Free Web NovelChapter 48: Racing Against Ren
The alphas from the Imperial Nexus carried their wounded comrades and started to move uphill.
They didn’t fully understand why Ren insisted they bring along such burdens. After all, 50 ashcredits might be a fortune in the eyes of a boy from a remote, poor village, but it was nothing for alphas from the capital. If not for Ren’s orders, they would never have carried such unrelated burdens in such a dangerous place for such a small amount of money.
Yet, after trailing him for only a short time, each alpha felt a strong respect for their new leader. They agreed to follow his plan without question, not daring to challenge his directives.
Ren wasn’t just physically powerful, but also an expert tactician and a trusted leader. Whenever they faced hordes of mutants, it was Ren’s cool-headed, pinpoint commands that let the entire team evade harm. This trait wasn’t something that could be picked up in the alpha academy’s training rooms. It was refined through countless treks into the Polluted Zone, and it was truly impressive.
Without Ren leading them, their survival rate in the Polluted Zone during "night" could have been as bad as the East Shore alphas. At the very least, they wouldn’t have come out unscathed as they did now.
The alphas moved quickly. Despite the rain and their injured friends, they quickly located a high spot where they could find shelter. It was a stone-built shack with three walls and a roof that stuck out. The rain couldn’t reach inside, and it offered a good view, making it an ideal hideaway.
They each sparked a fire inside the stone shack and began to dry their clothes and heat up some food and water around the flame. After a day of combat, they could finally take a moment to unwind. The alphas gathered around the fire, sharing quiet chats.
Ren kept to himself under the eaves, distanced from the warm fire. His tall silhouette leaned against the door in the rain, staring at the glimmering sea through the downpour.
Hanson brought him some food, inviting him to join the rest. Ren gratefully accepted the food, but waved his hand, deciding to stay by himself.
"You guys eat. I’ll keep an eye out."
With no other option, Hanson went back. In the rain, Ren’s shape looked incredibly lonely. His slim tactical suit highlighted his slender waist, and the outline of his shoulder blades slightly visible through his outfit. He sat outside in the dark without making a peep, as if he were merging with the night.
Lately, Hanson always thought that Ren seemed quite lonesome. He looked up to Ren and genuinely wanted to get to know him better. But since Ren came back, Hanson had noticeably sensed Ren’s detachment. It wasn’t just towards him, but towards everyone. He only kept up a surface-level politeness, as if he didn’t want anyone to get too close or to form any emotional ties.
The ground here was high, enabling them to clearly see the nearby coastline. The mutants, inactive in the "day", were waking up in the "night", emerging from the sea one by one. Their spectral bodies glowed faintly as they lined up and walked back to places they used to call ’home.’
From this high ground, the earth below seemed like a giant chessboard, with countless glowing ’chess’ flowing and converging towards the lit-up homeland.
In the middle, the light was the most intense, looking like a massive whirlpool.
Polluted Zone Five, having undergone numerous expansions over hundreds of years, had consumed vast swathes of land and life and now covered a huge area.
The outskirts were lined with buildings from a decade or two ago. Further in, the architectural style began to change, with old, solid structures mixed with futuristic neon lights in the very heart of the area.
These structures were remnants of a bygone interstellar era and had been homes to mutated creatures for centuries.
Kestrel, beginning to doze off by the fire, stood out in this group of alphas. Being the only Beta, she was like a lone sheep among a pack of wolves. She should have been nervous and scared, yet she slept soundly, as if she had completed some exhausting task. Her small, soft hand was supporting her chin, her head nodding slowly, ready to drop any moment.
Muros was busy taking care of Tegnell and Birdie, tending to the wounds of each severely injured comrade. He also boiled a pot of water over the fire, toasted some bread, and woke up Kestrel to eat.
Kestrel rubbed her eyes, woke up, and accepted the toasted bread from Muros. While eating, she checked on Birdie and the others.
Both Birdie and Tegnell were gravely injured. The strong physical constitution of the alphas was what kept them alive. If they could make it out and receive proper medical care in time, they would survive. However, if they remained here, their survival was uncertain.
"When can we leave?" Kestrel asked.
"We don’t have the ’key’," Muros replied, looking troubled, "The ’night’ in Polluted Zone Five lasts for 72 hours. It has just begun."
Entering the Polluted Zone was simple, but to leave, a specific ’key’ was needed to unlock the portal to exit.
In each Polluted Zone’s core, the strongest mutant known as the Backbone resided. Any part of the Backbone, whether it was its eyes, fingers, teeth, or hair, could be used as a ’key’ to unlock the portal. freewebnovel.cσ๓
During the day, the Backbone mostly slept. Stealthily taking a part of its body wouldn’t likely rouse it. The mutants have remarkable regenerative abilities; they would heal during their sleep and might not even realize that someone had taken the key. But at night, the Backbone would fully awaken. Attempting to steal a part of it then would be exceedingly risky.
If they had to wait until the night ended, it would take three entire days.
Kestrel glanced at Birdie’s unconscious face and knew they couldn’t wait that long.
"One of them went out to get the key earlier," Muros whispered in Kestrel’s ear, "Perhaps he can bring the key back."
Kestrel didn’t need to ask who had gone. The moment she woke up, her tendrils had been complaining about the big fish being missing again.
"Do you think he can get the key?" Kestrel asked Muros.
