Chapter 11: The Transaction

The sentinel with fox-like eyes smiled even more brightly.

Since entering, Wen Li had yet to catch a glimpse of his eyes.

What squinting eyes?

The sentinel set down his teacup, stood up, and approached Wen Li.

His impeccably tailored suit pants hugged his long, slender legs perfectly. He was much taller than Wen Li, making her tilt her head back slightly to look up at him.

Wen Li stepped back to keep her distance. “Show some respect!”

The sentinel bent down to meet her gaze. Silky white hair cascaded from his shoulders onto his chest.

“Your mother asked me to give you something.”

Mother?

Throughout her time crossing over, aside from her stepfather and arrogant sister, Wen Li had seldom heard mention of her biological mother, who had long since disappeared.

The sentinel held out a letter from his chest. Wen Li reached for it, but he slyly pulled it away again.

Why does someone so handsome have to be such a nuisance!

Wen Li had no patience to play games now. Just thinking about the White Tower sending her out on yet another joint mission filled her with irritation.

Last time, her brother helped her refuse. But now that the person had been found face to face, how could she possibly say no?

Angus finally put down his pen, stood, and moved in front of the white-haired sentinel, snatching the letter away and placing it in Wen Li’s hand.

Angus looked like he had been up several nights in a row; dark circles under his eyes rivaled those of a panda.

His weary voice broke the silence. “Cyril, this one holds grudges.”

Cyril leaned lazily against the wall, as if boneless, yawning disinterestedly. He then turned to the golden-haired girl and finally revealed his blood-red eyes.

With such obvious deformities, Wen Li couldn’t help but suspect he had powerful backing to swagger so openly inside the White Tower.

Sentinels were as numerous as stars in the sky. Any who dared show deformities blatantly were practically challenging the hot-blooded soldiers.

Cyril noticed Wen Li staring and smiled without showing his eyes. His shirt collar loosened slightly, revealing a sharply defined collarbone.

Wen Li twitched the corner of her mouth: What a show-off.

Holding the letter, Wen Li sat down opposite them and said, “The leader wouldn’t just send me a letter if they wanted me to come.”

Angus nodded. “Heartless, do you know what I’ve been dealing with these past few days?”

Wen Li said nothing.

Angus continued, “Cleaning up the mess you left last time.”

Wen Li flushed with anger. “Don’t throw dirt on me!”

“The White Tower told you to handle it, not me.”

Her pout was so amusing it made the two men want to laugh.

Cyril patted Angus on the shoulder with a smile. “Old friend, this little girl takes no blame at all.”

“These past couple of days, it’s been clubs and the Thirteenth Military District—almost to the point of fighting.”

***

“Listen, little one, this mission is classified at a three-star level. The time and place are completely random.”

“So, who could ambush and deploy deformities on an unknown route?”

Wen Li clenched her hands on her lap.

She had thought the mission’s difficulty lay in escorting the target but realized now she was the lamb being led to slaughter.

Angus said, “Remember the first sentinel you purified?”

“He’s dead.”

Wen Li’s eyes widened. The scorpion sentinel who suddenly went berserk during evolution?

Wen Li asked, “Why?”

Angus replied, “Someone implanted a neurotoxin in him beforehand. Once you started evolving, he’d go berserk and… devour you.”

“He became a deformity while imprisoned and was ultimately killed.”

Seeing Wen Li’s frightened expression, Angus wanted to say more but stopped.

Cyril, sensing his friend’s hesitation, nonetheless revealed all the truth to Wen Li, who thought she was safe in the hideout.

The White Tower had sent Wen Li out on missions to root out internal traitors and prevent desperate acts that might harm her.

But this mission was assigned by the federal government.

Various factions were very interested in Wen Li—a healing guide whose single mental link could reduce a sentinel’s deformity index by 20%.

What if she were in perfect condition? What if her guide level reached SSS?

Unfortunately, the White Tower had taken that treasure for themselves.

This time, the attackers had recklessly used SS-level pollution cores and SSS-level deformities. The final investigation pinned it on a terrorist organization, though everyone knew better but kept silent.

The Thirteenth District condemned the White Tower for inaction, transporting SSS+ sentinels without prior notice, causing over half the civilians on the ship to be casualties, sparking public outrage.

The White Tower countered that the Thirteenth District received the distress call but failed to support in time, only intervening once the situation worsened.

The two sides bickered, and Angus had been busy handling these petty disputes all week.

The club, never one to shy away from trouble, came by to invite Wen Li to participate in a competition at the Guide House.

Cyril tapped his chin thoughtfully and said, “Last time, Wen Jinnian declined. Little one, what about this time?”

Wen Li couldn’t imagine why the club insisted she go. Wen Jinnian had repeatedly told her to inform him if they came knocking again.

Wen Li didn’t want to trouble the Wen family but had no reason to refuse.

How she wished now for an assignment to get her out of this predicament.

Cyril’s words made Wen Li resign herself.

“The club can pardon that little lion’s mistake. How about that?”

Wen Li questioned, “I initiated the last mental link. Why punish him?”

Cyril said, “Well, what can you do? A willpower-lacking kitten deserves punishment.”

Wen Li finally understood. Regardless of the facts, a sentinel offending a guide must be punished!

***

No wonder this society had an anti-guide alliance and so many sentinels who preferred to buy expensive inhibitors rather than purify.

Wen Li stood at a crossroads—on one side, conforming to the guide society’s rules, and on the other, insisting on treating sentinels as equals.

As an outsider, Wen Li couldn’t pierce through this fog to see the twisted society clearly.

So she decided to confront it herself.

Wen Li agreed with Cyril and arranged to depart next Monday.

“Then I have three demands.”

Cyril listened with interest, curious about what tricks Wen Li might pull. “Go ahead.”

Wen Li held out her hand. “First, release Karl immediately.”

Cyril shrugged. “Whatever.”

Wen Li continued, “Second, once I enter the club, you have no right to restrict my freedom. If I want to leave, you must let me go.”

Cyril shook his head. “Miss, what if you cause a scene and want to leave right after entering?”

Wen Li replied, “If I don’t complete what you want, I won’t go back.”

Angus silently thought: smart girl.

Wen Li said, “Third, I need to bring Yue Li with me.”

Now Angus objected.

“No way. Taking him to a place full of guides? You really have guts.”

Wen Li’s gaze was resolute. “I stake my life on it. If anything goes wrong, the club and White Tower can order me to do whatever they want.”

“Even if it means taming that mad dog.”

Angus raised an eyebrow in surprise. His dark green eyes flickered with an unclear light.

“Underestimated you.”

Wen Li didn’t want to look at the two old foxes and retorted, “Likewise.”

This made Cyril laugh heartily, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“So entertaining, Angus.”

“If I’d known it would be this much fun, I would’ve come earlier.”

Wen Li stared expressionlessly at this madman.

Cyril’s blood-red eyes locked onto her intently.

“Little one, try... to tame us.”