An Intimate Encounter with Wendy

"Ah, go ahead and ask. But if it involves privacy, I'll choose not to answer." Chen Ran spoke as he searched for a place to hide.

As though she had gathered all her courage, Wendy said, "You... didn't actually have to get involved in this. Why did you keep going?"

"Didn't I say so? I'm responsible for the Divine Right Plan."

"Stop joking. I already know." She lowered her voice. "I'm someone they've abandoned."

Chen Ran's body stiffened slightly before he said, "They lied to you. How could an A-rank Valkyrie possibly be abandoned? That's why the wise and mighty me noticed that the Oceanic Branch had a mole from another faction..."

"You didn't know any of that back then, did you?"

Wendy refused to let it go, determined to get an answer.

Chen Ran said helplessly, "Fine. The answer is that I like you."

Naturally, he couldn't tell her his real objective.

So he could only shamelessly use those words as an excuse.

Based on Chen Ran's understanding of Wendy, once he said that, the thin-skinned girl would either change the subject, fall silent, or pound his chest with her little fists.

In any case, casually saying he liked someone was not difficult for him.

Wendy suddenly said, "I didn't hear that."

"I said I like you."

"Say it again."

"I like you."

Chen Ran suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

He realized it. "You did that on purpose?"

"I like you too."

A smile rippled across the girl's lips, though the dim night made it impossible to see clearly.

Chen Ran's mind went blank for a moment.

This joke seemed to have gone a little too far.

Just as he was still wondering what to say, Wendy suddenly spoke. "Careful. Don't move."

"I hear footsteps."

Chen Ran instinctively lowered his body, and sure enough, he heard dense footsteps nearby.

As expected, the parachute deception tactic could not delay them for long. The enemy had already caught on.

The island's boundaries were unknown, but there was nowhere suitable to hide, and Chen Ran still had someone on his back.

His brain immediately crashed.

It seemed there was only one option left: kill himself and rewind time to an hour earlier.

An hour ago, they had not yet departed from the Oceanic Branch, so there was still time to fix everything.

Just as Chen Ran made up his mind, Wendy suddenly said, "Untie the rope."

"Hm?"

"If we really run into enemies, I can still help shoot." She said, "That way, you can get away too, right?"

"But you..."

"Don't worry. From their actions, it's obvious they want Wendy alive. I'll be fine." She deliberately sounded relaxed.

For a fourteen-year-old girl, it was impossible not to be afraid at a time like this.

But Wendy knew she had to calm down.

Not only for herself, but for him as well.

Chen Ran could sense what Wendy was thinking.

After thinking it over, he shook his head.

"No. I won't agree."

What kind of joke was that? If Wendy was captured, wouldn't it take him forever to clear this scenario?

Time in the simulated scenario synchronized with reality, and he did not want to keep wasting time here.

He said, "Trust me, Wendy. I'll get you out."

Chen Ran touched the gun at his waist. He had taken it from the aircraft.

As long as he aimed the bullets in the gun at himself, then...

"Bang!"

A thunderous sound came from afar.

Wendy and Chen Ran looked over to see a flame-like glow flickering in the distance.

"That's Teacher Himeko's Greatsword of Sunfire. The enemies have all gone over there." Wendy instinctively sighed in relief. "Now we can only hope Teacher Himeko can hold on."

Chapter 23: An Intimate Encounter with Wendy

While all the enemies were drawn to Himeko, Chen Ran quietly took a detour and found a patch of bushes that could conceal them.

The branches here showed signs of having been trampled. Clearly, someone had already come here and searched it thoroughly.

He carefully lowered Wendy from his back, then sighed in relief and said half-jokingly.

"I couldn't find anywhere better. Now we'll have to see whether our luck is good, and whether heaven wants to take us."

Nearly everyone had been drawn to Himeko now, so they were relatively safe.

But that did not mean they were absolutely safe.

If Himeko could hold on, then everything would be fine. If even Himeko could not hold on, Chen Ran would have no choice but to use his final method: suicide and restart.

He was actually quite afraid of killing himself.

