Discussing The Correct Posture To Enjoy Dog Food

Chapter 172 - Pomegranate Flavored Sentinel Gong (13)

Translated by Hua Li ^_~

“What’s wrong with your little guide? Did you bully him?”

Three days ago, Xiang Muchuan had unexpectedly completed spiritual fusion with his guide, and the breakthrough had immediately elevated him to an SS-level sentinel.

However, since his new level was still unstable, Marshal Xiang hadn’t allowed him to take on any new missions these past few days, instructing him instead to focus on consolidating his power with Gou Liang’s company.

Today, he’d come to discuss strategy—word had just arrived that Jack Litt was engaged to the Prime Minister’s guide from the Free Federation, which meant the Federation was likely to send reinforcements to aid Nelson.

But the moment Marshal Xiang stepped inside, what he saw left him stunned.

Gou Liang sat listlessly, cuddling the silver wolf, while the wolf kept batting away a little pink creature that kept yapping “woof woof” and desperately trying to pounce into Gou Liang’s arms. The wolf’s tail swatted it across the room each time, yet the tiny pink one would get right back up and crawl over again, begging for attention pitifully.

No one had ever seen a sentinel’s spirit animal treat its partner’s spirit animal so… violently. Marshal Xiang was fascinated.

Xiang Muchuan’s lips twitched with a faint smile as he quietly explained, “A couple of days ago, Xiao Keng’er found out that Little Pink isn’t a dog—it’s a wolf.”

“A wolf?!”

Even Marshal Xiang, who’d seen just about everything, couldn’t help raising his voice in surprise.

Gou Liang lifted his head just long enough to give Xiang’s father a gloomy look before burying his face back into the silver wolf’s neck in despair.

He’d been just as dumbfounded when he’d first confirmed it.

Though Little Pink looked like a puppy—still in its cub form—closer inspection of its teeth and bones after materialization had revealed the truth. As much as Gou Liang wanted to deny it, the evidence was undeniable: just as he had seen in Xiang Muchuan’s deepest memories, Little Pink really was a wolf. No mistake about it.

Marshal Xiang rubbed his nose and gave an awkward chuckle. “How’d it end up a wolf?”

Seeing how downcast the little guide looked, he lowered his voice in sympathy, copying his son’s quiet tone.

That pink “puppy” might have been a bit unusual, but at least it had been cute. Turning into a pink wolf, though—just imagining it made him rub his arms in discomfort.

Xiang Muchuan cleared his throat. “Guides’ spirit forms don’t have second evolutions—they stay the same size. But Xiao Keng’er’s a bit upset, so… let’s not spread this around.”

Marshal Xiang nodded solemnly.

He’d actually always found it odd that his son’s perfect 100% match guide would have a puppy as a spirit animal. A wolf made far more sense.

Still…

He glanced at the pink fluff yapping across the room and decided, per his son’s unspoken request, to just forget that it was, technically, a wolf.

No one was more frustrated than Gou Liang himself.

His name had been his since birth.

Back when he was a soul born into a transition world, his parents had died not long after he was born, and he’d been raised by the base. The only reason he hadn’t been given a serial number instead of a name was because of the tattoo across his collarbone—a tattoo that bore the characters “Gou Liang.”

Everyone, including him, had always believed that his birth mother had carved it there after he was born. But now, he knew better.

With his perfect memory, he could still recall the pattern of that tattoo exactly, even though it had vanished with his former body. It wasn’t written in ink—it had been drawn with strange runic lines.

He hadn’t understood them before, but now he recognized them for what they were—the same divine law patterns engraved in Xiang Muchuan’s Main God consciousness sea.

That realization filled him with burning curiosity. He longed to uncover the memories he’d lost of his past with the Main God. But every time he tried to re-enter Xiang Muchuan’s divine consciousness, the man in the black law-embroidered robe—and his dog—were nowhere to be found.

“Woof woof!”

Gou Liang turned toward the pitifully barking Little Pink, his eyes flashing with barely concealed distaste.

He was certain of one thing: even if he had once been a wolf that merely looked like a dog, he was absolutely not pink!

Thinking of this, he glanced toward Xiang Muchuan.

Come to think of it, when he first arrived in this world—before he had time to extract the original body’s soul image—he’d somehow awakened as a guide and instinctively bound himself to Xiang Muchuan. That was also when this dumb wolf had first appeared. Clearly, it had something to do with his dear Main God.

