TTAETSC Chapter 36.3 - Dreamland

The little octopus breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, he suddenly heard familiar footsteps not far away. The little octopus immediately withdrew his tentacle, not absorbing the little otherworldly creature dry. Instead, he grew a little larger, encircling the opponent's neck, and then dragged it away.

Rustle, rustle—

The dragging sound quickly caught Yuan Ye's attention. He hurried over to check, and a faint look of anxiety froze on his face.

"Did you find it? Did you find it?"

Hu Changchuan came running over, panting heavily. Captain Chen stayed by the car to guard and didn't come along.

However, a second later, the ragged-clothed uncle also froze.

"This... this, this, this...?"

The little octopus shook his spoils of war and pointed toward Yuan Ye's chest, displaying a hint of showing off in his movements.

Look! I avenged you!

Yuan Ye was slightly stunned, touching the spot on his chest where he had been injured before. But after looking firmly at the little guy for a few seconds, he still showed a disapproving look.

"It's so dirty, throw it away!"

"..."

That expression suddenly made Ye Yunfan feel like he was not a cute pink little octopus, but a cat that had caught a dead mouse.

Okay.

His protector was indeed a person who loved cleanliness.

The little tentacles reluctantly threw away the remaining half of the food, and then the dirty pink ball was once again picked up by his protector with the back of the knife.

Sure enough, the first thing Yuan Ye did when he got back was to bathe him.

"..."

The little octopus sighed, but still diligently scrubbed his suckers in the small basin. While nearby, Chen Xinyue was tending to Hu Changchuan's wounds.

Poor Officer Hu was forced to have another layer of corroded flesh cut off. Gritting his teeth, his face turned pale, and cold sweat trickled down from his forehead.

The little octopus took a look, then suddenly popped out of the basin, shook off the water, put on shoes, and ran over. Last time, when Yuan Ye was injured, his mucus was effective, so it should be the same this time.

However, the little octopus didn't crawl directly onto Hu Changchuan's body, as the uncle's body was covered in soil and dirt.

So the pink little dumpling ran over, tugged at Yuan Ye's trouser legs, and then pointed to Hu Changchuan's wound.

Yuan Ye didn't ask any more questions. Now, he could quickly understand the little guy's meaning, so the young man bent down and reached out, waiting for the little jellyfish to climb up before sending the little guy over.

The pink little tentacles gently hovered above the scalding bright red wound, and transparent mucus quickly secreted out, lightly covering the surface.

Hu Changchuan's expression was filled with amazement, but he did indeed find that it didn't seem as painful anymore.

"Eh, this...this is?"

"Indeed effective!"

Captain Chen was also amazed, and Jon behind him looked at Yuan Ye with eyes filled not just with envy but also with admiration.

Noticing that everyone's attention was focused on the little jellyfish, Yuan Ye immediately retracted his hand, hiding the little guy in his palm, and then turned around and walked away.

"Hop in!"

The three people left behind in place were a bit dumbfounded.

Finally, Jon asked quietly.

"Captain, is it just my imagination, or do I feel like Officer Yuan Ye is a bit... uh, stingy?"

This stinginess was not about being stingy with money, but the kind of stinginess that wouldn't even allow them to take a few more glances at the little jellyfish.

"Pa—"

Jon received a slap of love from the captain as a response.

Chen Xinyue slapped the curly-haired puppy on the head, her tone serious.

"No gossiping about the officer behind his back!"

"Oh...Ow."

Jon shut his mouth.

---

The group traveled day and night, taking turns driving.

There were occasional attacks from otherworldly creatures, but with two decontamination officers present, there naturally wouldn't be any major problems.

Finally, on the evening of the third day, they successfully crossed the occupied area of the City of Self-Reformation. The off-road vehicle drove onto a dedicated transport route, and the road finally became smooth and unobstructed.

"We will arrive at T-06 sentinel tower in two more hours."

Seeing that they had successfully passed through the occupied area, Chen Xinyue's spirits lifted considerably.

