Chapter 54: Saving Zoki

In truth, Ying Huihui considered the tuition fees of the Emperor Star’s Academy of Talents to be excessively high, which was why she insisted on staying behind to study on her family’s home planet. However, because her home planet was a prosperous world, the local school was not much inferior to the one on the Emperor Star.

So her little compatriot was still saving up for her own tuition? She simply had to show more support, then.

"Don't forget to help me craft the cat climbing frame..."

Ye Mexi hugged the cat bed and blinked.

Ying Huihui nodded.

After the cat bed was brought back, both the Vermilion Bird and the White Fluffball showed immense interest in it, each wanting to claim it exclusively.

Ye Mexi had no choice but to commission another one from Ying Huihui.

Hearing that crafting it would consume a significant amount of interstellar currency, Ye Mexi directly transferred one million interstellar coins to Ying Huihui.

"Sister, isn't this a bit too much?"

"I've heard that Array Masters consume quite a lot of materials during crafting. To ensure both quality and quantity, don't worry about the expense, and put all your effort into making the best one for me!"

Oh, oh, oh! So this was what it felt like to be kept by a wealthy sugar mummy sister...

"Alright! Sister, no problem at all, Sister..."

...

"Zoxi, there must still be a way, there has to be..." Xue Lu said, her eyes brimming with tears as her heart shattered with grief.

Zoxi sighed.

"Xue Lu, none of this is what anyone wanted, but this is simply the destiny of a sentinel..."

"I don't care! Even if it's just for my sake, you cannot give up..."

Xue Lu hugged Zoxi from behind, her scalding tears feeling like sharp blades cutting into Zoxi's heart.

In the interstellar era, due to extended lifespans, humans had grown apathetic toward emotions. While genuine affection still existed, people actually placed far greater value on their own interests.

Although they were not yet married, Zoxi had already handed over the majority of his assets to Xue Lu. Compared to what his close friends did, what he had given Xue Lu was already more than enough.

Because galactic laws heavily protected guides, sentinels had, through long-term accumulated experience, developed a set of methods to manage property distribution.

For instance, their interstellar currency and real estate were recorded by optical brains, but the items kept in their private vaults were never logged. Consequently, many high-tier sentinels possessed countless secret private vaults unknown to others.

Zoxi had even given the majority of his private vault contents to Xue Lu. Yet, when the crisis actually arrived, he realized that while he had thought he treated Xue Lu well enough, he now felt it was still not enough!

He had not yet grown tired of watching her sleep, and even her petty, unreasonable tantrums from the past were things he simply could not bear to let go of.

"Rather than being dragged away by the Disciplinary Department with full shackles and zero dignity, I would rather enter with my own sense of decorum. Afterwards... you can still come to visit me!"

I only hope that you will not forget me too quickly...

"I refuse! No, I want you to be safe and sound..."

Zoxi pressed his hands against Xue Lu's arms, wanting to pull her away, yet not daring to exert too much force for fear of hurting her. Suddenly, however, a drastic change occurred.

The back of his hand was covered in long white fur in the blink of an eye, and his fingernails instantly grew sharp and elongated...

"Zoxi!"

Driven by astonishing willpower, just before his semi-beastification caused him to lose his sanity completely, Zoxi shoved Xue Lu away and hurled himself headfirst against the hard wall...

He needed to stall for as long as possible; he simply could not allow himself to hurt Xue Lu...

"What is going on?"

Ye Mexi pushed open the kitchen door and poked her head out, only to see a man—a half-human, half-beastified man—slamming his head against the wall, while Xue Lu stood to the side with her mouth covered, a bloody gash on her arm continuously oozing fresh blood.

Was this... a semi-beastified Zoxi?

"Warning, warning! Berserk value at eighty-seven, eighty-eight..."

Ye Mexi suddenly recalled how, last time, Ye Tianjiao's berserk value had also suddenly surged to an extremely dangerous level.

On the floor, Zoxi—or rather, the semi-beastified Zoxi—staggered back to his feet with a wobbly body, opening his bloodthirsty maw with a terrifying snarl toward Xue Lu.

