0.5x speed.
Once, twice, three times…
He watched over and over as the tumor worm was split in half, trying to pause at the critical frame. The sharp shrieks of the tumor worm echoed repeatedly in the room.
On a cloudy day and with the lights off, the screeches sent a chill through the air.
But Xin Hexue’s face remained emotionless.
He stared at the screen until he finally landed on the key frame.
It was a dim shadow, neither human nor ghost in shape.
A pair of sharp eyes hid within the layered shadows of the trees, staring beyond the screen.
Lightning flashed, splitting the overcast sky. Then thunder boomed and rumbled violently in his ears.
With a loud “crack”, the footage went completely black.
Heavy rain suddenly poured outside the window.
Xin Hexue lowered his gaze and looked at his communicator.
The signal was poor, and the video failed to load.
He frowned and walked to the glass window. Over the past two years, the energy fluctuations in the Folded Zone had been intensifying continuously, sometimes even affecting satellite signals.
The communicator’s signal subtly restored two bars.
Wei Zhuo was sent to the northern Frontier this time. If he remembered correctly, Kuike wasn’t among the members assigned to this mission. Of the two Sentinels who went with Wei Zhuo, one had been a member of the old Honeysuckle squad, while the other was called Xing Xianqi. Xin Hexue didn’t know him, and only heard that he had just been transferred from Sequence B Legion to Sequence A.
He sent a message to Wei Zhuo.
[Xin Hexue: I want to provide a mental guidance session to the Sentinel who wore this combat recording camera. If he doesn’t mind, I’d like to enter his memory of this operation and take a look.]
Wei Zhuo was probably driving back, so he didn’t reply right away.
About two minutes passed.
[Wei Zhuo: I asked Xing Xianqi, he doesn’t mind.
[Wei Zhuo: I don’t mind either.]
Xin Hexue closed his eyes, then reopened them.
They tacitly avoided mentioning what had happened during the last guidance session.
Raindrops blurred the view outside the window.
Another blinding white lightning bolt streaked across, briefly illuminating the bedroom.
Xin Hexue’s eyes became sharp. In the bedroom scene reflected by the large pane of glass, the closet behind him and slightly to the side wasn’t closed.
The sound of cotton slippers dragging across the floor was soft.
Xin Hexue stood in front of the closet…it was completely empty inside.
To accelerate the growth of Yan Ji’s love value, he had packed up all of He Botian’s belongings in the villa and stored them in the utility room.
As if showing he was cutting ties with the past.
So this half of the closet that used to hold He Botian’s clothes was now completely bare.
Xin Hexue closed the closet door expressionlessly.
………
Wei Zhuo rarely set foot in this villa.
He Botian had applied for this villa from the military for him and Xin Hexue to live in after their marriage.
Back when they were choosing a location, because Wei Zhuo was a native of the Imperial Capital City, He Botian had even come to consult him for his opinion.
After Xin Hexue became independent from the White Tower, he was given a residence on the west side of the city. The scenery was pleasant, but it was quite far from the Central Military District, where Sentinel activity was dense.
Later, the military also assigned a residence to this military Guide.
In the end, Xin Hexue chose to stay in the property belonging to He Botian.
This was the third time Wei Zhuo had come here.
The first time was the day of He Botian’s funeral, he had been entrusted by the military leaders to check on Xin Hexue’s condition.
The second time was after the Northern Frontier mission ended and he brought Xin Hexue back.
The first time he entered, he had permission from the military. Even without a key, he could still enter the villa.
This time, Wei Zhuo called Xin Hexue.
The young Guide dressed in loungewear appeared behind the second-floor living room window.
Xing Xianqi stood a little nervously, straightening his uniform on the spot. His posture was upright, and he asked Wei Zhuo a bit stiffly, “Lieutenant General, does my face look alright? I haven’t rested well these past few days, do I look unpresentable?”
Without even glancing at him, Wei Zhuo replied coldly, “A soldier’s most important quality is combat ability.”
Xing Xianqi: “…Yes, Lieutenant General.”
