Guide Element

Guide Element was also known as a guide's "golden blood."

It was neither golden nor blood, but a colorless, odorless, transparent substance drawn from a gland, much like blood.

It looked unremarkable, but it could purify contamination regardless of level restrictions.

Once injected into a sentinel, it could act directly on the mental domain within an hour, continuously reducing the concentration of contamination. The higher the match rate, the more effective the Guide Element.

Very little Guide Element was produced, and the most widely used product at present was the suppressant, made by diluting Guide Element to a fraction of its original concentration. It was intended for sentinels who could not get an appointment with a guide for purification, or who could not find a guide while in a contaminated zone. It could temporarily suppress contamination, though its effect was only about one percent that of a direct Guide Element injection.

As Luo Ruzhuo understood it, it was like making do with an expert's notes when you couldn't get a consultation.

While browsing the star network, Luo Ruzhuo had noticed that suppressants advertised as products of the Black Tower's top guides were always in short supply and almost perpetually sold out.

The extraction was like drawing blood. The Black Tower allowed guides to have their Guide Element extracted at any time, but there had to be an interval of at least three months, and each extraction was limited to a set amount. Private extraction and sales were forbidden.

Luo Ruzhuo had wondered who had so much time on their hands that they would be willing to have it drawn all the time.

Then Big Yellow told her this-

Guides received a percentage of the proceeds from suppressants made with officially extracted Guide Element. Anyone buying out a batch had to pay the guide a buyout fee 50 percent higher than the guide's share.

Luo Ruzhuo changed her tune at once. What's all this about whether to cooperate? This is every guide's duty!

"Is that all?"

Luo Ruzhuo raised her hand. She had felt something prick her neck, and after about ten seconds, the test tube in front of her was full.

The staff member in a white uniform smiled and nodded, covered the tiny needle hole on the back of Luo Ruzhuo's neck with a biomembrane, then placed the test tube in a rack.

"Yes, honored guide. Please get plenty of rest over the next few days and avoid overusing your mental power. Your payment will be transferred to the account linked to your optical computer ID within 24 hours. Please check for it then."

The staff member had said 24 hours, but Luo Ruzhuo's wrist vibrated, and when she opened the message on her optical computer, she found that the money had already arrived.

Before coming, Luo Ruzhuo had read several posts on the star network about shares from sales of suppressants made with Guide Element, and none of them had mentioned payment arriving so quickly.

Or so many zeros after the number that they dazzled her eyes.

"Um..." Luo Ruzhuo couldn't help asking, "May I ask what my Guide Element will be used for?"

There was no reason not to tell her. The staff member nodded. "Rest assured. A sentinel bought out this batch of your Guide Element. Under the regulations, they must pay you an additional 50 percent as a buyout fee."

Ah... so it was a buyout.

Luo Ruzhuo remembered reading in a post that guides had the right to know the buyer's information before deciding whether to sell.

"Please tell me about this sentinel." She was polite, but her tone left no room for argument.

Luo Ruzhuo needed to make sure that not the slightest trace of anything taken from her body ended up in the Feier Family's hands.

Life had seemed peaceful since she arrived at the Black Tower in Area A, but she hadn't forgotten that she still had enemies waiting for an opportunity. No matter what, she had come back to life in the original owner's body, and she would avenge her.

"It was me." Before the staff member could reply, a clear voice came from the doorway. Luo Ruzhuo looked over and saw someone she knew.

Lin Sheng had come in a great hurry. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes, visible red veins in them, and a short growth of stubble on his chin. Luo Ruzhuo still remembered their first meeting in the purification room. Although his contamination level had already been high, he had looked refined and clean overall.

What happened to him? Luo Ruzhuo was a little surprised by his condition. He looked as though he had run out of ammunition and supplies. She voiced the question.

Lin Sheng gave a wry smile, looking utterly miserable. "It's a long story." Keeping it short, he gave her a rough account of what had happened in the special containment room that day.

When she heard that the S-rank guide had suffered the consequences of his own actions and was lying in a hospital with a damaged mental domain, Luo Ruzhuo could hardly keep the corners of her mouth from rising.

She had woken up to find that someone she disliked had landed in the hospital through their own actions—what could be more entertaining than that?

Luo Ruzhuo had a hard time holding back her laughter, but for the moment, she could sympathize with Lin Sheng. The difference was that she was delighted, while he was miserable.

"So." Understanding dawned on her. "You're going to use this vial of Guide Element to treat your captain?"

Treatment or not, Luo Ruzhuo didn't think Guide Element from a guide who had only just awakened her spirit body could have any effect on an SS-rank fantasy-type sentinel.

"Yes." Lin Sheng nodded. "I'm very grateful that you donated your Guide Element... This is the last vial the Black Tower currently has in storage."

He didn't expect the Guide Element and the purification by the S-rank guide coming next to slow the contamination of the captain's mental domain. He only hoped they could calm him down-at least long enough to get him to the Central District.

Luo Ruzhuo didn't concern herself with all that. As long as it wasn't being used on anyone connected to the Feier Family, she was happy to agree.

"All right. I wish your captain good luck."

Watching the guide leave, Lin Sheng couldn't help remembering that she had said the same thing when they first met.

He actually had a lot more he wanted to say to her. But after the apology, he had gained a general understanding of the personality of the guide he admired: she seemed to have particularly strong boundaries and could clearly recognize lies disguised as kindness.

Lin Sheng admitted that his apology back then had been made with an ulterior motive. He hadn't truly felt sorry for what that stupid guide had done—he had only wanted to ask her out.

But this wasn't the time for any of it. He sighed softly, took the test tube, and hurried toward the containment room.

Luo Ruzhuo returned to her dormitory, lay on her bed, and began counting the digits in her optical computer's account balance while eating the sea buckthorn berries Big Yellow had washed and left by her bed.

One, two, three, four, five, six... finally, six zeros!

Now she could be considered to have at least some savings. Although the starry-sky dress was still a long way off, she was at least getting closer.

After spending so long in the apocalypse, Luo Ruzhuo quite liked living this kind of life, honestly working and earning money, as though she had returned to the days before the apocalypse. At the thought, she called Big Yellow over again and tapped a number of her favorite dishes on the display. Fifteen minutes later, the food arrived.

Luo Ruzhuo picked a news channel at random to play in the background.

"Following the sudden large-scale movement of the contaminated zone on the front line... thirteen A-rank sentinels and twenty-one B-rank sentinels have died. All squads are reminded that contaminated zones have been highly active. Pay attention to the expansion and movement of their boundaries, and be prepared to defend the war zone's final line of defense..."

"On May 14, Federation Year 6158, the contaminated areas of Planet Mante were completely cleared... The planet's former residents may move back in an orderly manner after registering. Let us celebrate the return of our home planet!"

The broadcasts were either reports on attacks against contaminated zones or news of contaminated zones being reclaimed. The sentinels on the news all wore black uniforms, with only the designs on their squads' armbands differing.

Luo Ruzhuo glanced at the screen and suddenly spotted a sentinel squad with snakes embroidered on their armbands in a news report praising sentinels for their achievements in a contaminated zone.

The name beneath them was "Fang Squad."

So what that honey badger had said was true.