You two really do look like a married couple

Upon returning to the "Ironwall" fortress and handing over the mission at the radar station, Luo Li immediately went to Zone E.

Although they hadn't seen each other for several days and communicated daily, he still wanted to check on Castorice's condition in person.

Especially after experiencing the thrill of the "Rotting Swamp" and the eeriness of the "Venom Queen," the urge to see her became even stronger.

The reception room at the Zone E research institute remained cold and austere.

But when Castorice walked in wearing that slightly oversized white assistant uniform, Luo Li felt that the light in the whole room seemed to soften a bit.

She looked to be in good spirits, her long, silvery-purple hair flowing smoothly over her shoulders. Her purple eyes lit up when she saw him, and she quickened her pace slightly without realizing it.

"Luo Li."

She sat down opposite him, her voice still ethereal, but with a hint of barely perceptible lightness.

"Yeah, I just finished my mission and came to check on you."

Luo Li looked her over, making sure she was alright before feeling relieved. "How have you been these past few days? Has the research institute given you any trouble?"

"No. Senior Yuan Huan took good care of me, and the work wasn't difficult."

Castorice gently shook her head, her gaze falling on him as she looked him over carefully, her brows furrowing slightly.

"You... are injured?"

Luo Li was taken aback. His left arm had been grazed by the Shadow Bat's claws at the radar station, leaving a shallow scratch. It had already been treated, and even the damaged parts of his combat suit had been automatically repaired with nanomaterials. He hadn't expected her to still notice it.

"It's a minor injury, nothing serious."

He waved his hand dismissively.

Castorice reached out her hand, a faint, life-giving dark purple light swirling around her fingertips, and gently touched the wound on his arm.

The moment the light touched the combat suit, Luo Li felt a cool and refreshing sensation at the wound, and the slight stinging pain and the lingering feeling of dark energy corrosion instantly disappeared.

"No need to waste your energy..."

Luo Li felt a warmth in her heart and grasped the hand that the other woman hadn't had time to pull away.

Her hands were slightly cool and soft; when he held them, her fingertips trembled slightly, but she did not pull away.

"Just doing it on a whim."

She tilted her head slightly, a faint pink tinge appearing at the base of her ears.

There was a moment of silence between them, yet a silent understanding flowed between them.

Just then, the door to the reception room was rudely pushed open.

"Li Zi! I knew you'd come here!"

Kong Yan'er strode in, followed by Qingqiu Ze, who looked excitedly gossipy, and Yang Shan was grinning sheepishly.

"Hey! Castorice Die is here too!"

Kong Yan'er saw their hands clasped together, her eyes lit up like searchlights, and she revealed an extremely irritating and ambiguous smile.

Like a startled fawn, Castorice quickly and gently withdrew her hand, sat upright in the chair, and resumed her aloof expression, though the lingering blush on her cheeks betrayed her.

Luo Li glared at Kong Yan'er, annoyed. "What are you doing here?"

"Let's see if you've forgotten your friends after seeing a pretty girl!"

Kong Yan'er plopped down in the empty seat next to Luo Li, crossed her legs, and scanned Luo Li and Castorice's faces back and forth, clicking her tongue in amazement. "I say, you two... one just came through a fierce battle and looks travel-worn but her eyes are shining, the other is well-maintained in the research institute and looks fair and clean but has a happy look on her face..."

He deliberately dragged out his words, building up anticipation, before suddenly slapping his thigh and announcing in an extremely exaggerated tone, "Amazing! You two really do look like a married couple!"

"Puff--!"

Qingqiu Ze, who was drinking water, spat it out, choking and turning his face red. Between coughs, he frantically gave Kong Yan'er a thumbs-up. "Yan, Brother Yan! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Yang Shan scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, "Now that you mention it, it seems... kind of is true?"

Luo Li: "... Get lost!"

Castorice's face turned completely red, like a ripe cherry. She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, even her neck was tinged with a faint pink, but unusually, she did not utter a word in rebuttal.