"We will rest at the sentinel tower for one night, replenish our supplies, then head north for three days, and we will enter the jurisdiction area of the Main City."

The Main City's jurisdiction area will have no otherworldly planes, with very few otherworldly creatures appearing, making it very safe.

At that time, the little octopus was on the board in the back seat, fighting with the toothpick in Yuan Ye's hand.

While the little octopus brandished the knife with crisp clings and clangs on one side, on the other side, he was tangled with how to tell Yuan Ye about the "seedlings transport vehicle" matter.

However, after three days of repeated contemplation, he still couldn't find a suitable, accurate, and subtle way to express it.

"Woah! Captain, I see the sentinel tower!"

Jon couldn't help but stick his head out of the car window, his curly hair blown into a mess, but he still couldn't conceal the excitement on his youthful face.

Upon hearing about the sentinel tower, the little octopus immediately became interested. He had always heard Yuan Ye and the others repeatedly mention this sentinel tower, but he had never seen the so-called sentinel tower!

The little octopus hopped onto Yuan Ye's shoulder, ran to the window with a thumping sound, and then faced outside to look.

He first saw an endless expanse of desolate wasteland, with a huge setting sun above the desolation that seemed to be burning.

Immediately after, Ye Yunfan saw the towering black sentinel tower on the far side.

The myriad afterglow of the setting sun, like golden water, splashed onto the black tower, giving the impression that it was not just a standing tower, but a lonely and silent watcher.

The little octopus stared blankly for a long, long while, until a familiar finger appeared in the field of vision of the sentinel tower. Only then did he suddenly come back to his senses.

Yuan Ye leaned over and pointed to the sentinel tower in the distance on the car window glass, lowering his eyes as he whispered.

"We will stay there tonight, and you can take a closer look then."

The little octopus looked up and saw Yuan Ye's pair of heterochromatic eyes up close.

One was sapphire blue, and the other was emerald green, with the golden red glow falling into them, as if sparkling and shimmering, giving off a surreal and extraordinarily beautiful feeling.

[Good looking...]

[Very good looking.]

[Such good-looking eyes are looking at us, hey!]

[Looking at us!]

The little tentacles were very excited, but also a bit shy, curling up their tips.

The colors of Yuan Ye's eyes were good-looking, but his eyes were not the delicate and pretty type.

He had an aura of cold sharpness around his brows and eyes, belonging to the type of aloof and top-tier handsome guy that young girls liked the most.

The young man had a high nose bridge and thin lips, but the color of his lips seemed naturally brighter than normal people. Especially when he drank water or breathed heavily, with just a slight friction, it seemed like he had applied lipstick...

The little octopus looked lost in his thoughts again, and his train of thoughts drifted further away, faintly bringing up the memories that he had tried hard to bury before.

He stared at Yuan Ye, not reacting for a while. It wasn't until the other person reached out his hand and pinched his body that he responded.

"Mnn?"

At the same time, Yuan Ye made a confused nasal sound.

"Guji, guji~"

"...!!!"

The little octopus instantly reacted, realizing the messy thoughts in his mind just now. He quickly averted his gaze, his movements flustered and a bit embarrassed, but in the end, he barely managed to pretend to be calm.

Yuan Ye was a bit baffled. He completely didn't perceive the embarrassment of the little jellyfish, only sensing the other party's fluster. So, he poked the little guy's curled-up tentacle and asked.

"What's the rush?"

"..."

The little octopus curled up into a ball, burying his face, feeling too embarrassed to look. After turning into a non-human, he realized he seemed to be gradually becoming a bit perverted.

Ye Yunfan was precocious from childhood to the point where he saw everyone as pure younger brothers and sisters. Even during puberty, he never had any indescribable fantasies.

But now, he seems to have developed some feelings toward Yuan Ye, who is of the same sex and still... a younger brother...

No, no, no!

This is too perverted!

Ye Yunfan immediately forced himself to stop thinking about it. He turned his head to continue looking at the sentinel tower outside, diverting his attention.

Yuan Ye tilted his head strangely, but he didn't notice anything else unusual, so he didn't bother to ask further.

