The Last Sentinel

In the captain's office, sand slowly flows out of an inverted silver funnel.

The battle is about to begin, and the commander can give you (the sentry) five more minutes.

This is no longer a simple matter of social etiquette; it is a blessing!

If you don't want this blessing to go to waste, you'd better come up with some valuable intelligence, at least worthy of your status as a Sentinel Double S-Class Super Genius.

The captain, in his fifties, had a serious expression on his square face. His tone was calm and unhurried: "Sentinel, the countdown has begun!"

Ye Feng glanced at the silver sand hourglass. "Commander, after I was severely injured by Charlie, I reread the entire process of the war between humans and Neanderthals at the end of the Little Ice Age 30,000 years ago. Humans were able to win the war against Neanderthals not only because of Homo sapiens themselves, but also because of their important partners, the wolf pack!"

The commander frowned. He didn't quite understand. The situation was urgent, yet this double-S genius was talking about history. What was he trying to say?

However, adhering to the principle of respecting the strong and geniuses, the commander did not show impatience, but instead raised his hand to indicate: "Go on, I'm listening."

Ye Feng said, "The weaker wolves in the wolf pack were absorbed by humans and thus became human companions. This can be seen in archaeological remains. Human archaeologists have found a large number of dog skeletons around Homo sapiens tribes, and even tombs where Homo sapiens and dogs were buried together. Neanderthals did not domesticate wolves."

"Through subtle choices, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals embarked on diametrically opposed paths. From then on, Homo sapiens began the path of domestication, evolving from wolves to horses, cattle, and sheep. Along the way, Homo sapiens gained an absolute advantage, quickly occupying the top of the food chain, and eventually reaching their current position as the rulers of Earth."

"But now, the dogs, Homo sapiens' companions, have not kept pace with Homo sapiens' evolution. Although dogs have evolved much faster than other dogs, especially their own kind of wild wolves, the speed is still too slow. They have changed from companions to pets of Homo sapiens, a purely spiritual companion, unable to provide Homo sapiens with stronger support in battle."

"Therefore, I believe our most important task right now is to find a new ally race that matches humanity's combat capabilities and can provide assistance to humanity in its future journey into space—or, to put it another way, a dog for the interstellar age!"

The commander spoke up, "Sentinel, you mean that some people in the Human Alliance have mentioned a theory called symbiotic evolution, seeking new partners! But Sentinel, Homo sapiens are already the rulers of this planet. There are no creatures that can rival us. Or rather, there are some creatures that can indeed rival us, but they are our enemies. This theory of symbiotic evolution can only remain at the theoretical level and does not have the possibility of being realized."

Ye Feng blinked. "Is there any possibility that the radioactive monsters inside the fissure could become our allies?"

The commander paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something. His pupils narrowed as he stared at Ye Feng. "Radiation monsters? You mean those monster life forms created from radiated dinosaur genes and fossils? Do you know their origins?"

Ye Feng said, "When I came in, I checked some information. They originated from the 1999 interstellar war. In order to completely dismantle the Earth Alliance, the alien life found a large number of giant beast genes from the Cretaceous-Paleozoic Devonian period. The alien technology activated and revived the dead cells of the giant beasts. Using radiation energy as the source, they established monster lairs between the crust and mantle layers, and bred a huge number of monsters."

The commander stood up and said, "That's right. However, during the subsequent 1999 interstellar war, the Earth Alliance resisted fiercely, resulting in heavy losses for the extraterrestrial life. They even lost control of the radiation monsters. These radiation monsters, evolved from the genes of dinosaurs, Titanoboa, and World Serpents, went completely out of control. These monsters became a threat to Earth, lurking in the crevices of the Earth's crust and mantle for many years. This has led to the frequent monster-ravaged disasters on the surface today. We have tried to communicate with them, but without success."

Ye Feng said, "I succeeded."

The commander's eyes widened. "What...what did you say?"

Ye Feng said, "I fought an S-class radiation monster and defeated it. It begged for mercy and submitted to me. I can communicate with it."

The commander was somewhat flustered, his hands trembling, unsure how to evaluate Ye Feng.

If an ordinary person claims they can communicate with S-class radiation monsters, the commander will immediately order the guards to send that person to a mental hospital.

But this is a double S-level genius!

Of course, it's not wrong to question a genius, provided you're better than the genius!

It was obvious that the commander did not think he was better than Ye Feng.

But the Human Alliance has killed so many S-class radiation monsters before, and the Human Alliance's strongmen have defeated monsters before, so why didn't the monsters submit? Why did they only submit when it came to you, Sentinel? Did you, Sentinel, have an extra head compared to other geniuses?

The commander, his face stern, looked at Ye Feng seriously. "Sentinel, do you have any evidence?"

Ye Feng asked, "Are you saying you want to see me communicate with my monster brother, or do you want to communicate with your monster brother directly?"

The commander's eyes widened. "You...you mean, not only can you communicate with S-class monsters, but I can too?"

Ye Feng calmly replied, "Of course they can. If they couldn't, how could they replace dogs as humanity's new partners in conquering the universe?"

The commander was somewhat agitated. "Indeed, dogs can communicate with ordinary humans. If ordinary people can't even talk to them, how can they form an alliance with Homo sapiens? How high is their intelligence?"

