Midnight was when the Deep Sea Forum was most active.
This forum was backed by the military, and currently, registration was only open to Sentinels.
Tens of thousands of Sentinels were active online every night, most of them the backbone forces of the Safe Zone.
The forum was divided into several sections, the largest of which was the “Folded Zone Monster Archive.” Sentinels who had ventured deep into the Folded Zone and returned alive would compile what they had seen and heard, image data, and combat experience into records, so that other Sentinels could prepare for survival and combat before entering certain Folded Zones.
Aside from the Folded Zone Monster Archive, the other popular sections included the trading section for mental stabilizers, the emotional section for Sentinel-Guide relationship issues, and the general chat and chilling zone.
At 1 a.m., a niche section with a gray interface design exploded into unprecedented frenzy.
This section had been extremely quiet before. On average, only two or three new posts a month, and the total number of historical posts hadn’t even crossed three digits.
But just from 8 p.m. tonight to now, in five short hours, the number of posts surged exponentially in an explosive growth.
A post in bold red font pinned to the top had reached thousands of replies stacked high like a skyscraper.
[[Explosive] Wait, am I seeing this right? There’s a new public Guide added to the mental guidance request list in the Black Tower system, you’ll never guess who it is…]
OP: That’s right, I didn’t believe it either. I’ve been officially in Sequence B for three years now and have never once been drawn for guidance, but I’ve still been submitting my request every single month without fail.
Once again, I opened the mental guidance section on the Black Tower system for my monthly ritual…and now I suspect this link is a phishing scam.
In the familiar, thoroughly memorized list of available Guides, I keenly sensed something was off!
Originally only ten Guides were listed, now there’s an eleventh!
Keywords: slim waist, long legs, black hair and white skin, Honeysuckle Squad, 3S.
1st Floor: I think I know who the OP is talking about…
2nd Floor: With those keywords, how could you not know?
4th Floor: OP probably overdosed on mental stabilizers and got chlorpromazine poisoning.
8th Floor: Haha, this post is clearly the final fever dream of a Sentinel who hasn’t received guidance in three years and is about to die.
13th Floor: Diagnosis: sexual delusions about my wife. After jerking off, the little brain took over the big brain, and the post was made without thinking.
14th Floor: Who are you calling “your wife”? Clearly, he’s my wife!
OP: [Image.jpg] The Screenshot is here. If you don’t believe me or want to scold me, look for yourself. It’s checkable on the official site. If it’s fake, I’ll eat shit standing on my head!
18th Floor: Fuck, it’s real!
20th Floor: How did he end up transferring to the Logistics Department Medical Division as a public Guide?! Isn’t that a complete waste of talent? Aren’t guides of this level matched and bound to high-level sentinels of the same level?
21st Floor: What do you mean, “a waste of talent”? Don’t you get how few Guides are being born these days? As of now, among the 100,000 registered Sentinels in the Black Tower, fewer than 1,000 high-level Sentinels have matched Guides.
The remaining 99,000 either rely on synthetic subpar guiding agents or abuse mental stabilizers daily. Didn’t you see that even someone in Sequence B like OP hasn’t been selected for guidance in three years?
To even get into Sequence B, OP’s combat level must be at least B-rank, maybe even A-rank.
So what, the rest of us ordinary Sentinels are just meant to go to the front lines, become cannon fodder, lose control, and die?
22nd Floor: Calm down, everyone. 20th Floor probably just meant it’s unexpected for a 3S-level Guide to transfer to logistics. That’s really not the Empire’s usual “squeeze every drop of value” approach. Plus, hasn’t he been on the front lines nonstop these past two years? Didn’t they just hold an award ceremony a few days ago? He was granted the rank of Major General, so the Empire’s attitude is obvious. After all, he’s the only 3S-level national treasure the Empire has.
I thought he’d go for another compatibility test.
24th Floor: Honestly, with 3S-level mental power, compatibility isn’t even an issue. That level just bulldozes everything. Guiding would be effortless, right? Just rebind him to the only other 3S-level combat Sentinel. That would be a perfect match.
30th Floor: Are you talking about Wei…? That’s probably impossible. Doesn’t Wei always say he’d rather rely on mental stabilizers than accept any form of guidance? There’s no way he’d accept a forced match from the Empire.
36th Floor: Did you all watch the award ceremony live broadcast? The Major General in his black uniform was so hot… a flower on a high mountain, slim waist, narrow hips, long legs wrapped in combat boots… his proportions were perfect. But next to those burly veteran Sentinels, his light, delicate frame looked like he could be easily scooped up and held completely.
37th Floor: Keep dreaming. Try something like that and he’ll rip your mental landscape apart.
38th Floor: Did no one else think the live broadcast footage of the Major General receiving his medal was absolutely heartbreaking? His long lashes were half-lowered, face pale, expression cold, but the corners of his eyes were a bit red…like he’d just cried.
