Ch.42- Yes, your highness
Lin Yan felt like she was trapped underwater.
Countless seaweeds wrapped around her legs, pulling her down and greedily dragging her deeper into the depths. Yet, this kind of sea felt warm and gentle despite drowning her.
It was comfortable but….
She’s about to suffocate to death!
Lin Yan struggled to wake up, and the moment her head struggled out of the quilt, she finally got a gulp of fresh air.
And then she understood her situation clearly.
A certain Sentinel was lying on top of her. The big red dress covered most of the bed and two muscled arms hugged her tightly while long chestnut-brown hair was spread out along the blankets. One side of the hair was still nice and neat but the other was utterly messed up due to her own actions.
Lin Yan: “….”
She didn’t mean to fall asleep!
Kristen always slept rather lightly and so when Lin Yan moved she woke up as well.
Lin Yan watched as those long eyelashes fluttered and those gray-blue eyes finally opened.
She tried to struggle out of Kristen’s arms but then suddenly realized her cision was still a little fuzzy.
Lin Yan rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the distant objects were still and only the outline of the objects were barely visible to her.
….is she nearsighted now?
For people living in the interstellar age, myopia has almost disappeared in the long river of history and many have no idea what being nearsighted even means.
With the widespread access of the star network and the birth of virtual reality, people could read and study without damage to their eyes. Unfortunately, Lin Yan was an expectation.
Due to her obsession with technology and computers, when she was on Planet Ta, she was diagnosed with myopia. Fortunately, the advanced medical technology allowed her to recover her perfect eyesight easily.
But this time, probably because she had overexerted herself over a long period of time, her vision was now blurry and she could not see things that were too far away from her.
Kristen stretched out an arm and pulled her close. Lin Yan leaned over with a smile, just about to take the opportunity to act spoiled, when she saw Kirstens’ serious expression.
The calluses on Krisntes’ hand seem to be even thicker and rougher than before, so when Kristen grasped Lin Yan’s wrist, it felt itchy.
“Your eyes….what happened?”
Lin Yan’s previous abnormal state could be explained away as being too tired, but her current appearance after waking up didn’t seem right.
Lin Yan tried to hide her ailment: “Eh? What did you say? What happened….isn’t everything just fine…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Kristen’s face suddenly became clear and there was a sudden pain on her lower lip. Ah, she bit her.
She hissed and slapped Kirsten gently, “What are you doing? It hurts…”
Kristen let go of her lips and licked the tooth marks she left behind: “This is your punishment for trying to hide things from me.”
Lin Yan felt a little upset right now. How could she have forgotten? Her brain was still a little drowsy from exhaustion and so did not think clearly just now. With Kristen right beside her, their spiritual connection was strong enough that the other could easily sense the ups and downs in her emotions. She can’t believe that her own body would sell her away so easily….
As soon as Kristen perceived her feelings of regret, she smiled threateningly, “Alright, let’s talk. Tell me, what’s going on?”
Lin Yan reached out and grabbed a strand of Kristen’s curly hair, twirling it nervously in her hand and then brushing it behind the other’s ear, “……excessive overuse of my eyes has caused me to become nearsighted.”
Kristen was a little confused, “Nearsighted?”
Lin Yan felt a little embarrassed to say she was nearsighted in those interstellar eras where such things were near extinct. She gritted her teeth and pressed her hands over the other party’s eyes, “Fine, I’ll admit it! I stared at the screen for too long these past few days and since I can’t use virtual reality, I ended up becoming nearsighted!”
She felt something trembling underneath her hands and realized it was the other person trying not to laugh.
She felt a bit wronged.
She took her hands back and turned her back huffily, “Hmph, if you want to laugh then just do it.”
A warm embrace quickly wrapped around her waist and a slightly hoarse voice sounded beside her ears, “Then what should we do?”
Lin Yan sullenly said, “What else is there to do?! Just lay me down in a medical pod for a little bit!”
A warm pair of hands touched her face and then coaxed her eyes closed. They slowly and gently massaged the areas around her eyes.
“In the future, you’re forbidden from doing something like this again.
“…..If I don’t do this, you’ll never get the real location of the Ant mercenary group.” Lin Yan was a little angry.
Kristen poked the little bird’s puffed cheeks, “If we can’t get it then we can’t get it.”
“?”
A trace of gentleness showed on Kristen’s beautiful face, “It’s not a big deal. We can just go through each of their bases one by one. We’ll find them eventually.”
Seeing that Lin Yan still wanted to argue, Kristen moved her fingers down and pinched Lin Yan’s lips closed, “I don’t want you to help me if it means you’re going to hurt yourself.”
Because you are the person I want to protect.
She did not say this last sentence but the sentiments were clearly conveyed to Lin Yan through their spiritual connection.
