Chapter 2: Everything is Under Control!
She was the female lead of the original book—Jiang Qingwan.
Jiang Qingwan was once the most powerful S-class Guide in the entire galaxy. Compared to other aloof Guides, she was kind, gentle, and approachable. She treated Sentinels of any rank equally and often rushed to various war zones to provide free purification. Because of this, she was known by the public as the Goddess of the Galaxy.
However, an accident caused her to lose her purification abilities, leading her to the Third War Zone to serve as a Guide Consultant.
She advocated for improving the treatment of Sentinels, pushing for war zone resources to favor those fighting on the front lines. At the same time, she actively persuaded the Guides of the Third Zone to provide purification for more low-level Sentinels so they wouldn’t have to worry about frequent mania and could focus more on the battlefield.
The Sentinels of the Third War Zone all revered her, even secretly believing that it would be better if Jiang Qingwan were the Second Princess of the Star-Sea Empire.
After all, compared to the vicious and tyrannical villainess, the female lead, who was filled with divine radiance, was someone the Sentinels were more than willing to support.
Wasn’t that exactly what the A-class Sentinel who assassinated her said before he died?
Speaking of that assassin, Xie Qiang felt a bit troubled.
Although she had purified Sen Ji, no one could guarantee whether that Wu Zao would still choose to assassinate her tonight.
She needed to find someone to protect her.
Xie Qiang opened her optical computer and sent a message to the villainess’s father, the Emperor of the Star-Sea Empire.
Xie Qiang: [Father, can you send a few trustworthy S-class Sentinels to protect me?]
A reply came quickly.
Emperor Xie: [Didn’t I already send an S-class Sentinel guard with you?]
Xie Qiang then remembered that such a thing had indeed happened.
However, that person had angered the original host a month ago and was locked in a water prison for punishment. Because of this, he wasn’t present to protect her when the Zerg attacked the logistics department or when she was assassinated by the mysterious person in the original plot.
The man was currently seriously injured; he probably wouldn’t be able to protect her, right?
Xie Qiang lowered her head and continued messaging the Emperor.
Xie Qiang: [He was incompetent in his duties, so I threw him into the water prison as punishment.]
Emperor Xie: [Then what about Sen Ji?]
Sen Ji…
Xie Qiang thought of the man’s disgusted gaze and behavior from earlier, and her shoulder felt a faint, lingering pain. She shook her head with some distress. “The difficulty level for that is just too high.”
the optical computer chimed again.
Emperor Xie: [Be better to those S-class Sentinels. Don’t forget, only by gaining the support of five S-class Sentinels can you inherit the throne.]
Xie Qiang tilted her head, a bit confused. Was this part in the original novel?
She couldn’t remember… she’d just fudge it for now.
Xie Qiang typed a few words and sent them: [Everything is under my control, Father!]
…
Having dismissed the Guides, Sen Ji planned to return to the command room. As he passed the door to Xie Qiang’s office, his footsteps paused.
Sen Ji’s face was cold and grim.
He knew better than anyone how much Xie Qiang loathed him. Forget physical contact; just locking eyes with him would make Xie Qiang want to whip him twice.
So he hadn’t expected at all that Xie Qiang would proactively touch his beast ears.
What Sen Ji found most difficult to accept was that he had actually enjoyed her touch just now.
Sen Ji felt his self-esteem had suffered a massive trauma.
He took a deep breath, preparing to leave this place quickly, when a voice filled with curiosity suddenly rang out. “What are you standing here for?”
Hearing the voice, Sen Ji looked down to see the door of Xie Qiang’s office open slightly. A small head suddenly poked out from the crack. Xie Qiang was staring at him, her round almond eyes blinking with a look of pure confusion.
Somehow… she was a bit cute?
Sen Ji felt that having such a thought meant he had gone crazy. He quickly brushed the idea aside and said coldly, “It’s nothing.”
“Then come in.”
The small head stuffed itself back through the crack and vanished quickly, like a cat.
Sen Ji hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to open the door and walk in.
This was entirely for the sake of the purification Xie Qiang had just given him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have entered.
Inside the room.
Xie Qiang put on a front, crossing her arms. While she appeared to have her chin tilted up in a show of disdain for Sen Ji, she was actually secretly sizing him up.
In her view, the man had a tall, straight posture and sharp features. His brow bone was deep and high, faintly revealing the sharpness and danger of a tiger beast. Deep within his jade-like pupils lurked a dark golden shimmer, exuding a primal, forest-like wild tension.
That long, ink-black officer’s uniform made his aura appear majestic. With a sharp longblade hanging at his waist, he was marked as someone who was not to be trifled with.
Who would have thought that such a wild and majestic man was once a “disabled” Sentinel who could not be purified and was destined for an early death due to mania?
Xie Qiang felt a little bit smitten.
She had absolutely no immunity to this “strong yet tragic” archetype. If the situation didn’t forbid it, she’d have to drop a line like, “You don’t have to be strong (qiáng) anymore, because your Qiáng has arrived.”
But remembering how mean he was to her just now, she pulled back her pity and waved her hand. “Come over here.”
Sen Ji frowned and didn’t move.
Xie Qiang didn’t get angry either. She proactively walked over. Seeing him instantly reveal a guarded look, she reached out and grabbed his hand.
Just as he reflexively tried to shake her off, she suddenly let go, clutched her shoulder, and furrowed her brow. She let out a soft, trembling cry, “Ah, it hurts…”
Sen Ji’s hand swung through empty air. Hearing Xie Qiang cry out in pain, he instinctively looked at her. He saw her pull the strap of her dress inward, revealing a porcelain-white, delicate back shoulder.
There was a prominent patch of blue and red; it clearly hadn’t been a light hit.