40th Floor: He did just lose his fiancé not long ago… There was a moment when he was leaving the stage, took off his black gloves, and the engagement ring on his ring finger was still there.
101st Floor: This is probably unethical, please don’t scold me. Maybe I’ve poisoned my brain with too many mental stabilizers, but I honestly get hard every time I see a picture of the Major General. I’m sorry. I can’t help it… I mean no disrespect to the Major General. The problem is with me.
I’m not a troll, not a bot, and I’m not roleplaying. It’s just personal feelings. My home life is peaceful, I’m healthy, my IQ is normal…it’s just my mental state that’s spiraling into mania and delusions.
110th Floor: it’s normal… 101st, are you newly enlisted? Did you just join the army?
Don’t you know that the year the Major General came out of the White Tower and entered the Sentinel-Guide Joint Military Academy training, he was voted “The Empire’s First Love” by the forum? And he’s held the No. 1 spot on [Your Fantasy Lover] three years in a row…
The only reason it wasn’t four years straight is because when this non-official polling site was first launched, the Major General had not yet come of age…
252nd Floor: I’ve submitted my application. I want to be the first one in the Major General’s guidance room.
1000th Floor: Out of 99,000 registered Sentinels… subtract a quarter at the border towers, another quarter on active missions in the Folded Zone, that still leaves 49,500. This month, the Major General’s available slots for patients total 100… I calculated the numbers and the odds are in my favor [closes eyes].
……
Bamu had only graduated from the Joint Military Academy last year and had joined Sequence B for just nine months. In the army, many veterans with three or four years of service still hadn’t experienced mental guidance.
He never imagined that luck would smile upon him.
Holding his medical exam report, he waited anxiously outside the consultation room.
Only when the previous Sentinel walked out, radiant and full of energy, did Bamu nervously knock on the half-open door and quietly push it open.
When he met those deep, gentle black eyes, a shiver ran up Bamu’s spine, and his feet clacked together as he stood at full attention and saluted, “Reporting! Sir!”
Xin Hexue said softly, “Come in. Close the door behind you.”
Bamu shut the door and stepped inside with robotic stiffness, like a wind-up toy.
Xin Hexue pointed to the nearby lounge chair, gesturing for him to sit.
Bamu sat with a stiff back, hands on his knees, his posture rigid and proper.
Xin Hexue tilted his head slightly. “Are you too nervous? What’s your name?”
Bamu: “Repor…reporting, Sir! My name is Not Nervous!”
The young Sentinel slipped.
Xin Hexue took his report and scanned the name section. “Alright then, Bamu.”
Bamu wanted to bury himself in the floor.
Xin Hexue gave him a small smile. “I’ll take a look at your medical report first. In the meantime, focus on the white noise in the room. Try to close your eyes and relax.”
Sentinels had much sharper senses than ordinary people, especially in hearing, sight, and smell. That’s what allowed them to detect the presence of monsters hundreds of meters away in Folded Zones.
But such hypersensitivity came with a heavy price.
They could be kept awake at night by the sound of a neighbor washing up, even from ten floors away.
Footsteps, voices, the hum of electrical devices…
All the environmental noise stacked up and overloaded their senses, pushing them into unbearable pain.
That’s why Sentinel housing ideally included natural white noise, like running water.
The consultation room was set up the same way.
In Bamu’s ears were the sounds of water trickling and soft rain falling through forest leaves. He didn’t close his eyes, but he was trying hard to relax his mind.
To help Sentinels feel at ease, the consultation room was simply yet warmly decorated.
This was a sufficiently quiet and private space. On the wall hung decorative paintings, natural fluorescent lamps lit the room, the carpet was soft, and the desk and bookshelf were made of light-colored wood. A white lounge chair stood nearby. To add some liveliness to the atmosphere, a few pops of color had been added, like the green potted plants on the shelves.
Bamu couldn’t help but glance toward Xin Hexue out of the corner of his eye.
The young Guide was wearing a thin white coat, with the shirt underneath buttoned all the way up to the top. Black gloves wrapped snugly from his narrow wrists to the tips of his fingers, the lines slender and smooth.
His side profile was quiet and elegant, his long eyelashes hanging low as his gaze swept over the mental evaluation report.
The rumor that the Major General had mysophobia seemed to be true… Bamu thought to himself as he looked at the gloves.
Xin Hexue looked up. “The mental pollution level is only at 35%?”
Bamu suddenly met Xin Hexue’s gaze and stammered, “Y-Yes, because I just started serving last year after graduation.”
Xin Hexue didn’t continue questioning the report. He already had a general understanding of the situation.
“Please close your eyes.”
Bamu leaned back against the chair and shut his eyes.
Very quickly, through the gloves, he felt Xin Hexue’s palm gently placed on his forehead.
The mental power was warm and deep, like a current from the sea, linking to him in a mental connection.
Bamu’s consciousness began to sink.
