First Interstellar Guide Chapter 84: Controlled Black Shark

Chapter 84: Controlled Black Shark

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After Xie Chen passed out, the “servant” indeed slowly entered the dining room and said, “Yu Ran, you did well.”

Her voice was hoarse, bearing a striking resemblance to Yu Ran’s memory of Grandma Li, with a similarity rating of 99%. If it weren’t for the discrepancy in the details of the scars on her arms, Yu Ran would have almost been fooled by her.

The real Grandma Li had probably already suffered a cruel fate. Thinking of the kind old woman who used to tell him stories every day in his childhood, Yu Ran’s heart was stabbed with pain, wishing he could tear this impostor to shreds! But he couldn’t do that yet.

It was crucial to root out the mimic octopus, but more importantly, he needed the detailed list of the Dark Night Organization’s members. He needed to find out how many people were in this organization, and exterminate all these rats hiding in the shadows to prevent future troubles.

Yu Ran quickly calmed down and asked calmly, “Are you the person the organization planted beside General Xie?”

The old lady’s wrinkled face resembled uneven gullies. She glanced at Xie Chen and said, “General Xie is very cautious. I’ve been unable to find an opportunity to act. On her birthday, when you personally came to visit, she had to eat something.”

Yu Ran stared at her and asked, “What’s next? Did the organization instruct you to convey any message to me?”

The old lady said, “Just like controlling General Lu, control her.”

Yu Ran sneered, “Are you kidding? My control has a distance limit. How could I control two generals at the same time?”

It wasn’t difficult for the Dark Night Organization to control ordinary people; there was a large number of people controlled by them on Planet B73. But controlling the mental landscape of an S-class sentinel was much more challenging. Their attempts to control S-class sentinels had always failed before. Lu Zexuan was the first “successful” experiment. Therefore, the organization wasn’t particularly clear about how Yu Ran controlled Lu Zexuan specifically.

Yu Ran exploited this gap in information to find a way to save Grandma Li. 

Upon hearing this, the old lady seemed momentarily stunned, then furrowed her brows and asked, “What is the maximum distance you can control an S-class puppet?”

Yu Ran said, “It’s about the same distance as the farthest distance a spirit body can leave its owner, no more than 500 meters. That’s why I’ve been with Lu Zexuan all this time.”

At this moment, Lu Zexuan looked dazed, obediently standing by Yu Ran’s side like a puppet.

Yu Ran glanced at Xie Chen, who had fainted on the chair, and said, “How about this? Later, I’ll control General Xie first, and have her join a video conference with the top brass of the military. Say that she’s been feeling unwell recently and needs to rest at home for a while, temporarily delegating military affairs to the deputy commander of the Starlight Corps. We’ll confine her, and when we need her to appear, I’ll find a way to control her actions.”

The old lady seemed to be pondering, her cloudy eyes shifting, then said, “The master told me to follow your plan.”

Because ordinary people controlled by the Dark Night Organization would have monitoring programs implanted in their brains, the behavior of this old lady indeed seemed to be manipulated and monitored from behind the scenes—only Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan knew that she was actually the mimic octopus, the same person who impersonated the president that day. She was the mastermind they had been searching for!

The mimic octopus could freely change its appearance and features, making it a terrifying spirit body. However, the “disguise” of the mimic octopus had a fatal flaw—it could only mimic the appearance and voice of humans it knew. If it overlooked some details, such as the length of the president’s fingers or the scars on Grandma Li’s arms, it couldn’t replicate them completely.

Yu Ran nodded imperceptibly and said, “Alright, let’s do it this way. I’ll wake up General Xie first.”

***

At that moment, in Yu Ran’s mental world, the area of the lake in the forest had doubled by the expansion of the white fox. In the depths of the lake, a sleeping black shark slowly opened its eyes, looking around in confusion, unable to understand how its ocean, where it lived, had suddenly turned into a lake. The difference between the sea and the lake was significant. It was the ruler of the ocean, not a fish in the lake!

The black shark seemed a bit angry, trying to swim upstream but finding its body tightly bound by soft green vines. Those green vines were resilient, and it struggled to break free for a moment. Even more strangely, the green vines emitted a soft glow. There was a plentiful mental energy, flowing slowly throughout its body like a weak electric current along the vines.

… It felt so comfortable.

In all these years, it had never felt so comfortable. It was as if every pore of its body was being gently caressed. This was the treatment of mental energy by the guide, helping to soothe the trauma caused by the recent deep-sea turbulence.

