Extra 1: Awakening
The frail body looked so small on the metal platform.
Su Ming no longer had much of an impression of the child he had picked up. Back then, she had been covered in blood, her bright eyes shining as he carried her home. He had not seen her since.
Even now, she had only just come of age. Her Guide abilities had just awakened, and at such a high level. Without anyone to teach her, things could easily go wrong.
“Where is the Guide instructor?”
As Su Ming spoke, An Xi pressed against his pounding temples and gestured for a middle-aged Guide behind him to step forward.
However, the Guide hesitated. “General, I can’t get close to her right now. Her Guide power is flooding the entire room…” If she went in, she was certain that within minutes, her own Guide power would be shattered, leaving her a cripple.
Su Ming also noticed that the people behind him, whether ordinary soldiers or Sentinels, were all showing signs of pain. Yet, he himself was completely unaffected.
Not just because he was a Dark Sentinel, but also because, even in her state of disorientation, the girl’s aggressive Guide power instinctively avoided him.
“You all can leave.”
Su Ming’s thin lips parted as he spoke, stepping forward and shutting the door behind him.
The moment the shielding door closed, the oppressive Guide power from within was cut off, and those outside let out a breath of relief.
Su Ming approached the metal platform, lowering his gaze to lock onto the frail girl before him.
Memories stored within the awakening system wrapped around his cold heart, as if they were on the verge of melting it. But he was a Dark Sentinel, a great General of the Kroll Empire. He had no need for such sentimental thoughts, nor for emotions that could erode his will.
Until he was thirteen, he had been nothing but an orphaned beggar on a wasteland planet, bullied by all. He had eaten fruit pits fished from sewers and half a bloodstained bun scavenged from the streets. To survive, he had scurried like a rat, hiding from danger. Then, at thirteen, he awakened early, becoming a Dark Sentinel.
He had climbed to his current position on his own strength, witnessing the cold indifference of the world. He knew better than anyone that all emotions were built on a foundation of material security.
A deep, resonant roar echoed beside him.
Su Ming turned his gaze and spoke calmly. “Shi Ming, long time no see.”
Shi Ming was his quantum beast. Every Sentinel, upon awakening, would form a spirit entity that ordinary people could not perceive.
Shi Ming resembled a lion, but its fur was pure silver, its form exuding both mechanical precision and a futuristic aura. Even outside of battle, it carried an undeniable majesty.
A soft *meow~* suddenly came from the metal platform.
Both Su Ming and Shi Ming looked over. A small, snow-white kitten had appeared beside the girl. Calling it a kitten wasn’t quite right. It was weak, barely clinging to life, its fluffy fur making it look like a tiny, round ball.
With a low growl, Shi Ming leaped up, placing its forepaws on the platform and clamping its jaws around the kitten.
Su Ming’s hand clenched slightly at his side, but he made no move to stop it.
As Shi Ming carried the kitten away, the girl curled up slightly, her breath hitching in pain. Soft whimpers escaped her lips.
Su Ming bent down, reaching out to grasp her cold hand. In a low voice, he said, “It’s time to wake up.”
He knew she could hear him. The tendrils of Guide power spreading through the room were all unconscious attempts to probe the outside world.
Sure enough, after a violent tremor of her butterfly-wing lashes, her eyes slowly opened, revealing a brilliance that made Su Ming instinctively avert his gaze.
A surge of emotion rippled through his chest. If he didn’t suppress it, he feared he might pull her into his arms.
But the way she looked at him was unfamiliar.
She sat up slowly, her delicate face pale. Upon seeing him, she slid off the platform and hoarsely addressed him, “General.”
Su Ming stared at the whorl of hair atop her head for a long moment before finally speaking. “Since you’re awake, retract your Guide power.”
Wan Tong had lived in Su Ming’s general’s estate for five years, yet she remained unfamiliar with him. If not for her recent awakening as an SSS-class Guide, if not for their high compatibility, she would never have been brought here to awaken him.
Hearing his words, Wan Tong hesitated. She had only learned the basics of Guide power, she had no idea how to retract it.
Seeing her lowered head, Su Ming quickly understood.
“Control it the way you control your mental power.”
“Mental power?”
“In the apocalypse—” Su Ming started to explain, then frowned and cut himself off.
Wan Tong looked up, confused. “Apocalypse?”
The man before her was strikingly handsome, but his expression was cold as frost. His deep black eyes studied her for two seconds before shifting away. Without another word, he turned and left, tossing a single sentence over his shoulder:
“Don’t think about anything. The instructor will come in.”
“Yes, General.”
Her respectful and polite tone was just as sweet and gentle as he remembered, but he could detect no emotion in it.
A soft *meow!* sounded again.
Shi Ming glanced at the trembling kitten, flicked his tail, and followed Su Ming out the door.
Wan Tong sat back on the metal platform. The chubby, snowball-like kitten leaped onto her lap, curling up comfortably in her arms.
“Bai Bai, you’ve gotten even fatter.”
*Meow~* Master’s Guide power has gotten even stronger~
Wan Tong chuckled softly. Her temples throbbed. It felt as though she had struggled in endless darkness for ages. She had heard someone calling her name. So to escape that darkness, she had sealed off part of her own mind.
