Chapter 22: Snacks Part 1

Teacher Xu could feel that the mental tentacle touching him was extremely weak.

But no matter how weak it was, it was still a Guide’s mental tentacle.

The person before him had not lied — he truly had awakened!

A person who was already an adult… had actually awakened!

Teacher Xu was utterly shocked. He immediately said, “Follow me inside. I’ll take you for an examination.”

The Guide Academy wasn’t large. The teachers’ offices and the Mental Power Testing Center were housed in the same building.

No sooner had Teacher Xu led Xiang Ye into the Mental Power Testing Center than all the teachers in the academy who had received the news came flocking — including a sullen-faced Teacher Zhou.

It wasn’t rare for someone to awaken as a Guide, but for an adult to awaken? Now that was something truly unheard of!

Surrounded by a crowd, Xiang Ye felt somewhat uneasy. But after thinking it over, he calmed down.

No matter how bad his current situation might be, it was far better than his past life, when he’d nearly starved to death.

He kept his head down and followed closely behind Teacher Xu. Whatever Teacher Xu told him to do, he did, acting exceptionally obedient.

Soon, he was brought before the machine that tested mental power.

Following what Ying Li had taught him the day before, Xiang Ye separated a tiny wisp from his vast mental power and funneled it into the device. Moments later, the device displayed a value: “Mental Power Rank: D-.”

In Starlight City, the ranks for both Sentinels and Guides, from lowest to highest, were D, C, B, A, and S. Among them, D-Rank was the lowest and covered the broadest range.

Anyone who had awakened but whose rank hadn’t reached C was classified as D-Rank.

Someone had once proposed adding even lower ranks, like E and F. However, the management costs would have been too high, and it could easily lead to discrimination, so the government didn’t agree.

But while they hadn’t agreed to add lower ranks, they had instituted a “D-” designation, roughly corresponding to being on the low end even within D-Rank.

Seeing Xiang Ye’s rank, the teachers were deeply disappointed.

To be honest, they looked down a little on a student who was merely D-.

“Your rank has been tested. Next, you’ll need to undergo a physical examination,” Teacher Xu said to Xiang Ye.

They had already pulled up all of Xiang Ye’s records. His previous medical history mostly consisted of free blood-staunching services. He’d only had a physical once, and that was five or six years ago.

They still weren’t clear on Xiang Ye’s current physical condition.

Hearing Teacher Xu’s words, Xiang Ye clutched his sleeves tightly and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Teacher Xu then led him to undergo a physical examination.

When the results of the physical examination came out, everyone was even more disappointed.

They had thought Xiang Ye’s appearance would be a miracle, but it wasn’t.

Xiang Ye was malnourished. His body bore many old scars. Crucially, his body had not yet developed. Although he was already eighteen, his bone age was only that of a twelve-year-old.

The lower a person’s rank, the later their awakening time. His rank was D-; thus, his “awakening at twelve” was actually quite normal.

Teacher Xu had Xiang Ye undergo even more detailed examinations in the medical room while simultaneously creating his file and helping him apply for the one-time resources and bonus the government distributed to newly awakened Guides.

After a Guide awakened, the Guide Academy would support them free of charge until they reached adulthood. But Xiang Ye was already an adult in terms of age, and his rank was low, so he wouldn’t receive that part of the benefits.

While the Guide Academy’s teachers busily handled these matters, in the Central District, the Shen Family had already received word that an adult had successfully awakened.

They immediately dispatched researchers from their family laboratory to the Upper City District to see what was going on with this awakened individual.

If this person’s condition was unique, they’d find a way to bring them back for research.

On their way to the Upper City District, these researchers received Xiang Ye’s physical examination report.

Seeing that Xiang Ye’s late awakening was due to his body’s delayed development, they were extremely disappointed.

However, they hadn’t seen Xiang Ye in person, so they were still skeptical of the report. They would need to see Xiang Ye themselves to know the specifics.

By the time these people arrived at the Guide Academy, Xiang Ye was still in the medical room.

Teacher Xu informed Xiang Ye that some people were coming to give him further examinations. Then, several individuals carrying medical instruments entered and conducted the same tests already done, plus additional ones.

These people also asked Xiang Ye many questions. For example, two months ago, Xiang Ye had been skin and bones. How had his condition improved so much?

The Underground City was full of surveillance; there was no privacy.

The Shen Family had long since pulled up Xiang Ye’s past video records. They also knew that after completing his last wall-cleaning job and buying a single box of nutrient paste, he had no further consumption records.

Using this information, they even found the surveillance footage of Ying Li taking Xiang Ye away.

Xiang Ye had no intention of hiding any of this. He recounted how someone had snatched his nutrient paste, how he’d nearly starved to death, and how Ying Li had subsequently taken him in, after which he became a housekeeper at Ying Li’s place. “Mr. Ying doesn’t restrict my nutrient paste. During this time, I’ve been eating until I’m completely full!”

Previously, Xiang Ye had always been bullied and hadn’t had enough to eat, leaving him excessively thin. Indeed, he hadn’t met the conditions required for awakening.

After Ying Li took him home and he had food and drink, only then did he successfully awaken.

Everything checked out. In other words, Xiang Ye as a person had absolutely no research value.

The Shen Family researchers were very disappointed. At the same time, they noted that they had, in fact, taken note of Ying Li once before.

A D-Rank Sentinel becoming a B-Rank Sentinel at the age of twenty — that was also quite unusual.

However, Ying Li had always lived in the Upper City District, so all his data was open and transparent. When he was in school, his physical fitness and other metrics had been on par with C-Rank Sentinels his age. His rank advancing to B after reaching adulthood wasn’t strange. Thus, they hadn’t paid much attention to Ying Li, either.

