Chapter 36: 002

From that day on, whether it was just Wu Cisheng’s imagination or not, he always felt like there was a faint, elusive gaze spying on him every day.

This gaze was invisible and intangible, like a ghost. Even if he noticed it, he was powerless to do anything about it.

During every audience message segment, he would be on high alert, patiently waiting for the second “mysterious call” that could come at any time.

But the second day passed…

Then the third day passed…

Everything remained as it was. Nothing happened.

That message seemed like an illusion.

Just when Wu Cisheng was starting to doubt his own intuition, wondering if it really had been just a cruel prank, he met a Sentinel.

It was the fourth day after receiving that strange call. His morning work had ended, and as usual, he went to the cafeteria and ordered his fixed meal set. He ate while listening to his colleagues’ various complaints about their daily lives, just like always.

During his lunch break, he still went to the café downstairs to order a drink and sat quietly in a corner.

He couldn’t see, but he liked sitting among the crowd, quietly listening to others talk, absorbing their idle chatter, complaints, or joyful conversations. It was one of his few forms of entertainment.

However, that day was different. The moment he sat down, he immediately sensed someone approaching him.

The newcomer was no ordinary person; it was a Heterogeneous Human brimming with dense pheromones.

The other party strode towards his table, calling out to him from a distance: “It’s me! Remember me? What a coincidence, running into you here…”

It was a somewhat familiar voice, a Sentinel he’d met just briefly yesterday afternoon.

The footsteps drew near, stopping at the seat opposite Wu Cisheng. Then came the sounds of a chair being pulled out and a tray being placed on the table.

The Sentinel gently pushed the drink Wu Cisheng had ordered directly into his hand, the straw wrapper even carefully torn open in advance.

Could this person work at the café?

Of course not. Wu Cisheng quickly replayed all the details of his first encounter with this Sentinel yesterday afternoon in his mind.

He had been walking home from work. When he reached the first intersection, a noisy scene ahead drew his attention. From the chatter of the gathered crowd, he knew someone was lying in agony under a roadside tree, their fate unknown.

In such situations, most people’s first instinct is to suspect a traffic accident. But Wu Cisheng didn’t smell blood. Instead, he caught a wildly aggressive, overpowering scent of pheromones.

This smell was difficult to describe in words, but it was something ordinary people didn’t have. Only Heterogeneous Humans possessed such unique pheromones, and generally speaking, a Sentinel’s pheromones were heavier than a Guide’s.

Based on this common knowledge, Wu Cisheng quickly concluded that the person drawing the crowd’s attention was a Sentinel – a mentally unstable Sentinel.

As for the cause of the instability…

Generally, there were many reasons a Sentinel could lose control, broadly divided into three categories: self-inflicted, inflicted by others, and other special circumstances.

Self-inflicted reasons were simple: prolonged periods of high-pressure missions or years without regular mental soothing could lead a Sentinel into an unstable state.

External reasons, in short, involved being maliciously attacked by someone using psychic abilities. As for the remaining special circumstances, they were either monthly cycles or an initial Awakening.

If it were the former, the unfamiliar Sentinel’s pheromones should have contained mating signals. But Wu Cisheng perceived only pain and frenzy, leaving only the latter possibility.

It was most likely a newly Awakened Sentinel.

Newly Awakened Sentinels couldn’t autonomously regulate their five senses—hearing, sight, etc.—meaning any minor sound unnoticeable to an ordinary person’s ear would be magnified countless times within the Sentinel’s eardrums.

At this stage, they couldn’t filter the overwhelming influx of information. They all went through a transition period of varying lengths, a state with a technical term: the “Initial Awakening Transition Period,” or “Initial Period.”

As everyone knew, the higher a Sentinel’s level, the more “contamination” they received. Letting a Sentinel with hyper-acute senses walk through a bustling city without any protective measures was practically a form of psychic torture.

Experienced Sentinels would choose to shut down their five senses, carry auxiliary equipment, or act in coordination with their Guide.

So, the question arose.

It was common knowledge that a Sentinel would never appear alone on an ordinary city street. They would always have companions and a matched soothing Guide. Even Sentinels in the Initial Period were housed in special soundproof rooms within the Tower. How could one just casually appear on the street?

Perhaps in the early days of the mutation, when symptoms before Awakening couldn’t be grasped or predicted, newly Awakened Sentinels did occasionally appear on the streets. These panicked Heterogeneous Humans caused many negative social impacts at the time…

But as technology matured, anyone showing even the slightest symptom was immediately sent to the Tower for observation. This was a rule emphasized repeatedly in textbooks, written in black and white within the legal statutes.

Therefore, barring a Sentinel suddenly going insane and sneaking out of the Tower, the probability of a lone, newly Awakened Sentinel appearing on the street was next to zero.

But… it had actually happened?!

And this Sentinel was quite docile. At the very least, he wasn’t recorded as randomly attacking surrounding citizens or wantonly destroying property like previous cases.

How peculiar.

