Chapter 153: Choose

Later at night...

Astin had finally regained consciousness and emerged from the medical pod, while Liam’s period in solitary confinement had officially drawn to a close. Aside from Kai, who remained in the soothing chamber, the rest of the Sentinels gathered in the living quarters for an operational briefing.

Arden passed a glass tablet across the coffee table to Xander: "Sector 3 Energy Station just flagged a Red Alert."

"It’s currently unconfirmed whether it was an Aberration ambush or a violent sandstorm event, but the structural damage telemetry on the terminal is extensive."

Tyr shook his head. "The climate monitoring system’s projected sandstorm corridors over the past week didn’t come anywhere near Sector 3."

"Something else is deliberately wrecking the infrastructure."

Orion and Illai sat silently side-by-side on the rug, as usual, keeping their mouths shut.

Rain turned his gaze toward Cyrus at the head of the room. "Are we still proceeding with the primary target’s capture?"

Cyrus uncrossed his long legs, issuing a decisive command within three seconds. "We split our forces. One detachment handles the capture, the other inspects the energy station."

The two strike teams would be led by Xander and Cyrus respectively.

Next came squad assignments. Since Bunny had already stated her intention to join the monster capture detail, her spot in Team A was locked in.

Brandon and Kai would stay behind to guard the main installation, as well as handle routine maintenance and perimeter patrols for the remaining energy stations—especially given that Kai’s spiritual sea remained critically unstable and required prolonged recuperation.

Besides, the young pup was best suited for keeping watch at home.

The remaining Sentinels were distributed evenly between the two groups.

Team A’s final roster comprised Cyrus, Arden, Rain, San, and Tyr.

The remaining Sentinels fell under Xander’s detail.

Liam, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa with his eyes closed, instantly bolted upright. "Hell no! I’m grouping with my wife!"

Cyrus didn’t give a damn about his protest, simply rising to his feet and leaving the living room without a second glance.

He had done it entirely on purpose—deliberately reassigning both of Bunny’s bonded Sentinels, including Xander, away from her team.

Out of sight, out of mind.

"Cyrus, you just wait!"

Liam vaulted over the back of the sofa, ready to engage in another round of open battle with Cyrus, only to be hauled back forcibly by the rest of the squad.

Arden rolled his eyes at Liam. "Would it literally kill you to spend a single day away from your wife?"

Liam snapped right back without missing a beat, "As if a bachelor like you could ever understand!"

That hit way too close to home.

Not to be outdone, Rain chimed in with quiet defiance, "Just because we don’t have one now doesn’t mean we won’t in the future."

She might be his wife today, but who was to say she wouldn’t be everyone’s wife tomorrow?

"Rain, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Rain maintained an absolute poker face. "Precisely what it sounded like."

"Besides, if you were half as capable as you claim, how on earth did you fail to stop this green-haired crocodile from getting in?"

Having his name suddenly dragged into the crossfire, Astin lifted his head in utter bewilderment. Don’t redirect the damn heat onto him—he literally just stepped out of the medical pod!

"Enough!"

Xander’s sharp, commanding bark cut through the air, putting an absolute end to the senseless bickering.

"Everyone, turn in and gear up. Departure is set for tomorrow morning sharp."

Inside the soothing chamber, Bunny was channeling her full effort into mending Kai’s spiritual sea.

She sat directly across from him, holding both of his hands firmly with her eyes shut tight.

From the looks of it, progress was far from smooth sailing.

Kai’s gaze remained fixed on Bunny’s hands—delicate, smooth, and porcelain-white, completely untouched by the scorching grease or gunsmoke of battle.

So pristine they almost felt alien to this ruined world.

It felt nearly surreal that these very hands had slaughtered Aberrations and dragged him straight out of that nightmare-inducing slaughterhouse.

Kai desperately sought a trace of shared belonging on Bunny—a resonant frequency that Atli could perceive, yet remained just beyond his own conscious reach.

It left him utterly fascinated and confused.

A shadowy, dark violet hue slowly bled into his pupils. Slowly, covertly, he guided Bunny’s soft palm up to rest gently against his cheek.

Simultaneously, Bunny was treading through the boundless expanse of Kai’s spiritual sea.

An infinite, violet-tinted starlight canopy hung overhead, where day and night spun alongside cycling constellations, framed by plush, layered cloud banks that billowed like an ethereal ocean.

Beneath her boots lay an endless marble floor. Arched loggias hovered suspended between the clouds, their polished surfaces mirroring the celestial glow and the warm wall lamps—glimmers of starlight cascading soft, intimate radiance everywhere.

Standing at the apex of the drifting clouds, everything felt intimately within arm’s reach.

Kai’s spiritual sea was so breathtakingly gorgeous that Bunny nearly forgot she was there on an official assignment.

She extended her spiritual threads toward the sky to patch the strangely shaped, jagged voids piercing the canopy. Yet as she had anticipated, her restoration pace moved as sluggishly as a twenty-year chronic constipation spell.

After spending nearly two full hours, she had managed to seal a meager handful of gaps—leaving hundreds of other large and small breaches scattering the sky. At this rate, she’d be patching this place until the next century!

Helpless, she withdrew from Kai’s spiritual sea, feeling a flush of embarrassment under the man’s intense, earnest gaze:

"I’m so sorry... my efficiency is terribly low."

It was rare enough to stumble upon a drop-dead gorgeous hunk, yet here she was, delivering an utterly abysmal performance.

"It’s quite alright. Thank you for your hard work—we can take this step by step."

Kai proved exceptionally understanding. In truth, he wished her recovery process were as slow as humanly possible, granting him more precious hours alone in her presence.

Curiosity piqued, Bunny asked softly, "Did you choose your own name?"

Kai paused for a beat. "No. Atli gave it to me."

"A spirit guide can actually name its own master?"

Gazing at the juvenile dragon currently zipping around the room, excitedly exploring the Guide’s soothing chamber, Kai offered Bunny a subtle, gentle smile.

"When I emerged from the gestation pod, I possessed nothing more than a cold serial code: K-1099."

Most Sentinels fashioned their own names upon awakening. Having no inkling of what to call himself, Kai simply adopted the name of his spirit guide.

A surge of quiet ache prickled Bunny’s chest. Nearby, the little dragon was staring wide-eyed at a pile of colorful, adorable plush toys scattered across Bunny’s sofa.

What in the world?! It had never laid eyes on so many gorgeous dolls in its entire life!

Amused by the young dragon’s reaction, Bunny gestured toward the plush pile. "You can pick whichever one you like best."