The girl's bare feet were spotless.
She reached down and picked up her phone.
It was a message from Jiang Cheng—saying he saw she was sleeping, so after putting a blanket over her, he left first and would be back soon.
She didn't mark it as read, nor did she tap into it, letting the boy continue to mistakenly believe she was asleep.
Too lazy to even put on slippers, she seemed afraid that making even the slightest sound against the floor would be heard by the boy, who was already who-knows-how-far away.
Until the smooth soles of her feet went from stepping on the cold floor to a soft carpet that almost massaged her soles—the door to the boy's Room appeared before her. Perhaps because of trust, there were no extra locks added.
The girl simply extended her slender fingertips and gently pushed, and the door opened in response.
Inside was the boy's simple Room, with a steampunk-style bed and a bookshelf next to it displaying a large number of figurines and handicrafts.
There were no extra decorations, and even the cleanliness was such that you couldn't find excessive dirt.
Everything was normal.
—Except for the neatly folded bed.
Eh... eh.
Eh!??
The girl's silver-pink eyes suddenly shifted violently, the guilt and self-loathing transforming into an incomprehensible sense of doubt.
The bed in front of her, which should have been messy because the boy who slept in a sleeping bag didn't have the habit of making his bed, was instead clean and tidy.
Vil-V walked to the bed, not caring whether she would make any noise, and stretched out a finger, cautiously and gently touching the boy's bed.
Cold?
Not a trace of warmth.
Why?
The boy had clearly just left.
She couldn't help but bring her soft face closer, her delicate nose gently breathing in, the mature and charming girl acting like an extremely rare pervert in the whole world.
However... nothing!
Nothing!
—Absolutely nothing!!
There wasn't a trace of scent on the boy's bed, as clean as if it had been vacuumed.
Not only that.
No socks, no shoes, no pants, no shirts, no shorts, no short sleeves, no towels... not even underwear could be found.
It was as if someone had tidied up in advance; all the clothes the boy had just taken off were gone.
The girl couldn't find them even using all her intelligence.
It was as if they had disappeared into thin air.
As if someone else had taken them.
Could it be...—did the boy no longer allow her to do this?
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54. Those clothes weren't taken by Vil-V?!
[The Honkai is a very strange thing. To some extent, it may even make you feel a little scared. It seems that this seemingly barely suppressed energy will one day take you and everything you love to destruction.]
[Although it's not that girls don't have a sixth sense, you also slightly turned your attention to this field, which is theoretically completely unrelated to what you want to design, and prepared some brand-new manuscripts with the girl.]
[And bickered with those messy higher-ups for a long time.]
[Those guys can be incompetent, those guys can lack vision, and even occasionally making a few heaven-defying choices should be the norm.]
[But they are full of points for throwing the blame and bickering with others. Everyone can accurately use the longest and most difficult sentences in various languages, and can't get to the point for a long time.]
[The most outrageous time, you asked about something and it changed seven people and people from three departments were called in front of you to inquire and report layer by layer.]
[In the end, Blanca happened to walk by and saw you being bothered by a large number of reporting personnel, and taught you how to quickly resolve something.]
["The Moth Chasing Fire's personnel composition includes all the countries in the world, and there are at least hundreds of different languages alone. Various countries have intervened in various affairs, so directly requesting it is very cumbersome."]
["Any procedure requires coordinating the requirements between countries. Ordinary members are fine, but you are a dispatched specialist with extremely heavy weight."]
["Many people will be watching any one thing, and naturally many people need to report it. You can come directly to me if you encounter this kind of thing in the future."]
[The gentle woman with short blue hair and wearing a dress from the future era is also a truly excellent doctoral assistant—Blanca.]
[As Dr. Mobius's almost only normal communication channel with the outside world, and also one of the founders of Moth Chasing Fire's assistant, she actually encompasses things in all aspects of practical work and power.]
["I see. Actually, there is nothing else this time. I just want to record the disaster called Honkai."]
["Next time, I'll just use my privileges."]
[Although the word "privilege" sounds a bit strange, it is a necessary thing in this place.]
[You seriously suspect that if you don't do this and don't open up some special rights, this extremely bloated institution built by countless countries may take a whole year to solve this small matter.]
[This is a paradise for Scholars, but it is only limited to Scholars. For others, there is no difference between being here and being somewhere else.]
[In fact, this has nothing to do with you. Compared to Spiral Workshop, you are actually more of an outsider. Even if you have a higher status and rights, they can be taken back in essence, and you are too lazy to tie yourself to Moth Chasing Fire.]
[Compared to these unimportant little things that cannot hinder you, there is currently a slightly more serious matter.]
[—Perhaps the things encountered after entering Moth Chasing Fire this time are not that simple.]
[Those so-called sugar-coated bullets and coercion are actually soft. No one dares to really threaten top Scholars in Moth Chasing Fire.]
[They seem to bother you whenever they have time, but in reality, all the time added together is less than two days, and they don't even dare to say a harsh word.]
[Those people are not qualified to bother you, and even Mobius, who has a "no entry for strangers" and extremely bad personality, can easily solve them.]
