Chapter 36: Ding Hua

Ying Li drove his motorcycle onward through the wilderness. He not only had to use his mental power to steady his bike but also had to clear the path ahead, keeping him constantly occupied.

But his mood was good, and he looked forward to his upcoming visit to the Ruins City.

No, he shouldn’t call it the Ruins City. The Ruins City inhabited by those Sentinels was called “Freedom City” by the Sentinels living there.

Freedom City’s ruler—that female Sentinel—was named Ding Hua.

Ying Li had heard many things about Ding Hua across both lifetimes but had never met her.

Not long after advancing to B-Rank in his previous life, he’d joined the Yu Family hunting teams. And for safety’s sake, the Yu Family hunting teams never went near Freedom City.

Gazing toward Freedom City, Ying Li felt a stir of curiosity.

He wondered what Ding Hua—worshipped by so many Sentinels in Starlight City—was really like.

Ying Li’s motorcycle had an excellent load capacity, but carrying heavy cargo consumed more energy.

Nearing Freedom City, Ying Li stopped the bike and changed its energy source.

His bike used D-Rank Crystal Cores for power, and he had some on him.

While changing the energy source, Ying Li didn’t need to maintain the constant mental vigilance required while riding. He took the chance to survey his surroundings.

And discovered that within his detection range, a Sentinel was sprinting madly toward Freedom City.

That must be one of Freedom City’s perimeter guards. Had they spotted him?

Just as the thought formed, he watched the distant figure blow a whistle.

A piercing sound, one that grated horribly on Sentinel ears, tore rapidly through the air. Ying Li had to resist the urge to shut off his hearing.

He suspected that whistle was meant for him.

Given the situation, were they going to send people to capture him?

But now that he was an A-Rank Sentinel, there was nothing much to fear.

Ying Li started his motorcycle again and continued forward. When he was only a few kilometers from Freedom City, seven or eight motorcycles encircled him. At the same time, a powerful mental force shrouded him.

That mental force was not one whit weaker than his own. Like him, it stood just a step away from S-Rank.

But this mental force was far more violent than his—packed with killing intent.

Facing such mental power was like facing a savage A-Rank Mutant Beast, one that had already opened its bloody maw.

Ying Li’s Sentinel instincts evaluated the combat strength of both sides and reached a conclusion—he could flee, but he couldn’t win.

If they fought to the death, both would be severely wounded.

Without a doubt, this mental force belonged to Ding Hua.

Ying Li raised his head and saw a short-haired woman in an old combat suit emerge from behind the motorcycle convoy.

Who else could it be but Ding Hua?

Her combat suit was worn but was one of the top-tier suits sold by Starlight City, made from the hide of some A-Rank Mutant Beast.

Her eyes were sharp as she asked, “Who are you? What business do you have in Freedom City?”

Ying Li wore Starlight City’s most cost-effective combat suit—favored by countless C-Rank and B-Rank Sentinels. He rode Starlight City’s most common motorcycle model and wore a visor over his face.

He had also disguised his mental signature and sprayed himself with a scent masker to confound Sentinel olfactory senses.

He dared guarantee: even if someone here had met him before, they wouldn’t recognize him now.

Ying Li used his mental power to constrict his throat muscles, producing a deep voice utterly unlike his own. “Don’t be nervous. I’m not your enemy. I came here to tell you something.”

Ding Hua had come in a hurry after hearing a subordinate blow the alarm whistle.

From a great distance, she had sensed the extraordinary nature of the Mutant Beast meat loaded on this person’s motorcycle.

Those bones and flesh belonged to an A-Rank Mutant Beast!

Now, seeing that the person before her was completely unaffected by her mental pressure—meaning his strength rivaled her own—the wariness in Ding Hua’s eyes grew sharper. “What matter?”

Ying Li smiled. “Freedom City has moles from Starlight City. Interested in a list of names?”

Ding Hua spoke. “Tell me.”

Ying Li didn’t hesitate. He rattled off several names.

When he spoke one particular name, someone among those surrounding him showed briefly unstable mental energy.

Ying Li looked at that person and smiled. “You’re a member of the Shen Family. You came to Freedom City to conduct Human Experimentation on the Sentinels here.”

The Shen Family had researched many drugs, including several to treat Sentinel Mental Sea Berserk episodes.

From time to time, they even developed new medicines.

Drugs with minor side effects could be tested by recruiting Sentinels in Starlight City. But those with significant side effects? Not so easy to find test subjects for in Starlight.

Besides, recruiting test subjects in Starlight cost the Shen Family money. In Freedom City? They could actually make money.

To Ying Li’s knowledge, one reason for Ding Hua’s premature death was that she had consumed Shen Family drugs sold in Freedom City—drugs that hadn’t undergone proper safety testing.

The Sentinel whose name Ying Li had spoken had barely managed to keep his composure before. Now, he could no longer hold it together. Every muscle tensed. Instinct screamed at him to flee.

But he couldn’t escape.

Ding Hua’s mental force was no longer aimed at Ying Li but at him, crashing down like an avalanche…

Half an hour later, Ying Li followed Ding Hua into Freedom City.

This Ruins City was far smaller than Starlight City and had only two underground levels.

The upper level housed its inhabitants. The lower level held the various machinery that kept the city running.

