Three Days—Don't Come Back!

Sean did not stay at the clinic for long. After making arrangements for Yuriko, he went home with Vanessa.

After two days without a bath, he felt genuinely uncomfortable all over.

He needed to scrub himself clean once he got home.

The moment he got home, Sean could not wait to strip off his clothes and jump into the bathtub. The warm water washing over his body felt wonderful.

A little while later, Vanessa came in wearing a bathrobe and sat sideways on the edge of the tub.

"Sean, I'm a little worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Your ability... The more famous you become, the stronger the opposition you face will be. The academy's hostility is only the beginning."

Sean grinned and reached out to pat Vanessa's leg.

"Hey, you got it all wet."

"It's fine. It'll get wet eventually."

"I'm worried about you!"

"I know. It'll be fine."

"As I become more famous, I'll inevitably become stronger. I'm not afraid of them targeting me. I'm worried they'll target you."

Vanessa leaned down, kissed Sean on the forehead, and smiled.

"You know I'm strong."

"Not strong enough."

Sean shook his head. He knew all too well what this world was like. There were countless freaks capable of destroying the world at a moment's notice. Vanessa's power was formidable, but its limitations were far too great.

She needed an ability that could serve as a safety net... Yuriko's healing ability!

"An ability that makes you almost ageless and almost immortal."

Vanessa looked at him in confusion.

"I told you, I made a lot of money this time. I can get you an ability that suits you perfectly."

"An ability?"

"A mutant ability."

"You can grant other people mutant abilities?"

Vanessa's lips parted slightly. This was far more shocking than Sean telling her he could grant youth and lifespan. Because the flip side of granting something... was being able to strip it away!

Sean pinched Vanessa's lips together, gently tugging them.

"Standard procedure. Don't be surprised. I'll give it to you right now..."

Sean suddenly froze. The copied ability could not be given away directly?

"Enmmmm..."

Vanessa tilted her head, curiously watching Sean as he stared blankly ahead.

And Sean was deeply conflicted right now!

Giving Vanessa the copied super-healing ability would mean putting Vanessa's name in the Black Ledger. Deep down, Sean resisted doing that.

He did not want their relationship to become this kind of debtor-creditor relationship.

But he could not just let an ability that had cost 7,500 Source Essence go to waste, could he?

That was the equivalent of 7,500 kilograms! Sean had not truly earned that much Source Essence in the past six months. Though he did have quite a bit left on the books.

"What's wrong?"

Sean gave a bitter smile and sighed.

"I didn't expect a copied ability couldn't be given away~"

"Do you need to buy it?"

"Yeah. Fifteen million dollars."

"..."

Vanessa was speechless. Other than the ultra-rich, who could afford that price?

"Then just keep it for yourself~"

Vanessa was open-minded about it. It was only an ability. There was no need to agonize over it.

"No. This world holds countless dangers for us in the future. I have to ensure your safety..."

Though his words were not particularly eloquent, Vanessa was deeply moved. She wrapped her arms around Sean's neck and kissed him.

"Then let me owe the debt. It doesn't seem like any of those debtors who haven't paid you back have been affected."

Sean shook his head solemnly.

"That's not how it works. The ledger collects more than just interest. During the debt period, any improvement or growth gets a share taken by the ledger... a commission, basically. Every debtor provides the ledger with some kind of skill, in a sense. It's just not easy to notice."

"That's still nothing. It just means losing some of the fruits of your hard work."

"How could it be that simple~ When the debt accumulates to a certain point... you'll end up like Ava Ellis or Lorna Dane."

Vanessa wrapped her arms around Sean again and pressed her face to his as she said:

"So what? In the end... I belong to you."

Sean's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Was Vanessa saying something romantic?

Whether she meant it that way or not, it certainly had the effect of a love confession~

Sean dragged Vanessa straight into the bathtub.

"Ah!~~"

Vanessa shot Sean a reproachful look and smacked his chest.

"My clothes are all wet now~"

"Then take them off."

"Enmm... all right~"

Layers of ripples spread outward from multiple points, interfering with one another and forming fish-scale patterns. Along the edges, neat columns of water rose and fell like fences, creating new ripples that joined the intricate interference and diffraction.

It reminded Sean of the famous double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics. Photons, too, interfered with one another like the ripples now before him...

The bathroom was soaked. Scattered trails of water stretched from the bathtub all the way to the bathroom door. The water marks gradually grew sparser, but their trail continued through the open bedroom door.

"Sean, stop for a moment! Maybe you need a dance~"

"No, I think things are pretty good right now."

"No! You need one!"

"All right, I need one."

Sean relented, releasing Vanessa and letting her flutter away like a butterfly.

He found a comfortable position and lay back. He wanted to see what game Vanessa was playing now.

Before long, Vanessa came out wearing a scarlet gauze dress. One look at those long legs told him they belonged to Elektra.

This girl really knew how to have fun!

Cosplay!

Vanessa's dance was exactly like Elektra's. As she danced, Sean began to feel a little dizzy, as if he could no longer tell whether it was Vanessa or Elektra before him.

From a biological standpoint, Vanessa was Elektra right now. Yet subjectively, she was still Vanessa...

Sean was a little confused for a moment~

But he was used to it. He only needed a little time to adjust. Mm... he would just think of her as Elektra!

Besides, that girl Elektra had given him two black eyes before!

Today, he would get his revenge on her properly!

A young couple, fooling around and bickering, and the night passed just like that... (The process has been omitted.)

Sean wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the sunlight outside the window in disbelief. Were nights this short now?

Why did it feel as though dawn had come before it was even over?

After blinking his not-so-large eyes a few times, he finally let Elektra... no, Vanessa, go.

"You're such a bastard~"

Vanessa cursed weakly.

"Hehe~"

How awkward. The sun had still been in the sky when they took their bath yesterday.

This endless stamina... sometimes it was not such a good thing~

People... were always endlessly demanding. With a cheat like this, couldn't he indulge without restraint?

Being too blessed was not good either!

Vanessa: Get lost! Don't come back for three days!

Sean: No need for that. I might get blocked this afternoon! (He really got blocked at 12:40~ Old Tree kept revising and revising before he managed to save it!)

Old Tree isn't very good at sprinkling dog food~ There was a little too much water mixed in, so the dog food wasn't sweet enough~

Any reward is fine~ φ(>ω<*)

Tsk~ That seems a bit shameless~