Dominion's End

V3C2: The Sudden Attack

Dominion's End Volume 3: Ice-Bound Splendor and Majesty

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 2: The Sudden Attack—translated by Elkin 

After that, Chen Yanqing stopped coming by. But I didn't mind this at all. I had already gotten inside, so I had no further use for that guy. Who cares about him? Hehe, abandoning people after using them, I've finally corrupted my Mother Teresa complex!

While I sat at the entrance of the tent, I gazed up at the guard tower, appearing as lost as the nearby crowds. But in reality, I was scrutinizing the defense around the base of the tower. The guards stationed there seemed a bit like overkill. Although at first glance it looked like they only had one or two squadrons extra compared to other places, I had spotted hidden alcoves in quite a number of places.

I asked with worry, "Dàgē, there's such heavy security around that tower. Are you really sure you'd have been able to leave a clue there?"

Jiang Xiaotian frowned, thought for a little, then replied, "Xiao Sha can. He is very good at subterfuge, so he should be able to avoid notice. But for your safety's sake, he really should have picked somewhere else. Hm, it's hard to say."

"Then that's fine." I said with a nod, "Dàgē knows my capabilities. He'll definitely leave a message there."

Jiang Xiaotian frowned as he nodded and remarked, "But the security here is too strong. Something feels off."

I felt the same way. Luo'an City was a secondary city. In my previous life, Guan Weijun had also been to a refugee camp that had been at a similar scale to this. Back then, things were much worse. Bodies piled up in just a fight for resources, and after many rounds of snatching and stealing, the aberrants would round it off by gathering into a herd and put a final end to the humans' internal massacres.

"Maybe there's someone important here," I hypothesized.

Jiang Xiaotian pondered for a while, then suddenly climbed around to my back and pulled something out of my backpack. Then, he stuffed it under my clothes down my chest.

I looked down, to see a little sapling curled up against my chest and shivering almost imperceptibly, its leaves on the verge of being shaken off. It looked pretty pitiful...

"It's not much use at the moment, but it can help take a few bullets." After his cruel declaration, Jiang Xiaotian grabbed onto Jiang Xiaorong's branch and said coldly, "Stay there obediently. If you dare to escape, I'll make you wish you had never lived!"

Jiang Xiaotian keeps giving me the feeling that he likes making life hard for Xiaorong, but why? It's just a tree.

"Dàgē, didn't you say that the plants right now don't understand human speech?"

He nodded as he replied, "They don't, but they have very powerful instincts and can sense threats. If I scare him and you take care of him, he'll grow loyal to you."

Good cop, bad cop? Man, we have to use psychological tactics even on a tree nowadays.

I lightly patted Jiang Xiaorong. He looked pitiful, quivering to that extent. It was great that I was the good cop, so I quickly comforted it to ease the discomfort in my heart from seeing it being so pitiful.

I don't know if it was a result of my comforting or Dàgē's threats, but Jiang Xiaorong sprawled flat against my chest, and his thin branches reached around my chest to the back, almost like he was hugging me and would never let go.

"Is Xiaorong really ok without any soil?" I was a bit worried.

"He doesn't need much soil." Jiang Xiaotian advised, "Create a layer of ice against your chest. Then, you can put some soil there."