Chapter 2: A Cognitive-Shattering Test Result
The next day, Su Tang woke up from the cold.
The sky outside the window was just turning light. Su Tang rubbed her arms, which were already chilled through, and tightened the quilt around her, but she still couldn’t alleviate the cold.
Those alien creatures loved low-temperature environments, causing a drastic change in the planet’s environment. The White Tower had a constant temperature system, but such expensive facilities wouldn’t be used in such a remote place even if they wanted to turn them on.
Su Tang sighed. It seemed that if she wanted to survive, she had to keep working hard.
Since she couldn’t sleep anymore, she simply got out of bed.
She had been in a state of extreme exhaustion when she was brought back yesterday and went straight to sleep after seeing people off. Only now did she have the time to observe her current appearance properly.
This room didn’t even have bathing facilities, but the water supply was quite abundant. After simply washing herself with water, Su Tang sat in front of the mirror and took a deep breath.
The original host’s appearance was simply her own look with several beautifying filters added. Her skin was so fair and translucent it was ridiculous, looking as if a mere touch would leave a mark.
Her eyelashes were long, curling up in a very beautiful arc. Her lips were naturally red without makeup, the corners curving slightly upward. The most exquisite feature was that pair of eyes; the inner corners were slightly round, appearing innocent, while the tails curved slightly upward. Looking at her side profile alone, she seemed naturally imbued with a hint of allure.
“Tsk tsk, this face is truly beautiful.”
Su Tang admired herself in the mirror for a while until sounds came from the doorway.
Knock, knock, knock—
A knock sounded, and Mo Xiao’s voice came through the door panel. Ignoring whether she heard him or not, he spoke directly:
“We depart in five minutes.”
Su Tang hurriedly responded.
She tidied her clothes, pushed the door open, and looked around. She saw the man standing in the corridor to the right, with the little silver wolf squatting beside him. Seeing her, the little fellow wanted to pounce, but the man’s fingers moved unconsciously at his side. Subsequently, the little fellow lay on the ground, looking at her aggrievedly.
Su Tang couldn’t help but smile.
Unlike her filthy appearance in the Abandoned Zone, Su Tang had obviously cleaned up. He hadn’t expected this fellow to look so soft and weak. It felt as if he could crush her with one hand. Mo Xiao couldn’t help but take a few more looks at her, his gaze lingering on Su Tang’s face for a few seconds.
“Keep up.”
Su Tang noticed that compared to the pace he used when bringing her to the White Tower yesterday, Mo Xiao had obviously slowed down today.
The Testing Center was in the middle layer of the White Tower. Only when disaster struck did people realize how precious sunlight was. The center was made entirely of special transparent glass; as sunlight shone in, the entire floor appeared incredibly warm.
Many people were standing around. Seeing her and Mo Xiao walk in, they all stopped what they were doing and stared at the two of them with assessing looks.
She could feel the gazes landing on her body. There was curiosity, inquiry, and some gazes directed at her even carried a hint of frivolous appraisal.
Su Tang pursed her lips and closed the distance between herself and Mo Xiao.
“Captain Mo.”
A researcher wearing gold-rimmed glasses came up to greet them, his gaze pausing on Su Tang’s face.
“Your spiritual power fluctuation appointment is at 9 AM. Is there something else you’re here for now?”
The researcher looked at Su Tang behind Mo Xiao, his meaning self-evident.
“I brought her to do a spiritual power test.”
Mo Xiao stepped sideways, allowing the researcher to size up Su Tang behind him.
“Alright.”
The researcher pushed up his glasses and led Su Tang into the testing room.
“Please stand in the middle of the instrument and just relax.”
The researcher subconsciously softened his voice. This young lady truly looked too frail, and as a Sentinel, his status did not allow him to disrespect a Guide.
The instrument capable of testing spiritual power was shaped like a flower. Su Tang looked up at the metal flower fully blooming directly above her and raised her eyebrows slightly.
Before coming up, she heard the researcher say that this was a testing instrument specifically for Guides. That made her a bit curious.
Was the testing instrument for Sentinels also shaped like this?
The thought of the burly Mo Xiao standing under a blooming flower made Su Tang want to laugh.
The metal petals slowly closed over her head, and Su Tang smelled a faint scent of disinfectant.
A gentle energy wrapped around her. Su Tang followed the guidance of this energy and released her spiritual power.
On the console screen, a flat green line soon popped up, undulating slightly at the lowest end.
“Spiritual power intensity 0.3, stability 21%, final grade judgment… F-Class?”
The researcher’s gaze toward Su Tang held a bit more pity. Such beauty, yet lacking powerful spiritual power to protect it—how could she survive in this world?
Before he could feel more regret, the instrument under his hand suddenly emitted a humming sound.
Su Tang felt the petals above her head shake somewhat and subconsciously pressed herself against the wall of the instrument. Damn it, is this instrument sturdy or not? It won’t suddenly fall down, right?
She had nowhere to hide standing here. If it fell, it would definitely squash her into a meat patty.
