"By the way, Kafka, were you crying just now?"
Seeing Kafka looking rather dejected on the cockpit's monitoring screen, Silver Wolf frowned slightly.
"Of course not... do I look that fragile to you?"
Kafka pursed her lips, gently wiped the traces from the corners of her eyes with her white sleeve, and turned her face aside.
"Hehe, you certainly weren't before. Now, though, who knows..."
"What, you've barely left Herta Space Station and you're already missing your precious son?"
Silver Wolf's lips curled slightly, and she deliberately stressed the words "precious son."
As Elio's most trusted blade and one of the infamously notorious Stellaron Hunters, Kafka was naturally no gentle, tender woman.
Yet everything that had happened today had rather upended Silver Wolf's understanding of her.
Back on Herta Space Station, Kafka had treated Lin Feng as tenderly as an ordinary mother would her child.
"Silver Wolf, what on earth are you babbling about?"
"It was just a misunderstanding. That Stellaron vessel will probably forget I exist soon enough..."
The vast sea of stars reflected in her wine-red eyes as Kafka parted her lips, feigning indifference.
"Hehe... what a heartless mother."
"Anyway, Kafka, that vessel just stole your first kiss, you know."
"We've worked together for so long, but I never imagined a mature woman like you would still have her first kiss."
Recalling everything that had just happened, Silver Wolf felt her inner gossip awakening.
Life among the Stellaron Hunters wasn't all fighting and killing; there were personal relationships, too. As a member of the same organization, Silver Wolf was quite curious about her senior colleague Kafka's private life.
"Silver Wolf, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Kafka's delicate brows drew together, and a hint of displeasure appeared on her lovely face.
"Nothing. I'm just a little curious, really. What's kissing supposed to feel like?"
"So when a man and a woman get too close, that sort of thing really happens? Tsk, tsk... sounds dangerous..."
Silver Wolf tossed her empty chip can aside, her face full of curiosity.
"Just fly the ship properly! What's gotten into you today, girl? Why are you so talkative?"
Kafka folded her arms across her chest, looking both embarrassed and annoyed, a faint blush settling over her lovely face like rosy clouds.
Silver Wolf's words brought back memories of what had just happened, stirring Kafka's heart once more.
Love at first sight? Motherly love turning into something else? Pfft... what is this nonsense?
That Stellaron vessel named Lin Feng has an extraordinary allure. Some mysterious power bestowed by an Aeon?
Her distant gaze settled on the boundless sea of stars outside the window, a complicated expression on her face.
A moment later, the shuttle, shaped like a blue arrow, abruptly accelerated. Light flashed, and it vanished at the edge of the Starry Sky.
Inside a compartment on Herta Space Station, Lin Feng, already awake after seeing Kafka off, simply found a corner by the wall and lay down.
After several Path simulations, he was already thoroughly familiar with the events that would unfold next.
Dan Heng and March 7th, the two travelers from the Astral Express, would soon discover him.
Sure enough, just minutes after Lin Feng lay down, hurried footsteps sounded, and two figures appeared in the compartment.
Male voice: "This person's coordinates weren't sent from the space station."
Female voice: "Why worry about that now? There's a real person right in front of us. It's not like he's fake, right?"
Male voice: "His heartbeat and pulse are both very weak. March, get ready to give him rescue breaths!"
Female voice: "Huh? I... I don't really have any experience. You do it, Dan Heng!"
Lin Feng, who was putting his extraordinary acting skills to work by lying there like a corpse, began grumbling inwardly.
The whole reason I'm playing dead here is to wait for March 7th to give me rescue breaths. It'll fit the Path of Elation, too, and earn me some points on the side.
If Dan Heng really did it, his entire plan would go down the drain.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder... crank it up to maximum power!
Lin Feng silently invoked it. Although he had no idea whether this passive talent would actually work, he decided to give it a try anyway.
"In that case... I suppose I'll have to do it. Sigh, rescue breathing..."
Heavy footsteps approached, and Lin Feng inwardly cried out in alarm. If the normal story played out, Dan Heng really was about to kiss him.
Dan Heng might be handsome, but Lin Feng was straight. He absolutely couldn't accept something like that.
Yet just as Lin Feng was deciding whether to spring up, a light female voice sounded beside him.
"Dan Heng... never mind, let me do it. You're so clumsy, you'd definitely mess up something this important!"
March 7th, you're a lifesaver! Joy welled up in Lin Feng's heart. His fortunes were finally about to turn.
"March 7th... he's a boy, you know. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"What? Saving him obviously comes first right now! We don't have time for all that fuss!"
"Phew... come on, March 7th. You can do this!"
A moment later, accompanied by a faint floral fragrance, cool, soft lips pressed against his.
A slender hand settled on his chest, and fragrant breaths slowly entered his lungs in intermittent bursts.
Getting rescue breaths from a pretty girl is a pretty nice experience...
Wait, stop... March 7th, do you think you're blowing up a balloon?
Ugh... you really don't have any experience. I'm about to burst here!
The kiss did feel wonderful. March 7th's lips were cool, carrying a faint sweetness.
Through the narrow slits of his eyes, her delicate, beautiful face brimmed with youthful, lively charm.
But with no experience in rescue breathing, March 7th simply kept blowing air into him, making her efforts somewhat counterproductive.
"Cough, cough..."
Lin Feng coughed twice, gently pushed away the blushing beauty in front of him, and slowly opened his eyes.
"It worked... he's awake!"
Delighted surprise appeared on the pink-haired girl's lovely face. Her lips curved upward into a bright, beautiful smile.
"It actually worked? I underestimated you, Little March!"
The striking man in a blue-and-white coat slowly gave her a thumbs-up, looking rather surprised.
"Hmph... of course it did! Rescue breathing is a piece of cake for Miss March!"
Despite her words, March 7th still covered her cheeks with both hands, seemingly unwilling to let anyone see her embarrassment.
Earlier, when she had approached the handsome stranger before her, some inexplicable force had seemed to make her heart beat a little faster. Vaguely, his already handsome face had seemed to become even more attractive.
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