Six o’clock in the afternoon, A07 Watchtower.
This was not the first time Youlier had come to the Commander’s office, but it was most certainly the first time for Yuli.
The previous few times she had met Song Xuanye, he had been the one to visit her hospital room.
The Commander’s office was far grander and more imposing than Yuli had imagined.
The floor-to-ceiling windows were clean and bright, offering a bird’s-eye view of the entire Watchtower. At the same time, however, the room was rather empty. The display cabinets that should have held valuable objects and showcased the owner’s status were uniformly bare.
Only the enormous desk was piled haphazardly with stacks of documents, giving off a faint air of overwork.
Those dust-covered display cabinets did not seem like Song Xuanye’s style. Yuli guessed that the office had been designed by the architect responsible for rebuilding the Watchtower after the disaster, who had simply given free rein to his own creativity.
Song Xuanye raised his eyes from the various documents that gave people headaches. “You’re saying that a spirit entity carried you away last night, intending to create a murder case?”
He casually flicked his pen back into the pen holder, tugged at the collar of his military shirt, undid one or two buttons, then leaned his broad back against the ergonomic chair and reclined in relaxation.
It seemed he intended to use this topic as a legitimate excuse to slack off for a while.
“Yes.” Yuli tightened her palm, her expression unchanged. “I suspect there’s some hostile force lurking in the shadows and targeting our base.”
“Perhaps they’re also responsible for my damaged perception, so I’m requesting to stay in the room next to yours. That way, I’ll feel safer.”
She did not directly mention Tuolan’s name.
Yuli knew very well that without evidence, even the strongest sixth sense was still nothing more than a feeling and a guess. The Commander might not believe her.
Even if he did, between an S-rank Sentinel and an A-rank Guide whose mental perception had yet to recover, Yuli was not sure whose side the Commander would take.
Being forthright would only leave her at a huge loss, so she could only speak vaguely.
Sure enough, Song Xuanye stared at her with his gray-rust-colored eyes for a while before lazily spitting out a few words. “Make it up. Go on, make it up.”
Yuli: “……”
Her expression had clearly been sincere!
Before Yuli could appeal to his emotions or reason with him, Song Xuanye continued, “That said, Tuolan’s condition really was something I hadn’t anticipated. This was my negligence.”
The Commander lightly tapped his curled knuckles against the desktop.
“The Lynx Squad was originally scheduled to return tomorrow night. I didn’t expect him to come back a full three days early.”
Bai Yan had also come back early.
It seemed the news of the Guide’s coma had shaken those boys quite badly.
Yuli: !
She had not even mentioned the name, yet the Commander had said it outright.
Were all leaders this wise and capable nowadays?
If she had known he did not need evidence, why had she racked her brains for so long beforehand, painstakingly making up excuses?!
“Then you mean the dormitory……” Yuli’s eyes lit up like stars.
Although she did not know why Song Xuanye had been downgraded to an A+-rank Sentinel after becoming a commanding officer at the White Tower, fragments of memory she had received contained a mention from Youlier’s father: Commander Song had come from A07. When he entered the White Tower for training at sixteen, his records had clearly stated that he was S-rank.
A07 was a less-developed district in Area A, both in population and in the growth of its base. It was rare for an S-rank Sentinel or Guide to be sent to the White Tower for training, so the older generation would all have heard of the name Song Xuanye.
Otherwise, even with his military rank, how could Song Xuanye have kept several S-rank teenage male protagonists under control during the loss of order following the contamination outbreak if he did not have real ability?
Although things had gradually developed into a mutual balance of power among several adult male protagonists, in Yuli’s heart, the dormitory room next to Commander Song’s was still the safest place in the entire Watchtower.
“It’s my mess, so you don’t need to move. I’ll move downstairs.” Song Xuanye spoke briskly and looked relaxed, as if the troublesome act of moving were nothing worth mentioning.
Yuli was just about to thank him when she suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
“Commander, as a male Sentinel, wouldn’t it be too much trouble for you to move downstairs?”
Yuli imagined a rugged, mature man carrying his luggage and striding into a girls’ dormitory painted with pink walls. The situation, the image—it was all far too surreal.
Worried about affecting the other female Guides, Yuli decided to trouble herself instead. “How about I move upstairs after all?”
She vaguely remembered that the Commander lived alone on the top floor of the Watchtower dormitories.
That would be best. Neither of them would affect the other, and there would be no need to worry about disturbing anyone else.
“It’s no trouble. It’s just a matter of going up and down the stairs.” Song Xuanye agreed casually. He opened his light-brain, his slender fingers sliding toward the icon of a little game.
He had not noticed the girl’s delicate train of thought at all.
“The troublesome part is finding a place next to you. I doubt anyone will be willing to vacate a room.” Song Xuanye’s finger paused over the Warrior Hack-and-Slash icon. He thought it over with exaggerated seriousness. “Yuelou took on a long-term mission and won’t be back for a while. I can stay in his room for now, the one to your right.”