The black shark was quickly calmed by Yu Ran, even closing its eyes happily to enjoy the treatment of the vines. As the black shark’s mental energy recovered, Xie Chen on the sofa also opened her eyes. Seeing Yu Ran’s indifferent expression, Lu Zexuan’s vacant gaze, and the servant’s strange smile, Xie Chen didn’t act rashly. With the spirit body connected to the master’s consciousness, she quickly saw that her shark had been pulled into Yu Ran’s mental landscape.

Only an S+ guide could pull someone else’s spirit body into their own. The first time she was pulled away was when she was young and Marshal Qin Xiao took her into his ocean, talking with her in the transparent bubbles of jellyfish. At that time, she only felt that the Marshal’s ocean was more magnificent and vast than her own, and she was full of awe for the S+ guide.

At this moment, she felt a powerful mental energy just like Marshal Qin Xiao’s.

Yu Ran’s mental energy was at least S+. Before the black shark was a clear lake, but from the light and shadow, Yu Ran’s mental landscape was not just this lake. The trees and flowers on the lake shore cast clear reflections in the lake… it looked more like a forest here.

Xie Chen was not impulsive. Sensing that Yu Ran had saved her black shark, she immediately asked calmly, “Yu Ran, what are you doing? Why did you pull my black shark into your lake and even heal its mental injuries?”

Her consciousness conveyed through the black shark, so Yu Ran could hear her voice echoing in the depths of the lake.

Yu Ran, worried that her expression would give away his intentions, did not directly reveal his true identity to her. Instead, he said softly, “General Xie, the servant by your side has put something in your bowl, trying to control your spirit body while you go berserk, making you a puppet of the Dark Night Organization. I’ll explain other things to you later. For now, you need to cooperate with me in staging an act.”

Xie Chen was shocked— the progress of the Dark Night Organization’s drug research was indeed significant, actually starting to target S+ sentinels! Yu Ran was a member of the Dark Night Organization? No, if Yu Ran were a member of the Dark Night Organization, she would have been brain-dead by now and become his puppet.

But just now, when her mental landscape was about to collapse and the black shark was almost swept into the deep-sea vortex, it was Yu Ran who intervened to save the black shark and even pulled it into his mental landscape for treatment, deceiving everyone and saving her consciousness.

So, was Yu Ran an ally? There was only one explanation— a double agent, a spy. He was sent by a legion to infiltrate the Dark Night Organization, so capable, penetrating into the high ranks of the organization and accessing core secrets?!

Xie Chen’s mind was in turmoil, but she quickly calmed down, pretending to look blankly at Yu Ran.

Yu Ran said in her mind, “Please convene an emergency video conference and tell the generals of the Starlight Legion that you’re not feeling well and need to rest at home for a while. The internal affairs of the Starlight Legion will temporarily be handled by the deputy commander.”

Xie Chen nodded, rising like a puppet and went to the study, opening the internal video call of the Starlight Legion.

Soon, several generals of the Starlight Legion entered the video conference room, seeing Xie Chen sitting at the desk, dressed casually, and pale-faced, saying, “Everyone, I’m very sorry. My body has had many problems recently, and the doctor advised me to rest at home for a while. Next, the internal affairs of the Starlight Legion will be temporarily handled by the deputy commander.”

Everyone looked at each other upon hearing her words. However, Xie Chen’s health issues were within the expectations of several people.

Since her sister’s death, she had worked tirelessly, almost non-stop throughout the year, personally handling every matter of the legion, big and small. Everyone knew she was sad and used intense work to numb herself… Previously, some people had advised her to take a break, but she had vehemently refused. Now, her body couldn’t take it anymore, suggesting resting at home, and several generals would naturally agree readily.

The deputy commander said, “General, is your illness serious? Do you need to be hospitalized for treatment?”

Xie Chen said, “No need, just some medicine will do. Resting at home is more comfortable for me. I’m not used to the hospital environment.”

Everyone expressed their concern, “Then you must take care of yourself.” 

“Yes, you haven’t taken a vacation for years; it’s time to rest.” 

“There’s nothing major happening in the legion recently. Don’t worry; we’ll help the deputy commander with daily work.”

Xie Chen nodded, “Okay, thank you all for your hard work.”

After ending the call, Xie Chen walked out of the study with no expression on her face. The old lady was indeed waiting for her at the door, evidently having heard everything. Xie Chen calmly walked past the old lady towards Yu Ran.

She had no experience in acting as a puppet, but Lu Zexuan seemed to be demonstrating for her. The man stood next to Yu Ran with a vacant expression, so Xie Chen imitated Lu Zexuan’s demeanor and walked blankly towards Yu Ran.

