Chapter 133: Sentinel & Guide (X)

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Chapter 133: Sentinel & Guide (X)

Shang Ke maintained the mental barrier while examining the Dark Sentinel’s psychic state. It was a tedious and lengthy process. Maintaining a mental barrier not only consumed far more energy, but also greatly reduced efficiency. This was why most Guides were reluctant to keep a barrier active while providing Guide support.

Shang Ke remained calm as he slowly probed deeper, carefully sorting through the Sentinel’s psychic state layer by layer until he finally discovered something abnormal. By then, more than two hours had passed.

The people watching through the monitors gradually went from highly interested to thoroughly bored. One Guide whispered to the companion beside him, “Doesn’t that Dark Guide have Rank-S psychic power? Why is a simple mental scan taking him so long?”

His companion complained as well, “Exactly. We’ve already been sitting here for two or three hours. If he can’t finish probing today, are we supposed to sit here waiting for him all day?”

Several other Guides nearby also began looking rather impatient.

At that moment, an indifferent voice cut in. “If sitting comfortably in a conference room for a few hours is already unbearable for you, have you considered what it feels like for Shang Ke to continuously use his psychic power for that entire time?”

The Guides’ expressions alternated between green and pale. If any other Sentinel had said that, they might still have dared argue back, but the speaker was Mitchell, who was notoriously aloof and arrogant. They could only obediently shut their mouths and say nothing more.

Lucien’s eyes chilled, his tightly clenched fingers nearly digging into his palms. He certainly was prejudiced against Shang Ke, but not because of the special treatment Shang Ke received. It was because of Mitchell. Lucien had liked Mitchell since childhood, yet their psychic compatibility was only six percent, while Shang Ke had effortlessly reached ninety-six percent with him. How could Lucien not be jealous? He knew perfectly well that even without Shang Ke, he and Mitchell could never be together, but seeing Mitchell show such interest in someone else still left him unable to accept it.

Lucien turned his gaze back toward Shang Ke on the screen, a powerful desire to compete with him rising in his heart.

Just then, the hospital received two more Sentinels displaying the same symptoms. Because their condition matched that of the previous patients, the staff did not recklessly attempt treatment and instead brought them directly here.

After the director finished making arrangements for them, Lucien suddenly said, “These two haven’t been symptomatic for long. Why not let me probe one of them?”

With Lucien’s Rank-S psychic power, he was capable of providing Guide support to the vast majority of ordinary Sentinels.

The director hesitated. “We should wait for Shang Ke’s results first.”

Lucien replied calmly, “As long as I maintain a mental barrier, I don’t believe there will be much danger.”

Seeing that the director still did not agree, Lucien continued, “Time is critical. No one can guarantee that Shang Ke’s findings will definitely be correct. Besides, the patient he’s assisting is a Dark Sentinel, while most of those falling ill are ordinary Sentinels.”

After hearing this, the director discussed it briefly with several others before finally agreeing. “All right. Then we’ll trouble you to try. Officer Devin will protect you.”

Devin was a Rank-A Sentinel and currently Lucien’s best match, with a compatibility rate of eighty-two percent.

Lucien left the conference room first, with Devin silently following behind him.

Another feed appeared on the monitoring screens as Lucien erected a mental barrier and began probing the Sentinel lying on the bed.

Everyone in the conference room watched the progress on both sides without blinking.

Half an hour after Lucien began his probe, something suddenly changed on Shang Ke’s side. The Sentinel, who had been relatively quiet until then, abruptly sprang from the bed and lunged at Shang Ke. Yonis stepped forward, swept out an arm, and hurled him back onto the bed.

Everyone watching the monitors shot to their feet, their faces tense as the same thought occurred to them: Did the probe fail? No, that wasn’t right. Shang Ke had neither stopped providing assistance nor been injured, and with Yonis there, the situation should still be under control.

“Don’t activate a defensive barrier, and don’t use any psychic attacks,” Shang Ke’s clear voice came through the transmitter.

What? No defensive barrier and no psychic attacks? Everyone watched Yonis immediately rein himself in and take one attack from the berserk Sentinel head-on, and they could not help breaking into a cold sweat.

