San and Astin were ambushed by several high-level alien creatures while patrolling the energy station.
The encounter delayed their return by a full hour.
By dusk, the clock had reached 7:30 p.m.
Outside the Sentinel tower, the red sun was sinking toward the horizon. Inside, everyone sat around the long, rectangular nano-liquid-crystal dining table, quietly eating dinner.
The sentinels’ meals were always simple. With their heightened senses, they couldn’t tolerate food that was overly greasy, salty, or heavily seasoned. Their usual meals consisted of boiled vegetables, poached chicken breast, boiled beef, and canned food.
Only Bunny’s meals were prepared with salt and seasonings.
Tonight, she was eating veggie fried rice, yet she couldn’t shake the strange feeling hanging over the table.
Everyone already knew that she had performed deep mental soothing on Orion, giving him physical relief.
And once Brandon, the team’s loudmouth, knew something, it was only a matter of time before everyone else found out.
None of them were openly staring at her, but Bunny couldn’t help feeling as though countless invisible eyes were fixed on her from every direction.
San silently watched Orion fuss over Bunny, eagerly passing her water and napkins whenever she needed them.
That idiot wore every emotion plainly on his face.
The way he stared at Bunny with sparkling eyes practically screamed his feelings for her. He might as well have carved the words I love you onto his forehead.
San casually stirred his vegetable soup with a spoon.
Excellent.
The first step had gone even more smoothly than he’d expected.
Bunny’s ability to accept Orion was progressing much faster than he’d anticipated.
While Orion looked as though he had just stepped into spring, his younger brother, Ilai, wore an expression that was considerably darker. Arden and Rain showed little reaction, while Tyr remained as inconspicuous as ever.
Cyrus set down his chopsticks and looked toward San, whose entire body was stained black with strands of spiritual energy.
"Did you take care of all those high-level alien creatures?"
San’s mental instability level was already approaching the critical threshold of ninety-five percent. He was irritable, volatile, and had very little patience left.
"All dead. There were no pregnant females."
Pregnant alien females favored warm energy stations as nesting grounds. Their presence also attracted swarms of juvenile alien creatures to the surrounding area, making them far more troublesome to eliminate than ordinary specimens.
Whenever they discovered a pregnant female, they had to kill it immediately. Otherwise, it would hatch an entire new generation of monsters.
Cyrus nodded.
"Miss Bunny, San’s instability level is already dangerously high. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you with some overtime work tonight. Help stabilize his mental sea."
His tone was perfectly calm, as though he were assigning her the most routine task imaginable. Yet the subtle expressions on the other sentinels’ faces suggested otherwise.
Cyrus’s instability level was actually the highest among all of them.
And yet the captain had... Not chosen himself first?
Well, well. That was practically a miracle.
Bunny, who had suddenly been singled out, looked up. With everyone’s eyes immediately turning toward her, she agreed without hesitation.
"Sure. I can do that."
***
Training Zone A — Isolation Chamber
Liam sat cross-legged inside a metal cage.
The chain around his neck was soaked with dried and fresh blood, while the bars surrounding him had been bent and twisted almost beyond recognition.
That damage was the result of his own frustration.
"Let me out!"
Liam’s face was icy, but the man sitting across from him, Cyrus, remained completely unmoved.
He even looked perfectly relaxed as he smoked. Of everyone in the unit, Liam disliked Cyrus the most.
The general had been exiled to District 616 halfway through his career, yet he still carried himself like someone who stood above everyone else.
He had spent too long living in a position of power. Even after being sent down here, he hadn’t managed to shed that arrogant attitude.
Liam didn’t know exactly what Cyrus’s former position had been. He only knew that the man came from some immensely powerful elite family.
His background was obvious from his every movement and mannerism. That kind of refined arrogance simply wasn’t something an ordinary person could acquire.
Apparently, he’d had some sort of falling-out with his father.
Personally, Liam hoped the man would take the first opportunity to leave. This place had no need for an idle, privileged heir like him.
"Are you deaf? I said let me out!"
Liam’s mental sea had already stabilized, yet Cyrus continued to keep him locked inside the isolation chamber.
He needed to find his Guide. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Cyrus rested one arm lazily against the chair. Pale smoke curled upward between his fingers while his other hand idly toyed with the wheel of his lighter. The collar of his black shirt hung open, revealing a hint of his collarbone.
He looked as though he hadn’t heard a single word Liam had said.
Click.
The lighter sparked repeatedly, its tiny flame flickering in the darkness and steadily consuming what little patience Liam had left.
"Are you fucking incapable of understanding human speech anymore?"
In an instant, the spiritual form of the ferocious tiger materialized behind him, its golden eyes blazing with terrifying pressure.
A deafening roar shook the chamber. Yet Cyrus merely kept the cigarette between his lips.
He didn’t move. Not even a single strand of his hair was disturbed.
"You’re a Dark Sentinel. Your mental sea is inherently less stable than that of ordinary sentinels. Stay in isolation a little longer, and we’ll see how things develop."
"I don’t give a damn about your isolation!"
Liam’s furious string of curses did nothing to provoke Cyrus. The man merely blinked his deep, dark eyes and watched with amusement as Liam raged helplessly.
"Are you really that desperate for the new Guide?"
Liam yanked hard on his chains, the metal clattering violently against the restraints.
"Who I go looking for is none of your damn business. Now get me out of here."
Cyrus rose from his chair and looked down at Liam from outside the cage.
"Just because you’re bonded doesn’t mean she necessarily wants you."
Liam’s expression changed instantly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Cyrus exhaled a slow stream of smoke, his voice deliberately smug and irritating.
"Saving you is an act of kindness. Refusing to take responsibility for you is her right. Has she ever said she’d be responsible for you?"
Liam stared hard at Cyrus’s nearly flawless face.
The wealthier a family was, the more demanding they tended to be when it came to the genetic quality of their descendants.
And Cyrus was obviously the product of an exceptionally superior genetic lineage.
"She won’t reject me."
Liam’s response was stubborn, but the uncertainty flickering in his eyes betrayed him completely.
Cyrus caught every tiny change in his expression. A faint smile tugged at his lips. He was quite pleased with the reaction.
Liam was one of the biggest troublemakers in the entire base. He constantly resisted Cyrus’s orders and ignored his commands, giving the major general no end of headaches.
So naturally, Cyrus had decided to get under his skin.
"You damaged the isolation chamber. Add another week to your confinement."
With both hands casually tucked into his pockets, Cyrus turned and walked away as though nothing had happened.
Behind him, Liam slammed his fist into the floor.
The reinforced flooring cracked beneath the impact, a hole punched straight through the hard surface.
Blood trickled from his split knuckles.
Liam stared darkly at the door as it shut once again. His teeth clenched.
"You fucker!"