Your Mindscape?

Ers had been shrouded in a violent aura moments ago, but he did not hurt anyone as everyone had expected. Instead, like a beast suddenly tamed, his taut shoulders relaxed in an eerie way. His long, bony hand paused in midair, then gently wrapped around the guide in his arms with almost reverent care.

Only when the guide in his arms showed no resistance did Ers's tightly clenched jaw slowly soften. Growing bolder, he kept tightening his arms until the guide was pressed completely against him, their overlapping heartbeats clear to them both. Only then did he let out a low sigh and bury his head in the crook of her neck, satisfied, an uncanny blush spreading across his face.

The sight of him acting like a creep was a startling contrast to his usual aloofness. The girl's instinctive gesture of raising a hand to soothe him further overturned the sentinels' stereotype of guides as arrogant and indifferent.

"Captain Shang... that guide... she's so gentle." The young man who spoke was Noi, the youngest member of the team. He looked at Shang Yu with round puppy-dog eyes.

"Yeah, she seems different from other guides." Shang Yu drew back the hand he had placed on the blue vial at his waist. His black eyes lingered with unusual intensity on the grimy girl, whose face he could not even make out. The faint fragrance he had smelled earlier was definitely not his imagination. The girl had probably used some kind of drug to conceal her guide pheromones.

Ers was an SS-rank sentinel, but only Shang Yu, who had grown up with him, knew that his true rating was SS++. He had not expected this guide to be able to soothe an SS++-rank sentinel. That meant... the girl could very well be among the best even in the Central White Tower.

There was no reason not to take such a rare, high-ranking guide back with them.

Elsewhere, Yuqing's already dwindling ability was almost depleted. Fortunately, her ability did work on this species that called themselves sentinels. At some point, signs of life had begun to appear in the mindscape, which had been as scorching as hell just moments ago. A few blades of grass had even sprouted wildflowers she could not identify.

Ers had actually regained his senses long ago, but he was so reluctant to part with this moment of warmth that he said nothing, merely lowering his eyes to gaze at the girl's slightly pale face. In the end, a sharp cat's yowl broke the peace.

"Meowrr!" From the sound alone, it was clear that the kitten's fur must have been standing on end.

"Kitty?" Yuqing opened her eyes and instinctively looked for the cat. Following the sound, she saw a huge black wolf lying in front of the little white cat, trying to curry favor and get close to it. The wolf quietly nudged the cat with its nose, though the cat wanted nothing to do with it.

The little white cat was so annoyed that its fur stood on end. It let out a sharp meow, then swatted the wolf without the slightest restraint. Its sharp claws cut straight across the wolf's face, leaving it disfigured. The wolf shrank back a little, looking pitiful, but after only a few seconds, it tried to move close to the kitten again.

"Meowrr!" The little white cat could take no more and hissed fiercely. Just as the kitten bared its claws, ready to give the wolf another smack, its ice-blue eyes met Yuqing's worried gaze.

"Meow~" The kitten's hiss abruptly turned sweet and harmless. It even tilted its head and, quite naturally, acted cute for Yuqing.

The kitten glanced at Yuqing, then at Ers, whose gaze had remained fixed on its owner. It got up and stretched leisurely before jumping into its owner's arms. The moment it touched her, a light burst forth. Yuqing felt another powerful tug, and then she returned to the real world.

"Miss Guide, are you all right?" Shang Yu's slightly concerned voice sounded beside her.

"I'm..." Yuqing instinctively started to shake her head, but her body felt as though all its strength had been drained away. The moment she stood up, her vision suddenly went black. Before she could finish speaking, she fell straight backward.

"Miss Guide!" The sentinels cried out in alarm.

Behind Yuqing, Ers instinctively reached out, caught her by the waist, and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his eyes to the pale face of the person in his embrace. Emotions no one could understand churned in his eyes, and he unconsciously tightened his arms, drawing the girl fully against him.

"It's all right. She's just too tired. Let her get some good sleep." Shang Yu crouched beside Yuqing and used his mental power to examine the unconscious guide. She had a few superficial wounds, but they were not serious. She had fallen asleep because her mental power was depleted. "By the time she wakes up, we should be in Federation territory..."

"Ers, you... you're back to normal already?!!"

Shang Yu was so surprised that he could barely get his words out. He could hardly imagine how high the guide's rank was. Just a little soothing, without much intimate contact, had been enough to restore a sentinel on the verge of going berserk to his senses.

He was just about to step forward and check on Ers when he caught that faint, elusive fragrance again. The desire engraved in a sentinel's genes made it hard for him to stop himself from reaching out to touch the guide before him... to get closer to her... closer still...

But just as he was about to touch her, Ers shattered the chains binding him with his mental power and stood up with Yuqing in his arms.

"How did the mission go?" Ers glanced at the openly disappointed Shang Yu with cold purple eyes, a note of warning in his voice.

"The information was false. The Iron Curtain set us up." Hearing the captain's question, Noi's round, innocent puppy-dog eyes instantly turned savage. "Tch! I've never been on such a frustrating mission!"

"Looks like the Empire offered the Iron Curtain a generous enough reward this time..." Shang Yu put his gentle smile back on. The Iron Curtain was a third-party organization that operated throughout the stars, and it had always been willing to do anything for money. In the past, he might have retaliated immediately, but... Shang Yu lowered his eyes to Yuqing, a smile curling his lips. "We did get an unexpected surprise out of it, though."

An anxious voice interrupted the discussion in the room. It was the team member on guard. "Captain, Captain Shang, we've spotted quite a few avian spirit forms in the air. The Empire's people will probably find us soon. We shouldn't stay here."

"Tell all team members to assemble within five minutes. We'll evacuate immediately according to the emergency plan." Ers's spirit form was a black wolf, and wolves were both highly jealous and vengeful. Had it been a day earlier, Ers would have tried everything he could to throw obstacles in the Empire's legion's way, but now... getting his guide safely back to the Federation was what mattered.

"Yes, sir!" The well-trained soldier saluted and left the safe house. Shang Yu also sent Noi and the others out to help, leaving only Ers and Shang Yu in the room.

"What's with your pheromones...?" Shang Yu suddenly frowned. With no other sentinels' scents left in the enclosed space, the pheromones spilling uncontrollably from Ers were especially distinct.

The sharp scent of rum carried a strange hint of excitement. A closer perception revealed a faint fragrance of jasmine entwined within it, as though a crack had quietly appeared in a sturdy city wall...

Shang Yu suddenly seemed to realize something, and his eyes widened. "She entered the deepest part of your mindscape?!"