Chapter 13: You Absolutely Must Not Agree to Cancel the Engagement!
Hearing Sen Ji’s words, Xie Qiang looked up, bewildered.
“I don’t want you to obey my every command.” She explained seriously, her brow furrowing slightly. “I just feel that you shouldn’t be treated this way by them.”
“Isn’t the fact that I am treated this way all thanks to you?” Sen Ji said coldly.
He looked at Xie Qiang’s small face, which had suddenly grown dim, and a trace of pity rose in his heart. But he quickly clenched his fists, warning himself that he must never soften his heart toward her.
“From now on, unless it’s for a necessary purification, let’s not meet again.”
He turned his head away. His jade-green tiger eyes suppressed the struggling emotions within them as he spoke in an ice-cold, heartless voice. “Also, since you are dissatisfied with our engagement, I will petition His Majesty to annul it.”
He paused. “Ah, perhaps… this was your true goal all along.”
Too afraid to defy the Emperor, so you forced me to be the one to speak up.
As expected, people don’t change without reason; there are only selfish motives disguised as kindness after careful calculation.
The man gave a self-deprecating laugh and strode away. His tall silhouette looked somewhat lonely.
Xie Qiang stood frozen in place, dumbstruck.
Did he have some kind of persecution complex? How could he interpret her actions as having some ulterior motive?!
Xie Qiang kicked the nearby pillar in frustration. “Why is he so stubborn? Was he born as a piece of rebar in his past life?”
She returned to her office in a huff. Just as she sat down, her optical computer vibrated.
She opened it to find a message from the Emperor.
Emperor Xie: [My dear daughter, Sen Ji wants to cancel the engagement. What happened between you two?]
Xie Qiang was still fuming and typed out a long string of words.
Just as she was about to hit send, she remembered the image of Sen Ji standing isolated and helpless in the Testing Room, and she dejectedly deleted everything.
Xie Qiang: [It’s nothing. You should agree to it.]
Emperor Xie: [One SSS-class Sentinel is worth six S-class Sentinels. Are you sure you want to cancel the engagement and go through the trouble of winning over six new S-class Sentinels?]
Xie Qiang shot up from her seat, her almond eyes wide. Wait, what?
She thought she only needed five? It turned out she needed ten?!
Xie Qiang: [Hahaha! I was just joking! You absolutely must not agree to cancel the engagement!]
The previous dissatisfaction and grievance vanished in an instant. Realizing that as long as Sen Ji was her fiancé, he counted for a full six S-class Sentinel slots, Xie Qiang instantly leaned back in her office chair with a sense of peace.
Sorry, Commander Sen, you’re just too valuable. I can only painfully refuse to let you break up with me!
Closing her optical computer, she rocked her chair and began to ponder Jiang Qingwan’s earlier proposal.
There were too few Guides and their workload was too low; Sentinels often couldn’t book a purification. Consequently, they couldn’t give their all to clear the Zerg on the battlefield.
Usually, they would retreat after driving the Zerg back, unable to completely exterminate the fleeing insects. This led to the Zerg hives breeding and updating over and over again, making it impossible to wipe them out.
Therefore, finding a way for low-level Sentinels to receive enough purification had become an urgent problem for the Empire to solve.
The Emperor had sent the female lead to the Third War Zone in hopes that she could change this situation. This led to the plot point where she persuades Guides to increase their workload.
Xie Qiang muttered to herself, “In the original book, the female lead persuaded C-class Guides and below, but failed to sway those at B-rank and above.”
High-level Guides usually paired with high-level Sentinels. However, the spiritual seas of high-level Sentinels were often incredibly dangerous, making purification an exhausting ordeal. Naturally, the Guides were unwilling to work overtime to purify low-level Sentinels.
To persuade these high-level Guides, the female lead set her sights on the villainess. She believed that if she could persuade the S-class villainess to lead by example, the job of convincing the other high-level Guides would be much easier.
Xie Qiang shook her head. “How could the original host ever agree?”
Asking a villainess who already looked down on Sentinels to purify low-level ones was like asking a pampered socialite to marry into a destitute mountain village. To put it nicely, it was “poverty alleviation”; to put it bluntly, it was a deliberate insult.
“Still, the situation of low-level Sentinels is indeed dire. The original book said that the death rate from mania among low-level Sentinels is as high as 30%. That means three out of ten people don’t die in battle, but because they can’t get purified.”
