Chapter 79 Guide 7

Wan Hong woke up with a start. He opened his eyes and found that the tactical knife buried under his pillow was now in his hand. The cold, hard blade was aimed at his carotid artery, just an inch away from piercing his flesh.

"..."

Putting down his tactical knife, Wan Hong got out of bed to wash up, brushing his teeth absentmindedly. The Sentinel in the mirror had droopy eyelids, looking like he hadn't woken up yet.

He actually had a nightmare.

The vision is shattering... If it really cracks, he'll die in the next second.

But everything in the dream felt too real, especially the young man who suddenly appeared—a young Commander Lu, clearly several years younger, far less mature and powerful than he had been yesterday. Or was it that the dream automatically altered itself because of meeting Lu Xuejin? But why did I see a younger version of him?

The confusion quickly dissipated amidst the intense training and courses. The preparatory course had a probationary period of about six months; those who failed during this period would be sent back to the Black Tower to await reassignment, a disgrace for every sentry. Meanwhile, the situation on the southeastern border was tense, and the outposts only allowed them three days of rest and training. Once those three days were up, the squad was led to the battlefield by Curly.

Because of the vast border, the southeastern border faces not only pollutants, but also a large number of extremist resistance organizations, which are either madmen or born villains who enjoy killing. Many times, they oppose the Federation not to compete for resources, but simply because this chaotic world is too boring and they need to find some fun.

The stretched front was divided into dozens of war zones, each commanded by one or two commanders. The war zone Curly took them to was less dangerous because it was fighting an extremist organization.

Students in the preparatory class cannot go to the battlefield yet. At most, they can do odd jobs and serve as logistics personnel in the war zone base. When they have the opportunity, they can observe the battlefield from afar and see how their predecessors cut off the enemy.

The commander here was an "acquaintance," and on the second day after arriving at the base, Wan Hong saw Lu Xuejin again.

The gray-black combat uniform looked exceptionally sharp and handsome on him. Some people wanted to greet him, but Lu Xuejin just walked past them in a hurry without even glancing at them. A group of people followed him into the tactics room. A few sentries trailing behind glanced over with sharp, cold eyes, as if they would raise their guns at any moment.

"Behave yourself now." Curly Hair walked over with a sly grin. "Take the instructor's advice: don't flaunt how good your relationship with Commander Lu is here, and especially don't let them know that the commander has given you some guidance."

The preparatory team wasn't stupid; of course they knew this might make people feel resentful, but so what? The commander could give guidance to whomever he wanted, and what did it matter to them if others weren't liked by the guides? Having been treated like dogs by the veterans for so long, they were eager to see their seniors' envious faces.

Seeing their defiant expressions, Curly chuckled, "It won't just be a matter of fighting; you might lose your lives. For example, I could deliberately lead you to the edge of danger, kill you all, and then report that you were all reckless fools who didn't know your place and provoked a highly dangerous pollutant, leaving you with no choice but to 'cut your tails to survive.' Some of you may have some connections, but so what? ... No one will dare to investigate." He concluded meaningfully.

Wan Hong saw Lu Xuejin a few more times afterward. The commander was mostly surrounded by several sentries, and they talked about tactics while walking. But every time he passed by Lu Xuejin, Lu Xuejin would naturally turn his head, a habitual gesture of looking around.

My gaze swept over him lightly, and occasionally, the commander would nod slightly.

Wan Hong inexplicably felt that Lu Xuejin was deliberately looking at him.

Every single time.

[Dedication Points +5]

The young sentry took a deep breath, a mix of excitement and a sense of crisis at being chosen washing over him. His adrenaline surged, and his languid limbs suddenly tensed. This drew puzzled looks from the reserve officer beside him, who looked around curiously.

"What's wrong? Is the food here?"

Wan Hong: "...Go move your things."

Under Lu Xuejin's command, the extremist organization was quickly suppressed to the point of no return. Curly said that he should be able to return to the outpost in a few days, but then came the news that the extremist organization was colluding with the contaminant. The contaminant had a special identity: he was both a former commander of an outpost and Lu Xuejin's former instructor.

