Overwhelming Advantage

Ain eyed the petite woman before her with hostility, her voice unusually cold. "Who are you?"

Since Ain had taken off her uniform before going to sleep and was wearing only thin underwear, and since Tereina had never seen her before, she assumed Ain was some woman secretly in love with Noki who had snuck in.

Thus, Tereina confidently puffed out her unremarkable chest and shot back, "And who are you?"

"Heh."

The other woman's attitude actually made Ain laugh in anger. She had never heard of anyone stealing someone else's boyfriend with such righteous confidence.

As Noki's first and only girlfriend, Ain was not lacking in confidence. "I'm a colonel from Marine Headquarters, Noki's childhood sweetheart, his current girlfriend, and his future wife. What about you?"

Tereina froze. She had imagined countless scenarios of meeting Noki's girlfriend, but she had never expected reality to be this dramatic.

"I... I..." Tereina blushed furiously. After thinking for a long time, she realized that she and Noki only had an ordinary superior-subordinate relationship. Sneaking into someone else's room whenever she pleased—no matter how she explained it, she had no ground to stand on.

"Can't say it now?" Ain's gaze fell on her rank. She was merely a private first class.

Under immense pressure, Tereina's mind overheated and she blurted out, "You say you're the major general's girlfriend, but what proof do you have? Why should I believe you? What if you're just some fake from Marine Headquarters who's been secretly in love with the major general for years and never got anywhere?" The moment she said it, she regretted it. Wasn't this just asking to die even more thoroughly?

"Hehehe..."

Ain sneered and removed a silver necklace from around her neck. Hanging from it was an incredibly intimate photo of her and Noki. "Do you think this is enough to prove who I am? If it isn't, I have plenty more."

Seeing Ain pull out item after item, Tereina hurriedly called for her to stop. Every single one of them stabbed at her frail, humble heart.

At this point, it was definitely too late for Tereina to apologize, and she did not want to apologize either! They were not even married, so why was Ain acting like the official wife?

Thinking that way was, to a large extent, just Tereina encouraging herself to keep her mentality from collapsing completely.

Tereina took a deep breath and turned to leave.

"Hold it!" Ain stopped her, killing intent blazing in her eyes. "You still haven't clearly explained why you appeared in my man's room."

Tereina gave a soft snort. "Is there even a need to say it? I like Major General Noki. Even if your rank is higher than mine, you have no right to stop me from liking someone, do you?"

Pale violet flames ignited in Ain's right hand, and her smile was radiant. "As a Marine, I indeed have no right to. But as Noki's girlfriend, hehehe..."

"What are you trying to do?"

"We're comrades!"

"Calm down."

"Hey, hey, hey."

"No!"

"Ah!"

Several days later.

Noki led his team back to Loguetown.

Sergeant Carter and Bartolomeo learned the news and arrived at the harbor early to welcome them.

"Senior Noki, you're finally back! I guarded Loguetown especially well for you. There wasn't a single problem." Bartolomeo chuckled, appropriately omitting a few unimportant details.

"Mm, worthy of praise."

Noki nodded in approval.

Sergeant Carter looked as though he wanted to say something but could not.

"What is it?" Noki noticed Carter's strange expression.

"Nothing, Major General. Let's hurry back to the Marine base." Carter panicked. He simply did not know how to make up lies.

Noki's pretty face darkened. "Did something major happen in Loguetown while I was away?"

"Uh, it is indeed a major matter, but it's probably not what you're imagining. You'll know once you see it."

Bartolomeo added, "You'll definitely be very happy."

Dezaya followed behind Noki, looking astonished. "You can actually do something that makes Master happy? Don't tell me you caused trouble and are too scared to admit it, so you came up with an excuse."

"Pah, bullshit! I always keep my word. Don't ruin my image in front of Senior Noki, or I'll beat you up!"

"Come on, then. I'm not who I used to be!" Dezaya showed no fear.

Ignoring the two of them, Noki walked at the front and headed for the Marine base.

The moment he stepped through the base gates.

"Carter, what exactly happened?"

As soon as Noki asked that, a tiny figure suddenly darted out and hugged both his legs. In a tender, childish voice full of grievance, she said, "Major General, you're finally back."

