Chapter 23: May I Ride You?

Nyx gave Aug a good thrashing and then gagged him, leaving him unable to spew any more insults.

Though he couldn't curse with his mouth, he still had his spiritual projection. A massive Alaskan Malamute spiritual projection crouched beside him, barking incessantly at Nyx.

Other canine-type Sentinels in the squad said to Nyx, "Boss, he’s cursing really filthily."

Nyx pulled a restraint strap from his arm and snapped it with a loud "crack" onto the snout of Aug’s spiritual projection, muzzling the dog as well.

Both man and dog glared at Nyx with identical expressions of fury, though the damage dealt to Nyx was exactly zero.

Nyx fished out a cigarette from somewhere, lit it, and looked down at Aug from his superior position. "How old are you, pup? If someone like you were in my squad, I’d have drilled you to death by now."

Aug rolled his eyes at him and retracted his spiritual projection.

Nyx chuckled, ignored him, and turned his attention to the bathroom. He glanced at Huo Lin, who was busy assembling parts; the Snow Wolf quietly raised a paw and pressed it against the bathroom door handle.

Without looking up, Huo Lin used his own spiritual projection to bite the Snow Wolf’s tail and drag it away from the door. "If you’re that bored, go outside and blow off some steam in the cold air. Let your brain cool down."

"Keep up the act, then," Nyx said, lying back on the dusty sofa and closing his eyes. "Let’s see how long you can hold out."

Huo Lin ignored him. A black panther stood guard at the bathroom door, allowing no one to get near.

The room was filled with stale, decaying air, yet Nyx’s nostrils were saturated with the scent of Yu Xia. It wasn't her pheromones—just the faint, natural fragrance of her skin—but even that trace was enough to keep him lingering on the sensation for a long time.

After Yu Xia had performed a deep spiritual stabilization for him, his mind had been entirely occupied by this little dolphin of his.

A Sentinel’s craving for a Guide is etched into their genes. Especially for a Guide who has left an imprint on a Sentinel’s mental landscape, it is tantamount to carving her into the Sentinel’s soul; no matter what, they cannot forget her.

It wasn't as if high-level Guides hadn't performed spiritual stabilization for him in the past, but the experience was completely different from Yu Xia’s. Other Guides were raised with formal training—not just in spiritual stabilization, but in their attitude toward Sentinels.

Sentinels are beasts; they are weapons. They cannot be people—at least, not normal people. And so, the Guides treated them as beasts, as weapons. Everyone fears a beast, especially when a Guide’s job is to soothe one.

Less capable Guides provided only superficial stabilization, which could briefly calm a Sentinel’s mental agitation. More capable ones would act with swift efficiency, never leaving a trace behind in the Sentinel’s mental landscape. Unless it was their own designated ward or a Sentinel with whom they shared a high compatibility, they were rarely drawn to one another.

Thus, in the White Tower, the Guides—schooled from childhood in proper conduct—and the Sentinels—who had recited the "Guide Protection Regulations" since they learned to speak—were unfailingly polite to each other. One side was polite out of a reluctance to coexist with beasts; the other side was polite because they had to be, or the Overseers would be impolite to them.

Of course, this only held true as long as the compatibility wasn't exceptionally high, or the Guide didn't suddenly experience a heat cycle, or the Sentinel didn't suffer a mental breakdown. Otherwise, any regulation was just empty talk.

In the current situation, their restraint was entirely due to the discipline and immense willpower of Huo Lin and Nyx. Otherwise, they would have already come to blows over the chaotic tangle of pheromones, or forcibly marked Yu Xia.

A wild Guide, a pack of manic, unmanaged Sentinels exiled in a restricted zone—even a dog would shake its head and say it was all over.

Sentinels are, at their core, beasts prone to losing control. Nyx didn't think he had that much self-restraint, but he had so many teammates; if he were the first to lose control, how could he suppress the others?

However, the one suffering more than him here was undoubtedly Huo Lin. He was also the most dangerous, as Yu Xia had established a mental link with him and left a mark in his mental landscape. He could be induced into a heat cycle at any moment.

Inside the bathroom, Yu Xia had nearly fallen asleep in the tub; she really couldn't bear to get out of the water. Soaking gave her a strange sense of satisfaction, and her agitated mind felt much better. She had loved water and swimming since she was a child, perhaps because she grew up near the sea.

She was born in the Southern Base, which was close to the ocean, and when the weather was nice, her parents would take her to the shore. But those opportunities were rare. In her era, the global climate had become bizarre; one moment the sky could be cloudless, and the next, a violent storm would hit. Rain, snow, and hail all at once were the norm. More often than not, she could only swim in the base’s pool.

"Glug~"

A few bubbles rose in front of Yu Xia. She peered closely and saw a tiny dragon head stealthily emerging from the water, a pair of vertical pupils, matching the color of its scales, staring fixedly at her.

"Baru?" she asked. She remembered that in this Sentinel squad, only Baru’s spiritual projection was a dragon.

The little fire dragon chirped twice at Yu Xia and nuzzled up to her. It had been staying quietly in the corner, not daring to disturb Yu Xia for fear that Huo Lin would toss it out, too.

Yu Xia scooped the little fire dragon into her palms, curiously stroking its head and carefully observing its structure and scales. She hadn't had a chance to understand the Sentinels' spiritual projections before, as she had been busy running away, performing stabilizations, or sleeping. She had seen it in Baru’s mental landscape, but never had the chance to touch it up close like this, and it wasn't nearly this small in reality.

After a few strokes, the little fire dragon went limp in her palm.

Seeing it like this, Yu Xia asked, "Does that feel good?"

The little fire dragon let out a soft, raspy sound, rubbing its head incessantly against her palm. Afraid that its horns might scratch her, it carefully rubbed with its chin instead.

This was the first time Yu Xia had ever seen a "dragon." She had only seen them in books before—creatures from the fairy tales her mother used to tell her. She had once told her mother that she wanted to raise a dragon when she grew up, so she could ride it. That would have been so cool. It wasn't until she grew up that she learned dragons didn't exist in the world.

But now, one existed, right there in her palm—and it was a dragon that could grow to be massive.

So, Yu Xia asked, "Baru, can I ride you?"

Baru’s brain stalled for a moment. Ride... ride what?

The Sentinels outside, ears pricked: "???"

Nyx suddenly opened his eyes and let out a long hiss. Huo Lin nearly crushed the part in his hand. Baru, who was guarding the outside, let out an "Awooo!" and collapsed to the ground.

Aug looked at them with disdain: "A bunch of shameless Federation dogs! Look what they’ve turned a perfectly good Guide into!"

Seeing the little fire dragon suddenly collapse in her palm, Yu Xia said, "Is it not allowed? Just for a little bit."

Yu Xia added politely, "It’s okay if you can't. I don't mean anything else by it, I just wanted to ride one for a moment." She wanted to satisfy a childhood curiosity. "If I’ve offended you, please ignore what I just said."

Baru: *I can! It’s not offensive at all! You can ride as long as you want, any way you want!*