Ordinary people infected quickly become food for the contaminants, while only strong humans become contaminants themselves—they are considered half-contaminants because they retain some cognitive abilities and memories of their human existence, but they no longer think like humans. Compassion, pity, love… all positive emotions are devoured by the contaminants, leaving behind only cold, evil thoughts. The contaminants capture humans merely as a matter of instinctive hunting; they have no particular preference for it. The contaminants, however, find pleasure in tormenting their former kin.

Often, the problems caused to the federal government by pollutants go far beyond the pollutants themselves.

The former commander means that he has a thorough understanding of the tactical deployment, tactical habits and personnel configuration on the border, while Lu Xuejin's identity as an instructor means more—she knows the current Commander Lu very well and has a deep friendship with the commander. Many people have to wonder if Lu Xuejin will soften her heart because of this.

Because of their highly sensitive and rich inner world, guides generally have more varied and profound emotions than sentinels.

But compared to the new recruits' deep anxieties, the others remained unchanged; Curly was still grinning as always, as if it were nothing at all.

Before resting the next day, he clapped his hands and instructed, "Get some rest early tonight, don't stay up late, and be energetic tomorrow."

"Trainer, is the final battle tomorrow?"

"More or less."

"It has nothing to do with us." We've been doing odd jobs all these days, and we haven't even gotten close to the battlefield.

Curly laughed and scolded the sentry, "You little bastard, you're not happy now? Hurry up and go to sleep, I'll take you guys out on the field tomorrow to broaden your horizons."

"!!" The new recruits looked at each other, their eyes wide with excitement.

...

“Xin Feize.” Lu Xuejin read the name from the file. The last time she mentioned him was a year ago.

A bright future, a rising star, yet he degenerated into a pollutant, becoming a major threat to the Federation.

Since his infection, Xin Fei has been on the Federation's highest bounty list. Countless sentinels have flocked to the border like sharks smelling blood, but few have been able to catch a glimpse of him. No one expected that he would run into Lu Xuejin on his own.

Lu Xuejin put down the file and walked out of the tactics room. The garrison officer of the White Tower observed his condition and said, "Lu Xuejin, you don't need to waste your time on this. Xin Feize, that contaminated creature, will die on the combat zone sooner or later. He's just struggling in his death throes."

Most of the officers stationed on the southeastern border came because of Lu Xuejin, a guide of high status, and Bai Ta didn't want him to suffer any harm. However, Lu Xuejin possessed unparalleled sense of responsibility and compassion. Not only did he take the initiative to guide the sentries, but on the battlefield, he always wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible and reduce casualties, even if it meant exhausting his own mental strength.

The garrison officer did not agree with his decision, but Lu Xuejin was not only a guide under Baita, but also the absolute commander on the border. Unless a major accident occurred, the garrison officer had no right to question his decisions.

Lu Xuejin looked up. This base was close to the combat zone and affected by high density of pollutants. The sky was always gray and gloomy, without a single cloud.

"Why not do what I can do?"

He spoke as if he were still stubbornly coming to the southeastern border.

The garrison officer sighed.

The combat zone is a dense forest, with giant trees blocking out the sun. Twisted trunks are covered with protruding mutated substances. The southeastern area is humid and hot all year round. The decaying branches and leaves breed countless tiny insects that crawl in the slippery soil. It is impossible to distinguish between pollutants and ordinary creatures. Fighting here is a considerable challenge for sentries. The heavy combat uniforms can make them sweat profusely, while the dim light, dangerous floating objects, and enemies lurking in the shadows make it difficult to defend against them.

There are few grand scenes here; what you see are sharp knives suddenly revealed in the silence and bullets raining down like a storm.

The preparatory students were led by Curly to observe the pollution situation on the outskirts of the combat zone, ostensibly to "experience the battlefield atmosphere."

Tired, extremely tired.

The preparatory team lay prone in the trench, so exhausted they could barely breathe, and their eyes were about to go blind from looking at the medical equipment.

"Report! A severe pollution reaction has occurred in the northwest direction, at medium to high speed, and the reaction is about to reach the central area!" a sentry shouted.

The edge of the combat zone was theoretically still a safe distance, but the pressure emanating from the area shrouded in high-density contamination ahead was like a tsunami, wave after wave washing over the sentinels' sensitive nerve endings. Even though only one contaminated entity reacted, the sentinels on the outer perimeter were suffocating under the pressure. Their bodies, against their will, constantly issued warnings. The lower-level sentinels could barely muster the will to resist, like prey targeted by a predator, trapped in a state of suspended animation. Curly cursed; he sounded uncomfortable too.

