Chapter 330: Continue

Chapter 330 Continued

Qi Yi woke from the fog.

The wounds still ached, his mind was muddled, and the sentinel gasped shallowly as his skull throbbed with pain.

He tried to connect with his Spirit, but the black collar around his neck flashed a blinking red light, the leather digging deep into his flesh, making it hard to breathe.

The collar was equipped with a neural shock system—a restraint method employed by the White Tower against sentinels.

With this restriction in place, the sentinel could neither summon his Spirit nor access his Spirit Sea. Yet he could clearly sense that something had changed within his Spirit Sea. Lu Liu must have done something—only, he couldn’t see it.

Qi Yi thought to himself, "Figures."

Lu Liu was his junior, one of the rare double-S-class guides, infamous at school for his arrogance and capriciousness, basking in the attention of sentinels. Back then, Qi Yi had already decided to defect and become a dark guide, wanting no part of him. But Lu Liu was the type who pursued what he couldn’t have—what Qi Yi avoided, he insisted on tasting. So, at the graduation party, Lu Liu pushed aside the crowd of sentinels surrounding him and walked straight up to Qi Yi.

The guide casually held out a hand, waiting for the sentinel to take it. "Senior, care to dance?"

No sentinel could refuse an SS-class guide—except Qi Yi.

Qi Yi just felt repulsed.

He swatted the hand aside and melted into the crowd.

With that grudge between them, and Lu Liu being someone who nursed grudges viciously, now that Qi Yi had fallen into his hands, his already shattered Spirit Sea would only worsen.

Qi Yi couldn’t help but mock himself.

*If I had bit my tongue back then, forced myself to take Lu Liu’s hand, stomached the disgust and danced with him—would my situation today be any better?*

But now, such thoughts were meaningless. Qi Yi slowly controlled his breathing, trying to piece together the broken fragments of anomalies in his Spirit Sea.

—*He had to figure out what suggestion Lu Liu had planted, so he could erase it as soon as he escaped.*

The first memory that surfaced was the needle-like sting on his tongue.

His Spirit had been severely frightened, left dazed and confused.

Qi Yi frowned slightly.

His Spirit was a cheetah—swift, steadfast, and courageous, the embodiment of all qualities of a warrior. For his Spirit to be so terrified, it must have suffered something excruciating.

*What exactly did that guide do to my Spirit?*

The sentinel silently vowed that once he escaped the White Tower, he would repay everything in kind.

But for now, he could only seize the brief respite between interrogations, enduring the fatigue and throbbing nerves, to recover his strength.

He just didn’t know—how far his companions had come, or how much longer he had to endure.

*

In the hallway, Lu Liu was comparing notes with Xie Yu.

Lu Liu boasted, "I played a teen angst drama—the kind with cheating, abortions, crying in the rain, and slapping each other."

Xie Yu grimaced at the mention of "teen angst drama" and gave a thumbs-up. "Impressive."

Lu Liu added, "And I left trash all over the place—didn’t clean up a single thing!"

Xie Yu kept the thumbs-up. "Well done."

Lu Liu: "I also plan to go back tomorrow to screen another melodramatic romance film!"

Xie Yu: "This is in the bag."

After chatting briefly in the group, Lu Liu had already stepped out of the interrogation room. A servant quickly followed: "Master Lu Liu, did you manage to extract anything?"

Lu Liu recited his lines flatly: "Getting him to talk is no easy feat."

The original speaker had said this with keen interest, determined to break the Sentinel, but Lu Liu was left with only the Facial Paralysis System, his tone cold and detached.

The servant nodded. "Understood. Will you still attend the afternoon tea party?"

Lu Liu glanced at the script: "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Over generations, the guides in the White Tower had long been pampered. Like aristocrats of old, they reveled in socializing and tea parties—a golden chance for Sentinels to court their desired guides.

Lu Liu was there to play his part in the script.

—The White Tower was not monolithic. Within its walls, there were also spies planted by the Dark Sentinels.

