Chapter 17: Her Highness Actually Said “Mmh”!
Inside the spacious office, several B-class Sentinels sat upright, looking tense.
They stole glances at the silver-haired, noble youth leaning against the desk and exchanged looks with their eyes.
Sentinel A: Were you guys dragged here by Tactical Officer Cang too?
Sentinel B: Yeah. He said the Princess wanted to purify us. I almost thought I was having auditory hallucinations!
Sentinel C: For B-class Sentinels like us, the Princess usually can’t even be bothered to look at us! Purification? How is that possible!
Sentinel D: But I heard that yesterday, Guide Jiang risked death to persuade the Princess to purify low-level Sentinels. Could it be…
The B-class Sentinels sucked in a breath of cold air. Hiss! She actually convinced her?
As soon as Xie Qiang entered the office, she saw the tall, slender silver-haired youth turning to reveal a brilliant smile. “Your Highness, you’re finally here!”
On the sofa in the reception area, the B-class Sentinels stood up timidly, bowing to her in a disorganized manner. “Your Highness.”
“Mmh, you’re here quite early.” Xie Qiang nodded gently at them.
She walked toward Cang Jiu with a calm and composed expression. However, the fists inside the pockets of her white coat were clenched tight, her heart pounding with excitement.
Yay! I have patients today!
Although they were coerced into coming, doesn’t this count as progress?
Xie Qiang walked to her desk with a gratified look. Unbeknownst to her, the Sentinels behind her turned to look at each other, seeing indescribable shock in one another’s eyes.
Did Her Highness just greet us?!
And she made a particularly soft, cute “Mmh” sound!
She said “Mmh”!
Heavens, is this still the irritable Princess who usually has a stink face and loses her temper at the drop of a hat?!
“Your Highness, I’ve completed the task you gave me!” Cang Jiu leaned lightly against the edge of the desk, his silver-blue fox eyes twinkling with anticipation. “So, where is the gift to express your gratitude?”
A gift of gratitude?
Ah, the payment.
“No rush.” Xie Qiang sat down and operated the computer for a moment. The printer beside her buzzed and spat out several sheets of paper.
She lowered her head to tie up her fluffy, cream-white long hair and spoke without looking up. “First, have them re-test their mania levels and fill out the purification application forms I just printed. If there’s anything they don’t understand, they can ask the staff in the testing room.”
After speaking, she dialed Hong Que’s optical computer. “Inspector Hong, open the permissions for me to view the battlefield records of B-class Sentinels.”
Hong Que’s voice sounded sneaky on the other end. “What are you trying to do?”
“This is an order from the Imperial Princess. You just need to execute it.” Xie Qiang didn’t want to explain. Although her voice was soft and sweet, it carried an unshakeable confidence.
“Tsk… I got it. Why are you so fierce?” Hong Que muttered.
Xie Qiang: Hmm?
Was my tone fierce?
Hong Que grumbled something indistinguishable on the other end, but his actions weren’t slow. He quickly opened the viewing permissions and sent the link to Xie Qiang.
After Cang Jiu finished the tasks Xie Qiang assigned, he picked up one of the freshly printed application forms and read it with interest.
The further down he read, the more confused his eyes became.
Strange…
Was his IQ infected by Hong Que last night? Why couldn’t he understand what Xie Qiang was trying to do from this application form?
He couldn’t help but shake the form in his hand, putting on a humble posture of seeking instruction. “Your Highness, why do you need to ask about their combat duration and the number of Zerg killed?”
“To analyze the rate of mania increase.”
Xie Qiang’s voice was faint. She stared earnestly at the computer, her ice-blue pupils moving from left to right as she scanned the battlefield merit records of the B-class Sentinels line by line.
Dressed in a white coat, she appeared more introverted and quiet. On that face, which usually held only arrogance and haughtiness, there was now a grounded seriousness and familiarity. In particular, her unhurried demeanor made people involuntarily feel a sense of reliance and trust.
