Invasion [Guide/Sentinel] Section 60

That was a sentinel. Little Mu had encountered many powerful sentinels before, but this was the first time he had ever experienced such overwhelming might.

The sentinel’s pervasive pressure saturated the entire sea, leaving him unable to even entertain the thought of escape. For the very first time, he felt how pitifully young and small he truly was.

To make matters worse, that sentinel’s spiritual beast happened to be the natural predator of seals.

Good heavens, it was actually an orca.

The orca's distinctive vocalizations echoed with the surging ocean waves.

It made his tail go limp, driving him almost to the point of madness.

He couldn't escape.

He had been targeted.

Shouldn't I just honestly beg for mercy?

It's over; he could already see that dark, massive silhouette.

[It's going to be okay.]

[Don't be afraid.]

[Get onto the boat.]

That voice, which occasionally echoed in his mind, resounded once more at this exact moment. Like a straw grasped by a drowning man, it instantly soothed his frantic heart.

Little Mu caught sight of the hull of the boat, which was now very close to him, and saw Brother Hu coming down from the water surface to meet him.

The little seal mustered his courage once again, using every ounce of his strength to swim desperately toward the surface.

Several massive and mysterious tentacles emerged within the ocean around him, surrounding him protectively, separating him from the colossal shadow closing in from the depths.

Tentacles? Where did tentacles come from?

Clearly, they were mysterious and bizarre creatures. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Little Mu felt a sense of reassurance.

These unseen beings actually brought him a feeling of safety.

It was as if they had accompanied him all along the way, talking and chatting with him.

The seal adolescent leaped high out of the water, splashing straight into the cabin of his own people.

Lin Yuan handed him a blanket. He wrapped himself in it and poked his head out from the folds after shifting back to his human form.

Seeing that everyone standing around him was his own fully armed comrades, and looking at Lin Yuan’s calm face, he finally recovered a little from his shivering.

Lin Yuan’s shared perspective with him had already ended. Still, he subconsciously searched for the guide older sister.

That sister was sitting on the gunwale, peering her head down into the water, as if she knew what kind of behemoth lurked in the dark ocean depths, yet she felt no fear at all—only a hint of curiosity.

Now that he had calmed down a little, Little Mu figured out what had just happened.

Those tentacles that appeared at the very end to protect him were Sister Lin Yuan’s spiritual beast.

So, guides could also possess spiritual beasts that were powerful enough to bring such profound peace of mind.

He had always assumed that guides could only possess soft and cute little animals.

No, Sister Lin Yuan’s spiritual beast... or rather, beasts, were also extremely soft and cute; they were just a little bit oversized.

Little Mu actually knew about this; he had watched many advertisements and films about guides frequently broadcasted by the Empire.

He knew that a guide's spiritual beast could soothe sentinels, but possessed no real combat capability.

As an imperial sentinel, he had been taught since childhood that sentinels bore the responsibility of protecting fragile guides.

Never did he expect that today, he would actually be protected by a guide from the White Tower.

Recalling how he had shivered in terror down in the ocean, the proud teenager felt his face flush with shame.

Yet, he had to admit that at that moment, when he was suppressed by a powerful sentinel to the point of wanting to surrender, the forceful assistance of the huge and mysterious tentacles had saved him.

Their posture in the water, tilting to point toward the enemy, had given him infinite peace of mind.

Fortunately, that orca had stopped in the end.

Strange, why did that powerful orca stop and refrain from attacking us?

...

Deep beneath the sea, starlight from the night sky pierced through the water surface, shimmering in shattered patterns across the orca's black spine.

Niji, gliding silently through the seawater, spotted a small seal.

It wasn't even a formal sentinel yet, merely a boy in his early teens.

Even though they were still far apart, his sensory perception in the ocean was second to none.

Without even needing to enhance his vision, he could perceive that the boy was holding a wooden box in his arms, emerging from the cruise ship, wagging a seal's wide tail fins, and happily swimming upward.

"Take him out and get what the teacher wants," Tan Shui's voice came through the diving earpiece. "We'll deal with his companions."

The situation was slightly troublesome. The box the boy held in his arms was likely what Cao Junmin had specifically sent the few of them running all the way from the White Tower to find.

The wreckage of the ship *Marie* had been discovered in Pollution Zone 5.

The items carried within this ancient vessel, which had slumbered beneath the sea for many years, seemed to have been thoroughly scavenged by exploration teams.

However, the most precious item it truly carried had yet to be unearthed. That was a box of ancient and rare energy stones, stored in a highly confidential location within the captain's cabin. Currently, only a handful of high-ranking officials in the White Tower knew about this.

No one wanted to report this news to the Empire. Everyone's petty scheme was to use their respective tricks to quietly sweep these rare treasures into their own pockets.

Cao Junmin wanted to use this to build his image in front of his new backer. He was utterly determined to get the contents of this box, dispatching almost the most powerful elite combat personnel under his command.

As fate would have it, someone had beaten them to it.

And yet, unluckily for them, these people hadn't managed to get away in time.

Niji knew of many injustices in this world. By now, he had grown indifferent to them, no longer the hot-blooded, impulsive young man he once was in school. But there were certain things—as long as he chose not to touch them, he would never stain his hands with them.

For instance, using a boy's life to pave Cao Junmin's path to promotion.

Just scare them a little and take the thing; that would be enough.

Just as he prepared to close in, the seawater around the panicked little seal began to surge. Amidst the underwater currents, a sense of familiarity that startled Niji suddenly appeared.

It was like a flower suddenly blooming in the dead of night, or deities reaching out their hands from some hidden realm.

The tentacles suddenly emerged, surrounding the panicked little seal in a defensive posture.

They were massive, formidable, and aligned directly toward his direction, striking a warning pose.

Was it her? That guide.

Niji slowly came to a halt in the water.