Chapter 34: The Fifth SquadÂ
“The Fifth Squad? Captain Yasuo’s team. Didn’t they set off for the Deep Abyss? How did they come back so quickly?”
“Ah, I really don’t want to see that group of eccentric guys. How come we run into such annoying things as soon as we get back?”
“I hope they’ve already left by the time we go down. Getting involved with those kittens really brings no good.”
Su Tang silently listened to the First Squad Sentinels’ discussion. There was no information about Yasuo in the original host’s memories, so she looked at Mo Xiao beside her.
“What kind of person is Captain Yasuo? Listening to them, it seems they don’t quite welcome their return?”
Mo Xiao didn’t like Su Tang’s attention being occupied by other things, but regarding the little Guide’s question, he found it hard not to answer.
“Rather than saying they aren’t welcomed, it’s better to say people don’t know how to face them.”
“How so?”
“The White Tower’s Fifth Squad is taken over by Yasuo. The number of Sentinels in the squad is the smallest among all squads, and it is composed entirely of feline-type Sentinels. Because of the unique stealth abilities of feline Sentinels, they execute the most densely packed and dangerous missions in the White Tower. Precisely because of this, the Fifth Squad is also the squad with the highest Sentinel mortality rate.”
Mo Xiao paused, his gaze inadvertently glancing at the sky outside.
“When the White Tower was first established, there weren’t many Sentinels. The Fifth Squad played an irreplaceable and major role. Perhaps because the missions executed were too dangerous, or due to the nature of feline animals, their personalities are more or less… unusual.”
“But no Sentinel in the White Tower dislikes them. They just don’t know what attitude to use to treat them.”
The Fifth Squad could be called the heroes among heroes of all White Tower Sentinels. It was just that their personalities were truly unlikable. Every time a Sentinel showed them kindness, they would be dissuaded by the cats’ arrogant nature. Over time, the Fifth Squad became such a special existence within the White Tower.
“Understood. Then it seems better to have less contact.”
Su Tang didn’t like courting trouble. She respected the Fifth Squad’s outstanding contributions, but she didn’t want to get too involved with them.
“Don’t worry. Yasuo has always lived in seclusion. Unless there is a mission, you can hardly see him inside the White Tower.”
The transport plane continued to circle twice over the White Tower, and after receiving the command allowing landing, it slowly landed on the apron.
The Sentinels of the First Squad disembarked first. Su Tang and Mo Xiao were at the very end. As soon as they stepped out of the cabin door, they heard whispering sounds rising and falling outside. Su Tang felt a bad premonition in her heart.
Looking up, she saw a tall figure standing beside another transport plane not far away.
The man was very tall. His silver-gray hair was brushed by the breeze, emitting fine, dense rays of light under the sun. His eyes were like a cat’s, the tails tilting up, and a faint smile hung on his lips. Perched on his shoulder was likely his spiritual entity, a pure black cat.
It nestled lazily on the man’s shoulder, looking over at her, squinting its pupils to glance at her. Every movement was full of insufferable arrogance.
Su Tang swept her gaze over the other Sentinels surrounding that man. The members of the Fifth Squad were all feline Sentinelsâcheetahs, caracals, and even some miniature tigers. At this moment, they looked to be in extremely bad moods, letting their spiritual entities chase and fight on the apron, wantonly damaging the facilities nearby.
“Yo, Mo Xiao. You had it easy this trip.”
Yasuo straightened up, his voice carrying a bit of a lazy drawl.
“How was the scenery in the A-Class Zone? Compared to the Deep Abyss?”
Mo Xiao didn’t pick up his conversational thread. His gaze swept over the wounds on the Fifth Squad members.
“The mission in the Abyss didn’t go smoothly?”
“Mn.”
Yasuo shrugged, his fingertips tapping lazily, teasing the lazy cat on his shoulder every now and then.
“We just encountered some things we’d never seen before and suffered a bit at their hands.”
As he spoke, the motion of teasing the black cat paused.
The actual situation was far less relaxed than he made it sound. That thing fed on Sentinels’ spiritual power and could emit a thick fog capable of directly destroying a Sentinel’s spiritual consciousness sea.
If they hadn’t moved quickly and withdrawn in time, likely the entire teamâif not all buried thereâwould have suffered more than half casualties.
Restraining his excess emotions, Yasuo’s gaze landed on Su Tang beside Mo Xiao.
His cat eyes narrowed slightly.
“Just returned to the White Tower and heard an interesting story. heard you took in an accompanying Guide. Is it this young lady?”
His gaze carried a gratuitous scrutiny amidst the nonchalance.
Su Tang didn’t like his look; it felt like being targeted by a hunter, making her very uncomfortable.
Su Tang frowned, moving in small steps behind Mo Xiao.
“She looks really fragile. Are you sure bringing her to a dangerous mission area isn’t claiming her life?”
“This is an internal affair of the First Squad; no need for Captain Yasuo to worry.”
Mo Xiao’s meaning was clear; he bluntly didn’t want Yasuo focusing his attention on Su Tang.
“I remember this accompanying Guide is a Guide who came from outside to seek refuge in the White Tower, right? When a Guide seeks refuge, it must be reported to the high command, and then decided by the captains of the major squads where the external Guide goes.”
Yasuo took lazy steps, closing in on Mo Xiao.
“Captain Mo, you didn’t get the consent of the major captains and directly kept the little Guide in the First Squad as an accompanying Guide. Isn’t that ignoring the White Tower’s rules a bit?”
Mo Xiao frowned slightly. Confronting Yasuo was something he absolutely hadn’t anticipated.
Yasuo leaned in closer. The gloomy aura around him was thicker than before. Mo Xiao knew that the Deep Abyss trip must have affected him; otherwise, he wouldn’t be picking a fight with him under the public gaze.
“Whether my actions violated rules or not, the White Tower high command will give me a penalty. As for you, I think you should pay a visit to Anse.”
The closer he got, the more obvious the spiritual power fluctuation on the man became. Spiritual power between Sentinels naturally carried antagonism, causing Mo Xiao’s own spiritual power to begin fluctuating as well.
The mark on his chest heated up slightly, and then, the spiritual power that had been agitated and restless gradually calmed down.
Yasuo raised an eyebrow, not missing this sudden change. Felines were naturally sensitive to external changes. Mo Xiao’s spiritual power clearly showed signs of fluctuation just now, but it was calmed down very quickly.
What exactly was it?
Yasuo’s gaze lingered on Mo Xiao’s chest. That place… was so strange.
He could feel that there seemed to be another powerful spiritual power hidden there, and it was the existence of that spiritual power that calmed Mo Xiao’s agitated spiritual power.
“It seems Captain Mo has harvested quite a lot on this trip out.”
With a thought, the black cat on his shoulder jumped to the ground.
Su Tang lowered her head, watching the little fellow gracefully stride closer with cat steps. First, it circled Mo Xiao’s feet, then stopped at her feet. Its little nose twitched, sniffing deeply at the hem of her trousers.
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