……
Every Sentinel had their own mental landscape, which was similar to the concept of a sea of consciousness. It was essentially a unique mental environment built within their minds, where their emotions and moods were materialized and important memories stored.
After fighting monsters in the Folded Zones, the mental landscape would become polluted. The deeper the pollution, the more unstable the mental state.
If the pollution accumulated to 100%, the Sentinel would, almost without exception, lose control and go berserk, and be assimilated into a monster. The dragon slayer would become the evil dragon.
Only Guides could use their mental power to enter their mental landscapes and cleanse the pollution.
Of course, this wasn’t an easy task.
The mental landscape was closely tied to a Sentinel’s rationality and was of vital importance. If a Guide became even slightly careless, they could cause devastating damage to the mental landscape during the guidance process.
Receiving mental guidance was, essentially, putting one’s life in the hands of the Guide.
For any human being, this level of trust was extremely difficult.
This was why mental guidance also had a high failure rate, even between long-time bonded partners who had been through years of synchronization.
It was because every Sentinel would instinctively raise barriers in their mental landscape the moment a Guide’s mental power entered.
The Guide had to break through those mental barriers.
Xin Hexue saw Bamu’s mental barrier…it was a desert.
He formed a solid body in the mental landscape and stepped into the desert. The sand beneath his shoes was heavy and dense, baked warm by the sun.
As Xin Hexue walked deeper into the desert, clouds gathered in the sky, and snowflakes began to fall like scattered cotton, soon accumulating into a thin layer of white that blanketed the golden sand.
The scorching heat faded, leaving only a crisp, refreshing cold in the desert.
Bamu was a B-rank Sentinel. To a 3S-level mental power like Xin Hexue, breaking through his mental barrier didn’t require much effort.
The heart of the desert finally revealed the true mental landscape.
It was an oasis, with green grass encircling a deep blue at the center, a picturesque Moon Bay.
But due to the mental pollution, clumps of crimson flesh squirmed at the water’s edge, and nearly a third of the lush green plants had withered…
Xin Hexue saw Bamu’s mental body.
A white rhinoceros, pacing beside Moon Bay, instinctively locked its gaze on him.
……
Xin Hexue said gently, “It’s done.”
Bamu’s eyes snapped open, his ears burning red.
The Major General was worthy of being the Major General… In just a few moves, his 3S-level mental power had completely purified his mental landscape.
But…
Bamu almost didn’t dare to recall what his mental body looked like, how its front legs had docilely knelt down, and its horn nudged against Xin Hexue’s hand seeking a pat.
“Th-Thank you, Sir.”
He was so flustered he didn’t dare stay any longer. He fled the consultation room and nearly bumped into the next patient as he opened the door.
The Sentinel before him was tall and cold, silver epaulettes shining on his uniform.
Wait…
Bamu’s eyes widened as he saluted, “Greetings, Sir!”
Commander Wei Zhuo had actually drawn a slot too?
Wasn’t there gossip on the forum that said Commander Wei Zhuo once stated he’d rather use mental stabilizers than accept any form of mental guidance…?
Wei Zhuo kept his eyes straight ahead, expressionless, as if he hadn’t seen the young Sentinel at all. He brushed past him and entered the consultation room.
……
Xin Hexue was a little surprised. This was their first time seeing each other again since the conversation at He Botian’s villa half a month ago.
But he quickly regained his composure.
“Please have a seat,” Xin Hexue said.
Wei Zhuo pressed his thin lips into a straight line and handed his mental evaluation report to Xin Hexue.
His report was somewhat unusual.
After drawing a slot for mental guidance, Sentinels would immediately undergo a mental health check-up arranged by the Logistics Department, usually stamped and signed by the head of Logistics.
Xin Hexue glanced at the end of the report.
The red stamp was issued by the Supreme Military Administration Council, and stamped by the military headquarters.
Wei Zhuo hadn’t drawn a slot. He had exchanged military merit for the opportunity to receive mental guidance.
Realizing this, Xin Hexue set the report aside and poured himself a glass of water.
A 3S-ranked Sentinel…mental guidance would be a bit difficult.
Xin Hexue had been teleported into this world at the age of seventeen, right after leaving the White Tower. The timing aligned perfectly with his enrollment in the Sentinel-Guide Joint Military Academy.
After graduation, Xin Hexue had successfully matched with He Botian and headed to the front lines. They had both been assigned to the Honeysuckle Squad in Sequence A Army, and Wei Zhuo had been one of the members as well.
So, he had some understanding of Wei Zhuo.
Xin Hexue drank half a glass of water to replenish himself.
He said gently to Wei Zhuo, “Your mental body is too large. I’ll need to make a few preparations first.”
Half of Wei Zhuo’s body tensed. His gaze moved from his clasped hands resting on his knees, slowly shifting upward to Xin Hexue’s face.
The young man leaned against the counter, next to the coffee machine. The air held a faint scent of coffee beans.
But the other party did not choose coffee, just plain warm water, and the lingering heat moistened his lips.