"I don’t know, it’s incredibly challenging." Muros pointed for Kestrel to see. "Over there, at the vortex’s center, where the light is brightest, that’s where the key is. It’s the most perilous place. Even the strongest may not be able to retrieve it."
By the campfire, two alphas from the Public Security Department were having a chat.
"I really can’t figure Ren out. Why does he need to get the key right now? Wouldn’t it be safer to wait three or four days?" The alpha who was speaking glanced at the several wounded individuals lying on the ground. "He surely can’t be doing it for these country folks, can he?"
His friend laughed, "Of course not. My guess is, he’s confident in his abilities and wants to report back to Mr. Chow as soon as he can."
"True, it’s hard to figure out what they’re thinking."
"It’s indeed strange this time. This is the first time I’ve heard of the night of the Polluted Zone arriving early."
"Exactly, who could have seen this coming? We lost Jax here, the night came early, and the mutants are scarier than expected. Weird things are happening everywhere. I mean, we even came across a beta in this forsaken place."
"Strange, where did that beta go?"
When Kestrel slipped away, Muros became flustered.
"What...what did you say you’re going to do?"
"I’m going to try and get the key."
"But an alpha has already gone for it."
"The more important the task, the more I should do it myself," Kestrel said calmly, "I can’t just put all my chance to survive on someone I barely know."
Muros was at a loss for words. He had stopped viewing betas as the weaker ones who needed protection from alphas. But Kestrel’s courage was breathtaking; she always amazed him with her bold moves, often frightening him, an alpha. For instance, she was actually going to try to get the key in the pitch dark.
"In...in that case, I’ll go too."
"You’re not ready yet. If you go, you’ll slow me down." Kestrel’s words significantly hurt the young boy’s pride.
Even the tendrils began to protest for Muros:
"Hey, that’s too much."
"That little seal is a very proud one!"
"He’s cute. Don’t hurt his feelings!"
"He’s still a child."
Kestrel could only imitate what Birdie had done, reluctantly patting the boy’s head. "In two or three years, if you work hard and become a proper alpha, we can collaborate then. But for now, you’re not ready. Besides, Birdie and the others need someone to take care of them."
Kestrel made Muros stay behind and descended from the high ground alone. Her first encounter was with the three identical woman with baskets buying eggs, the mutant that Tegnell had split into three parts. They saw her and immediately showed a fierce and angry face, preparing to attack.
Kestrel stopped and opened her eyes, calmly staring at the three mutants.
A light sparkled in her eyes, like the borrowed glow of the moon, clear and bright.
The three mutants froze under such a gaze. Their distorted expressions of anger eased, gradually turning into confusion.
"The eggs in the supermarket are on sale," they said to Kestrel, their voices unsure.
"Right, you should hurry," Kestrel replied.
The three women clapped their hands and walked away cheerfully.
"Yes, we should hurry."
The tendrils muttered:
"The plan worked."
"We can handle it."
"There’s little difference from manipulating humans."
"As long as there are emotions, it’s easy."
"They are mutants, but their thinking is just a bit different from humans."
Kestrel continued forward, reaching the heavily populated mutant district. Unlike an alpha, who would typically dodge by using the rooftops and walls for cover, she simply slowed her pace, cautiously advancing and getting closer to her destination.
The tendrils protected her, surging underground, linking with all creatures possessing thought and emotion, connecting to their mental worlds.
Kestrel’s mind was continually filled with bizarre scenes, chaotic circumstances, incoherent murmurs, a world filled with grotesque and distorted images.
These eerie visuals echoing in her mind, however, didn’t scare Kestrel.
Kestrel had never felt the emotion known as fear, possibly because she had always lived in a world filled with disorder and inexplicability.
Kestrel moved forward step by step, her breathing becoming more relaxed, her steps lighter.
The strange mutants saw her, some slightly puzzled, others indifferent, letting Kestrel pass them by as if she was one of them.
"My cat is missing, have you seen it?" a mutant as tall as a three-story building and looking like a child asked her.
"I haven’t seen it. I’ll go ahead and look for it," Kestrel replied.
The somewhat lucid mutant stared at her in confusion for a while before allowing her to pass.
As she moved forward, there were numerous peculiar incidents that needed handling. High concentration was necessary, and it was akin to walking a tightrope. Perhaps a moment of panic, a slip-up, and she would fall into the horde of monsters.
With Kestrel’s current capabilities, she was able to narrowly maneuver through the dense crowd of mutants. Such an experience gave Kestrel a sense of thrill.
Kestrel suddenly felt it was akin to her time in the Tower.
It felt the same way each time she escaped from the Tower. She would slowly weave her way through a group of humans she didn’t quite understand. To her, these people were not much different from the monsters.
She knew these people didn’t like her and thought of her as a weirdo. So, she didn’t quite like them either, just seeing them as common beings different from herself.
She loved to play tricks, making herself invisible to everyone, stealthily sneaking out into the outside world right in front of their eyes. Being unseen was fun but also somewhat lonely.
She had run away so many times, always returning on her own, never being discovered—except for that one time, when that young alpha descended from the sky, stirring up a whirlwind of snow.
"I found her," he had said.
"That alpha’s also here," Kestrel smiled, recalling that he found the key first and saved everyone last time. But this time, Kestrel thought, maybe she could compete with him to see who found the key first.
"This is getting interesting," Kestrel thought to herself.
