Crystal Palace from Infinite Anime

To the east of Red Lion City, there has long been a barren wasteland, which is where the war took place. The crazy Latan wanders around, feeding on the rotten corpses of the dead enemies. He has long become a creature like the many crazy beasts on this land today.

The remaining soldiers of the Red Lion Legion retreated to the Red Lion City, and spent the whole day gazing at the majestic figure wandering among the ruins of the battlefield. They hoped that their general, even if he died gloriously in battle, should not continue to live like a beast!

So, let’s go to Red Lion City.

Even if Lin Zhiyu wanted to kill Latan, it did not mean that he would become an enemy of the Red Lion Legion.

If he could really let Latarn die, the Red Lions would even be grateful to him.

In fact, in the game plot, in order to free Latan, the Red Lion City even held a special battle memorial, inviting all warriors in the border area to go and kill Latan together!

fair enough.

Anyway, Lin Zhiyu estimated that with his current strength, he would not be a match for Latan in a one-on-one fight - even if this Latan had lost his mind and was acting only on instinct.

Theresa didn't know what Lin Zhiyu was thinking. She only knew that her brother was going to take her to a place called Red Lion City. It sounded like it must be crowded.

Would these people also look as scary as the soldier who died in front of her and Lin Zhiyu?

Being held in Lin Zhiyu's arms, with her chin resting on Lin Zhiyu's shoulder, Theresa whispered a question in Lin Zhiyu's ear.

Lin Zhiyu originally wanted to tell Theresa that these Red Lion soldiers were not scary, but were worthy of admiration.

But on second thought, maybe Theresa is right.

As citizens of the Golden Tree Dynasty, in the past, the vast majority of people in the border area, including many Red Lion soldiers, had been blessed by the Golden Tree and were filled with vitality.

But since the Elden Ring was broken and the power of the Golden Tree was extremely weakened, the people of the Golden Tree Dynasty also lost their blessings.

This causes their bodies to undergo various kinds of decline.

Why did the Red Lion soldier who died in front of Lin Zhiyu and Theresa have a grayish-white complexion and look like a mummy?

In fact, it is because after losing the blessing, most of the vitality in the body is also lost.

What's worse, after losing the blessing, some people even have problems with their brains, becoming either demented or manic.

Maybe the real situation is not as bad as in the game, where any object a player encounters is aggressive towards the player.

But it is true that 99% of the lives at the border now cannot be viewed with common sense.

Originally, because of the Red Lion soldier before, Lin Zhiyu thought that the real situation might be much better than in the game.

If you think about it carefully, that Red Lion soldier might just be an exception who still retains his rationality. God knows if the other Red Lion soldiers who are still alive in Galide are so easy to talk to?

Even though they still insist on maintaining the smokewall and fighting against the beasts eroded by corruption - these may be out of obsession rather than actions that are truly thought out.

In other words, when situations beyond their obsession arise, such as when a stranger like Lin Zhiyu appears in their field of vision, will they still be able to think and think, "This is just a passerby, ignore him"?

"Or maybe I'm overthinking it. Since that Red Lion soldier asked me to bring his and his comrades' ashes back to Red Lion City, it should mean that Red Lion City isn't completely off-limits after all..."

With this in mind, Lin Zhiyu rubbed Theresa's head with his face.

He whispered in the timid little girl's ear that no matter who she would meet next, whether kind or scary, he would always stay by Theresa's side and protect her.

Theresa was naturally very touched, but she did not respond in any words or actions.

At this time, she just continued to rest her chin on Lin Zhiyu's shoulder, remembering Lin Zhiyu's kindness from the bottom of her heart, and from then on she believed that Lin Zhiyu was the second best person in the world.

As for the best person?

It must be mom!

Chapter 6 Corrupt Dependents

The sky at the border was golden, but the land of Galid was blood red.

On both sides of the broad road, the fields were filled with bones and decaying organisms.

Perhaps because of the harsh environment, Theresa was in no mood to talk and just stayed quietly in Lin Zhiyu's arms.

Lin Zhiyu then carried Theresa on his back, which was more comfortable for both him and Theresa.

I don’t know how long they walked, but the sky remained golden and unchanged. However, Theresa’s stomach started to growl at some point.

"Well, brother, I... I'm so hungry." Theresa said embarrassedly in Lin Zhiyu's ear.

Only then did Lin Zhiyu realize that he had forgotten to eat while walking.

Fortunately, he still had a few redemption coupons left.

In the Infinite Mall, you only need one redemption coupon to buy a whole bottle of mineral water or compressed biscuits.

But just when Lin Zhiyu was about to put Theresa down and give her the mineral water and compressed biscuits from the exchange office in the Infinite Mall.

"Whoosh!"

