Chapter 119 – Sentinel & Guide: Becoming Your Exclusive Guide – Prelude to Enemy Engagement (09)
Simona turned out to be part of the Zerg, and she had even been living among humans for quite some time. When did the Zerg become so intelligent? Just thinking about it is truly unsettling.
The Shelley troops, stationed at the border town, mobilized quickly to strengthen defenses and launched a large-scale search in several nearby cities.
Herslet stared at the long insect leg on the table, which had been cleaned of filth. There was an oddly protruding lump in the middle of the leg. Upon splitting it open, a Zerg nest was revealed.
“Send it for analysis.”
“Yes, sir.”
Herslet removed his white gloves, washed his hands, and stepped into the courtyard, where he saw Bai Tang and the white wolf playing and chasing each other.
The little squirrel’s owner smelled like sweet milk—sweeter than the squirrel itself. So happy~!
The white wolf lay on the ground like a big dog, belly exposed, enjoying Bai Tang’s affectionate pets.
“Does this count as touching Herslet’s abs?” Bai Tang asked excitedly.
The system didn’t understand why Bai Tang was so obsessed with abs, but relying on precise calculations, it replied, “A spiritual companion is roughly equivalent to half of its owner. Rounded up, petting the companion is basically the same as petting the owner.”
Overjoyed, Bai Tang petted the white wolf from head to tail. After all, touching Herslet’s abs wasn’t something one could do freely—it came at a price. It was fun, yes, but also exhausting. The white wolf, on the other hand, was different. He wasn’t afraid of the wolf jumping into his bed.
Herslet watched the two—one big, one small—playing around and felt a rare sense of peace.
“Report: the analysis is complete. The nest contained an undeveloped Zerg queen,” a sentinel said, placing the results on the table.
An undeveloped Zerg queen.
Herslet’s long fingers tapped the tabletop rhythmically. After a brief moment of thought, a plan took shape in his mind.
He cast one last glance at the boy napping under the tree, using the white wolf as a pillow. A warm feeling passed through his heart.
He carried Bai Tang back to the room and, after settling him in, took the report and the Zerg nest to the Alliance Defense Bureau.
“Herslet is here. What’s your take on Simona Percy being a Zerg informant?”
The Zerg invasion had begun, and the Alliance’s core forces quickly assembled. As Herslet, clad in military boots, stepped into the meeting room, the head of the Defense Bureau immediately questioned him.
Signs of extensive Zerg activity had been discovered outside the city, forcing them to raise their alert level.
Herslet placed the report and the Zerg nest, found inside the insect leg, in front of everyone.
“What is this?” asked the nearest sentinel, picking up the report.
“It’s a next-generation Zerg queen. It’s still alive.”
A living Zerg queen carried a virus capable of disrupting a sentinel’s mental strength. At Herslet’s words, several sentinels who were closest to the nest instinctively took a step back.
The bureau chief was shocked. “Then doesn’t that mean…”
“The queen is a reproductive body for the next generation of Zerg,” Herslet continued. “They will come back for it.”
The director nodded in deep agreement. He ordered the nest to be taken away and then continued the meeting, outlining several key strategies for defending against the Zerg.
After the meeting, Herslet stood in place, watching the director’s departing figure, his expression thoughtful. Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Just then, his wrist communicator buzzed. He tapped to open it, and Bai Tang’s sweet face appeared on the screen.
“Ah He, remember to buy corn when you come back. I want grilled corn,” the boy said with a tilt of his head. “You have to make it for me.”
Herslet’s normally sharp aura unconsciously softened. “Alright, I’ll make grilled corn for you when I get back.”
No wonder people say being in love changes a person.
The remaining sentinels, rarely witnessing this tender side of Herslet, were full of curiosity about who was on the other end of the call. They all perked up their ears, only to hear a soft and milky voice—like warm milk going down the throat, pure and lovely.
Just from that voice, they could imagine how adorable the person must be. They remembered Herslet was an only child, but weren’t sure if the person on the other end was his maternal cousin or paternal cousin. Once he hung up, they were definitely going to ask. After all, good things should stay in the family, right?
“So, when are we getting married~?” The boy on the other end of the communicator asked sweetly.
The eavesdropping sentinels: “!!!”
They hadn’t even seen the person yet, and they were already heartbroken!
Herslet, exuding a powerful aura, cast a glance at the eavesdroppers. They immediately straightened up and pretended to be just passing by—acting as if they knew nothing.
Then they heard Herslet say, “Tang Tang, whenever you want. I’m ready anytime.”
He thought it would be best to bond with the boy sooner rather than later—just to keep others from constantly coveting his Tang Tang.
After hanging up, a sentinel who was relatively close to Herslet asked, “Hey, man, you’re getting married? To Bai Tang? I thought you weren’t interested in him?”
“You talk too much,” Herslet replied coldly, picking up his coat and leaving the meeting room—behind him, a group of single men sighing in heartbreak.
Even Herslet, known as the coldest and most unfeeling among them, had found love. When would they find their own Guides? Especially ones with voices as sweet and gentle as Bai Tang’s…
Herslet made a round along the city wall for inspection before heading to the market to buy the ingredients Bai Tang had requested.
It was rare to see a Sentinel grocery shopping. Herslet was a standout among the new generation of Sentinels, and his aura of strength was impossible to hide. As he moved through the market’s food aisles, he was like a walking embodiment of pheromones—drawing the eyes of many single young men and women.
“He’s so handsome… I wonder if I’ll ever get the chance to meet him,” a starry-eyed girl sighed.
“God owes me a Guide’s body. If only I were a Guide… then maybe I’d have a chance,” another girl muttered dreamily, cupping her cheeks.