Lin Yan pursed her lips silently and then muttered quietly, “…do what you want.”
Kristen smiled.
Lin Yan seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and turned around with a determined expression, “This will be the last time anyways.”
“When you’re exterminating the Ants, if you want me to become nearsighted again, then you better clean them up!”
She kissed the person in front of her, “But remember, you must come back to me in one piece!”
Kristen took one of her hands, looked down and kissed the back of her fair lady’s hand: “Yes, Your Highness.”
Ants don’t like sunlight.
Therefore, the entire base was immersed in darkness.
Fortunately, as cyborgs, they had very good night vision which makes living in the dar a not so troublesome thing.
But, since most of their body has been replaced with metal machinery, the darkness made the feeling of not being human even worse.
It was really hateful.
Only when fighting a, when the feeling of flame burning in their blood, can remind them of the feeling of being alive.
One of the guards patrolling the area titled their head as they decided on taking another mission later.
Fortunately, the world is not as peaceful and beautiful as imagined. There were always missions to do.
He raised his hand and opened the lid of his watch. A picture of Duke Wilson appeared and he made a harsh mechanical sound in his throat as he reverently kissed the picture of Duke Wilson.
“Fortunately, you will always continue to create battles for us…so cute, so cute-”
“Hahahahaha-”
Before his laughter ceased, he heard the sound of a building crashing to the ground not too far away.
The Ant instantly grew angry, “What’s going on?!”
No one responded.
He furiously grabbed one of the nearby humans and slapped him mercilessly. Blood seeped out of the other man’s mouth, “I said, what’s going on?!!!”
The human shook his head and almost knelt on one knee, “I don’t know….I don’t know….”
The man suddenly screamed as if suddenly remembering something.
“An Iron man, a huge giant made of iron! Can’t beat him…can’t-must run!! Run!!!!”
The Ant let go of the other man and let the person fall to the ground. The man twisted and crawled forward like an earthworm, desperately trying to get away.
A sly smile appeared on the Ant’s face.
“An iron man?”
“A battle, a new battle is about to begin….”
“Hahahahah–”
The Strider landed lightly on the ground.
“Battlefield data has been loaded.”
“The Guide Alliance has sent a communication request.”
Kristen looked down at the ground which had just been relentlessly bombed by the missiles of the starship above. She calmly replied, “Put them through.”
“Connection successful.”
“The latest information has been received.”
Kristen steered the Strider towards the huge hole revealed by the bombing.
Like real ants, they built an ant colony below ground.
Her eyes flashed coldy and she was about to leap into this underground cavity when the Strider suddenly spoke, “Kristen.”
Hearing the A.I.’s voice, she stopped.
The Strider spoke a few concerned words that were unlike his usual poisonous barbs, “This is your first actual combat and although your opponent is not strong and no matter how many times you may defeat them, you must remember to never let your guard down. Do not take this lightly.”
Kristen felt a little moved, “I know.”
What Strider said was correct.
This was not the first time Kristen has battled against the Ants, and to her these Ants were not special. Just a little annoying because of their so-called immortality.
But….many have underestimated their enemy for lesser reasons.
Kristen took a deep breath and raised her guard to the highest level.
The Strider rose into the air and jumped into the hole.
The Ant stood quietly at the lowest part of the nest, watching the huge and beautiful mecha quickly fall from such a great height, yet land so lightly on the ground.
He opened his arms to welcome the mecha.
So beautiful.
If such a thing was destroyed, it would be an even more beautiful scene.
The Ant chuckled darkly.
As his laughter grew louder, his comrades in black gathered around him.
After Kristin confirmed that the assault troops of the Third Legion had entered the nest, her gaze fell back onto the Ants.
Although she has fought the Ants several times, Kristen still didn’t know what the intentions of this group are.
For example…Why was it that when facing such a dangerous weapon like the mecha, they still dared to rush forward blindly like this?
The Strider silently lifted an arm, the mussel on the arm popping out of the metal and then—
A high-energy laser beam shot out.
Even a cyborg whose body no longer felt pain would have no resistance towards such things. Their flesh was quickly scorched black and when their corpses fell, Kristen could hear their metal parts falling apart.
The entire battle was completely one-sided.
The laser swept across the group of Ants and whenever it hit an Ant, it instantly scorched their bodies and they melted like popsicles in the sun.
Yet the last remaining Ant seemed indifferent as he titled his head and revealed a signature smile.
Then, like that smile was a command, the broken metal limbs on the ground began to move again.
The metal parts moved towards the remaining And. The metal parts and remaining flesh came together like a frankenstein stitched together haphazardly and formed a large yet disgusting thing.
A harsh metal grinding sound rang out.
“Kristen…..long, time, no, see.”
Fluffy Translations 