There Was Another One

Chi Ming, who was cooking in the kitchen, suddenly shuddered.

He turned to look at Cang Leng, who was slumped in the kitchen doorway, sighing nonstop, and his face darkened.

"If you can't cook, don't make trouble. Stop getting in the way."

Cang Leng looked utterly baffled. "What? I didn't do anything. How am I in your way?"

"You're an eyesore."

Cang Leng: ?

Chi Ming mercilessly chased him out.

Without that guy watching him, he immediately felt much better, and the creepy feeling in his heart vanished.

Sure enough, Cang Leng had been cursing him behind his back just now!

"Honored Guide Xin Lan, I have just received word that an SS-rank sentinel named Chi Lin wishes to meet you. He claims that you saved his life through a deep link when he was about to mutate. He greatly admires you and is deeply grateful, and hopes to become a candidate for your sentinel guard team."

"I'm busy. I won't see him."

Xin Lan had no particular impression of Chi Lin, remembering only how ugly he had looked in his half-mutated state. But what did he mean by a guard team candidate? Didn't she already have five sentinel guards?

She frowned and asked, and Fuxi immediately explained in a gentle voice.

"Guides are the hope of humanity's survival and development, and are immensely precious. Five exclusive sentinels are not enough to fully guarantee your safety. Therefore, under the Human Development Code, every guide must form at least one additional sentinel guard team besides their exclusive sentinels. They will be responsible for your safety when you travel and other defensive duties."

"...That's a hassle. What's the minimum number of people on a guard team?"

"The minimum quota for an S-rank guide's sentinel guard team is five, with no upper limit."

"..."

Damn, she actually had to take in at least five more psychos.

Fuxi seemed to sense that she was in low spirits and thoughtfully offered another reminder.

"Guide Xin Lan, no one else has the authority to interfere in the selection of your sentinel guard team. The choice is entirely yours, and you have plenty of time to form it. So if you don't need a guard team for the time being, you may put the matter aside and take your time choosing sentinels you like later."

"I suppose that's all I can do."

She was in no mood to take in a bunch of psychos to hover around her. They'd annoy her to death.

After dinner, Chi Ming and Cang Leng wanted to stay the night.

But Xin Lan had already lost her initial curiosity about their spirit forms. She had hugged and stroked them, and she wasn't sleepy now. Keeping them here would only get in the way.

So she showed them no consideration and chased them both out.

She changed into another outfit, put on a mask and baseball cap, took the elevator straight down to the basement, and left the Sanctuary on foot.

She knew she certainly couldn't hide her movements from Mo Xiao, but he was the Sanctuary's administrator, after all, with countless things to do every day. He surely wouldn't come out specifically to follow her. Even if the others were notified and came after her, she was confident she could shake them off.

Sure enough, the second after she left the ninetieth floor, Mo Xiao received a notification that she had left the Sanctuary.

Unable to get away, he notified Yun Jin, who was closest, and Chi Ming, who had been reluctant to leave.

Once she was a hundred meters from the Sanctuary, the two concealed themselves and followed her.

But somehow, even though they had watched Xin Lan remain within their line of sight the whole time, she vanished from view in the blink of an eye.

Without any warning, she disappeared from the broad street without a trace, as though she had evaporated into thin air.

Yun Jin's brow twitched sharply, and he immediately leaped to the spot where she had been just a second before.

He tried to use his sense of smell, far superior to an ordinary person's, to find traces of where she had gone.

But there was no scent here at all.

As far as Yun Jin knew, that was impossible.

Anyone who passed through a place would leave a scent behind. He could detect even the faintest smell of laundry detergent on their clothes!

Much less the lily-of-the-valley-scented guide pheromones Xin Lan gave off, which could leave a sentinel dazzled with fascination just by getting a little closer.

"What on earth is going on?"

For one of the few times in his life, he was at a loss.

