Chapter 12: Pleading
“It’s swollen here.”
Xu Xunyue lifted a hand to cup the Sentinel’s cheek and jaw, his thumb gently pressing on his lips. His tone was calm, as if he were stating a perfectly ordinary fact.
Of course, what he said was also true.
Zhu Hui didn’t know what to say in response. His mind probably didn’t have any room for thought. He tried to even his breathing, staring straight into Xu Xunyue’s eyes.
That’s a look that’s asking for a kiss, Xu Xunyue thought.
They had been kissing for quite a while today.
He had never thought before that something that sounded so boring and meaningless could take up so much time. It seemed to have some addictive properties.
Just look at the man before him. The youngest Chief Sentinel in the Empire’s history, with such formidable willpower and endurance, was now almost completely lost in it.
It was indeed very comfortable. It was relaxing for a Sentinel, and for a Guide as well, as if there were another being in the world who was on the same frequency as him.
So this was what the bond between a Guide and a Sentinel was like?
No wonder so many people liked it.
Xu Xunyue could now somewhat understand his classmates from his student days who loved to organize social events at the White Tower.
He had to admit, all of Zhu Hui’s reactions were to his liking, even his pheromones suited his taste.
Suited his taste in a physical sense.
Perhaps the special existence of “the only name on the compatibility list” was not just a simple coincidence. As the only Sentinel with a compatibility rating of over 60% with him, Zhu Hui was different from other Sentinels.
It wasn’t just a difference in meaning, psychology, or emotion, but a real, tangible difference. It was just that right now, he hadn’t been able to pinpoint it.
But it didn’t matter.
Since Zhu Hui had accepted the marriage contract, had come to him, and had made a deal with him, he was already his Sentinel. He would get to know him thoroughly, bit by bit. He would find out eventually.
Under Zhu Hui’s misty, unblinking gaze, Xu Xunyue lightly kissed the peak of his lip. This time, it was a light touch, not a deep one. Compared to a kiss, it was more like a form of comfort, a closing punctuation mark with a hint of intimacy.
For so many years, the people around him had come and gone. Blood relatives, superiors, friends, subordinates… they were either dead or had their own agendas and had gradually drifted away. Very few had stayed for long.
This was a microcosm of the Poseidon Era, the most common kind of parting and reuniting.
How long could Zhu Hui stay?
Honestly, he hoped it would be for a long time.
The young Sentinel tilted his head and leaned toward him, subconsciously trying to follow, but stopped when he saw Xu Xunyue raise his wrist again, and cooperatively tested their compatibility one more time.
67.01%.
This time, it had increased by 0.1%.
A rather comical speculation popped into Xu Xunyue’s mind.
The first time it increased by 0.4%, the second time by 0.5%, and this time only by 0.1%. Was it because it was just one kiss?
If he said this out loud, not even the most junior researcher at the White Tower would believe it, yet it had happened just like that.
In fact, their initial value of 60.01% was also very rare. According to common sense, no matter how low the compatibility, it was hard to get stuck at such a perfect number.
And now, the compatibility rating could actually increase after intimate contact, and the degree of increase was even linked to the duration and intensity of the contact.
If this increase had no limit, wouldn’t a 90% be just around the corner?
Over 90%—that was a legendary compatibility rating, often appearing in the popular romance novels of the Imperial Capital, representing terms like “tailor-made” and “a match made in heaven.”
Although both Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui were rather unconventional as a Guide and a Sentinel, not as dependent on their other half as most, an increase in compatibility rating was all benefits and no harm. If they had the opportunity to collaborate in the future, their combat effectiveness would definitely multiply several times over.
Xu Xunyue looked at the 67.01% on his personal terminal for two seconds.
“Let’s stop here for today,” he said.
If he remembered correctly, it had just surpassed the original number one on Zhu Hui’s compatibility list, which was 67%.