Xie Qiang was born in modern times and had a natural “filter” of respect for soldiers who defended their country. She couldn’t bring herself to ignore their plight.
The female lead likely felt the same.
“Hmm… should I agree to her?”
Xie Qiang pursed her lips. Just as she was wishing she had someone to discuss this with, her office door was kicked open.
“Xie! Qiang!”
Hong Que’s loud and thunderous voice of fury filled the office. “You actually left me there alone and walked off!”
Xie Qiang jumped. She finally remembered that she had seemingly forgotten Hong Que. She stood up guiltily. “Who told you to take so long? I thought you had left secretly.”
“I told you, I went to get a thermometer!”
Xie Qiang glanced at his empty hands. “Then where is it?”
“I…” Hong Que choked. “I got so mad I smashed it on the way.”
Xie Qiang only cared about one thing. “Then did you use a sodium thiosulfate solution to clean up the spilled mercury?”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Hong Que looked at her in total confusion.
Xie Qiang observed his reaction. Mercury in thermometers evaporates easily; with a Sentinel’s sharp senses, inhaling mercury vapor leads to poisoning. Since Hong Que showed no signs of poisoning, the thermometers here likely weren’t the modern kind she knew.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
Hong Que was too lazy to probe. He walked up to Xie Qiang and pressed his hands onto her desk. His tall, burly frame blocked out the bright white light, casting a massive shadow over Xie Qiang’s petite body.
He stared at her. “When I came out, I heard that the defective’s mania level dropped. What’s going on? Don’t you always hate him and refuse to purify him?”
But he’s worth six S-class Sentinels!
Xie Qiang sat back in her chair and spread her small hands. “Well, that’s just how it is. I’ve decided to be a kind and generous Guide from now on and think more about you Sentinels!”
Hong Que immediately wore that “you’ve definitely fried your brain” expression again.
“Oh, right. You came at just the right time. I need your advice on something.” Xie Qiang looked at Hong Que, who looked noble and extraordinary in his red, white, and gold military uniform.
Although the relationship between the villainess and Hong Que wasn’t great, they were childhood friends. While Hong Que resented the way she bullied him, it hadn’t reached the point where he loathed her enough to want her dead.
Moreover, since one was a noble Imperial Princess and the other was a young master of a great house—both pampered from childhood and holding high status—their perspectives and ways of thinking were highly aligned. Hong Que was the perfect person to ask.
“Consultant Jiang wants me to purify low-level Sentinels. I’m thinking of agreeing. What do you think?”
As soon as she finished, Hong Que said speechlessly, “Are you kidding me? Asking me such an idiotic question.”
Xie Qiang looked at him, puzzled.
Seeing her serious expression, Hong Que finally realized the gravity of the situation. Forgetting his disgust, he reached out to feel Xie Qiang’s forehead to see if she really had a fever.
Unexpectedly, a warm and comfortable purification power seeped into his palm. Hong Que’s whole body shuddered. He felt his palm grow burning hot, and his entire arm went tingly and weak as if he were losing all his strength.
He snapped his arm back, his face looking somewhat pale. “I can’t believe it… why does it have to be with someone like you…”
“Hmm?” Xie Qiang tilted her head, her round eyes full of innocent confusion.
Hong Que simply couldn’t take it anymore. He hurriedly looked away and said stiffly, “Why do you care if those low-level Sentinels live or die? Don’t demean yourself. If your hands are really itching for work, go purify those A-class Sentinels.”
“But the A-class Sentinels are all very resistant to me,” Xie Qiang said troubledly.
“That’s your own fault—” Seeing Xie Qiang pout with an unhappy expression, Hong Que instinctively lowered his voice. He scratched his hair irritably. “Then start by purifying B-class Sentinels first! Over time, the A-class ones will naturally come flocking to you.”
Xie Qiang thought about it and felt it made sense.
She couldn’t help but give Hong Que a sweet smile. “Thank you, Da Hong (Big Red). I knew asking you was the right choice.”
Hong Que shuddered.
This was the first time he had seen Xie Qiang like this—a petite, beautiful girl looking at him with worshipful, watery ice-blue cat eyes. Even her voice, which was usually sharp and cruel, was now impossibly sweet, making his ears feel numb.
He stared until his eyes went wide. When he snapped out of it, he reflexively backed away a few steps, raising a hand to cover his reddened face.
What… what the hell!
Why did she suddenly act so cute with me?!
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