The Heartthrob Guide: Dodder of S-Class Sentinels

Chapter 289 Forced
Lin Nan clearly heard those words echo in the darkness, but they didn't come from her own mouth.

She suddenly realized that her consciousness must have possessed someone else's body.

That voice—she felt like she'd heard it somewhere before.

Before she could even process her thoughts, her body had already begun to move. She watched as "herself" slowly approached Hosen in the corner, and then gently crouched down.

A slender, delicate hand reached out, passing through the young man's disheveled hair, and gently lifted the man who was suppressing his emotions and had his head bowed.

The moment Lin Nan's fingertips touched Huo Sen's chin, she clearly felt his body stiffen, and even his breathing paused for half a second.

His whole body was burning hot, and there was still a lingering moisture in his eyes, indicating mental instability. He subconsciously tried to avoid the touch, his lips pressed into a tight line, trying his best to maintain his last shred of dignity.

"How stubborn!" Her body spoke again, her tone now tinged with impatience. "You should know that in this world, only I can guide you, so you are destined to be mine. Why can't you submit to me willingly like other men?"

The hand gripping Hossen's chin tightened slightly, forcing him to raise his head, unable to avoid the oppressive gaze.

Then, her voice softened, taking on a seductive tone: "I promise you, if you nod, I will give you the greatest favor and the rights that no one else has..."

Her gaze swept over the unhealed wounds on Hosen's combat uniform, and she clicked her tongue softly: "Tsk tsk tsk... These wounds must hurt a lot, right? How many vials of guide essence could you exchange for the merits you earned by risking your life in the contaminated zone?"

"Once you become mine, not only will the pollution accumulated in your mental landscape be cleared away all at once, but you will also be able to safely get through each heat cycle."

The last sentence, spoken very softly, yet with a hook-like quality: "Why bother? Getting yourself all injured, unable to even get a good night's sleep..."

Lin Nan could clearly feel the strong desire for control hidden beneath that "gentleness" in this body. She wasn't "caring" for him, but was using his vulnerability as a bargaining chip, relentlessly pressuring him to submit.

Lin Nan realized that she had possessed that person's body.

Is she the Queen?

She stared nervously at the young man, Hosen, her heart clenching. She desperately wanted to know how he would have dealt with that temptation back then.

Suddenly, Huo Sen, who had been in a daze due to mental disorder, opened his eyes. His golden eyes shone in the dim light. Although his eyes were still misty, there was no confusion in them. They were like two burning stars.

Lin Nan's heart was struck at that moment, and she instantly understood him.

This is the pride etched into Hosen's bones, the stubbornness he never lost, even when he fought bloody battles and narrowly escaped death in the contaminated zone.

He can accept pain and endure loneliness, but he will never exchange anything for "surrender".

Unfortunately, the queen at the time did not understand him. She was immersed in the shame and indignation of losing face and threw him hard to the ground.

"Then you can just bear it..." the Queen said angrily. "Let's see how many years you can last. Ha, double S-class, the symptoms of your heat will only get stronger year by year. When you're in your thirties and still have no guide to help you, this accumulated desire will eventually wear down your body."

She paused deliberately, a hint of malicious prediction in her voice: "In the end, you'll still have to come begging to me, but the price you'll pay then won't be as easy as it is now..."

...As soon as he finished speaking, the scene before his eyes vanished. The young man, Hosen, huddled in the corner, along with the surrounding darkness and dim light, gradually dissipated into the empty mental space with the invisible wind.

Lin Nan returned to the storm's steps, gazing at the countless fragments of memories above, and fell into silence.

The higher she went, perhaps influenced by the owners of these fragments, the heavier her steps became.

"If the Sentinel is the sword the world uses to protect itself, then the Guide is the one who wields that sword."

"But if the sword, in its pursuit of freedom, makes the dancer disappear, then the sword will also lose its guidance, and its sharp blade will ultimately become a weapon that destroys itself..."

In the void, Lin Nan seemed to hear Huo Sen's voice.

After being oppressed and threatened time and again, they finally began to respond.

He was aloof and arrogant, and even though it was just a voice at this moment, one could imagine what he looked like standing in front of the queen whom everyone admired back then.

His back was ramrod straight, showing neither weakness nor sharp anger, but calmly stating a fact that everyone knows but dares not admit.

This world has long been sick, ever since the swordsmen disappeared...

Hosen's origins were far more significant than Lin Nan had previously realized. He was born into a supreme family—the Trevor family, a name that, in the history of humanity's apocalypse, was synonymous with "guardianship."

Long before the outbreak of massive pollution, the rampage of alien species, and the near extinction of humanity, the Trevor family stood at the forefront of the struggle. Their ancestors fought across the wastelands teeming with aliens, searching for life amidst ruins, clearing contaminated areas, building safe havens, and ultimately creating a home where the surviving humans could breathe and rebuild.

The very existence of this family is legendary. They don't need to rely on "admiration" to build their fame; the achievements of each generation are etched on the land rebuilt by humanity.

Yet, this family, which had made such outstanding contributions, suffered unwarranted persecution after humanity finally escaped the crisis of "near extinction" and life became somewhat stable.

Unlike other noble families who rose to power through marriage with the Queen, the patriarchs of Trevor have always had their own lovers, sentinels, and guides. In their life-and-death cooperation, it is easy for them to develop an intense and inseparable love. Hosen's parents are the most vivid example of this.

Hosen's mother was such a guide, gentle in nature yet possessing a strong inner strength.

She was never an "appendage" dependent on others, but a comrade-in-arms who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Hosen's father on the city wall.

But this upright and respected person suddenly turned into something else in the dead of night...

The mutation of the Guide is a more terrifying phenomenon than the mutation of the Sentinel.

The mental chaos once paralyzed the entire Central District One. Hosen still remembers that every minute and second of that night was like a red-hot branding iron, deeply etched into his memory.

He was only six years old at the time.

It was that large-scale upheaval that relegated guides to a pedestal, turning them into fragile little birds in a cage...

(End of this chapter)