Chapter 130: Sentinel & Guide (VII)

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Chapter 130: Sentinel & Guide (VII)

When Shang Ke awoke from his deep sleep, for a moment he thought he was lying in a pool of molten lava, hot and sticky all over. Yonis had him wrapped tightly in his arms like a body pillow, his head pressed against Shang Ke’s chest while his steady breaths brushed over his skin in waves of heat. The slightest movement brought the strange sensation of bare skin rubbing against bare skin.

From the corner of his eye, Shang Ke caught a flash of gold. Yonis’s lion, just like its master, lay on its side on the bed with a thoroughly satisfied expression. Wave wriggled out of its embrace, only to have his head promptly pushed back down by one enormous paw the instant he raised it.

At the same time, Yonis nuzzled his head against Shang Ke’s chest several times, mumbling something unintelligible in his sleep.

Looking this peaceful and content, like some spoiled house pet, where was even the slightest trace of a high-ranking Sentinel’s vigilance?

Shang Ke moved his hand back and forth over Yonis’s neck, seemingly searching for the ideal spot to slit his throat with a single stroke.

“Having fun?” Yonis’s lazy voice suddenly sounded beside Shang Ke’s ear, carrying a hint of amusement. “I think stabbing me directly through the heart would be faster than cutting my throat.” As he spoke, he moved Shang Ke’s hand over his heart.

Shang Ke shook his head. “Your skin’s too thick. The neck is still more vulnerable.”

“Can I interpret ‘thick skin’ as ‘well-developed muscles’?” Yonis showed off his powerful physique. After an entire night of nourishment, the man’s body looked as though it had absorbed an abundance of nutrients; his muscles appeared especially vigorous, full, and glossy.

Did bonding between a Sentinel and Guide somehow come with beauty and fitness benefits too?

Just as Shang Ke was thinking this, he felt the man against him beginning to stir again and hurriedly said, “My whole body feels uncomfortable. I want to take a shower.”

“All right.” Yonis did not pull out of Shang Ke. Keeping their bodies joined, he carried him to the bathroom, and with every step, the place where they were connected bumped gently together.

Yonis pressed Shang Ke against the wall and turned on the shower, supporting his waist with one hand while using the other to spread fragrant body wash over his skin.

“Mm… I can wash myself…” Shang Ke was genuinely beginning to find Yonis’s boundless stamina a little unbearable.

“Almost done.” Yonis soothingly nipped his ear, then after several hard thrusts, a rush of heat spilled inside Shang Ke.

Yonis panted heavily but did not pull out immediately. Only after they had both finished showering did he reluctantly withdraw.

He rubbed a thumb over Shang Ke’s lips and said softly, “Maybe it won’t be long before we create a new life together.”

Shang Ke’s heart jumped. Only then did he remember that most Guides in this world were capable of becoming pregnant. Male Guides could not give birth directly, however. Instead, they would gestate a seed, which could then be removed and cultivated outside the body through technological means.

The embryo survival rate for male Guides was extremely low, but as long as cultivation succeeded, the child would generally inherit the excellent genes of its parents. Given Yonis’s and Shang Ke’s psychic power and physical condition, their offspring would have a forty-five percent chance of becoming a Dark Sentinel, a forty-five percent chance of becoming a Guide, and no more than a ten percent chance of genetic mutation.

Shang Ke had never considered leaving behind a child—at least not before he completed all of his missions across the worlds.

“Hmm?” Receiving no response, Yonis raised his eyes and gazed intensely at him. “Shang Ke, would you be willing to create a new life with me?”

Shang Ke was silent for a moment before asking, “Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?”

Yonis replied, “If you’re willing, I’ll hear the truth. If you’re not willing, I’ll hear the lie.”

Shang Ke: …Not bad. You’re pretty good at word games.

Yonis lowered his head and kissed his eyelids. “There’s no rush. You can decide after you’ve thought it through. But if you do conceive, don’t give the child up.”

Shang Ke nodded. He could not bear to give up a child conceived with the person he loved either. It seemed he would have to reduce the amount of sex they had as much as possible from now on. And even when they did have sex, they absolutely had to use protection!

But how could Yonis, who had only just tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time, possibly reduce the amount of sex they had? As for protection—whoever remembered it could deal with it.

By the time the two of them had finished cleaning themselves up, lunchtime had already passed. Shang Ke made several simple dishes, each in generous portions, especially the rice. Just as he expected, after their vigorous exercise, Yonis single-handedly demolished enough food for four people, eating more than twice his usual amount.

Shang Ke checked his physical condition and found that aside from some soreness and weakness, there was nothing else wrong. It seemed bonding with Yonis benefited his body as well, probably one of the advantages of having psychic compatibility above ninety-five percent. A Guide could provide a Sentinel with the most suitable treatment and the greatest possible pleasure, while a Sentinel could improve a Guide’s physical constitution through their psychic merging, gradually bringing both bodies into the state best suited to one another.