Still, before the front gate opened on the homeowner’s command to welcome guests, Xing Xianqi took the time to tidy up his appearance properly.
As they stepped through the gate, Xing Xianqi commented, “The Major General’s home is really beautiful…”
He spoke while walking, “The flowers planted in the garden will still bloom next year, right? They look really well taken care of.”
The flowers in the garden had been chosen and planted by He Botian and Xin Hexue together, with He Botian tending to them.
Wei Zhuo’s thin lips were taut. “You talk too much. Don’t forget your task today.”
Xing Xianqi stood at attention. “Yes! Sir, I will open up my mental landscape to the Major General without reservation!”
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like Lieutenant General Wei Zhuo frowned, and his expression turned even colder.
………
Xin Hexue said warmly, “Please have a seat.”
Xing Xianqi removed his uniform cap and sat carefully on a single armchair.
The second-floor living room was temporarily serving as a treatment room.
But the space was already comfortable enough, and the interior design used warm tones.
A white noise device embedded in the wall quietly simulated the soothing sound of rain at 432 Hz, with 8D surround audio.
Xing Hexue briefly chatted with Xing Xianqi, trying to ease the sentinel’s nerves.
Then he asked, “Was the journey long?”
Xing Xianqi: “Yes, our off-road vehicle broke down halfway, which delayed our trip. It took us two days to return to the imperial city.”
He continued, “After we got back, we immediately went to the military headquarters to enter all the data from the mission. It took three days before we could leave.”
Xing Hexue gave a small smile. “You’ve worked hard.”
Wei Zhuo noticed that compared to the last time he was here, all the items that had once come in pairs were now gone.
A faint hope rose in his heart.
On the other side, Xing Hexue had already immersed his consciousness into Xing Xianqi’s mental landscape.
Xing Xianqi’s mental body was a golden eagle.
Since the other party was a B-level sentinel, under absolute suppression of mental power, Xing Hexue hardly exerted any effort to penetrate Xing Xianqi’s mental barrier.
He arrived at the golden eagle’s nest.
It was on a cliff, with fierce winds howling and an endless forest sea below. These were all part of the sentinel’s mental landscape.
Xing Hexue estimated that the level of contamination was not even fifty percent; the residual pollution from the Folded Zone was quite light so he took care of it for Xing Xianqi along the way.
Snowflakes fell from the sky, swirling in the wind, cleansing all the contamination.
Because of the infinity of his mental power, the golden eagle had already let down its guard.
It approached Xing Hexue, gently nestling against the young man’s side.
The memory storage in Xing Xianqi’s spiritual landscape was different from Wei Zhuo’s. Wei Zhuo’s memories were hidden in bubbles deep beneath the sea, while Xing Xianqi’s were stored within the feathers of the golden eagle.
Xing Hexue selected one successfully. In an instant, his consciousness was pulled into a gloomy combat memory.
From Xing Xianqi’s perspective, everything was almost identical to the footage, only clearer, without the bloodstains that had clouded the camera lens.
Xing Hexue realized that the shadow hadn’t escaped recording because it had moved out of the camera’s range. In reality, it had only flashed by.
The huge black shape blended almost perfectly with the patchy shadows of the dense forest.
So viewing it through memory wasn’t even as effective as the video, which could at least be paused and analyzed frame by frame.
But Xing Hexue didn’t immediately exit the memory. He waited until the operation concluded and Wei Zhuo’s team safely withdrew from the Folded Zone.
Wei Zhuo, Xing Xianqi, and a former member of the Honeysuckle Squad were present. The rest were unfamiliar faces, likely reinforcements transferred from the Northern Frontier sentinel towers.
@
They regrouped on the outer edge of the Folded Zone.
Through Xing Xianqi’s eyes, Xing Hexue saw Wei Zhuo making a decision.
The tall sentinel stood at the front of the group. His black combat uniform was splattered with blood, his expression stern. “Folded Zone No. 273 has now merged with No. 274. It’s temporarily impossible to locate the new ‘switch’, so to prevent further casualties, let’s retreat for now.”
