Chapter 690: The Dark Sentinel 1

Little Cutie had completely abandoned all dignity as an AI. Clinging to Tang Wan’s leg, he looked up at her pitifully, his tone full of exaggerated grievance. “Host, I really know I was wrong! Please calm down… I’m your little cutie! I promise I won’t make the same mistake again!”

Tang Wan looked down at him, utterly unimpressed at first—but the sheer shamelessness of his act made it impossible to stay angry. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips, though her eyes still held a trace of sternness.

“Where did you learn that from?” she asked dryly. “Shameless.”

Hearing her tone soften, Little Cutie immediately perked up, his expression brightening. “Host, only you humans care about dignity and face. I’m not human,” he replied matter-of-factly. “As long as it helps you calm down, I can do anything. As for face… what’s the use of that? It can’t be eaten, and it definitely can’t make you less angry.”

Tang Wan was momentarily speechless.

She twitched the corner of her mouth, then waved her hand impatiently. “Alright, stop acting. Get up.”

Little Cutie didn’t hesitate. He sprang to his feet in one smooth motion, instantly switching back to his “professional” mode. “Understood! Then I’ll begin stripping your emotional data. Please prepare to enter the next world.”

Tang Wan glanced at him, then gave a small nod.

—

Moments later, the familiar process began.

Her emotions were carefully extracted, layer by layer, leaving behind a calm, detached clarity. At the same time, the system settled her accumulated points from the previous world.

Yet something felt… different.

Tang Wan soon realized that although her emotional responses had been removed, the impression of Tongtong had not faded. Instead, it lingered quietly in her memory—clear, persistent, even growing deeper with time.

For the first time, she found herself wondering—

If the person in the next world was no longer him… would she still be willing to continue?

The thought flickered briefly through her mind before she suppressed it.

That situation shouldn’t happen.

And if it did…

She would deal with it then.

Without lingering further, Tang Wan skipped the lottery phase and proceeded directly to the next mission world.

A flash of white light enveloped her.

When her vision cleared, she found herself standing beneath a towering white structure.

The building rose high into the sky, sleek and imposing, its surface gleaming under the sunlight like polished bone. Around it stretched a vast open square, where rows of young people in identical white uniforms stood in orderly formation.

The atmosphere was disciplined. Controlled.

Almost militaristic.

Tang Wan’s first instinct was immediate.

This feels like a military base.

Her gaze swept calmly across the crowd as she began absorbing the incoming information. “Little Cutie,” she said inwardly, “faster.”

“Transmission in progress… please wait… data complete.”

As the system’s voice faded, the storyline of this world unfolded in her mind.

And for the first time in a while—

Tang Wan showed genuine surprise.

Aside from the previous matriarchal world, her missions had mostly followed familiar patterns. But this one… was entirely different.

This was a world divided into sentinels, guides, and ordinary humans.

In essence, sentinels and guides were akin to enhanced beings—individuals with extraordinary abilities tasked with protecting society.

Sentinels possessed heightened senses, powerful physical capabilities, and razor-sharp mental faculties. They were living weapons on the battlefield.

But that strength came at a cost.

The stronger a sentinel became, the more unstable their mind grew. Sensory overload, emotional collapse, loss of control—any of these could push them into dangerous states of frenzy.

And that was where guides came in.

Guides had powerful spiritual perception. They could sense emotions, stabilize mental states, and soothe the chaos within a sentinel’s mind.

Without a guide, even the strongest sentinel could eventually self-destruct.

However—

Guides were rare.

Exceptionally rare.

Whenever someone awakened as a guide, they would be immediately brought to the White Tower for centralized training. And once they reached adulthood, they would be paired with a compatible sentinel, forming a bond so deep that it could only be severed by death.

Tang Wan slowly exhaled, her gaze shifting slightly.

Then, a faint, almost amused smile appeared on her lips.

Because now—

She was standing right here.

Among these candidates.

Participating in what was essentially…

A highly structured, life-binding “selection.”