Wan Hong calmly surveyed his surroundings and, finding that he was the only one unaffected, followed the crowd, pretending to grit his teeth and endure it.

The monitoring instruments were flashing wildly, and the piercing alarm sounded muffled and distorted in the thick air. The values ​​jumping on the screen had long since exceeded the warning line, soaring into the heart-stopping deep red zone.

With such a powerful reaction, will we die?

Some sentries nearly lost their minds in extreme fear—damn trainers, they said they were showing us the world, but is this the kind of thing they're showing us?!

The communication channel was filled with the chilling sound of something being torn apart. People in the combat zone kept reporting the situation. After Xin Fei entered the field, the favorable situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the front line in the central area was forced to retreat again and again.

"When will reinforcements arrive? We expect to collapse in about ten minutes." Someone asked, barely managing to remain calm. His hoarse voice seemed to come through a thick barrier, accompanied by some strange noise.

For sentinels whose five senses are amplified to the extreme, this environment is nothing short of torture. Invisible pollutant particles, each one like a poisoned needle, relentlessly irritate the skin, causing a continuous, sharp sting. It feels as if countless tiny icicles are scraping and cutting every inch of flesh in the air. The viscous air is no longer flowing gas; it has become a heavy block of lead, compressing the chest cavity. Each breath feels like swallowing grit, the lungs squeezed by an invisible force, struggling desperately but unable to draw in oxygen.

Their vision began to distort; the outlines of distant, polluted forests writhed uneasily at the edges of their field of vision, their branches and leaves resembling hair or some kind of slippery tentacles. The light became eerie, refracting unnatural patches of color onto their retinas. The hearing was even more disastrous—the panting of their comrades, the electrical hum of their instruments, and the muffled sounds of fighting in the distance, which should have been clearly audible, were now all drowned out by a low, chaotic, and malicious rustling sound. This sound seemed to drill directly into the depths of their skulls, vibrating and churning within their brains, causing waves of dizziness and severe headaches.

The young sentry beside him swayed violently, the detector slipping from his hand and falling to the ground, swallowed by the wet, sticky, withered leaves. His face turned ashen, his pupils contracted sharply and then dilated abruptly, a gurgling sound escaped his throat, and before he could even vomit, he collapsed as if his bones had been removed, completely losing consciousness. Then, another, and another… at the edge of the defensive line, sentries with weaker wills or whose sensory endurance had reached its limit fell one after another.

"You guys are such cowards, so useless! How much has that bastard Xin Fei eaten? Is he as fat as a ball?" Curly-haired guy cursed, then said to the others, "Hang in there a little longer, the commander will be here soon!"

commander?

Guides generally rarely enter combat zones. Even when they do go to the front lines, they mostly stay in the rear or use their mental powers to launch long-range attacks on the enemy. The Federation values ​​its guides and, if possible, wants every guide to stay in the safest possible areas.

How dare the garrison commander of the White Pagoda let Lu Xuejin take the stage?

This is an S-rank that is hard-won.

Wan Hong switched hands to hold the instrument, but the light was too bright, so he simply closed his eyes.

He saw a black hole.

The battle zone was shrouded in black mist, interspersed with faint, star-like objects—fields constructed by powerful humans using their mental energy, corrupting and gnawing at the outer shell of these fields, drawing energy from them. Time seemed to stretch out at this moment; the suffocatingly thick air suddenly stagnated, then began to collapse inward. It wasn't physical wind, but rather the arrival of some kind of… force field.

The massive celestial body, emitting not a single ray of light, stood at the very center, like a whale opening its massive jaws to calmly inhale, instantly extinguishing several tiny stars. Light around it was bent to an extreme degree, forming a pale, distorted halo, like a solar corona.

Wan Hong held his breath instantly.

He heard the instructor shouting wildly, "Wake up, all of you! Look! Look! Use your mental powers to look!"

What an elegant yet cruel scene of eating!

Stars?

No, before that black hole, the enemy is not even dust. There was no violent explosion, the disappearance of the field did not even cause a ripple. Everything was silent and slow. They were stretched out, like stardust captured by an invisible gravity. Those violent and chaotic mental fields were forcibly twisted and stretched by an irresistible force, emitting a silent wail, and then irrevocably fell into absolute darkness.