“Yes!” the sentinels responded in unison.
They then dispersed to pack up their gear and dismantle their temporary camp, their conversations mingling in the air.
“Damn, it’s really weird. I’ve never seen a Folded Zone merge mid-operation.”
“Aren’t Folded Zones supposed to be independent puzzle pieces? Even if they’re next to each other geographically, the edges are recessed. The seams are like standalone barriers so it should be impossible for them to fully fuse.”
“What’s going on? If this keeps happening, won’t it be harder to solve the smaller Folded Zones one by one?”
“Live each day as it comes. I don’t care anymore. I’m going to drink two bottles of liquor tonight after going back.”
Figures bustled about, loading equipment into several off-road vehicles.
Xing Hexue scanned everything visible in the scene.
Suddenly, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.
It wasn’t the focus of the view, so Xing Xianqi had likely missed it.
It looked like a huge haystack, but the “hay” was a writhing green mass of vines.
Each vine twisted, bulged, squirmed, and churned, rolling together into something indescribable.
Xing Hexue saw a black fabric with silver epaulettes between the gaps of the coiling vines.
It was in the trunk of the last off-road vehicle.
But none of the passing sentinels seemed to see it.
It had followed them back.
……
Xing Hexue fell deeper into the memory, triggered by the sight of that silver epaulet.
This time he was sure…it belonged to He Botian.
And that mass of vines…he was sure they belonged to the strangler tree only found in the Rainforest Folded Zone.
A burning sensation returned to his palm.
It was like a tongue of fire was devouring his right hand, roaring and consuming all sins.
It reminded the guide that it was he who had pulled the trigger himself. He had killed his own sentinel with his own hands.
“Beep!” The sound of the heart monitor failing seemed to ring in his left ear again.
The heartbeat of the sentinel connected to the device had stopped, and blood poured from his chest.
The strangler tree then suddenly cracked open, and no one could react in time.
It devoured the sentinel’s corpse completely.
Xing Hexue remembered that he finally used his mental power to purify the strangler tree, to destroy it.
But… did he really?
Had he truly exorcised the strangler tree?
Xing Hexue’s chest felt hollow, like it was leaking air.
He tried to search for the memory of what really happened, but all he found was blinding white light.
His brain seemed like it was riddled with spiderweb cracks, constantly aching.
“Xing Hexue!”
“Xing Hexue!”
Wei Zhuo called out to him over and over, trying to pull him back to consciousness.
Xing Xianqi asked nervously, “What’s wrong with the major general?”
The young guide curled up on the sofa beside him, cold sweat soaking his black hair. He looked pale and miserable, like porcelain that might shatter at any moment.
His chest heaved violently, struggling for breath as if oxygen had been stolen from him.
Without hesitation, Wei Zhuo pulled off the protective glove on Xing Hexue’s left hand.
Then their ten fingers locked together tightly.
Wei Zhuo noticed that the ring Xing Hexue used to wear on his left ring finger had also been taken off.
Now, his hand was completely bare.
The touch of skin against skin triggered a powerful response.
The young man curled up tighter. The soft sound of protest he let out resembled a cat’s cry, completely ineffective at stopping the sentinel’s forced contact.
If anything, it sparked evil thoughts and an urge to bully him until he was completely undone.
Xing Hexue’s earlobes were bright red, and even his lips took on a stunningly vivid hue, as if waiting to be plucked.
Wei Zhuo’s eyes darkened.
The young man finally woke from the nightmare-like state, and the first thing he did was shake Wei Zhuo’s hand away.
Wei Zhuo froze where he stood.
A gust of wind rushed past him, and the shoulders of the two sentinels even bumped against each other.
Wei Zhuo looked at the intruder.
The young sentinel looked windblown and travel-worn, clearly having come straight here after returning.
No one had opened the door for him.
But he had still entered.
“Is he feeling uncomfortable?” Yan Ji rushed forward and scooped Xing Hexue into his arms, the tight muscles in his arms tense, “Let’s go to the hospital.”
