The formal bonding ceremony was scheduled three days later.
Three days.
For ordinary Guides, that time would be filled with anxiety, preparation, whispered rumors spreading through the Sentinel Tower.
For Gu Cheng, it was a period of observation.
He had learned one thing in both lives—
Information was survival.
---
The Sentinel Tower rose like a blade piercing the sky, its mirrored exterior reflecting clouds and steel. It was the heart of power in this city—a place where Sentinels trained, stabilized, and, when necessary, were restrained.
Gu Cheng stood before the glass window of his temporary residence within the Guide Wing. Silver-white hair spilled down his back like liquid frost, pale icy-gray eyes watching squads of Sentinels train in the courtyard below.
Even from this distance, he could hear everything.
Boots striking stone.
Fabric shifting.
The slight hitch in a soldier's breathing before fatigue set in.
His senses, as a Guide, were different from Sentinels. They did not overwhelm him. Instead, they filtered through layers of control—structured, orderly.
The tree of light within his mental landscape had grown more defined over the past days. Its branches shimmered faintly, as though anticipating connection.
A knock sounded.
"Guide Gu Cheng," came Lin Mo's calm voice from outside.
Gu Cheng turned.
"Enter."
Lin Mo stepped inside, uniform immaculate as always. Yet the faint tension in his jaw betrayed something deeper.
"You've been assigned to observe our synchronization tests before the ceremony," Lin Mo said. "It's recommended that Guides understand the baseline instability of their Sentinels."
Gu Cheng regarded him quietly.
"Baseline instability," he repeated softly.
Lin Mo held his gaze.
"Yes."
Gu Cheng walked past him toward the corridor.
"Then show me."
---
The underground training chamber was vast, reinforced with layered shock-absorbent alloys. Multiple Sentinel squads were running simulation drills.
But Gu Cheng's attention fixed immediately on the center platform.
Lu Yan.
Zhou Kai.
Both in combat mode.
They were sparring.
Even without physical contact, the pressure in the room was suffocating.
Lu Yan moved like controlled artillery—precise, devastating, disciplined. Every strike was calculated.
Zhou Kai was chaos embodied—fast, unpredictable, smiling even as he attacked.
The air cracked as fists collided.
Ordinary personnel had retreated behind observation glass.
Only high-ranking officials remained in the chamber.
Gu Cheng stepped closer.
He did not flinch at the pressure.
But he saw it.
Lu Yan's pupils were dilated beyond normal range.
Zhou Kai's breathing was accelerating too quickly.
Their senses were amplifying.
Too much stimulation.
Too much adrenaline.
Too much proximity to each other's dominance.
The clash intensified.
A shockwave burst outward.
Cracks formed in the platform beneath them.
Warning lights flickered.
"Instability rising," someone muttered behind the glass.
Gu Cheng closed his eyes.
He did not reach out physically this time.
Instead—
He entered his mental landscape.
Silver mist rolled outward.
The tree of light pulsed once.
Two threads extended from its branches, slicing through invisible barriers.
He found them instantly.
Lu Yan's battlefield—explosions roaring louder now, flames spiraling upward.
Zhou Kai's jungle—vines tightening, predators restless, wind howling.
Gu Cheng exhaled softly.
And stepped inside both.
Simultaneously.
—
In Lu Yan's mindscape, the battlefield trembled.
Smoke thickened.
Artillery boomed endlessly.
And then—
Snow began to fall.
Silver snow.
It did not extinguish the flames violently.
It cooled them.
Each flake dissolved into calm.
Explosions slowed.
The sky cleared.
Lu Yan froze mid-strike in the physical world.
His fist halted inches from Zhou Kai's face.
His body trembled.
Because for the first time—
The battlefield was quiet.
—
In Zhou Kai's jungle, the beasts prowled, snarling.
The canopy twisted with restless energy.
Then silver mist seeped between the trees.
The wind softened.
The predators lowered their heads.
Vines loosened.
The jungle did not lose its wildness.
It simply… rested.
Zhou Kai staggered back physically, hand gripping his chest.
The chamber fell silent.
Lu Yan and Zhou Kai both dropped to one knee.
Sweat dripped down their temples.
But their eyes—
Clear.
Stable.
All eyes turned toward Gu Cheng.
He stood untouched by the chaos, silver hair undisturbed, pale gaze serene.
He had not moved.
Lin Mo's breath hitched almost imperceptibly.
He felt it too.
Because even from a distance, Gu Cheng's presence brushed against his mental walls.
And the cracks eased.
"Impossible…" someone whispered.
A Guide stabilizing two S-Class Sentinels simultaneously—without direct contact.
Gu Cheng opened his eyes fully.
The silver mist withdrew, threads retracting back to the luminous tree.
Lu Yan lifted his head slowly.
Their gazes met.
There was something new in Lu Yan's expression.
Not just gratitude.
Not just relief.
Recognition.
Zhou Kai laughed weakly.
"Guide Gu… you're dangerous."
Gu Cheng tilted his head slightly.
"Am I?"
Zhou Kai's grin widened, though his voice was softer now.
"Yes."
And he sounded pleased about it.
---
That night, the Tower was quieter.
Word had already spread.
A Guide who could stabilize multiple apex Sentinels at once.
A Guide whose mental strength rating might surpass recorded limits.
Gu Cheng sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes closed.
But he was not resting.
He was exploring.
Within his mindscape, the tree of light shimmered brighter than before.
Three primary branches now extended outward.
Two faintly linked.
One untouched.
Lin Mo.
Gu Cheng reached for the third branch.
Lin Mo's mental landscape unfolded before him.
Unlike the others, it was structured.
Towering shelves of books stretched endlessly.
Knowledge categorized.
Emotions compartmentalized.
