Emergency Rations squatted by the fire, eating a small sea crab and crunching it loudly. The moonlight was gentle, the sea breeze soft. The calm, deep sea under the night sky made it hard to recall the terrible disaster from two months ago.

Hua Mu leaned against Bai Zhen’s chest, listening to her tell a story in a low, soft, and pleasant voice. The two of them had been like this for the entire afternoon. After dinner, Hua Mu had pulled Bai Zhen down to lie with her again.

She didn’t feel like doing anything but being affectionate for a while.

It would be more accurate to say that her nerves had been stretched taut for two months, and only today had she truly relaxed. That tsunami had been overwhelming, like the end of the world. Although the terror and the pain of her injuries were diluted by Bai Zhen’s confession, they still left an indelible mark on her heart.

After that, she had been constantly worried about the post-disaster situation on the island, fretting over the food problem, and stressing about the progress of building their house. She had never once properly relaxed.

But today was different. Today was an important day for her, the day she and Bai Zhen truly pledged their lives to each other. So she didn’t want to worry about anything. She just wanted to enjoy their intimacy, to be doted on, to feel her Sentinel.

Besides, the situation on the island was better than she had imagined. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Her new life was about to begin, and there was nothing to worry about.

“…That operation was originally to eliminate the sapient creatures that had escaped from Kells Canyon, but the discovery of a smuggling team completely changed the nature of the matter. After discussing it with my teammates, we decided to temporarily change our objective and continue the mission.”

The Sentinel’s voice was slightly lower than that of an average girl, and at first listen, it might sound a bit cold and rigid. But Hua Mu especially loved her voice; it was gentle, sexy, and reassuring. Especially when she was resting her head on her chest, the sound resonating in her ribcage made Hua Mu’s whole body tingle.

And she discovered that although Bai Zhen seemed tongue-tied and inarticulate, she was actually very good at telling stories. Not only could she tell stories, but she was also good at sweet talk, even if she herself might not have realized it.

Hua Mu had vaguely felt this in the past, and now she was absolutely certain. The Sentinel was a bona fide literary girl, and it was possible she had read more proper books than Hua Mu had.

“Hmm, speaking of which, it seems you’ve always been dealing with the problem of sapient creatures. I’ve only ever seen specimens of those creatures in a special traveling exhibition, so it still doesn’t feel real to me. What exactly are they? Are they really dangerous?”

The so-called sapient creatures were not actually a biological classification, but a general term for a class of organisms that had been possessed and controlled by spirit animals, causing them to mutate and bring about disasters. In the eyes of the general public, these creatures were described as biological mutations caused by genetic mutation.

The fact that spirit animals only inhabit humans was still written in textbooks.

The purpose of doing this was twofold: one, to avoid causing unnecessary panic, and two, to prevent inciting conflict between ordinary people and Sentinels and Guides.

Because the theory of spirit animals being higher-dimensional projections was so deeply ingrained, the appearance of sapient creatures was considered the beginning of higher-dimensional interference. As for why they first appeared in animals rather than humans, the general consensus was that humans, as highly intelligent beings, were more difficult to control.

It was generally believed that sapient creatures truly entered the human field of vision in the 1920s and 1930s. Although some theories suggested they appeared much earlier, spanning the entirety of human history and being integrated into mythological systems, this could not be proven due to a lack of strong evidence.

When sapient creatures were first discovered, they caused widespread panic around the world. Various doomsday-preaching religions sprang up, and self-proclaimed spokespeople of God emerged one after another. Even the populace that remained rational widely believed it was a virus outbreak, a sign of the apocalypse.

It was also at that time that the Tower and the Sentinels and Guides who had been hidden in the shadows stepped into the light. Due to the swift response of various nations, the sapient creatures were quickly suppressed. Now, they only appear in a few remote, uninhabited areas, Kells Canyon being one of them.

These few areas were sealed off by the Towers of their respective countries. Because the control was effective, some members of the public now even believe that sapient creatures are nothing more than an urban legend.

“We have a disaster-level classification for sapient creatures. A squad of regular soldiers can handle anything below B-rank. Only for B-rank and above are we sent to carry out extermination missions. In fact, nowadays, unless a smuggling team goes deep into the sealed-off zones for illegal poaching, they generally don’t leave their habitats.”

“Oh~ Just keep going with your story. What happened after that? Did you catch the members of the smuggling ring later?”

Before becoming Hua Mu’s guard, Bai Zhen had been sent to the Heliopolis Empire as a special envoy for a six-month exchange and guidance program. This was her last mission during the exchange period. The people on the mission with her were Benu, Garcia, and Miller.

“After changing our objective, one person had to take the sawtooth tiger’s corpse back to the garrison at the blockade line first. We decided at the time to have Miller go back, Garcia would stay behind to provide support, and Benu and I would be responsible for the infiltration mission.”

The operation team had a total of four people, the standard configuration of two Guides and two Sentinels. Benu and Garcia were both Guides.

Bai Zhen had a real talent for storytelling; no matter what Hua Mu asked, she steadfastly refused to give any spoilers.

“Wait, why did you and Benu go together?” The Young Lady, with extreme sensitivity, sensed something unnatural about the situation. For a dangerous operation like infiltration, wouldn’t it normally be better to go with a colleague from one’s own country? In terms of familiarity, it would definitely be higher between colleagues. Moreover, providing support is generally safer than infiltration, and leaving the special envoy behind would be more in line with international etiquette.