After you had free time later, you also figured out the girl's intention—essentially, she couldn't bear to part with the reason to be with you. In reality, with her talent, those people could be easily dismissed.
Even knowing that the reason behind the scenes wasn't the bullying you expected, you didn't stop because you understood, allowing Vil-V to be willful.
This is ultimately something that needs to be resolved. Confidence is a good thing, but you shouldn't foster a tiger and create future trouble because of it, especially since there's no benefit to it.
Although these so-called tigers are at most just small flying insects to Vil-V's wisdom.
You won't leave the girl anyway.
There's no need to do stupid things out of worry. As such a genius, you can't be so easily driven by fear, even neglecting reason.
Letting those people act has indeed affected your life with Vil-V somewhat, at least it really makes you feel a little uncomfortable.
Even knowing that Vil-V's condition is very serious, to the extent that it has been accumulating for a long time, this behavior in a sense is also proving that the sense of security you give the girl is not enough, and the girl must take the initiative to ask for it.
This kind of thing is actually not that important. You must carefully consider how to deal with this matter caused by Vil-V.
Option 1: Sternly deny the girl's behavior, to prevent this possibility from happening. You will never leave her, absolutely not.
Option 2: This kind of problem is not a big deal, and there is no need to really take the time to manage it. Anyway, the other party just wants to be with you.
Option 3: This indeed did not cause any consequences, but you can't ignore it just because it didn't cause any consequences. This can easily lead to big problems. Directly denying it is also not suitable for the fragile and inferior emotions of the girl. Perhaps you can choose a suitable time to offer your promise.
Please choose—
"Ah, this..."
For the first time, Jiang Cheng felt that the choices that usually seemed easy had become difficult. His finger hovered in the air for a long time, unable to press down.
Everyone knows about Vil-V's talent.
It is an unimaginable existence.
In the Honkai world, which is not very scientific, she can be called a cheat-level person.
Being divided into eight parts, with one part still occupying half of the quota, can make each part reach the top level even among geniuses.
Not to mention those politicians with brains full of fat, even if facing a country with full power, it would not be so easy to fail.
Fostering a tiger is naturally impossible. Those people are not qualified to be called tigers in front of the girl.
Things that Mobius can easily solve will definitely be simpler, easier, and more thorough if handed over to Vil-V.
But judging solely on this matter, it cannot be considered a normal and correct thing after all.
Being confident with ease is not a mistake.
The premise is that you can't use this confidence on the people around you. Deliberately condoning some people, no matter whether you can control it or not, is definitely not a good thing.
Directly denying it is also inappropriate, at least this is Vil-V's first attempt to use her abilities.
The essence and core of this situation is also because the girl feels that her sense of security is not high enough, fearing that this relationship will still be as fragile as a small boat in a storm, and may be overturned at any time.
Perhaps all of this is too dreamy and too illusory for the girl, so much so that she still can't believe that it can last forever at this moment.
This unstable mentality must be rewritten. How can she still be worried about gains and losses when she has reached the end, and not enjoy the beauty of the present moment?
Jiang Cheng finally made a decision, and his finger pressed the third option without hesitation.
—Option 3.
Neither directly denying nor directly affirming is the best choice. Only by finding a suitable time, at Vil-V's birthday party.
Just like the girl once confessed and saved himself at her birthday party, he will use the same method to save Vil-V again, to achieve a beautiful result of mutual salvation.
Every day's routine may be a continuous miracle, and every day needs to be cherished.
With this in mind, after finishing today's work, you immediately returned to the place where you and Vil-V were temporarily living in Moth Chasing Fire.
You directly threw all the folders on hand to Blanca. Anyway, as Mobius's assistant, she is familiar with this kind of work.
—Cannot not deny, nor directly deny.
Erroneous behavior must be stopped, otherwise one day it will lead to a result that no one wants to see. Once the way two people get along goes astray, the final outcome will only go down the wrong path.
Directly denying the girl will also make the girl fall into the abyss and stimulate insecurity, which may immediately make things worse.
Then you can only find the source of this emotion.
Since she wants to stay with you longer, because of the emotions caused by fear and anxiety, then you give the most firm and decisive promise.
The only problem is...
Just after returning home, the young man who had just opened the door and hadn't even changed his shoes looked down at the girl who was naked and performing the Far East secret technique—dogeza—at the door of the Room in the most embarrassing and undignified posture.
His brain seemed to crash suddenly, and all his thoughts completely stopped, solidified, and rigidity in place.
Unable to understand.
Cannot understand.
Difficult to understand.
—What happened again?!
"I'm very sorry."
"My shameless and perverted behavior must have had a great impact on you, Jiang Cheng."
"Please be sure to punish my mistakes as harshly as possible. No matter what kind of behavior it is, I will bear it completely."
The girl's delicate body was heavily pressed on the floor, letting the cool breeze blow over her body. Even the biting chill coming from her toes did not waver her in the slightest.
Although you can't see the real expression on her face, the strong apology and fear shown in her words are enough to convey all the emotions.
So... "What the hell happened?!"