The Heartthrob Guide: Dodder of S-Class Sentinels

Chapter 256 Sources of Pollution
The desperate cries of her parents echoed repeatedly in her mind. The sound pierced through the barrier of time, carrying the dampness and despair of the night, striking her eardrums again and again, causing her consciousness to throb with pain.

She felt as if she had returned to that chaotic morning, when her mother was lying by her hospital bed, her cries as hoarse as a piece of iron being sanded.

Her father stood to the side, his back to her, but his shoulders trembled violently. His usually steady breathing turned into suppressed sobs, each sound like a heavy hammer blow to her heart.

As for that person—

Lin Nan closed her eyes, feeling a pang of sadness, unwilling to look any longer.

"You're the one who killed Nan Nan!"

"You beast, why did you force her!"

Why don't you go and die!

"..."

The girl hugged her, and she saw a scene she had never seen before five hundred years ago.

Compared to the dead, those who are alive actually suffer more.

This is also the crux of the problem that Lin Nan has been unable to let go of since waking up.

"You've always existed in my subconscious, but what exactly are you?"

She asked in a low voice, the figure in front of her that looked exactly like herself was both familiar and strange, like a fog between reality and illusion, making it impossible for her to see its true nature.

She had felt more than once that there was another consciousness within her body, which was probably herself.

“I am you, created by that person using an intelligent system. I have existed since you can remember.” The girl’s voice was calm and even, but it was like a stone thrown into Lin Nan’s heart, stirring up a thousand waves. “That person used you as a model, recorded all your data from childhood to adulthood, and that’s how I came to be.”

"...So that's how it is. You're the 'dream' that Lin Nian has been talking about?"

“That’s how it was at first,” the girl said, lowering her eyelashes. “But gradually, it seems like I’ve become unimportant too.”

She gently lifted Lin Nan's chin, her fingertips icy cold, forcing her to look into her eyes. Those eyes, exactly like Lin Nan's, were now filled with unfathomable emotions.

"As for why, I think you should be very clear about it: the 'observer' falls in love with the 'observed,' and once subjective feelings are involved, all fair and neutral data will be distorted."

“After you died, he was in great pain, depressed, and desperate. He poured all his morbid emotions onto me. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late to turn back.”

"I... was originally created as part of a human gene improvement project, but I ended up becoming a terrifying entity similar to a virus. Humans affected by me have their genes forcibly activated with unknown sequences, causing their bodies to undergo drastic changes in a short period of time. Some people are powerless to resist and are devoured by these changes, while others gain amazing abilities in this evolution."

"Later, those who were devoured became what is known as the 'Aliens,' and those who gained power became 'Sentinels.' The Sentinels constantly struggled between 'humans' and 'Aliens,' and in order to stabilize their power, 'Guides' were born."

From beginning to end, all the energy originated from that program from back then.

This is why Lin Nan's spiritual power is so strong; even at the lowest level of E, he has the ability to make high-ranking Sentinels submit.

"Have you existed within this spiritual entity for the past five hundred years?" Lin Nan asked. "Rather than existing, it's more like being suppressed." The girl tapped her finger lightly, and the large tree behind her suddenly emitted a deep hum. Thick roots surged from the soil, wrapping around her body like living things, binding her even more tightly.

The once dormant golden runes on the tree trunk now seemed to be infused with life, their gilded light flowing between the lines, forming complex barriers.

"After the massive pollution outbreak, he was the first human to be severely polluted. Perhaps his remaining rationality allowed him to write an anti-pollution program before he completely became a monster, sealing all my out-of-control core consciousness in a container, which ultimately suppressed the pollution."

"Those who knew about this back then are all dead. Only I and this vessel survived. We are relegated to the spiritual world of generations, never to see the light of day again, until five hundred years later, when we meet you again..."

"Did the contamination levels I absorbed for those sentinels end up in your hands?"

“That’s right. Whether it’s pollution levels or human mental energy, it’s all the same to me. You can call them my ‘food,’ but there’s a difference between ‘delicious’ and ‘unpalatable.’ It’s precisely because I’ve ingested enough energy that I can stand here and talk to you now.”

"So what are you planning to do by trapping me here? To take over my body and continue to pollute this world?" Lin Nan felt a chill run down her spine.

The girl suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with mockery and helplessness: "My existence was never meant to be this way. I was created by him, all my actions are influenced by his consciousness. Don't you know what his true desire is...?"

She took a step forward, her figure slightly transparent in the glow of the gilded runes, her tone carrying a melancholy that seemed to transcend time: "All he ever wanted was you. It was this obsession that made him lose his mind... Only by freeing him can I truly disappear from this world, otherwise I will always be a threat."

"But what good will that do? Five hundred years have passed, he's long gone..."

"You're so oblivious—" The girl's expression became extremely subtle. "Didn't you notice? His consciousness has been with you the whole time, from the very first day you appeared here."

……

A hoarse roar echoed from the vast abyss of a hundred insects.

It surged upwards from the darkness at the bottom of the abyss, crashing against the steep rock walls, creating echoes that seemed to vibrate even in the air.

The barrier protecting Granville shattered, and thick black mist swept in, instantly engulfing the edge defense towers. The sizzling of melting metal and the explosions of energy overload mingled together, plunging this once peaceful safe zone into chaos.

Looking from a distance, it's impossible to distinguish between the solid city walls and the illusory shadows conjured by the black mist.

Countless bizarre monsters burst forth from the black mist. Some had multiple pairs of compound eyes, some had limbs twisted like insects, and some had bodies that had turned into translucent gel, corroding the ground with swirling, white-smoking ravines wherever they went. Even more extreme were those that retained human outlines but had several mouths filled with fangs split off from their necks, roaring as they charged toward the sentries guarding the edge.

"These beasts erupted even faster than expected."

Hearing the commotion not far away, Lauen stood atop the tower and spoke coldly.

"Colonel, what should we do next?" the assistant behind him asked.

"How to do it? Of course, it's when the test is successful—" Laun adjusted his military cap, and the moment he looked up again, a red light was already surging in his golden eyes.

"Give the order: gather all the city's forces and capture high-level alien species and king beasts! Capture them all alive, and kill the rest of the trash without mercy!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)