A Beautiful Bodyguard

With just three sentences, Luo Yu saved the three students more than a decade of detours. Aided by Data Eye, Luo Yu's guidance was fast, precise, and ruthless. It took him almost no time at all to finish his task. Afterward, he headed over to the Turbulent Maze. The maze was divided into several zones, so he wouldn't run into anyone else. "Come on out, July." "This is what you're training on today." "Wuji..." Once July emerged and saw the reef-choked torrents before him, he turned his head toward Luo Yu... *Is this training really necessary...? Isn't there any relaxing training that nourishes the soul, like fishing?* "Go on. After all, this is the Great Navigation Era; not knowing how to swim simply won't do." "Unless, that is, you can become the god of the earth one day, expanding the land and making the ocean disappear entirely." "..." July waddled forward with teary eyes. He and the ocean were irreconcilable mortal enemies! *** After training for a while, Luo Yu noticed that Yuwan had come looking for him. Leaving July to his drills, he accompanied Yuwan into the deputy director's office. "The candidate list for your security detail is here." "Four people in total. You pick two, and they'll take shifts guarding the research institute." Yuwan produced a file and began going over the candidates, while Luo Yu poured her a cup of hot tea. "First is someone you've met—Xu Ke, the chief examiner for your assessment. He used to be a scout for the Little Green Dragon Fleet, responsible for detecting hazards in the ocean while vessels were underway. After the Little Green Dragon Fleet met with disaster, he took a post at the Beast Management Bureau." Another fleet that met with disaster? Teacher Wang Ze's fleet had also disbanded after a catastrophe. Going to sea... was truly high-risk. "A scout, huh? Not bad." Luo Yu nodded. "Who's the second?" In truth, Luo Yu felt this guy wasn't entirely reliable. His job had been to detect dangers during voyages, yet his fleet had still crashed and burned... While it probably had nothing to do with Senior Xu, Luo Yu couldn't help but feel it was an unlucky omen. "The second..." Yuwan proceeded to list three more candidates. All were experienced Beast Masters with seafaring backgrounds, yet Luo Yu kept his brow furrowed throughout. While their capabilities certainly qualified them for security duties, something about them felt... Their resumes sounded far too ordinary, offering little in the way of prospects. They seemed like people who were just looking to retire into an easy security guard gig to see out their old age. In their fifties or sixties, they were still Intermediate Beast Masters like Teacher Wang Ze... with virtually all their potential tapped out. Then again, that made sense. There was no grave danger on the island, and for basic security work, they wouldn't mobilize the island's top-tier combat power. Those elite combatants were either serving on the major fleets or guarding the island's perimeters. Luo Yu had probably gone breeding-crazy, wanting someone with better trait affixes even when just picking a security guard. "None of them suit you?" "You're quite picky..." "Actually, there's another candidate, though she's not on the list," Yuwan said. "Who?" Luo Yu asked. "Now, this person is formidable. At a young age, she was already the navigator of the Ninth Squad of the Jingyue Armed Fleet. Chart surveying, stellar positioning, weather forecasting, route planning, current observation... she's mastered it all. Above all, she specializes in reading the stars to guide fleets clear of danger." "A navigator from the Jingyue Armed Fleet?!" Luo Yu's eyes lit up. Now that sounded impressive. The Jingyue Armed Fleet was the most elite official fleet on Jingyue Island. Those who managed to join, even in subsidiary squadrons, were the absolute cream of the crop among Beast Masters. Though the four candidates mentioned earlier had served on decent fleets, they were simply not in the same league. Still, why would a navigator from the Jingyue Armed Fleet have the free time to work as his bodyguard? Luo Yu voiced his confusion. "An accident happened, and her pet beast died," Yuwan explained. "Even so, despite losing her pet beast and having yet to contract a new one, her personal strength remains formidable. Her innate talent is 'Spirit,' and she's already awakened telekinesis. Even without a pet beast, she is extraordinarily capable in her own right, easily holding her own against a peer Beast Master fighting alongside their pet beast." "As an esper, her telekinetic sensory range is remarkable. She can practically do the work of two people, elevating the level of security significantly." "Once she finds a new pet beast, she'll have a shot at advancing to Advanced Beast Master, so her potential is considerable. Right now is merely a rough patch for her. Choosing her will yield far greater returns in the long run." Luo Yu pondered for a moment. *Why does everyone sound so jinxed?* *Every single one only comes to be my guard after disaster strikes.* "This one is indeed better." If forced to choose, Luo Yu preferred this option; the Jingyue Armed Fleet still carried more prestige and authority. Most importantly, a Beast Master with a Spirit talent was, if not one in ten thousand, at least one in several thousand—an exceptional find. "What's their name? How old are they? Male or female?" Luo Yu asked. Yuwan looked solemn as she gazed at Luo Yu. "It's me." "...?" "You want me, right? I'll go speak to the Director. Damn it, I don't want to spend another single day doing this shitty clerk job!" Yuwan grumbled heatedly. "Whatever you ask for, the Director will do his best to accommodate. I'll report for duty tomorrow." Luo Yu: *???