Sure, the little wolf was his mental manifestation—but that pink color? That was definitely not his doing!

Sensing his complicated gaze, Xiang Muchuan turned back to look at him. Seeing Gou Liang retreat again, hiding himself in the silver wolf’s thick fur, he couldn’t help the amused curve of his lips.

“Dad, I’ve already made arrangements for what you mentioned.”

Xiang Muchuan went on, “There are seven spatial wormholes leading into the Nelson system—three within Imperial space, four under Federation control. Before freezing Jesu Litt’s clearance, I managed to hack into those four Federation portals through his terminal. I can sever or cloak their jump requests at any time. Even if the Federation manages to decipher my interference code, they won’t be sending reinforcements for at least one or two years.”

Marshal Xiang slapped the table in delight.

That meant the Federation army was trapped in the jar—they were guaranteed victory!

If it weren’t for the risk that the Litt Legion might self-destruct the wormholes and alert the Zerg, he’d have told his son to just seal them completely and wipe them out.

With that worry lifted from his mind, Marshal Xiang smiled warmly. “Muchuan, you’re more than ready to stand on your own. You’re far more capable than I ever was. Once you’re married, I can finally lay down my burden and go back to accompany your mother.”

Though not a dark-type sentinel himself, Marshal Xiang’s spiritual domain was far more stable than most. Even so, when his wife had become pregnant, he’d sent her back to the Capital Star for safety. Since then, the couple had lived apart for long stretches of time.

He’d been waiting for this day—when his son could fully take command of the legion.

Xiang Muchuan glanced at Gou Liang, testing his reaction. Seeing that he didn’t seem bothered—whether they lived in the central star zone or the frontier meant nothing to him, as long as they were together—Xiang Muchuan smiled.

“Father, let’s talk about it again after my wedding leave.”

Marshal Xiang, unaware that his beloved son planned to take all thirteen years of accumulated leave at once—a full year of “wedding leave”—agreed happily.

After sending his father off, Xiang Muchuan returned to pick Gou Liang up. At his command, the silver wolf grabbed the pitiful Little Pink in its jaws and trotted off.

“Still mad?” he asked softly.

He chuckled and ruffled Gou Liang’s hair.Gou Liang cupped his face with a serious expression and asked solemnly, “Do you… li-like… pi-pink?”

Xiang Muchuan didn’t dare hurt his fragile nerves, so he nodded in agreement.

Only then did Gou Liang smile. See? He knew it—there was no way he had that kind of weird taste~

*

When Gou Liang’s new food supplement passed all evaluations and officially entered human trials, the battle between the Xiang family and the Litt Legion on Nelson reached its peak.

Jack Litt had been full of ambition, but the reinforcements and supplies he was counting on still hadn’t arrived.

After confirming the situation, Jack’s expression turned thunderous. “You’re certain the wormholes are under enemy control?” he demanded, his voice sharp.

The technician nodded gravely. “Yes, General. The Imperial army hacked into the wormhole control towers through Colonel Jesu’s terminal clearance. That was thirty-six days ago. We didn’t have any defenses in place back then…”

“Jes—!”

Jack ground his teeth, fury twisting his face so darkly that the technician dared not continue.

He tried his best to cover up the incident, but the Litt Legion’s tech division was no match for Xiang Muchuan’s interference program. They couldn’t regain control of the wormholes.

Before long, the Ryan Legion and Palmer Legion, who had already deployed reinforcements, caught wind of the problem.

The Litt Legion had already been at a disadvantage, and after more than a month of fighting, the Xiang family had seized two-thirds of the Nelson system—the outcome was already clear.

But right at that crucial moment, Jack Litt managed to secure the Prime Minister’s backing through marriage, giving the other legions pause.

After all, if reinforcements and supplies could arrive in time, defeating the Xiang family wasn’t impossible—and they could share in the spoils. It was a profitable deal.

But now that the key wormholes were under Xiang family control, the commanders of the Ryan and Palmer legions were losing their nerve.

With supply lines cut and reinforcements blocked, this war of attrition was unwinnable for the Litt Legion. The Xiang army’s strength alone could grind them to death. No one wanted their soldiers turned into cannon fodder for the Litt family.

Jack, of course, refused to let them pull out.

If they withdrew now, he was finished!

The Ryan commander said coldly, “If you want to throw yourself against a stone wall, we won’t stop you. But I’m sorry, General Litt—this is as far as the Ryan family can go.”

The Palmer commander sighed and added, “What’s done is done, General Litt. You’d best face reality.”