The Dark Sentinels were plotting Qi Yi's rescue, and their informant would approach Lu Liu at the tea party, posing as an admirer to fish for details on Qi Yi while covertly arranging the rescue.

Lu Liu's role was to flawlessly play the brooding villain—humiliating Qi Yi's character in front of his comrades, insulting him, degrading him, so that when the Sentinels eventually freed Qi Yi, they would relay everything, adding another stain to Lu Liu’s rotten reputation as the ultimate antagonist!

No physical effort was needed—just cold, scripted malice. The dialogue framework was crystal clear, and with the Facial Paralysis System assisting, he found it effortless.

Thus, he returned to his White Tower bedroom, slipped into a pristine white dress suit as described in the script, and tied up his silver-white long hair with a ribbon.

Standing before the mirror, Lu Liu activated the Facial Paralysis System and arrogantly lifted his chin.

The *Iceberg Beauty* in the mirror did the same, gazing back at him with equal haughtiness.

Lu Liu nodded in satisfaction.

Perfect! Very villain-like!

He strode off cheerfully to the afternoon tea venue.

The tea party was buzzing, attended by the White Tower's elite. The guides, in unspoken agreement, did not sit together but occupied individual two-seater tables adorned with exquisite desserts and tea. Sentinels crowded around, jockeying for attention. Those who earned approval could join their chosen guide for tea, and if the conversation went well, they might even score a night of pleasure—and a mental tune-up.

Every guide here was at least A-rank, and securing their mental care often demanded exorbitant sums of money or contribution points. For many Sentinels on the brink of losing control but lacking the means to pay, attending the tea party was an excellent alternative.

Each Sentinel here pulled out all the stops—some bearing extravagant gifts, others dressed to impress, and a few deliberately clad in tight-fitting attire to flaunt obscenely bulging pecs.

Most guides ate this up.

—But Lu Liu was the exception.

All he cared about was the tea party's cream cakes.

The White Tower's cakes were, of course, the finest—blueberry, chocolate, tiramisu, artfully plated and tempting. Following the servant to his seat, Lu Liu settled gracefully and lowered his gaze to the table.

—Hmm.

Which one to eat first?

To onlookers, one of the White Tower's highest-ranking guides had arrived. Clad in pristine white formalwear, his expressionless face radiated frosty aloofness.

Unlike the other guides, who scrutinized the surrounding Sentinels to pick tonight's companion, he simply sat in silence, a stark contrast to the perfumed revelry and decadence, utterly unruffled.

The surrounding sentinels were getting antsy.

A sentinel flaunting his wealth took the initiative. He pulled out a box from his coat and placed it before Lu Liu, smiling. "Mr. Lu, just a little something to show my admiration. I believe this gemstone suits you perfectly. You're absolutely stunning tonight. Would you do me the honor of sharing a drink with you?"

As he spoke, he opened the box, revealing a dove-egg-sized sapphire inside.

The gem was priceless—even the picky guides of the White Tower would find it hard to resist.

But Lu Liu didn’t even look at the gem. Instead, he looked up at the sentinel and shook his head.

This wasn’t his target sentinel.

The Dark Sentinel embedded within the White Tower was named Ji Xiuyun, a classmate of Qi Yi’s who had once shared a dorm with him. According to the plot, he was handsome and refined, the scholarly type, with a pair of glasses perched on his nose. The man before him, however, was brawny and didn’t match the description.

The sentinel winced slightly.

His smile stiffened as he forced a smile. "My apologies for disturbing you. This gem is yours to keep..."

The rules of the White Tower dictated that gifts offered could not be taken back. The sentinel’s sapphire was worth a fortune, and even he couldn’t help but cringe at giving it away.

"I don’t want it," Lu Liu pushed the gem back. "I won’t drink with you. Keep it."

This was an NPC not mentioned in the script, so Lu Liu had no prepared lines and had to improvise. Besides, having traveled through so many worlds, he’d seen all kinds of gems—this one didn’t really impress him.

If you asked him, the ruby Imuir had given Bai Yu was far more beautiful than this.