Cang Jiu blinked, suppressing the strange sense of trust rising in his heart, and continued to ask, “What does Your Highness plan to do after analyzing this? Does it have to do with the reform? Is it a major matter concerning all Sentinels, or just B-class Sentinels?”
He has so many questions…
Feeling that Cang Jiu would ask endlessly, Xie Qiang looked up and blocked all his thirst for knowledge with a single sentence.
“You want to know? Then there will be no gift of gratitude, okay?”
“Your Highness!” Cang Jiu was shocked. How can she be so shameless?
Xie Qiang glanced at him helplessly with her small face. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too, Little Jiu-jiu.”
Cang Jiu: “…Your Highness, has anyone ever told you that you are really bad?”
“If you’re curious about that question, you can take a stroll in the cafeteria. The people there will be happy to tell you.”
Xie Qiang lowered her head again. She took a fountain pen from her left chest pocket and smoothly derived a formula on the paper. She kindly reminded him, “Remember to close the door when you go out~”
Cang Jiu pursed his lips. Finally learning to behave, he slumped softly onto the desk, muttering unhappily, “Your Highness is truly heartless.”
Clearly, when she first arrived at the war zone, she chased after me every day, saying I was the only Sentinel she fancied…
Now she ignores me and even wants to use me as free labor.
Hmph, but what can I do?
The more Your Highness ignores me, the more I want to pester Your Highness~
The beautiful fox youth rested his cheek on his arms, lying on the desk, obediently falling silent. His fox eyes, filled with a faint smile, stared unblinkingly at Xie Qiang, who was working seriously.
Even he didn’t realize that in those eyes, which usually held no interest in anything, a trace of desire had quietly emerged.
A desire to once again be the Sentinel she fancied most in her heart.
After the B-class Sentinels finished testing their mania levels, they took their filled-out purification forms and prepared to return to Xie Qiang’s office.
On the way, they chatted.
“Hey, do you guys think the Princess will really purify us?”
“Since Tactical Officer Cang said so, it should be true.”
“But we’re just B-class Sentinels. Even if an A-class Guide were willing to purify us, I’d suspect I was dreaming. An S-class Guide… I wouldn’t dare dream of it!”
“It feels weird. And this form too, the content is so strange. It actually asked if we’re allergic to eggs or have any other allergens…”
“Right, right, and those other questions…”
“Hello.”
Just as the Sentinels were discussing heatedly, a gentle voice interrupted them.
The Sentinels looked up to see a figure in a white dress. Jiang Qingwan tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled gently. “May I see what you are holding?”
The B-class Sentinels looked at each other.
They naturally recognized who this was.
If it were a few years ago, they would have respectfully bowed and greeted her. But now that she had lost her purification ability and kept trying to persuade B-class Guides to purify C-class Sentinels, the B-class Sentinels honestly didn’t care much for her.
However, she was once an S-class Guide, personally hailed by the Emperor as the Goddess of the Galaxy. Even if they were dissatisfied, they had to maintain superficial politeness.
One of the B-class Sentinels handed over a blank application form. “This was given to us by Her Highness the Princess.”
“The Princess?”
Jiang Qingwan smiled slightly. Her gaze swept over the contents of the paper. She paused briefly, then shook the form in her hand. “May I take this with me?”
“Uh… I suppose so.”
It was just an application form; they could just print another one if it was missing.
The B-class Sentinels didn’t take it to heart and turned to leave.
They chatted idly as they walked. “She’s quite pitiful too, suddenly losing her purification ability.”
“Isn’t she? In the past, she was surrounded by S-class Sentinels from all the major war zones. Now look at her… tsk tsk.”
“If she had just stayed honestly in the Imperial Capital and only purified S-class Sentinels, she wouldn’t have met with an accident on the dangerous battlefield and lost her ability. I don’t know what she was thinking, insisting on taking care of those low-level Sentinels…”
“She brought it on herself, I guess.”
Behind them, Jiang Qingwan lowered her eyes slightly. The paper in her hand slowly developed tiny wrinkles.
A trace of loneliness flashed across her eyes, but soon, she put on her gentle, soft smile again and turned to walk toward the low-level Guides’ office area.
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