A graceful figure with traces of electric arcs and strong winds appeared in front of Lin Zhiyu in an instant like a stream of light.

She was wearing a black tight-fitting swimsuit that did not cover her thighs at all. She held a pair of blue lightsabers in her hands, wore a pair of high-heeled combat boots on her feet, and her slightly curly navy blue hair was tied into a ponytail that reached her waist.

Rin Uehara!

In the land of Gaileyd, where corruption is rampant and full of dangers, Lin Zhiyu will certainly not forget to summon his "followers" to escort him all the way.

Last night he held Theresa in his arms and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

The reason why he dared to rest was that before closing his eyes, he summoned Uehara Rin and Li Meifeng and asked them to take turns to keep watch.

As they hurried to Red Lion City, Lin Zhiyu had Li Meifeng follow behind to prevent any creatures like corrupt wild dogs from suddenly appearing from behind and attacking him and Theresa. Lin Zhiyu had Uehara Rin lead the way.

At this moment, Uehara Rin suddenly appeared next to Lin Zhiyu, which must mean that there was a problem on the road ahead.

"What kind of place have we come to? Why are there monsters patrolling even on the main road?" Uehara Rin asked while standing in front of Lin Zhiyu.

"Monster? What monster?" Lin Zhiyu asked with a frown.

Uehara Rin then described the scene she had just witnessed while scouting the road ahead. She claimed that a grayish-white monster, resembling a standing earwig or millipede, was patrolling the avenue with a small, corrupted stray dog ​​and had attacked a passerby.

"That passerby was quite formidable. He seemed quite capable of dealing with the monster, so I didn't meddle in his affairs and chose to come back to report the news to you."

"Really? A grayish-white monster that looks like an earwig millipede... That must be a Corrupted Follower!"

"Corrupted dependents?"

Uehara Rin looked at Lin Zhiyu in confusion.

Lin Zhiyu didn't have time to explain the history of corrupt beliefs to Uehara Rin in detail, so he raised his hand and pointed at the giant spores and hyphae growing in the wilderness, asking Uehara Rin to think about whether earwigs and millipedes also live in damp and rotten environments, playing the same role as decomposers in nature?

Then, without Lin Zhiyu saying anything more, Uehara Rin nodded slightly as if she suddenly understood.

To put it bluntly, the "corruption followers" that Lin Zhiyu mentioned are actually by-products of corruption, just like the spores and hyphae in the wilderness.

Like maggots in a dry toilet and mosquito larvae in stagnant water.

Of course, this is just the simplest metaphor. The corrupt beliefs in the border areas have a long history, and it's not something that can be fully explained in a short time.

"Brother, what are you talking about? Is this big sister also your friend?"

Suddenly, Theresa's voice sounded faintly in Lin Zhiyu's ears.

Lin Zhiyu turned his head slightly and saw Theresa with her head on his shoulder, looking at Uehara Rin timidly.

This wasn't Rin Uehara's first encounter with Theresa. She'd seen Theresa sleeping soundly the night before, after being summoned by Lin Zhiyu. She'd been wondering why such a small child was accompanying Lin Zhiyu.

At this time, looking at Theresa's timid and curious look, Uehara Rin couldn't help but smile. He walked closer to Theresa and wanted to touch Theresa's head, but Theresa immediately shrank her head and hid behind Lin Zhiyu's neck, refusing to let Uehara Rin touch her.

Rin Uehara didn't feel embarrassed, but liked Theresa more. He thought that this little girl was really pretty and cute, and she would charm countless people when she grew up. It was just that she was too timid.

"Ahem, since there's something going on up ahead, I'd like to ask Mr. Uehara to go back and get Li Meifeng over so we can go check it out together!"

Because it is impossible to take a detour because the scarlet wilderness on both sides of the road is full of saprophytes, which will only make it more dangerous, so no matter what happens on the road ahead, Lin Zhiyu and the others will have to face it.

After a while, Li Meifeng also came over. Lin Zhiyu introduced Li Meifeng and Uehara Rin to Theresa, and told Theresa that these two older sisters were her brother's friends.

Theresa lay on Lin Zhiyu's back and nodded slightly, but she was thinking in her heart, why are all her brother's friends beautiful older sisters?

Aren’t there any other older brothers among my brother’s friends?

Lin Zhiyu thought that he might have to take action next, so he put his new ability into actual combat and put it to the test. So he put Theresa down from his back, pointed at Uehara Rin, and asked Theresa if she thought this sister was pretty.

Although she didn't understand why Lin Zhiyu asked this, Theresa still looked up, looked at Uehara Rin carefully, and nodded heavily, "Yeah! Big sister is really beautiful! Theresa wants to be as beautiful as this big sister when she grows up."

