Ch 25: Interplanetary Planting Master

Reunion

Broken Star, Earth Standard Time 18:00

Deep within the underground tunnels, Han Rui followed closely behind Lin Ji, trudging through the uneven ground. Xiao Bai hopped around, guarding Han Rui. Whenever debris blocked their way, Xiao Bai would rush forward and start digging. Thanks to Xiao Bai’s efforts, their journey was relatively smooth.

Lin Ji didn’t talk much, maintaining silence for most of the journey. Occasionally, he would lend Han Rui a hand when the path became particularly difficult. He remained silent, and Han Rui didn’t dare to speak either. The earlier howl of the King Beast had significantly impacted Han Rui’s mental state. Without Lin Ji’s assistance in reinforcing his mental barrier, Han Rui would have struggled to recover.

This was Han Rui’s first close encounter with a sentinel. His mental state felt as exposed as an open courtyard, entirely vulnerable to Lin Ji. He feared Lin Ji might take advantage of him but couldn’t refuse his help. He felt like a drowning man clinging to a piece of driftwood. Surprisingly, Lin Ji merely reinforced his mental barrier without any ulterior motives. This made Han Rui feel a bit guilty for doubting Lin Ji’s intentions. Observing Lin Ji secretly, he realized that Lin Ji might be different from the sentinels he had known.

As they encountered another blockage, Xiao Bai instinctively started digging.

In the midst of the silence, Lin Ji unexpectedly praised, “Your spirit animal is impressive.”

Han Rui, a bit slow to react, uttered an “oh” before realizing Lin Ji had spoken. He looked at Lin Ji in surprise. Encouraged by Lin Ji’s initiation of conversation, Han Rui gathered his courage. He touched the metal walls curiously and asked, “This path seems long-abandoned. How did you find it?”

They were currently navigating through an abandoned tunnel, frequently encountering collapses. Although the path was challenging, it was the shortest route to the starship.

After praising Xiao Bai, Lin Ji lowered his head and didn’t respond to Han Rui’s question, as if he hadn’t heard it.

Han Rui felt a bit awkward, internally reassuring himself that Lin Ji’s peculiar behavior was just part of his personality. When Han Rui first saw Lin Ji in the black market, he mistook him for an old man due to his grey hair. The second time, Lin Ji saved him from the Silent Corps, but he was too preoccupied to notice Lin Ji closely. Now, journeying together, he realized Lin Ji wasn’t as old as he had thought, possibly in his thirties or forties. He wondered why someone so young had entirely grey hair.

While Han Rui’s mind wandered, Lin Ji suddenly said, “Have your spirit animal stop.”

Han Rui immediately commanded Xiao Bai to halt. Lin Ji extended his senses, analyzing the tunnel walls and reconstructing the scene in his mind. On the other side, an expansive underground hall housed a small starship, with four battered mechas hastily entering. Caron leapt out of one of the mechas, his face pale, staring at the starship with a conflicted expression.

A burly, bearded man approached Caron, bitterly saying, “We started with over ten brothers; now, only four of us are left.”

“It’s just a matter of time before we join them,” Caron retorted bitterly.

“The starship is here; we should be able to leave this damned place, right? I don’t want to stay here any longer,” another man said, his voice rough with fear.

Caron wasn’t as optimistic. Relying solely on the starship’s shield to break through the atmosphere seemed uncertain. But staying on Broken Star meant certain death; they had to try.

The group decided to leave as soon as possible, taking advantage of the King Beast’s temporary retreat. The tunnel wall behind them began to tremble, dust flying as a large hole was dug through. “Dark Beasts!” someone was about to shout when a silver wolf emerged, its brown eyes cold and hostile.

Following the wolf, Lin Ji and Han Rui appeared. Lin Ji scanned the room and coughed, saying, “With a common enemy, we should stick together. Surely, you wouldn’t mind two more passengers?”

The group was stunned. The bearded man cursed, “Common enemy my ass! This starship belongs to the Silent Corps. Who the hell are you?”

Lin Ji’s cold gaze swept over him. The wolf lunged like a shadow, pinning the man down, its sharp teeth against his throat.

The other two mechas immediately aimed their weapons at Lin Ji. Lin Ji calmly said, “You can’t kill me, and it would take me some time to deal with you. The King Beast won’t wait. Either we leave together, or no one leaves.”

Realizing they were outmatched, Caron asked, “Can you fly the starship?”

