The Snow Wolf and the Red Fox

"Miss Guide, I hope we didn't disturb you?"

Ers walked to her side and bent down to take her right hand gently. His fingertips, callused from years of holding a gun, were cool against her skin, but his movements were exceptionally light and slow. He lowered his head slightly and placed a restrained kiss on the back of her hand.

Kissing a lady's hand was a common courtesy in both the Federation and the Empire.

But Yuqing, an ability user who had spent ten years killing zombies in the apocalypse, still turned bright red. "N-no, it's fine."

"Um... Miss Guide, thank you. Duoduo really likes it." Noi came over too, his face red and his blond hair a little ruffled. He couldn't hide the delight in his voice.

With every happy bite the little golden retriever took of the bone, its contentment traveled faithfully through their mental link to his mindscape. The needle-like pain of the Spirit Toxins that had plagued the depths of his Spiritual Sea for years began to ease and slowly melt away as it gnawed.

Yuqing followed his gaze. The little golden retriever was crouched in a corner, crunching away at the bone, its tail wagging so fast it was almost a blur.

A circle of Spirit Entities stared intently at it. The Maine Coon that had snatched the bone was especially eager. It crouched on a storage rack, flicking the tip of its tail, its round eyes full of undisguised longing.

Of course. What little creature could resist a treat?

"Kitty, come here." Yuqing beckoned to the Maine Coon. Perhaps because her own Spirit Entity was also a cat, she felt a particular fondness for it.

"Meow~" The Maine Coon had just been putting on an elegant, dignified air, but its ears pricked up the moment it heard her. It leaped down from the rack at a leisurely pace, walked over to her feet with a perfect catwalk, and gently rubbed its big, fluffy head against her pant leg. It was impossibly well-behaved.

"Want to try this? Do you like it?"

A pale green light glimmered at Yuqing's fingertips as her mental power slowly gathered and took shape. In the blink of an eye, it formed a round catnip ball, which landed gently in front of the cat, spreading a fresh, enticing scent.

The Maine Coon lowered its head and sniffed, its nose twitching.

The next second, all its elegance and composure shattered. Its pupils narrowed sharply into slits, and it flopped onto its back with a thud. Clutching the catnip ball between its front paws, it rubbed its face against it vigorously. A rumbling purr came from its throat, as though it had swallowed a little engine. Its tail lashed hard enough to make the metal floor tremble, and it was so blissed out that even its ears flattened sideways.

In the crowd, its sentinel stiffened, then let out a long breath. The muscles in his shoulders, taut for months, instantly relaxed, and the bloodshot redness at the corners of his eyes, caused by mental frenzy, faded at a visible rate.

Seeing that the Maine Coon had gotten a treat of its own, the other Spirit Entities grew even more anxious, letting out pitiful cries. But with the snow wolf keeping them in check, they didn't dare make a move.

"All right, don't worry. There's enough for everyone." After seeing so many mutated beasts in the apocalypse, Yuqing found even the polar bear cute now. She first made the big fellow a mental-power "giant dried fish," then a few dried mice for the eagle and a hare for the lynx... Watching them eat happily, Yuqing finally smiled in satisfaction.

"Miss Guide, you're playing favorites. My A Shuo wants one too." Shang Yu tugged on Yuqing's sleeve. The red fox beside him played along, drooping its ears and tail and putting on a pitiful look.

"Oh, a little fox." Yuqing's eyes lit up. There had been so many Spirit Entities just now that she hadn't noticed such a lovely little creature. It really did take after its owner. Shang Yu was strikingly beautiful, and even his Spirit Entity was this good-looking.

She quickly raised her hand and formed a plump, cleaned chicken, its skin browned and fragrant, and offered it to the little fox. Then she formed a large chunk of bloody raw meat and gave it to the snow wolf crouching at her feet.

The red fox leaned forward and touched it with its nose first, then picked it up and dug in. The snow wolf, meanwhile, ate in small, elegant bites.

The smile on Shang Yu's face faded the moment the meat entered its mouth.

His pupils contracted slightly, and his fingers clenched instinctively.

As an SS-rank sentinel, his Spiritual Sea was much broader than an ordinary sentinel's, and its long-standing affliction was more severe. Spirit Toxins accumulated over years of fighting blocked his mindscape like hidden reefs. Even with regular guidance from a guide, he could only relieve the surface symptoms; it couldn't reach the buildup deep inside.

But now, after just one small piece of chicken formed from mental power entered the fox's stomach, the gentle force flowing through their link silently dissolved a small patch of stubborn toxins deep in his Spiritual Sea, like warm water melting snow.

That feeling of comfort throughout his body was something he hadn't experienced in nearly ten years.

How was this a little treat to amuse a Spirit Entity?

This was a "purifying agent" that could act directly on the mental root.

Shang Yu turned to Ers and, sure enough, saw the same shock in his eyes.

But close on the heels of that shock came deep concern. Though they didn't know how Yuqing had done it...

With so many Spirit Entities, every treat consumed her mental power. She hadn't been awake from her coma for long, and her body was already weak. If she exhausted her mental power so recklessly, might she damage her mental source?

"Miss Guide, won't this consume too much of your strength?" Eos stepped forward worriedly to stop Yuqing from continuing to form other toys with her mental power.

"All right, all right, there's really no need to worry. I'm fine." She really did feel better than ever.

Yuqing's gaze fell on the medical pod. If only she could take it back to the base. A few hours lying in it would sweep away years of fatigue, and it could also greatly reduce casualties among ability users.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a sudden bitterness welled up in her heart.

She wondered how Yun Qi was doing now. Before her consciousness faded, she had seen Yun Qi jump in to save her. She should have arrived in this world too, right?

Yuqing touched the metal nameplate she wore around her neck, worry clouding her eyes.

Standing nearby, Shang Yu caught every change in her expression. Quick-witted as ever, he saw at a glance that her mood had suddenly darkened. He immediately smiled and spoke up, breaking the somewhat gloomy atmosphere. "Miss Guide, staying cooped up in the medical room is no fun. Would you like to see the view? We're passing through the Andromeda Spiral Arm right now. This shipping route hasn't been commercially developed, so the pink sea of nebulae isn't something you get to see just anywhere."

"Andromeda?" Yuqing's heart skipped a beat, but she managed to keep her expression under control. Oh my god, so I'm floating in space right now?

As a born-and-raised Earthling, she was more than a little shaken.