The instructor laughed, seemingly still retaining his sanity, yet also appearing to have descended into madness: "Two years ago, this was a land of death. We were exiled expendable resources, building our border with corpses. But Lu Xuejin, you've come! Hahaha... You little brats, do you know how complicated the enemy's feelings are towards your commander?"

Most of the people fell into a coma and were unable to witness such a magnificent sight.

No one asked him, so he answered himself: "—The more you love, the more you hate."

He is the sovereign of the sky, an irresistible and despair-inducing center of gravity; once locked in by him, there is no escape.

The crazed sentinels both craved his light and feared the sun's appearance. For if Lu Xuejin were to appear in the center of the battlefield, the cold sunlight falling upon them would mean certain death. His terrifying mental power swept everything away; before him, the sentinels' mental constructs were like pieces of paper, crumbling at the slightest touch.

Countless people have died at Lu Xuejin's hands in the past two years. He is extremely caring towards federal citizens, but shows no mercy to his enemies. He is a man-made, walking celestial disaster.

No other S-class has ever possessed such terrifying dominance and finishing power as him. No wonder some fanatical organizations and even many Federation members regard him as a god and worship him.

The sound of boots crunching over fallen leaves attracted the attention of many.

Lu Xuejin gazed at the battle zone. Apart from the dying, nebulous pollutants that were still churning and changing colors, all other human activity had been annihilated by his casual strike. Hundreds of vital signs disappeared in an instant.

"Xin Feizhe's growth has actually accelerated after being infected," he murmured, a lingering melancholy in his voice.

The garrison officer said, "Let the sentries handle the rest."

Lu Xuejin shook her head and said softly, "Let me see him off. After all, he once taught me."

...

"You're a new recruit? A guide actually volunteered to come here. Which brat tricked you into coming here? The White Tower is willing to let people go, aren't they afraid of hurting their precious darling?"

The sentry smiled, his words less than pleasant, but his expression was kind. In his eyes, the newly arrived guide looked young and inexperienced, hardly someone who could shoulder such heavy responsibilities in the high-pressure meat grinder. The thought of that pristine face stained with blood was heartbreaking. Moreover, he had specifically asked the sentry to look after him.

The southeastern border is a paradise for madmen and serial killers, and Xin Fei didn't want to watch a child fall into this predicament.

"It's not too late to back out now, don't be stubborn. You've only just come of age, you can definitely go and see other places."

The guide—who had a beautiful name—Lu Xuejin simply watched him quietly, a shy smile appearing on her face. “Instructor, don’t even think about sending me away.”

"The southeastern border needs me."

Xin Fei then noticed that the child actually had dimples on his face; when he smiled, a small wrinkle would appear at the corner of his lips, making one want to reach out and press it. One wonders how many young boys he had charmed with that smile.

Of all the new recruits this year, probably two-thirds are here for this guide.

Young people...

Xin Fei glanced at the sentry team waiting in the distance; each of them stared at Lu Xuejin with eager eyes, like dogs.

Your willpower is too weak! Go back and practice more!

"Ha, quite the big talker. Don't be scared and cry in a few days." Xin Feize snapped out of his reverie and continued teasing the little guide, while Lu Xuejin just smiled without saying a word. He resisted the urge to tease her and didn't lay a hand on her, after all, Lu Xuejin was the guide, and he, as a sentry, had to avoid suspicion. The White Tower garrison officer wished he could watch over and protect the guide like the apple of his eye, and Xin Feize was afraid that if he made a move, someone would point a gun at him the next second.

Contrary to expectations, Lu Xuejin quickly adapted to life on the border. He was not spoiled at all, followed orders completely, and was more composed and mature than the other inexperienced sentries. Despite still being at an age where he should be under someone's protection, he demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, caring for every member of the outpost and proactively providing them with emotional support.

Xin Fei also experienced this, feeling that even though he was the older one, he had to seek comfort from the child he was taking care of, which severely damaged his proud and arrogant self-esteem.

But... the more he avoided it, the more he longed for it; Lu Xuejin's guidance was so soothing it was addictive. Xin Fei guessed that his compatibility with the guide must be quite high, otherwise his heart wouldn't race every time he saw Lu Xuejin.

Although such associations are despised in the federal environment, they are even more inappropriate thoughts within the military.