Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 261 The Living Warship

The figure vanished in a flash, but Li Yelai immediately became alert. That was definitely not an illusion!

"Did you see it?" Li Yelai asked quickly.

"Keep your voice down, what did you see?" Jing Lin asked, turning around, still wary of the newly dormant flesh-and-blood mutants.

"Is there someone up there? Or rather, a humanoid object, just now looking down at us from inside the bridge. It disappeared in the blink of an eye," Li Yelai said.

"I didn't notice. Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?" Jing Lin asked.

“No. Even if it’s a mistake, the object wouldn’t just disappear,” Li Yelai replied. “There must be something else that can move there. And it’s humanoid.”

“In this environment, it would be very difficult for humans to survive. Could it be a Returner or some other parasite?” Jing Lin looked up at the bridge above. “But it saw us, yet it didn’t attack.”

"It can be inferred that it is not affiliated with the Flesh Aberration Variant," Li Yelai analyzed. "It also doesn't want the Flesh Aberration Variant to discover it."

"That's good, at least it won't attack first," Jing Lin murmured.

The two set off again.

Jing Lin walked ahead, his left eye flashing as his 'Ultimate Insight' ability was activated. He would immediately detect any changes, from flying dust to slipping screws.

Li Yelai walked half a step behind him, so that he could provide immediate support should Jing Lin launch an attack.

However, as the two climbed higher, they saw signs of a fierce battle.

In a ship that had completely capsized and was pieced together with other vessels, the two men saw a large number of scattered shell casings, as well as the decomposed remains of more than a dozen flesh-and-blood mutants.

Those flesh-and-blood mutants were clearly dismembered; their remains had become skeletonized, and the flesh on them had completely disappeared.

He must have been dead for many years.

But Li Yelai and Jing Lin's expressions changed, because there were obvious signs of burning, gnawing and tearing on those skeletons.

Jing Lin squatted on the ground, looking at a thigh bone, and couldn't help but feel a chill.

There are obvious knife marks and teeth marks on this deformed and twisted femur!

“Old Li, these are human teeth marks,” Jing Lin said in a low voice.

“Looks like he really is a survivor,” Li Yelai grinned in response.

In this dangerous, sunless land, the survivors had no logistics or reinforcements, and naturally, no food source.

If they don't want to harm their companions, they have no choice but to eat the mutated flesh and blood of other creatures, even if they were once human or some other kind of being. In order to survive, they have to try their best to swallow this flesh.

"Can you estimate the time?" Li Yelai asked in a low voice.

Jing Lin remained silent for a few seconds before replying, "The tremor just now disturbed the dust here. I'm not sure if my judgment is correct, thirty years!"

The border fleet lost contact forty-three years ago, and the landmines and footprints from that time also dated back about forty years. Now, however, there are traces dating back thirty years.
Did the survivors endure ten years in this hellish place?

How did they manage to persevere?
Are they still persisting?
Thinking of this, the two fell silent for a moment, and then immediately moved closer to the main force.

Although the chances were slim, they still hoped to find the soldiers of the former Frontier Fleet.

However, the two were stunned as they passed through a crew cabin.

In the crew quarters, two skeletonized corpses lay.

They were dressed in border town combat uniforms and held clearly modified firearms, huddled together in a corner of the room.

Their heads were severed by themselves, and the severed heads fell onto their own bodies.

They were soldiers from the border fleet; far from home, they ultimately died here.
Li Yelai stared at the two corpses in silence.

Jing Lin examined the wound and whispered, "It's a chainsaw cut. Judging from the posture, one of them placed the chainsaw on the necks of the two men and then activated it, severing their heads. Perhaps they won't become flesh-and-blood mutants after their heads are severed. This was their last stand."

"They didn't want to become monsters even in death! No wonder they're warriors from your border city!"

"It's tough on them. If someone could arrange their funeral, they wouldn't have to go through all this trouble," Li Yelai sighed, feeling deeply distressed.

He suddenly remembered the illusions he had seen during his five senses.

Why are creatures from the forbidden zone allowed to return time and time again?

But humanity has to pay the price with the lives of countless heroes!

This is unfair! It's so unfair!

Humanity also desires immortality and eternal life!
All things decay, but all living beings endure!
'Alas, all living beings are immortal,' Li Yelai murmured to himself.

The two then passed through the cabin and saw more corpses of the flesh-and-blood mutants.

Instead of human corpses, we saw steel footprints.

