Free Web NovelChapter 93: A Constellation
Wenzhi’s expression hardened. "What are you talking about?"
Doctor Ruixin immediately pointed at the floating data screens around them.
"I have a theory." Her eyes practically sparkled. "That your compatibility with Xinyuan might be forcing your guide rank to evolution."
Wenzhi let out a short laugh. "You cannot be serious."
"It happens." Ruixin looked completely unfazed. She held up a finger. "Very rarely. Extremely rarely. Point one percent."
Wenzhi gave her a flat stare.
Ruixin sighed and turned fully toward him. "I know how ridiculous it sounds. But we’ve also never had a Disaster-Class Esper before."
Her eyes narrowed. "And we have definitely never had one imprint onto a guide with compatibility this abnormal."
Ruixin began pacing. "I need to ask something."
Wenzhi already regretted being here.
"Have you ever felt Xinyuan’s emotions?"
Wenzhi frowned. The question caught him off guard.
He thought about it longer than he wanted to. "I’m not sure."
Ruixin groaned in frustration. "That isn’t an answer."
"It is the answer."
"No, it isn’t."
"Then ask a better question."
Ruixin pinched the bridge of her nose. Then her eyes lit up again. "What about seeing what he’s seeing?"
Wenzhi froze.
Ruixin noticed and practically vibrated. "Oh."
Her entire expression brightened. "Oh, it happened. You saw through his eyes."
Wenzhi sighed heavily. "Only once."
Ruixin leaned forward. "When?"
"When he was inside the rift."
The excitement on her face became alarming. "That’s huge."
Wenzhi already hated where this conversation was going.
Ruixin ignored him. "Guides and Espers with high compatibility can enter mind spaces."
She gestured wildly. "That’s normal."
Then she pointed directly at him. "Seeing through your Esper’s eyes isn’t."
Wenzhi crossed his arms. "What exactly is the difference?"
Ruixin immediately answered. "Mind spaces require interaction. You weren’t interacting."
She looked delighted like she’d just solved a puzzle. "You were simply seeing through his eyes."
Wenzhi suddenly felt very uncomfortable as the memory of the rift resurfaced immediately.
Ruixin was already typing again. Data flooded across the screens. "Compatibility above one hundred percent is impossible."
She smiled. "Which was why I became very interested when yours and Xinyuan’s appeared."
Wenzhi immediately disliked where this was heading. "Frankly, a B-Rank guide shouldn’t be capable of stabilizing someone like Xinyuan."
She looked up. "But you do. And now you’re seeing through his eyes."
Wenzhi rubbed his forehead. "Can you stop sounding excited about this?"
"No."
At least she was honest.
"Can you make the supports or not?" Wenzhi finally snapped. The question cut straight through her rambling.
Ruixin blinked. "I need your blood. Lots of it."
Of course she did.
Ruixin looked completely serious.
Wenzhi sighed and held out his arm. "Take it."
~°~
Several hours later, the testing continued and Ruixin looked increasingly unhinged. Which Wenzhi chose to interpret as progress.
Eventually he escaped and found himself back upstairs. Inside the tattoo salon.
Lusi looked up as he approached. She was cleaning tools at the running sink.
The moment she saw him, she stopped. "What now?"
Wenzhi considered the question. "I’d like a tattoo."
The surprise on her face was immediate. "What kind?"
Wenzhi thought about it. "A constellation of a phoenix."
He tapped lightly against his side. "Draw it around my freckles."
Lusi simply stared like she was trying to understand him. Then she nodded slowly. "Okay."
Hours passed.
The machine buzzed steadily as ink settled against skin. And throughout it all, Wenzhi sat surprisingly still with a lollipop rested between his lips.
The sweet taste barely registered. His thoughts kept drifting to Xinyuan, the compatibility, to Ruixin’s theories.
By the time the tattoo was finished, the phoenix stretched elegantly across the freckles along his ribs like stars connected into a living constellation.
Lusi had barely finished cleaning the area when Ruixin practically burst into the room.
"I have something, Wenzhi."
Her hair was a mess as several data screens floated behind her. And she looked far too excited.
Which immediately worried Wenzhi.
He pulled his shirt back on and followed her downstairs.
"Is it bad?" The lollipop shifted between his teeth as he spoke.
Ruixin spun around. "No."
