The Heartthrob Guide: Dodder of S-Class Sentinels

Chapter 202 Rescue
The train, already heading into the abyss, continues its bumpy journey.

There was clearly no one alive left in the control room.

On the old control panel, bloodstains were everywhere. The indicator lights flickered in the bloody light, and intermittent sounds came from inside.

[What's going on, Granvis... Where did you go?]

[What's going on? Report immediately!]

[Notification received... *sizzle*... Notification received, there is a guide on the train... *sizzle*—prioritize their protection...]

[Granvis, received... Please respond, please reply upon receipt—]

In the darkness, someone's hand, no one knows whose, completely severed the signal...

The train emitted a dying whistle, and people heard the "crack" of gears breaking, as if the membrane separating the whole world had been torn open, and they had fallen into a sea of ​​blood-red spores.

Outside the car, red flowers burned like flames, each petal oozing viscous spores that hissed and smoked as they corroded the surface.

The protective shield was scalded with holes. Apart from the five VIP compartments, the other ordinary carriages were all in imminent danger. Terrifying screams erupted from these carriages one after another, mixed with the hissing of melting metal, shattering into sharp needles in the bloody mist.

"Aaaaaah, I'm going crazy!"

"Waaaaah, I don't want to die... I want to go home!!"

"How unlucky! I told you we shouldn't have come, but you insisted on saying we could make money over there! Now look what's happened, we're all doomed!"

"Where are the sentries? Why aren't they out killing the monsters?!"

"Wouldn't it be enough to just kill that monster?"

"..."

When fear seeps into the nerve endings, the human defenses of reason crumble at a visible speed.

The people in the carriage huddled between their seats, trembling. Their despair, with nowhere to escape, made them stare at the spreading corrosion marks on the protective shield, like camels waiting for the last straw to break the camel's back.

Everyone understands that the moment the shield's energy runs out, this last refuge will lose all its functions.

Under the skin of humans infected by spores, bluish-black vesicles swell up. The moment they rupture, they spray out a viscous fluid containing psychotoxins, which makes a corrosive "sizzling" sound when it touches the protective shield.

But they seemed to have lost all feeling of pain. As if on someone's command, they surged toward the crowd again and again, only to be hacked to pieces and fall to the ground by the sentries.

But they don't really die. In the shattered pieces of flesh, spores wriggle like red nematodes, crawling along the cracks in the metal floor toward the crowd. Once they touch the bare skin, they quickly take root. Before the remains of the previous mutant have even cooled, the next parasitized human has already twisted and stood up, emitting a muffled hiss from his throat, repeating the same attack trajectory, like a never-ending cycle of death.

Several sentries formed a human wall between humans and monsters, protecting the trembling crowd behind them as they retreated step by step toward the front of the vehicle.

"No, I can't hold on any longer..."

One of the sentinels had exhausted his mental energy, and when his spiritual body was devoured by the alien horde, he also lost all his vitality.

"Captain, I'm going now... Long live humanity—" After saying this, the sentry raised his gun and fired the last bullet into his brain...

Rather than becoming monsters, more Sentinels choose to commit suicide. Compared to ordinary people who are infected and turned into mutants, the consequences of a Sentinel becoming mutant are unimaginable.

The sentry captain silently closed his eyes, offering no objection to his comrade's choice.

But the expected gunshots did not ring out—

The whole world suddenly seemed to have been muted, and all the distractions that were giving them splitting headaches disappeared in an instant.

A cool breeze, carrying a faint woody scent, blew in from somewhere, like a mother's hand stroking a burning forehead, smoothing out the nerves gnawed by tension and fear.

Don't be afraid.

It's alright.

I'll help you...

A gentle and calming voice echoed in their minds, taking away all their negative emotions.

Wizard?!
The sentries' pupils constricted, their sabers nearly falling to the ground, and a guess they themselves could hardly believe flashed through their minds.

Is there a guide here?!
What's going on? Why is there a guide on the bus? They didn't receive any notification.

Aren't guides usually transported by airships arranged by the central government? Why are they traveling on such a rudimentary green train?

Moreover—from the moment they set off until now, they haven't sensed a single person, not even a guide...

The sentries' Adam's apples bobbed violently, and cold sweat beaded on the hilts of their sabers.

The sentry, who had been prepared to die, put away his gun. Several shadowy figures, of unknown origin, swept across the area like giant pythons, rushing straight toward the horde of monsters approaching from the front.

One of them brought back the sentry's spiritual body.

"Awoo!" The dying husky spirit let out a weak cry, then hid in its owner's mental image.

"Hal, go to the rear and command the masses," the sentry captain ordered.

"Yes!" The sentry named Hal retreated to the rear, opened the door of the nearest carriage, and guided the people to hide there.

When the guide shielded them from most of the mental distractions in the environment, the sentries felt several times lighter.

They picked up their weapons again, like tireless fighting weapons, and slayed the monsters.

Then they discovered something even more amazing: the infection rate of the spores had significantly decreased.

Giant shadows in the darkness wove into a vast net before them, resisting the continued attack of the crimson spores. Upon seeing these giant shadows, the spores, like vampires exposed to light, hissed and receded.

Some were too slow and were swallowed whole by something on that net!

In this way, the carriage, which was originally densely covered with spores, was instantly cleaned up.

[Retreat, take the rest of you to the VIP room.]

In my mind, the voice gave another command.

The sentries looked at each other, unable to make up their minds for a moment.

"Act according to her instructions," the sentry captain said in a deep voice, sheathing his weapon.

There were only a dozen or so people left alive in the regular carriages, but the VIP compartments could accommodate them.

Now, instead of scattering people, it would be easier for them to gather them together and protect them closely.

With that in mind, everyone set off for the VIP room, but to their surprise, the door to the VIP room was locked tight.

"People inside, open the door! We're police officers; we need to bring the rest of you into the carriage for refuge!"

Hal shouted as he pounded on the VIP carriage door.

"Who would believe you? What if someone gets mutated?!" the person inside, bracing against the car door, replied.

Hal was almost out of breath, but he still patiently explained, "The rest of the people are not infected, open the door quickly!"

"If you don't open it, you can stay outside. If the aliens come, you can protect us!"

"That's it!"

"We spent so much money to buy the VIP carriage, why should we let you in?"

"..."

The people in the carriage started complaining one after another. The alien species had retreated in a short time, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.

So a group of people blocked the passageway and started arguing about whether or not to open the door for the survivors.

Humans are truly contradictory creatures. They can cower like mice under the sharp teeth of monsters, yet also crush their heels into the palms of their fellow human beings pleading for help.

When survival becomes a gamble, some sacrifice themselves to become beacons of light for humanity, while others use selfishness as soil and harm as dew, cultivating thorny flowers in the ruins of humanity.

(End of this chapter)