Xue Lu collapsed backward onto the floor, closing her eyes in absolute despair.

Oh no!

Ye Mexi moved with lightning speed, bringing a stick down squarely on the semi-beastified Zoxi, who crashed to the ground seeing stars.

Did she... hit him a bit too hard? She hadn't accidentally beaten the man to death, had she? But she couldn't take all the blame, right? Pressing one hand against the sofa, Ye Mexi vaulted right over it and crouched down beside Zoxi. Reaching out to check his pulse, she breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing! He wasn't dead.

At that moment, Xue Lu opened her eyes.

"Zoxi!"

Having practically no strength left, she could only manage to crawl toward Zoxi.

"Xue Lu, um... his berserk value is this high, the Disciplinary Department is going to be here any minute now..."

"I know!"

Xue Lu tried her hardest to help Zoxi up, but ultimately could only cradle his head and sob bitterly.

"Zoxi, Zoxi..."

Could we please hold off on the crying for a moment... Oh, whatever! She had already struck him with the stick anyway, and Zoxi was actually a pretty decent guy. Every time he came to Emperor Star, he brought her gifts—not necessarily expensive ones, but chosen with genuine thought.

If Zoxi were dragged off by the Disciplinary Department, she would truly find it hard to bear.

Ye Mexi tapped her finger against Zoxi's forehead, sending a pure wave of red energy rapidly flowing into his spiritual sea.

Zoxi's spiritual energy entity was a seven-tailed snow fox. To be honest, it was entirely to her liking, though unfortunately, it belonged to someone else. Besides, a cold lump of spiritual energy wasn't even fun to pet...

What on earth was she letting her imagination wander to? Saving lives came first!

His spiritual sea was equally chaotic and a complete mess. Since she had already helped Long Song and Long Mu, it made no sense to treat him any differently, right?

Flailing a bunch of flyswatters to beat back the clusters of black energy, Ye Mexi used her own spiritual power to guide Zoxi's incapacitated seven-tailed snow fox to the side. She tossed the tangled, yarn-ball-like spiritual threads out of the way, neatly arranged the mountains, rocks, and forests, and then constructed a cozy cave for the seven-tailed snow fox. Job done!

Barely two or three minutes later, a knock sounded at the dormitory door.

"We are the enforcement team from the Disciplinary Department! Open the door immediately, or we will be forced to breach it..."

The door swung open to reveal a young and beautiful face.

"Is there something you need?" Ye Mexi asked.

"We are from the Disciplinary Department. Recent alarms indicated that a sentinel's berserk value surged to a critical threshold in this vicinity. We request your cooperation with our investigation..."

Ah, right!

Ye Mexi nodded, stepping aside to let them enter.

In the shared living room directly facing the door, Zoxi sat slumped dejectedly on the sofa, still in a semi-conscious state with a massive bump on his head. Xue Lu sat nearby, her face deathly pale and devoid of color, her eyelids swollen and bruised.

"Beep, beep."

"Berserk value detected at sixty-nine... Maintain alert! Maintain alert..."

An officer from the Disciplinary Department scanned Zoxi's head repeatedly with a diagnostic instrument.

The reading remained at sixty-nine.

"Captain Zoxi, did you experience any unusual symptoms prior to this?"

Zoxi let out two low groans, unable to form words.

"We were just messing around earlier, and my roommate didn't know the context, thinking Zoxi was bullying me, so she hit him with a stick. Did that cause some kind of misunderstanding?"

The officers of the Disciplinary Department: "..."

Just what kind of extreme horseplay were they engaging in? The huge lump on Zoxi's head was nearly the size of a fist, looking both comical and absurd.

Suppressing their smiles, the officers nodded.

"Although it was a misunderstanding, there have been recent incidents of sudden berserk value spikes bordering on feral beastification. We kindly ask Captain Zoxi to exercise caution in the future..."

As soon as Ye Mexi closed the door, Xue Lu pulled off the blanket draped over her shoulders. The wound on her arm was not deep, but given her delicate skin, it looked rather gruesome.

"Zoxi, how are you feeling?"