Chapter 118

Chapter 118

The alarm continues as students rush from the classroom toward the changing room. Chen Wenzhao runs ahead, "What are you waiting for? Hurry to the changing room and get into your combat gear."

Yan Bubu, pulled by Wang Suizi, stumbles, "What about my brother—"

"There's no sound from the sentinel class; they must have moved out earlier, your brother too," Wang Suizi says while running.

Yan Bubu, with a determined look, follows Wang Suizi and Chen Wenzhao to the changing room.

The changing room, divided for males and females, is filled with combat uniforms. The instructor urges at the door, checking his watch, "Hurry up, two minutes to change."

In the male changing room, people are quickly undressing. Chen Wenzhao grabs a combat uniform from the wall and tosses one to Yan Bubu, starting to change himself.

The guide's combat uniform, a deep blue jumpsuit, differs from the sentinel's camouflage, designed for agility with a front zipper for quick dressing.

Yan Bubu swiftly changes into his combat gear, dons a helmet, and slips into his combat boots, all within two minutes.

Yan Bubu follows Chen Wenzhao out of the men's changing room just as Wang Suizi emerges from the women's, urging, "Let's go, hurry downstairs."

As they run, Yan Bubu reconfirms, "Has my brother already left?"

"Definitely," comes the reply.

Downstairs, six green military trucks are lined up, with logistics personnel distributing guns and magazines to each boarding student.

Yan Bubu also receives a gun and, clutching it, climbs onto the right bench of a truck.

"Twenty seconds left!" an instructor shouts. "Any student who fails to make it on time will receive a major demerit, to be recorded in their file."

At this warning, the remaining guide students sprint towards the trucks, including the stout Sister Cui.

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen... ten..."

Just one second before the countdown ends, all students successfully board. The instructor grabs the truck frame and leaps on: "Drive!"

The academy gates are swiftly opened by soldiers, and the six trucks speed towards the checkpoint of the city's first layer.

Across from Yan Bubu, Sister Cui pants heavily, gasping, "My goodness, I'm exhausted... nearly out of breath. Thank goodness I don't have osteoporosis."

"It's okay, just rest a bit," the guide beside her reassures, patting her back.

Yan Bubu, holding his gun carefully, glances at the magazine and quietly asks Wang Suizi, "What are we going to fight?"

"I'm not sure yet, the instructor will tell us soon," Wang Suizi responds.

Worrying about Feng Chen, Yan Bubu asks, "The sentinels went first, they're not in danger, are they?"

Wang Suizi comforts him, "Don't worry, they'll be fine. The instructors are very capable."

Reassured, Yan Bubu examines the gun in his arms and quietly asks Wang Suizi, covering his mouth with his left hand, "To shoot, I just pull the trigger, right? Are there any other steps? Like turning on a switch or something? I haven't paid much attention to how they reload in movies. Can you teach me now?"

Wang Suizi's expression changes as she reaches for the gun in Yan Bubu's arms, but he clings to it tightly, preventing her from taking it.

"Can you not use the gun, please?" Wang Suizi asks.

Yan Bubu shakes his head slowly but firmly: "No!"

The instructor at the rear of the truck notices Yan Bubu.

"Yan Bubu, do you know how to use a gun?"

Yan Bubu responds, "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I learned from movies."

The instructor, expressionless, extends a hand: "Give it here."

Reluctantly, Yan Bubu holds onto the gun without handing it over, but Chen Wenzhao silently snatches it from him and returns it to the instructor.

"We're heading to the plantation to deal with sand worms. Like before, your main task is to organize the sentinels' mental fields and assist in the attack. Don't rush to the front, remember to prioritize your safety..."

As the instructor instructs, various quantum beasts appear in the middle of the truck - deer, antelope, turtles, hedgehogs, and even a domesticated goose, all obediently crouching in front of their respective owners. Only Yan Bubu and Wang Suizi sit without a quantum beast in front of them.

Wang Suizi glances at the empty space in front of Yan Bubu and asks softly, "Where's your quantum beast?"

"I don't know, it probably went to the plantation with my brother."

Wang Suizi appears confused: "Quantum beasts follow others willingly?"

Yan Bubu responds, puzzled: "My brother is not just 'others.'"

As Wang Suizi remains bewildered, Yan Bubu asks, "What about yours? Did your quantum beast go with someone too?"

Coming back to her senses, Wang Suizi shakes her head and whispers, "No, my quantum beast didn't leave, but it's very slow to come out."

"It's really slow?"

Wang Suizi replies, "It needs another two or three minutes."

Noticing Yan Bubu's lack of a quantum beast, the instructor asks, "Yan Bubu, where is your quantum beast? We're about to start the mission; you can release it early."

"...My quantum beast is already on a mission," Yan Bubu responds.

"What?"

Yan Bubu explains, "It's gone with my brother."

Everyone in the truck looks bewildered, and even the instructor can't help asking, "Your quantum beast willingly follows someone else?"

"But my brother isn’t just 'someone else' to me."

"...Alright," the instructor reluctantly accepts after a brief silence. "Just remember to call it back during the battle."