Right, since they were retesting their compatibility, the next time he met with the Minister of Finance, he should check Zhu Hui’s compatibility list again.
Zhu Hui pursed his lips, looking a little reluctant, but still nodded obediently.
Xu Xunyue then added, “We’ll continue tomorrow. Take it slow.”
Zhu Hui immediately asked, “Every day?”
“Every day—you like it that much?”
“I…” Zhu Hui hesitated for a moment, finally looking away from him, then said, “I quite like it. And it can increase our compatibility rating, can’t it? We can try to see how high it can get…”
The more he spoke, the redder his face became.
Xu Xunyue saw everything, feeling quite pleased, and didn’t expose him.
After a moment, he opened his personal terminal and turned the screen toward Zhu Hui. “Scan your face and irises. I’ll give you secondary access to the house. You won’t have to ring the doorbell anymore.”
Zhu Hui was stunned and said in a low voice, “Isn’t secondary access too high? This is your home. For entry, traveler access should be enough…”
The entire Imperial Capital was not large, and it was the safest and most developed area, so housing prices were naturally exorbitant. An ordinary person might work their whole life and still only be able to rent. Although he had some savings compared to his peers, he definitely couldn’t afford a manor like the one Xu Xunyue lived in, at least not without saving for a few more years and getting a promotion in rank and salary.
He knew that Xu Xunyue was not from a noble family and had heard stories of how he had risen from an ordinary officer to where he was today. He felt that he shouldn’t so easily share something that had originally belonged only to Xu Xunyue, even if it was just a sweet fruit that had long since ripened and was ready for the picking.
Even though he really wanted it, even though he really liked it, it was wrong to take advantage of his brother. He hadn’t done anything himself.
At the very least… at the very least, he should let Xu Xunyue observe him for a period of time, feel that he was not bad, be satisfied with him, and then upgrade his access.
Yes, that’s how it should be.
“Do you think this is the military? Upgrading step by step, with benefits increasing little by little?”
Xu Xunyue’s voice interrupted the young Sentinel’s thoughts. His tone was slightly teasing, as if he knew what he was thinking.
“The level of secondary access is still below primary access. I am still the owner of the house. If you want to think of yourself as a guest—”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Zhu Hui said quickly. “I will treat this place as my own home. You are, of course, still the master of this place. I… I…”
Zhu Hui’s words got stuck. He was a little anxious, but he also felt that what he was saying sounded a bit strange.
Xu Xunyue also noticed the strangeness in his words.
But for him, it wasn’t so much strange as it was a little unfamiliar to hear.
He knew in his heart what he found unfamiliar and why he felt that way.
From beginning to end, the word Zhu Hui used was “home.” The word he used was “house.”
Zhu Hui spoke of the “master of the home.” He spoke of the “owner of the house.”
And the string of words Zhu Hui had just said, something like “I will treat this place as my own home, you are of course still the master of this place”…
…The head of the household?
Wait, the tone seemed a little strange.
Xu Xunyue erased the strange association from his mind and said to the still-blushing and nervous Sentinel, “Alright, secondary access it is. You don’t have to be so polite with me.”
He raised his wrist and shook it, his tone relaxed. “Come, scan your irises.”
Zhu Hui sat up straight, looked at his personal terminal screen, and crisply completed the registration process according to the system’s prompts.
At the end, he asked, “Then can I give you my account?”
“?” Xu Xunyue asked back, “Why?”
“Just handing over my bank card. I heard it was a common custom in the Empire before the Poseidon Era.”
“I don’t need…”
“But I want to,” Zhu Hui looked at him pleadingly. “Can I? I really want to.”
Xu Xunyue: “…”
Why did he feel like Zhu Hui was pleading with him?
Sighing with a hint of resignation, Xu Xunyue said:
“I’ll keep it for you.”
After setting the access rights and arranging for him to stay in the room next to his own bedroom, the whole night’s ordeal was finally more or less over.