Those must be the footprints of the border guards.
"There are drag marks on the ground; the bodies of human soldiers have been dragged away." Jing Lin's gaze swept across the battlefield as he replied, "There were at least twenty human soldiers here."

The battle here was extremely fierce, with hundreds of flesh-and-blood mutants besieging the Iron Guards and human soldiers.

Human soldiers suppressed the monsters with firepower, but eventually ran out of ammunition.

The soldiers grabbed entrenching tools or wielded knives and sabers, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the flesh-and-blood mutants!
However, once the suppression of firearms was removed, the flesh aberrations, equipped with psionic barriers, clearly gained the upper hand.

Human warriors paid a heavy price to eliminate these mutants.

“Taking away the human soldiers’ corpses might be to prevent them from being turned into flesh-and-blood mutants,” Jing Lin said. “Or perhaps the Iron Guards took them away.”

"How long can Iron Guard live?" Li Yelai asked.

Before becoming a psionicist, Li Yelai knew that the Border Guards were legendary and powerful beings!
They were incredibly powerful and long-lived, and before the psychics were exposed, they were considered invincible by the people of the giant city.

When the great city was founded, it sheltered humanity from danger and fought against warlords in the wilderness.

It only faded from public view after all dangers had been eradicated. It was a true legend.

In reality, the border guards are all non-psychic soldiers who have undergone various biological modifications.

After the modification, they could no longer become psionicists, but their physical bodies became stronger and could be perfectly adapted to heavy power armor.

That technology came from a forbidden civilization. After conquering the calamity fog that failed to become a forbidden zone, the ancient humans passed this technology on to other human mega-cities, greatly enhancing their combat strength.

Each of the Iron Guards in the megacity actually has its own distinct characteristics and titles.

Known as the Border Guards in the border city, their power armor is even thicker.

In the Great City of Yaoqing, they are known as Snow Riders, and their power armor is equipped with heat insulation devices.

“Your border guards and our snow cavalry underwent the same modifications, so theoretically they should have a lifespan of two hundred years,” Jing Lin replied. “You’re speculating that some guards are still alive? That’s hard to believe. Even guards need regular maintenance. In this environment, it’s difficult for them to even survive.”

“At least it’s hope,” Li Yelai responded. “We didn’t see the Iron Guards’ bodies, which means anything is possible.”

The two then continued on their way.

They finally approached the destroyer, but its structure was relatively well-preserved, and the two couldn't find an entrance. Not wanting to destroy the ship, they climbed onto the deck and entered through an open missile silo.

Upon entering the missile silo, the two did not find the flesh-and-blood mutants, but instead saw more than a dozen enormous missiles. They were arranged in groups of four inside the silo.

"Is this the one with a top speed of Mach 10?" Li Yelai asked.

"That's probably true." Jing Lin sighed, "If it weren't for the technological gap, the restricted area's army would be bombed as soon as they stepped out! That's ten times the speed of sound! Of course, I've also heard of cases where missiles were jammed by the restricted area and turned back to attack giant cities."

"Don't worry, the three forbidden zones in the border city are all barbarians, they don't have that ability." Li Yelai said, mocking the three forbidden zones of the border city.

Some restricted areas have advanced technology beyond the limits. The prosthetic bodies, iron guards, and power armor of the giant city all originated from certain restricted areas or disaster fog.

However, many forbidden civilizations follow a psionic path, and their technological level is far inferior to that of humans.

There's not much to say about the Doomsday Forest; it mass-produces extraordinary creatures, and apart from the core area, there's no civilization to speak of.

Neither Black Origin City nor Heavenly Realm follow the technological route.

Although they possess unique technology, they are not yet capable of overwhelming humanity.

The two then walked out of the missile silo and, after forcefully opening a sturdy metal protective door, entered the ship's interior.

They both felt a chill, and their breaths produced noticeable white mist, indicating that the temperature inside the cabin was extremely low. Even with the spiritual energy barrier, Li Yelai still felt a cold.

At the same time, the instruments carried by the two men also emitted a low alarm.

'Warning, oxygen shortage...'

The two immediately turned off the warning lights to avoid attracting nearby flesh-evolving mutants. They then promptly removed or pulled up their faceplates and put on oxygen masks.

"How could this happen?" Li Yelai and Jing Lin frowned.

How could there be an extremely low temperature environment inside a completely silent warship? Moreover, the oxygen content in the air was frighteningly low.

Without oxygen masks, an ordinary person would die very quickly in such a space.

Of course, it's not easy for psionicists either. At least at their current level, although they can move around for extended periods without oxygen, they still need to breathe.