Lin Ji nodded. Caron clenched his teeth, still bitter about the humiliation Lin Ji had caused him. But as Lin Ji had pointed out, they couldn’t kill him, and time was running out. “We’ll take you with us,” Caron decided. The other three, seeing no better option, reluctantly agreed.

As they boarded the starship, Caron glanced at Han Rui, who quickly moved behind Lin Ji. Caron snorted, recognizing Han Rui as the guide from the black market. However, in this life-and-death situation, he couldn’t care less about guides. Lin Ji assessed the starship, realizing it was a low-grade D-class patrol ship. Broken Star was merely a hideout for the Silent Corps; no one had anticipated a beast tide, so only a practical starship had been left behind.

Caron signaled Lin Ji to start the starship. While they could handle mechas, operating a starship was beyond them. Lin Ji complied, and Han Rui stayed close to Lin Ji, avoiding Caron. Besides Caron, the others climbed into their mechas, feeling safer with dual protection.

The metal ceiling of the underground hall slowly opened, and dark beasts immediately swarmed in. Caron began cursing, operating the weapon systems to fire wildly at the incoming beasts. The starship’s shield struggled under the onslaught of dark beast blood. Lin Ji maneuvered the starship, trying to carve a path through the sea of blue monsters. The starship was like a small boat in a turbulent sea, ready to capsize at any moment.

A ten-meter-tall blue octopus-like beast latched onto the starship’s tail. The ship shook violently as it was dragged back. Lin Ji increased power output, and everyone’s hearts were in their throats, fearing the ship would break apart.

Caron jumped into his mecha, firing wildly at the dark beast gripping the tail. Dark blood splattered, quickly corroding the shield. Lin Ji took advantage of the wounded beast’s retreat to push it back underground. The heavily injured beast released its grip, and the starship ascended again. Just as Lin Ji began to relax, a larger beast approached. The starship seemed trapped.

At that crucial moment, a high-energy particle beam swept through, vaporizing countless dark beasts instantly. Lin Ji looked up to see the Iris, using its high-energy particle cannon to clear a path.

A gentle guide’s voice echoed in their minds, “This is the Iris. You may choose to follow us and leave together.”

Lin Ji looked down, and the others received the message simultaneously. Han Rui’s eyes lit up, his mental tendrils extending, joyfully reaching out, “Su He, is that you? It’s Han Rui.”

“Han Rui!”

On the Iris, Su He was elated and was about to respond when Lu Li stopped him. “Don’t overuse your mental power,” he advised. “A guide’s mental power isn’t infinite. You need to use it wisely. Once depleted, it takes a long time to recover, and it’s an excruciating experience.”

Su He blinked and pouted at Lu Li. Lu Li paused, then relented, “You can try to anchor your mental tendrils to specific individuals to convey your message.”

Satisfied, Su He extended his mental tendrils, gently touching Han Rui, reassuring him that he was fine, and then quickly retracted them. While Han Rui’s presence was bright and warm in his perception, the others on the starship didn’t feel as pleasant. Su He just wanted to ease Han Rui’s worries, not contradict Lu Li. He agreed with conserving his strength; with dark beasts all around, he wanted to help by sensing more areas and saving more people.

The Iris moved steadily toward Sector 36’s ruins, with Lin Ji skillfully piloting the starship behind it, assisting the Iris in clearing dark beasts.

Lu Li remarked, “The starship pilot is quite skilled.”

Shen Shen agreed, “It feels like a military technique.”

While curious, neither of them investigated further. It’s an unspoken rule that guides and sentinels avoid using their abilities recklessly to protect themselves and the privacy of ordinary people.

Caron couldn’t understand the Iris’s route. He looked at Lin Ji, “Where are they heading if they’re not in a hurry to leave?”

Lin Ji was also unsure. Han Rui, hesitant, guessed, “Maybe to Sector 36’s ruins?” Under Caron and Lin Ji’s gaze, Han Rui’s voice faltered, “There are energy stones we hid there.”

Everyone was speechless.

Caron, instinctively believing Han Rui, exclaimed, “Are they insane? Risking their lives for money?”

Lin Ji’s usually indifferent expression showed a slight twitch. If they were under General Li Zhengdao, this behavior wouldn’t be surprising.

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Thingyan: 🤨 I think I might be mixing the military ranks of some side characters. Do you guys mind this? If not, I’ll just leave it at that. I personally don’t care about it, but I’ll do if you want me to ☺️