Chapter 4

Analise was just as surprised as everyone else, but for a different reason—she was starting to suspect that Scott wanted to monitor her personally. After all, a pure-human female with mind essence was rare enough to raise questions. Moreover, she had no guardian or chip and randomly appeared in the middle of a forest. Not only that, but she had also somehow ended up calming down one of his people. If she were in Scott's shoes, Analise knew she would be suspicious, too—even if the person in question was a female. Still, it felt like a little overkill for the top commander of the alliance to do the monitoring himself. What she did not know, however, was that Scott had an entirely different thought process. To him, the fact that a pure-human female actually possessed mind essence—even if it was the lowest tier, F-grade—was already unheard of. But the real kicker? Analise had managed to soothe Finlay, a therian with an S-grade mind essence. That meant one thing. Pure-human females who awakened their mind essence could have a calming effect far stronger than any therian female, and mind essence would not stay stagnant. It could grow. In other words, Analise could eventually become someone capable of soothing anyone, no matter how powerful. And Scott? He was the strongest in all of Stormclaw. He was on the verge of breaking past SS-grade, aiming to become the world's first SSS-grade mind essence bearer. Only someone like her would be strong enough to calm him, and only she would be a match worthy of standing by his side. Besides, she was beautiful, too. The moment he laid eyes on her, his heart skipped a beat—something that had never happened before. So yes, he had already made up his mind. He had to become her guardian. He thought surely, after everything he had said, she would agree. "Uh… sure," Analise replied with a slight nod. She was not entirely comfortable with it, but she figured Scott would eventually lose interest once he realized she was not hiding anything. And honestly, having the strongest guy in the alliance as her protector was not the worst idea. "Then, let's get the chip implanted. After that, get some rest. I'll leave Finlay here with you while I update your information at Hopkins Galaxy Lodge," Scott said with a warm smile. "Can I just have you and Finlay as my guardians?" Analise asked suddenly, flashing a polite smile of her own. She could not handle the thought of five people watching her every move, as that would drive her insane, even if Finlay did not exactly scream "spy" material. "Of course." Scott almost could not hide his smile. … The chip implantation process was surprisingly quick, and Analise did not feel any pain. Despite being called an implant, it did not require surgery—Kyle simply placed the chip at the center of her forehead. It felt cold for a moment, and then it vanished. "Ms. Chamber, the chip will fully sync with your genetic code in about five minutes. After that, everything will be activated. I'll leave you to rest now," Kyle said gently, then turned and left the room. "It just disappeared…" Analise whispered under her breath. "Huh?" Finlay, who had been peeling an apple nearby, did not catch what she said. "Nothing. I'm just a little hungry. But I don't really want an apple. Would you mind grabbing me something else to eat?" Analise smiled sweetly at him. "Oh… Yeah! Be right back!" Finlay's hand paused mid-peel, and he instantly put the apple down and hustled out of the room. As he left, he made a mental note that Analise did not like apples. Once the door clicked shut behind him, Analise relaxed a little and spoke inwardly to the system. "Did I land in a novel or something? And what's the mission I'm supposed to do?" The system responded with a firm denial, "Nope. Analise, you've entered a parallel dimension. There are countless parallel dimensions across the universe, each with its own timeline and history—all developing differently." The system began explaining the situation to Analise, "Right now, you're in a dimension known as the Interstellar therian world, which has been invaded by a race called the Vexoth. "It used to be just like any regular human world, but after the invasion, most humans were infected by Vexoth venom and became food or nutrients for the Vexoth. "A small number of humans, however, had their dormant beastial DNA triggered by the infection and transformed into therians—beings with both human and beast traits. "Eventually, the therians discovered they could mentally control an invisible force to fight back against the Vexoth. They named this ability 'mind essence.' And yes, these therians are also capable of cross-species reproduction." Analise was skeptical. "Cross-species reproduction? Do you mean hybrid breeding? But is that even possible? I mean, a horse and a donkey can have a mule, but mules can't reproduce, right?" Even though she had read about it in fantasy novels, being thrown into the Interstellar therian world made her question everything. The system answered, "It's possible. The genetic base of these therians is still fundamentally human. The beastial DNA is just previously hidden genes that got activated, so reproduction still works." "Oh, I see." Analise nodded in understanding. Then, she asked, "So what's my mission here?" "You only have one mission—to purify the Vexoth venom and collect something called Purification Value. As your Purification Value increases, you'll earn rewards based on your purification level." "Will I be able to return to my original world?" she asked again. "Yes. Once you complete all the purification tasks, you can choose to stay in the Interstellar therian world or return home." "Wait. I thought I only had one mission?" Analise frowned, clearly confused. "Yes, that's correct. The 'all purification tasks' simply mean you have to purify every last trace of the Vexoth venom in this world." Analise fell silent at the mention that she needed to purify every last trace of the Vexoth venom. After all, it could only mean that this was going to be a long haul. About ten minutes later, Finlay returned to the hospital room carrying several shopping bags, each filled with neatly packed meal containers. "Ms. Chamber, I'm back! I wasn't sure what you liked, so I grabbed a little bit of everything, plus some nutrient packs, too!" "That's a lot of food!" Analise was stunned by the sight of the mountain of bags, half amused and half overwhelmed. "Yeah, I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I just grabbed a bunch." Finlay scratched his head sheepishly as he opened up the containers and handed her a spoon and a fork. Just then, Analise had just taken a few bites when she heard a notification sound, and a robotic male voice echoed in the room. "Update complete!" It did not sound like the usual system voice, so she instinctively looked up, only to see a light-blue transparent panel floating in midair just like her system screen. [Please confirm the following personal information and authorize access: Name: Analise Chamber Gender: Female Species: Pure-human Mind Essence: F-grade Guardians: Scott Hopkins, Finlay Knight Alliance: Stormclaw Alliance Alliance ID: 03-999612 Do you confirm and authorize?] "Whoa, Scott works fast! It's only been half an hour, and he already got this set up," Finlay commented, leaning in to look at the panel hovering in front of Analise. "But seriously? He put his name before mine in the guardian list?" Finlay grumbled, biting his lip with a dramatic sigh. "That's a total abuse of power!" "You can see this, too?" Analise asked, a little surprised. "Yeah, you didn't turn on the privacy setting for your chip, so anyone nearby can see it, too," Finlay chuckled again. He suddenly remembered this was probably Analise's first time using an embedded chip, so it made sense she did not know. He leaned closer, reached out, and tapped the panel to confirm authorization, saying, "Ms. Chamber, let me show you how to set all this up."