Chapter 688: Survivors from the Third Defense Zone (2)

Xiumini's gaze swept across the crowd, noticing a girl curled up in a corner.

The girl was very young, likely only ten or so, with messy hair stuck to her cheeks; she was wrapped in a blanket given to her by the staff, staring fixedly at her own small, scarred, and mangled hands, her body trembling violently.

Xiumini walked over, not approaching immediately, but slowly squatting down a few paces away from the girl to bring her line of sight level with the girl's.

She deliberately slowed her movements, avoiding anything abrupt.

"Hey."

Xiumini kept her voice very soft, carrying a hint of hoarseness.

"My name is Xiumini."

She pointed to the identification card on her chest.

"I'm a staff member here, here to help you. Can you understand me?"

The girl jerked her head up, her hollow, wide eyes instantly filled with terror, and her body shrank back even tighter, almost embedding itself into the wall behind her.

Xiumini did not retreat, nor did she attempt to touch her.

She simply maintained her squatting posture, using her right hand with the missing fingers to slowly and gently pat the clean ground beside her, making a faint "thud-thud" sound.

"The floor here is solid; it's concrete, not... not those things that crawl."

Xiumini deliberately avoided words like "Nest" or "Juntan" to keep the girl from recalling those painful memories.

Hearing Xiumini's words, the girl's trembling lessened slightly, and her eyes looked toward Xiumini's mangled hand.

Xiumini noticed the girl's gaze. She did not subconsciously hide her hand as she had before; instead, she lifted her right hand slightly, displaying the area where the fingers were missing, the scars clearly visible in the morning light.

"This."

Her tone was very flat, as if speaking of an ordinary matter.

"It happened in the Seventh Defense Zone, caused by those Orcs with long Liaya and green skin. Back then, I also thought I would never see the sun again."

The girl's pupils contracted slightly, her gaze moving back and forth between Xiumini's hand and her face.

Within the fear, there seemed to be a trace of confusion—had this calm big sister also experienced such terrifying things?

"Later on,"

Xiumini's voice grew softer, as if telling a secret.

"'Giant' warriors dressed like mobile Fortress came. They smashed the cages that held us and crushed those Green Skin monsters. After that, I arrived here."

She pointed to the busy but orderly scene around them, with the sounds of people shouting in the distance.

"Look, there is food here, clean water, neighbors who won't hurt you, and... sunlight."

She tilted her head slightly, letting the golden morning light fall on the scar on her face, also illuminating the girl's pale face.

"The sunlight here is especially warm. You can touch it; it won't bite."

The girl hesitated for a long time, so long that Xiumini thought she would have no further reaction.

Finally, that small, scarred hand, extremely slowly and tentatively, extended a few fingertips from under the blanket and cautiously touched the ground.

The cold, solid feel of the concrete made her flinch, but she did not pull back immediately.

"Yes, just like that."

Xiumini nodded encouragingly, trying her best to squeeze out a gentle smile, which tugged at the scar on the corner of her mouth.

"Everything here is real, and it is safe. Those bugs... they can never reach you again. The Emperor's Angel protect this place."

Nearby, a staff member was trying to help up a middle-aged man who had collapsed from extreme shock, but the man was resisting, waving his arms wildly like a frightened beast.

Xiumini stood up and made a "let me try" gesture to her colleague.

She squatted down in front of the man again, not forcing an approach, but simply looking into his chaotic eyes with a calm gaze.

"Don't be afraid, brother,"

She used the term they had used to encourage each other among the survivors in the Seventh Defense Zone.

"The nightmare is over. Look around, smell the air; there is no stench of rot anymore, only... well, probably the smell of the canteen making gruel. It doesn't smell good, but it keeps you alive.

Especially for survivors like you who have just been rescued from the Alien Race, eating some gruel can help you recover your strength quickly."

The man's waving arms gradually lost their strength, his chaotic breathing calmed down a bit, and the madness in his eyes was replaced by a deep exhaustion.

A rattling sound came from his throat, finally turning into a suppressed sob.

"Come on."

Xiumini reached out her hand, not to pull him, but with her palm facing upward, holding it steadily in front of him; that mangled hand was like a silent witness.

"Stand up, and I'll take you to get something hot to drink and register your name. From now on, this is home."

The man's murky tears finally rolled down; he looked at Xiumini's mangled hand, then at her eyes, which held both calmness and understanding. Finally, his trembling, equally scarred hand slowly and tentatively reached out and rested upon hers.

Xiumini held that cold hand firmly, a strength passing through her arm.

She carefully guided the man to stand, feeling the weakness in his body and his still-slight trembling.

"My name is Xiumini,"

She introduced herself again, her voice not loud, yet clearly piercing through the surrounding clamor,

"Welcome to the Fourth Defense Zone. Live on, so that... so that you can see tomorrow's sun."

She looked up at the increasingly bright morning light filtering down over the plaza, as if seeing once again the dazzling, hope-filled light she had touched for the first time.

She knew that passing this light on was the most important thing she could do for these newly arrived, broken souls.

Just then, a Transport Aircraft appeared in the sky again, and Xiumini saw a large figure and a small figure stepping off the aircraft; the small figure actually had a pair of white wings on its back.

Near this Transport Aircraft, soldiers known as the Modian Iron Guard had already surrounded the craft to prevent other survivors from approaching.

Xiumini was momentarily stunned; who were these two people?

"Sister Xiumini! Look! It's the Emperor's progeny, Lord Angron!"

Xiaoya, who had been fortunate enough to see Angron's face in the Ninth Defense Zone before, came to Xiumini's side excitedly, speaking at a rapid pace.

"The Emperor's progeny? Lord Angron?"

Regarding the Emperor's progeny, Xiumini only knew that the Salamanders Legion, which had rescued him, was the legion of the Emperor's progeny, Vulkan.

Could that winged, handsome-faced child following Lord Angron also be...

"That's right! Don't let Lord Angron's fierce appearance fool you; in reality, Lord Angron is a very gentle person and is extremely considerate of others' feelings!"

Xiaoya looked at Angron's strong body, her eyes filled with little stars.