First Interstellar Guide Chapter 22.1: Fusion (Part 1)

Chapter 22.1: Fusion (Part 1)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Since Yu Ran disguised himself as a “growing guide,” Dean Xie and the class teacher had been especially attentive to him. During the daily mental energy self-study classes, the class teacher personally guided him, and the dean would often come to check on him.

To make his disguise more convincing, he had to focus his attention and play this role well. For example, Little White Fox’s size couldn’t increase all at once but had to “grow” slowly. Today, the tail grew by five centimeters, and tomorrow the fur would lengthen by a centimeter, making it difficult for the teachers to spot any loopholes.

Little White Fox was an excellent actor, enjoying playing along with his master. Nine-tailed Fox, on the other hand, was hidden by Yu Ran and had been resting during this time. The area of his mental landscape was also gradually expanding. Every time he used mental tendrils, the mist by the lake would disperse a little.

Compared to Yu Ran’s rapid progress, the other students in the class were still focusing on “how to condense mental tendrils.”

That afternoon, Teacher Ai Qi happened to be teaching the class about “Branching of Mental Tendrils.” She stood at the podium and patiently explained, “Guides can be divided into two main categories: attack guides and healing guides. Under the attack category, there are three types based on mental tendrils: flames, blades, and venom. Among them, the red flames have the strongest attacking power, capable of instantly burning down the target’s mental world, causing brain death; the blade type is usually the guide of raptors and birds, capable of severing the target’s senses and emotions, making them unable to see or hear, essentially turning them into blind and deaf individuals…”

Hearing, vision, and smell require the senses to capture external information and feedback to the brain. Once a guide cuts off this feedback, the target’s brain cannot receive external information, rendering them unable to see, hear, or smell anything, as if abandoned by the world.

While the blade type guide could instantly turn someone blind, the most terrifying was actually the venom—guides with snake-like spirit bodies. Their mental venom could slowly corrode a sentinel’s mental world, making them suffer unbearably.

In comparison, Yu Ran felt his Nine-tailed Fox was relatively “gentle.” After all, burning someone to death with flames was straightforward, and the victim would die quickly.

Every time Teacher Ai Qi taught, the students listened attentively. The three attack methods—flames, blades, and venom—sounded mysterious and cool. Sitting next to Yu Ran, Kamiya raised his hand curiously and asked, “Teacher, do we have attack guides in our class?”

Teacher Ai Qi smiled and said, “Among our 40 classmates, all of them are healing guides. The number of attack guides is relatively small, and in this cohort, only classes 6 and 7 have them.”

The students looked envious. Kamiya looked at Yu Ran and whispered, “The students assigned to classes 6 and 7 should be very lucky, right?”

Yu Ran smiled and said, “Not necessarily.”

Classes 6 and 7 of the guide academy were always quite lively. The mental energy of aggressive guides was usually strong, with none lower than grade A. Could a group of thirteen-year-olds with strong combat abilities live in harmony? Fighting and competing with each other every day was quite common.

Teacher Ai Qi then talked about healing guides. “Regarding attack guides, you only need a basic understanding. What we need to focus on are healing guides. Healing guides also have branches, including the Holy Light, Ocean, and Forest branches. In our class, we have 18 Holy Light guides, 18 Ocean guides, and 4 Forest guides. The advantage of the Holy Light branch lies in dispersing and eliminating. They can dispel negative emotions and eliminate bad memories; the Ocean branch excels in purifying and cleansing, able to cleanse the rubbish emotions within the mental landscape; the Forest branch specializes in repairing and rebuilding, especially for sentinels whose mental landscapes are severely damaged, they can help them establish a new scenery.”

Everyone was excited to hear about the knowledge related to themselves.

After class, the students gathered to chat. Kamiya said, “Although my mental landscape is just a fish tank, I should be considered part of the Ocean branch, right? My mental tendrils are blue.” 

Someone nearby echoed, “I’m also blue! Brother Ran, Ocean branch is powerful, isn’t it?”

Yu Ran looked at them and said, “Quite powerful. Once you learn how to use mental tendrils for healing, you can instantly calm down a grade-C berserk sentinel. The Ocean branch possesses gentle healing abilities, with the soothing effect of water being the strongest, and the healing speed being the fastest.”

A student interjected, “What about the Holy Light branch? What are their strengths?”

Yu Ran replied, “Their hypnosis ability is the strongest, and they can also modify or erase memories.”

The student exclaimed excitedly, “Wow, erasing memories! That’s impressive. So, the Holy Light branch is actually the erasure masters? Encounter something wrong, just erase it?”

Laughter erupted around them.

Kamiya asked, “Brother Ran, the teacher said the Forest branch’s advantage is rebuilding. I don’t quite understand how they rebuild?”

Yu Ran patiently explained, “You can think of it this way. The other two branches are for preventing and treating sentinels who are about to or have just fallen ill. The Forest branch, on the other hand, can heal severely ill sentinels who have already gone berserk. Their mental landscapes are usually severely damaged, and the Forest branch can rebuild their scenery, giving them a new lease on life.”