At that moment, Shang Ke received a message from the Guide Association notifying him to report there the next day for a Guide ranking test. Previously, because of Yonis, Shang Ke had only registered his Guide pheromone signature with the Association—essentially a Guide’s psychic DNA—and had not undergone a formal ranking assessment.

But the previous day, he had successfully treated Monroe, a Rank-A Dark Sentinel in the midst of psychic overload. The incident had not only caused an uproar among Dark Sentinels, but inevitably attracted the Guide Association’s attention as well. The appearance of the first Guide in history capable of achieving more than ninety percent compatibility with a Rank-A Dark Sentinel was undoubtedly astonishing. There were even rumors that he was compatible with every Dark Sentinel. Dark Sentinels theoretically did not require a Guide’s support, but wasn’t that largely because they simply could not find Guides compatible with them in the first place? Whether ordinary Sentinels or Dark Sentinels, Guides were extraordinarily important to them, both physically and psychically.

“These people certainly move fast.” Yonis snorted. Although he was somewhat displeased, he did not try to prevent Shang Ke from going for the test. If this had happened a day earlier, he might still have been agitated and restless, but after being thoroughly “nourished” by a certain someone, he had suddenly become remarkably magnanimous.

The next day, Yonis accompanied Shang Ke to the Guide Association. The moment they got out of the car, curious gazes came at them from every direction.

Yonis enveloped Shang Ke within his psychic domain, partly to protect him and partly to announce his claim to everyone else.

Word had spread that a special Guide compatible with Dark Sentinels would be coming to the Association for testing today. Every Dark Sentinel who received the news in advance had gathered there, eager to see this Guide for themselves.

When the two entered the Association, gaze after gaze from the Dark Sentinels immediately landed on Shang Ke. They endured the pressure radiating from Yonis and carefully examined the young man at his side.

Shang Ke walked steadily with an utterly composed expression, paying no attention to the surrounding stares. Judging purely by appearance and bearing, the assembled Dark Sentinels silently gave him ninety-seven points out of a hundred. The missing three points were entirely because Yonis’s looming presence beside him was too much of an eyesore.

Yonis escorted Shang Ke into the testing room, finally cutting off those irritating gazes. Unfortunately, the results would still be displayed on the screen outside.

Everyone in the hall waited patiently. A little over ten minutes later, a row of data finally appeared on the screen.

Shang Ke— Age: 22 Gender: Male Classification: Guide Psychic Power Rank: S Compatibility Type: All Dark Sentinels

The final line sent the Dark Sentinels into complete uproar. They had guessed that Shang Ke was probably a Guide capable of matching with Dark Sentinels, but they had never imagined that he would be a Guide whose compatibility was specifically geared toward Dark Sentinels!

Never in Ta’s history had there been a Guide specifically compatible with Dark Sentinels. The few Guides capable of matching with Dark Sentinels were usually even more compatible with ordinary Sentinels. As a result, most chose ordinary Sentinels with whom they had higher compatibility rather than Dark Sentinels whose compatibility only barely met the required threshold. Without sufficient compatibility, bonding with a Dark Sentinel possessing overwhelming psychic power would be torture for the Guide.

And now a Guide specifically compatible with Dark Sentinels had actually appeared, meaning he could potentially achieve compatibility far above the minimum standard with any Dark Sentinel.

At that moment, another set of data appeared on the screen.

【Compatibility between Dark Sentinel Yonis and Guide Shang Ke: 99%.】

Ninety-nine percent? Everyone rubbed their eyes in disbelief. That made absolutely no sense! The highest compatibility ever recorded in history had been ninety-six percent, while the current average among all Sentinel-Guide pairs was only seventy-five percent. Across the entire country, pairs exceeding ninety percent could be counted on one hand. And Yonis was a Rank-A Dark Sentinel whose psychic power was extraordinarily strong. If Shang Ke were tested with another Dark Sentinel, could the compatibility possibly hit one hundred percent?

At the thought, every Dark Sentinel’s eyes went red with envy.

Yonis had already known that his compatibility with Shang Ke was at least ninety-five percent. He had agreed to make the test result public precisely to make everyone else give up, but he had never expected their compatibility to reach ninety-nine percent. Had bonding raised it? Hmm. Apparently they needed to bond more often. Maybe one day they would break past one hundred percent.

“I request a psychic compatibility test with Guide Shang Ke.” A cool voice abruptly interrupted Yonis’s thoughts.

He turned and found Mitchell standing there, the Rank-A Dark Sentinel whose name stood alongside his own.

Mitchell walked up to Shang Ke and bowed slightly, a restrained eagerness showing in his violet eyes.

