FI CH 11

Chapter 11: Rainforest Siege (V)

At dawn, the two of them were already packed and ready to go. This marked their third day in the rainforest.

Kurosawa surveyed the surrounding environment and headed toward the tallest hill nearby. Bai Hua didn’t know what Kurosawa had in mind but silently followed behind.

To the left lay a forest, behind them was still grassland, and to the right and ahead, everything was covered by swampland.

Once Kurosawa reached his destination and came to a stop, Bai Hua finally asked, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to see farther,” Kurosawa replied. After a brief pause, he asked, “Can I borrow your eyes?”

Sentinels had excellent vision, far superior to the average person. However, they could only perceive tangible objects—things made of matter. The invisible realm of spiritual energy couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. On the other hand, Guides could perceive such spiritual flows but lacked the visual sharpness. If the two could be combined…

Bai Hua immediately understood what he meant. “You’re trying to locate the enemy? Or our teammates?”

“The enemy,” Kurosawa answered bluntly. “If we don’t know their position or capabilities, we’ll remain stuck like this.”

Bai Hua didn’t hesitate and simply said, “Alright. What do I need to do?”

The moment he agreed to become Kurosawa’s partner, he had willingly offered himself as a tool for his Guide.

“Close your eyes. I’m going to establish a mental link,” Kurosawa began to explain the steps. It was a basic skill every Guide had to master. Though it sounded simple, it was incredibly difficult in practice, as it tested how much the other person trusted you. “Without your permission, I won’t peek into any part of your consciousness. Just trust me…”

Following Kurosawa’s voice, Bai Hua relaxed his body and closed his eyes. Kurosawa reached from behind and placed both hands on either side of Bai Hua’s temples. Bai Hua felt what seemed like invisible threads slipping beneath his skin—it was hard to describe, a sensation somewhere between a tickle and a faint numbness, accompanied by a subtle and nearly imperceptible disturbance.

His body instinctively tensed in defense, as all Sentinels naturally would, but was quickly brought back under control by his own will.

Kurosawa could feel himself gaining control over Bai Hua’s optic nerves. He closed his own eyes as well and began speaking: “Once we use this ability, there’s a chance our position will be exposed.”

It wasn’t a question—it was a statement.

He was, without hesitation, dragging Bai Hua into danger alongside him. They would share the risk together.

“Are you ready?”

The Sentinel responded, “Always.”

“Now, open your eyes.”

Under the Guide’s instruction, Bai Hua slowly opened his eyes. It was his first time seeing the world from a Guide’s perspective. He wasn’t sure if all Guides saw the same thing, but everything before his eyes was overlaid with a transparent mesh—interwoven strands layered over each other. Some areas were dense, others sparse. It was the visual flow of spiritual energy in the air.

And yet, this didn’t hinder his sight in any way. It felt like he had x-ray vision—he could focus entirely on any part he wanted to examine, and every detail of that area would become crystal clear, while all surrounding objects faded into the background.

It seemed this was also Kurosawa’s first time seeing the world through a Sentinel’s eyes. He couldn’t help but remark, “…No wonder they all want us to bond.”

The combined strength of a Guide and Sentinel far surpassed that of others. A pair with high compatibility could even amplify each other’s powers. It was an incredibly tempting prospect.

But Kurosawa didn’t waste time on idle chatter. He had Bai Hua scan their surroundings. Since it was their first time forming a spiritual link, the experience still felt new and disorienting. Bai Hua even had a strange sensation—as if his body was being occupied by someone else.

“Kurosawa, over there—” Bai Hua started to speak but stopped mid-sentence, realizing something. Even without speaking, Kurosawa could understand his thoughts.

After all, it was Bai Hua’s body. He was bound to sense any anomalies before Kurosawa could.

Kurosawa followed Bai Hua’s line of sight and spotted something in the depths of the swamp.

“There are three of them. All Espers^[1].”

What Kurosawa could see, Bai Hua naturally saw as well. All three were men. One of them stood at the front, with shoulder-length blond hair. Because of the way his side bangs covered his face, his features were hard to make out. He wore casual clothes and moved his hands in the air as though casting a spell—he appeared to be a Guide.

Behind him stood two others. One was a man with short black hair. He stood motionless, gazing into the distance, occasionally exchanging a few words with the blond-haired man…he was also a Guide. The last one was a man with short brown hair, arms crossed with a relaxed, casual demeanor, as if he had nothing to do. But his straight posture suggested military training. The gear he wore clearly marked him as a Sentinel.

Bai Hua had the nagging feeling that the brown-haired man looked familiar, but couldn’t immediately recall where he had seen him before. Still, given the current situation, it wasn’t hard to guess that these three were likely their enemies.

Watching the movements of the blond-haired man, Bai Hua added, “I don’t see An Shi or the others.”

“They’re inside the other side’s spiritual landscape.”

Bai Hua asked again, “Can you see it?”

Kurosawa stayed silent for a moment, then said, “In this state… it’s worth a try.”

He had already grown accustomed to Bai Hua’s perspective and now activated his ability through that shared link. Bai Hua felt his eye sockets grow warm, and soon, the net-like strands of spiritual energy in his vision began to condense. A virtual space gradually took form before them.

They saw their teammates—trapped within someone else’s spiritual landscape—fighting desperately. All four of them were badly injured, covered in wounds.

Bai Hua was shaken by the sight and nearly couldn’t stop himself from rushing to their aid.

Kurosawa also twitched slightly for reasons he couldn’t explain, but he quickly reached out to stop Bai Hua. “Don’t be reckless.”

He rapidly committed everything he saw to memory—calculating the range of that Guide’s abilities and the size of the spiritual landscape. He needed to gather as much useful information as possible.

But just then, the man with short black hair, who had been gazing off into the distance, suddenly turned his head and looked directly toward them.

Based on a Guide’s visual range, there was no way he should’ve been able to see this far. And yet, he looked as if he truly had spotted them. He said something under his breath, and the brown-haired Sentinel beside him instantly turned his head—eyes locking clearly on their position.

They had definitely been discovered.

Kurosawa swiftly withdrew his spiritual power. “Run!”

Even across such a distance, they could feel the cold, lethal intent radiating from the Sentinel. That brown-haired man—his ability was likely even above theirs.

Bai Hua still couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity from seeing him, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Even so, he didn’t immediately follow Kurosawa’s order. Instead, he said, “I can’t just leave them.”

“You should trust your teammates,” Kurosawa replied calmly. “They’re capable of protecting themselves. If we die here, or get captured—who will deliver this crucial intel?”

Bai Hua looked at him and said nothing. Kurosawa’s concerns weren’t wrong—he knew this was the right course of action. And yet…

Then Kurosawa added, “If you want to help them, you can’t rush in recklessly. We need a foolproof plan.”

Bai Hua looked at him in surprise. He opened his mouth a few times but couldn’t find the right words.

“Let’s go.”

Snapping back to his senses, he followed Kurosawa and quickly left the area.

(To be continued…)