A Sweet Sentinel-and-Guide Story

Before he turned eighteen, Lin Li was a pauper who survived by scavenging for trash on the outskirts of a desolate star system. After he turned eighteen, a blood test revealed that he was the long-lost descendant of the prestigious Lin family from the First Star Zone. It sounds like a dull, melodramatic rich-family baby-swap story. And that's pretty much what it is. The real son, Lin Li, had long since been hardened by that distant, dangerous desolate planet, growing sharp thorns. He was fierce and unruly, so out of place in the First Star Zone's aristocratic family. In contrast, Lin Qingyue, the "fake" young master who had been switched into the Lin family years ago and raised in comfort, was gentle, elegant, and refined, even without Lin blood. Everyone liked Lin Qingyue more. Lin Li didn't care. * Because Sheng Yitan had come with him from the desolate planet to the First Star Zone. Sheng was his brother despite their lack of blood ties, his best friend, his confidant, the teammate to whom he could entrust his life and everything he held dear... and also the love of his life. They had supported each other as they grew up in that treacherous place. They had never needed anyone else's support. Lin Li thought that having Sheng Yitan was enough. * Until the year they turned eighteen, when Lin Li and Lin Qingyue both differentiated. They both became guides. But Lin Qingyue's spirit animal was a white deer, beloved by the people of the Federation... While Lin Li's spirit animal was a rare prehistoric creature, a giant Dakosaurus. * The people of the Federation firmly believed that a spirit animal's traits were closely tied to its owner's. Lin Qingyue's white deer represented his gentleness and elegance... Just as Lin Li's Dakosaurus was exactly as savage and brutal as he was. * Lin Li still didn't care. He thought that no matter what he became, he would still have Sheng Yitan. So what if his spirit animal was a Dakosaurus? If he could help Sheng Yitan, an S-rank sentinel, soothe his increasingly violent spirit animal, then becoming a guide was the best thing that could have happened. But Lin Li never expected Sheng Yitan to be afraid of him. They had grown up together through life and death, the same flesh and blood raised in different skins... Yet Sheng Yitan's spirit animal stayed glued to Lin Qingyue's white deer, entwined with it in an intimate embrace. * Facing Sheng Yitan's silence and indifference day after day, Lin Li suddenly grew tired. He cut off every connection and headed to the front lines of the war against the Zerg, becoming a rare combat guide. Lin Li's plan was to kill a few Zerg in a glorious fight, then die just as gloriously. He no longer had any ties. His heart was an open wilderness, and all he had left was his free-spirited nature... Then one day, a deep shadow suddenly wrapped itself around his spirit animal, the one everyone else avoided, and struck one mating pose after another. Lin Li looked up in surprise, only to see a huge, fierce, beautiful prehistoric beast... a Hoffman Mosasaurus. * Hoffman Mosasaurus: Pew pew pew, hearts, hearts, hearts, hearts! Please marry me! Look, my nest is huge! I'm great at hunting! I, I will be gentle with you! What should we name our children? Lin Li's spirit animal (slowly backing away): =-= Lin Li: Huh? Wait, the only person in the history of the Federation with a Hoffman Mosasaurus spirit animal... was that legendary Dark Sentinel, wasn't it? Lin Li slowly turned around, staring back in surprise. What he saw was a tall, sinister silhouette in the shadows. The man was usually as hard to deal with as a monster, cruel and vicious. But for once, he looked uncomfortable in front of Lin Li, then spoke in a quiet voice: "I want to court you." "I want to be your one and only partner in the future." "...Please grant me your approval." Tristan, a legendary Dark Sentinel. People say he's sinister, cold, vicious, vindictive, and doomed to die horribly... Well, they're not wrong, especially about the last part. In the last few years before he was about to die from his rampaging mental energy, Tristan sealed off his five senses and put on restraints meant for the gravest criminals, becoming a "hunter" who always charged at the very front of the Zerg war. His plan was to kill countless Zerg in a glorious battle, then die in the throes of extreme madness brought on by his mental instability. But in this cruelest hell in the Federation, he met someone he couldn't understand. A guide. A guide with a Dakosaurus spirit animal who made his heart race, his head spin, and his emotions spiral as if he had lost his mind... and who would pin him to the floor, whip him, force him to wear a muzzle, and inflict intense pain and overwhelming pleasure to bring him back to his senses... A small, adorable guide. The vicious and cruel Tristan's old heart burst into flames. The vindictive, unhinged Tristan fell in love just like that. "You're finished." The pale, strange, sinister man in the mirror sneered viciously at him. "Yes, I'm finished." He only chuckled and sweetly licked the blood seeping from his wound. Tristan didn't want to die anymore. He wanted to marry Lin Li. An old-school, trashy melodrama. There is an ex switching tops, a fake death, a groveling ex-husband, and a rich-family true-and-fake young master... It has everything, absolutely everything. All the trashy tropes are here! Sentinel-guide romance [with a lethal dose of personal settings] A cool-headed but softhearted guide bottom who can be tough when necessary VS a neurotic, sinister, vicious, and secretly masochistic Dark Sentinel top who's impossible to describe Theme: Even in difficult circumstances, stay optimistic and proactive, tackle problems, and take control of your own fate.