But cracks splintered across the marble floor.
Strain hidden beneath control.
Gu Cheng walked between the shelves silently.
He ran his fingers across a fractured pillar.
It trembled.
Lin Mo was the most stable externally.
But internal pressure was constant.
Gu Cheng lifted his hand.
Silver light seeped into the cracks.
Not to erase them.
To reinforce them.
The library straightened subtly.
Balance restored.
—
Elsewhere, in his own quarters, Lin Mo stiffened suddenly.
He was alone.
No physical connection.
Yet warmth spread gently through his mind.
The strain eased.
His fingers curled tightly around the edge of his desk.
"…Gu Cheng."
There was no fear in his voice.
Only certainty.
---
The day of the bonding ceremony arrived.
The main hall of the Sentinel Tower had never hosted such an event.
Three S-Class Sentinels.
One SSS-Class Guide.
Officials from multiple districts attended.
Bonding was not marriage.
It was deeper.
A mental contract.
A shared channel of consciousness.
Trust was mandatory.
Possession was inevitable.
Gu Cheng stood at the center of the circular platform.
White ceremonial attire flowed around him, silver-white hair loose down his back. Pale icy-gray eyes reflected the overhead lights like frozen stars.
He looked unreal.
Lu Yan stood to his right in formal military uniform.
Zhou Kai to his left, uncharacteristically serious.
Lin Mo directly across from him.
The officiator spoke.
"Guide Gu Cheng, do you willingly establish mental bonds with the Sentinels before you?"
"I do," Gu Cheng replied evenly.
"Sentinels, do you accept Guide Gu Cheng as your primary stabilizer and partner?"
Three voices answered in unison.
"Yes."
The floor beneath them lit up.
Silver lines traced an intricate formation.
Gu Cheng felt the threads from his tree extend once more.
This time—
He did not merely enter their mindscapes.
He opened his own.
Silver mist poured outward like an ocean tide.
Lu Yan inhaled sharply as the battlefield merged with falling snow permanently.
Zhou Kai gasped as the jungle found a clearing—a place where he could breathe.
Lin Mo closed his eyes as the library gained a central pillar of luminous crystal.
And then—
The bonds sealed.
Three radiant threads connected their cores to Gu Cheng's tree.
The connection was stable.
Strong.
Mutual.
The hall erupted in applause.
But Gu Cheng barely heard it.
Because within the bond—
He felt them.
Their heartbeats.
Their instincts.
Their subtle shifts in emotion.
And they felt him.
Calm.
Cold.
Unshakeable.
The ceremony concluded.
But as officials dispersed, a sudden alarm blared through the Tower.
Red lights flashed violently.
"Emergency! East District perimeter breach! Multiple high-level rogue Sentinels detected!"
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Lu Yan's expression hardened.
Zhou Kai's grin returned—feral.
Lin Mo adjusted his glasses, eyes sharp.
Gu Cheng felt the surge of adrenaline through the bond.
Their senses spiked.
Instability threatened.
But this time—
It did not spiral.
Because at the center of their rising storm—
He stood.
Calm as winter.
Lu Yan looked at him.
"Stay here."
Gu Cheng's gaze cooled further.
"No."
The three Sentinels stilled.
"You are newly bonded—" Lin Mo began.
Gu Cheng stepped closer.
The silver threads between them pulsed.
"Your instability increases in combat," he said quietly. "I will accompany you."
It was not a request.
Zhou Kai laughed.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a bold Guide."
Lu Yan studied him for a long moment.
Then nodded once.
"Stay within ten meters of me."
They moved.
Fast.
The East District perimeter was chaos.
Three rogue Sentinels rampaged through reinforced barriers. Their eyes were bloodshot, movements erratic—completely berserk.
Ordinary evacuation teams scrambled.
A squad lay injured nearby.
The moment Lu Yan stepped into the zone, the rogue Sentinels sensed him.
They attacked.
The clash was immediate and brutal.
Concrete shattered.
Metal twisted.
Zhou Kai intercepted one mid-leap, slamming him into a wall.
Lin Mo disabled another with precise strikes.
Lu Yan engaged the largest—an unstable giant whose senses had collapsed entirely.
Through the bond, Gu Cheng felt everything.
The pressure.
The overload.
The rising instability.
He stepped forward.
Silver mist exploded outward from his body—not visible to ordinary eyes, but devastating within the mental plane.
He entered all three minds simultaneously.
And then—
He reached further.
Into the rogue Sentinels.
Their mindscapes were broken wastelands.
Screaming noise.
Shattered structures.
No anchors.
Gu Cheng's pale eyes sharpened.
He extended a single branch of his tree toward the nearest rogue.
Silver light pierced the chaos.
For one breath—
Silence fell.
The rogue Sentinel froze.
Confusion flickered in his wild gaze.
Lu Yan seized the moment.
One decisive strike.
Unconscious.
Zhou Kai subdued the second.
Lin Mo immobilized the third.
The battle ended in under three minutes.
Emergency teams rushed in.
And in the center of the devastation stood four figures.
Three apex Sentinels.
And the ethereal Guide whose silver hair glowed beneath flashing red lights.
Zhou Kai wiped blood from his lip and glanced back.
"You stabilized rogues."
Gu Cheng's expression did not change.
"Temporarily."
Lu Yan approached him slowly.
"You entered their minds."
"Yes."
A pause.
"That is not standard Guide capability."
Gu Cheng's icy-gray eyes met his.
"I never claimed to be standard."
Silence stretched.
Then—
Lu Yan's lips curved faintly.
For the first time.
"…Good."
Because in that ruined district, surrounded by unconscious rogues and trembling air—
Every Sentinel present understood one undeniable truth.
The most dangerous being on the field that night—
Was not a Sentinel.
It was their Guide.