Everyone suddenly understood. Qin Tian summarized loudly, “The Holy Light branch is like a surgeon, cutting off the bad parts when encountering problems; the Ocean branch is like an internist, gently regulating and treating from the inside; the Forest branch is like an ICU, entrusted with the repair and reconstruction of those critically ill patients on the verge of death! Am I right in my understanding?”

Yu Ran nodded with a smile, “You summarized it very well.”

Qin Tian, who was praised, blushed with excitement, and his little teddy bear jumped up and down.

The classroom was bustling. The once introverted and shy students gradually gathered to discuss the course content. Those students who initially felt inferior because they were grade-C guides had regained their confidence in the past few days under the encouragement of the class leader.

Outside the window, Xie Shiyi watched this scene with mixed feelings. “Yu Ran is very clever and well-liked by his classmates. The atmosphere in your class 107 is the best among all classes… even better than many class A atmospheres.”

Teacher Ai Qi sighed, “Yes. Thanks to Yu Ran, he is our class leader. He patiently answers all sorts of strange questions from these 13-year-old students every day without getting tired. He’s like a patient older brother, guiding everyone in their learning, and everyone respects him.”

Xie Shiyi suddenly remembered the attack class 7 eleven years ago. That cohort’s class 7 was also the most harmonious class in years. Of course, it wasn’t because the class leader was as patient and gentle as Yu Ran, but because… the class leader was too strong; whoever didn’t obey was violently subdued. Shortly after school started, there was a fight in the class, and the class leader gave them a harsh lesson. Since then, whenever the classmates saw him, they were extremely respectful.

Eleven years ago, the class leader of class 7 was a 13-year-old attack guide with a flame red fox spirit body. Now, the class leader of class 107 is an 18-year-old growing guide with a gentle personality and a healing-type white fox spirit body. Clearly, they were two people with extremely different personalities and ages. Yet whenever Xie Shiyi saw Yu Ran, for some reason, he always thought of that student who had died young.

He snapped back to the present and asked quietly, “How’s Yu Ran’s recent progress in learning?”

Teacher Ai Qi proudly said, “He has crossed the critical threshold of one minute in consolidating his mental tendrils. This is a level that most grade-C guides can achieve after three months of study, but Yu Ran did it in a week.”

Xie Shiyi said with relief, “He’s progressing quickly. It may be because he has studied middle and high school, so his understanding is stronger than many 13-year-old students. Plus, being a growing guide, it’s normal for him to progress faster… His current level is the same as that of the class A students. Should we consider moving him to class A?”

Ai Qi immediately shook her head, “Let him stay in this class. The students in class A might ostracize him as a mid-term transfer, which he might not be accustomed to. He’s already made many friends in this class. Of course, his learning progress is faster than other students’, so I’ll try to provide additional guidance after class.”

After careful consideration, Xie Shiyi said, “That makes sense. Then, please put in extra effort, and if you need any help, feel free to ask me.”

Ai Qi smiled, “No problem. Yu Ran is the most diligent student I’ve ever taught, and I’ll do everything I can to help him.”

Although Yu Ran’s current mental energy assessment was still grade C, both Xie Shiyi and Ai Qi believed that with his hard work and intelligence, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to raise his mental energy to grade A over time. Whether he could reach grade S would depend on his talent and opportunities.

***

Meanwhile, the Eagle starship finally reached the destination of this mission—planet N96 in the Southern Cross constellation. The White Tower instructed the Eagle Special Forces to carry out the mission mainly because there had been several incidents of rampaging sentinel causing severe harm in the human base on N96.

Sentinels possessed powerful physical abilities but also had obvious weaknesses—their mental worlds were prone to chaos. Some sentinels, when unable to control their emotions while using their abilities, could rampage or even deform due to the collapse of their mental landscape.

Rampaging sentinels behaved like irrational lunatics, attacking indiscriminately any living beings around them. Deformed sentinels were even more terrifying; their bodies would merge with their spirit bodies, turning into monsters resembling “half-therians.” For example, a sentinel with a lion spirit body, after deformation, would become a monster with the body of a lion and the head of a human. They not only possessed formidable attacking power but also became more bloodthirsty, even craving to devour humans.

Lu Zexuan had been shuttling back and forth on the frontline of the Federation’s resource development stars for years. He had seen too many rampaging and deformed sentinels, especially those low-level sentinels with poor self-control. When facing danger, they tended to excessively use their abilities, easily driving themselves insane.

There were too few guides on the frontline. Sometimes, even 500 grade-C sentinels couldn’t be assigned to a single guide doctor, and the “medical guide essence” used to alleviate mental disorders was prohibitively expensive. Those low-level sentinels suffered torment from the devastation of their mental worlds all day long.