Whatever had happened inside the awakening system, she couldn’t remember. But judging from the General’s demeanor earlier, she had a feeling she might have offended him in there.
From that day on, Wan Tong never saw Su Ming again. She was sent to the Sentinel-Guide Administration School on the Kroll Empire’s home planet.
Since she was the first SSS-ranked Guide in the Kroll Empire and had just come of age, all of her information was kept confidential by the Empire. Of course, this might also have been a result of Su Ming’s influence.
However, what troubled the school’s teachers was that they were used to teaching Guides how to advance, assist Sentinels in emotional regulation, and support them in battle. But Wan Tong’s Guide power surpassed all the teachers and professors, and she possessed an extremely strong offensive capability. The usual teaching methods simply did not apply to her.
Wan Tong lived alone in a separate dormitory and rarely went out. The teachers even allowed her to skip some unnecessary classes.
With such special treatment, it wasn’t long before Wan Tong became a thorn in the side of some students at the school.
Although the living quarters for Sentinels and Guides were in separate areas, the academic buildings were shared. Moreover, the foundational Sentinel-Guide theory classes were held in large lecture halls where students from both groups attended together.
The lecture hall had 500 seats, nearly enough to accommodate an entire grade. Wan Tong arrived just in time for class, having spent some time looking for the classroom.
The teachers had already been informed about her and naturally recognized her.
The theory class was taught by a middle-aged female Guide. Upon seeing Wan Tong, she even specifically pointed out a seat for her to avoid any further delay. Her face remained warm with a constant smile.
“Thank you, Professor.” Wan Tong nodded politely and walked toward the second-row seat.
In just those few seconds, the once noisy classroom suddenly became so silent that Wan Tong could hear everyone’s heartbeat.
She frowned slightly, her expression cooling as all emotion faded from her face, leaving only an icy detachment.
The school term had already been in session for two months. By now, most students within the same grade had already bonded with one another. Wan Tong, however, had suddenly transferred in, lived alone, and was treated with clear bias by the faculty. It was only natural that many students viewed her as a privileged figure.
Most of these Sentinels and Guides came from distinguished backgrounds with elite bloodlines. Seeing her being given such special treatment naturally stirred resentment.
Wan Tong sensed the underlying hostility in the air but chose to ignore it.
However, some people simply couldn’t resist making their hostility overt.
The empty seat was next to the wall, with two girls sitting on the outer side. Wan Tong had assumed they would move aside to let her through, but they remained motionless.
“Excuse me, could you let me through? Thank you,” Wan Tong said.
“This seat is taken,” the girl with long, wavy curls said in a sweet but insincere voice.
The girl beside her even placed a small handbag onto the empty seat, chiming in, “Yeah, we’ve got stuff here.”
Her deliberate action triggered a wave of laughter from the surrounding students.
Having grown up in the General’s Manor, Wan Tong had always been treated like a young lady of the house. Though quiet and reserved in nature, she carried an innate pride.
“I want to sit here,” she stated, enunciating each word clearly.
Although everyone present had awakened their abilities after coming of age, the exact age of awakening varied. Some awakened at seventeen or eighteen, and some even later.
Nationwide, Su Ming was the only one to have awakened early. Someone like Wan Tong, who awakened at sixteen, was already considered early.
Thus, although they were all in the same grade, Wan Tong still looked a little younger. Beautiful, quiet, and seemingly easy to bully.
“Heh, and I refuse to let you sit,” the long-haired girl stood up, now facing Wan Tong directly.
This girl was named Chang Qi. Her parents were highly influential, though Wan Tong didn’t know the specifics. Chang Qi herself was an A-ranked Guide, well-regarded in the school with a large following of both Guides and Sentinels.
Even though they were only first-years, Chang Qi had already learned most of the advanced Guide techniques from her mother and was a top student in the school.
“Chang Qi, why are you treating your classmate like this?” the Guide professor finally spoke up.
“Professor, you’re obviously favoring her. It’s not like there aren’t other open seats. We don’t even know her, so why does she have to sit here?” Another Guide from the same row chimed in.
“There’s an open seat here, come sit!” A group of young Sentinels in the back whistled playfully.
Although Sentinels and Guides attended classes together, the seating was typically arranged with Guides sitting in the front and Sentinels in the back, creating a distinct separation.
Hearing the commotion from the Sentinel section, Wan Tong glanced over indifferently.
In an instant, the Sentinels fell silent.
Wan Tong was undeniably beautiful. She carried a unique aura that naturally drew people’s attention, yet she always ignored their stares. This only made the young and restless Sentinels even more eager to tease her.
That single glance of hers was lazy, almost like a kitten basking in the sun.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, a small, fluffy white cat appeared on her shoulder. It was palm-sized, with deep, sapphire-blue eyes that looked almost identical to its owner’s.
“A quantum beast… She can already manifest her quantum beast!”
“Holy crap, that’s adorable.”
“Come back, Lang Qi!”
“Damn it, I can’t control my quantum beast!”
“Shut up, you just can’t control yourself!”
…
The back of the classroom instantly erupted into chaos again.