Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 264 - 246 Captures My Heart_2

Chapter 264: 246 Captures My Heart_2

But it happened, just like that. On this planet, living among eight billion people, even the population in a city counts in the tens and hundreds of thousands, the probability of any two people meeting is extremely low. But from our childhood, we continue to encounter all kinds of strangers, friends, classmates, colleagues... Talking about probabilities after the fact is just hindsight. Just like discussing with someone who is suffering from misfortune about how low the probability of that misfortune occurring was, it doesn’t help at all. Now that I have truly come before her like this, I hope she can accept me openly.

I extended my other hand and together cradled her left hand. This gesture was even more intimate than before. She was caught off guard and then seemed to want to pull her hand away. I didn’t let her escape; I grasped her left hand firmly. She opened her mouth but didn’t speak, and a blush surfaced on her cheeks, showing her shy emotions.

This was an emotion the past Mazao wouldn’t have shown. Indeed, I don’t know since when, but Mazao had become aware of me as a man. Initially, I didn’t have any particular thoughts, but seeing her shy made me feel shy too, and at the same time, I felt an inexplicable joy.

I slightly loosened my left hand, holding the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring in my palm. Looking at her expression, she seemed not to understand why I would take out the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring. With the current atmosphere, taking out the ring could only mean one thing. Maybe she didn’t understand what it means for a man to present a ring in front of a woman in modern society.

Actually, I wasn’t trying to propose, I merely wanted her to believe in my words. But at the moment of truth, I struggled. I wasn’t sure which finger I should place this ring on. I knew that placing it on the ring finger of the left hand signifies marriage. Ignorance is bliss, but knowing this and still placing it there seemed inappropriate. So eventually, I placed it on her left middle finger. Maybe placing it here carried some special meaning too, but I stopped worrying about that.

The Black Rope Heart-locking Ring turned her left hand into an illusion form, and holding her left hand, I led her to pierce through my chest, placing my actively beating heart into the palm of her hand.

In that instant, the chilly and tricky Mana emerged, binding my heart like a fine and rigid chain. I could feel that I was able at any moment to resist this Mana, but I did not do so. Instead, I voluntarily coordinated to let this power take effect normally.

Only then did Mazao realize what I was doing, and she was shocked.

"Zhuang Cheng, you..."

"Now, Mazao, you are holding my heart," I said. "From now on, I can no longer be silent or lie to you."

She must have already felt the feedback from the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring, realizing that my words were not false.

"Why do this?" she asked.

"Do I need to say? Of course, it is for you to believe my sincere words," I said. "No matter how many times I need to say it, I will keep saying it until you fully believe.

"Mazao, I need you, I want you.

"You indeed attract endless misfortune and disasters, but no matter what others say about you, how others view you, at least to me, you are definitely not a bringer of misfortune. My world was bleak until I met you; only then did my story truly begin. You are the star that brightens my destiny.

"Even if the entire world denies you, even if you deny yourself, I will affirm you, desire you. I consider encountering you as the greatest fortune in my life, and I will absolutely not let you escape from my side.

"—How about it, do you feel my heartbeat? Do you still think these words are insincere?"

I poured out all my true feelings.

Indeed, I am well aware of what Mazao’s real problem is. The reason she didn’t believe my sincere words last time wasn’t because my persuasiveness was lacking, but because she was reluctant to believe that such good fortune could happen to her. She fears signs of happiness appearing in her life. Thus, the real method to win her over should clearly be to first find a clever way to unravel her insecurities.

But I, as a person, am not good at these subtleties. I have racked my brain before, saying so many sweet nothings, but in the end, they all backfired in some way. My nature is to be straightforward and to solve problems bluntly, so the task for me now is also simple. Since just enhancing persuasiveness is not enough, then I will continue to strengthen my persuasiveness—to a point where she has no escape, no room to argue, finding no flaws, forcibly having her accept that I, Zhuang Cheng, am indeed the person as I claim to be.

That’s my approach, that’s my sincerity, this is me.

Now, Mazao, you’re holding my heart, looking into my eyes, listening to my words — can you still say that I am lying?

Mazao froze on the spot, as if she had crashed.

Seeing this, I once again spoke my heartfelt truth in a different manner. Just like I said before, no matter how many times it takes, I will keep saying it. Perhaps she might think I am using clever rhetoric, misleading her by only telling partial truths, so it’s meaningful to keep changing perspectives like this. It’s a saturation bombardment of language, making sure there are no loopholes for her to hide in.

By the fourth time I said it, she seemed to finally snap back to reality, flusteredly saying, "I, am I not a disaster...?"

"Yes." I affirmed.

She hesitated, asking, "You want me?"

"Yes." I affirmed again.

She froze again for a long time, only after a while did she speak again: "That, I... I don’t quite understand..."

"I can repeat it a few more times." I said, "To me, you are not a disaster. You are the light of my life, the fire of my desire..."

"No no no..." She hastily said, "That’s not what I mean..."

"Then what is it?" I asked.

"...Can I have some time alone?" she stutteringly said, "I... need time to sort out my thoughts..."

Did I push her too hard? Maybe my aggressive approach was too overwhelming, leaving her breathless. Listening to someone’s words also requires time to think and digest; perhaps I was too hasty, forgetting to consider her convenience.

"How long do you need?" I asked.

She hesitated before saying, "An hour will be enough."

Looking at her expression right now, it didn’t seem like she was in despair, so I nodded and let her withdraw her left hand from inside my chest. Her left hand changed back from its illusion form to a normal human hand. I stood up, stepped back, turned, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

Once I was away, I immediately began monitoring her through the thermal energy marker in her body.

She asked for solitude, yet here I am still secretly watching her, indeed a tactless act, but I haven’t forgotten that this base isn’t absolutely safe. Allowing her to be out of my sight, even for just a minute, let alone an hour, is unbearable for me.

I silently observed every move she made in the room. After I left, she sat by the bed, spacing out, then lowered her head to touch the ring on the middle finger of her left hand, and continued to be lost in thought. After a while, she suddenly twisted into the bed, curled up tightly, then jumped off the bed, and started running and hopping around the room.

Eventually, she calmed down, returned to sitting by the bed, hugged a pillow, and gazed at her toes, seemingly deep in thought about something.