Chapter 60: Asking favors

Wash together, my ass.

Bunny dropped her expression. "Then I’d rather just go back to my own room to shower."

Liam grew anxious. "The books say that bathing your own guide can rapidly deepen the emotional bond. You won’t let me touch this, you won’t let me touch that—then how are we supposed to date?"

She knocked a lump onto his head with one punch. "What kind of garbage are you reading all day long?"

He said nothing. Instead, he spread out a pile of electronic textbooks he had borrowed from Illai in front of her, presenting himself as a diligent, studious boyfriend and tilting his head up obediently to wait for praise.

How to Make Your Guide Unable to Live Without You in Bed

One Hundred Ways to Make a Guide Fall in Love with You

How to Become an Outstanding Sentinel Husband

Become a Top-Tier Boyfriend—You Only Need to Do These Fifty Things

.....

Bunny rolled her eyes.

"Don’t you dare learn from that slutty snake!"

She still couldn’t understand how these twin snakes could be so different—one so flashy and the other so honest it was almost heartbreaking.

Liam looked confused. "What did I do wrong?"

In the past, he wouldn’t even have deigned to glance at books like these. Chopping a few aliens would have been far more satisfying.

"Forget it. There’s no explaining this to you."

She picked up a towel and walked into the bathroom, not forgetting to warn him once more: "No peeking."

Liam pouted, looking thoroughly dejected.

He was wondering when his wife would finally be willing to let him touch her.

Every day he could only watch a soft, fragrant little cake bouncing around right in front of him—yet he could never take a bite.

As for strength, he ranked in the top three of the squad. As for looks, although he couldn’t compare with Cyrus who had passed the strictest genetic screening, he still ranked among the best-looking in this group of sentinels.

He would never lose to a blockhead like Orion.

Bunny closed the door, filled the tub, and prepared to soak. Just as she was searching for body wash and shampoo, her peripheral vision swept across the shelf and she instantly froze in place.

She picked up the bottle labeled MEN – 13-in-1 Special Formula for Men.

"Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, facial cleanser, mouthwash, toilet cleaner, engine oil..."

In the past, it was just a meme used to roast lazy or cheap guys. Sadly, even in this era, some things remained unchanged.

She took a deep breath, put the 13-in-1 bottle back, then looked up and saw a gray rag.

The reason she called it a rag was because it had already worn into holey, tattered strips.

Please don’t tell me this is Liam’s luffa???

She couldn’t take it anymore. How could these sentinels be this frugal?!

After circling around for a long time, she still ended up having to return to her own room to shower. This time Liam had learned his lesson and proactively came over to dry her hair for her.

When she went to the living room to brew some calming tea, there was no one around. They were probably still in a meeting in the conference room.

Strange—what matter needed to be discussed for so long?

Brandon’s little dog came over carrying a ball in its mouth and rubbed against her pant leg, wanting her to play.

She took Chopper to the sports field. On the way, she happened to pass the conference room and pressed herself against the door to eavesdrop for a while.

Inside the conference room, along a streamlined table edged with blue light strips, the sentinels from the two towers sat facing each other on opposite sides.

The 616 squad members occupied the left side, while Hilan’s group sat on the right. The five of them looked travel-worn; even their nano combat suits carried numerous tears and scratches. The journey from the West One to 616 had been extremely dangerous.

This was also their first time witnessing just how ferocious and brutal the aliens of this region truly were.

No wonder only madmen were stationed in 616.

The black-haired man sitting in the middle was most likely their leader. Hilan quickly assessed who held the speaking authority in the other squad and gave Cyrus a brief self-introduction:

"Hello. I am Hilan, captain of the West One squad. We already stated our purpose before entering the tower—we have come to request aid."

That oil refinery sat on the border of 616 and fell under their jurisdiction. If it was not cleared as soon as possible, once the next batch of eggs finished hatching, it would form an even more severe threat.

Hilan guessed that this was probably the only reason Cyrus had chosen to let them in.

Cyrus did not speak. He simply continued watching him in silence.

Instead, it was Astin, seated to the side, who spoke first, "So according to you, you couldn’t handle it yourselves and now want us to come work for free."

Astin gave a cold laugh. "You can’t even rescue your own guide—how dare you ask others for help?"

It wasn’t even their guide.

One of Hilan’s teammates could no longer hold back and shot up from his chair, "You have no right to talk to us like that. Even if we hadn’t come here, that oil refinery already falls within your cleanup range!"

Xander, who had remained silent the entire time, lifted his eyelids. A powerful wave of mental pressure immediately crashed over the room.

"Remember—you are the ones coming to ask for favors."

Was this the attitude of people asking for help?

Hilan gritted his teeth and warned his teammate, "Val, sit down!"

Silence fell over the room once more. Only the soft ticking of the electronic clock remained.

Cyrus’s fingertips tapped lightly against the black-and-gold tabletop. A section of cool-white, powerful wristbone showed beneath the cuff of his black shirt.

"Your squad... only five people left alive?"

A fatal question.

Hilan’s expression changed. As captain, having subordinates disobey orders was actually a rather humiliating matter. It meant he possessed no real authority as a leader and could not restrain the soldiers under his command.

The other side would also become even more cautious about cooperating with a squad whose hearts were so scattered.

He bit his lip and answered in a low, hoarse voice, "One dead, one severely injured. The remaining five chose to abandon the rescue."

Abandoning meant disobeying orders and returning to the tower on their own.

Cyrus gave a casual, contemptuous snort. He had known this captain was hiding something.

"I’ll give you one final chance."

If they could not be completely open and honest, then there was no need for him to cooperate with an untrustworthy squad like this.

After all, with the strength of the 616 squad, that oil refinery was at most a bit troublesome—it did not yet count as truly thorny.

They could clean it out just fine without Hilan’s squad.

Hilan exchanged a glance with his friend. After two seconds of hesitation, he finally revealed the full truth:

"That oil refinery is a heavily contaminated zone. The entire underground has been covered by the nest. Sentinels cannot fight there for long periods, or their spiritual seas will suffer permanent erosion."

Unless a guide constructed a mental barrier, the difficulty of the rescue was extreme—because Lily’s locator signal was in the core of the nest, right beside the queen-type alien.

They had attempted multiple breakouts and had never been able to reach the core.

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the air instantly froze solid, plummeting to absolute zero.

Hilan could clearly feel Cyrus’s gaze turning so cold it nearly froze through his bones, along with several other sharp, interrogating stares.

Xander offered a deceptive smile, yet the danger in his tone was the complete opposite of the expression on his face. "Oh? So what you’re saying is... you also want to drag our guide into this?"