“Be considerate. I’m getting old and can’t fight with the youngsters to seize territory.”
Yuli was utterly confused.
What did he mean, fighting to seize territory?
Why would the captain whom Lingling called Young Master Yuelou be living next to her?
“I’m talking to you, Guide Lier, who is determined to devote your strength to the base.”
Seeing the girl grow more and more bewildered the longer she listened, Song Xuanye withdrew his hand from Warrior Hack-and-Slash, opened a drawer, and casually pulled out a pink lollipop from among a row of colorful ones before tossing it toward her.
“You don’t actually think that as the exclusive Guide of an S-rank Sentinel squad, you used to live in some Guide building or girls’ dormitory, do you?”
Yuli held the strawberry-flavored lollipop and widened her eyes.
If not, where else would she live if not in the Guide dormitories?
She couldn’t possibly—could she possibly have lived on the same floor as those S-rank Sentinels?!
“You may really need to think back carefully and consider what your relationship with them actually is.”
Song Xuanye gave her a deep look.
No wonder some people had suddenly gone crazy after their chosen partner forgot them.
What was her relationship with the male protagonists?
Yuli tore off the candy wrapper and resentfully put the sweet, refreshing candy into her mouth.
The relationship between the former perpetrators and their victim, and the relationship between the future perpetrators and their victim.
The only difference was that the positions between them had been reversed. She would change from the former perpetrator into the future victim.
The tiny frown between the girl’s brows and her unconscious muttering could not escape the Sentinel Commander’s exceptionally sharp hearing and vision.
“Allow me to remind you of one thing: the gap between an A-rank Guide and an S-rank Sentinel is as vast as the heavens.” Song Xuanye offered a brief explanation. “Think about it. How far would they have had to open themselves up before you could safely enter?”
“You understand. When the ranks are mismatched, this sort of thing depends even more on mutual willingness.”
In a sense, the relationship between her and them had been a two-way journey.
If it had been some other Guide, even an A+-rank one, those few might not have been willing to accept them.
……All right. The expression on her face now, as though she had seen a ghost, told him that she did not understand.
“I mean entering their mental landscapes to carry out treatment—in other words, the work you do in the Silent Room.”
Song Xuanye shifted his posture. He leaned forward, interlaced his clearly defined hands, and propped his chin on them. His gray-rust-colored eyes fixed on the girl’s. “Guide Lier, it seems you’ve forgotten your professional abilities as well.”
Yuli stiffened at once.
“I……”
Her lips parted slightly, and damp sweat gathered in her palms. Before she could think of how to explain herself, she heard the Commander sigh and continue, “Take it slowly. There’s no need to rush.”
He glanced at the documents on his desk, made a pained expression, then immediately went limp and leaned back again.
It was as if the sharpness in his gaze a moment ago had merely been Yuli’s illusion.
“As for your professional abilities, believe me, if you keep working, muscle memory will help you remember sooner or later.” Song Xuanye shook his head repeatedly with a sigh.
It was impossible to tell whether he was sighing over the amnesiac Guide or over himself.
Looking at the unruly folders scattered messily across his desk, Yuli felt it was probably the latter.
Compared to guarding the office, this Commander probably wanted to go to the battlefield more.
But a Commander was still a Commander. Yuli discovered that whenever he got serious about discussing a matter, she seemed to have no opportunity at all to interrupt.
Song Xuanye opened the drawer and picked out a lollipop for himself as well. “I’ll keep an eye on Tuolan for you. Though you can rest assured—he won’t actually hurt you.”
He glanced at the color of the candy in the girl’s hand. Strawberry was too sweet. He took an orange one.
“If you’re still worried, I’ve also released your loyal dog from the isolation room.” Song Xuanye tore off the wrapper, put the orange-flavored candy in his mouth, and opened the little game. “You can sleep peacefully tonight. He’ll guard the door for you.”
“If that still doesn’t work, I get off work at ten sharp.”
[Brave warrior, welcome to the ultimate stage of Warrior Hack-and-Slash’s 999th level.]
[If you’re a true warrior, you should hack 999 times. May you achieve victory in your first battle!]
The light-brain displayed the little game’s silent notification for the final stage.
Song Xuanye glanced at the girl, who had lowered her head and fallen into thought. He pinched his low, smoky voice into a higher register and said, “Good girl, you can go back and think about it.”
“Our conversation is over. Remember to close the door when you leave.”
“……”
Don’t do this, Commander. You’re really not suited to this route.
That falsetto was good enough. Don’t do it again…… She knew he was afraid of embarrassing himself if he failed the stage, so she would leave, all right?!
“All right, Commander. Goodbye.”
Yuli rubbed the goosebumps covering her skin, crisp on the outside and tender within, and respectfully closed the door behind her.