Yonis’s expression darkened, his gaze turning chilling as he stared at Mitchell.

Yonis had no authority to block a legitimate request from a Rank-A Dark Sentinel. After all, Shang Ke was not yet his formally bonded spouse.

Under a staff member’s guidance, Mitchell entered the testing room.

Shang Ke quickly sensed a powerful psychic force distinctly different from Yonis’s and immediately released his spirit animal. Wave swam happily through the psychic sea, truly like a fish in water and completely at ease.

A moment later, another result appeared on the screen: 【Compatibility between Dark Sentinel Mitchell and Guide Shang Ke: 96%.】

The crowd erupted again. One ninety-nine percent match was already outrageous, and now there was another at ninety-six percent?

As expected of a Guide specifically compatible with Dark Sentinels—his compatibility was astonishingly high!

Mitchell emerged from the testing room, and the gaze he directed at Shang Ke had become scorching. Lingering pleasure, exhilaration, and desire were still visible in his eyes. That ultimate sensation penetrating deep into the soul was something no Dark Sentinel could easily resist. No wonder Yonis guarded Shang Ke so fiercely. A Guide this extraordinary was a treasure every Dark Sentinel dreamed of possessing.

“Yonis, I’m also a Rank-A Dark Sentinel, and my compatibility with him is ninety-six percent.” In other words, he too was qualified to have this Guide. Mitchell calmly met Yonis’s eyes.

“So what?” Yonis replied coldly. “He will only ever be my spouse.”

“Then we’ll see.” Mitchell bowed once more toward Shang Ke before turning away, his long purple hair tracing an arc through the air with effortless elegance.

“I-I also request a psychic compatibility test with Guide Shang Ke!” At that moment, a Rank-B Dark Sentinel impatiently submitted his own request.

Immediately, similar requests rose from every direction. Nearly every Dark Sentinel present wanted to experience what compatibility above the minimum standard felt like.

It was bad enough for another Rank-A Dark Sentinel to flaunt himself in front of Yonis, but now even this bunch of nameless background characters A, B, C, and D dared to try poaching his man? Yonis was utterly enraged. His powerful psychic force swept outward like a violent gale, immediately flushing the other Sentinels’ faces as they hurriedly opened their psychic domains to withstand his pressure.

Hmph!

Yonis wrapped an arm around Shang Ke’s waist and stormed through the group of rigid Sentinels. Only after he had gone a considerable distance did the others finally manage to breathe normally again.

Alas, a Guide might look delicious enough to devour, but not everyone could afford to enjoy one.

Still, that certainly did not stop them from fantasizing!

That very night, information about Shang Ke flooded the internet. He was the first Guide ever found to be specifically compatible with Dark Sentinels, with compatibility rates of ninety-nine percent with Yonis and ninety-six percent with Mitchell, two of the country’s greatest powerhouses. Almost overnight, virtually every Dark Sentinel began treating Shang Ke as their dream man, and some people even enthusiastically wrote lengthy “stories that had to be told” about him and a certain Dark Sentinel.

Dark Sentinels were notoriously empty, lonely, and starved for companionship. Now that someone had finally appeared who could fill that void, how could they not be excited? More importantly, if one such Guide had appeared, who could say there would not be a second or third? They might not be able to win Shang Ke, but they could reserve a place for his future descendants!

The Sentinels began clamoring for Shang Ke to start producing descendants as soon as possible—preferably one every six months!

Male Guides had relatively low fertility and embryo survival rates, but gestating a seed required only three months. After that, the seed could be transferred into an artificial cultivation chamber, leaving the Guide free to conceive another.

With a constitution as unusual as Shang Ke’s, maybe his fertility was equally extraordinary. One child every six months might not be a dream after all!

Yonis grinned as he read the comments while Shang Ke’s expression grew increasingly dark. Just moments earlier, the man had been reading with furious indignation, but the instant he reached “one every six months,” the muscles in his face began twitching intermittently with barely suppressed delight.

“Keke, look. The entire country wants us to hurry up and have children.” Yonis wrapped his arms around Shang Ke’s waist and said happily, “I don’t think we should disappoint the expectations of our motherland and its people.”

Shang Ke: …Hehe.

There was a saying: extreme joy begets sorrow. The facts proved that one should never become too pleased with oneself.

Just as Yonis confidently brought Shang Ke to the Bond Registration Office to formalize their partnership, he was informed that Shang Ke had been classified as national property. He was permitted to enter provisional partnerships, but no single person could claim exclusive rights over him, and the possibility that he might eventually be matched with two or more Dark Sentinels had not been ruled out.

Yonis looked as though he had been struck by lightning: Excuse me?!

Shang Ke, who had abruptly learned that he had become “national property”: Something seems very wrong with the direction this plot is taking…

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