SDIWD - Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Hua Mu trembled, curled up under the ambulance cot. The tall Sentinel knelt before her in a submissive posture. But the commotion outside the vehicle didn't stop; the Sentinels Bai Zhen had taken down were already showing signs of regrouping.
Just as a Sentinel broke through the vehicle door, Hua Mu could no longer bear the fear in her heart and threw herself into the arms of the trustworthy-looking female Sentinel before her.
"Save me..."
Bai Zhen held the girl's soft, feverish body tightly, then kicked away a classmate who had lost his senses to the Guide-hormone. Her physical conditioning was superb, allowing her to remain agile even while carrying Hua Mu.
After kicking the Sentinel away, Bai Zhen swiftly rushed out of the vehicle. With incredible balance and speed, she stepped on the shoulders of the crowded Sentinels and leaped out of the encirclement.
The rioting Sentinels' eyes were bloodshot, fixed on a single target: Hua Mu. The Guide-hormone, which could only be described as delectable, drew them in with a force their instincts couldn't resist.
She was their destined Guide. They had to have her, possess her, and pledge their loyalty to her.
If one were to ask if they could still think, the answer was yes; they were clearly aware of what they were doing. But they couldn't resist. The benefits of bonding with this Guide were simply too great to refuse. The presence of so many competitors only fueled their unwillingness to be left behind. They weren't the only ones who had noticed; such a flagrant display of Guide-hormone was a constant object of desire, and they knew an opportunity like this would never come again.
She would be snatched away by someone else, become another's partner—how could they bear such a thought? Even if it meant fighting their rivals, resorting to violence, making mistakes, or using any means necessary, they had to have her.
Their minds were a chaotic yet clear-headed mess, driven by instinct toward a single, definite goal.
Even their top student was no different. Even Bai Zhen had joined the fray. This female Sentinel, so outstanding in her performance, so restrained and stoic, was just like the rest of them, hoping to obtain and possess this "princess."
When Bai Zhen broke through the encirclement with Hua Mu in her arms, the scene instantly descended into greater chaos. The frenzied Sentinels immediately changed direction, pursuing them as they fled.
Hua Mu was utterly terrified. Only the female Sentinel's soft bosom and powerful arms offered her any comfort. She could hear the commotion behind them but didn't dare look back.
"W-what are we going to do?"
"I'll take you to the command tower."
The Sentinel-Guide organization was called the Tower primarily as a holdover from the name of its original architecture. To this day, the headquarters base still featured many tower-like structures.
The command tower was the organization's central hub, housing many administrative departments and serving as the daily workplace for its staff.
The out-of-control Sentinels were mostly cadets. Unlike her, a semi-professional who had started undertaking missions early on, the majority of them had no real combat experience.
Hua Mu gripped her arm tightly, asking uneasily, "What if there are people there, too?"
"The command tower has public Guides, and the instructors on duty today are there. They'll handle this properly. You don't need to worry."
"Sob... but I'm so scared..."
Hua Mu didn't understand why this was happening to her, why so many Sentinels were coming for her.
Bai Zhen said in a low voice, "Please don't worry. I will protect you."
Listening to the Sentinel's powerful heartbeat, Hua Mu, for some reason, actually began to feel a little relieved.
The base's roads were a complex network. Bai Zhen sprinted with Hua Mu in her arms, and by the time they reached the entrance to the command tower, she had shaken off most of the Sentinels. Still, five or six pursued them relentlessly—all of them were outstanding cadets from the Tower with boundless potential.
The command tower seemed to have already detected the disturbance. At its base, Bai Zhen ran into two Guide instructors who were preparing to deploy.
"Bai Zhen!"
Xu Ying and Cen Sang were on duty today, along with two other Sentinels. Half an hour earlier, Xu Ying had received a message that a special newly-awakened individual was being brought to the Tower. She never expected that the moment the ambulance passed through the main gate, the situation would spiral completely out of control.
An "awakening rampage" wasn't particularly rare. It referred to a state where a newly awakened Sentinel or Guide, unable to control their power, would let their spirit animal roam freely. The more powerful the individual, the more likely this was to occur.
Generally speaking, the Tower welcomed such occurrences, as they indicated great potential, and had a standard set of procedures for handling them.
But this time was different. Both the intensity of the spirit animal and the scent of the Guide-hormone were abnormal. The two instructors had been in the medical center with the medical team, making preparations, and only realized something was wrong when the alarms began to blare.
Xu Ying immediately dispatched her spirit animal to investigate, only to find it couldn't even begin to keep up with the other's speed. Detectors all over the Tower blared alarms as the awakened one's spirit animal paraded through the grounds like a queen bee, broadcasting a potent and delectable Guide-hormone.
Xu Ying's spirit animal was a black cat named Bastet, and her Guide ability was 'Analysis'. She could roughly determine the capabilities of Sentinels and Guides through their pheromones, an invaluable asset for teaching.
