VAP - Chapter 113
Chapter 113: The Marshal's Journey is the Sea of Stars (9)
Of course, Yue Du had no idea that while she was in another world learning to be a qualified Sentinel, a certain sleeping beauty had already infiltrated her younger sister’s school.
In fact, Yue Du had always believed Qi Jiu was still in that small world of constantly evolving Esper Abilities. With the power of Word Spirit, Qi Jiu was invincible and could live perfectly well on her own.
Who could have imagined that Qi Jiu’s power would allow her to cross world barriers? That wasn’t something a human could do at all!
Then again, Qi Jiu wasn’t human to begin with…
Ahem.
For now, Yue Du remained completely oblivious to these events. Her main daily activity was attending classes.
For a System, these courses were hardly difficult—in fact, they were quite simple. Especially when compared to the dense summoning grimoires of the Western fantasy world or the various profound techniques of the cultivation world, no one would take the Sentinel development courses seriously.
Outside of class, she spent her time petting the cat and the deer.
Two weeks later, Yue Du’s Quantum Beast had reached its adult form.
The white deer had grown to over two meters long and was half a head taller than Yue Du. Yet, its form was well-proportioned and graceful, as agile as a fine steed. Its mature antlers resembled tree branches carved from jade, shimmering with a lustrous sheen in the sunlight.
Each antler had five tines with sharp ends, as menacing as the edge of a sword. It wasn’t hard to imagine the consequences of being gored by them.
It would probably leave several bloody holes, right? If it charged with enough force, it might even impale its opponent and lift them onto its antlers.
In its adult form, the white deer could finally be shown to others.
Most Sentinels had Quantum Beasts that were birds of prey or ferocious carnivores. So, when her classmates first heard that Yue Du’s Quantum Beast was a deer, they were quite curious and flocked to see its true form.
And then they saw the pair of white jade antlers that could only be described as deadly weapons.
The Sentinel students were so shocked they were nearly speechless. “…”
So ferocious.
While the vast majority of people with deer as Quantum Beasts were Guides, no Guide’s deer had ever looked so deadly.
Look at that size, and those antlers! It probably wouldn’t lose a fight even against a tiger, wolf, lion, or leopard!
Yue Du was also puzzled as to how this deer had grown from a little cutie into such a large creature.
Fortunately, though its size was unexpected, the white deer’s temperament remained as gentle as ever. Its deep amber eyes were moist and bright, and it was a quiet creature, only occasionally letting out a low cry.
Sheng Xuejiu remarked, “This is the most beautiful Quantum Beast I’ve ever seen.”
Yue Du was skeptical. The white deer was certainly elegant, but when it came to pure aesthetic appeal, what could compare to the Marshal’s cat?
But Sheng Xuejiu didn’t seem particularly interested in her own cat, and the long-haired cat rarely rubbed against its owner’s leg asking to be held. After some thought, Yue Du could only chalk it up to like repelling like.
A big cat and a small cat. The host was the big one.
It was the first time Sheng Xuejiu had heard such a thing. She asked pensively, “You think I’m like a cat?”
Yue Du asked casually, “Has no one else ever said that?”
“No.” Sheng Xuejiu pondered for a moment, her expression blank. “The most common comparison I’ve heard is ‘devil’.”
And it was mostly her juniors from the military academy and her subordinates in the military who said it. It’s worth mentioning that there’s a high degree of overlap between those two groups.
Yue Du: “…”
She figured that probably wasn’t a comparison, but a description.
Yue Du didn’t forget to check in on the Villain Awakening Project Group chat. It seemed everyone was less busy lately, as they were online more often than before.
After learning about the setting of Yue Du’s current small world, the chatty leopard-woman, Turasu, became fascinated with Quantum Beasts.
Yue Du could understand. After all, Turasu herself had the appearance of a beast-person, so it was only natural for her to be interested in fluffy creatures.
But as it turned out, Yue Du’s idea of “interest” and Turasu’s were not on the same level.
Yue Du told her that her Quantum Beast was a white deer.
Turasu seemed to be reminiscing. “A deer? Venison is a bit tough. Best not to eat it.”
“… ” This exchange made Yue Du silently back away from her.
Xiao Yi made a rare appearance in the discussion, letting out a dreamy, “Oh.”
Yue Du waited for her to continue.
The girl, whom Yue Du suspected was in league with the Main System, pondered for a moment before finally asking, “So, what is your host’s Quantum Beast?”
Yue Du fibbed, “A lion. A big white one.”
“She’s a Sentinel, right?” Xiao Yi tilted her head and repeated, “She’s a Sentinel. You’re a Guide. Does she know you’re a Guide?”
“Of course she knows.”
“But you said before that your mission was to disguise yourself as a Sentinel.”
Yue Du said with a laugh, “The disguise is just for the public. Why would I pretend in front of my host? There has to be at least that basic level of trust, right?”
She was good at keeping secrets. To this day, the other Systems in the group had no idea she’d been in a relationship with her host (or her fragments, rather) for three worlds.
Xiao Yi silently lowered her gaze, looking somewhat crestfallen.
Yue Du didn’t know why she was so dejected. After all, it was an obvious conclusion. What kind of System would hide things from their host?
The Main God’s Space.
