Chapter 11: I'm Just Saving Up for a Wife

“Yu... Yu Xiaxia, what’s wrong?!” Baru stammered nervously, his anxiety mounting as he saw Yu Xia lying unconscious.

“She has exhausted too much of her mental energy,” Huo Lin said, gently laying Yu Xia on the sofa, his brow furrowed.

Just moments ago, he could still sense her mental strength at a relatively normal level, but as soon as she fell asleep, her mental energy weakened significantly.

Nyx quickly deduced the cause. “Her mental power is strong; it’s her body that’s too weak.”

“I once had an S-rank guide provide me with mental counseling. Yu Xia’s mental strength is not inferior to that S-rank guide,” Huo Lin added.

The two exchanged a glance, recalling her upbringing under the secret care of the Sentinels.

Perhaps that was the root of her unstable mental state.

“Could it be one of the dark Sentinels?” Nyx speculated.

Huo Lin’s thoughts aligned closely with Nyx’s.

Dark Sentinels are somewhat stronger than ordinary Sentinels; they possess a kind of mental self-control beyond that of normal people and do not require a guide’s mental counseling.

Ordinarily, if an average Sentinel secretly harbors a guide, they would form an intimate mental link, and the guide would be adept at mental counseling.

But for now, it was only a guess. Since that Sentinel was already dead, they decided not to reopen Yu Xia’s wounds.

“She can’t stay here long. The contaminated zone will only make her weaker,” Huo Lin said.

Not to mention medicine, even food supplies were nearly depleted. Their squad had scavenged multiple supply points to gather this meager ration.

Yu Xia’s mental energy depletion manifested physically; she would soon feel hunger.

She needed more food and water, more nutrition.

Nyx nodded. “We do need to get her out.”

Baru said, “Why don’t we just take her to the rear? Surely they wouldn’t refuse even a guide, right?”

“Are you stupid?” Nyx slapped Baru on the back of the head. “How could we hand her over to those bastards?”

Baru hesitated, “Then wh-what do we do? There’s no other safe exit.”

They had already searched. The safest route was still the rear exit. Even if they detoured to avoid rear surveillance, it ultimately led beneath the city walls at the contaminated zone’s exit.

Nyx pulled out a chair and sat down, tapping the table. “Alright, each of us chip in some money—raise ten million credits. Once I’m out, I’ll deal with those sons of bitches.”

He looked to Huo Lin. “First, get her out. You’ve got ten million? We’ll add another ten million. If we can raise twenty million, an extra person to protect her outside would be even better.”

Huo Lin admitted honestly, “I only have five million.”

“...” Nyx’s vein throbbed on his forehead. “You’ve grown craftier since becoming a mercenary.” He had suspected Huo Lin wouldn’t have ten million.

Huo Lin shrugged. “Like you said, you have to learn to be flexible.”

Those were the very words Nyx once used to encourage him when they butted heads with their superior.

Nyx smiled wryly.

Flexibility—yet he himself was now dismissed.

Those bastards.

“Fine, five million it is.” Nyx opened his offline terminal account. “I have two million.”

Huo Lin covered Yu Xia with a blanket and glanced at him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Nyx said. “Most of my assets are frozen.”

Huo Lin knew Nyx had a hobby: saving money.

Though Nyx’s family was not wealthy, they were comfortable. He could attend the best military academy, but he and Huo Lin both took odd jobs—one to save money, the other to pay tuition.

Huo Lin once asked why Nyx was so fond of saving money, and Nyx replied, “Aren’t you going to marry someday? I’m saving for a wife.”

Huo Lin had no such plans; he spent all his money upgrading his gear.

Now he regretted it a little and acknowledged Nyx’s foresight.

Had he known he’d meet Yu Xia, he would have saved from the first star coin he earned.

“Boss, I have over a million,” Baru said, transferring all his star coins to Nyx.

“That’s still not enough.” Nyx grabbed at Baru, trying to snatch the gem pendant hanging from his neck.

The pendant alone was worth hundreds of thousands.

Baru backed away protectively. “N-no, I can’t give this!”

Nyx said, “We’ll buy you another once we’re out. You Dragonkin are all wealthy. You have so many gems, missing one won’t matter.”

Baru shook his head. “I want to give it to...”

Nyx noticed Baru stammering and asked, “Give it to who? Your future wife?”

Baru’s face immediately flushed red. Nyx laughed. “You’ve collected so many gems already; just pick a nice one to give her later.”

Among them, Baru was actually the wealthiest.

He came from a branch of a Dragonkin spiritual family on the main star—a grand family rich beyond measure in the entire Horo star system.

Though Baru’s cash savings were modest, his collection of gems and jewelry was priceless.

He often spent his money on beautiful jewelry, so he never saved much.

“Alright,” Baru glanced back at Yu Xia and removed the gem pendant, handing it to Nyx.

Carrying such valuables on missions was unwise; he had bought it after arriving on Derman Star because he liked it.

Other Sentinels also transferred all their star coins to Nyx, bringing out all their valuables.

But it still fell far short of twenty million.

Huo Lin looked at them and said, “You’re poorer than me after all this? How is that possible?”

Nyx scoffed. “Are you speaking in human language? Someone with five million credits is considered poor here?”

Huo Lin said, “I have to support Yu Xia.”

Nyx was even more annoyed—this was blatant showing off!

He said acidly, “I’ve been unlucky lately, unlike you, who found such a great guide when fortune turned your way.”

Yu Xia’s mental counseling had bonded her to Huo Lin; they didn’t have that privilege, so Nyx’s jealousy was understandable.

Huo Lin and Nyx used to be friends. But in recent years, both had fallen on hard times—one blacklisted by the Sentinel system and forced to be a mercenary, the other stripped of rank and sent to the front as a squad leader.

They happened to be teamed up again in the contaminated zone of the Northern District.

“This money will only suffice to get Yu Xia out,” Nyx said, rubbing his temples as he looked at the nearly ten million credits in offline pre-transfers on his terminal.

Right now, he would give anything to rush to the rear and stab each of those bastards.

Who knew which rotten scoundrel had ordered this?

“Sending her out alone is still risky,” Huo Lin mused.

Given what those rear people were capable of, they could hardly trust them with Yu Xia.

“Let me think,” Nyx scratched his silver-gray short hair and scrolled through contacts on his terminal.

No answer. No use even looking.

Nyx glanced and closed it again.

Baru said, “If all else fails, we fight our way out!”

“No,” Nyx said firmly. “That could hurt Yu Xia. She has no official identity; getting discovered by other Sentinels would be the greatest danger.”

Huo Lin pondered for a moment. “There might be another way.”