The Upper City District had a huge population base; every year, a dozen or so B-Rank Sentinels emerged. Most of them would be recruited by the major families of the Central District, becoming part of their Hunting Teams to help them harvest various resources.

Many of these Sentinels had advanced from C-Rank to B-Rank. They paid attention to several each year — Ying Li didn’t stand out among them.

But now that Ying Li was linked to Xiang Ye, they took the opportunity to investigate Ying Li’s data.

They discovered that Ying Li had a habit of periodically feeling soft-hearted and giving nutrient paste to people who couldn’t afford food. With this, they removed Ying Li from their list of suspects.

The Shen Family people left as quickly as they had come.

The Upper City District was crowded and the air was stale. They didn’t like this place!

Xiang Ye had arrived at the Guide Academy early in the morning. By evening, his identity information had been changed to Guide, and the subsidies due to Guides had been deposited into his account in the form of credit points and discount vouchers.

Teacher Xu asked him, “Do you have somewhere to stay? Would you like to stay at the Guide Academy for a few days?”

After their discussion, they had decided not to enroll Xiang Ye in the academy, but they could let him stay in the school for a few days.

After all, according to the data, Xiang Ye had no family, no rented residence, and relied on being a housekeeper for a Sentinel to survive.

But now that he had awakened as a Guide, he probably wouldn’t keep being a housekeeper for that Sentinel.

Xiang Ye shook his head. “Teacher, there’s no need. I want to go back to Mr. Ying’s place.”

“You still want to go back?” Teacher Xu was somewhat surprised.

Xiang Ye, who had been keeping his head down timidly the entire time, finally lifted his head. His eyes sparkled, and his words came much more freely. “Yes! Mr. Ying treats me very well! I didn’t even know I’d awakened — it was Mr. Ying who told me when he came back to the city yesterday.”

Judging by Xiang Ye’s expression, he clearly had feelings for Ying Li.

Teacher Xu didn’t know every student at the neighboring Sentinel Academy, but standouts among a graduating class like Ying Li — he knew of them.

When Ying Li had previously confessed to Wu Nian, a Guide at their Guide Academy, only to be rejected by Wu Nian, he had found it hard to believe.

If Wu Nian were a C-Rank Guide, rejecting Ying Li would be normal. But Wu Nian was only D-Rank!

Still, the affairs of young people weren’t something he would meddle in.

Just like now, when Xiang Ye said he wanted to go back to Ying Li, Teacher Xu only gave a reminder: “Be sure to read the Guide Academy course materials I sent you. Also, as a Guide, if you want to live well, it’s best to find a Guardian.”

From Teacher Xu’s perspective, Ying Li was most likely unwilling to become Xiang Ye’s Guardian. If Xiang Ye wanted a stable life, he should find a C-Rank Sentinel to be his Guardian.

Xiang Ye replied, “Thank you for the reminder, Teacher.”

He said this, but Teacher Xu could tell that his words hadn’t truly been taken to heart.

But well, young people — they’d have to run into a wall and learn a lesson. There was plenty of time to change their ways.

By the time Xiang Ye left the Guide Academy, the sky was already dark.

Or rather, the Artificial Sun in the sky had already shut off.

But the lights in every part of the Underground City had turned on, so the city hadn’t been plunged into darkness.

Xiang Ye hadn’t walked far before he saw Ying Li. “Big Brother Ying! Everything went smoothly!”

“Smooth is good!” Ying Li felt his mood lift at the sight of Xiang Ye.

Although he knew that in a place like the Guide Academy, Xiang Ye shouldn’t run into trouble, he had still been somewhat worried throughout the day.

Only now, seeing Xiang Ye, did his heart finally settle.

Once they were back at his residence, Ying Li began asking Xiang Ye about everything that had happened that day. Upon learning that some people had come midway, bringing various instruments to examine Xiang Ye, he even took out a tablet not connected to the network, opened a facial composite program, and had Xiang Ye recreate the faces of those individuals.

An ordinary person would find it very difficult to recreate the faces of people they’d only seen once. Low-level Guides, due to their weak mental power, might not be able to do it either. But Xiang Ye was a high-level Guide.

Xiang Ye quickly assembled several faces in the program.

Ying Li discovered that these people were researchers killed by Xiang Ye in his previous life. He silently sighed.

“Big Brother Ying, are these people a problem?”

After some thought, Ying Li decided not to hide it from Xiang Ye. “Xiang Ye, when I was hunting outside the city earlier, I met a Sentinel who had defected from the Underground City. He told me some things about the Central District. According to him, the Shen Family in the Central District has always been conducting human experimentation on Sentinels and Guides from the Upper City District. He also showed me portraits of some of those researchers. One of the portraits matches the face you just assembled.”

“Those people who examined me are researchers from the Shen Family’s laboratory?” Xiang Ye was somewhat shocked. Earlier, when he’d said he didn’t want to go to the Central District, he’d mentioned he might get captured for research. Who would have thought something like that had nearly actually happened!

“Yes,” Ying Li said with some relief. “They likely don’t intend to take you back for research, which is a very good thing.”

Xiang Ye carefully recalled the reactions of those people and also breathed a sigh of relief. “Big Brother Ying, it’s a good thing I pretended to be a D-Rank Guide. If my rank had been high, they might have found a way to take me away!”

Ying Li thought it over carefully; it really was the case.

D-Rank Xiang Ye had no research value, but B-Rank Xiang Ye would indeed be worth studying.

The major families in the Central District had always wanted to cultivate more high-rank Guides.