Seeing Castorice's embarrassed and embarrassed appearance, Kong Yan'er became even more excited. He moved closer to Luo Li, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered, "Not bad, brother! It's only been a few days, and you've already trained our Castorice to be so... well, she's got a 'married woman' vibe?"

"Shut up!" Luo Li really wanted to use Enma to physically seal this guy's mouth.

"Hey, what's there to be shy about!" Qingqiu Ze chimed in, joining in the teasing.

"Brother Li, sister-in-law, when are you going to invite us to your wedding? My millions of viewers in the live stream are waiting to give us their wedding gifts!"

"Who's your sister-in-law!"

Luo Li's temple veins throbbed.

"Exactly! Qingqiu Ze, stop talking nonsense!"

Kong Yan'er immediately launched into a righteous and stern criticism, then changed the subject, giving Castorice a smile that he thought was kind but was actually lewd, "Sister-in-law, don't mind him, this kid is just outspoken. But speaking of which, when do you plan to get things done? I think there's no better time than now, while we're both on the front lines..."

"Kong! Yan! Er!"

Luo Li finally lost her temper and grabbed the guy by the collar.

"Are you asking for a beating? Let's have a one-on-one fight in the training ground, now! Immediately! Right now!"

"Hey! A gentleman uses words, not fists!"

Kong Yan'er cried out, but didn't really resist, still smiling broadly, "I'm just concerned about your marriage, brother! Look, Castorice Die hasn't objected..."

Castorice heard the topic turn to her again, she lowered her head even further, almost burying it in her chest, her exposed ear tips turning bright red.

Looking at Kong Yan'er's smug "I'm doing this for your own good" attitude, and glancing at Qingqiu Ze who was watching the drama unfold and Yang Shan was just grinning foolishly, Luo Li felt utterly overwhelmed.

He released Kong Yan'er, sighed helplessly, turned to Castorice, and said in a gentler tone, "Ignore them, these guys are just bored."

Castorice then slightly raised her head, glanced quickly at Luo Li, and then quickly lowered it again, letting out a soft "hmm" in a voice barely audible.

Her shy, hesitant expression made Kong Yan'er and Qingqiu Ze stare wide-eyed, further confirming their suspicions of an affair.

"Did you see that?!" Kong Yan'er excitedly patted Qingqiu Ze. "That chemistry! That eye contact! And you still say they don't look like a married couple?"

"Locked! Locked! I swallowed the key!" Qingqiu Ze made an exaggerated gesture in cooperation.

They made a ruckus for quite a while until the institute staff came over to remind them that the meeting time was almost over, and only then did these lively characters reluctantly quiet down.

On the way back after leaving Zone E, Kong Yan'er still had his arm around Luo Li's shoulder, chattering on and on. "Li Zi, listen to your brother's advice, you have to hold on to such a good girl! Look at Castorice Die, she's got looks, she's got class, and she's probably pretty capable too, and she's so devoted to you, you deadpan guy... You must have saved the galaxy in your past life!"

Luo Li ignored him, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

Although these guys were causing a headache, Castorice's blushing face without rebuttal when they egged him on did give him a ticklish, sweet feeling, like being gently tickled by a feather.

Do they look like a married couple?

He recalled the soft lines of Xia Die's profile and her slightly pursed lips when Castorice head just now...

It seems... a little bit?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he forcibly suppressed it.

Tsk, what do you mean by "a little bit"? You've already done "that" with Castorice.

Over the next few days, the missions assigned to Luo Li's team were not too dangerous, mainly involving consolidating the defenses and clearing out small groups of wandering vampires.

After the "chance encounter" at the radar station and the "troublemaking" in the Zone E meeting room, Murong Xue seemed to have completely disappeared from Luo Li's sight and never appeared again.

Occasionally, when glimpsed from afar at the base, she would quickly dart away like a startled rabbit.

Luo Li was happy to have some peace and quiet.

He focused more of his energy on cultivation.

The potential of [Spacetime] Path is far deeper than he imagined.