A woman’s intuition told the Young Lady that there was something fishy between the two of them.

“First, Miller is more familiar with the situation in Kells than I am, so it was better for him to be the escort. Second, infiltration missions are riskier, and a Guide and Sentinel working together can greatly reduce the danger. Third, it was a consideration of the Guide’s skills; Benu’s skills are very suitable for infiltration and interrogation. And I’ve worked with her many times, so there were no coordination issues.”

Bai Zhen didn’t show any signs of abnormality, and her reasons were perfectly sound—perhaps the arrangement at the time was indeed the result of discussing these reasons. But this only deepened Hua Mu’s suspicion.

Just as she had thought, out of international etiquette, a special envoy would not normally be sent on an overly dangerous mission, unless they themselves strongly insisted.

Therefore, these reasons were of course thought up by Bai Zhen, and she had successfully convinced the other three.

Hua Mu no longer cared about the outcome of the operation. She had to figure out the relationship between those two!

“Oh~ You seem to be quite familiar with that Guide named Benu. If I’m not mistaken, you call your other two companions by their last names, but you call her by her first name, right?”

Bai Zhen’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she subconsciously held her breath.

“…Yes, we’re friends.”

“How did you meet?”

“It was during a mission…”

“So you already knew each other before this exchange program, right?”

As a professional soldier, being able to lie during an interrogation without blushing or her heart racing was an essential skill. However, in front of Hua Mu, Bai Zhen felt that all her usual training was useless. She could neither lie nor remain calm.

It was the feeling of a guilty conscience, she knew it. The thing with Benu… although she could clearly define it as just an accident, and they had stopped in time, it didn’t change the fact that a binding heat had occurred. The two of them had agreed to keep it a secret, so she had never told anyone about it to this day.

If the Young Lady found out, she would definitely be unhappy!

“Yes…”

“Why is your heart beating so fast? Did I ask a strange question?”

Hua Mu heard Bai Zhen’s heart pounding and quickly identified it as a sign of her guilty conscience. After all, if it was because she was resting her head on her chest, wasn’t this reaction a little too slow?

Definitely not normal. Something must have happened between Bai Zhen and that Benu!

“N-No…”

Getting caught with something to hold against her on the very first day of their commitment… how were they supposed to live like this?

“I remember you said that under normal circumstances, Sentinels and Guides with higher compatibility are paired for missions. So, who has higher compatibility with you, Garcia or Benu? It must be Benu, right? That’s also the most important reason why you two were responsible for the infiltration.”

Terrifying. The Young Lady’s deductive reasoning was truly terrifying.

Bai Zhen was incredibly nervous. She answered stiffly, “That’s right…”

She didn’t tell her the most important reason. To say nothing happened? Who was she kidding!

Hua Mu lifted her head to look at Bai Zhen, a warm smile on her face. “So, has she ever groomed your spirit animal for you?”

It was over. She had nowhere to run.

Bai Zhen nodded with difficulty. “A few times…”

“How many times was that?”

“Th-Three times…”

“Which time did it happen?”

“Wh-What?”

“I’m talking about the binding heat. Which time did it happen?”

The Young Lady would definitely become an excellent Guide. With such keen intuition, outstanding deductive skills, and superb interrogation techniques, no one could deceive her!

Bai Zhen could hardly bear Hua Mu’s gaze.

During her narration, she clearly hadn’t deliberately mentioned her friendship with Benu, hadn’t mentioned compatibility, and certainly hadn’t mentioned anything about a binding heat. Why could the Young Lady ask with such certainty?

It was as if she had known beforehand.

“It-It was the third time… But nothing happened between us, I swear!”

This was the first time Bai Zhen had been so flustered from a guilty conscience. In the past, she probably wouldn’t have been like this, but now she felt as if she had betrayed Hua Mu. She had to explain, even if the explanation sounded like sophistry.

Just kissing… that doesn’t count as doing anything, right?

“How high is your compatibility? You were actually able to endure it?”

Hua Mu was still smiling cheerfully, seemingly not angry at all. But for some reason, Bai Zhen grew even more nervous. The Young Lady had never treated her with this kind of attitude before.

For the first time, Bai Zhen felt that Hua Mu was profound and inscrutable.

“We never had it officially measured, b-but it should be around eighty.”

If the Young Lady had flown into a rage on the spot, she might have felt more at ease, since that would have been a predictable reaction. But now… she really didn’t know what awaited her.

She had clearly given the Young Lady pearls this afternoon, and the Young Lady had been so happy, but now…

“Eighty, huh? A compatibility of eighty seems high enough for a bond, right? But Sentinels and Guides from the Towers of two different countries can’t get married. I remember there’s a rule about that?”

Bai Zhen was drenched in a cold sweat. “Yes, so…”

“So? Are you saying you stopped because of that rule?”

“No, no, no, that’s not it. Neither Benu nor I have anything more than admiration for each other. It’s a purely platonic friendship, with absolutely no romantic feelings involved. That’s why we stopped.”

“You said you stopped, right? So how far did you get? Didn’t you say nothing happened?”

Bai Zhen was completely stunned.

Where did the Young Lady learn this kind of entrapment questioning? It was terrifying!

“Kissing? Caressing? Or… to the same extent as us last time?”