Ye Feng said, "Although their intelligence isn't very high, based on my understanding, it's definitely higher than a dog's, equivalent to the level of a twelve to fifteen-year-old human child. They can communicate normally!"

The commander said shyly, "Could you demonstrate? It's not that I don't believe you, I just want to broaden my horizons and learn how to communicate with an S-class monster, the process..."

"No problem." Ye Feng looked at the projection screen on the wall. "May I use this projection screen?"

The commander generously replied, "Use it as you please!"

Ye Feng turned the button on his wrist. "Crimson Annihilation! Are you there?"

A synthesized mechanical voice came from within the button: "Yes, Sentinel."

Ye Feng said, "Help me contact Xiao Hei!"

A synthesized voice said, "We're already in contact."

This scene caught the commander's eye, and the captain's eyes widened. "Holy crap, can anyone tell me what the Sentinel did to his mech!"

Why did the mechs respond on their own initiative?

Didn't the mech lose power in the hangar?

It can still talk and reply even when the power is out; has this mecha become sentient?

Just then, a blurry, snowy image appeared on the screen in front of him. The snowy image quickly coalesced into the shape of a black, bloated, pixelated puppy. The puppy saw Ye Feng and jumped excitedly. Below it, a line of text appeared: "We meet again, boss's boss, Little Black reporting for duty!"

Ye Feng said, "Xiao Hei, the captain wants to talk to you. Tell me what you have to say, and don't lie."

The underworld figure replied, "Understood!"

Ye Feng raised his hand. "Sir, please."

The commander coughed, slightly nervous. After all, this was his first time communicating with a monster. This historical moment was comparable to the first encounter between the first Homo sapiens and a wolf. It was a moment worthy of being recorded in history and engraved on a stone tablet, becoming a great highlight.

The captain asked kindly, "Your name is Xiao Hei?"

Mosaic Dog sent out the message, "Yes, it was my boss's boss, [Sentinel], who gave me this name."

The captain asked, "I heard from the sentries that you have ideas about forming an alliance with Homo sapiens?"

Xiao Hei said, "It's not just me, but some of my brothers too. I chatted with my boss, [Crimson Destruction], and he shared an ancient story from a million years ago. It's about a wolf that was driven out of its pack and the Homo sapiens alliance, and then reached the pinnacle of evolution, standing at the top of the food chain. Now, there are over a billion dogs, while the wild wolf population is less than fifteen million—a difference of ten thousand times!"

"After discussion, we monsters believe that going all in on Homo sapiens is a good path. At least compared to eating magma underground, the surface offers more abundant nutrients and energy, plus our favorite source of solar radiation!"

"So, I contacted the leader of the [Crimson Destruction] and made my stance clear: I want to become your dog, the dog of the new generation of interstellar age, the most loyal partner, all in on the Homo sapiens race, and follow Homo sapiens on the path of evolution until we reach the pinnacle of the food chain of life in the universe."

Hearing this, the captain was overjoyed and could not contain himself. He could only turn his back, glance at the chat screen out of the corner of his eye, and pretend to be deep and said, "To become the next generation of dogs for Homo sapiens, to replace dogs, and to board the high-speed train of Homo sapiens' evolution, I must say, you are very smart, very wise, and your choice is very brilliant. But Little Black, you should also know that the relationship between Homo sapiens and you is not good. In fact, we were enemies before. In fact, your own birth was a 1999 interstellar war against Homo sapiens! It will be very, very difficult for our two races to unite."

Xiao Hei said, "I understand that very well, but weren't wolves and humans initially enemies and competitors? Ten thousand years ago, Neanderthals were the dominant species, and they forced humans and wolves together. The situation now is not exactly the same as ten thousand years ago, but it's not far off. It was the first wolf that approached humans that led to the existence of dogs. Please, sir, give me a chance, give the radiated monster a chance!"

That's exactly what the commander wanted to hear.

There's a price to pay for wanting to be a dog.

You can't just say you want to be a dog and expect me to give you dog food.

You have to demonstrate your value first before I'll give you dog food!

The captain said calmly, "The Homo sapiens are planning a war against Tokyo. Are you willing to join them?"

The underworld figure said, "I'd be happy to, and my brothers would be happy to too."

The captain asked, "Your brothers? How many?"

"There are six brothers in total. Two of them, like me, are rated S-class by you Homo sapiens. The remaining four are A+ mutations. We seven monsters were born together and have genes from Tyrannosaurus Rex, Mosasaurus, Pterodactyl, Stegosaurus, Titanoboa, Triceratops, and Saber-toothed Tiger. Although we look different, we are of one mind. You can trust them completely, just as my master trusts me."

The captain said, "I'm giving you this opportunity. As the commander of the war zone, I'm issuing this order: from now on, you and your six brothers will be assigned to Ye Feng's combat team. Ye Feng will be the BOSS, King Arthur will be the captain, the main force will be the Twelve Knights of the Round Table, and you will be reserve team members, enjoying temporary worker benefits. After the war ends, I will apply to the higher-ups of the Human Alliance based on your performance, including benefits such as becoming a permanent member or being incorporated into the Human Alliance."

The underworld figure said, "Thank you for your kindness, sir! We will fight with all our might for the war against Homo sapiens! All in! Our leader said, all in is a sign of wisdom!"