When Zhu Hui got off the wheelchair, he even stumbled a little. Although he quickly regained his balance, that moment was still caught by Xu Xunyue.
He must have been kneeling for too long, he thought.
Half an hour later.
Click.
Zhu Hui, wearing new slippers, came out of the bathroom and turned on the kitchen light.
It was a spacious and lived-in kitchen, neatly organized, with a few bottles of rarely seen seasonings on the counter, clearly used often.
With a Sentinel’s sharp senses, he smelled a faint aroma of cooked food from a few hours ago lingering in the kitchen. It wasn’t pungent, but rather very pleasant.
Brother can cook too. Amazing.
Zhu Hui didn’t touch anything else, just followed Xu Xunyue’s instructions, took a bowl from the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of water.
Half an hour ago, he had wanted to do something to help Xu Xunyue, like tidy up the room or push the wheelchair, but Xu Xunyue had refused, only telling him to take a shower and drink some water.
He really hadn’t had any water for a long time.
Since the Cataclysm, although there was snow and sea everywhere, it didn’t mean there was no shortage of water. Seawater couldn’t be drunk directly, and eating snow directly would cause excessive heat loss in the body, which could even be life-threatening in severe cases.
Drinkable fresh water was the pillar of life.
The warm liquid touched his lips, bringing the purest comfort. With a slight bob of his Adam’s apple, he could swallow it, and the feeling of hydration traveled from his mouth all the way to his chest.
Zhu Hui sipped the water in the bowl, but his mind was on another taste.
The taste of rust.
The feeling of it dripping onto his lips, drop by drop, the frequency gradually increasing, the taste of rust growing stronger.
Eight years ago, in the Fengshan A2 Zone, his consciousness had awakened to this taste.
Even though he was awake, he still thought he was going to die, so he forced his snow-blind eyes open, wanting to see who was holding him and feeding him their blood.
And that person had covered his eyes.
He really hadn’t been able to see clearly.
Afterward, he had searched based on the only impression he had, but to no avail.
The people he asked said there were too few features. There were many people with blue eyes in the Empire, and hairstyles could be changed at will. More people said that if it was a military officer from a squad, they had probably died in a cataclysm zone long ago.
He didn’t believe it.
He had always believed that a high-level Sentinel who could enter and exit a cataclysm zone alone, climb to the top of a mountain and come back down within two days, and still have a free hand to hold a gun and shoot while carrying a burden like him, must be a very, very amazing person. They would definitely have survived.
…That’s right.
A high-level Sentinel.
Now, whenever Zhu Hui thought of this, he felt so stupid.
He had gotten the most crucial piece of information wrong. How could he possibly have found him? It didn’t matter that he hadn’t seen clearly; even if he had, it would have been useless.
Thank goodness for this marriage contract eight years later, which allowed him to meet him again.
The moment he truly met Xu Xunyue’s eyes, something that had long been engraved in his genes began to tremble.
Blue eyes.
Those blue eyes from his memory, the most beautiful eyes in the world, were actually ice-blue.
The trembling intensified with deeper contact, so much so that at the same time his spiritual body truly attacked, revealing its ferocity without reservation, the drifting bottle containing his precious memory was also washed ashore by a great wave.
The surface of the glass bottle, repeatedly washed, was so clear that any slight fluctuation in thought could bring up all related images, comparing all the details of the memories.
Could it be him, my brother?
It seems like it’s him.
It is him.
But how should he say it?
Say that he was too young at the time, hadn’t awakened yet, and had mistaken his brother for a Sentinel based on an ordinary person’s stereotype?
But times had changed. Talking about the past now, would it make Xu Xunyue, whose circumstances were now completely different, feel uncomfortable?
Or maybe there was no need to say anything at all. Xu Xunyue had saved so many people. He was just one of them, nothing special.
It was very important to him, but the other person involved had probably already forgotten.
He could only take good care of the brother he had now.
…Captain brother.
