It was like tossing a stone into a silent and still pond.
The splash soared high, and ripples spread outward from the center, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the classroom.
A mess of whispering voices exploded like a marketplace in chaos.
Amid the crowded lecture hall full of students, Yan Ji stood out easily even if he weren’t in the front row. His height alone made him eye-catching, and the sharp gleam of the bone stud in his ear stood out.
His gaze burned as he stared straight at Xin Hexue without a shred of concealment.
“Could the teacher share it with us?”
Xin Hexue shifted his gaze coldly and calmly, “Sorry, I don’t answer questions unrelated to class.”
Yan Ji curled his lips slightly.
The pulling from the side continued, and with one more tug, Yan Ji finally gave in to his roommate’s strength and sat back down.
“If there are no more questions, then we’ll begin the lecture for this semester.”
The young man looked down slightly as he adjusted the courseware on the computer at the podium, and his soft black hair fell slightly from the side of his cheek. The soft sunlight outside the window cast over him, illuminating the smooth lines of his cheek and his white skin.
The whole person looked as if covered in a layer of thin frost, like fresh snow on treetops, giving off a faint sense of detachment.
He didn’t say anything more, but the chaotic buzz of the classroom quieted down.
Jia Jin next to Yan Ji lowered his voice to the extreme, questioning his roommate, “Are you crazy?!”
Yan Ji turned to look at Jia Jin, propped his head up with one hand, and said matter-of-factly, “No, I’m very clear-headed. What, is chasing a Guide illegal here?”
Crazy. Really crazy.
Jia Jin shook his head while gritting his teeth, “We’ll talk after class.”
Yan Ji opened his textbook, appearing calm as if he hadn’t brought the wrong book.
He even kept up with the class pace, occasionally writing and sketching on the pages to take notes.
Jia Jin was even more confused.
Yan Ji blew away some eraser shavings from the book, and when he moved his elbow, Jia Jin finally saw the drawing clearly.
The strokes were delicate, capturing the essence of the young Guide with a few simple lines, vividly portrayed on the page of a “Thoughts, Morals, and the Rule of Law” textbook.
Jia Jin felt like he was hallucinating.
……
The young Sentinel made no attempt to hide his intentions.
He dove headfirst into the whirlpool of a first love.
If it had been earlier, Yan Ji might’ve still fooled himself into thinking his racing heart was just the suspension bridge effect triggered by the dangers of the Folded Zone. He’d even ignored everything and ran all the way from the Northern Frontier to the Imperial City. And after one month of closed military training, Yan Ji originally thought his feelings would cool down.
However, in the very first second of reuniting with Xin Hexue, Yan Ji realized he had been completely wrong.
All that suspension bridge effect nonsense was farts…his heart was pounding like a mutated donkey!
He was just hopelessly falling into his first love.
Yan Ji took advantage of the break between classes to send Xin Hexue a message.
[Yan Ji: Can we have lunch together at noon?]
After sending the message, he clenched his communicator tightly.
When he looked up at the podium again, he didn’t know when Xin Hexue had already been surrounded by a group of Sentinels. They had countless questions to ask about the lecture, as if they had Ten Thousand Whys.
What was there to ask? Were the Sentinels studying in the Imperial City intellectually deficient or something? Couldn’t they understand such a simple introduction and standard Mandarin?
Yan Ji stared hard at the crowd. The Guide was surrounded so tightly that even the top of his head couldn’t be seen.
If he had known Xin Hexue was coming to teach, he would have brought the correct textbook. Who couldn’t pretend to study seriously?
Jia Jin nudged him with his elbow, “You weren’t joking just now?”
Yan Ji frowned, “What do you mean? Do I look like I was joking?”
Jia Jin stood solemnly in respect, “But the Major General is the Empire’s only Guide whose mental power has reached 3S. Those chasing after him could fill the entire Imperial Capital City.”
‘Major General? Mental power 3S?’
Yan Ji had guessed that Xin Hexue’s military rank wasn’t low and his mental power level was high, but this still exceeded his expectations.
Coming from the information-blocked Northern Frontier, Yan Ji hadn’t yet realized what this implied.
Yan Ji raised an eyebrow, “Are my conditions very bad?”
Jia Jin thought of the other party’s terrifying combat power that had been measured, “Extremely good.”
