First Interstellar Guide Chapter 17: Barrier

Chapter 17: Barrier

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

At exactly nine o’clock in the morning, the opening ceremony officially began. The president of the guide academy, Xie Shiyi, various department heads, and special guests entered the auditorium together. Among the group of young teachers, Professor Morvi, with his white hair, stood out. He was already in his seventies, an age when he should have retired long ago. However, he wore a smile on his face, walked with a straight posture, and wore a well-tailored suit with a tie. He appeared mentally alert and didn’t look the least bit old-fashioned.

Professor Morvi was an S-level guide, and his spirit body was a large porpoise. However, due to the limited space in the auditorium, his spirit body shrunk when he entered, looking no different from a porpoise at the zoo.

On the platform, President Xie Shiyi picked up the microphone and began his speech, “Dear teachers and students, good morning, everyone! Welcome to the guide academy of the Sanctuary on the capital star. Today is January 8th, 500 years in the star calendar, and also the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Guide Academy! We are honored to invite Professor Morvi, the president of the Federal Central Academy of Sciences and a Ph.D. supervisor in life science at the Federal Knox Comprehensive University, to attend our opening ceremony!”

Warm applause echoed in the auditorium. Although many students didn’t know Professor Morvi, after hearing the introduction from the president, they all understood that he was a very powerful scientist, and a sense of respect rose in their hearts.

Sitting next to Yu Ran, Kamiya whispered, “Professor Morvi is an S-level guide, right? Is his spirit body a porpoise, and does his mental landscape stretch endlessly into the ocean?”

The little guy seemed to be very concerned about his own mental landscape, which was only a fish tank.

Yu Ran said, “That’s probably right. The mental landscape of S-level guides is unfathomable, and porpoise are best suited to the ocean.”

Kamiya sighed, “Ah, my goldfish can only stay in a fish tank, it’s so pitiful.”

Next to them, their roommate Qin Tian interjected, “Just accept reality! My Teddy only has a small yard.”

The applause ended, and President Xie Shiyi continued his speech on stage, and the venue quieted down again. The students listened attentively. President Xie Shiyi always smiled when he spoke, his demeanor gentle and refined. Listening to him speak was like enjoying a spring breeze, and the children of the guide academy all liked him very much.

After a moment, President Xie Shiyi finished his speech and said, “Now, let’s warmly applaud and invite our special guest, Professor Morvi, to address everyone!”

Applause erupted once again, and Professor Morvi, with a smiling face, took the microphone and said, “Dear students, good morning, I am very happy to attend this opening ceremony…”

As the ceremony began, the lights in the student seating area were turned off, and everyone could only see the stage. In the darkness, a student in the fourth row from the back of the upper tier quietly left his seat. At the moment he left, a white fox, similar in size to a human, sat in his original seat.

Kamiya, who was closest to Yu Ran, seemed to sense something and turned to look, meeting the eyes of the fox.

Yu Ran’s voice sounded in his mind, “I’ve been here all along, pay attention to the lecture.”

Kamiya obediently nodded and continued to look at the main stage.

The white fox remained in Yu Ran’s seat, and those around him subconsciously assumed that Yu Ran had never left. That’s the advantage of having two spirit bodies. S-level and above guides can allow their spirit bodies to leave them within a certain range. Yu Ran took the Nine-Tailed Fox with him to execute the mission, leaving the white fox as a decoy on his seat. His three roommates and all the young students around would become his most powerful witnesses.

The snow outside had stopped. Yu Ran agilely climbed over the window and quickly slipped down from the air conditioning duct, which was a blind spot in the surveillance, and headed briskly towards the location of the isolation wall.

Today was the opening ceremony for the first-year students, and the second-year students had not started classes yet. Due to the cold weather and the fact that a guide’s physical condition was not particularly good, most of them were sleeping in their dorms. Occasionally, some people stood on the balcony to watch the snow. Strangely, those who made eye contact with Yu Ran seemed to automatically ignore him, as if they had seen a transparent mass of air.

The Nine-Tailed Fox not only possessed formidable mental attack power but also a special ability – invisibility.

This was why Yu Ran could hide the Nine-Tailed Fox and even the Butterfly Interrogator of the Investigation Division couldn’t detect it during mental intrusion. It could hide deep within Yu Ran’s mental landscape, undetected by invaders. It could also use mental suggestions to make those who saw it automatically ignore its existence.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was hidden very well. With its assistance, Yu Ran briskly navigated through the guide academy and didn’t encounter a single “witness.”

Yu Ran soon arrived near the isolation wall. He had carefully examined the surveillance here yesterday when he took his roommates on a tour of the campus. The surveillance camera in the southeast corner covered most of the area near the isolation wall, but there was a blind spot just behind the large pine tree.

Yu Ran quickly arrived behind the pine tree, took out a folding shovel from his pocket, and dug away the snow nearby. The soil under the snow seemed no different from the surrounding area, but with a hard tap, a loosened trace appeared quickly. Yu Ran skillfully opened the floor of the secret passage and jumped down.

