Chapter 114: Trust

Under the pale moonlight, the desert dunes stretched out in desolate, bitter silence.

A dense bank of dark clouds suddenly veiled the moon, casting a deathly chill over every living thing below.

Rain looked down coldly at Nyl, who was curled up pathetically in the sand, his heterochromatic eyes as still and unreadable as a cat’s.

"Nyl, I once considered you my best brother."

"Why?"

Rain and Nyl had arrived at 616 in the very same year—they were even created from the exact same incubation batch.

With half of his face buried in the sand, Nyl’s tone was icy and detached:

"Why?"

"I just wanted to stay alive."

"Rain, you need to understand that in this world, there is no one worth trusting."

Nyl had never believed in ridiculous concepts like emotional bonds. Every expectation he had ever held for life had long been buried in this hopeless, dead soil.

When existing was reduced to merely surviving, what meaning was left in life?

Was he supposed to delude himself into believing he could ever possess affection, love, or true friendship?

Foolish. Utterly laughable.

Nyl suddenly burst into a raspy, gravelly laugh. "Just like how you will never be able to see the colors of the world."

The night breeze ruffled the golden strands of hair across Rain’s forehead. He stared at Nyl for a long moment, as if looking at a reflection of his former self.

During those dark, suffocating days, conflicts and heated arguments had frequently erupted between Nyl and Xander.

At its core, it was a refusal to submit.

The squad members had naturally split into two factions—one drawn to Nyl, the other to Xander.

Rain and Arden had been caught uncomfortably in the middle. Yet because Rain was naturally closer to Nyl, he had often chosen to turn a blind eye to much of it.

Silence was, after all, an accomplice.

It wasn’t until Nyl plunged a blade into his thigh and left him to rot in the insect nest that Rain tasted the bitter sting of betrayal for the very first time.

Ironically, it was Xander who had charged back inside with Arden, risking life and limb to drag him out.

In that defining moment, Rain had felt like an absolute fool.

For a long time after that, Rain didn’t dare trust a single soul, sealing his inner heart off completely from the world.

Much like his colorless world of monochrome greys, no ripples could ever stir his mind again.

The cloud cover suddenly parted, and brilliant white moonlight poured over the dunes once more, bathing Rain in a soft, luminous glow.

Much like the longstanding knot in his heart, finally dissolving into nothingness.

Rain offered Nyl a gentle, serene smile. His voice was soft, yet unwavering. "No. Someone has already shown me what the colors of the world look like."

He walked away without looking back, leaving to catch up with his teammates.

Behind him, Nyl roared in fury, "Why won’t you just finish me off?!"

Rain ignored him.

Leaving a disabled Sentinel to experience the agonizing despair of watching his own life tick away in its final moments—only then would Nyl truly comprehend the helplessness Rain had felt back in that nest.

***

Bunny slept until the sun was high in the sky. When she finally stirred awake, Kai was still sitting obediently outside the room.

Looking at the man without a stitch of clothing, she figured she really had to scavenge some garments for him. Otherwise, letting him wander around stark naked like that was a severe hazard to public decency.

Bunny searched through a few neighboring dilapidated apartments and eventually pulled together a semi-intact ensemble to toss onto Kai: a faded white dress shirt paired with black trousers.

Standard-sized clothing was naturally a tight fit on a Sentinel’s towering frame, but a handsome guy was a walking clothing rack—he could pull off anything effortlessly.

Bunny scrutinized him up and down. Kai possessed remarkably classic handsome features—a soft yet well-defined facial contour, with dark eyebrows complementing sharp, elegant eyes.

There was a striking masculine heroic aura to him, laced with a touch of youthful charm.

Looking at this outfit, her thoughts drifted back to Rin at home—that face always looked best in a crisp white shirt.

She had been out for days now; she wondered if he was getting bored staying home alone.

Though, did virtual human companions even experience an emotion like boredom?

"Alright, let me mount up!"

The moment Bunny scrambled onto the dragon’s back and settled into position, a scalding chest pressed tightly against her back.

She turned her head, bumping right into Kai’s pitch-black eyes.

Yikes—isn’t he sitting way too close?

Then again, this was his dragon, not hers, so Bunny simply nudged herself a bit further forward.

In the very next second, a powerful arm wrapped securely around her waist, forcefully pulling her right back into his chest.

"It’s unsafe like that."

His clean, smooth voice was instantly recognizable, carrying a slight, soothing rasp like water soothing a dry throat.

Bunny’s eyes widened in surprise. "So you can talk after all!"

And here she thought he was a complete mute dummy.

Damn it, if she’d known, she wouldn’t have bothered finding clothes for him—though she did manage to sneak in a couple of free abs-pats along the way.

Kai cast a brief glance at her before commanding the little dragon to take off eastward.

"What is your name?"

"Bunny."

Kai nodded thoughtfully. "A lovely name."

The two soared through the hazy grey cloud layers, traversing from ruined urban clusters to desolate wilderness, and over jagged mountain ranges and exposed terrain. While their flight speed couldn’t match a high-tech flyer, the fully immersive 3D view was off the charts. Bunny spent the entire journey buzzing with excitement.

Through their conversation, Kai was surprised to learn that she was a Guide recently assigned to the 616’s Tower, who had accidentally strayed into the radiation zone after an ambush by Marauders during a field operation.

Which meant his teammates had met her long before he did—making him the last one in line.

Kai gazed at Bunny as she soaked in the flight experience—her arched eyebrows, her large round eyes, and the subtle trace of soft baby fat on her cheeks.

Her long pink hair flowed freely, scattering in the howling winds into whatever shape the gale dictated.

He couldn’t find the right words to describe her eyes. To a Sentinel, everything in this desolate world was dull and exhausting—whether it was the mountains, the clouds, or the dried riverbeds. Yet in those bright eyes, every landscape seemed to hold a profound, vibrant meaning.

He couldn’t quite fathom where that emotion originated; he only knew that while she was looking down at the world, the entire world seemed reflected inside her eyes.

It was almost as if she had once lived on this very land.

Involuntarily, Kai reached out his fingers, letting her windblown hair brush lightly against his skin. The subtle tickle danced over his fingertips, prompting him to quietly lean even closer.

The arm cradling her waist drew her in a little tighter.