She Had Other Wild Sentinels on the Side

Starting work in the afternoon as usual, Xin Lan casually picked a few sentinels to soothe. To her surprise, one of them turned out to be the sentinel who had wildly torn off his clothes when they first met.

"Miss Guide, I'm so lucky to see you again so soon!"

"Do you remember me? I'm Qian Che, deputy commander of the South Tower. We met there a couple of days ago."

The moment Qian Che entered the soothing room, he eagerly took off his clothes and put his physique on full display.

Xin Lan made no attempt to be polite and openly admired and appraised him. "Mm, you left quite an impression on me. You have a great body."

"Really? If you like it, I could come see you often. Or would you be willing to include me in your guard squad? I'd like to go with you to this year's Joint Combat Exercise."

At the mention of forming a guard squad, Xin Lan instantly lost interest.

But what was this Joint Combat Exercise?

She raised an eyebrow and asked. Only then did Qian Che realize she knew nothing about it, and he hurried to explain in detail.

The Joint Combat Exercise was an event where guides from different districts brought sentinels of their choosing to compete against sentinels from other districts. The competitions included, but were not limited to, one-on-one and multiplayer battles between sentinels, as well as squads of guides and sentinels fighting pollutants.

Teams that placed not only won generous rewards and brought honor to their districts, but their sentinels also received collective promotions, while their guides gained higher social standing and prestige across the board, along with special treatment far beyond that afforded to guides of the same rank.

Thus, even though guides were already highly respected because of their scarcity, most still flocked to the annual exercise.

After all, no one would complain about having too much status or being treated too well.

Besides, guides didn't actually have to do anything during the exercise. They only had to go through the motions while the sentinels they had chosen protected them the whole time.

For them, it was a trip they couldn't lose on. If they lost, they could treat it as a vacation; if they won, they gained higher status. Why wouldn't they go?

"K9 District has never had a guide, so we've never been able to take part in the Joint Combat Exercise. But this year is different. This year we have you, and your rank is so high that you could easily bring more high-ranking sentinels along. When the time comes, we'll crush the sentinels from the other major districts, and your status will rise even higher..."

As an SSS-rank sentinel unable to take part in such an event, Qian Che had probably been frustrated for far too long. Once he started talking, he just couldn't stop.

Xin Lan's ears were ringing from listening, so she cut him off.

"Shut up. Do you still want your Mental Landscape purified or not?"

Qian Che immediately shut his mouth and obediently waited for the purification.

When she finished work, it was only three in the afternoon.

Remembering the handsome men waiting for her in the run-down house, Xin Lan promptly whistled and drove her hovercar to the nearest mall. There, she bought two heavily discounted men's outfits, two pairs of one-size men's underwear, and shoes and socks.

After all that, Xin Lan was almost moved by her own thoughtfulness.

She was even worried the two handsome men would have nothing to eat and go hungry, so before setting off, she bought each of them a bottle of nutrient solution!

She truly believed there was no better guide than her in the world.

After all, other guides relied on sentinels to support them, but she hadn't taken a single cent and was even spending her own money to support them.

Tsk, tsk.

The more I think about it, the more I'm losing out.

I'll have to get my money's worth out of them later.

After Xin Lan's hovercar left, Yun Jin emerged from a clothing store.

He hadn't been following Xin Lan. He had simply realized yesterday that everyone else had more clothes than he did, so he'd decided to buy some more today to avoid being outdone once they moved in together.

But perhaps precisely because he hadn't been there with a purpose, Xin Lan hadn't noticed him.

As a result, he had seen Xin Lan buy two pairs of men's underwear with his own eyes, and she hadn't headed back toward the Sanctuary, either.

So she really did have other sentinels on the side? Two of them, even?

Yun Jin's face darkened. The nervous excitement he had felt about moving into Xin Lan's residence vanished, replaced entirely by gloom and suspicion.

He was gloomy that he might lose out to some wild sentinels out there, and suspicious that she really did have ulterior motives and was colluding with some force.

Those complicated feelings lasted until he returned to the Sanctuary.