Yonis might be powerful, but taking the attacks of a berserk Sentinel head-on without using psychic power should still have been difficult. Yet to everyone’s surprise, although the Sentinel attacked him again and again, Yonis did not appear strained in the slightest. Instead, he handled every attack with effortless ease.

“Psychic resonance,” Mitchell suddenly said.

What? This was psychic resonance? Everyone stared blankly.

Psychic resonance occurred extremely rarely, and whenever it did, it was usually accompanied by an enormous, spectacular display. How could the two of them enter resonance so quietly and effortlessly? Everyone was separated from them by only a few walls, yet no one had sensed a thing. That made absolutely no sense!

“Sir Mitchell, could you be mistaken?” the director asked cautiously.

Mitchell’s gaze never left the screen as he answered evenly, “This is psychic resonance led by Shang Ke. Yonis’s psychic power has merged into Shang Ke’s domain.”

“Psychic resonance led by a Guide?” Everyone looked shocked. When they turned back to the screen, they finally realized that the situation did seem exactly as Mitchell described. Yonis appeared to have disappeared completely into Shang Ke’s psychic domain. Even the instruments could no longer detect him, showing only Shang Ke’s psychic fluctuations. As for why no one outside could sense the power of their resonance, Shang Ke’s barrier had probably isolated it completely.

Achieving something like this required extraordinary psychic power and control, as well as absolute trust and near-perfect compatibility.

The Sentinel’s frenzy did not last long, only four or five minutes. One fist suddenly stopped in midair. His expression turned confused as he staggered backward several steps, then fell onto the bed with a thud and immediately began sleeping soundly.

Shang Ke slowly withdrew his psychic power, looking visibly exhausted. Beads of sweat slid from his temple to his jaw, dampening the hair along the sides of his face.

A strong arm supported his back. Distress showed clearly in Yonis’s eyes. “You’ve worked hard. Let’s go back.”

Shang Ke nodded, and Yonis immediately scooped him into his arms and carried him toward the conference room.

Everyone in the conference room had already grown impatient. The moment the two entered, they immediately asked, “How is it? Did you find the cause?”

Shang Ke accepted the warm water Yonis handed him, took a sip, and replied, “It’s a scent.”

Yonis sat close beside Shang Ke and wrapped an arm around his waist as though no one else were present.

“A scent?” the director asked urgently. “You mean the substance forcing them into a zone is transmitted through smell?”

“Yes.” Shang Ke naturally leaned against Yonis and explained, “I suspect it’s a poison with a uniquely stimulating scent. Ordinary people and Guides can’t smell it, but Sentinels with heightened senses can. The moment they detect it, the scent forms a fixed psychic memory and begins corroding their psychic domain, causing their brains to create the illusion that they are constantly surrounded by that smell, almost like being trapped in dense smoke. Unless their psychic power is completely exhausted, they will continue to ‘smell’ it indefinitely.”

Everyone remained somewhat skeptical at first. Only after questioning Shang Ke repeatedly did they finally accept the results of his probe.

“Was this drug that can force Sentinels into a zone artificially created?” one Sentinel suddenly asked.

“I think that’s very likely,” Shang Ke answered cautiously. Sentinels possessed extremely strong immunity. Natural scents could at most make them irritable and agitated, or in more serious cases cause psychic instability. Even hallucinogenic drugs should not be capable of forcing them into a zone this easily.

If his deduction was correct, then the organization with both the motive and ability to manufacture such a drug was undoubtedly the Anti-Government Alliance.

Everyone’s expressions turned grave as discussion broke out throughout the room.

At that moment, Shang Ke spoke again. “There’s one more thing you need to be aware of.”

Everyone’s attention immediately returned to him.

“This condition is contagious.”

“Contagious?” The single word caused an uproar.

“When the previous two Guides treated the Sentinels, they didn’t maintain mental barriers, so they became infected by the Sentinels’ psychic memories. The most frightening thing about this drug is that it creates a fixed memory that continuously stimulates the victim’s psyche, almost like a psychic suggestion. The moment another person touches that suggestion, it acts like hypnosis. Guides have far less resistance than Sentinels, so the instant they receive the suggestion, they become infected and remain trapped until their psychic power is reduced all the way back to its initial state.”