The patterns on the metal petals instantly lit up with a blinding red light, and the screen flashed violently.
“What’s happening?”
Su Tang was also stunned.
Hearing the commotion, Mo Xiao pushed the door open and walked in. The silver wolf rushed directly to the front of the instrument, barking at it.
Su Tang felt Mo Xiao’s spiritual power penetrate through the instrument, wrapping around her entire body and expanding with an incredibly comfortable sensation.
“Spiritual power intensity suddenly increased to 1.7, soothing capacity reached 89%. How is this possible?”
The researcher stared at the screen, his entire being in a state of agitated excitement. 89%—he had never seen such an astonishing number.
“How can an F-Class Guide have such high stability? The spiritual power intensity is still rising; it’s simply as if she’s absorbing someone’s spiritual power.”
These words gave Mo Xiao an idea. Mo Xiao looked at Su Tang, who was still somewhat panicked in the middle of the instrument, his eyes holding a measure of calculation.
Harboring this guess in his heart, Mo Xiao took action. He strode forward, stood beside the silver wolf, and placed one hand on the barrier of the spiritual power testing instrument. Mo Xiao’s spiritual power penetrated the barrier bit by bit, wrapping around Su Tang.
Subsequently, the entire testing instrument acted as if it were collapsing; the values rose at an unpredictable rate.
“This… This…”
The researcher was so excited he was incoherent.
“Spiritual resonance! Captain Mo, her spiritual power can achieve resonance with your spiritual power.”
Mo Xiao’s gaze fell on the screen, his fingertips curling slowly.
He glanced at Su Tang. In those eyes covered in red blood streaks, violence was the dominant component, but it also allowed Su Tang to see a few other colors.
It was the scorching heat of a beast’s instinct erupting after seeing prey. Su Tang subconsciously shrank her neck.
“Test again.”
The researcher nodded repeatedly. He had a premonition that this little angel-like figure brought by Captain Mo would bring him a massive shock.
During the second test, Mo Xiao stood right next to the console.
Su Tang could feel his gaze on her. She knew Mo Xiao still had doubts, so this time, as soon as the test started, she manipulated her spiritual power to actively wrap toward Mo Xiao.
The spiritual power unique to the little Guide surrounded him. The long-lost sense of peace made Mo Xiao unable to stop the pleasure in his heart. The silver wolf seemed to detect its master’s mood and ran even more happily around the pillar of the testing instrument enclosing Su Tang.
The green line on the screen climbed steadily, finally stopping at a spiritual power intensity of 0.8, with stability reaching 76%.
Although judged by spiritual power intensity, she was still F-Class, such a high stability value was enough to drive all researchers crazy.
“Captain Mo!” The researcher held up the test report, his hands trembling.
“Her spiritual power itself is very weak, but the compatibility with your spiritual power is incredibly high. Your two spiritual powers are like a key and a lock; they can achieve complete compatibility. This is simply too miraculous.”
Su Tang didn’t understand some of these technical terms.
“Can you speak more clearly? Sorry, I don’t quite understand.”
The researcher now looked at Su Tang as if he were looking at a rare treasure.
“Simply put, your spiritual power and Captain Mo’s spiritual power can resonate. You can help him stabilize his violent spiritual fluctuations, and he can provide a steady stream of power for your depleted spiritual power. Your spiritual powers are simply like they are in symbiosis.”
Mo Xiao didn’t take the report; he just looked at Su Tang.
“Follow me.”
Ignoring the researcher who was excited all by himself holding the report, Mo Xiao opened the testing instrument. The silver wolf, who had been lingering for a long time, instantly rushed into Su Tang’s arms. Su Tang held the silver wolf and followed closely behind Mo Xiao.
When they walked out of the testing room, the gazes in the corridor were even more scorching than before.
Obviously, they had also heard the commotion coming from the testing room just now.
At a corner, a young Guide holding a stack of documents didn’t see them and bumped into Su Tang in a panic. Su Tang was fine, but the frail little Guide dropped the documents in his arms all over the floor and fell down.
“S-Sorry.”
Su Tang bent down to help him pick up the documents. Just as her fingertips touched the paper, she heard some movement from the man beside her. When she looked up, she happened to see the young Guide glance quickly at Mo Xiao, as if seeing something terrifying. He frantically scooped the documents on the ground into his arms and ran away fast.
Good lord, is Mo Xiao some kind of terrifying biochemical weapon?
Look at how scared he was.
“Your constitution will cause a lot of trouble.”
Mo Xiao’s voice rang out above her head, his emotions indiscernible.
Su Tang stood up and pinched the corner of her shirt.
“I know.”
Of course she knew.
A Guide who could achieve spiritual resonance with a Super S-Class Sentinel, even if she was an F-Class, was enough to shock the entire White Tower.
Silence returned between the two as they continued forward. When they reached a fork in the road, they ran head-on into a man wearing a red combat uniform.
He had a tall build, his blond hair shone dazzlingly in the sunlight, and a cynical smile played at the corners of his mouth.
