Perhaps... It Was Time to Assign a Few Sentinel Guards

When those words fell, the room went silent for several seconds.

"Level Eight Berserk State?!"

This time, Huosuosi was not the only one surprised. Everyone present looked astonished.

The last time they had encountered a severe wave of contamination at the border, he had volunteered to stay behind and cover the rear, enduring high concentrations of toxins to shield the entire team's retreat. When he returned, all he had written in his report was: lightly contaminated, no serious harm. Since his disposition had remained the same as ever, no one had noticed that he had been forcibly suppressing the toxins for so long.

"I'll get to the bottom of this." Huosuosi rubbed the space between his eyebrows, his temples throbbing. Those little bastards were each more troublesome than the last.

He looked up at Han Yu, his voice growing grave. "Han Yu, what were the guide's examination results?"

Han Yu closed his medical case and straightened up, the gravity fading from his face. Instead, his lips curled upward as his gaze landed on Yuqing by the bed, and he gave her a meaningful smile.

"There's nothing seriously wrong. Her blood and qi surged upward, causing the nosebleed." He paused, deliberately drawing out his words as he looked at Yuqing, making her skin crawl.

"But... Miss Guide is a young, healthy woman, after all. It's normal for her to have certain needs. I suggest you assign her a personal guard team as soon as possible, Marshal."

A personal guard team was a pool of prospective sentinel husbands.

Yuqing: ...!

She knew it! She knew nothing good could come out of that saucy fish Han Yu's mouth!

"I..."

Yuqing opened her mouth to defend herself, but when she thought about being caught in those hard-to-explain situations two days in a row, she silently swallowed her words and slumped against the headboard, having lost all desire to live.

"Indeed, I didn't give this enough thought." He had originally planned to let Yuqing get familiar with the military district first, since she had only just arrived, and slowly choose suitable guards once she had settled in.

But two incidents had occurred in succession, and it was already against the rules for a guide her age not to have a permanent guard team. He looked at Yuqing, his habitually stern features softening slightly, and his voice gentled. "Please rest well today. I'll have the military affairs office draw up a list of candidates and send it over as soon as possible, so you can choose them yourself. I have some other matters to attend to. If you have any problems, you can contact me directly through your smart terminal."

"Mm." Yuqing pulled the quilt over part of her face and gave a listless hum.

"Han Yu, come with me." Huosuosi turned and headed out, calling Han Yu along.

"Yes, Marshal." Han Yu followed with his medical case. As he passed the bed, he even winked at Yuqing, his face full of mischief.

Yuqing: Damn it!

Dark Prison

Dark Prison stood in the most remote corner of the military district. Most of its buildings were underground, never seeing daylight all year round.

White motion-sensor lights lined the corridor, casting a pale, bluish glow over the cold, hard alloy walls. The pungent smell of disinfectant mingled with suppressants in the air. The cells on both sides all had high-density alloy doors to prevent sentinels from going berserk in beast form.

Liechuan was confined in the innermost cell on the first basement level. He sat on the floor with his back against the cold wall, his red hair hanging messily over his forehead and his military shirt rumpled. The bite guard had already been removed, leaving a faint red indentation on his jaw, and his gaze was still somewhat unfocused.

The cell walls were not soundproof, and he could clearly hear the faintest sound of scales rubbing together next door. Liechuan looked up, then let out a soft scoff.

Heh, what a coincidence. Lin He was locked up right next to him.

Lin He was curled up in the shadows, his long legs bent, his elbows resting on his knees and his head hanging low. The oppressive air around him was heavier than the air in Dark Prison. A giant python, black from head to tail, lay coiled at his feet, its golden slit pupils half-lidded as it stared at the griffin next door.

Huosuosi entered Dark Prison and first glanced at Liechuan, who was sitting against the wall in a daze. Then he turned toward Lin He, who had almost blended into the darkness in the shadows. A vein throbbed twice at his temple.

One held a reserved slot for personal soothing, yet hid in Dark Prison, refusing to see the guide no matter what. The other had concealed his condition from everyone and endured a Level Eight Berserk State, then climbed through a window into the guide's bedroom in the middle of the night, nearly committing a grave mistake.

Both were among the military district's strongest fighters, and both were troublesome bastards.

Huosuosi took a deep breath and suppressed his surging anger. Turning to Han Yu behind him, he said, "Han Yu, give Liechuan a full examination first."

"All right." Han Yu answered, then entered the cell with two military doctors, wheeling in the examination equipment.

The metal door slowly closed behind them, and the hum of the equipment starting up filled the cramped space. Cold electrodes were placed against Liechuan's temples and the back of his neck. He did not resist, merely frowning slightly as he let them work.

Huosuosi turned to Lin He, who had shut himself away in the neighboring cell, and asked wearily, "Lin He, why didn't you go to the guide? Do you know how long Miss Guide waited for you today?!"

The person in the corner remained in the same position, black hair hanging down to cover his eyes, only his jaw clenched tight. Confronted with the marshal's questioning, his lips moved, but in the end he did not say a word.

"Marshal! The examination results are in." Han Yu's voice came from the neighboring cell.

Huosuosi turned and went back. As soon as he entered, he saw the fluctuating readings on the screen, and his frown deepened.

Han Yu pointed at the curve on the screen, his voice steady. "There are indeed signs that he was once on the verge of a Level Eight Berserk State. His mental barrier is covered in old cracks. He must have forcibly suppressed it for at least half a month. But his contamination level has now dropped to 70%, and his spiritual sea has stabilized as well. There's no danger of him losing control for the time being."

Overnight, Liechuan had gone from the level eight threshold straight back down to the edge of the safe range. The purity of the guide's spiritual power was even more astonishing than Han Yu had estimated.

He turned to look at Liechuan sitting on the bed, and his pent-up anger finally became impossible to contain. He suddenly raised his hand and slammed it down on the armrest of the metal chair beside him.

The clang was especially piercing in the silent Dark Prison.

"Liechuan!" Huosuosi's voice was ice-cold. "Why didn't you report the contamination you suffered on the border mission? You even dared to endure a Level Eight Berserk State by force! Do you know what would have happened if you'd lost control?!"

Once a high-ranking sentinel lost control, their destructive power could raze the military district to the ground in an instant.

The man sitting on the floor hung his head, his messy red hair falling over his eyes. After a long while, he finally spoke in a low, hoarse voice, rough and raspy. "I... didn't want to cause trouble for the military district."

The words were quiet, but they made Huosuosi freeze. The reprimand on the tip of his tongue suddenly caught in his throat.

In recent years, the central authorities had cut the Ninth Military District's supply quota year after year, hardly even bothering to pretend otherwise, openly treating its sentinels as disposable resources. As a high-ranking sentinel, he had only one path if his contamination worsened: death. But he knew the marshal would still expend resources to save him, even if that could only barely prolong his life...

Huosuosi sighed and turned his back. "The Ninth Military District never abandons its own comrades. You're a soldier I trained, and I have no reason to give up on you. Besides... the guide saved your life. Now it's even less your place to decide whether you live or die."

"From today onward, your life belongs to the guide."