Chapter 30

Translation

After the sentinels who had finished fighting returned, Fu Guang and Wen Ya also finished exchanging information about the SS guide. Coincidentally, the White Tower issued an order, letting Wen Ya go back for a trip.

The two girls hugged, "Getting together is always brief; the planned meeting can only be postponed to next time."

"Fu Guang, goodbye." Wen Ya brought the little girl who had just woken up aboard the Starship, waved at Fu Guang, turned and left.

"Fu Guang, big sister." The tender voice no longer had its former timidity; after this ordeal, the little girl had obviously grown a bit.

Hope she can soon dispel the shadows of the past.

Meeting always brings parting; Fu Guang saw the two off, Li Shao stood to the side, holding a military-issued special pass.

Permit for interrogating the Guide.

Military boots stepped on the ground; a red-haired, red-eyed man came to her side.

Li Shao turned his head, his sharp brows and eyes slightly lifting: 'Goodbyes done, let's go, Guide Fu Guang.'

Li Shao's coming this time to carry out an S-rank mission; perhaps because of his bad attitude toward Fu Guang, the military thought he could investigate the SS Guide matter without being disturbed by external factors.

But who knows?

Li Shao absentmindedly thought, the corner of his mouth hooking, he stretched out a hand wearing a black tactical glove forward; the warship materialized at this moment, revealing a ferocious part of it.

Before Fu Guang appeared a massive warship; she could only see one side. The warship's exterior was smooth and sleek, its sharp hull flashing with a piercing cold light, revealing mechanical coldness and power.

Powerful machinery, a city‑destroying weapon that captivates the heart and soul yet must not be profaned.

She felt a subtle tremor; though the warship looked clean, its killing aura shot to the heavens—an aura forged from blood.

Fu Guang stared at the warship, somewhat fascinated, licking her lips; the warship differed from the Starship, its firepower configuration being top‑notch.

Eyeing it, she wanted one.

She was somewhat excited by the killing aura, unlike her usual calm state; the Sentinels noticed the Guide's change.

Li Shao bent over, lowered his head to Fu Guang's ear, gaze forward, his voice slightly hoarse saying, 'Guide Fu Guang, please.' The aura honed on the battlefield faintly pressed on Fu Guang.

Fu Guang glanced at Li Shao out of the corner of her eye, unafraid, gave a light laugh and stepped forward.

On the smooth warship appeared a light gate; a long, pale gold floating staircase unfolded, extending to Fu Guang's feet.

Fu Guang stepped onto the stairs, walking up step by step; at the hatch stood a Sentinel similarly dressed in military uniform.

Golden light appeared in his hand; the floating staircase was obviously his doing—he was actually a light‑system Sentinel.

Lately I've run into quite a few light‑system folks.

In natural elemental abilities, whether Guide or Sentinel, the light and dark systems are both scarce.

The light system represents healing, purification, and protection.

Any light‑system ability user necessarily possesses these three, but light‑system Sentinels merely have stronger anti‑contamination ability; purification is a privilege unique to Guides.

This is the military's favorite type of Sentinel, and also the fastest to promote.

Fu Guang walked to the hatch; the silver‑haired, gold‑eyed Sentinel glanced at her and nodded. She had no intention of introducing herself and turned to leave.

The pale gold depths of his eyes held no emotion.

Upon entering the warship, first came identity verification, contamination checks, and a series of determinations; with few people, the AI ran extremely fast, registering everyone's information in minutes.

Above the long corridor a row of green lights lit up, a mechanical‑toned voice sounded: 'Information qualified, passage allowed.'

The long corridor seems built to prevent anyone from evading detection, stretching straight into the warship's interior; one wonders how many heat weapons lie beneath its steel skin.

The walls on both sides were so smooth that not even an eight‑legged bug could stand; Fu Guang asked Li Shao beside her, her voice echoing in the corridor: 'If we don't pass, will we be executed on the spot?'

Li Shao paused, then only replied, 'It depends.'

That means yes.