At the time, a few quick-thinking people in the crowd had realized the person on the ground was likely a Heterogeneous Human and had already started calling the relevant association.

Wu Cisheng saw deeper than they did. He was already imagining all sorts of dark conspiracies. He had intended to leave. After all, it had nothing to do with him.

But two seconds later, a young man wearing sunglasses and holding a white cane squeezed into the crowd.

As the first Student Council President, even though he had left the Tower long ago, he hadn’t forgotten much of his knowledge. Setting up a basic Mental Barrier was child’s play for him.

Once a barrier large enough for two was established, the noise of the outside world instantly vanished. Wu Cisheng provided the Sentinel with a simple, temporary mental soothing.

As the Guide Essence saturated the air, the unfamiliar Sentinel’s ragged breathing went from chaotic to steady. He then began thanking Wu Cisheng fervently.

“Thank you so much! I just got here and haven’t quite adjusted. I didn’t know it would come on so suddenly; I thought I had a couple of days…”

“Hey handsome, do you have some time later? I want to ask you about someone. I came here to find a person…”

From his tone, it was clear this Sentinel was definitely not a local. Combining that with his own account, Wu Cisheng dismissed his previous dark speculations, accepting the possibility that a one-in-a-million chance had actually occurred. The guy really had snuck out.

It seemed his goal was to find someone. Wu Cisheng didn’t pry any further, brushed him off with a few words, and left.

That was pretty much the gist of the whole event. If any memory stood out more clearly, it was the feeling of the Sentinel’s Spirit Body enthusiastically rubbing against his leg during the mental soothing.

Ordinary people couldn’t see a Heterogeneous Human’s Spirit Body. Guides could, but as a Guide who had lost his sight and whose certain nerves had atrophied, Wu Cisheng could only perceive it faintly.

To be precise, he perceived it through touch:

A warm tail swaying against his leg. He remembered thinking, this person’s Spirit Body is so fluffy… I wonder what animal it is…

Just as he thought this, that familiar warm touch appeared at Wu Cisheng’s leg once more.

“…It’s you again. What a coincidence.”

Wu Cisheng simply began touching this Spirit Body that had willingly delivered itself to him. Starting from its head, moving to its ears, then tracing his fingers along its spine to gauge its length. After touching its tail, he returned to its head, meticulously exploring its face shape, teeth, nose, and so on, not neglecting any detail.

After this thorough inspection, he felt even more certain: this Sentinel’s Spirit Body was a North American Gray Wolf, the largest of the canine species.

Logically, such a fierce carnivore should be difficult to approach. But during Wu Cisheng’s entire exploration, the Big Gray Wolf was extremely docile. When its head was touched, it even let out very soft, soft whimpers. Even when its nose, a spot it disliked being touched the most, was handled, the Gray Wolf showed no sign of wanting to pull away.

Even though Wu Cisheng was a blind man who couldn’t see, he could feel the slight shifts in the air current caused by the Gray Wolf’s massive, furry tail wagging vigorously.

A Spirit Body is closely linked to its master. A slight injury to the former immediately affects the latter, let alone being touched so intimately by another person.

The owner of a Spirit Body naturally feels every single touch a Guide places on their spirit form.

【Can’t the sensory resonance between the spirit body and its host be turned off?】

【It cannot.】

An electronic voice chimed in abruptly.

【Damn it!】

Lucas came from a futuristic star-faring era at war, where technology was far more advanced than this primitive little world still in the information age.

He was a notorious Star Pirate captain, commanding a crew that gave even Federation citizens and the entire Parliament a massive headache. The mere display of his Star Pirate crew’s flag could silence the most mischievous child instantly.

He should have been living a life of reckless abandon and villainy. Who knew that a single spatial jump via a wormhole would somehow get him bound to a System?

This System immediately flooded him with the contents of a novel, telling him to follow some plan to save a minor background character, to rescue him, change his ending, and even investigate the true cause of his death. That was the main quest, with several hidden quests behind it.

Did Lucas seem like the obedient type?

He just wanted to tear this noisy System apart with his bare hands, only to find that while this stupid System looked outdated at first glance, with obsolete plugins, its core components were surprisingly sophisticated. He couldn’t find a weakness for a while.

Things were getting a bit troublesome.

At that time, he was navigating through an unfamiliar star sea. According to this broken System’s prompts, his destination was the Small World where the Mission Target was located. Only when the System judged the mission successful would it leave automatically.

Has anyone ever experienced a long-distance voyage? In a deathly silent environment, cut off from the star-net, Lucas had no form of entertainment other than reading the novel the System provided over and over again.

The Mission Target was, after all, a minor character. There wasn’t much about him directly. Most of the descriptions came through other people’s memories or speculations.

Pieced together from these fragments, the Mission Target formed a simple initial image in Lucas’s mind: good-looking, gentle-tempered, meticulous in everything he did, kind and responsible, just a poor unlucky fellow with terrible luck.

