Bai Zhen carried Hua Mu and sprinted through the corridor. Just as they finally set foot on the stairs leading to the control tower, two groups of Sentinels emerged simultaneously from the emergency exit and the elevator. They had broken through the two Guides’ defensive line and, taking advantage of the time Bai Zhen was entangled with Liang Jinshen, had quickly caught up.

Bai Zhen unleashed all her strength and raced towards the control tower. The jostling made Hua Mu dizzy, and she could only clench her teeth to fight back the urge to vomit. The massive glass doors finally appeared before them. Bai Zhen quickly verified her fingerprint, retina, and DNA, then led Hua Mu inside.

The glass doors were on the outermost layer of the control tower. A corridor stretching over ten meters led to the actual control center. The control center was a spherical structure, with half its walls covered in display screens. As the control hub for the Tower’s security system, it showed surveillance footage from nearly every corner.

The walls of the control tower were made entirely of a composite metal alloy, which not only had super-strong impact resistance but could also effectively block spirit animal intrusions. Under normal circumstances, staff would be on duty here every day. The person on duty today was Xu Ying.

Bai Zhen was one of the few cadets with clearance to the control tower, which was why Xu Ying had told her to bring Hua Mu here directly. Once the internal security lockdown system was activated, the control tower would become an impregnable fortress, unless the Leader herself came to open it.

Hua Mu watched as Bai Zhen inserted a silver-white card into a slot and rapidly typed a string of numbers on the touchscreen. A countdown immediately appeared on the screen, and the sound of a massive metal door activating echoed in the corridor between the glass doors and the control console.

Just as Hua Mu felt a sense of relief, a tremendous noise came from outside the control tower.

“Bai Zhen!”

She nervously grabbed the Sentinel’s arm, her eyes fixed anxiously on the slow countdown.

Bai Zhen gently set Hua Mu on the floor and crouched down to meet her gaze. “Miss, please wait inside for a moment. The Leader will be here soon.”

Hua Mu understood what she meant and clutched her sleeve, her voice trembling on the verge of tears. “What about you? Aren’t you going to wait inside with me?”

“It’s better if I stay outside. Don’t be afraid, it’s very safe in here.”

Hua Mu didn’t want her to go—she didn’t want to be alone, and she didn’t want Bai Zhen to get hurt again. The glass doors outside clearly wouldn’t hold for long.

“Don’t go. You stay here too. I don’t want to be alone.”

Bai Zhen gazed at her deeply, and after a long moment, she said with difficulty, “Even I… am not entirely safe for you. I can’t be alone with you, but I’ll be right outside the door. I promise, as soon as the Leader arrives, you can come out.”

The Sentinel spoke with such earnestness that Hua Mu’s heart skipped a beat, and the strength in her hand involuntarily slackened.

Even her? Even Bai Zhen, too?

The outermost glass doors couldn’t withstand the assault of so many Sentinels for long. The moment Hua Mu let go, Bai Zhen patted her head, then turned and ran back down the corridor without a backward glance.

Hua Mu stared blankly at her retreating figure as the metal door slowly closed, finally collapsing weakly to the floor. She hugged her knees and curled up in a corner by the control console, feeling helpless. Amidst her grief and grievance, a sliver of self-loathing began to rise.

She was terrified. Even with this Sentinel who had just saved her, she still felt fear upon hearing those words.

She could do nothing but cry. If this was all she was capable of, why not just let her be an ordinary person?

The control tower was utterly silent, save for the occasional whimper and sob from Hua Mu. And on the display screen behind her, a figure was flying towards the control tower.

Xu Ying and Cen Sang ultimately couldn’t hold back so many Sentinels. After a tactical retreat, they had intended to regroup with their two other Sentinel colleagues, only to find Liang Jinshen passed out in a sorry state. The other Sentinel was in slightly better condition, but could only just manage to maintain self-control.

They were now at their wits’ end. The only thing they could do was wait for the Leader to arrive.

A deep sense of powerlessness washed over them all. They never imagined that the entire Tower would be thrown into such chaos today because of a young girl’s awakening. Such poor self-control and response capability was nothing short of a disgrace.

If word of this got out, it would not only become a scandal for the royal family but for the entire nation.

They would never be able to hold their heads high in front of Sentinels and Guides from other countries again.

“What do we do now? They should all be at the entrance to the control tower.”

They were all young instructors, lacking the experience to handle a crisis that occurred only once every few decades.

“We have to go check, no matter what. At least we need to confirm that Bai Zhen has safely brought the Awakened one into the control tower.”

“Senior Brother Chen Guan, it’s best you don’t go near there right now. I’ll have Bastet go check the situation first.”

Chen Guan was the other Sentinel, the oldest among them, and he already had a fiancée.

