Temporary Sentinel

The collection room was small, about forty square meters. Glass display cases with controlled temperature and humidity covered all four walls. The lights detected someone entering and switched on automatically, casting a cool white glow over the neatly arranged rare materials.

Every container bore a label. Luo Ruzhuo swept a glance around and spotted at least three rows of things she had seen on exorbitantly priced listings on the Star Network.

There were crystal essence energy stones, jade marrow... and other materials, including a fist-sized piece of Insect Jade. The deep green within it was no less vibrant than that of the one Fenrir Talo had given her. A separate refrigerated cabinet stood in the corner, holding undiluted Mental Entity growth potion concentrate. Its label bore the Ankang Pharmaceuticals logo and the words "For internal experimental use only."

Luo Ruzhuo took a deep breath.

She had no time to marvel. She opened the compression backpack she carried with her and began packing things into it, her hands moving like lightning.

To be safe, she did not intend to use the labeled experimental concentrates. But judging by the sea angel's faint longing for them from within her mind, they were most likely hard to come by. Taking them would deal Ankang Pharmaceuticals the greatest blow.

Luo Ruzhuo left nothing behind, taking every last one.

Fifteen minutes later, her compression backpack was full, and only a handful of things remained in the collection room.

Luo Ruzhuo retraced her steps, climbed over the outer wall through the maintenance passage, and went to where she had hidden her aircraft beforehand.

She boarded the aircraft, and by the time she returned to Planet b-475, it was already four in the morning.

Only after changing into her pajamas and lying in bed did the excitement of returning with a full haul slowly subside as Luo Ruzhuo stared at the ceiling.

The operation had gone far more smoothly than she had imagined, so smoothly that even Luo Ruzhuo could hardly believe it.

Not only had she successfully investigated the organization connected to the original owner of her body, but she had also obtained materials that would help her Mental Entity grow.

The only unknown.

Luo Ruzhuo could not help recalling the woman known as "the head" in the organization, and the second prince, Sean Fergus, who had come to teach at the Green Ivy Training Center.

The pair's identical blond hair and green eyes flashed through her mind.

Is there some connection between them... or is it purely a coincidence?

The thought flashed past. She turned onto her side, closed her eyes, and began mentally planning how to use the spoils she had obtained that day. Based on what Sean Fergus had taught that day, she had no plans to use the second, freshly acquired Insect Jade for the time being.

She would first use the energy stones and jade marrow in turn. By the time both were used up, the nourishing effects of the Insect Jade she currently had would be nearly exhausted, and she could use the second one to break through.

If all went well, the sea angel should reach its complete form within the month.

Then she would be able to enter Xianzhu's Mental Domain once more.

While Luo Ruzhuo was sleeping peacefully, Phil White was nearly beside himself with rage.

The Feier Family mansion stood in Morning Star's central district, where land was worth its weight in gold, and occupied a considerable area. Beneath the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, a middle-aged man in silk pajamas had a livid expression. Smash! The wineglass in his hand hit the floor.

Shards struck the knees of the person kneeling on the ground, leaving faint red marks.

Even so, the person kneeling there did not move an inch.

"What did you say?" Phil White ground his teeth. "The assassination failed? Two undercover agents couldn't even get rid of that damned woman in the contaminated zone!?"

"Y-yes." The person kneeling was Phil White's personal assistant, Eugene. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, but he did not dare raise a hand to wipe them away. He let them roll down his chin and form a small puddle on the floor.

"The informant isn't too clear on the details either..." His head was lowered, almost touching the floor. "What we do know is that there was another SS-rank sentinel on the starship! That's why she survived!"

An unknown double-S sentinel... damn it, how is that woman so lucky every single time!

Phil White almost ground his teeth to pieces.

But no matter how lucky she was, her luck would run out someday.

He sneered, his eyes vicious, and nudged Eugene with his foot. "Go let that woman out."

Trembling, Eugene could not immediately figure out whom he meant. Only after his boss kicked him twice did he realize he was not referring to Luo Ruzhuo.

"The one on the lowest level of the prison...?" he asked tentatively. Finally daring to raise his head, he shifted his gaze and caught sight of his boss's jaw nodding twice.

"Yes." At the mention of this person, deep wariness filled Phil White's eyes, but it quickly turned to a trace of contempt. He waved a hand. "Bring her up from below, implant a chip, and make her presentable. Then send her to the Firmament Squad under the pretext of helping purify Xianzhu."