Herslet automatically tuned out the stares, focused solely on planning tonight’s menu.
He’d heard Guides liked romance. Maybe he should prepare a candlelight dinner and propose to Tang Tang?
Though… the ring wasn’t ready yet…
As he pushed his shopping cart and headed to check out, he happened to spot a familiar figure in the café across from him. When that person stood up, Herslet asked a staff member to deliver the groceries to his home, then followed discreetly.
…
Shelley Manor.
Although Madam Bai had invited him back multiple times, Bai Tang still had deep-seated misgivings about the Bai family and refused to return home. Herslet was more than happy to “kidnap” Bai Tang to live with him instead.
At that moment, Bai Tang was lounging in a rocking chair, chatting idly with the system.
“Qiu’er, do you think that now that the female lead turned out to be a Zerg, she won’t have a chance to be with Ah He anymore…”
“The Zerg and humans have long been locked in a fight to the death. Although we don’t know what twist of fate led the female lead to become one of the Zerg, she’s now a target of public hatred. The world’s storyline is already 98% complete,” the system reported dutifully.
“Ding dong—” The doorbell at the manor rang softly. A servant opened the door for the visitor.
Madam Bai nodded at the servant and was led to Bai Tang’s room in the Shelley Manor.
“Tang Tang.”
This was already the fifth time Madam Bai had come here. She had nearly mistaken a thief for her daughter and unjustly blamed her own son. The guilt weighed on her heavily, and she believed Bai Tang’s refusal to return home was because he still resented her.
“Mother, there’s no need to persuade me. I don’t want to go back,” Bai Tang said, weary from hearing the same words over and over.
“Are you still angry with me?” Madam Bai asked, her hands trembling as she held his.
“No,” Bai Tang shook his head.
He truly didn’t resent Madam Bai. Even within the original host’s memories and emotions, there was no real hatred toward the Bai family. After all, he had been raised in a prominent family, and sacrificing one member for the sake of preserving the whole was—practically speaking—a worthwhile trade.
However, Bai Tang disliked such cold calculations. No matter which world he had lived in—the ancient world where he was part of a prime minister’s household, the post-apocalyptic world with Bai Yun, or the elven realm with its elders and adoptive parents—any family he’d had treated him with genuine affection. This had shaped his belief that family should always stand by one another.
“I don’t resent you, truly. I just want to live here with Ah He. I want to see him every day. You don’t have to worry, Mother—I’m doing really well here,” Bai Tang said sincerely.
Madam Bai sighed. Seeing how determined he was, she knew there was no point in saying more.
“Have you set a date for the marriage registration?” she asked.
When it came to his beloved, Bai Tang no longer seemed distant at all.
“Not yet, probably sometime soon—or maybe after the Zerg issue is resolved,” he replied.
“In the blink of an eye, you’ve grown up and are ready to start a family. When you were little, your father and I were always flying around doing business, and we neglected you. You were so mischievous as a child. After Simona showed up, we thought she was more obedient and always compared you to her… We believed other people’s children were better…”
Madam Bai chattered on for a long while, her gaze full of affection as she looked at Bai Tang. “Now that we don’t know when the war between the Zerg and humans will erupt, it’s good that you’re here in the Shelley Manor—it’s at least a safe place.”
After catching up with Bai Tang for a while, Madam Bai stood to take her leave.
“I’ll be going now. If anything happens, just call home…”
At this moment, Madam Bai fully embodied the heart of a typical parent.
When the child is at home, they seem full of faults; but once they leave, they’re missed dearly.
“Mhm.” Bai Tang nodded obediently.
He didn’t walk Madam Bai out, so he didn’t know that before she left the manor, she pretended to use the restroom, slipped past the servants, and snuck into the study. There, she opened the safe and found a document, which she hid in her bag and took with her.
Instead of going home, she went to the outskirts of the city and stuffed the document into a crack in a large rock. After she left, a long, black shadow slithered past and took the document away.
When Herslet returned home, White Wolf eagerly rushed out to find the little squirrel. It had only been a few hours, but it felt like years since they’d last seen each other.
“You’re back~” Bai Tang said, bouncing into Herslet’s arms. He wrapped his legs around Herslet’s firm waist, hugged his neck, and nuzzled his head into his shoulder.
The boy’s spontaneous affection immediately cleared away the gloom clouding Herslett’s mood.
Supporting Bai Tang by the waist, Herslett carried him toward the living room. As they passed the kitchen, Bai Tang pouted and said, “Wrong way—we’re supposed to go to the kitchen.”
He still remembered the grilled corn Herslett had promised.
“The kitchen’s full of oil and smoke. How about Tang Tang plays with White Wolf in the living room for a bit, okay?”
As Herslet spoke, Bai Tang had his head resting against his throat, feeling the deep vibrations of his voice.
That low, resonant tone carried a kind of magic—it made Bai Tang feel a little dizzy, totally immersed in the hormonal aura of his beloved.
Herslet kissed Bai Tang on the cheek. “It’ll be ready soon, okay?”
Bai Tang’s face turned slightly red, but he nodded. Herslet gently set him down on the cozy sofa.
On the wool rug, White Wolf was chasing the little squirrel in circles, darting up and down. Despite White Wolf’s size, the nimble squirrel managed to avoid being caught. Watching the playful duo felt like watching a wildlife documentary, and Bai Tang found it all quite amusing.
Author’s Note:
Madam Bai really isn’t a bad person—this part plays an important role later on.
Also, I checked the calendar today and realized that the Lunar New Year is super early this year. New Year’s Eve falls in late January, so right after New Year’s Day, it’s already almost time for the Spring Festival. Doesn’t that mean this school term is ending pretty soon?