Although they could see the sentinel tower from afar, it still took them over an hour of high-speed driving to arrive.

When they arrived at the sentinel tower, the little octopus only then realized that this tower was about fifty to sixty meters high, and this place was not just a simple tower, but also a small military base.

The base was built around the sentinel tower, surrounded by high concrete walls with barbed wire and electric wires. Inside were sentinels dressed in dark green military uniforms.

The sentinels here at the base and the sentinels guarding the lighthouse at the supply station are not the same. The sentinels here are taller and more robust, giving off an intimidating presence.

Hu Changchuan led the way. He was particularly skilled in matters such as regular procedures and interpersonal relationships.

In just half an hour, he met the two decontamination officers stationed at this sentinel tower and engaged in heated talk with them. As for the remaining one, it seemed that he had temporarily received a mission and gone out, but had not returned yet.

"Aiya, aiya, long time no see, long time no see! Passing by your territory today, you must take good care of me, Old Hu, hahaha..."

Yuan Ye didn't get out of the car, nor did he go to meet anyone; he simply had Chen Xinyue follow the leading sentinel inside.

The sentinel leading the way heard that it was a team led by a decontamination officer, so he was very attentive. He arranged the best room in the sentinel tower for them.

Chen Xinyue took the weak and disheveled Wei Jing out of the trunk. She noticed the sentinel's strange gaze and spoke in a slightly cold tone.

"This is the wanted criminal ordered to be arrested by the royal court."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The sentinel nodded repeatedly and immediately dared not look again.

Jon felt extremely novel, looking around everywhere, but afraid of embarrassing the captain, he tried hard to appear more composed.

"Officers, you all rest first. Someone will bring dinner in a while."

"Mm."

Yuan Ye nodded coldly, carried the leather suitcase, and was about to walk into the room.

At that moment, there suddenly came the sound of a large vehicle driving in from outside. The few people standing in the corridor immediately followed the sound and looked out the window.

The little octopus also stretched his neck and saw a bus being dragged by a large truck in front, escorted by several military vehicles as it drove in.

Amidst the sea of military vehicles, possibly black or green, exuding a strong aura of solemnity, the bus with cute graffiti on the outside stood out conspicuously.

The sentinel noticed their gaze and smiled as he explained.

"Oh, that's the seedlings' transport vehicle heading to the Eastern Military District. It encountered a minor issue halfway, so they contacted our sentinel tower for help this morning. Officer Charlie personally went to pick it up."

Officer Charlie was that decontamination officer who left the sentinel tower for a mission.

Seedlings transport vehicle heading to the Eastern Military District?!!

The little octopus shook all over, and suddenly remembered Fang Shuo's words from a few days ago—

[It's the seedlings' transport vehicle heading to the Eastern Military District with our people inside.]

By coincidence, it was the seedlings transport vehicle mentioned by Fang Shuo, which happened to be at their stopover sentinel tower due to a malfunction.

A series of coincidences may not necessarily be just a coincidence!

There is a high likelihood of a player being involved in this!

The little octopus perked up his two ears, his eyes staring intently at the bus below, every tentacle on his body alert.

Soon, he saw the bus door open, and there was a burst of noisy and cute, tender voices coming from inside.

In that instant of seeing the scene clearly, the little octopus's pupils trembled slightly.

—They're children!

Surprisingly, it was children who came down from the bus!

The younger ones were probably seven or eight years old, while the older ones were around twelve or thirteen. They were dressed uniformly, carrying small backpacks, with a tiny seedling embroidered on the chest of their clothes.

Seedlings...

No wonder it's called the seedlings' transport vehicle!

The little octopus suddenly realized that he had been pondering for the past few days what the so-called seedling transport vehicle was, only to find out that it was actually a bus transporting children!

At this moment, several adults got off the bus. They had good-natured faces, gentle temperaments, and were dressed casually instead of in military uniforms. They were organizing the children to line up and get off the bus.

Among them, there was a woman who was particularly conspicuous.