The moment she came into contact with the other's Guide-hormone, she felt a wave of dizziness. It was a physiological reaction to an overwhelming amount of information, similar in principle to a computer crashing when its processing power is insufficient to handle a massive data load.
She wasn't unfamiliar with this sensation. Setting aside members of the royal family, the Leader and a few other powerful seniors were also completely beyond her ability to analyze.
But for a Guide who had just awakened, this was exceedingly rare. The last time she'd encountered something like this was when Bai Zhen had first entered the Tower. But back then, she herself had only been a student, and her abilities were nothing compared to what they were now.
When the two Sentinels on duty with them also began to show varying degrees of disorientation, Xu Ying and Cen Sang realized the gravity of the situation. They quickly made a decision, calmed their partners, and sent an emergency communication to the Leader, from whom they immediately received a reply and instructions.
The Tower was not only an administrative body for Sentinels and Guides but also an educational institution. The Leader served as both its administrator and headmaster, with the authority to directly grant military ranks to cadets. Many Sentinels and Guides held dual roles, and the students at the Tower often took on guard duties as well.
Most graduates were away on long-term missions, with only a small number remaining at the Tower as full-time instructors. Besides the teaching staff and the ordinary humans handling logistics, almost everyone stationed at the Tower long-term was a student. This meant that, at present, the only ones capable of handling this situation were the two of them, the Guides on duty.
Cen Sang's spirit animal was a pink, long-eared rabbit named Angel. As one of the Tower's senior public Guides, she possessed the ability to rapidly soothe Sentinels.
But faced with a Sentinel disturbance of this magnitude, she had no confidence she could control the scene, even with powerful neutralizers on hand.
Sedatives were almost useless against rampaging Sentinels. The only solution was to neutralize the scent of the Guide-hormone before attempting to provide mental comfort.
But two Guides stood no chance against a mob of Sentinels, even if they were instructors. Still, they had to go. As teachers, as soldiers, and as Guides and subjects of the empire, they had a duty and responsibility to resolve this crisis.
What neither of them expected was to run into Bai Zhen at the entrance to the command tower, let alone find her carrying the very person at the center of the awakening.
Though they rarely undertook field missions, Xu Ying and Cen Sang were still highly professional. The instant she saw Bai Zhen, Xu Ying pulled the lever on her device, spraying a neutralizer toward the pair. Cen Sang's spirit animal simultaneously dissolved into a pink mist that enveloped them.
"Seniors!"
Even Bai Zhen was caught off guard by the sudden development. Hati, who had been running interference against the pursuing Sentinels, instinctively rushed to his host, scattering the pink mist with a roar.
The long-eared rabbit tumbled and bounced like a fluffy ball before leaping back into Cen Sang's arms.
Most Guides had herbivorous spirit animals; even a cat like Xu Ying's was rare. But this didn't mean they possessed an herbivore's physiological fear of a carnivorous wolf. The retreat was merely a tactical response after assessing the situation.
"I'm fine! It's Qin Sen and the others!" Bai Zhen immediately stopped Hati's counterattack and yelled to the two instructors. "They've lost control!"
Xu Ying and Cen Sang were both stunned for a moment, then they saw the scene behind Bai Zhen. They were all familiar students—some cheerful, others gentle—but now they looked as if they had completely lost their minds.
One by one, their eyes were bloodshot, their expressions feverish, as if they had transformed into beasts of pure instinct and desire.
"You take... take the awakened one inside first," Xu Ying said. "Cen Sang and I will handle things out here."
But if the pull was irresistible, why was Bai Zhen unaffected?
Moreover, as a Guide with the 'Analysis' ability, Xu Ying understood better than anyone that this Guide-hormone's effect was different from simple seduction. To be precise, its function was 'Attraction'. Like a peacock flaunting its beautiful plumage, the awakened one's Guide-hormone was a declaration of her power.
Yet its effect was more potent than any typical seduction ability she had ever encountered. The awakened one's spirit animal was like a proud, unrestrained child, announcing its beauty to the world. But it didn't know that beauty often invites calamity, and the source of all calamity is desire.
"I'll take the Young Lady somewhere safe first, then come back to help you."
Bai Zhen didn't dare to delay. The neutralizer and Cen Sang's Guide ability had helped clear her head.
Bai Zhen's form of address for the awakened one—"Young Lady"—surprised Xu Ying. She clearly knew the girl's identity. Xu Ying herself had only learned of it during her emergency communication with the Leader, which was when she realized the severity of the situation was far beyond what she had imagined.
If Hua Mu remained unharmed, the situation might still be salvageable. But if anything happened to her, the punishment these students would face was simply unimaginable.
"Don't come back," Xu Ying insisted. "Activate the command tower's security lockdown. You must protect her."
The control tower had the most advanced security systems. If they were inside, perhaps they could hold out until the Leader returned.
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