“Then I’ll stay here and look after Jinshen, so I don’t get in your way…” Chen Guan had a very steady personality and was adept at weighing pros and cons. He was halfway through his sentence when his face lit up with joy.

“What is it?”

“The Leader is here!”

As soon as Chen Guan finished speaking, the hummingbird-like buzzing grew clearer, obviously approaching the command tower.

Cen Sang subconsciously looked out the window and saw an ethereal, ghost-like figure rushing straight towards the window without any sign of slowing down.

“The Leader!”

The tempered glass inexplicably shattered before the faceless person even made contact. The one called the Leader didn’t spare the group a single glance as she passed through the corridor at an astonishing speed. A nearly transparent phantom followed behind her. They all knew it was the Leader’s spirit animal, but to this day, no one had ever seen its true form.

The corridor inside the control tower was already a wreck. The battle between the Sentinels had been incredibly fierce. Bai Zhen did her best to avoid contact with others, carefully observing the situation and intervening to save anyone whose life was in danger. She was already covered in wounds from holding out this long in the melee, but she didn’t dare leave.

The Sentinels were like tireless robots, falling and getting back up countless times, fighting each other for an illusion they couldn’t even see or touch.

Fortunately, their target was only Hua Mu, and they had little interest in killing each other. Bai Zhen did her best to carry the incapacitated Sentinels out of the battlefield. In just a few short minutes, eight people had already fallen.

It was utter madness, and Bai Zhen could faintly feel that madness herself.

If one were to ask who the most admired person in the Tower was, it would undoubtedly be the Leader. Her unfathomably immense power gave her the capital to look down upon the world, inspiring both fear and adoration. There was no one who wasn’t proud to have such a Leader, and no one who didn’t feel a sense of sorrow for the same reason.

She made the Sentinels profoundly aware of the difference between mortals and gods. No matter how hard they tried, they could never even touch the hem of her garment in their entire lives. This sense of loss was hidden in the heart of every Sentinel, and there was no way to alleviate the gap they felt other than to place the Leader high upon a pedestal.

Such a person truly existed, truly powerful to such a degree that a single movement, a single glance, or even a single breath could fill one with an overwhelming sense of pressure.

She was the goal of every Sentinel, and also a dream that could never be achieved.

But one day, a Guide suddenly appeared—a young girl with incredible power and no ability to protect herself. She was declaring her uniqueness to every Sentinel. A Sentinel who bonded with her could reach any height.

All limits will open their doors for you, all powers will be yours to command. The Leader will no longer be an unattainable existence; you can become as strong as her—or even surpass her.

Which Sentinel could possibly resist such a temptation?

Even Bai Zhen couldn’t guarantee what she might do if she stayed in the control tower.

She sat weakly in a corner, looking at her classmates who were still fighting, a sense of sorrow rising in her heart. In the end, she couldn’t help more people, and this made her crave power even more.

“Have you become so defenseless?” Just as Bai Zhen was about to lose consciousness, a cold voice sounded in her ear.

The Leader had arrived at some point, her military hoverdisc hidden beneath a wide cloak, making her appear as if she were floating in mid-air.

“Leader…”

“How is Hua Mu?”

“The Young Lady is in the control center.”

“You left her in there alone?”

Bai Zhen lowered her head in shame. “I didn’t dare…”

The faceless person flicked a finger, and the transparent phantom behind her moved towards the control tower’s corridor. If not for the slight spatial distortion in its wake, no one would have even realized a spirit animal was following her.

In an instant—two or three seconds—the Sentinels who had been brawling suddenly showed expressions of pain, gasping for air as they fell to their knees. They struggled for no more than ten seconds before losing consciousness.

The surroundings fell into a deathly silence, with only the buzzing of the hummingbird audible.

“Leader…”

“How does it feel to see your little sweetheart again?”

“…She doesn’t remember me.”

The faceless person sneered. “Feeling disappointed?”

Bai Zhen shook her head anxiously. “It’s not like that. I never had any expectations. You know that I…”

“Good. This time… nothing happened. You were out on a mission I assigned you and have never met Hua Mu. Understand?”

“I understand, but the Young Lady’s ability…”

It was too dangerous.

“That is not your concern,” the faceless person cut Bai Zhen off, her voice stern.

“Yes…”

Bai Zhen’s eyes were red as she lowered her head in disappointment.

The faceless person looked down at her, then suddenly reached out and patted her head.

“We will find a way to conceal Hua Mu’s ability and erase the memories of the others. You don’t need to worry.”

Bai Zhen hugged her legs and whispered something. The faceless person heard it clearly but asked again anyway.

“What did you say?”

“I said, please erase my memory as well,” Bai Zhen said softly, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t treat me differently. Any possibility of leaking the Young Lady’s secret should be completely eliminated.”

That’s not it. She was just afraid she couldn’t face herself, afraid she couldn’t control the inner demon that was beginning to stir.