Natasha's Shyness

Jing Yan, Seele, and their group had now successfully returned to Natasha's clinic.

They stood at the entrance of the clinic.

Seeing everyone return safe and sound, a look of relief washed over Natasha's face, and the gaze she directed toward Jing Yan held a newfound sense of appreciation.

[Natasha's favorability increased by 10%. Current favorability: 75%]

[90% favorability is considered a successful conquest!]

Standing nearby, Oleg, the public leader of the Wildfire organization, saw this and the corners of his mouth curled upward. He had noticed the bandage wrapped around Seele's arm.

The neatness of the dressing indicated that Jing Yan had arrived just in time during the recent incident.

Had he arrived even a moment later, they might have been looking at a severely wounded Seele.

Not only would they have failed to rescue Hook, but they might have also lost Seele's life in the process—a truly devastating outcome.

Of course, Jing Yan did not pay much attention to the appreciative gazes of those around him.

Seeing the system panel notification, Jing Yan paused for a moment.

He had not expected the system's prompts to be so specific, even displaying the exact favorability percentage, but that was a good thing.

Furthermore, he couldn't help but recall the advice Seele had given him on the way back regarding how to pursue Natasha.

The strategy Seele suggested was to proactively invite Natasha to participate in activities she had never tried before, treating them as dates.

According to Seele, Natasha was a workaholic who lived for the people; when she wasn't treating patients, she was practicing how to treat them.

Even during her downtime, Natasha would use needle and thread to stitch up teddy bears, simulating the process of suturing patients to hone her clinical skills—a testament to her dedication to medicine. Any other spare time was generally spent gathering medicinal herbs.

Therefore, as Seele put it, Natasha was under immense pressure and lacked relaxation. If he could find an opportunity to take her out and participate in interesting things she hadn't experienced before, she would likely develop more affection for him.

Regarding Seele's words, Jing Yan's attitude was to take only half of it to heart.

Natasha was indeed a workaholic, but she would never agree to a pure date.

She did not allow herself any leisure time she deemed wasted, but...

Jing Yan instantly realized something.

He turned to Natasha and said, "Natasha, Sister Natasha, I have something fun here. Would you like to..."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost." Upon hearing this, a look of annoyance immediately appeared on Natasha's pretty face.

"In light of your contribution to the rescue, I'll allow you some time off today, but..."

"Wait, where did you get that thing in your hand?"

At this moment, Jing Yan was holding a multicolored stone.

"Just... picked it up on the road," Jing Yan said casually.

Natasha frowned upon hearing this.

"Which road did you pick it up on?"

"The snowy plains on the outskirts of the city?" Jing Yan continued.

"The snowy plains?" Natasha felt even more puzzled now.

"Why haven't I seen it before?" she questioned.

"I don't know. Perhaps there's some variable up there, or maybe an outsider has appeared?"

Natasha frowned in thought for a moment, but she did not give an immediate answer.

"Was it that brat Sampo? Has he been hanging around you lately and taking you up there to wander around in secret?" Natasha asked.

"No." Jing Yan said "no," but his expression didn't seem entirely certain, making it feel as though he were hiding something.

"Then hand it over and let me study it." Natasha reached out her hand.

It was clear she didn't fully believe Jing Yan's words.

"I can't. What if it's a Curio..." Jing Yan's reaction left Natasha feeling quite suspicious.

Under normal circumstances, Jing Yan was very obedient and rarely had any ulterior motives, so Natasha felt a bit perplexed.

"A Curio... are you sure it isn't a fragment of a Fragmentum Creature? If it is, keeping it on your person for a long time will be harmful to your health," Natasha said earnestly.

"A fragment of a Fragmentum Creature? Where would you find a Fragmentum Creature that looks this good? Sister Natasha, you're overthinking it. My health is perfectly fine—even better than before."

"I can give it to you, but you have to agree to one condition: after you finish treating your patients, will you come out for a stroll with me?"

"Forget it. If I have that kind of time, I'd rather go distribute some cream soup to the children."

Hearing Natasha's words, Jing Yan fell silent.

Although he had anticipated this, he hadn't expected that even after producing a strange object, he still couldn't hook the research-minded Natasha.

Based on what Jing Yan knew, Natasha's lifelong pursuit was to protect the people from the cold brought by the snow and to ensure that Belobog would not face extinction once the Geomarrow veins were exhausted.

That was why, whenever she saw anything strange or curious, she would think about grinding it down to add to her formulas to see if it had any special properties.

And so, to cater to her interests, Jing Yan used one of his Aeon powers to create a special item.

This is much like how Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, created the Stellaron that brings forth calamity.

Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance, the creator of the Garden of Recollection.

The "abominations" created by Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance.

As the Aeon of Lust, Jing Yan attempted to strengthen himself with his power, and after imbuing it into objects, he tried using it to modify them as well.

And he succeeded.

He called this creation of his an "Emotion Stone." As the name suggests, he injected the power of emotion into the stone, such that anyone who picked it up to examine it would be influenced by the power within.

The power Jing Yan attached to this stone was "Joy," the power of happiness.

In this way, he could exert his divine power through objects.

At first glance, this might seem like an unnecessary step, but in Jing Yan's view, it was essential, because with this stone in hand, he could confirm one thing.

And that was...

The system's criteria for judgment.

If using his divine power to directly influence others' judgment didn't count as a successful conquest, would it count if someone voluntarily accepted such an item and was influenced by it?

If even that didn't count, then he would truly have to change his approach and, in order to conquer girls, start by diligently reading a few books like How to Become a Love Saint.

"There are other doctors in the clinic, Natasha. You don't have to work yourself so hard," Jing Yan continued to persuade her.

"It's not hard at all, it's not hard. This is all my duty," Natasha insisted firmly.

She turned her head slightly, her expression seemingly normal.

However, even so, Jing Yan keenly captured a small anomaly in her expression: the skin on her earlobes was slightly flushed.

This color did not match the fair complexion of her face, which was currently not covered by a mask, and this was enough to show that Natasha's refusal of him just now wasn't entirely for the sake of helping the citizens of the Underworld; there was also a hint of shyness.

Could it be that she had sensed he had other intentions toward her?!