Chapter 20: Achieving What They Both Desire

The golden eyes remained fixed on Wen Li.

Lin Zheng said, “The White Tower assigned me a task to link our minds. Why don’t we start now?”

Now?

Wen Li rejected his invitation with a disdainful glance.

“If I go in now, I’m afraid you’d smack me silly.”

Lin Zheng chuckled at her teasing, his bony tail tapping sharply against the glass.

“You think that tail can stop me? Don’t worry, guide, I haven’t lost control to that extent yet.”

“Your mental sea needs the nurturing of a high-level sentinel’s spiritual power. Am I not your best choice?”

Wen Li’s pure white eyes landed on the collar around the sentinel’s neck.

Blue—indeed, normal.

Wen Li said, “The White Tower assigned you the task of mental linking. I have the right to refuse, don’t I?”

No guide would willingly link minds with a sentinel whose spiritual power surpassed theirs by three levels.

Wen Li wasn’t naive; the White Tower had clearly given Lin Zheng such a difficult task because it didn’t want him to succeed.

There was a chance that during the mental link, she might be purified against her will.

If that happened, no one could save her from the only SSS+ sentinel in the Federation.

Lin Zheng looked at Wen Li’s stubborn expression and felt an inexplicable irritation.

Is linking minds with me really this difficult?

Lin Zheng said, “It doesn’t matter. After all, I’m not the one who’ll suffer the loss.”

At this moment, Wen Li changed her approach.

“Help me with something first, and then I’ll link minds with you. That way, you can complete your task.”

Negotiating with someone like Lin Zheng required caution—not too soft, not too hard.

His temper was such that if you ignored him when he was being overbearing, he would soften after a while.

But if you bargained with him, he wouldn’t hold back and might even snap back at you.

Wen Li had learned this gradually.

That last jab hadn’t been deep enough.

Lin Zheng was no longer in a hurry. He stood up and looked down on Wen Li.

“So you need me, yet you carry that attitude?”

Then he turned away without another glance.

That was the arrogance of a guide etched deep into his bones.

Wen Li saw Lin Zheng turn and calmly said, “If you don’t complete the task, the White Tower won’t give you what you want, right?”

Negotiations had to be based on what the other party desired.

An SSS+ sentinel was both a treasure and a headache for the White Tower.

What kind of temptation could make him obediently complete his mission?

Lin Zheng was anxious, but Wen Li was not.

She proceeded step by step: “My favor isn’t much. Just make sure to drain a sentinel’s spiritual power without killing them.”

“For you, that’s easy, right?”

Lin Zheng immediately guessed who Wen Li was talking about.

The sentinel absorbing the pollution core behind her the last time he awoke.

He had planned to kill the iron-eating beast together with her but spared it after seeing Wen Li protect him.

Unexpectedly, the White Tower hadn’t eliminated that sentinel.

Just a glance would show he was beyond saving and would soon mutate into a walking pollution core, yet he was still alive.

“As a guide, you must know well he can’t survive.”

Wen Li’s voice was resolute: “He can survive.”

Lin Zheng didn’t know what to say, feeling a mix of envy and irritation.

“Is he your partner?”

Wen Li looked puzzled. What partner?

Lin Zheng smiled and said, “No? Then why go to such lengths?”

Wen Li replied, “He’s my friend.”

Lin Zheng pondered for a long moment, then turned and pressed against the glass.

“I need some sincerity. If you come in now and purify me once, I’ll agree.”

At that moment, Lin Zheng was like a serpent on an apple tree, tempting Eve to pluck the bright red fruit.

He waited excitedly for Wen Li.

The young woman hesitated, her heart conflicted.

Going in now for purification couldn’t be a good thing.

But negotiations required a rhythm of give and take; Wen Li was currently at a disadvantage.

It would be best if she controlled the chips now.

Should she risk it or give up this chance?

She glanced back at the surveillance, as if seeking silent counsel from the person she trusted most.

The voice of Ban from the monitoring room watched the resolute young guide on the screen.

“Miss, try to tame this hunting dog.”

Wen Li made up her mind.

“Deal.”

Lin Zheng, who had been observing her, smiled, a triumphant gleam flashing in his eyes.

Lin Zheng said, “Open the door now and let this little guide in.”

The monitoring room staff asked again, “Guide Wen, are you sure?”

Wen Li nodded, struggling to calm her nerves.

Her mind raced with guesses, wondering if Lin Zheng would smack her across the room as soon as the door opened.

The glass door slid open, and a powerful spiritual force poured out.

Wen Li’s hairs stood on end, and she fought to suppress the discomfort.

The bony tail scraped harshly against the floor.

Lin Zheng, as if inviting her to his home, gallantly bent down, playing the part to the extreme.

Wen Li stepped into Lin Zheng’s wolf den like a lamb.

The area behind the glass door was monitored, with just a table inside.

Beyond the surveillance was Lin Zheng’s private space.

A large bed and several pieces of gym equipment.

Ban’s voice came from the monitor.

“Miss, please stay within the monitoring area, or it will trigger emergency protocols.”

Before she could respond, Lin Zheng pressed Wen Li into a chair.

Lin Zheng mocked on the monitor, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat her.”

The sentinel dragged Wen Li’s chair closer and sat down.

He grabbed the young guide’s hand directly—soft and tender, starkly different from his calloused palm.

He unconsciously tightened his grip.

Wen Li hissed softly.

The sentinel immediately loosened his hold.

Wen Li complained, “Why are you squeezing so hard? I’m not going anywhere.”

Lin Zheng was dissatisfied with such a simple hold. Unsatisfied, he slipped his fingers between hers, pleased to see their fingers intertwined.

Pink nails, soft fingertips.

Wen Li shifted uncomfortably.

Lin Zheng wouldn’t let her go, and with a slightly husky voice, he reminded her.

“Guide Wen, you may begin the purification.”

Under the unyielding gaze of those golden eyes, Wen Li felt pressured and told Lin Zheng to close his eyes.

The sentinel obediently shut them, awaiting the purification he had long anticipated.

Wen Li relaxed her mind and concentrated her spiritual power into the sentinel’s mental sea.

Disabled guides were often criticized because they could not manifest a spiritual form directly.

Each purification required opening the sentinel’s mental sea.

For sensitive sentinels, that was dangerous.

They feared invasion during purification, which could lead to mental rebellion and unexplained death.

More shamefully hidden within these iron-blooded warriors was a private vulnerability they dared not speak of.

A stranger’s spiritual power entering their private space during purification was a peculiar pleasure.

Even the mighty were reluctant to expose their fragile side.

But the sentinels Wen Li encountered during purification gladly revealed their vulnerability, hoping to confuse this new disabled guide.

When Wen Li probed Lin Zheng’s mental sea, she was puzzled as to why she couldn’t penetrate it.

In her understanding, entering the other’s mental sea was necessary for purification.

What was wrong with Lin Zheng?