Help Me...

Several sentinels at the next table huddled in a circle with their elbows propped on the table, unable to stop themselves from glancing toward the window.

"Oh my god, Miss Guide is way too cute when she eats!" A tall sentinel gripped the edge of the table, watching Yuqing's cheeks puff in and out. He slapped his thigh hard. "Damn it, how did I miss out on a soothing slot this week?!"

"Forget it. The slots were gone three seconds after they opened this week. We'll have to try our luck next week." The person beside him poked Aiden's arm enviously. "You've got fast fingers, man. You actually got the very first slot."

Aiden lifted his chin smugly and stuffed a large mouthful of stew into his mouth, grinning. "Of course. You think your hand speed can compare to mine after more than twenty years of being single since birth?"

"Who hasn't been single since birth?! Damn it!"

"You must be loving this!"

"Go on, be jealous!" Aiden laughed, then lowered his voice to add, "I'm telling you, the guide's mental power is so soft. The feeling is just incredible!"

The whole table was having a lively time when William, sitting diagonally across from them, suddenly cut in, unable to hide the boastfulness in his voice. "I might not have gotten a soothing slot, but the guide petted my Xiaode! He even got a dog bone she made out of mental power! He carried it home in his mouth and wouldn't let go, like he'd found some priceless treasure."

"No way! Seriously? Miss Guide can actually make solid objects out of mental power?"

"That level of mental power purity is insane!"

The sentinels were green with envy, but none of them noticed that their captain, Liechuan, was unusually quiet today.

Liechuan stared fixedly at the graceful figure eating happily in the corner, his fingertips gripping the edge of his metal tray so tightly that his knuckles turned pale.

The laughter and chatter around him sounded muffled, as though separated from him by a thick layer of water. Only the Spirit Toxins in his sea of consciousness were raging, like a black tide whipped up by a gale, crashing again and again against his fragile mental barrier. A dull ache bored from his temples deep into his bones.

His condition was deteriorating faster than expected.

Before the toxins completely ate away at his sanity, he had to leave the military district and find somewhere deserted to live or die on his own.

Otherwise... a high-level sentinel going berserk could destroy half the military district.

He couldn't accept it. Hope had been placed right in front of him... but would the guide really be willing to risk her life to soothe him?

His Adam's apple bobbed hard, and suddenly, a hot sensation rose in his nose.

"Bro, why's your nose bleeding again...?" William, sitting beside him, had just picked up his bowl of soup when he caught sight of the dark red drops falling from Liechuan's chin. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly pulled out a stack of tissues and handed them over. "How many times has it been this month? Why don't you go to the infirmary and get it checked out?"

"It's nothing. It's been too dry lately, and I've got a bit of internal heat." Liechuan waved his hand. He couldn't let his teammates notice anything was wrong. The military district had too few resources, and now there was Lin He, who had just broken through to SSS. The district's resources had to go to him first; Liechuan couldn't come forward at a time like this and add to the marshal's burden.

"Boss, did looking at the guide do that to you?" William leaned over with a mischievous grin. "Boss, you've got a real advantage with that face of yours. Why not give it a shot?"

"Looking for a beating, are you? Come on, how about you go outside and spar with me?" Liechuan looked at William with a cold laugh.

"No, no, no, boss, I was joking!" William fled in fright.

That evening, the system made Yuqing spend several more hours studying the basics of interstellar society. It kept reciting the textbook in her head until stars swam before her eyes, and as she listened, it also made her repeat after it: "...The White Tower carries out mandatory genetic matching..."

"What do you mean, mandatory matching?!" Yuqing sprang upright in bed.

[Oh, it just means that if you haven't married five husbands by the time you reach a certain age, the White Tower will assign them to you.]

[But don't worry, you've still got a few years of freedom. By then, who knows if you'll even still be in the Ninth Military District?]

[Just focus on getting stronger. Even if the White Tower does force a match on you then, we can just run away.]

"Oh." Yuqing patted her chest and lay back down. She had never been in a relationship before; she really couldn't accept being assigned five husbands all at once.