It must have been the bruise left when she hit the edge of the metal cabinet when he shook her off earlier.
Sen Ji hesitated for a moment, then his brow furrowed deeply. “Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Xie Qiang lowered her eyelashes and pressed her pink lips together without speaking. Her frail shoulders curled inward slightly, making her look like a little cat drenched by the rain—pitiful and helpless.
A sudden surge of irritation rose in Sen Ji’s heart.
If she was unhappy, couldn’t she just hit him back or curse him out? Why put on this act?
It was as if he had bullied her terribly.
His tone became even colder and harder. “Fine. What on earth do you want? Just say it!”
Xie Qiang finally looked up, her watery eyes staring at him without blinking, filled with a hint of longing. “Sen Ji, tonight at eight, can you come to my room for a bit?”
She wanted to use purification as a trade to have Sen Ji come to her room to protect her. But to her surprise, before she could even open her mouth, she saw Sen Ji look as if he had heard something terrifying. He took two steps back, his face filled with shock.
“Is it you who’s crazy, or is it me?!”
Sen Ji was in total disbelief.
How could she possibly allow someone she loathed so much to enter her room?
And how could he possibly be willing to go to the room of someone who constantly humiliated him?
Xie Qiang clenched her small fists, a bit speechless.
Did this Sen Ji have some kind of masochism? Did she have to say harsh things like the original host for him to believe she was being “normal”?
Trying hard to suppress the urge to punch him, Xie Qiang imitated the original host’s tone. “I just want to give you a bit more purification for your mania levels, so you won’t keep annoying me!”
Only then did Sen Ji pull back his shock, though his gaze remained thick with coldness and suspicion.
Xie Qiang sighed in her heart.
She didn’t want to deal with these messes either, but she had to salvage some of the villainess’s reputation. Otherwise, if she encountered danger in the future, she wouldn’t be able to count on these Sentinels to protect her.
This was the perfect time to clear the air and get Sen Ji to stop being so guarded against her.
She said slowly, “Sen Ji, I used to really despise you, but that doesn’t mean I would stand by and watch you die. You are an SSS-class Sentinel, the Empire’s most brave and loyal warrior, and the God of War most trusted by the people. How could I possibly watch you die of mania?”
Sen Ji’s brow remained locked, noncommittal. “But you clearly said before that you’d rather marry a Zerg than purify a defective product. And that is exactly what you did!”
“That was just talk out of anger. I was simply unhappy that Father betrothed me to you.” Xie Qiang silently apologized to the Emperor in her heart before continuing her explanation. “Now that my anger has cooled, naturally, I won’t make things difficult for you.”
Sen Ji fell silent. He gazed at Xie Qiang’s face, finding her completely sincere, without a trace of lying or acting.
However, this sudden change didn’t make Sen Ji feel even slightly happy.
He stared at Xie Qiang, his hands clenched into fists. Then, he gave a sudden, mocking laugh. “So, can a simple ‘my anger has cooled’ and ‘I won’t make things difficult for you’ wipe away everything from the past?”
“Since you were dissatisfied with His Majesty’s arrangements, why didn’t you refuse the marriage back then? You didn’t dare resist His Majesty, so you incompetently took your anger out on me?”
Sen Ji stepped closer to Xie Qiang, his voice becoming increasingly fierce and heavy. “A brave and loyal warrior? A God of War trusted by the people? If you truly thought that way, you wouldn’t have treated me like that, leaving me with not even a shred of dignity!”
“Xie Qiang, do you really think I’ll believe you just because you say a few nice words?! In your dreams!”
His last sentence slammed heavily onto Xie Qiang’s heart.
Xie Qiang opened her mouth, then pressed her lips tight. Tears pooled in her eyes but stubbornly refused to fall.
She also felt extremely wronged. She had been pulled into the world of this book for no reason and had to bear the consequences of the villainess’s actions. She wanted to ease the relationship, yet she was being interrogated by Sen Ji with such intensity.
The problem was, Sen Ji wasn’t wrong.
Years of humiliation and contempt—how could that be smoothed over so easily?
Biting her lip, she looked up and spoke to Sen Ji sincerely. “I’m sorry. I was wrong before. I will be extra good to you from now on.”
She spoke in disjointed sentences. “I… I will purify you, and I’ll explain to others. I’ll say I was just afraid I wasn’t good enough for you, so I belittled you. If you’re still not over your anger, then I…”
“Enough!”
Sen Ji interrupted her irritably. Looking at Xie Qiang’s red, tear-filled eyes, he couldn’t understand why, when he was the one who had been humiliated all these years, Xie Qiang was the one who looked like she was dying of grievance.
“If there’s nothing else, I won’t be staying!” Sen Ji turned to leave, not wanting to remain there a second longer.
Behind him, the sound of the girl’s low, suppressed sobbing broke out.
Sen Ji’s body stiffened, his lip line pressed so hard it turned purple. He pulled open the office door to walk out, but in the end, he stopped and spoke to Xie Qiang with his back turned.
“Xie Qiang, do you know? I’ve been waiting for your apology.”
He had waited for three whole years, but all he got was daily humiliation and coldness.
Before the door closed, his last words drifted into Xie Qiang’s ears.
“Tonight, I will be there on time for purification. It’s what I deserve.”
Xie Qiang looked up, but there wasn’t a hint of happiness on her face. She sniffled, dejectedly wiped the tears from her face, and then walked to the office door to lock it.
Then, like a stray kitten looking for its nest, she sat in the swivel chair, slumped over the desk, and closed her eyes.
She had received too many memories and processed too many events and emotions; she was truly exhausted. Sleepiness washed over her. Xie Qiang’s eyelashes fluttered, and she quickly fell into a weary sleep.
Recommended Reads
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)