"A child?" Noki was slightly stunned.

"Major General, I'm Tereina."

Perhaps becoming a child made it harder to control her emotions. Tereina's flushed little face was covered in tears and snot.

"Tereina, how did you become like this?" Noki already had a rough guess. As far as he knew, the only one who could do this was...

"Noki!"

A fragrant breeze swept over him as a soft female body threw itself into his embrace.

Tereina's tiny body was no match for an adult's, and she was forcibly shoved aside by a pair of pale legs.

"Ain, long time no see. Why did you come to Loguetown?" Noki held the beauty in his arms. Their reunion after so long apart truly filled him with joy.

"I missed you. I missed you so much that I couldn't sleep for a while. Teacher Zephyr was afraid I'd fall sick from longing for you, so he specially went to ask Admiral Kuzan to transfer me to your side."

Ain buried her head in Noki's chest, greedily breathing in the steady stream of masculine scent from him.

Seeing that the major general ignored her completely and only cared about his girlfriend, Tereina's eyes turned watery, crystalline tears pouring down her face.

In front of so many people, Noki could not let Tereina keep crying. He understood that she was not crying because she was truly that sad, but because of a child's physiological issues. "Ain, how about turning her back?"

"No~ I think being a child is pretty nice. So cute, and I don't have to worry about her stealing my man. It's the best of both worlds."

"You really are impossible."

Noki smiled helplessly, pushed Ain away, and formed a black-hole vortex in his right hand as he grabbed Tereina's slender arm.

Dark Water!

Tereina's body immediately began growing at a tremendous speed. Her head, torso, and limbs all returned completely to normal moments later.

"I'm finally back to normal!"

Tereina was overjoyed and wanted to hug Noki and give him a fierce kiss, but Noki naturally dodged.

Hiding behind Noki, Ain muttered, "Little vixen. You still dare provoke my husband? I'll turn you into a child again, hmph!"

Tereina had truly been frightened by Ain. She did not even dare meet Ain's gaze. Her recent days as a child had left her with some psychological trauma...

Major General Noki is so pitiful. He actually found such a two-faced woman. She looks pure and cold on the surface, but she's black-hearted inside.

Unlike me, who only knows how to care for the major general...

One day, I'll make the major general see this woman's true face!

Ain turned to Tashigi, whose expression beside her was somewhat vacant, and asked with a smile, "Noki, is this one of the two disciples you took in?"

"Colonel, my name is Tashigi. Please take care of me."

"Mm, you can call me Sister Ain from now on. No need to be so serious."

"Okay, Col... Sister Ain!"

Ain could tell from Tashigi's clear eyes that she harbored no improper thoughts. She truly was only following Noki to learn skills.

Ten-odd minutes later.

Dezaya and Bartolomeo had already decided the winner.

Bartolomeo looked smug, while Dezaya was bruised and swollen.

After learning of Ain's arrival from Bartolomeo, Dezaya covered her swollen face and barely forced out a smile. "Hello, Master's wife. My name is Dezaya, Major General Noki's disciple."

Ain responded with a gentle smile.

The facts proved that she had worried too much. She had originally thought every woman around Noki was after his body, but so far, she had only encountered Tereina.

That made things much easier.

Ain was confident she could make Tereina behave obediently.

Noki understood Ain's little thoughts. Not only did he not oppose them, he even supported her.

Tereina constantly clung to him, which troubled him greatly. With Ain as a shield, he probably would not need to worry about that anymore.

After everyone had introduced themselves, Noki had them return to their respective posts. He then took Ain out of the Marine base and into town to enjoy some time alone together.

Ain held Noki's arm and rested her head against his shoulder, speaking sweetly, "Being by Noki's side is still the most comfortable."

Noki wrapped an arm around her waist and lightly scraped her delicate nose. "I was wondering before why you hadn't contacted me for so long. I thought you must have run into some trouble. So you wanted to give me a surprise?"

"Mhm. Are you happy?"

"Of course. But now that you've come to me, Teacher Zephyr has lost one capable assistant. His daily workload must have increased quite a bit."

"Teacher found a new assistant, but they still need time to develop their usual coordination and work habits, so it has indeed had some impact."