Understanding dawned on everyone’s faces.

The president of the Guide Association asked, “So you stopped Yonis from using psychic attacks because you were preventing him from becoming infected by that psychic suggestion as well?”

“Yes.” Shang Ke nodded. “Whenever psychic powers come into direct contact, either a Sentinel or a Guide can become infected.”

The director’s expression changed slightly as he turned toward the Guide Association president. “If this is true, we may have to impose nationwide emergency restrictions.”

There were fewer Guides than Sentinels, and their ranks varied widely. If the situation worsened, many Sentinels would inevitably be unable to receive treatment in time, while a portion of the Guide population would be infected as well.

The president nodded in agreement.

Just then, a Guide suddenly cried out, “Look at Lucien!”

Everyone hurriedly turned toward the screen and saw that the Sentinel Lucien was probing had also gone berserk. Devin, the Sentinel beside him, immediately activated a defensive barrier.

“This is bad!” the director and several others exclaimed, rising at once.

Devin was an experienced Sentinel. The instant he activated the barrier, he launched a psychic attack as well. The entire exchange lasted no more than two seconds before the berserk Sentinel was sent flying. Immediately afterward, Devin’s body stiffened and pain appeared on his face, as though he were desperately suppressing something.

“Devin, what’s wrong?” Lucien asked anxiously while continuing to maintain his own mental barrier.

Devin did not answer. He remained completely motionless in a defensive stance.

At that moment, the berserk Sentinel attacked again, slamming a fist heavily into Devin’s chest. Yet Devin did not move even an inch, remaining rigidly planted in front of Lucien.

Lucien finally realized something was wrong and sent out a thread of psychic power to probe Devin’s condition, only to discover in alarm that Devin was already beginning to zone out as well.

Lucien immediately ignored the berserk Sentinel and tried to save Devin first. But because he diverted his psychic power, his previously stable barrier began to waver and was on the verge of collapsing when another barrier suddenly appeared and enclosed both of them.

“President.” Lucien looked toward the newcomer in relief.

“Withdraw,” the president ordered.

Lucien did not dare hesitate. He reached out to grab Devin’s hand, but the instant his fingers touched him, he was dragged into the zone as well.

Lucien had not yet severed the mental healing he was directing toward Devin, while his own barrier had already been lowered. As a result, the instant he touched Devin, the infection passed to him as well.

The president’s expression immediately changed. He had just enclosed both men within the same barrier and had not yet had time to separate them when Lucien’s condition suddenly changed.

An infected Sentinel could still be treated. But once a Guide became infected, their psychic power would be rapidly drained away.

At the critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out, seized Lucien’s wrist, and pulled him away from Devin.

“Shang Ke, what are you doing?!” Yonis had only just restrained the berserk Sentinel when he turned around and saw Shang Ke courting death again.

Shang Ke was a Dark Guide. His psychic power was incompatible with ordinary Sentinels, which naturally meant it would also repel the psychic power of ordinary Guides.

“Ah!” Lucien cried out in pain and was just about to glare at Shang Ke when Shang Ke forcefully dragged him out of the president’s barrier.

“Are you trying to kill us?” Lucien shouted after regaining his footing. But the moment the words left his mouth, he noticed everyone staring strangely at him and Shang Ke.

What was with those looks?

“Shang Ke, what just happened? Aren’t you a Dark Guide?” one Guide could not help asking. “How can you treat ordinary Guides too?”

Everyone had clearly seen Lucien begin showing symptoms of infection, yet Shang Ke had merely grabbed him once and seemingly yanked his sanity right back.

Shang Ke smiled. “It’s called ‘stimulus therapy.’ My psychic power is incompatible with that of ordinary Sentinels and Guides, so forcing direct contact creates a repulsive reaction. I simply used that backlash to shock Lucien awake.”

“So that means you could use the same method to treat ordinary Sentinels too. Simple, crude, safe, and effective,” a quick-thinking Sentinel immediately said.

Seeing everyone wearing expressions of So you can do that too, Shang Ke silently rolled his eyes. “This method only works on someone who has just been infected.”

If they actually tried this “stimulus therapy” on Sentinels who had been infected for any length of time, it would only make them die faster.

