Chapter 34: Bai Ye Delivers His Own Love Rival
"Here."
Bai Ye took a dark-colored card of a peculiar texture from the inner pocket of his military uniform and handed it to Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng lifted her eyes, her gaze falling on the card.
A strange name and title were printed on it.
Mo Chen, Central Star Domain High-level Biological Spirit Research Institute, Special Chief Researcher.
In the bottom right corner was a line of minuscule code that required close inspection, seemingly some kind of advanced authorization marker.
"He is an... old acquaintance of mine. His recent research focuses on the stimulation and stabilization of guide hormone potential."
Yun Sheng’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Bai Ye in astonishment.
’Stimulation of guide hormone potential?’
For someone like her, whose guide hormone levels were so weak she had practically been handed a "death sentence," this was nothing short of a ray of light suddenly piercing the darkness.
Yun Sheng had thought Bai Ye stopped her to interrogate her about Si Jin again, or perhaps to warn her about something related to Zhou Rin.
’How could he... suddenly hand me a card like this?’
This was practically... a direct offer of help.
If her guide hormone could truly be improved, even just a little, the path ahead of her would become so much easier.
’But Bai Ye... why would he do this?’
’He’s been suspicious of me this whole time!’
Yun Sheng could barely hide the suspicion in her eyes.
She didn’t immediately take the business card. Instead, she raised her eyes to look directly at Bai Ye and asked in a somewhat strained voice, "General Bai... what is the meaning of this?"
Bai Ye didn’t seem surprised by her reaction, his hand holding the card remaining steady.
"It means exactly what it says. Your situation is unique; conventional methods may not work. Mo Chen’s research is unconventional, but sometimes... an unconventional path is the one that works."
His gaze lingered on Yun Sheng’s face for a moment, his expression deep and unreadable.
"Take this card and go find him. He’ll help you. Of course, whether you accept or refuse, the choice is yours."
This was completely out of character for Bai Ye, whose style had always been to press her at every step. The doubt in Yun Sheng’s heart grew even larger.
’Is this another test, or... does he have some ulterior motive?’
She looked at the business card, so close it could almost be touched, a card that could potentially change her fate. Her fingertips curled slightly.
Bai Ye simply kept his hand extended, neither rushing her nor pulling it back.
He watched the subtle struggle on Yun Sheng’s face and the deep wariness in her eyes. This appearance, in fact, was more... pleasing to the eye than the calm that didn’t belong on the face of someone her age.
’At least it’s real.’
The thought startled even him.
’Since when do I care if Yun Sheng is being real or not?’
"Don’t rush your decision. Take the card. Whether you contact him or not, and when, is up to you."
Bai Ye pushed the card a little further forward, nearly touching Yun Sheng’s hand, which was hanging by her side.
"As for why," he said, explaining as if he knew what she was thinking, "your ’uniqueness’ has already attracted a lot of attention. A guide with guide hormone levels too weak to protect herself is an easy target in the Tower, and even on the entire Capital Star. It’s also easy... to cause unnecessary chaos. Giving you some ability to protect yourself will at least reduce potential trouble. It’s better for everyone."
Yun Sheng met his gaze, trying to discern his true intentions from those bottomless, ink-black eyes, but she found nothing.
Finally, she slowly reached out and took the business card, which was still cool from the touch of his fingertips.
"Thank you," she said in a low voice. Her tone held little gratitude and far more caution.
Bai Ye withdrew his hand, his gaze lingering for a moment on her fingertips as they held the card.
"Look after yourself."
He left her with those three words and said no more, turning to leave.
Yun Sheng stood rooted to the spot, looking at the business card in her hand.
Bai Ye’s uncharacteristic behavior today did nothing to put her at ease. On the contrary, it made her even more vigilant.
She carefully put the business card away.
Whether it was a trap or an opportunity, she didn’t seem to have much of a choice.
’But at least I have another card to play.’
She wouldn’t act rashly until she had figured out Bai Ye’s true motives and the background of this "Special Chief Researcher" named Mo Chen.
At this moment, the desire to become stronger had never been so intense.
Only by becoming strong enough could she find a niche to survive among these powerful, inscrutable individuals, and maybe even... turn the tables on them.
...
The afternoon training took place in another, larger multipurpose training room. The session focused on basic physical fitness and reaction coordination.
This was equally important for guides. After all, once training was over and they were assigned soothing duties, they might need to accompany Sentinels on missions and be ready to handle unexpected situations at any moment.
The training regimen was progressive, starting with basic endurance running and obstacle courses, then moving on to balance exercises that required a certain degree of physical coordination.
This body of Yun Sheng’s was in poor shape, a result of the original owner’s long-term malnutrition and psychological distress.
She fell behind during the endurance run, and her movements were somewhat clumsy when crossing obstacles.
Sweat quickly soaked her training uniform and her breathing became exceptionally ragged, but she gritted her teeth and persevered without a single complaint.
She could feel several jeering gazes fall on her from time to time, probably mocking her. ’Just as expected of a waste, even her basic fitness is terrible.’
But she didn’t care!
She was well aware of this body’s weaknesses. It couldn’t be rushed; she could only forge it stronger, bit by bit.
After the basic fitness training, Shen Tang announced the next item: a dynamic reaction and neural coordination test.
This test was conducted on a circular platform that simulated various environments.
The platform’s floor would light up with dots of different colors, while extremely fast, soft balls were launched from different directions from above and around the perimeter.
Trainees had to stand in the center of the platform, dodging the ball attacks while stomping on the illuminated dots on the floor as quickly as possible.
This tested not only physical agility and reaction speed but also relied heavily on one’s spiritual power for instantaneous perception and prediction.
For guides, this was fundamental to self-preservation and assisting Sentinels in complex environments in the future.
"Each person gets 90 seconds. The system will calculate a score based on the number of valid dots stomped and the number of hits taken. Begin now."
The first trainee to go up was a flustered mess. They barely hit any dots and were instead knocked about by the balls, cutting a sorry figure.
The next few trainees performed slightly better, but most of them couldn’t handle both tasks at once. They either focused on stomping the dots and were frequently hit by the balls, or they were so busy dodging that they missed the dots.
When Zhou Ying took the stage, she appeared much more composed.
Her movements were light and her footwork agile. Not only did she effectively evade most of the balls, but she also managed to seize the gaps to accurately stomp on the dots.
In the end, she received an A, the highest score so far.
Li Wen’s performance was also good; she got a B+.
When it was Yun Sheng’s turn, those gazes mixed with curiosity and schadenfreude gathered on her once more.
"Her fitness is rock bottom, and she’s a waste who can’t even manifest her spiritual body. For a project that relies purely on talent like this, isn’t she just going up there to make a fool of herself?" a trainee sneered in a low, undisguised voice.
"Exactly. How can she compare to someone like Senior Sister Zhou, who’s had systematic training since she was a child? Senior Sister Zhou just got an A."
"I bet she gets knocked off by the balls within thirty seconds. The dots? She’ll be lucky if she even touches one."