"I told you I was fine. See? I showed them a little of what I could do, and they brought me right out!"
Inside a moving car, Ashe sat in the back seat, leaning lightly against Qilin's shoulder.
She bragged to Qilin beside her, looking rather pleased with herself.
"Yes, yes, you're the best!"
As Qilin listened to Ashe boast, with Ashe leaning against her shoulder,
her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and her eyes held a helpless look. She rested a hand lightly on Ashe's arm and gave it a little push, hoping Ashe would sit up straight, yet a part of her thought she might as well let Ashe lean on her.
She looked like she wanted to refuse but couldn't bring herself to, strict in theory but indulgent in practice.
She glanced at Rose and Ajie in the front, then nodded and praised Ashe.
In the end, Qilin gave up on getting Ashe to sit up. She had been used to Ashe acting like this ever since they were little.
Meanwhile, Ajie sat in the front and drove in silence, as if he hadn't heard Ashe's bragging.
He was simply driving, getting ready to take them somewhere relaxing where they could talk.
Only Rose reacted to Ashe's boast. She stared at Ashe leaning against Qilin's shoulder through the rearview mirror.
Then, whether Ashe saw her or not, she glared at her for a long time and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as if she were still a little sore.
As for why things had turned out this way,
it was because Ashe had shown off some of her abilities.
After thinking it over, Ajie had immediately called his superior,
General Dukao, and given him a full report on Ashe's situation.
And right then, Ashe had looked up at Rose, who was watching her from above.
Rose seemed completely indifferent to her "demonstration."
Ashe immediately began to wonder: No, I'm this awesome, and you still think of me as some simple-minded, brawny idiot who only knows how to charge in headfirst?
After all, the haughty Rose in the original story had initially thought that way about everyone else in Xiong Bing Lian.
So Ashe decided to help Ge Xiaolun test out his goddess's... bounciness—no, wait, her combat skills—in advance.
After a smooth sequence of gestures—a beckoning finger, a crooked smile, and a tilt of the head—
Rose took Ashe's taunt. As soon as Ashe said the simple two words, "Try me,"
the short-tempered Rose immediately climbed out the window and jumped downstairs.
She and Ashe had a no-weapons, no-rules hand-to-hand spar.
By the time Ajie finished his phone call and came to his senses,
he saw Rose, her face flushed, covering her butt and glaring furiously at Ashe.
She looked like she wanted to kill Ashe, but couldn't beat her.
Ajie, for his part, had enough sense not to say anything.
He simply told the two of them to come upstairs, then took Ashe out of the police station. At Ashe's request, he brought Qilin along, too.
And so, the group ended up in their current situation.
As for why Ajie wasn't saying anything?
Please. Did he not see Rose sitting right there, fuming with nowhere to vent?
Ajie didn't want to end up sparring with Rose, too.
His old bones were ready for retirement.
He wasn't young anymore, and couldn't take a beating.
At last, after an awkward stretch of silence,
Ajie found a café that suited them.
He ushered everyone out of the car and inside.
Looking at the café, which was just like the one in her memories,
Ashe might have thought Ajie had taken her from Tianhe City to Juxia City in barely ten minutes if she hadn't been sure where she was.
And looking at the seating arrangement—with Ajie and Rose across from her,
and Qilin sitting farther away to give them some privacy—
Ashe really felt as though the opening scene of the Xiong Bing Lian anime had been brought to life.
The only difference was that in the anime, Ge Xiaolun had kept leering at Rose.
But now, because of their "spar" just moments ago,
Rose was the one glaring furiously at Ashe.
It made Ashe reflect: sure enough, only when you were tough enough did beautiful women pay more attention to you.
"All right, let's skip the rest of the pleasantries."
"I've already reported your situation to my superiors."
"As for how you'll join us, we'd like you to join us fully."
"And we'll offer you the best benefits we can."
"As for the special treatment you mentioned, we can give you some preference in terms of benefits and resources."
"But we can't give you complete priority. We have our own plans, too."
"So, you can make some other requests."
"As long as they're reasonable and don't violate the law, we can do our best to meet them."
Ajie laid out the terms in a completely serious manner. Unlike the Ajie in the anime, who'd coaxed and tricked Ge Xiaolun into joining,
he was very earnest with Ashe, giving the impression that he was dependable.
If Ashe hadn't known what he was really like, she might actually have been taken in.
"Actually, I don't have any particular demands about getting more resources. The same goes for benefits."
"My main condition for joining is about how much freedom I'll have."
"I'm a pretty carefree, laid-back person. You should have learned that from your investigation into me."
"So I can accept your classes and training schedule, but I'll decide whether to participate on a case-by-case basis."
"I'll make my own plans during my free time. Of course, I'll report my whereabouts so you know what I'm doing."
"You can also send people to keep an eye on me, but I think trust is important. Especially in a situation like ours."
"Don't you agree? As for my other requests, they're pretty simple."
"First, after I go back with you, you'll definitely want to run some tests on me. I want you to test her, too."
"Her?"
Following the direction of Ashe's finger, Ajie saw Qilin sitting farther away.
"That's right. We grew up together. I can't be completely sure, but her senses—her sight and hearing, for example—are clearly beyond ordinary."
"So I think she might also be one of those Super Soldiers you mentioned."
"Sure." Ajie agreed without hesitation. It wouldn't take much effort to test one more person.
And if they did find another Super Soldier, all the better.
After all, they were short on fighting strength right now.
"Second, I want to live with her."
"That works." Ajie nodded even faster this time, thinking Ashe's request was practically no request at all.
It was perfectly normal to want to stay with someone familiar in an unfamiliar place.
And the two of them had grown up together, so it made even more—
Wait, who was she talking about?
Realizing that Ashe's finger was pointing somewhere else now,
Ajie followed it and saw Rose sitting nearby.
Once he was sure he hadn't seen wrong,
Ajie's expression changed in an instant!
Before you continue