Ain's face was full of seriousness. "So we can't let down Teacher's trust. We must work hard to make the world a better place and fulfill the responsibilities we should have as Marines."

Noki nodded.

"Noki, I came in a hurry and didn't bring much luggage. Can you accompany me shopping?"

"I know a few pretty good shops. Let's go take a look."

"I'll listen to you."

While the couple happily shopped together, Tereina returned to her dormitory in a daze.

"Tsk, tsk. You saw your major general? Looking like a defeated dog like this is really embarrassing."

"What did you say!"

Tereina glared furiously at the woman before her, who wore striking makeup and had light red hair.

"I'm not wrong. Didn't that Marine colonel play you right in the palm of her hand?"

Tereina stammered, "I just wasn't prepared enough before. Next time... next time I'll definitely beat her."

"Tch, anyone can talk big." Carmen looked disdainful.

"You haven't done anything either. You're just standing here lecturing me, you loser."

"I don't like your major general. I only want to learn cooking from him."

Tereina curled her lips. "Then go convince him to teach you."

"I will. Watch closely and see how your big sister handles him."

Carmen talked tough, but in truth, she was also completely inexperienced. However, words once spoken were like water spilled on the ground—they could not be taken back. She could only force herself to go through with it.

Evening.

Noki and Ain returned to the base carrying bags of all kinds.

"Ain, where's your room?"

"I'll show you."

Ain pulled Noki up the stairs, turned left and right through the corridor, and stopped before a door. "Right here."

"My room?"

Noki had felt something was off along the way.

"Yes."

Ain skillfully inserted a key into the lock.

Noki stared blankly at the completely renewed furnishings inside.

It was obvious Ain had put a great deal of thought into it.

His room had previously been neat and clean, but its overall style had been simple.

Now, this small space had gained many lovely decorations, including old photos of him and Ain.

Ain took the clothes from the bags, folded them, and placed them in the wardrobe. There were quite a few intimate undergarments among them, and she casually put them beside Noki's clothes without the slightest concern.

Noki pulled over a chair and sat down quietly watching her. Back at Marine Headquarters, Ain had often gone to his home, so even after learning they would soon be living together, he did not react too strongly.

It was just that...

Noki glanced at the narrow single bed.

Looks like another bed needs to be moved in.

He was, after all, a vigorous young man. He could endure the occasional temptation, but if it happened too frequently, it would be hard to avoid things getting out of hand.

Marriage...

Noki rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment. Perhaps he would only consider it once he possessed strength equal to an admiral's.

Without sufficient strength to build a family, Zephyr's past example was right there before him.

Noki did not want to leave any regrets in his life.

Sergeant Carter was extremely efficient. That very night, he prepared a single bed and moved it into Noki's room.

When Dezaya heard about it, she laughed and scolded Carter for being utterly unromantic, telling him to be careful of Master's wife targeting him in the future.

Carter could not understand it at all. He had merely followed the major general's orders. Had he done something wrong?

Even though Ain and Noki did not rest on the same bed, their beds were placed extremely close together, nearly touching.

Therefore, the next morning, Ain still woke up in Noki's arms. Noki merely slept deeply and woke late, pretending not to know.

Carmen came to Noki's door, carefully straightened her clothes, and after confirming everything was in order, raised her hand and gently knocked a few times.

Noki had a habit of sleeping in and usually did not get up until noon.

Ain rubbed her sleepy eyes and got dressed in front of the mirror. More than ten minutes later, she finally went to open the door.

Carmen waited patiently. When the door finally opened, joy rose in her heart, but unfortunately, the person she saw was not the one she wanted to meet. "Colonel, is the major general here?"

Through her interactions with Tereina, Ain had also come to know Carmen. She knew Carmen had joined the Marines to learn cooking. "Noki is still sleeping. If you came to study under him, you should wait until he gets up."

"Oh... okay." Carmen looked around, and after confirming there was no one nearby, cautiously said, "Colonel, could you put in a few good words for me in front of the major general? In exchange, I'm willing to help you keep an eye on Tereina."

If Tereina heard that, she would definitely be so angry she coughed up blood. This was what Carmen called handling someone?

"I can, but I can't guarantee Noki will agree." Ain said.

"As long as you're willing to say something, that's enough."