In addition to the abilities he had already mastered, such as [Time Retardation] and [Space Folding], he began to try to use them at a deeper level, such as attaching the power of time to attacks to accelerate the enemy's "aging" process, or reversing non-fatal injuries he had suffered on a small scale.

After absorbing the core of the "Venom Queen" and the blood of several B-rank vampires, the Bloodblade Enma's sword spirit seemed to become more active, and the connection between them became increasingly close. It could even vaguely convey some simple emotions, such as a desire for battle and a greed for powerful blood.

Xiao Hong has become the team's "intelligence officer" and "snack destroyer." By constantly devouring the vampires' Remembrance fragments, it has become very familiar with the habits, weaknesses, and even some secret rumors of various vampires on the front lines, greatly improving the team's efficiency and safety in carrying out missions.

That evening, Luo Li finished a day of training and was about to go to the cafeteria to deal with that damned nutritional paste when he received a message from Castorice on his personal terminal.

[Butterfly]: The research institute cafeteria has a special meal tonight, braised pork. I saved some for you.

It was followed by a small, cute bunny emoji.

Luo Li stared at the message and the emoji that was the complete opposite of Castorice's aloof temperament for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

His beloved character, Castorice, seems to be becoming more and more... down-to-earth?

He replied immediately:

[Li]: Coming right away! [drooling]

Putting away her terminal, Luo Li turned briskly towards Zone E, ruthlessly ignoring Kong Yan'er's invitation to "try the newly discovered smuggled beer."

Forget nutritional pastes and smuggled beer, nothing compares to the aroma of their braised pork Castorice!

Walking through the passageway leading to Zone E, Luo Li even hummed a tuneless little melody in a rather cheerful mood.

As he approached the entrance to Zone E, he encountered Yuan Huan, who was hurrying past carrying documents.

"Luo Li?"

Yuan Huan saw him, stopped, adjusted her glasses, and paused for a second on his face before speaking in her usual calm and intellectual tone, "The energy fluctuations are quite active. Are you in a good mood?"

Luo Li touched her nose, a little embarrassed. "It's alright, senior, did you just get off work?"

"Yes, there's some data that needs to be verified."

Yuan Huan nodded, as if it were just a casual remark.

"By the way, your girlfriend... Assistant Castorice, her talent in energy perception is extremely rare. She provided crucial auxiliary observational data for my preliminary report on the 'frontline energy field anomaly'."

Luo Li's heart stirred, and she felt a surge of pride. "She is indeed... very special."

Yuan Huan gave him a deep look, her tone calm yet meaningful. "Cherish it. This pure and powerful perception is rare even in the entire Longxia. And..."

She paused, leaving a meaningful pause.

"Her familiarity with your energy fluctuations is astonishing. She can almost simultaneously sense changes in your state."

After saying that, she nodded slightly to Luo Li and continued walking with the documents in her arms.

Luo Li stood there, pondering Yuan Huan's words.

Castorice... can it sense my state in real time?

So she noticed his minor injury immediately?

So... when he's in a better mood, can she sense it too?

Thinking of this, Luo Li's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

He quickened his pace, almost running, and arrived at the small canteen of the Zone E research institute.

From afar, he spotted the familiar figure sitting quietly in the corner, waiting.

There were two plates in front of her, one of which contained a larger portion of braised pork.

Hearing footsteps, Castorice looked up, and when she saw him, a faint, genuine smile spread across her purple eyes.

"They've arrived."

She spoke softly, pushing the larger plate of food towards him.

Luo Li sat down opposite her, looking at the tempting braised pork on the plate, and then at the girl's soft and beautiful profile under the light. She felt that the fatigue and resentment brought on by the battles of the past few days were quietly soothed by this ordinary warmth.

"Yes, it's here."

He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of braised pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and put it in his mouth.

Soft, sweet, and melts in your mouth.

It was a familiar taste to him.

He looked up at Xia Die, who was eating her meal in small bites and occasionally glancing up at him Castorice.

The dim yellow light outlined her features, making her appear gentle and without a trace of aggression.

Kong Yan'er's bastard words suddenly echoed in his mind again.

"You two really look like a married couple..."