Garrison Guide
Inside the office.
Yuqing sat stiffly and nervously on a stool, holding the floral tea Ers had given her, but she was in no mood to taste it.
This was her first time meeting the Ninth Military District's supreme commander. He certainly looked like a very stern soldier. His brows had a natural frown to them, and even when he said nothing, he radiated a violent air that warned strangers to keep their distance.
And she... just half an hour ago, she had flirted with one of his most capable subordinates.
Yuqing wailed inwardly. She finally understood what it meant for lust to come with a knife hanging over her head.
What if she got kicked out? She didn't know anyone or anything here...
This place wasn't like the apocalypse, either. She couldn't just rob people, so how was she supposed to make a living...?
"Miss Guide." A voice suddenly came from the head of the table, deep and metallically cold. Huosuosi deliberately slowed his speech and even tried to relax his tightly pressed lips, hoping to look a little gentler.
But... it didn't seem to help. The girl's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly, and she lowered her head even further.
"Thank you very much for agreeing to stay in the Ninth Military District. We would like to offer you a generous salary as the military district's dedicated garrison guide. This is the contract. You can bring up any requests you have, and we'll do our utmost to accommodate them." Huosuosi looked at the top of her fluffy head, feeling a little disappointed.
Huosuosi handed her the light screen he was holding.
That's it?
Yuqing was taken aback. It seemed the marshal had no intention of pursuing what had just happened.
[Host, you can sign it. There are no unfavorable clauses, and you'll have a great deal of freedom.] 01010 quickly scanned the agreement. Although she would be a garrison guide with an official post, the military district would not restrict her movements, and she could terminate the contract unilaterally.
As long as her freedom wasn't restricted, Yuqing didn't have many other concerns or demands. She picked up the pen and signed her name on the light screen.
Even Huosuosi was a little surprised by how readily Yuqing signed. This was, after all, the Ninth Military District, where mad dogs gathered. He had imagined that the guide might suddenly change her mind, or that she might make many unreasonable demands... but he had never expected her to sign so readily.
"Don't you have any other requests, Miss Guide?" Han Yu, who sat across from her, spoke up. "For example, wanting to touch..."
He had long since changed back into a clean white coat, buttoned meticulously to the top. Gold-rimmed glasses sat on his high-bridged nose, and his silver hair was neatly combed behind his ears. He looked cool and restrained. Who could have guessed that this utterly respectable-looking sentinel was that slutty fish from last night?!
"I don't want to!" Just seeing Han Yu made her scalp tingle now, and she remembered the strange looks the sentinels had given her earlier.
My lifelong reputation, aaaaah!
Han Yu chuckled and was about to say something else when he suddenly felt an icy gaze fall on him.
He turned and met Huosuosi's eyes. There was little emotion in those ink-dark depths, but the warning was unmistakable. Han Yu sensibly dropped the joke, composed himself, and handed Yuqing the document case he was holding. "Your identity information has been entered into the Ninth Administrative District and Federation White Tower systems. From this moment on, you are a legal citizen of the Federation, protected by both Federation law and the Guide Protection Association."
"This case contains your identification, your military appointment letter, and necessities such as the smart terminal provided for you."
[A smart terminal! That's great!]
"Smart terminal?"
[It's like a cell phone, but with more advanced functions. I can also use it to quickly learn about this world, and then it'll be easier for you to survive here, Host.]
"When do I start work, then?" After Yuqing activated the smart terminal, the system connected to it and began frantically learning. Her own gaze fell on the appointment letter.
"Anytime. Since you've just taken the post, you only need to work four hours a day. The appointment channel on the sentinels' end is also open. As for how many sentinels you want to treat, you can decide for yourself." Han Yu added, "However, quite a few sentinels in the military have contamination levels above the critical threshold. Admiral Huosuosi will assign them to you, and you must accept those assignments."
"No problem. I can start work next Monday." Yuqing glanced at the calendar. It was Friday, so she could spend the weekend studying the smart terminal, learning more common knowledge about this world, and digesting the energy she had absorbed in Han Yu's mental world today. She could start work on Monday.
"All right. I'll have someone get your office ready." Huosuosi, sitting at the head of the table, tapped a few times on the light screen in his hand, and the task was quickly assigned.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Yuqing only wanted to slip away now. The system seemed to have found quite a few fun things in the smart terminal and had been chattering excitedly in her head, making her eager to have a look too.
"All right." Watching Yuqing's impatient little movements, which were much livelier than the frightened way she had looked earlier, Huosuosi nodded, a smile flickering in his eyes. "Ers, take good care of the guide. If there's a next time, I won't let you off lightly."
"Yes, sir." Ers saluted. He truly hadn't taken proper care of her this time. The marshal had only given him a light punishment because the guide was most familiar with him.
After Yuqing and the members of the Third Squad left, only Huosuosi and Han Yu remained in the office.
"Is the guide's physical condition serious?" Huosuosi asked Han Yu.
"She's suffered from long-term malnutrition, but overall, it isn't serious. Her bodily functions tested normal, and her physical fitness is far above the average for guides." Han Yu continued, "I've already arranged for a professional nutritionist. She can bring the guide's body to its best condition within six months."
"Han Yu, what grade do you think the guide is?" Huosuosi closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. The black panther lay quietly at his feet. His Mindscape was like a purgatory, and the next time his Spirit Entity was forced back into it, it would probably be the day he died.
"Marshal, Guide Yuqing was able to break through my mental barrier and enter my sea of consciousness with ease. Although she hasn't gone deep into my Mindscape yet, I'm certain she's at least an S-grade guide." In the interstellar world, A-grade guides were already considered high-grade guides, while S-grade guides were rarer still. Wherever they went, weren't they treated like treasures?
But... that was precisely what worried Han Yu. Like the Empire, the Federation's upper ranks all tried to monopolize high-grade guides. Though the Ninth Military District wasn't afraid of the central authorities, there was always the fear that they would bring out the White Tower and the Guide Protection Association to pressure them.
"I reported her to the White Tower as A-grade. But that means we can only use black-market equipment to determine Miss Guide's true grade." All equipment in the Federation was connected to the Central White Tower's mainframe. This time, Han Yu had secretly used an A-grade guide's mental power to falsify the report, fearing that the central authorities would use underhanded means to snatch her away.
"There's no hurry. Since even your contamination level has dropped, there's no need to test the guide's abilities again." Huosuosi considered the people currently in the most critical condition. There was no need to worry about Han Yu and Ers for the time being, but aside from the three special task forces still out on missions, the condition of the captains of the task forces on standby in the military district could not be neglected any longer. "Give the first slot to Lin He. The military district's walls can't take any more of his antics."
"All right, I'll arrange it." Han Yu adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
A high-grade guide had arrived when they were in such a desperate situation. Was this truly heaven's will?