Chapter 121: Until we meet again

It was vastly more entertaining than when she was acting proper.

Alion undeniably harbored a sadistic streak—and a prominent one at that.

He derived particular satisfaction from forcing people to admit things they were too embarrassed to acknowledge, tearing open the most taboo, shameful corners of their hearts for all to see.

The minuscule droplet of spiritual power he had injected into her earlier had long been depleted—a move he had executed completely on purpose.

Bunny’s agony intensified by the second. Pulling the heavy quilt over her head like a flustered cat, soft, intermittent whimpers escaped her lips against her will.

Yet the man sat there entirely motionless from beginning to end, as quiet as a corpse, his sharp features half-submerged in the shadows—one side lit, the other shrouded in darkness.

Bunny knew full well that he was waiting for her to break, waiting for her to personally beg him.

That utter bastard!

Two minutes later, Bunny chose to surrender. She felt as though her mind was about to snap completely.

Peeking her head out from under the blanket, she rasped weakly, "Can... can you give me just... a little bit more?"

Alion stayed silent. Bunny took a deep breath, her eyes brimming with forced compliance: "Please, Officer."

The man finally moved. In this silent duel wrapped in flirtatious undertones, he had won.

"Guide Bunny, stating your needs plainly is hardly a difficult task."

He reached out and closed his fingers around Bunny’s palm, not forgetting to add a subtly loaded remark. "I’ll give it all to you. Every last drop."

In an instant, a surging wave of dense spiritual energy flooded her body. Bunny felt her frame grow light and weightless as the scorching wave that had been torturing her was thoroughly extinguished.

Alion released her hand almost immediately, standing up with a cool detachment.

"I have merely suppressed your hormonal fluctuations temporarily. If you still choose to force your way through using suppressants, once the medication wears off, the backlash will strike with double the intensity."

A Guide’s heat cycle typically lasted four to five days; relying solely on synthetic suppressants was fundamentally unsustainable.

"Guide Bunny, while I have no right to interfere with your personal choices, I strongly advise you to bind your exclusive Sentinels at the earliest opportunity."

The magnetic levitation door slid open smoothly. The man’s tall, broad silhouette quickly disappeared from Bunny’s field of vision.

Lying back on the bed, Bunny pondered over the words Alion had just spoken.

So this infuriating man came all the way to her room in the middle of the night just to tell her not to take suppressants?

Though... she had to admit, his high-rank spiritual power worked wonders.

After taking a quick shower in the bathroom to wash away the sticky sweat covering her skin, Bunny finally drifted into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night.

Alion walked all the way back to his top-tier commander’s office, preparing to wash up and turn in for the night.

Just as his knuckles unbuttoned the top fastening of his uniform, a sharp knock sounded at the door.

The female medic who had checked on Bunny earlier stood respectfully outside the threshold.

Alion cast a cool, brief glance over. "Did you secure the sample?"

The female medic nodded, presenting a small white medical kit with both hands.

"You are dismissed."

As she turned to leave, Alion paused, adding a smooth afterthought. "Intercept her physical report and deliver it directly to my terminal. Upload a clean substitute to the main network."

"Understood, sir!"

Once the soldier withdrew, Alion stripped away his uniform and stepped under the showerhead. Cascading water slapped against his lean, powerful back and abs, damp silver strands clinging to his skin.

Closing his heavy lashes, he let the warm stream rush past his ears as a familiar voice echoed through his mind:

"So, the mighty supreme commander abuses his authority and uses his position for personal amusement—staying in a Guide’s room during her heat cycle just to derive sick pleasure from watching her suffer?"

The woman’s flushed, indignant face, the reddened eyes brimming with aggrieved tears she refused to shed, and her fierce yet helpless attempt to threaten him flickered through his thoughts completely unbidden.

Had he truly remained entirely unaffected by that lethal, aphrodisiac volume of Guide pheromones? He was a Sentinel, after all—not a castrated eunuch.

It was simply that Alion’s absolute rationality overruled his physical cravings every single time.

Looking down at his body’s obvious, unyielding physical reaction, a dark, complex shadow crossed his eyes.

He would never, under any circumstances, become a slave to raw desire.

***

Twenty hours later, the military warship touched down smoothly at the Sentinel Tower.

Before leaving her quarters, Bunny slipped a few extra doses of suppressants into her pack for emergency backup.

Escorted by two soldiers down the gantry bridge, she caught sight of Liam and the rest of the squad gathered on the tarmac—standing frozen like twelve anxious statues waiting for their girl to return.

Alion stood near the hatchway. Even among a crowd of towering, dangerously handsome Sentinels, his height and presence remained exceptionally striking. ℴ

He took Bunny’s right hand gently in his, closed his eyes, and pressed a light, fleeting kiss to the back of her knuckles.

"Until we meet again, Miss Guide."

Strands of his silver hair brushed lightly against her cheek with the breeze, carrying the faint, subtle scent of his floral Sentinel pheromones.

Bunny still couldn’t fathom why this man insisted on wearing gloves at all times—his hands were perfectly sculpted, hardly anything to hide.

Just putting on a show, huh?

Although she held no fond feelings for this man who was ice-cold inside and out, out of courtesy for his face—and the fact that he had ultimately rescued her—she offered a polite farewell:

"Goodbye, Officer."

This stinging scene unfolded with absolute clarity before Cyrus’s cold, detached eyes.

Alion had done it completely on purpose.

Without a word, Cyrus turned on his heel and walked away without looking back.

The second Bunny stepped onto the tarmac, Illai and Brandon bounded over like needy hounds, surrounding her with endless cries of "Bunny!" as they fought over who got to hug her first.

Ultimately, they compromised by taking turns holding her.

Bunny asked briefly about their injuries; after all, radiation exposure inside the wasteland was no joke to a Sentinel’s mental domain, intending to slowly cleanse and repair their spiritual networks once they got settled inside.

Astin desperately wanted to step forward as well.

Yet he hesitated. The moment his eyes met Bunny’s briefly, he jerked his gaze away.

Their spiritual binding had occurred far too abruptly. Even though her disappearance had driven him out of his mind with anxiety, now that she was standing right in front of him, he didn’t dare say a word.

The little crocodile was wallowing in his own awkwardness—he was convinced Bunny didn’t care for him at all.

After all, their history was fraught with bad blood. Going from mutual hostility to suddenly having her as his girl was a transition Astin had zero idea how to navigate.

Having never been in a relationship before, his tsundere nature simply took over.

Standing beside Astin, Kai cast a thoughtful, knowing glance at his squad brother.

Brandon suddenly shoved his head close to Bunny, sniffing her frantically—first on the left, then on the right—before raising his head with an utterly serious expression:

"Bunny, why do you smell so insanely sweet? What is that scent on you?"