Thousands of thoughts reeled back in. Lucas noticed his Spirit Body, the Gray Wolf, was once again rubbing itself against the young man like a cat that had just smelled catnip.

He was a bit irritated.

【What’s wrong with that thing? Why is it so rude? I didn’t even let it out, how did it come out on its own again? Make it come back!】

【Why is it wagging its tail?!】

【Why can’t I control it?】

【Can I kill it?】

The Sentinel’s voice in his consciousness was completely different from the light, cheerful tone the Guide used in conversation. His true voice was hoarse and rough, even somewhat unpleasant.

The next second, the System projected a document onto his retina, highlighting key content on one of the pages.

The mechanical voice followed:

【This world is different from yours. The bond between Sentinels and Guides is very tight. Getting close to a Guide and protecting them is a Sentinel’s instinct.】

【Especially since your current body just Awakened, your control over your Spirit Body is at its weakest. Once you get familiar with its existence later, you can make it cooperate with you.】

【Note: In this world, a Spirit Body represents your deepest, most unguarded emotions. So many of its actions aren’t what it wants, but what you want. Just control yourself.】

【As for wanting to eliminate your own Spirit Body, that’s truly unheard of. There is currently no precedent. However, it’s best not to try. According to calculations, if you killed it, you would immediately become an idiot.】

The Sentinel fell silent within his consciousness.

【Understood.】

Lucas stared fixedly at the beautiful young man in sunglasses opposite him. His gaze meticulously patrolled him from head to toe. Words from the novel’s brief description of Wu Cisheng surfaced in his mind:

【The young Guide in the photo was very young, with a strikingly handsome face and a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. He wore a crisp, smart uniform of the Tower, standing beneath a camphor tree. Even through the photo paper, the gentle and refined aura around him was undiminished…】

【No matter what anyone said to Wu Cisheng, he would listen with complete focus. With his meticulous mind, he could always quickly notice the subtle emotions others inadvertently revealed and offer gentle guidance. He was, without a doubt, the easiest Guide to get along with in the entire Capital Tower.】

【His hands were just as beautiful as he was. The knuckles were long, the joints defined, his fingertips neatly trimmed and clean…】

Right under Lucas’s watchful eyes, those hands, like pieces of art, were gently caressing his Spirit Body.

His breathing noticeably changed its rhythm.

In his sight, those warm palms were half-buried in the Gray Wolf’s fur.

He could clearly hear his own heartbeat growing louder.

The palms had reached the tail.

The Guide could not see, so he had to use his fingers to measure the length of the Spirit Body. He didn’t even miss the paws, touching each one in turn. After confirming the body length data, he began exploring the specific shape of the ears…

And as he touched the Gray Wolf, his unseeing gaze just so happened to be directed straight at Lucas.

Even though the lifeless eyes behind the sunglasses made it clear their owner had no sight, Lucas, being “looked” at like that, still unconsciously straightened his spine.

The young man opposite had fair skin, a high nose bridge, and thin lips pressed lightly together, their color a very faint, pale crimson.

His body temperature felt so real. It was as if this young man wasn’t just touching some so-called Spirit Body, but was clearly touching him!

Lucas’s throat moved slightly as he swallowed. His fingertips unconsciously clenched. His heart hammered in his chest as if out of control. He simply couldn’t stop noticing the paleness of his wrist and the light, even breaths he took!

How could this be…

This completely foreign feeling made Lucas feel flustered. For a moment, his mind went blank. What was the opening line he had prepared again?

Wu Cisheng had already recognized him as the Sentinel from the roadside yesterday. According to the script the System provided, he should be thanking Wu Cisheng for earlier, exchanging a few pleasantries, and then, during this process, casually let slip a little “truth” he supposedly knew, right?!

No, for a first meeting, it was better not to reveal his identity too soon. Maybe he should lay some groundwork first?!

Wait, is he looking at me?

Oh, no, no. He can’t see.

The Guide effortlessly and gently pried open the Gray Wolf’s mouth, very methodically touching each sharp canine tooth, counting their number with his fingertips.

During this process, the Sentinel’s throat kept producing saliva. He found himself, seemingly beyond his control, slightly parting his own lips.

This world’s Spirit Bodies were just too unbelievable. He never knew his famously proud willpower could be so weak, so easily influenced by a stranger he’d met for the first time.

Alarm bells went off in his head, but his newborn Spirit Body didn’t care about any of that. Driven by primal instinct, it only wanted to get closer to the young man, to be more intimate with this existence that brought it such pleasure.

【Ding — Detected your current heart rate is too high. Do you need help…】

【Shut up!】

This world was truly too strange, especially this damn Spirit Body. Could it be a flaw in the evolutionary process? How could it be this uncontrollable?

Lucas thought, he had to finish this so-called rescue mission fast and leave this backward dump of a place! His crew had just pulled a fat job before he left, and there were still spoils to divide. Was he crazy to stay here and play house?!

Of course, it’d be best if he could dismantle this System along the way too!