However, most of the equipment had long since ground to a halt.

And the habitable level looked incredibly decrepit.

It was damp and dark, permeated with Corrosive Energy and covered in fungi of every color.

A truly wretched environment.

Just as Ying Li was thinking this, the scene before him suddenly changed.

Inside Freedom City, a large area had been cleaned meticulously. Several shops were even open here, selling food and water.

It was… orderly.

Freedom City didn’t bar outside Sentinels from entering. The reason Ying Li’s approach had drawn Ding Hua out personally was mainly his alarming entrance.

Now, Ding Hua still didn’t trust him. She had business to attend to and left a subordinate to keep an eye on Ying Li.

Ying Li didn’t mind.

He retrieved the nutrient paste and water he’d brought with him when leaving camp that morning, then spoke to the surrounding Sentinels. “I’m paying in nutrient paste. Hiring a few people to help me with some work. Anyone interested?”

He was immediately mobbed.

Most of the ones who crowded around were lower-rank Sentinels. Among them, Ying Li spotted a C-Rank Sentinel he’d encountered before in the Upper City District.

This one must have come here because his Mental Sea was on the verge of collapse.

Hiring people with nearly collapsed Mental Seas for labor was dangerous, but Ying Li could suppress them if needed. So he didn’t mind.

He led the group outside Freedom City and set them to work rendering the Mutated Pig’s fat into lard, drying a portion of the lean meat into meat jerky, and setting aside the remaining fresh cuts.

The Mutated Pig’s bones, scales, tusks, and other such materials—he had those processed as well, then sold them to the people of Freedom City.

The bones and scales of the Mutated Pig could be used to craft weapons. The people of Freedom City had use for such things.

The people here didn’t lack crystal cores and even used them directly as currency. Selling A-Rank Mutant Beast bones and scales here would absolutely not result in a loss.

Ying Li busied himself with all this. The subordinate Ding Hua had assigned to watch him was perplexed. “Why are you having them process this meat? It’s not edible!”

“Humans can’t eat it, but Mutant Beasts can,” Ying Li fobbed him off casually.

The man stared at Ying Li in shock. “You raise Mutant Beasts?”

Ying Li said no more.

But the man took his silence as confirmation. “How do you raise them? Do the Mutant Beasts you raise obey you?”

Ying Li still said nothing. The man kept pressing. “The City Lord says you’re very strong. Are you an A-Rank Sentinel or an S-Rank? Are you from Starlight City? What did you come here for?”

Bombarded with questions, Ying Li felt a bit speechless.

Had Ding Hua assigned this particularly talkative fellow to keep an eye on him in hopes of ferreting out information?

Well, he wasn’t going to reveal his identity here.

He had come for two reasons. One was fear of being tracked. The other was his desire to cultivate his own power base.

Reborn with a second chance, he absolutely could not stand by and watch Starlight City be destroyed by the Beast Tide.

He had to do something to prevent Starlight City’s tragedy from unfolding.

And to do something, he needed manpower.

While Ying Li stayed in Freedom City, the Yu Family hunting team discussed him once more.

The members of the Yu Family hunting team hadn’t dared to intercept Ying Li. But the appearance of such a powerful Sentinel near Starlight City couldn’t be ignored. They had sent people to follow and uncover his identity.

The two sent were B-Rank Sentinels.

Neither had any background. In the Yu Family hunting team, they did all the hard and dirty work and were expected to charge in first when danger appeared.

Given this assignment now, they felt more than a little resentment.

Sending two B-Rank Sentinels to investigate a Sentinel who could kill an A-Rank Mutant Beast—this was practically a death sentence!

The two drove their motorcycles some distance from the main team before pulling over to confer. “That Sentinel is definitely formidable. If we get too close, he might just kill us casually.”

“Let’s follow from a distance. The trail he’s left is very obvious.”

They didn’t dare get close. Instead, they carefully traced his tire tracks from far behind.

Upon discovering the tracks led toward Freedom City, the two immediately turned back.

Now they knew who was so fierce they could solo an A-Rank Mutant Beast—it was that female devil, Ding Hua!

Not that they should call her a devil. Back in the day, Ding Hua had been the goddess in many people’s hearts.

Ordinary women had less muscle mass than men—hormones determined that.

But when a woman awakened as a Sentinel, her hormones changed. She could build muscle just like male Sentinels. Her height became similar as well. Her combat strength was no weaker.

It was just that among those who awakened as Sentinels, seven out of ten were men and only three were women. So powerful female Sentinels were fewer than powerful male Sentinels. For Guides, of course, the ratio reversed.

In any case, Ding Hua, that A-Rank female Sentinel, had been renowned throughout Starlight City in her early years. In recent years, the city had suppressed all information about her. Only now was she slowly fading from memory.

The two men returned to the Yu Family hunting team and promptly reported their findings.

“So it was her…” The hunting team’s leader murmured, and ceased paying attention to the person who’d killed the A-Rank Mutant Beast.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Ying Li had sold everything from the Mutated Pig except the meat and the crystal core.

As a result, his load was significantly lighter.

He repainted his motorcycle with spray paint before departing Freedom City. As he left, he said to the person Ding Hua had assigned to watch him: “See you tomorrow.”

Tomorrow he would come to the area to search for resources useful to Xiang Ye. He’d drop by again then!