……
……Mental landscape treatment……loyal dog?
On the way to the dormitory building, Yuli kept digesting the Commander’s words. Without any memory fragments to guide her, she racked her brains but could not figure them out.
It was not until the elevator gave a ding that she saw a pure-white boy.
Or rather, a white-haired, heterochromatic-eyed boy was obediently squatting in front of the door corresponding to the room number the Commander had given her, drawing circles while waiting for her.
He was so clean that he seemed to contain not a trace of impurity. His hair was white, his skin pale and translucent, and even his eyelashes were distinctly white, one by one. Only his heterochromatic eyes displayed any other color.
One eye was pure white as snow. The other was pitch-black and unfathomably deep, its pupil expanded to fill the entire eye socket like an endless abyss.
“Master!”
When the boy looked up and saw her, intense joy burst from his entire body, and he rushed to the elevator in quick strides.
Before Yuli could react, the boy wrapped her in his arms. A fluffy Snow Wolf with fur that was white all over wagged its tail frantically, whining as it nudged the palm of her hand with its head.
“Captain Qiji.”
Lingling gave the boy a slight curtsy.
Hearing that form of address, Yuli’s palm, which had instinctively been about to rub the adorable creature’s head, froze.
If she remembered correctly, that terrifying, elongated gash across Captain Sain’s chest—one that had nearly become a wound running straight through him—was this little darling’s handiwork.
The reason the original owner had been separated from the group had yet to be fully investigated.
According to the squad’s Sentinels, when they arrived at the scene, all they found were the corpse of the mutated entity, the unconscious Guide, and Captain Qiji, who was holding the unconscious Guide while in a violent state.
As well as Captain Sain, who had stopped Captain Qiji from losing control and injuring someone.
In the end, Sain paid the price of being injured to bring Qiji, still in his violent state, back to the base and place him in the isolation room. That was how the matter concluded.
In Sain’s subsequent report, Qiji had found the unconscious girl before he did, and he did not know what had happened beforehand.
Moreover, the first witness, Qiji, and the person involved, Youlier, had both been unable to cooperate with the investigation. Thus, the matter of the “Guide being separated from the group” had to be temporarily shelved.
The memory fragments of Youlier that were currently known contained absolutely nothing about the incident. But Yuli knew that once she “recovered her memories,” she would eventually have to pass this hurdle with the Commander.
Whether the boy before her, the first witness, was the key remained unknown.
In her daze, Yuli forgot to resist for a moment and allowed the boy to pick her up.
“Master, the Commander didn’t lie to me. You really did wake up.”
The boy’s pure-white strands of hair brushed against her ear. He buried his head deeply in the crook of her neck, seeming very eager to hug her tightly, yet afraid that he might hurt her if he misjudged his strength.
So he could only embrace her carefully, using what he believed to be the gentlest possible force.
He murmured softly, obediently and dependently, “Master, I missed you so much.”
Yuli saw a shocking patch of purplish-red bruises around his neck.
Some were deep, some light; some were new, some old, overlapping one another and standing out starkly against his pale skin.
They were marks left by the punishment collar in the isolation room, as well as the consequence Qiji had to bear for injuring a comrade while in an uncontrollable violent state.
It was strange. For some reason, even knowing that the boy was such a terrifyingly destructive existence, Yuli still could not bring herself to feel any wariness toward him.
He felt far too pure.
“Gentle and harmless. He can be trusted.”
A voice seemed to say this inside her mind.
He was the male protagonist. He was the male protagonist. He was the male protagonist……
Yuli kept warning herself inwardly. Not daring to poke the boy, she could only pat the head of the Snow Wolf that was still enthusiastically nudging her. “You should first…… Mm, put me down.”
“Ah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Master!”
Only then did Qiji realize that he had lifted his master until the tips of her toes were off the ground. He hurriedly and gently placed the girl, dressed in an elegant gown in the court style, onto the Snow Wolf’s back.
It was not his master’s fault that she was too short. It was his fault that he had grown too tall. It was the Snow Wolf’s fault for not reminding him.
Only then did Qiji notice that there was another person standing beside his master—someone even shorter.
His long, white eyelashes blinked. A trace of surprise and helplessness appeared in his heterochromatic eyes. The Snow Wolf’s head drooped anxiously along with him, and it turned to look at her imploringly with moist eyes.
“I’m sorry, Master. You said that when there are outsiders around, I can’t call you Master. I have to call you Guide.”
“But Master, Ling—” Qiji tilted his head toward Lingling, furrowing his brows as he struggled to remember for a long while. Even so, he still could not recall the exact name of this familiar-looking person. “Ling……”
“Lingling.” Lingling supplied the rest for him. “The given name is Wang Lingling.”
“Oh, right. Yes, thank you.” Qiji quickly turned back to Yuli. “But Master, Lingling shouldn’t count as an outsider, right, Master?”