Jia Jin added, “But this kind of thing can’t be forced, and you can’t just look at combat power. You also have to look at the degree of compatibility…”
Yan Ji cut him off, “I think my compatibility with the teacher could be over eighty percent.”
Eighty percent was already a very high figure among the Empire’s Sentinels and Guides.
It was basically a match made in heaven.
If they could reach this level of matching, the Empire would definitely push the Guide to interact with this Sentinel. It would be even better if they could smoothly bond.
Based on the gray wolf mental body’s behavior, Yan Ji felt this wasn’t wishful thinking…it was completely possible.
If it were just an ordinary Sentinel, then the mental body might simply submit because of mental power suppression and naturally show closeness to Xin Hexue. This was also why it was much easier for Guides with higher mental power to conduct mental guidance.
But this situation required that the Guide’s mental power level be far higher than the Sentinel’s combat level.
When facing a Guide of the same level, the only dominant factor that could make a Sentinel’s mental body submit was the level of compatibility.
Yan Ji’s deduction wasn’t just nonsense.
‘80%…’ Jia Jin wanted to say something but stopped.
However, the Major General’s former fiancé had a one hundred percent compatibility with him…
……
Xin Hexue did not reply to Yan Ji’s message.
It was probably because he was too busy during the break to check his communicator.
But Yan Ji still managed to have lunch with Xin Hexue.
The young man stood outside the cafeteria line, his gaze sweeping over the students coming and going with meal cards and food trays, with a faint confusion in his eyes.
Yan Ji abandoned his roommate and stepped forward, lightly clearing his throat, “Teacher, did you not bring a meal card?”
Xin Hexue turned his gaze to him, his fingers in his pocket gently rubbing the edge of the IC card.
He replied calmly, “I was invited temporarily to teach this semester, and the school hasn’t had time to give me an employee meal card yet.”
Seeing this, Yan Ji decisively said, “Then I’ll get the food for you, using my meal card.”
‘Hooked.’ Xin Hexue’s eyes curved slightly.
The arc of the tail of his eyes naturally lifted, faintly revealing the slyness of a cat.
Yan Ji didn’t notice anything strange at all, and was so happy he could hardly find his bearings, already queuing at the end of the line.
Xin Hexue just needed to find a suitable seat.
The Joint Military Academy campus was huge, with five cafeterias located at the four corners and the center of the campus. Among students, they were simply distinguished as East, West, South, North, and Central cafeterias.
The East cafeteria had two floors, mainly glass buildings, so you could see clearly inside and out.
Xin Hexue picked a quieter seat on the outer side. From this angle, it would be easy for Yan Ji to find him when he returned from the line.
The snow had stopped outside, and inside, because of the heating, there was no coldness from melting snow.
The campus greenery was well maintained. Xin Hexue saw a squirrel standing on a distant tree branch. It had reddish-brown fur and was holding a large overwintering pine cone.
“I’ll transfer the money to you,” Xin Hexue said, raising his head as Yan Ji returned.
Yan Ji shook his head, “No need, I get an allowance.”
Every year, the Empire’s expenditure on cultivating Sentinels and Guides was astronomical. Even Sentinels who hadn’t started service yet and were just students inside the academy would receive a generous living allowance if they came from border regions or had hardships at home.
Xin Hexue didn’t insist, “Thank you.”
Yan Ji had grown up in the isolated Northern Frontier, and because of his own personality, he paid little attention to information unrelated to himself.
But hearing his roommate call Xin Hexue “Major General” under the desk in class, Yan Ji suddenly remembered a rumor he’d heard two years ago in the north. It was said that a Guide had volunteered to join Sequence A Legion right after graduation, ventured deep into the frontlines of the Folded Zone, and pioneered the role of Guides accompanying the army. Because of this person’s action, more Guides had been inspired, and within two years, the number of Guides accompanying the army rose from zero to double digits.
Yan Ji had originally thought this was an exaggeration from information spreading.
Now thinking back, the Empire’s first military Guide could only be Xin Hexue.
He looked at Xin Hexue and saw him hesitating because there were scallions in one of the dishes.
Yan Ji had been so excited just now that he forgot Xin Hexue didn’t eat scallions.
