Chapter 24: Killing Two Birds with One Stone

The medical team arrived quickly. Marta followed them as they took Daisy away, leaving Lu Meng alone in the room with the still-unconscious sentinel.

With Daisy’s mental link to the sentinel suddenly severed, the sentinel seemed to be affected. His brow furrowed deeply, showing signs of stirring.

Recalling the steps for mental stabilization, Lu Meng placed her hand gently on the sentinel’s forehead and closed her eyes. She tried for a long time, but could not summon a shred of mental power. How was she supposed to perform the stabilization? She truly couldn't manifest any mental energy! What was she to do? If she couldn’t do it in the future, would the military district kick her out? Lu Meng felt a wave of anxiety. She wondered if her own ability would work here and if it could assist with this mental stabilization.

With that thought, she looked at her wrist. *Might as well try,* she decided.

She closed her eyes again, keeping her hand resting lightly on the sentinel's forehead. A moment later, the vine bracelet on her wrist emitted a pale green glow. Tiny vines emerged from her wrist, tracing along her palm and into the sentinel’s mind. Her consciousness followed the tendrils into a place of absolute darkness.

Everything around her was pitch black and deathly silent. The vines wandered through the darkness. After an unknown amount of time, the vines seemed to grow weary; they withdrew from his mind and retreated obediently back into Lu Meng’s wrist, vanishing from sight.

As the vines departed, the dark expanse seemed to be pierced by numerous holes, letting light stream in. The light grew brighter, and the darkness slowly faded away.

Lu Meng opened her eyes. Not only had the sentinel's expression not relaxed, but his face had turned flushed and red. He frowned in discomfort, and beads of sweat were densely forming on his forehead.

What had gone wrong?

Lu Meng couldn't help but reflect on what had just happened. She only remembered the vines entering a very dark place, and she had controlled them to search for an exit... Could she have damaged his mental sea?

She couldn't help but pat his face. "Hey, are you alright?"

Just as she was growing anxious, Marta returned.

"What’s wrong?" Seeing Lu Meng leaning in close to the sentinel with an expression of distress, she couldn't help but ask.

Lu Meng turned around, as if she had found a lifeline. "Guide!"

She quickly stepped aside, revealing the sentinel on the bed. "Look, what’s wrong with him? I just..."

She nearly blurted out "ability" in her panic, but caught herself and hastily changed her wording. "I just used my mental power to help him stabilize, but for some reason, he seems to be in a lot of pain, and he’s sweating so much."

Marta stepped closer and probed him with her own mental power. His mental sea appeared perfectly fine—if anything, it was much cleaner than that of the average sentinel. Why he was reacting this way was less important than something else.

"You managed to use your mental power just now?"

Lu Meng froze, instantly becoming nervous. *I didn't at all, oh no!*

But she couldn't admit she had used her ability. "Um... yes, I suppose so. I'm not really sure..."

Marta pondered for a moment and then asked, "What did you feel when you were performing the stabilization?"

"Me?" Lu Meng thought about it. She hadn't really felt anything. "I just felt like it was very dark all around..."

*Dark?*

Marta was puzzled. Generally, when mental power enters a sentinel’s mental sea, one perceives the mental world constructed by that sentinel. When she had checked his mental sea earlier, it had been an endless grassy plain; despite some minor contamination, it had certainly not been pitch black.

Marta reasoned that perhaps Lu Meng’s mental power was still too weak to actually penetrate the mental sea.

"It’s alright. It’s likely because it’s your first time using mental power and it’s still too weak, which is why this happened. Don't be discouraged; just keep trying."

Seeing that Marta wasn't suspicious, Lu Meng felt a wave of relief. "I understand. How is that other guide?"

"She's fine," Marta replied. "Just depleted her mental energy. She needs to rest for a few days."

"I'm glad she's okay," Lu Meng said.

"However," Marta added, "since she’s on leave, her scheduled sentinel stabilizations for the next few days will have to be canceled."