The sentinel froze, his hand hovering awkwardly over the box. He cautiously studied the guide’s expression, relieved to see Lu Liu’s cold face remain completely unimpressed before finally retrieving the gift.

"Thank you for your generosity," the sentinel said.

After him, a few more sentinels came forward—some handsome, some buff—but the guide remained indifferent, refusing to share a drink with any of them.

Amid the crowd, Ji Xiuyun adjusted his glasses, studying Lu Liu with a frown.

As a fellow Dark Sentinel, he had always looked down on these events. But for the sake of his comrade’s safety, he had to gather information.

Ji Xiuyun considered himself among the top-tier among sentinels in terms of looks, so sharing a drink with a guide shouldn’t have been difficult. Yet Lu Liu’s reaction made him hesitate.

Wasn’t this guide supposed to love being the center of attention, accepting anyone who approached?

Had his intel was wrong?

Still, at this point, he had to try. Ji Xiuyun pasted on a smile, picked up two cocktails, and walked over to Lu Liu.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lu," he said in the smoothest voice he could manage. "Seeing you alone—could it be you haven’t found a sentinel to your liking? Might I have the honor of sharing a drink with you?"

Lu Liu slowly lifted his gaze, mentally checking the man to the intel.

Scholarly type, dark gray tailcoat, glasses—matched.

To avoid any mistakes, Lu Liu confirmed, "Mr. Ji?"

Ji Xiuyun was taken aback, clearly not expecting Lu Liu to recognize him. "You remember me?"

Lu Liu replied, "Qi Yi’s roommate, right? I saw you at the graduation party. Have a seat."

He gestured to the chair.

Ji Xiuyun sat down, quickly recovering from his surprise. He smiled, his tone loaded with implication. "Yes, Qi Yi and I were roommates. Color me surprised you knew that."

Lu Liu was a prominent figure at school, swarmed by admirers. Ji Xiuyun had never spoken to him before, and their only run-in was probably at the graduation ceremony when Ji Xiuyun witnessed the guide reaching out to Qi Yi, only to be firmly rejected.

Lu Liu didn’t react.

Of course he’d recognize the chief strategist by the protagonist's side, the future second-in-command of the Dark Sentinels.

Lu Liu stabbed a bite of cake and took a bite while Ji Xiuyun jumped in first. "I didn’t expect you to still remember Qi Yi, Mr. Lu. I haven’t been in contact with him since graduation."

Putting on a nostalgic act, he continued in a regretful tone, "I heard he’s fallen into becoming a Dark Sentinel and has been captured now. Ah, talk about karma."

Ji Xiuyun said this to cut ties with Qi Yi while also trying to get closer to Lu Liu.

Lu Liu hated Qi Yi, so it was easy for him to befriend anyone who hated Qi Yi.

According to the script, Lu Liu should have responded with keen interest, leaning in with interest: "Oh? Really?"

But the system’s acting chops were weak. Under the support of the Facial Paralysis System, he could only maintain an indifferent expression. So he merely lifted his gaze coldly, his voice frosty. "Oh. Really?"

"..."

This reaction was entirely unexpected. Ji Xiuyun blanked on his lines, unsure how to adjust, and could only continue along his train of thought. "Yes, this guy was already detestable back in school. When he shared the dorm with us, all three of us prayed he’d kick the bucket. You wouldn’t know how it was back then—"

Following the script, Ji Xiuyun was supposed to pause meaningfully, and Lu Liu was supposed to prompt with keen interest, "Go on." But for some reason, Ji Xiuyun’s scalp prickled and he abruptly sped up his speech, intending to gloss over this part.

Lu Liu: "?"

Lu Liu had been peacefully eating his cake, waiting for his line, but Ji Xiuyun spoke faster and faster, leaving no room for Lu Liu to prepare.

—Wait a minute! His line was about to disappear!

At the critical moment, Lu Liu stopped eating his cake, placing the fork down with a crisp *clink* against the porcelain plate.

Thus, Ji Xiuyun found the guide across from him suddenly looking up, expressionless, his eyes like chips of ice.

He interrupted flatly, "Go on."