"Okay."

Yan Bubu looks down and notices a grey form slowly materializing at Wang Suizi's feet, gradually becoming more distinct.

Slowly, a somewhat dazed-looking grey creature comes into Yan Bubu's view.

"Wow, is this your quantum beast? It's so cute! Is it some type of mouse?" Yan Bubu curiously examines it.

"No, it's a koala. It usually likes to sleep in my mental realm and takes longer to emerge than other quantum beasts," Wang Suizi explains.

"Oh, a koala. Right, I've seen them on TV too."

Across from them, Chen Wenzhao sits with a small crocodile by his feet, its protruding eyes watching outside the truck.

As the truck descends to the first floor on the lift, Yan Bubu notices the koala at Wang Suizi's feet shaking its head at him.

Yan Bubu inquires, "What's it doing?"

Wang Suizi explains, "It's answering your earlier question."

Yan Bubu: ...

As the truck left the central city and rolled over the hills, the rumbling sound of gunfire grew closer. Inside, no one spoke anymore; everyone silently prepared their gear.

Yan Bubu looked out from the back of the truck, occasionally seeing flashes of gunfire in the sky. Thinking of Feng Chen fighting in that very maelstrom, his heart clenched with worry.

In the sandy area before the plantation, Feng Chen fired at the sand dune bugs that surged close, his psychic energy continuously piercing the undulating sand.

Hei Shi and Binu relentlessly hunted those sand dune bugs moving beneath the ground.

They followed the undulating ground, attacking the moment a sand dune bug emerged. Leaping high with the rising bug bodies, they brutally tore at the heads just breaking through the surface.

The defense line, formed by sentinel soldiers and trainees, continuously held back the sand dune bug assault. Guides, meanwhile, assisted in the attack while sorting through the sentinels' psychic realms.

This place originally had far more sentinel soldiers than guide soldiers, and now with over three hundred sentinel trainees arriving, the guides were struggling to cope.

"Hold on, just a bit longer. Guides, prioritize aiding sentinels with excessive psychic drain; those who can manage, keep enduring. Guide trainees will arrive soon."

In the hoarse command of the chief commander, a guide soldier, recently graduated from the academy, encountered significant trouble while delving into the psychic realm of the third sentinel trainee.

This was a new sentinel trainee she had never seen before, tall and imposing. His eyes were hidden in the shadow of his steel helmet, but the exposed part of his chin and the lines of his lips were close to perfection. Without seeing his full face, one could tell he was incredibly handsome.

Despite being a new trainee, he was exceptionally calm and strong in combat. The sand dune bugs on his line of defense hardly ever got close before being killed by his psychic power.

The guide guessed he might be a B+ level sentinel, but wasn’t entirely sure.

Currently, there are over a thousand sentinels in the central city, most being C and B levels, with only fourteen at A level.

Sentinels undergo a second evolution, which further enhances their abilities. C-levels can typically advance to B-level, but for those already at B-level, breaking through to A-level is extremely difficult; most only reach a B+ standard.

This new sentinel trainee, who clearly hadn't yet finished growing, had already reached B+ in combat capability. Once he undergoes his second evolution, the central city should see the emergence of its fifteenth A-level sentinel.

The guide was secretly surprised, but she couldn't afford to ponder too much at the moment, as the sentinel had his psychic realm tightly closed, preventing her psychic energy from entering.

Just after Feng Chen killed an incoming sand dune bug, he heard an urgent female voice behind him, "Sentinel, I am a guide. Open your psychic realm quickly, I need to sort it out for you."

The ground in front of Feng Chen was littered with the corpses of sand dune bugs.

Having just expended a great deal of psychic energy, he felt a stifling sensation in his chest and a bit of dizziness in his head, indeed in dire need of the guide's intervention.

He could feel a strange psychic force hovering outside his own realm, aware it was the guide, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't successfully open his realm.

"Don’t resist my psychic energy, open your realm quickly, or you won't be able to bear it," the guide urged anxiously.

The sand ahead billowed, signaling a sand dune bug bursting from underground. Feng Chen, having just killed two, immediately deployed his psychic energy to track and pierce the emerging bug.

"Why aren’t you opening your psychic realm? Don't be wary of me, and don’t be too tense, let my psychic energy in."

Listening to the guide's urging, Feng Chen tried again, but still couldn't manage it.

His psychic realm, against his will, remained vigilant and resistant to this unfamiliar psychic force, tightly sealed without even a sliver of an opening.

"Forget about me for now, go and sort out other sentinels," Feng Chen didn’t want to delay the guide's time.

The guide contemplated briefly, "Alright, call me if you relax later. I'll be nearby."

By then, the truck carrying over a hundred guide trainees had already arrived at the foot of the mountain, and the chief commander's order rang out in each vehicle, "All guide trainees, disembark! Prepare for battle!"

The truck halted abruptly, and Yan Bubu, along with other guides, jumped off and rushed into the cornfield amid roaring gunfire, heading towards the front.