The interior of the secret passage was narrow, only allowing one person to pass through at a time. Fortunately, Yu Ran was slender and passed through the passage smoothly.

On the other side of the isolation wall was the sentinel academy. After a while, under the pine tree of the sentinel academy, the snow was pushed aside, and a person emerged from the ground.

If this scene were seen by someone, it would definitely startle them. However, today the sentinel academy was also holding its opening ceremony. Due to Lu Zexuan’s significant influence among sentinels and being an idol in the hearts of many sentinel students, not only did the first-year students go to the scene, but many second-year students also went to the periphery to catch a glimpse of their idol.

There was no one near the isolation wall, and the entire campus of the sentinel academy was deserted. It seemed that most of the students had gone to see Lu Zexuan.

Yu Ran scanned the surroundings and shook off the snow on his body.

The invisibility ability of the Nine-Tailed Fox could deceive most humans and spirit bodies. However, surveillance belonged to high-tech equipment, and if Yu Ran appeared in the surveillance footage, all his efforts would be in vain. The biggest challenge of this mission was not avoiding witnesses but avoiding surveillance.

Yu Ran was very familiar with the surveillance positions on the way to the sentinel academy and could easily avoid them. However, it was difficult to completely avoid the surveillance inside the library, especially since there were surveillance cameras in the library’s elevators and corridors. He couldn’t climb up to the fifteenth floor like a gecko. If necessary, he would go to the security room and delete the surveillance footage.

As Yu Ran was contemplating his options, the Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly sounded an alarm, “S-level spirit body, Lu Zexuan’s eagle.”

The fox could leave Yu Ran within a certain range, and naturally, Lu Zexuan’s white eagle could also leave him within a certain range.

At this moment, the central gymnasium of the sentinel academy, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people, Lu Zexuan was giving a speech on the main stage, “It’s an honor to be invited to attend the 300th anniversary opening ceremony of the sentinel academy. I graduated from this school, and my experiences of studying here when I was young are still vivid in my mind. I have always been grateful to the teachers who guided me at the sentinel academy. The sentinel academy is where sentinels receive their enlightenment education, and I hope that my younger brothers and sisters will…”

The man’s deep and pleasant voice was amplified through the microphone, clearly transmitting to Yu Ran’s ears.

Lu Zexuan himself was giving a speech in the gymnasium, yet he released his spirit body to patrol the school’s airspace. It seemed that he had suddenly received orders from his superiors to attend the opening ceremony, and he was worried that something might happen at the sentinel academy today, so he had his eagle watch over it for him.

The S-level eagle was the King of the Sky, with the fastest flying speed and the sharpest vision among all spirit bodies. It could even see the movements of ants on the ground from high in the sky.

At the scene of the ceremony, many young sentinels raised their heads and saw the giant wings of the white eagle spread out as it flew over the gymnasium. It had beautiful white wings, stretching dozens of meters, and when it spread its wings to fly, it resembled a divine bird in the sky, blocking out the light and casting a shadow over the gymnasium.

The students showed admiration in their eyes.

“That’s the S-level spirit body, right?”

“So cool!”

“Did you hear that General Lu evolved flying abilities? S-level sentinels are really powerful.”

Amidst the enthusiastic applause in the gymnasium, some students’ discussions reached Lu Zexuan’s ears. Just then, the white eagle suddenly focused its gaze, as if it had spotted something. It lowered its head in confusion, then swiftly dove down towards a corner of the sentinel academy!

—What a sharp-eyed fellow, just like its master. Yu Ran’s expression turned cold. At the moment the white eagle was about to discover him, the Nine-Tailed Fox’s flame-like tail suddenly spread open, and its formidable mental energy surged out like a tide, instantly creating a transparent mental barrier around it.

White Eagle: “???” I feel like I saw something, but also like I saw nothing? Yes, I saw nothing.

The white eagle was puzzled for a second, then spread its wings and flew away.

Lu Zexuan sensed the disturbance in the spirit body and asked in his mind, “What’s going on?”

The voice of the white eagle echoed in his mind, “Nothing, master, I didn’t see anything.”

Lu Zexuan: “…?” He couldn’t shake the feeling that its response was strange. But if the spirit body had been attacked, Lu Zexuan would have sensed it — it hadn’t been attacked just now. With its sharp vision, if anything was amiss at the sentinel academy, it shouldn’t have escaped its eyes.

Lu Zexuan ignored the fleeting doubt in his mind and continued reading his speech.

Yu Ran watched the white eagle fly away, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Zexuan’s spirit body was even more powerful than he had imagined, actually sensing the presence of the Nine-Tailed Fox, forcing him to expend mental energy to hide forcibly.

It seemed that in the future, he would have to be more cautious when dealing with such intuitively sharp S-level spirit bodies. Yu Ran silently withdrew his mental energy and continued towards the direction of the library with the Nine-Tailed Fox.