Determined to leave, they turned to go, but Jack’s voice stopped them. “Gentlemen, why not wait two more days before making your decision?”

“Do you actually have a way out of this, General Litt?” Ryan demanded. “If so, speak plainly. We can’t risk our soldiers’ lives on vague promises.”

Jack suddenly laughed, his tone icy. “The Xiang family might be powerful, but without an heir, how long can the Empire’s First Legion remain untouchable? You both must have heard that Xiang Muchuan, arrogant fool that he is, actually brought his B-class guide to the front lines. They’re a perfect 100% match. If something were to happen to that little guide… heh, Xiang Muchuan would be finished.”

Ryan and Palmer both looked startled. The latter asked, “You mean to say you’re confident you can get to that guide?”

Jack smiled coldly. “Just wait for the good news. I promise you won’t be waiting long.”

【System: Master! The bad guys are coming! I’m so scared~ Please protect me~~】

【Gou Liang, who had been enjoying the show: …Get lost.】

Jack Litt couldn’t wait any longer. The assassination plan he’d been preparing for over a month was moved up ahead of schedule.

“Young Master Yuan, the professor would like to see you.”

The young man who came to fetch Gou Liang was Walker—the son-in-law of Rachel, head of the food-supplement factory, and also Gou Liang’s apprentice.

A very talented A-level guide.

After Gou Liang handed the formula to Marshal Xiang, the latter organized a small research team under Rachel’s supervision to begin limited production of the new food supplement. But their grasp of the formula still wasn’t precise enough—minor deviations could greatly affect both effectiveness and flavor—so until they mastered it, Gou Liang continued to provide technical support.

He informed Xiang Muchuan, who was in the middle of a meeting, and left with the silver wolf.

No matter how many times he’d seen it, Walker was still amazed by how closely the silver wolf stuck to Gou Liang, protective and affectionate.

He sighed. “Marshal Wolf really adores you. I’ve never seen a sentinel’s spirit form so attached to a guide before. Do you have some special trick, Young Master Yuan? My husband’s spirit animal is a tiger, and it barely tolerates me. Honestly, I’m kind of afraid of it.”

Walker scratched his head with an embarrassed laugh.

Gou Liang fondly petted the silver wolf, which reached his waist in height, and said with a small smile, “I don’t… kn-know either. May-aybe… it’s the… o-one hundred p-percent… sentinel–guide… att-attribute?”

“Awoo~”

The silver wolf turned and nuzzled his waist, the usually cold and regal face softening into a goofy grin under Gou Liang’s touch.

His speech was slow and stuttered, but Walker was patient.

Hearing that, he looked at Gou Liang with admiration. “So that’s it. My 85% compatibility isn’t bad, but I guess it’s nothing like what you have.”

“It’s… al-lready very… h-high,” Gou Liang comforted him gently. “Tr-try to… get cl-closer to it. If y-you like it… it will… l-like you… too.”

“I’m still a little scared,” Walker admitted, “but I’ll give it a try.”

He thanked Gou Liang for his advice, chatting idly as they came into the lab—only to find the place completely empty.

Walker quickly said, “Sorry, Young Master Yuan, the professor probably lost track of time again. Please wait here a moment—I’ll go fetch him.”

Just as he turned to leave, he suddenly looked back at Gou Liang with a smile. “Oh, right, I never told you this, did I? The food supplements you make are really delicious. Thank you for bringing something so wonderful into this world.”

“No need to tha—”

Before Gou Liang could finish, a spray canister was suddenly raised and discharged straight into his face. As he collapsed to the floor, the last thing he heard was Walker’s voice saying, “Goodbye.”

At the same time—

Xiang Muchuan received a communication request from Rachel. Seeing that she was looking for Gou Liang, he said, “Yuan Wang is already on his way to you.”

“To me? That’s great! I was just about to contact Young Master Yuan, but I couldn’t reach his communicator—”

“What did you say?!”

Xiang Muchuan shot to his feet, startling everyone in the conference room. “Young Marshal?” someone called.

Ignoring them, Xiang Muchuan immediately tried to reach Gou Liang through the silver wolf while demanding of Rachel, “Didn’t you just send Walker to fetch Yuan Wang?”

“Walker? No, I didn’t—”

Before she could finish, Xiang Muchuan felt the mental resonance between him and Gou Liang abruptly severed.

Something had happened.

Realizing this, his face went pale, and he bolted out of the room.