Fu Guang thought, 'How cruel, Sentinel.'

The AI overhead heard her words, the mechanical voice sounded again: 'Guide Fu Guang, based on your question, I can provide the following answer.'

'One, in non‑wartime conditions, severely contaminated Sentinels are transferred to isolation chambers, awaiting relief fluid or Guide treatment.'

'Two, for some heavily contaminated Sentinels with obvious aggressive tendencies, action is restricted to the extent needed to stop their movements.'

'Three, in wartime, severely contaminated individuals are not allowed aboard the Starship.'

The mechanical voice answered in an orderly yet icy, unfeeling manner.

The corridor was long; Fu Guang also wanted to probe the AI's authority on the warship: 'Based on what you said, there should be no Sentinel dying during entry inspection, right?'

A crackling electric sound passed, and the AI spoke again: 'According to data detection, that is not the case.'

'Data resources are permission‑restricted; Guide Fu Guang, I currently lack the authority to report to you.'

Fu Guang continued asking: 'Then can you report to Li Shao?'

'If Li Shao Sentinel needs it.'

Fu Guang nodded thoughtfully; that meant her clearance wasn't sufficient.

'Xiao Bai has arrived.' Li Shao's fingerprint and ability verification succeeded; in the welcome back, among the Li Shao Sentinels, he suddenly spoke.

Who? Who is he calling?

That unfamiliar Sentinel had already left; does anyone here go by Xiao Bai?

Her head felt heavy; instead of scalding, a warm hand landed on her head: 'What's up, Xiao Bai, spacing out?'

Li Shao definitely said that with a smile.

Bai Gao looked this way and that, 'Brother Li Shao, why call the Guide Xiao Bai?'

Li Shao drawled, 'Calling Xiao Yu is also fine; you mean Guide Fu Guang, right?'

Bai Gao still wanted to say something when he saw white smoke rising from Fu Guang's head: 'Brother Li Shao, you didn't set the Guide's hair on fire, did you?'

'Li Shao, you've made the Guide smoke.' Shang Ze said.

Fu Guang shifted like water in an instant, moving to the doorway, then rolled her eyes speechlessly at the few people.

Or perhaps the skill of comprehension works well, like a water escape.

During the journey of twenty thousand leagues under the sea, Fu Guang comprehended two skills. One was that she wrapped herself in water element, exchanging the water element force within with that in the air, quickly shifting position; she called it "Water Escape".

The other is that she sensed all things born from water, a large-scale healing skill accompanied by slight purification; she hasn't used it yet and doesn't know its effect, calling it "Rainfall".

The tiny water droplet is the skill she comprehended, condensed by her mental power, like a step in the process themed on Water Escape.

Becoming a tiny water droplet also allows one to extract it from oneself and exchange experience with others; this is one of the White Tower's hard currencies.

The Sentinels saw Fu Guang shift position extremely quickly and assumed this was her B-rank talent skill; aside from Li Shao, no one gave it much thought.

Besides comprehending skills, the most important aspect of pure essence is that it can nurture mental power of the same attribute.

Water Pure Essence is an S-rank item; only upon reaching S-rank can it be fully absorbed. Given Fu Guang's current level, she probably cannot absorb it completely, so she won't comprehend the skill.

Wen Ya also doesn't know the absorption conditions for S-rank pure essence, just as Fu Guang is unclear about B-rank Guide knowledge.

Knowledge of any rank is rarely obtainable before reaching that rank.

This is the tacit understanding between the White Tower and the military.

Li Shao pulled back his hand dripping with water vapor, and in his crimson eyes flames flickered slightly.

If she could absorb it, wouldn't that make her an S-rank Guide?

By convention, at that point the military would compulsorily grant two S-rank Sentinels to the Guide.

Li Shao gathered their thoughts; not mentioning the distant future, recently the military has shown a faint urge to revive the trend of matching Sentinels to Guides.

His gaze, somewhat complex, fixed on Fu Guang.

She is a decent Guide, he thought.