Chi Ming, who had also rushed over and sniffed carefully without finding anything, was just as bewildered.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately reported the situation.

Mo Xiao was somewhat surprised by the news, but when he recalled what the sentinel who had come to the Sanctuary claiming to have formed a deep link with Xin Lan had said, he quickly suppressed his surprise.

"Come back. She should be fine."

After issuing the order, he picked up the photograph on his desk, leaned back in his chair, and sighed heavily. Reflected clearly in his azure eyes was a face with distinctly Eastern features and no expression.

"Xin Lan..."

What exactly... are you after?

The neon-colored interstellar world was full of dazzling sights. Even at night, the streets of the residential district remained bustling and bright, packed with people, while numerous hovercars of all shapes sped through the air. Mingling with the crowd, Xin Lan even spotted two airships with starlike lights twinkling on their undersides.

The airships swept across the sky and slowed to a low-altitude glide upon reaching the residential district. Judging by their direction, they seemed to be heading for the Sanctuary.

Xin Lan couldn't help marveling that it was no wonder the planet's technology was so advanced.

It was one thing for ordinary people to stay up in the middle of the night while every street was open for business, but even the higher-ups were working themselves this hard, crossing districts for meetings so late. They might even be discussing her.

She couldn't bring herself to compete like that, nor would she accept being dragged into it. So she decisively followed the reliable tip she had just obtained, avoided the cameras along the way, and slipped into a dark alley.

A colorful neon light glowed at the far end of the alley. Several figures stood beneath it, so large that most of their bodies were hidden in the darkness. Indistinct in the flickering light, they looked very much like thugs a criminal organization had stationed outside a temporary hideout. In any case, not one of them looked like a good person.

Xin Lan emerged from the shadows, a cold blue glint flashing through the black eyes beneath her baseball cap.

The burly men at the entrance, all of them radiating brutality, had just been about to ask who she was. Suddenly, they acted as though they couldn't see her. They even unconsciously stepped aside, letting her push open the door and walk straight in as though no one were there.

Besides directly controlling others, using mental power to interfere with their five senses was often quicker and more convenient. It covered a large area and used very little mental power, making it extremely cost-effective.

She proceeded without obstruction, and by warmly greeting the staff, soon found a spot with an excellent view in the venue, which looked much like a grand auditorium.

As soon as she sat down, several people pushed a large cage covered with a red cloth onto the stage. Immediately afterward, a slender man in a black tailcoat walked out.

He cleared his throat and said with a smile,

"Honored guests, welcome to the Free Auction. Today's auction begins now!"

The man didn't waste a word, getting straight to the point after his opening.

Yet the buyers seated below the stage, like her, still seemed to think he was taking too long. Impatient shouts to hurry up and lift the red cloth rang out from all around.

Everyone was excited, but their voices held more than anticipation and curiosity about the auction item. More prominent were the brutality and madness growing with every shout.

"I understand that everyone is very curious about today's auction items, but I must remind you that every item today is exceedingly precious and rare. Please be sure to bid within your means and avoid unforeseen, tragic consequences."

With that, the man in the tailcoat slowly lifted the red cloth.

All the buyers below the stage who had been waiting for this moment sat up straight.

The instant the cloth was lifted, the azure creature in the cage seemed to be startled by something. Its tightly shut eyelids flew open, and a sharp glint shot from its eyes.

At the same time, it let out a resounding dragon's roar and swiftly rose to its feet, slamming into the cage. Its immense strength bent the alloy cage, whose hardness and toughness had been maximized, into a frightening curve with a single blow. Yet the azure scales on its body remained completely undamaged.

"Whoa-"

That collision sent the entire venue into an uproar.

Quite a few buyers even sprang to their feet, astonished by an auction item whose quality far exceeded their expectations.

Xin Lan stared at the creature in the cage, also somewhat surprised.

Because if she wasn't mistaken, this should be an Azure Dragon, a creature that existed only in myth.