"Oh, and remember to make the chip increase the aggressive tendencies of her Mental Domain. Then, while Luo Ruzhuo is purifying Xianzhu, have her..."

He left the sentence unfinished, shaped his fingers into a gun, pointed it at his head, and said, "Bang." His eyes were full of certainty.

"Of course. She absolutely can't be allowed to live this time!" The cold sweat on Eugene's forehead finally stopped falling. He wiped it away and joined his boss in a chuckle.

The two plotted openly, completely unaware that a piece of Insect Jade Phil White had worked so hard to collect had vanished without a trace that night.

By the time he learned of it, the entire collection room had been stripped clean, with nothing valuable left behind.

Even more infuriating, Phil White investigated for ages without finding the slightest clue as to which thief had done it! It made him so angry he could have spat blood for days, and his foul mood hung over the company for days, leaving Eugene on edge every day... but that came later.

After returning from her vacation, Luo Ruzhuo slacked off for several days as usual. Afternoon tea was no longer limited to little cookies.

Liu Sui's cooking improved by the day, and he had studied many more authentic ancient Chinese snacks, including peach crisps, mung bean cakes, glutinous rice cakes... and many others.

Every time she came out of the purification room, she had to walk with a hand against the wall-because she was so full.

It was hard to refuse someone after accepting their gifts, and hard to criticize them after eating their food.

Eventually, Luo Ruzhuo felt a little embarrassed. She checked the calendar and, upon discovering that a month had passed since her last Guide Element extraction, took the initiative to ask Lin Sheng to extract some for Xianzhu's treatment.

Since she could not enter Xianzhu's Mental Domain for the time being, she would first advance his purification on a physical level.

Luo Ruzhuo was in her room, playing with the sea angel using her mental power. Before long, someone knocked on her door.

When she opened it, a tall, upright young man stood before her in a white shirt, its top two buttons still undone. His long hair was coiled behind his head with a hairpin, with one long lock trailing down to his waist.

The visitor was none other than Liu Sui.

"Deputy Captain Lin can't get away for the moment, so I'm here to extract the Guide Element in his place."

As if he had noticed the confusion on her face, Liu Sui offered an explanation.

"Planet b-475 is some distance from the nearest Black Tower testing facility. Extracting Guide Element isn't a particularly technical procedure, so there's no need to make a special trip."

With that, he slipped inside and set a medical case on the table. After disinfecting it, he opened it, put on medical gloves, and came over to Luo Ruzhuo with the instrument.

"Can we start now?"

Luo Ruzhuo nodded, brushed aside the stray hairs covering her neck, and turned her back to Liu Sui.

Her snowy white neck was smooth as jade. The closer he got, the stronger the fragrance on the guide became. Liu Sui's throat bobbed involuntarily, and he fell into a daze.

Luo Ruzhuo had never liked injections or having blood drawn since she was young. After waiting a while without feeling anything happen, she could not help prompting him. "Have you started?"

Liu Sui came to his senses as if waking from a dream and deftly extracted a tube of Guide Element. He put it in the medical case, went outside, and handed it to the transport robot waiting nearby.

The robot carried the medical case away. Luo Ruzhuo moved her neck and felt no effects at all. Only then did she turn around and discover that Liu Sui was still in her room.

The light in the room stretched the young man's shadow long. He removed the hairpin he had used to put up his hair for convenience while working.

His long hair immediately cascaded down like a waterfall. Like the moonlight outside, it spilled across the floor.

Liu Sui was undoubtedly beautiful, with a beauty that was delicate but not insipid. When his face was expressionless, he seemed unapproachable, like the moon hanging high above.

Yet now, that moon hanging high in the sky came over and knelt on one knee at her feet. He took the back of Luo Ruzhuo's hand in one hand and gently pressed it to his lips.

Luo Ruzhuo felt a warm, cool sensation on the back of her hand and heard the uncertainty in his voice. "I'm your temporary sentinel now... right?"

Right.

There was that.

Luo Ruzhuo recalled how, back then, she had chosen both aircraft without a moment's hesitation.

Then she had readily registered both their names on the temporary sentinel list on her optical computer.

"Yes." Of course she would not deny it.

Unexpectedly, after hearing her answer, the young man's ears reddened slightly, as though he had made up his mind about something.

The hand with which he had kissed Luo Ruzhuo's hand moved up along her fingertips, covering them completely. Then he gently placed the girl's soft fingertips beneath his palm inside his open shirt.

Then, with his other hand, he undid the buttons of his shirt one by one, from top to bottom.