The Main God was a very dedicated employee, constantly busy like a spinning top, and often had to deal with surprise inspections from his boss.
Today, however, the boss seemed to be in low spirits.
The Main God sighed. “Boss, are you alright?”
The boss stared blankly. “I’m not.”
The Main God, accustomed to this, prepared to be a listening ear. “I am ready to hear the details.”
The boss immediately opened the floodgates. In fact, in Its long existence, there were few occasions that could make It so talkative.
“She is indeed a Sentinel as planned, but 0996 actually awakened as a Guide—”
“What did the simulations say before? That the probability of her awakening as a Sentinel was only 0.01%, and the probability of awakening as a Guide was even lower. And what happened? It just had to be that coincidental.”
The Main God said in a monotone, “Ah, what a coincidence.”
The boss continued, “And she told Her about it before the mission even started! A Sentinel and a Guide. Great. As if I don’t know the rules of that world! With such a compatible Guide around, there’s no way She’ll ever go berserk!”
The Main God nodded earnestly. “Ah, no way at all.”
“Scrap the entire mission chain we prepared. We’ll have to start over. Hoping for Her to go berserk and destroy the world is less likely than hoping those bugs from the world’s lore will do it.”
The Main God said, “Ah, the bugs.”
The boss said, “…I’m getting the feeling you’re just humoring me.”
“How would I dare,” the Main God said.
After a brief silence, the boss muttered to Itself, “I’ve already wasted so much time on Her. The power I’ve expended would have been enough for other Systems to complete hundreds of missions, and yet it’s all been for nothing.”
The Main God stopped parroting. “As I’ve said before, what’s wrong with maintaining the status quo? As long as you give the order, every System here will obey, myself included.”
“Your efficiency is still too low. It’s not enough.”
The Main God said calmly, “Then expand the scope of System recruitment. Even with low efficiency, as long as we have more employees, we won’t have to worry about the output.”
The boss: “…”
After a long moment, the boss shook Its head.
“You can certainly increase your staff, but I won’t be stopping my efforts.”
The Main God asked, “But what do you intend to do now?”
The question went unanswered. The boss’s figure had already vanished beyond an invisible door.
It just wanted to set everything back on the right track. That was all.
The Main God: “…”
Delegating work at the slightest disagreement, no matter how difficult the task… is that how all bosses think?
But what could he do?
It was the boss, after all.
Yue Du had been in a good mood lately.
Her Sentinel skills were improving rapidly, and her petting technique was keeping pace.
Quantum Beasts were truly the perfect species for petting. They existed in an ideal state—they carried no germs or viruses, didn’t shed, and their owners never had to worry about feeding or caring for them. Yet, they were the most loyal comrades and the most obedient pets.
Listening to the white noise of the rain, leaning against a great beauty, with a cat and a deer to pet.
This was her life outside of her daily classes.
All in all, life was quite leisurely.
Until one day, the Main System came online with an ominous air and issued a mission to Yue Du and Sheng Xuejiu.
The last mission had merely required Yue Du to maintain her disguise. This time, the stakes were raised to a whole new level—it wanted the Marshal to usurp power.
“Main Mission: The host must gain complete control of this nation within five years and kill the current leader to eliminate any future threats.”
Wasn’t this plot moving a little too fast?!
Yue Du felt as if one second she was in an inspirational school story, and the next she’d been thrown into a grand drama of courtly intrigue. No, the Federation didn’t have a court; its highest leader was the president.
Sheng Xuejiu said, “If I recall correctly, the Federation’s president is chosen through popular election, not by fighting and seizing power.”
Yue Du gave a dry laugh. “Right.”
“It seems my reputation as the Federation’s tyrant is about to be cemented,” the Marshal mused from this new angle, then said proudly, “In that case, the Main System is underestimating me. If we follow this path, I won’t need five years. The Federation will bear the name Sheng by next month.”
Yue Du’s head ached. “That’s not the issue. It says ‘complete control,’ but not even the president has complete control over the Federation.”
The president was the Federation’s highest authority, true, but not the only one—the Speaker and the Premier were always watching like tigers.
To gain complete control, she would probably have to tear down the entire federal system and rebuild it from scratch!
Yue Du turned to look at her host.
In fact, the Marshal was supposed to be one of those in power.
Unfortunately, Sheng Xuejiu had always been too lazy to bother with such matters, turning the position of Marshal into one that involved nothing but fighting the Zerg. The other leaders were quite happy with this arrangement.
Yue Du said, “The Main System didn’t say this was the final mission. So, after you become the Federation’s number one, it will probably demand something else.”
Sheng Xuejiu replied, “Excellent. An upgraded tyrant. Is it going to ask me to unify the entire galaxy?”
Yue Du thought about it seriously and was horrified to realize that it was a real possibility.
Perhaps the Guide’s emotional fluctuations caught the attention of Sheng Xuejiu’s Quantum Beast. The long-haired cat leaped lightly onto her lap, its long tail coiling around the white deer’s leg.
Yue Du casually gave it a few pets.
Sheng Xuejiu clicked her tongue. “Tsk.”
It was taking up both of their attention. That cat really ought to be recalled and put in solitary confinement within her mental landscape.
Even when facing a future as a tyrant, nothing could stop Her Excellency the Marshal from getting jealous over a cat.
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