* Navigator... skilled in reading the stars... The pearl left behind by a dead star shell... A brainstorm swept through Luo Yu's mind, and he stared at Yuwan in dead silence. He should have realized it long ago. "What's with that face? Is having your teacher not good enough? Why hesitate when a gorgeous woman like me wants to be your bodyguard?" Yuwan rose to her feet. Standing 1.7 meters tall, her black hair coiled into a low bun, she wore a crisp, dark gray business suit with a pencil skirt and black stockings. Beneath her sharp, professional demeanor lay the wind-and-weather aura unique to seafarers. Luo Yu took a look, then immediately shook his head. "Teacher, you certainly are gorgeous, but this has nothing to do with beauty..." Luo Yu said. "Aren't you serving as the Director's secretary? I had no intention of poaching personnel from him." "Don't worry about that. I've brought up resigning to my uncle several times already, but he kept shooting me down on the grounds that I didn't have a proper job lined up. Now that I have a real position as a security officer for your research institute, he won't have any excuse left." "Besides, plenty of people can serve as his secretary, but hardly anyone is more suited to guard the Luo Yu Research Institute than me. What's more, you know my background inside and out. Having me in charge of security will give you much more peace of mind, won't it?" Yuwan slapped the desk, presenting an argument that left Luo Yu with no room to refuse. Even so, it did not change the plain truth: she simply found the clerk job too exhausting and wanted to become a bodyguard instead. "All right, then..." "If the Director is willing to let you go, I have no objections," Luo Yu conceded. A beautiful bodyguard was certainly better than staring at a bunch of old men. "That's what I was waiting to hear!" Yuwan replied with a radiant smile. "Don't worry, I've saved up quite a bit of money over the years, and my family will chip in a grant too. When the time comes, I'll see if I can purchase a monarch cub with subpar attributes. With a Beast Master who might contract a Monarch guarding you, you should be secretly laughing all the way to the bank." A monarch cub?! Then again, it made sense... Yuwan came from one of Jingyue Island's three great Beast Taming clans. Her uncle was the island's third-in-command, and her father was likely an officer in the Jingyue Armed Fleet. Her family possessed wealth and influence. Even though she had suffered an accident that claimed her initial pet beast, staging a comeback would be relatively easy. With enough effort, she might actually manage to buy and contract one of those monarch cubs with terrible attributes that were dubbed the 'disgrace of Monarchs.' Naturally, no matter how bad its attributes might be, a Monarch was still a Monarch—far beyond anything a Common Species could match. "Teacher, your previous pet beast was a star shell, right?" "Yes. My family spent a small fortune acquiring that star shell for me. With its aid, studying astronomy felt like having divine guidance, and coupled with my powerful spiritual power, I even mastered astrology," Yuwan sighed. "Unfortunately, it wasn't a combat-type pet beast after all, and its life was too fragile." "Actually, after graduating from high school, I also took the entrance exam for Canglan Ocean University. Sadly, my combat strength wasn't enough, so I didn't pass." She shrugged. "That's why your father, Luo Shui, was truly incredible. Relying purely on a single research thesis, he earned admission into Canglan Ocean University." Luo Yu asked, "So this time you want to contract a combat-type pet beast rather than a support type like the star shell?" "Yeah. Although the star shell had miraculous abilities, I've had enough of feeling powerless. That's why I've been training my psychic powers diligently over the years. By now, my telekinesis is no weaker than a mutated beast's. If I get another pet beast, it'd best be a Spirit-type mutated sea beast that can complement my telekinesis." "Of course, a Monarch Species Spirit-type pet beast is out of the question." "Settling for the next best thing, any Monarch Species would do. And if that's impossible, a High-Rank Species Spirit-type pet beast would work." Yuwan clearly wasn't in a rush. Rather than settle for an unsuitable pet beast, she preferred to remain uncontracted. "Indeed. Choosing the right pet beast is crucial; if you can't find a good match, it's better to hold off on contracting..." *Just wait a little longer.* He gazed out the window. Give it some more time, and he might map out a stable Monarch evolution pathway for the inkfish. When that day arrived, she could simply hand her beast-purchasing funds over to him. Why let outsiders take that money? Want a Spirit-type Monarch Species? Nothing could be simpler. A Dominion core plus a hundred inkfish with Spirit Overload—care to learn about a psychic colossus octopus? Then again, the Water Demon Beast's visual aesthetic seemed a bit sanity-draining. A beautiful woman paired with a tentacled monster octopus felt somewhat eerie. *** Once the day's training was complete, Yuwan insisted on accompanying Luo Yu back to check out her future work environment. "Didn't the bureau agree to fund the expansion? The security guardhouse is part of the institute too. Just say what kind of living quarters you prefer, and we can build a new one right next door," Luo Yu said. "There's really no need to waste resources like that." Yuwan followed Luo Yu into the research institute. "Don't you have a spare utility room or storeroom around here...?" "Shh—" Luo Yu suddenly made a silencing gesture, his expression turning tense. Seeing this, Yuwan tensed up as well. "What is it?!" she whispered. Pressing quietly against the wall, Luo Yu peeked inside. "The inkfish is laying eggs..." Yuwan: *?* *Why are you so worked up over an inkfish laying eggs? It's not like your wife is giving birth! Am I supposed to give you two some privacy or something?*