It Lies in the Heart

"You keep saying you don't want to gamble, but wasn't pulling me here from another world a huge gamble in itself?"

Faced with Lu Guan's relentless questions, "Sora" looked somewhat dispirited, and her formerly unyielding tone softened a little. "Sweetie, listen to Mom... will you?"

Lu Guan shook his head. "If you really consider yourself my mother... then you should be proud of my resolve, not pour cold water on me when I want to help you..."

Those words shattered "Sora's" defenses. Her body rocked as though struck by a heavy blow, and she staggered back several steps, barely managing to steady herself against a nearby stone pillar.

"Enough... You simply don't understand how terrifying the Desolation is."

"Almost nothing on Solaris, not even humans, can resist the Desolation. If someone you love were tainted by it... how would you live with yourself?"

Lu Guan froze. He turned her words over in his mind, but for the moment, he couldn't think of an answer.

If Dania were unfortunate enough to be tainted by the Desolation, and he could do nothing about it... what would he do?

Lu Guan didn't consider himself a saint, but even saints had human emotions and desires, as well as pursuits of their own. At the very least, Lu Guan would never readily let the people close to him be placed in danger.

Yet the effect the Desolation had on "Sora" was plain to see, and he couldn't turn a blind eye to it...

Torn between the two, Lu Guan didn't know what to do. A sense of helplessness welled up within him. The last time he had felt this way was when Dania had left without saying goodbye...

"So weakness really is the original sin..." Lu Guan lowered his head and looked at the spotless white floor. Even he didn't realize that his state of mind had quietly begun to change.

"...My child." Perhaps she felt that what she had just said was a little too harsh, or perhaps she couldn't bear to see Lu Guan sink into despair. "Sora" stepped forward and pulled him into her arms.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to let you face danger, but if you want to become strong, you still need to grow in spirit..."

"I'll mark some newly appeared instances of the Desolation in your current region that haven't yet grown on your system... But remember, you must never rush ahead recklessly in pursuit of results..."

"...You're not stopping me?" Lu Guan looked up at "Sora," shocked by her sudden change of attitude. "But you just said..."

"Even if I stopped you, you would still do it..." "Sora" shook her head with a bitter smile. "After watching you for nearly twenty years, I know your nature all too well..."

"Rather than let you search aimlessly and end up wandering into a highly dangerous area, it's better to tell you about some instances of the Desolation that are within your capabilities and carry little risk."

With that, she waved her staff and placed a protective blessing on Lu Guan.

"This blessing can save you once when your life is in danger, but I hope it will never be triggered..."

"...Thank you."

Lu Guan looked at "Sora" with a complicated expression.

"If you really want to thank me... call me Mom one more time." "Sora" smiled faintly. "I'm looking forward to it~"

At this point, Lu Guan no longer felt too burdened by it.

"Sorry... Mom..."

"Ehehe~ Good boy, hurry back! That little girlfriend of yours is still waiting for you!" "Sora" chuckled and gave a gentle wave, sending Lu Guan out of the space.

Then she let out a long breath and sat down on the ground.

As she looked at the spot where Lu Guan had disappeared, her smile faded, and a sickly flush began to creep across her face.

"...Cough, cough."

Staring at the dark purple congealed blood she had just coughed into her hand, "Sora's" expression darkened, and she let out a faint sigh.

"You must stay safe... the future of Solaris..."

Back in reality, Lu Guan made his way to the Frontier Court's dining hall with a heavy heart. After finding Dania digging into her food, he sat down beside her.

"Mm-hmm-hmm~"

The girl hummed an unfamiliar tune, her fair, plump legs swinging back and forth beneath the table. She was clearly enjoying the satisfaction and pleasure of her meal.

"What are you eating? Let me have a taste." Seeing how cute Dania looked, Lu Guan felt much of the gloom in his heart lift.

"You want some...?" Dania picked up a soup dumpling. "Come on, open wide. I'll feed you..."

"Ah..."

But Lu Guan clearly had other ideas. While Dania wasn't paying attention, he took the dumpling into his mouth along with her fingers.

"Eek... Stop licking them... Aren't you gross?!"

Dania took out a tissue and wiped the fingers Lu Guan had licked, then turned her head away with a playfully angry look of disgust. Even so, she kept stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye.

Lu Guan naturally noticed his girlfriend's little gesture and immediately felt like teasing her...

Question: When your foodie girlfriend pretends to be angry, what's a quick way to break the ice?

Option A: Buy her something tasty to cheer her up.

That's a caring guy.

Option B: She's just being difficult. Give her a couple of slaps.

That's a tough guy.

Option C: Please don't make that face. You're making my star lust rise.

That's a pervert.

Option D: Sneak a kiss and see how cute her expression gets afterward.

That's Lu Guan.

"Mwah~"

"Ah! Idiot! What are you doing?!"

Lu Guan's sudden kiss threw Dania into a fluster. She had managed to pretend she was angry before, but now her composure completely crumbled, and her little show of stubbornness vanished without a trace.

"I... I'm going to eat... No more mischief!"

With that, she began picking up the food on the table and eating nonstop, trying to calm the flurry in her heart.

This idiot, how did he suddenly get so good at flirting?!

In fact, Dania was the only one Lu Guan could do this with. After all, having maxed-out favorability and affection meant she could tolerate everything he did. If it were anyone else...

Lu Guan would already be having tea at the Patrol Station.

As for why Lu Guan had suddenly become so good at flirting, having low emotional intelligence didn't mean someone didn't know how to please a girl. Besides, sometimes the giving of affection went both ways.

You love me, I love you, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea...

Ahem, wrong channel.

In any case, after a little teasing, Lu Guan was in a great mood. As he watched Dania eat, he began thinking about what had happened with "Sora"...

The Desolation...

He opened the system interface and found a marker near Qichi Village, not far north of Jinzhou's outskirts.

His sleep schedule was a little messed up anyway. After coaxing Dania to sleep tonight, he would head over and see what was going on!

As he was thinking, Dania picked up a spoon, scooped up a heaping spoonful of fried rice, and fed it to him.

"Eat up! You keep staring at me. What are you thinking about?"

"Because you're so beautiful I could eat you up. All I have to do is look at you a little longer, and my belly fills itself."

"Hmph~ How come I never noticed you were such a smooth talker before?"

"Because I figured something out..." Lu Guan smiled. "It's one thing with other people, but when it comes to the person you love and the person who loves you, that's when you can least afford to speak without a care."

It lies in the heart?

Future me... I think I understand now. People are strongest only when protecting the ones they love. The true source of strength isn't the resonance energy in the body, but the emotions in the heart.

Looking at the shy reproach in Dania's eyes and her sweet smile, Lu Guan silently made a promise to himself: he would protect her... and protect Solaris...

Though Lu Guan had considered himself a native of Solaris before, he had still felt a trace of detachment. It was precisely that detachment that had kept him from using his resonance abilities as easily as he wished.

Now, as his state of mind reached complete fulfillment, the six stars on the Tacet Mark on his hand began to lengthen, faintly taking the shape of a seventh star.

"Sora," still in the white space, seemed to sense something. She looked once more at the spot where Lu Guan had stood, her expression growing a little relieved as a faint smile touched her lips.

"Well done... Now, I can rest easy..."

After saying that, she closed her eyes again and focused on suppressing the places on Solaris affected by the Desolation.