When cooking noodles before, he had even helped him pick out the scallions.
Practice makes perfect. Yan Ji naturally pulled Xin Hexue’s tray over, “I’ll help you pick out the scallions, it’ll be quick.”
The hidden stares around them suddenly turned even hotter.
Yan Ji looked around, and the nearby Sentinels immediately withdrew their gazes from Xin Hexue, looking like they wanted to approach but didn’t dare, and had been glaring at Yan Ji just a moment ago.
Useless Sentinels only knew how to be jealous.
Yan Ji tugged at his thin lips toward the Sentinel who had been glaring at him, scanning him from top to bottom, his eyes revealing obvious mockery.
The Sentinel slammed down his chopsticks, grabbed his tray, and left.
What did these people know? Did they know he had Xin Hexue’s contact info? Did they know Xin Hexue had kissed him once when drunk? Did they know how thrilled he was?
Yan Ji had already won. And by a big margin.
Xin Hexue glanced at Yan Ji across from him. The young Sentinel’s expression was completely unguarded, making it impossible not to guess his thoughts.
He could only pretend not to notice, and when Yan Ji was about to finish picking out the scallions, he took the initiative to say, “That’s enough.”
Xin Hexue: “You should eat too. You have class at two this afternoon, right?”
Yan Ji then remembered to check the class schedule. In the morning, it only showed classrooms and course arrangements, but now the instructor column had been updated.
“It’s Folded Zone Environment Simulation Combat.”
They would have class in the training hall, which had a full set of facilities simulating Folded Zone environments.
Yan Ji saw the instructor for the afternoon combat class.
To train these Sentinels, instructors for combat classes were often front-line elite Sentinels from the Central Military District, invited by the academy to teach when they were not on missions.
Only Sentinels who had fought their way into the Folded Zone seven times and returned could teach combat experience.
Yan Ji knew the name of the instructor this week. Unfortunately, it was that Sentinel who always looked like everyone owed him 2.58 million credits and kept a sour face.
Yan Ji looked at Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue asked, “What is it?”
Yan Ji countered, “What’s your relationship with that Wei Zhuo? Is he also a comrade?”
Xin Hexue put down his chopsticks, “Mm.
“He, Kuike whom you saw last time, and… we used to be in the same squad, and we were all in Sequence A Legion.”
Yan Ji noticed a subtle pause in Xin Hexue’s words.
He guessed it was that Sentinel for whom Xin Hexue had set up a tomb on the highest mountain in the Northern Frontier.
……
Training hall.
Class hadn’t started yet.
The Sentinels were all waiting near the main hall entrance.
There weren’t just Sentinels from one class here; several classes had combat together, and different classes gathered clearly separated based on the floor markings.
Jia Jin came close to Yan Ji’s side. He felt he still had the duty to advise his roommate a bit.
Jia Jin leaned in, then suddenly raised his voice in surprise, “No, you actually added the Major General as a friend?!”
Yan Ji turned his head, shook his communicator, and smiled arrogantly, “What? Jealous?”
Jia Jin looked at Yan Ji’s face and thought of a certain guess of his.
Although the Major General wasn’t someone who would do such a thing, he still had to advise his roommate not to fall too deep.
‘What if…’ Jia Jin patted Yan Ji’s shoulder, trying to use a gentle tone.
“Brother, I advise you to give up early.”
“The Major General… his fiancé died in battle. They were once the closest comrades, there’s no way anyone could interfere and replace that person’s position in the Major General’s heart.”
Yan Ji froze on the spot.
Jia Jin said with pity, “Brother, you really don’t understand, the Major General and that person…”
Yan Ji raised an eyebrow, “Died? And just a fiancé?”
Inside the training hall, many Sentinels had already turned their heads because of the volume when Jia Jin first mentioned the Major General.
They knew about this new student. With a 3S-level combat power, his reputation was already enough to draw the attention of others.
They just didn’t expect this young Sentinel in front of them to have a personality even more flamboyant than his combat power, “Oh, the person’s dead and can’t crawl back, what more do they want?”
Yan Ji grinned, showing a canine tooth, “I can’t let the Major General keep living like a lonely widow anymore.”
Combat boots stepped into the entrance of the training hall.
Wei Zhuo’s cold gaze swept over.