Everyone immediately looked disappointed.

Only then did Lucien realize that Shang Ke had actually saved him. His expression stiffened, and he awkwardly muttered, “Thank you.”

Shang Ke smiled. “You’re welcome. You should thank Devin instead. Even after losing consciousness, he still remembered to protect you. Otherwise, you probably would have been injured before we could get here.”

Lucien turned toward the man’s rigid, upright back, and a subtle feeling stirred inside him.

He turned back toward Shang Ke, intending to thank him properly this time, only to see Shang Ke’s eyes suddenly sharpen before he threw himself at Lucien.

Lucien was knocked completely to the floor. While still dazed, he suddenly felt several drops of warm liquid fall onto his face.

He opened his eyes and saw Shang Ke braced halfway above him, head lowered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth even as a smile remained on his face. “That was close…”

“Shang Ke!” A violent gust swept past, and Shang Ke was immediately pulled into a familiar embrace. Yonis stared at the blood spreading across Shang Ke’s back, naked fear showing in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, he was trying to save me…” Lucien’s words died beneath Yonis’s terrifying gaze.

“Get out!” Yonis roared, murderous intent radiating from his entire body.

Leaning weakly against Yonis’s shoulder, Shang Ke said, “Don’t blame him. The attacker was probably aiming for me.”

Lucien also had red hair. Although the shade differed somewhat from Shang Ke’s, from a great enough distance, the two could easily be mistaken for one another.

The strongest evidence was the System notification he suddenly heard: 【Main Mission completion countdown…】

A countdown? Shang Ke froze slightly. Why is there a countdown?

【Host’s life is rapidly fading. If Host survives, the Main Mission will be considered complete. If Host dies, the mission will fail.】

Wait. Wasn’t his entire purpose to die heroically? And now dying would make him fail?

【The Main Mission is to “survive” three assassination attempts by the Anti-Government Alliance. If Host dies, that means their assassination succeeded, so naturally the mission will be considered a failure.】

It can work like that?!

Shang Ke struggled to hold on to his final shred of consciousness and clutched Yonis’s arm tightly. Darling, you absolutely have to save me! I don’t care if I have to go through another punishment world with increased difficulty, but failing this mission means I won’t earn enough reward points—and then I won’t be able to obtain another Return Key!

Never before had Shang Ke possessed such an overwhelming desire to survive.

And yet, in the end, he still could not hold on. He did not even have the chance to say goodbye to Yonis.

When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the System Space.

I died, and I failed the mission too…

【Congratulations, Host, on completing the Main Mission—Survive Three Assassination Attempts by the Anti-Government Alliance.】

Huh? System, you’d better not be messing with me. I’m warning you, I’m in a terrible mood right now. If I find out you’re screwing with me, I’m going berserk!

【The System never messes with people. Host has indeed completed the Main Mission.】

“Didn’t you just say that if I died, the mission would fail?”

【In principle, yes. However, this time, Host won a prize.】

“A prize? What prize?”

【The Artificial Creation Prize.】

“?” Could you explain that in plain language?

【You’re pregnant.】

What?!

【Before Host died, it was discovered that you were three months pregnant. The embryonic seed was removed from your body and survived in an artificial cultivation chamber. The continuation of your bloodline can also be counted as a continuation of your life, so the System has determined that the mission was successfully completed.】

Shang Ke was completely dumbfounded.

He had actually gotten pregnant? Pregnant!

Compared with failing the mission, Shang Ke found the fact that he had only learned about his pregnancy after dying far more upsetting.

If he had known beforehand, would he still have saved Lucien? If he had not saved Lucien, he could have completed the mission alive and even seen his child with his own eyes. Forget it. Being “heroic” had practically become instinctive for him by now. If he saw someone in danger and refused to help, how could he live up to his essential nature as a hopelessly saintly do-gooder?

He might have gone out heroically, but his man would now have to welcome a new life while facing Shang Ke’s death at the same time. Just thinking about it hurt. The only consolation was that the child had survived. If both parent and child had died together… Shang Ke did not dare imagine how much pain Yonis would have suffered.

Shang Ke pulled himself together once more. He would keep completing missions, earn more reward points, and obtain another Return Key!

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