Chen Wen didn’t know his size for combat gear, the set he started with was somewhat large. As he ran, his helmet slid back and forth, occasionally obstructing his vision, forcing him to hold it in place.

This cornfield was vast and endless, with the cornstalks obstructing the view. He knew from the sounds of footsteps around him that other guide trainees were also running together.

In the tense run, voices of other guide trainees continuously came through the walkie-talkie.

"Who's running to the left? You're going the wrong way, come back!"

"And who's running to the right? Don't lead others astray, if you do, everyone will follow."

"Ouch—"

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just tripped."

"Who's in front of me? How is the waistline of that jumpsuit so well-fitted?"

……

Instructor: "Our trainees will conduct one-on-one guidance, each responsible for a single sentinel. Just aim to alleviate the burden of the guide soldiers."

"Yes."

Instructor: "Wang Chendi, take your team of guides to the right, Liu Siyuan, your squad goes left."

"Yes."

Instructor: "Li Ruisi, your sentinel is in Squad Eight. Do you want to go there for guidance?"

"Yes, where is Sentinel Squad Eight?"

Instructor: "Then follow Wang Chendi; his direction leads to Squad Eight."

"Okay."

Instructor: "Zhao Cui, Wang Decai is in Sentinel Squad Three. Do you want to go there?"

Yan Bubu heard Sister Cui's voice through his earpiece, accompanied by heavy breathing, "Instructor, please, don’t match me with that old sentinel, assign me, send me to the young guys. No matter how many young guys I need to guide, I... I can do it... huff... huff..."

Wang Suizi, who had been running behind Yan Bubu, asked, "Yan Bubu, are you going to find your brother?"

Yan Bubu brushed aside the corn leaves hitting his face, "Yes, I'm going to find him and provide guidance."

"Do you know which squad your brother is in?"

Yan Bubu replied, "I don't know, but once I get there, I'll find him."

He held down his helmet and looked up, seeing a sand dune bug rising in the distance, and asked Wang Suizi in horror, "What is that? A mutant earthworm?"

"No, it's a sand dune bug," Wang Suizi cautioned him. "Be careful to avoid the silk it spits out; it sticks to you like a little flame and keeps burning."

"Got it."

After running forward for about ten minutes, the guide trainees passed the regular soldiers focusing fire on a sand dune bug, crossed the cornfield, and arrived at the scene where sentinels were battling numerous sand dune bugs.

Following the instructor’s assignments, they headed towards their designated areas, releasing their psychic energy while running, probing into the sentinels' psychic realms.

Yan Bubu was also running along. Sand dune bugs were everywhere, as were sentinels fighting them, but he couldn’t see Feng Chen anywhere.

He kept moving, distinguishing between sentinels and quantum beasts climbing on the sand dune bugs in the midst of gunfire, hoping to spot Hei Shi and Binu.

Suddenly, the sand on the left began to undulate, and a sand dune bug burst through, its massive shadow engulfing him.

Yan Bubu instinctively looked up, only to see the sand dune bug diving down towards him, its large mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, dripping with transparent slime.

Bang, bang, bang.

Before Yan Bubu’s mind could react, gunfire sounded, bullets piercing the bug’s mouth. The bug trembled violently and swayed as if about to crash down, and Yan Bubu was yanked by the arm to the right, then pulled into a familiar embrace.

"Brother!"

As the sand dune bug crashed heavily onto the sand, Yan Bubu called out in surprise.

Feng Chen released Yan Bubu, quickly reloading his gun, half-squinting as he aimed at the eyes of another sand dune bug. After pulling the trigger, he sternly said, "Don’t look around so much."

"I was trying to find you," Yan Bubu quickly assessed Feng Chen, noting his pale face and the sweat continuously streaming down his forehead.

Feng Chen stepped in front of him, "Stay back, stand behind me, don't let the silk spat by the sand dune bugs touch you."

"Okay!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Feng Chen felt a familiar psychic energy forcefully enter his realm, swiftly sorting it out. The heavy, oppressive feeling in his chest vanished, and his headache disappeared in an instant.

Yan Bubu looked around, seeing his classmates stationed about ten meters behind the sentinels. He too stepped back, continuing to guide Feng Chen while dodging the floating silk of the sand dune bugs.

To his left was Zhao Cui, and to his right were Chen Wen and Wang Suizi.

"Oh my goodness, my goodness!" Zhao Cui let out intermittent shrieks, "Dear lord, I'm so scared of bugs, my legs are jelly... Hey, guy on the left, move a bit to the right... Oh, mother, I never want to see bugs again in my life."

Her quantum beast, a large white goose, aggressively flapped its wings, charging forward. Upon seeing the writhing sand dune bugs, it squawked in alarm and retreated, then calmed down and charged again, only to flee back...

Yan Bubu spotted Binu and Sasa. They were fighting far out on the sandy ground, near where the light dimmed.

Binu was atop a sand dune bug, tearing at it. In agony, the bug twisted its upper body, flinging Binu into the air. Despite this, Binu's claws remained firmly embedded in the bug's eyes.

Sasa leaped at another sand dune bug trying to attack Binu, swiping its claws at its face while in mid-air.