Because Uehara Rin was always looking at Theresa with a gentle look in his eyes. Perhaps because she felt Uehara Rin's kindness, and Lin Zhiyu squatting next to her, Theresa spoke a little bolder.

After being praised by Theresa, Uehara Rin squatted in front of Theresa like Lin Zhiyu, and tried to reach out and touch Theresa's head again. Although Theresa still instinctively shrank her head this time, she did not dodge.

"Theresa is so cute. She will definitely be prettier than her sister when she grows up!" Uehara Rin said to Theresa with a smile, making Theresa smile shyly.

Seeing this, Lin Zhiyu said, why not let Sister Lin take care of Theresa from now on, because her brother has something to do next and can't carry Theresa for the time being.

After hearing what Lin Zhiyu said, Theresa thought that Lin Zhiyu was going to leave, so she quickly grabbed Lin Zhiyu's hand and said to him, "Brother, don't go!"

As she spoke, the little girl pouted, looking like she would cry at any moment.

Lin Zhiyu quickly explained to Theresa, telling her that he just needed to free up his hands to do something next, and he didn't want to leave.

Only then did Theresa let out an "Oh" and then obediently let Uehara Rin hug her. She found that Sister Rin's arms were unexpectedly warm, probably because Sister Rin's breasts were big and soft!

Next to her, looking at Lin Zhiyu, Uehara Rin and Theresa, who looked like a family of three, Li Meifeng curled her lips silently, feeling completely ignored.

But when Lin Zhiyu looked at her, she did not show any displeasure to Lin Zhiyu, which showed that she was very clear about her identity as a "follower".

Then the four of them continued along the road, with Lin Zhiyu and Li Meifeng walking in front to lead the way.

After walking about a thousand meters and turning a corner, the monsters and people mentioned earlier appeared in sight.

However, the battle was over by this time.

Just ahead on the roadside.

Two corrupt followers and a corrupt wild dog lay on the ground motionless.

A warrior wearing leather armor and with messy and dirty hair was kneeling very close to the monster's corpse. He was supporting his upper body with a sword, lowering his head and coughing up dark red sticky blood from his mouth. He looked in a very bad condition.

"He is injured so badly. I saw him fighting the monster before, and he clearly had the upper hand." Uehara Rin hugged Theresa and whispered behind Lin Zhiyu.

Lin Zhiyu carefully observed the soldier in front of him who was kneeling on the ground and coughing up blood. He noticed with his sharp eyes that there were countless extremely tiny red particles in the breath he exhaled.

It's like there is sand in your nose and mouth, and the sand will come out when you exhale, except that the sand is red.

In this place of Galid, ravaged by the crimson corruption.

Red is not a festive color!

"Perhaps, that person has old injuries or some other problems, and his endurance is not good, so you only saw his ferocity at the beginning of the fight, but did not see his weakness afterwards." Lin Zhiyu turned around and said to Uehara Rin.

Although he said "maybe", Lin Zhiyu was at least 80% sure in his heart that the person in front of him was most likely infected with scarlet corruption.

As a result, Lin Zhiyu was naturally intimidated and had no intention of getting close to the person in front of him.

But the man in front seemed to have heard the conversation between Lin Zhiyu and Uehara Rin. He suddenly turned his head and looked towards Lin Zhiyu and the others. Then, he exerted strength with his hands and feet, and struggled to stand up, leaning on his sword. Step by step, he staggered towards Lin Zhiyu and the others...

The author says:

Author's Note: It seems that the prototype of the Corrupted Dependents is the Japanese Multi-knotted Millipede, but I think this thing is more like an earwig (qu sou), which looks... quite beautiful (bushi)

Chapter 7 Laura's Dilemma

"bass!"

The sword is unsheathed.

"Don't come any closer!" Looking at the injured passerby approaching step by step in front of him, Lin Zhiyu pointed a knife at the other party and issued a warning.

It's better to be safe than sorry. Scarlet Corruption is extremely powerful. It would be terrible if you get infected!

The man in front stopped after hearing Lin Zhiyu's warning.

He lowered his head and said nothing. Suddenly he laughed at himself, then dragged his injured body and turned to walk to the outside of the avenue, as if to make way for Lin Zhiyu and the others.

"Cuckoo..."

At this time, Theresa's stomach started to growl again.

Lin Zhiyu subconsciously turned his head to look at Theresa.

The little girl huddled in Uehara Rin's arms and said shyly to Lin Zhiyu, "Brother, I'm really hungry."

To this end, Lin Zhiyu was preparing to exchange food and water from the Infinite Mall.

The person in front suddenly turned around again, facing Lin Zhiyu and the others, and his eyes fell on Theresa.

Noticing this person's unusual movements, Lin Zhiyu narrowed his eyes slightly.