[All right, stop slacking. We still have lots to study today.] Seeing how reluctant she was to study, 01010 rubbed its brow and continued the lesson. [Repeat after me: The Federation constitution stipulates...]

"The Federation constitution stipulates..." Yuqing's voice grew softer as she repeated the words, her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. In the end, she fell asleep on top of her plushie. "Zzz..."

01010: ...

Forget it. I'll continue tutoring her tomorrow.

The pale blue glow around the system slowly turned gray as it entered sleep mode.

The lights in the military district slowly went out. Only the searchlights at the sentry posts on the walls swept slowly across the night sky, while the energy shield around the perimeter shimmered with a pale blue glow as thin as a cicada's wing, enveloping the entire camp in the dense darkness.

A chilly wind swept across the training grounds, leaving only the sound of patrolling sentinels' military boots. Liechuan skillfully avoided the patrols and disappeared into the shadows.

Fingertips suddenly hooked lightly over the bedroom window frame.

The next second, the window swung inward without a sound.

The red-haired man folded the crimson wings behind him and slipped into the room as lightly as a breath of night wind. The moment he steadied himself, the sweet, fresh Guide Pheromone floating in the air entered his nose, surging like a warm current into his roiling sea of consciousness. The Spirit Toxins that had just been frantically tearing at his nerves froze for an instant.

Liechuan's pupils contracted sharply!

He walked quietly to the bed and crouched down, looking up at the sleeping girl. The tip of his nose trembled slightly as he greedily drank in every trace of Guide Pheromone in the air.

Unfortunately, though the Guide Pheromone was pure, there was far too little of it. His head still hurt, hurt as though it were about to split open. He wanted... he wanted the guide to soothe him. If only the guide would spare him a little Guide Pheromone, he was willing to pay any price.

Liechuan raised his hands to undo the buttons of his uniform shirt, his fingertips lightly damp with sweat as he slowly undid them one by one...

The taut, smooth lines of his muscles emerged: broad shoulders and back, a lean waist and abdomen, and a thin sheen of sweat on his skin. He took a few "little toys" from the military bag he carried and neatly arranged them by the bedside table. They were all soothing aids commonly used by guides, according to the military district's handbook. Afraid she might not be used to them, he had deliberately chosen the kinds guides liked best.

"Mm, Liz, stop it..." She was fast asleep. Having grown used to sleeping with Ers's Spirit Entity, the silver wolf, these past few days, she reached out in a daze and wrapped her arms around the "fluffy head" in front of her, rubbing her palm through the red hair. Pure, gentle mental power flowed out naturally, wrapping around the "little wolf pup" like warm water as she tried to coax it to sleep peacefully.

"Mm~" Liechuan felt his mental barrier easily breached. The guide hadn't used any tools, injections, or medication at all, yet she had entered his sea of consciousness just like that. There was no pain whatsoever; instead, it was like parched earth meeting a welcome rain. The warmth spreading through their mental connection made him let out an uncontrollable moan, and even his back trembled slightly.

Not enough. Still not enough.

Like a dying man clutching a piece of driftwood, he reached out and gently grasped her wrist, guiding her palm against his burning chest. He turned his face and buried it in the warmth of her neck, his voice as rough as sandpaper, filled with undisguised humility and pleading. "Miss Guide... help me... please."

What the heck?

The skin beneath her palm was warm and firm, smooth to the touch and slightly damp with sweat.

Yuqing gave it a squeeze in her daze. When had Liz's fur become so smooth?

It feels a little familiar, too... Where have I felt this before?

She frowned and thought for a long time but still couldn't remember. With great effort, she finally forced her heavy eyelids open. Moonlight fell directly on the face of the person in front of her: red hair, a sharp jawline, bare shoulders and back, and a pair of eyes fixed on her, dark currents churning within them.

Yuqing's face instantly flushed bright red, the tips of her ears burning hot. She nearly cried out on the spot and had to clamp a hand over her mouth to swallow the gasp.

Aaaaaah, oh my male bodhisattva, am I really getting to see this for free?!

[Host, what's wrong?!]