"Is the warship still operational?" Li Yelai asked.

"How many years has it been? This destroyer isn't even nuclear-powered." Jing Lin shook his head.

The two were somewhat puzzled, but they continued on their way anyway.

However, the two had only turned on their handheld spotlights and taken a few steps when a dull thud came from behind them.

The protective door that the two people had pulled open together actually closed?
"Damn it." Jing Lin cursed under his breath, preparing to step forward and pull open the protective door again.

Li Yelai stopped him, saying, "Alright, it's because someone doesn't want us to destroy this low-temperature, oxygen-free environment."

As he spoke, Li Yelai's searchlight swept towards a room to the side.

Jing Lin took a closer look and his expression changed.

Inside the room lay the corpses of more than a dozen human soldiers, all bearing horrific, fatal wounds.

At this moment, he lay peacefully in the room, having fallen into an endless, eternal sleep.

The low temperature and oxygen-free environment prevented their bodies from decomposing. At least not yet.
Someone wants to protect the bodies of these warriors from being desecrated by any force!

"Good heavens." Jing Lin picked up a handheld searchlight and quickly scanned the various rooms of the ship.

Soldiers from a sleeping warship, weapons in hand; border guards clad in tattered power armor; border city administrators in black trench coats.
Almost every room was filled with corpses; the low temperature and lack of oxygen had kept them asleep on their warships.

They once roared their fury at humanity's enemies from their warships, and now they stand guard on their ships as always.
as always
"Someone...someone is still alive?" Jing Lin looked at Li Yelai, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Even though more than forty years have passed, someone arranged everything and preserved the soldiers' bodies.

And those who did all this are still alive!

"I don't know, everything will only be revealed when we get to the bridge!" Li Yelai replied.

The two immediately crossed the overturned corridor and passed through the rooms where the dead were stationed.

The corridor contained frozen blood vessels and eternally sleeping warriors, but not a single flesh-and-blood mutant.

This allowed the two to quickly pass through the corridor and arrive at the huge metal door.

The two of them pushed open the door together and arrived at the bridge.

The bridge had clearly been modified; thick steel plates had sealed off the bridge windows, and the only intact window was where Li Yelai had seen the figure.

Meanwhile, the bridge also bears horrific signs of battle, with traces of molten metal bombs and machine gun fire. There are also numerous signs of psionic combat.

But the bridge was empty, and the two could not hear a second heartbeat or breath from each other.

"There's still oxygen here, and the temperature isn't low," Jing Lin replied, removing his oxygen mask. "Are they hiding from us?"

"At least for now, they don't plan to see us."

Li Yelai then headed towards the control panel, which had been destroyed in the battle.

But on one of the control panels, a military knife was stuck in the ground, and a nautical logbook was pinned to it.

Li Yelai took off his military knife and picked up the nautical logbook.

The first half of the log was torn out, so the first page Li Yelai saw was the log.

'June 3rd, Year 28 of the Giant City Calendar. A distress signal was received at Border One. The entire fleet set sail from port to pursue the signal. We have crossed the Treasure Island Strait, obtained supplies, and will save our fellow human beings!'

'On June 10th, we encountered extraordinary marine creatures—a resounding victory!'

'On June 15th, we discovered a suspected forbidden zone, which we named the Great Vortex. We were captured by the vortex and are unable to escape. We have also lost contact with the psionicists.'

'July 1st, in uncharted waters, we encountered the merfolk, beings from the forbidden zone of the Great Whirlpool—a great victory!'

'On July 8th, the fleet psionicists seemed to hear the sound of a warship. How could a warship make a sound? She might have been corrupted.'

'On July 9th, the supply ship behind us lost contact. Even though no battle had broken out, we couldn't find them.'

'On August 2nd, the warship began to turn autonomously! The psionicists carefully checked all positions but found nothing amiss. Perhaps... it really is alive.'

'On September 7th, a warship rioted; some warriors, corrupted by chaos, seized the ship and attacked us. We retaliated and sank them. No survivors were found.'

'On September 23rd, the warriors of three more warships were corrupted by Chaos, and we sank them.'

"On September 30th, we spotted a continent—a steel continent composed of countless ships! We even saw an aircraft carrier! We didn't approach; we prepared to send a team to investigate."

'On October 5th, our warship began its autonomous, full-speed retreat. It had truly come back to life, but we couldn't escape. Chaos cultists had appeared inside the warship; they seized control and rammed into the continent!'

(End of this chapter)