This situation had been ongoing for years. Every year, Lu Zexuan would propose to increase the number of frontline guides in the parliament… Unfortunately, each proposal fell on deaf ears.

The starship was about to land.

Mohr asked in a low voice, “Captain, when encountering rampaging sentinels, shall we proceed as before?”

Lu Zexuan nodded, “Yes. Save them if possible. If not…” A trace of sorrow flashed in his eyes. “Put them out of their misery with one swift blow, so they suffer less before dying.”

Killing one’s own kind was something Lu Zexuan least wanted to do. Some deformed sentinels couldn’t be saved at all and had to be executed on the spot according to Federation law, to prevent them from becoming a greater threat to humans. Even if that person had once been your closest comrade, when he deformed, you had to stab him through the chest with one swift strike.

Lu Zexuan seemed to be immersed in heavy memories, his brows tightly furrowed. But soon, he adjusted his mood and led his Eagle Special Forces comrades off the starship.

The safety zone on planet N96 was shrinking, and humans had moved to underground shelters. Many rampaging sentinels were moving on the streets; some still maintained human forms, while others had deformed into “half-therian” states. Their common characteristic was their pitch-black pupils, mad expressions, and complete loss of “humanity.”

So many rampaging sentinels? What had happened here?

Lu Zexuan’s eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, “Teams of three, disperse and act! Bring back those who can be captured alive to the starship. Those already deformed, execute them on the spot!”

“Yes!” The elite members of the Eagle Special Forces split into teams of three and headed off to deal with the rampaging sentinels.

Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry echoed from a street ahead, sounding like a child’s cry, “Daddy… Daddy, it’s me… don’t kill me… Daddy…”

Lu Zexuan’s expression changed, and a pair of pure white wings suddenly spread out from his shoulders. With a leap, the man flew towards the direction where the sound came from at lightning speed, landing at the end of the street in just two seconds.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, a sentinel transformed into a bear was choking a little girl by the neck. His face had completely twisted into a terrifying gaping mouth—he intended to devour the girl alive!

The little girl was almost out of breath, still calling him “Daddy” in a choking voice, trying hard to awaken his consciousness. However, the sentinel’s eyes had turned completely black, his body half-transformed into a beast, and he couldn’t recognize his own daughter.

Lu Zexuan drew the electromagnetic knife from his waist, and the little girl saw a flash of silver-white arc in front of her, followed by a dazzling spray of blood—

A strange tall man, with a swift motion, directly chopped off the head of the sentinel in front of her!

“Ah—” The child was scared and fainted.

Lu Zexuan landed steadily and picked up the child, handing her over to Mohr. He looked at the child’s face, now stained with blood, with a complicated expression. “She was almost eaten by her father just now. I killed that deformed sentinel, but this child will definitely be left with psychological trauma. See if you can erase this part of her memory.”

Mohr looked at the child’s tender face stained with blood and said with pity, “Erasing memories will cause irreversible damage to the mental landscape unless we find a guide with the healing power of the forest series to rebuild the scenery. Otherwise, that hollow part will definitely cause problems over time.”

Lu Zexuan’s expression became serious. “I know. You stabilize this child first, and we’ll discuss it later.”

“Okay.” Mohr handed Lu Zexuan a clean towel. His face was splattered with blood from killing that deformed creature just now. Lu Zexuan took the towel and wiped his face. Looking at the child who had fainted, he said thoughtfully, “How could there be so many rampaging sentinels suddenly appearing here?”

Mohr said, “I’m not sure either. According to the instructions from above, it should be the sentinel team stationed here encountering geological disasters during their mission. Many people were injured, and some couldn’t hold on, thus rampaging or even deforming. They have scattered everywhere, attacking nearby living beings indiscriminately. We need to search carefully to avoid any missed fish.”

Something wasn’t right.

Even when they were carrying out the mission, they shouldn’t have all gone berserk together. Lu Zexuan furrowed his brow tightly, feeling as if there were unseen hands pulling strings behind the scenes. Suddenly, galactic behemoths flooded into the safety zone of Base B73, and an inexplicable number of sentinels went berserk at Base N96… Could there be any connection between these incidents?

As they pondered, several teammates used specially designed electromagnetic nets to capture a berserk sentinel. The sentinel’s eyes were as dark as an endless abyss, its expression frantic, struggling desperately while continuously muttering, “I’ll kill you… I’ll kill all of you…”

Lu Zexuan and Mohr exchanged a glance. Mohr murmured softly, “This one should still be salvageable. Let’s take it back to the White Tower for treatment.”

Lu Zexuan nodded. “Hmm. Keep searching. Anyone not yet distorted, bring them back to me.”

Late at night, the members of the Eagle Special Forces moved in a disciplined and coordinated manner on the streets. With seamless cooperation, they quickly apprehended over a dozen berserk sentinels and even dispatched several mutated variants on the spot.

The situation was bizarre. Lu Zexuan looked at these people with crazed expressions, regretful that the berserk sentinels couldn’t answer any questions.