He appeared abruptly before her eyes, blocking the surrounding sunlight and casting a large, dark shadow over her.
“Yo, isn’t this the great Captain Mo?”
The man whistled, looking incredibly frivolous.
Su Tang was secretly criticizing him in her heart when she saw the man fix his gaze on her face. Her heart panicked.
“Captain Mo went out on a mission and picked up a beautiful treasure from somewhere? You sure hid her well.”
His gaze was too direct, carrying undisguised appraisal, yet it wasn’t repulsive—probably because the appreciation and amazement in his eyes were dominant, so it didn’t feel uncomfortable.
Seeing the little Guide he had just claimed being sized up by another Sentinel like this, Mo Xiao’s face instantly turned cold.
“Zhan Ye, show some respect.”
Zhan Ye?
Su Tang’s heart stirred.
Captain of the Third Squad, Super S-Class Sentinel, famous for being unruly and powerful. In the original host’s memories, the outside world’s evaluation of him didn’t seem very good.
Zhan Ye ignored Mo Xiao’s cold face. As if he didn’t see the other Sentinel standing in front of Su Tang, he walked straight up to her.
His physique was similar to Mo Xiao’s, but his entire being was filled with a rogue handsomeness opposite to Mo Xiao’s. When he leaned down slightly, an aggressive aura enveloped her.
“Little beauty, what’s your name?”
The man’s voice was very pleasant, especially now that it carried a hint of seduction.
Before Su Tang could speak, she felt the spiritual power inside her suddenly boil, not giving way to how it reacted to Mo Xiao earlier.
A golden eagle spiritual entity spread its wings from behind Zhan Ye. Its sharp eagle eyes stared at her. Seeing her look at it, it flew excitedly toward her, circling above her head and dropping a glossy tail feather that landed right at her feet.
“My Golden Eagle says it likes you.”
The man laughed low twice. Zhan Ye bent down to pick up the feather and handed it to Su Tang, his fingertips almost touching her hand.
“Do you like this little guy too? How about coming back to the Third Squad with me? In the future, I’ll let you play with all its feathers.”
“Zhan Ye.”
Mo Xiao’s voice was cold as ice. He took a step forward, calmly blocking Su Tang’s side. The silver wolf spiritual entity bared its teeth at the Golden Eagle, and the air was filled with silent smoke.
Zhan Ye raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between the two, then suddenly chuckled.
He hadn’t missed the fluctuation in Su Tang’s spiritual power just now. He believed Mo Xiao had sensed it too, which was why he hadn’t stopped him from approaching Su Tang earlier.
But stopping him now… that carried a hint of possessiveness.
Zhan Ye found it amusing.
“Looks like I’m late?”
He didn’t retract his hand, merely pushing the feather closer to Su Tang.
“That’s truly a pity. I’ll leave the feather for you as a toy. Mo Xiao is always so boring; if you ever feel bored, you’re welcome to come to the Third Squad to find me to play!”
“I’d be very welcoming.”
Su Tang looked at the golden-glinting feather, then at Mo Xiao’s tense side profile. She didn’t dare take it. Are you kidding? She was currently relying on Mo Xiao to live. What benefit would provoking Mo Xiao bring her?
Zhan Ye didn’t force it. He smoothly tucked the feather into her hair, his fingertips inadvertently brushing past her ear.
“Captain Mo, look how you’ve scared the little beauty. I still have to do it myself.”
After this gesture, he smiled and lifted his chin at Mo Xiao, then turned to leave. The golden eagle spiritual entity spiraled to follow, calling out twice to Su Tang before leaving, as if saying goodbye.
Only when Zhan Ye’s figure disappeared at the end of the corridor did Mo Xiao turn to look at Su Tang. His gaze landed on the golden feather in her hair; no matter how he looked at it, it was an eyesore.
“Pull it out.”
“What?”
“Pull it out.” Mo Xiao’s tone was unquestionable, and he reached out to touch it.
The size difference between the two was too great. To her, he was overly tall. Especially seeing his brows darken and his unhappy face approaching her, Su Tang subconsciously took two steps back.
Just then, the silver wolf spiritual entity suddenly used its body to block Su Tang, whimpering twice at Mo Xiao, blatantly protecting her.
Man and wolf stared at each other for a moment. Mo Xiao finally withdrew his hand.
“Let’s go back.”
Walking on the way back to the dormitory, Su Tang could feel that Mo Xiao’s aura was colder than before.
She touched the golden feather in her hair, feeling the warmth of the feather at her fingertips, but her mind was very clear.
She wouldn’t be so sentimental as to think Mo Xiao was jealous over her. At most, it was just a top-tier Sentinel’s possessiveness over his property.
She was more curious about something else. When she saw Zhan Ye’s spiritual entity just now, she could feel her spiritual power fluctuating. Could it be that her spiritual power could resonate not only with Mo Xiao but also with other Sentinels?
If so, did that mean she had gained another layer of leverage for survival in this White Tower?
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