Yu Ran smiled approvingly at Xie Chen, saying, “You did very well.”

Suddenly, the old lady interjected, “The leader said to take her to the guide medical center for a check-up this afternoon.”

Yu Ran didn’t refuse, “Alright, will you be coming along?”

The old lady replied, “I won’t. I’m just a servant; if I accompany her, I’ll be suspected.”

Yu Ran, along with Lu Zexuan and the “fake puppet” Xie Chen, set off together, with Yu Ran “coincidentally” taking Xie Chen to the guide medical center. Upon arrival, they found that the guide on duty today was Miss Adeline, a well-known S-class therapeutic guide in the capital. She often volunteered at the guide medical center to help sentinels since she had set herself up as a philanthropist.

Adeline smiled and said, “General Xie? General Lu? What a coincidence, both of you are here together today?”

Lu Zexuan replied expressionlessly, “I happened to be discussing something at General Xie’s house today. She isn’t feeling well, so I brought her along for a check-up.”

Xie Chen sat down, and after some pleasantries from Adeline, she extended her mental tendrils to examine her.

Xie Chen’s mental landscape had indeed suffered heavy damage. The beautiful coral reefs, rocks, and seaweed on the seabed were all destroyed, leaving the entire ocean pitch black with no sunlight. Lightning flashed in the sky, and terrifying hurricanes swept across the sea surface from time to time. The unfathomable black vortex seemed to devour everything.

Adeline was almost engulfed by the darkness of Xie Chen’s vortex and immediately withdrew. The destroyed ocean was truly terrifying!

Xie Chen quickly stabilized her emotions and said with a smile, “General Xie, you’re just suffering from prolonged fatigue and need some time to rest.”

Xie Chen replied calmly, “Please prescribe me some routine conditioning medicine. I’ll rest at home.”

Adeline, being a therapeutic guide, had good professional ethics. She quickly prescribed some mild medication for Xie Chen.

Taking the medicine, Xie Chen left the hospital. Although her spirit body and consciousness were protected by Yu Ran, her mental landscape was indeed in bad shape. The Dark Night Organization’s drugs could induce sentinel frenzy, and her ocean world had experienced a hurricane and earthquake, becoming a mess where the black shark hardly had any space to survive. However, the black shark seemed to quite like Yu Ran’s lake. After the vines that bound it loosened, it comfortably transformed into a “freshwater shark” and began to swim around in the lake.

On the way back, in the mental world, Yu Ran said, “We’ve temporarily passed this hurdle. The Dark Night Organization may continue to inspect your mental landscape, so I can’t help you repair it for now. Your ocean has to continue to maintain this chaotic state caused by the destructive experience. In the next few days, your mental state will be poor, so be sure to rest.”

Xie Chen replied, “I understand. However, my spirit body can’t be more than 500 meters away from me, and the black shark can’t stay with you all the time.”

Yu Ran said, “Don’t worry, I’ll carve out a secluded space suitable for its survival deep in the ocean. Normally, let it hide there, and when someone checks, let it pretend to lose consciousness.”

Xie Chen looked back at Yu Ran. He clearly looked like an 18-year-old boy, but he was so calm and wise, with clear and bright heterochromatic eyes. When looking at her, there was a strange warmth and tenderness in his eyes.

Xie Chen stared into his eyes, feeling a strong sense of familiarity rise within her.

“Have we met somewhere before?” Her puzzled voice echoed in her mind.

At that moment, Yu Ran’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears, but he forcibly suppressed the urge to speak. He was on the most dangerous mission. Once Auntie knew he was Xie Ran, she would definitely worry about him, and even expose their relationship at a critical moment due to this worry. So… not letting Xie Chen know was the best way to protect her.

In her mind, Yu Ran said, “Back then, when I was interning at the Starlight Legion, I once saw you. You probably don’t remember me.”

Xie Chen carefully observed Yu Ran’s face, “Is that so? I don’t really recall.” She paused and asked, “You look very young, but you’re definitely not 18. Are you… sent by my sister?”

Yu Ran didn’t deny it; he said softly, “General Xie is the person I admire most.”

Xie Chen knew that her sister had been investigating the Dark Night Organization back then, so it made sense to send a guide as an undercover agent. Later, after her sister’s death, this undercover agent remained hidden until now. His age, features, had obviously been modified.

Hadn’t he struggled alone all these years? Thinking of this, Xie Chen said with complex emotions, “If my sister were still alive, she would be very pleased to see you infiltrating the organization’s high ranks.”

Yu Ran felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. Would Mom be pleased? Her son didn’t disappoint her.