A grin spread across her face. "It’s incredible."
That answer somehow worried him even more.
The moment they entered the laboratory, she shoved a tablet into his hands. "Look."
Wenzhi looked. Then looked again. And stared for several seconds.
His brain completely stopped working.
A-Rank Guide.
"Huh?" That was all he managed.
Ruixin laughed. "I know."
Wenzhi lowered the tablet and looked at her with rounded eyes. "How?"
Ruixin looked delighted. "My theory was right. Your body is evolving to match Xinyuan."
Wenzhi parted his lips in disbelief but said nothing.
Ruixin’s excitement never faded. "The compatibility is forcing adaptation."
She pointed at the data. "Everything is changing. Your wavelength. Your guiding pathways."
Her eyes brightened. "Your entire system is restructuring itself."
Wenzhi stared.
That sounded unhealthy. Extremely unhealthy.
Ruixin continued anyway. "It is as if your body is trying to become capable of guiding him without limitations. This is huge, Wenzhi."
It probably was. But Wenzhi immediately skipped over it. Straight to the important part.
"What about my guiding energy?"
Ruixin’s excitement disappeared. "Oh." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
That wasn’t reassuring.
Ruixin looked away and awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Your guiding energy is currently at twenty-eight percent."
Wenzhi blinked slowly. "Twenty-eight?"
"Yes."
"Out of one hundred?"
"Yes. I honestly don’t know how you’re still standing." Ruixin immediately moved toward a workstation. Several vials floated across a mechanical arm. "I couldn’t create proper supports yet."
She worked quickly. Mixing compounds, analyzing samples, running calculations. "But I did manage this."
A syringe appeared filled with a glowing liquid.
"Liquid energy restoration." She held it out. "It’ll work faster."
Wenzhi didn’t hesitate.
He took it, pressed it into his arm and injected it.
A sharp hiss escaped him. Then warmth spread through his body like oxygen returning after drowning.
He sat heavily in a nearby chair, running a hand through his hair trying to breathe.
Ruixin immediately moved a scanner toward him.
The machine beeped. Numbers appeared.
67%.
Ruixin smiled as she showed it to him. "See?"
Wenzhi let out the deepest sigh of relief he’d released all week. "Thank you."
Ruixin smiled softly. "My pleasure. I’m glad Xinyuan ended up with someone like you."
Wenzhi narrowed his eyes. "Someone like me?"
Ruixin’s smile widened.
Now that she wasn’t working under the CEA, she looked lighter. Freer.... More human.
Before she could answer, Wenzhi spoke again.
"Bai Qinian."
Ruixin’s smile vanished.
"Is she alive?" Wenzhi watched her carefully. Studying every reaction. Every flicker. Every hesitation.
Ruixin blinked. "Why are you asking that?"
Wenzhi folded his arms. "When we destroyed the headquarters... I thought Xinyuan would kill her first. I know he wanted to. But wanting isn’t the same thing."
Ruixin remained silent.... Listening.
"Nine years of conditioning doesn’t disappear overnight." Wenzhi looked away briefly. Then back at her. "He told me he could kill her."
A small shrug followed. "And I believed him. But I don’t think he did."
Ruixin sighed. "She’s alive."
Wenzhi nodded like he’d already known. He immediately changed subjects. "Would you like to become the head scientist of the Sovereign Faction?"
Ruixin froze. "What?"
Wenzhi chuckled. "You want me to repeat myself?"
Ruixin parted her lips. "Well, I..."
"Are you afraid of Xinyuan?"
"Yes. I mean, you just told me... Bai Qinian. He detests us, we....." She suddenly stopped, her eyes widening. "What do you mean by Sovereign Faction?"
Wenzhi had already started walking away. "Is that a yes or no?" ƒrēewebnovel.com
"Wait." Ruixin hurried after him. "Lin Wenzhi."
He didn’t stop.
"Lin Wenzhi!" Finally she ran in front of him and blocked his path. "Yes."
Wenzhi cocked his head. "Yes?"
"Yes." Ruixin pointed at herself. "I’ll do it. I’ll be the head scientist."
Wenzhi immediately nodded with satisfaction like he’d just purchased groceries. "Perfect."
The lollipop returned to his mouth as he walked past her as he had managed to recruit another useful person into his faction.