The ninety-first floor was ready. They only had to wait for Xin Lan to return, and they could move in together.

When he saw Chi Ming, Wu Xi, and the others still enthusiastically discussing when Xin Lan would return and which rooms she would assign them, Yun Jin's expression grew even uglier.

He forcefully tossed down the new clothes he had just bought, his tone agitated.

"Stop waiting. She already has other sentinels on the side. The moment she finished work, she rushed off to buy them underwear. Why would she have time to come back and assign us rooms? When the time comes, everyone can just pick a room and move in. Don't bother unpacking, either. Who knows when we'll all get kicked out together?"

The moment he walked in, he started blasting away at everyone as if he'd swallowed a laser cannon.

The smiles on Wu Xi and the others' faces froze. Even Mo Xiao paused while sorting through the documents.

"Yun Jin, did you follow Guide Xin Lan?"

Mo Xiao continued sorting the documents with an unchanged expression, but kept watching Yun Jin's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Everyone else crowded around him and asked anxiously, "Tell us! What happened? Are you sure you saw Miss Guide buying underwear for someone else?"

"What else would it be?"

Yun Jin downed a bottle of ice water, but his bright red hair still looked as though it might burst into flames from anger at any moment.

"Not just underwear. She also carefully picked out two men's outfits and two sets of shoes and socks. Judging by the size of the underwear, those two wild sentinels don't even measure up to us."

They had thought he was talking nonsense because he was upset, but he had actually seen it with his own eyes.

Everyone froze, feeling as though the sky had fallen.

Chi Ming repeatedly denied it, unwilling to believe it.

"No, Lanlan clearly doesn't smell like she's physically linked with any other sentinels. She must just be..."

"Just what? She's already buying underwear for them. Isn't a physical link only a matter of time? Maybe when she comes back tonight, we'll be unbound and told to pack our bags and get out together."

Yun Jin rolled his eyes at him and gave a mocking laugh. It was unclear whether he was laughing at Chi Ming or at himself for being so stirred up last night.

Chi Ming still shook his head. "No, Lanlan isn't that kind of person. She..."

"Heh, how many days have we known her? How do you know what she's really like?"

Yun Jin cut him off again, his eyes full of disappointment.

"Maybe she isn't even from Planet M19. Otherwise, why would she hide how high her rank is? Why won't she let us follow her whenever she goes out? Why does she always come back smelling of unfamiliar sentinels?"

"You don't know anything, so what makes you think she isn't that kind of person? And even if she really isn't, what would that prove? Wouldn't it still mean she doesn't like us?"

Every one of Yun Jin's words struck home, leaving Chi Ming speechless.

Everyone sat down together, and the living room suddenly fell silent.

But the questions Yun Jin had just raised lingered in everyone's minds, like a stone falling onto the surface of a seemingly calm lake, a single ripple sending the water churning wildly.

"Xin Xin! You're here~"

Yu Yuan had been waiting eagerly all day. As soon as he heard the hovercar, he immediately came out to greet her.

Xin Lan walked into the house carrying a pile of bags. When she saw him approach with flushed cheeks, carefully holding a wooden board in front of himself, she was once again struck by how cute he was.

"Good boy. Are you hungry? I brought you a bottle of nutrient solution."

Xin Lan reached up and pinched his cheek, then shoved all the bags into his hands.

Yu Yuan was delighted to see the brand-new clothes, shoes, and socks in the bags. He hurriedly opened them one by one. "Thank you, Xin Xin. Did you personally go and buy all these for me?"

"Mm. Try them on?"

Xin Lan loved watching him act cute. After all, she had saved him herself. Watching him go from an unconscious mutant into a handsome man full of life was like picking up a newborn puppy and miraculously keeping it alive. It gave her a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

And so, under her "loving" gaze, Yu Yuan hesitated for only a few seconds before dropping the board, his face red.

He intended to put on the pants first.

But they got stuck as soon as he pulled them up to his hips, nearly hurting him.

"Xin Xin, these... I can't fit into them."

He looked up at Xin Lan timidly.