He did not want to experience that feeling of having all his consciousness forcibly gathered again.

Wendy said nothing and merely curled herself up instinctively.

Whether it was winter or summer, nights on an island were always somewhat cold.

Then, she suddenly felt a burst of warmth.

Chen Ran pulled her into his arms and said with a hint of apology, "Sorry. There's nowhere to keep warm at night, so we can only huddle together."

"It's all right."

There was a trace of shyness in the girl's eyes. Although the darkness prevented them from seeing each other's faces, she still felt at ease.

She blinked, her eyes stinging from fatigue, then asked Chen Ran, "Are you tired?"

"Honestly, a little."

Chen Ran was not the type to play the hero. He said, "This is my first time experiencing something this thrilling. I'm even a little thirsty now."

"Sure enough, even the wind by the sea tastes painfully salty. Don't you feel like your body loses water faster than usual?"

"That's why seaside properties are expensive to build and quick to lose value."

They still could not fall asleep.

So he could only use this method to find topics at random.

As for the noise their conversation made, honestly, Chen Ran was not that worried about it.

Wendy adjusted her position in Chen Ran's arms, then leaned back against him.

Listening to Chen Ran's rambling, she smiled and said, "It's my first time doing something this thrilling too."

"You're not scared at all?" Chen Ran asked.

"With you here, how could I be afraid?"

In the night, the girl took Chen Ran's hand, interlocking their fingers palm to palm.

Chen Ran fell silent for a moment.

He would not fall in love with Wendy, because he knew this was not real. How could a romance spanning fifty thousand years be real?

Even if he was lucky enough to defeat the End in the civilization where he lived, would Wendy even still exist?

In his usual tone, he said, "Yeah. Who told me to be so handsome and dashing? I inspire a ton of security. With me around, there's naturally nothing to fear."

He said half-jokingly, "If we both die here unfortunately, would that count as dying for love?"

Wendy shifted in his arms and shook her head. "Of course not. I told you I would protect you."

The girl spoke seriously, seeming particularly wary of mentioning death.

Chen Ran was speechless.

He wanted to ask how Wendy planned to protect him in this situation, but this was not the time to argue over details.

"Mm-hm, all right, all right. Then I'll have to trouble you to protect me from here on."

But once his words fell, he noticed Wendy let go of his hand. She seemed to be using the strength of her upper body to adjust something, wriggling endlessly in his arms.

"What are you doing? Are you uncomfortable?"

He asked quietly.

Wendy softly said, "I'm a little thirsty. You were right, the sea breeze is too salty, so we've lost too much water."

"Uh..."

He had just been about to say something when he felt his nose get bumped.

At some point, Wendy's forehead had touched his nose.

By the time Chen Ran reacted, the girl's soft lips had already pressed against his.

Warm breaths flowed from her nostrils, brushing against his cheeks.

Chen Ran's mind went completely blank, and his first thought was: There's no FBI here, right?

She had turned the tables on him?!

Only when the boy and girl began to feel the air growing thin did they stop.

Wendy lay on his chest. Chen Ran could not see her expression, but he heard the smugness in her voice as she said, "Thanks for quenching my thirst. Much appreciated."

Just as Chen Ran was about to say something, she spoke again. "Quiet. Footsteps."

Chen Ran instinctively shut his mouth.

After a long while, they saw Himeko part the bushes and find them both, caught between laughter and tears.

"You two little rascals are pretty clever. It's safe now."

There had been over a hundred enemies who landed on the island, and Himeko had dealt with all of them.

She had used the Greatsword of Sunfire to light a bonfire by the shore, then leaned against a rock nearby.

On the other side of the bonfire, Wendy and Chen Ran huddled together.

Although Chen Ran had extremely complicated feelings about the situation, he still allowed Wendy to lean against him.

He treated it as raising a two-dimensional wife.

Separated by fifty thousand years, Chen Ran did not know how he should handle it. Perhaps there was no need to handle it at all.

After all, Wendy might not even exist fifty thousand years later.

And even if she did, he probably would not.

As the distant horizon gradually turned white, the waters surrounding the island revealed their true face.