Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 265 - 247 won’t let you get away

Chapter 265: 247 won’t let you get away

There was still plenty of time before the agreed one hour of alone time was up. Leaning against the corridor wall, I silently watched Mazao in the room.

Mazao seemed to be performing a one-person pantomime. Her face wrinkled up like a bun with annoyance, as she hugged the pillow tightly to herself then tossed it aside, and then appeared to lose all her strength as she flopped backward, lying on the bed.

Gazing blankly at the ceiling, her expression alternated between joy and distress, and at times even sadness. Despite my inability to probe her inner thoughts like a Mind Reading Technique user, I could still somewhat discern her happiness, worries, and sorrow. Yet, I was utterly unable to predict the decision she would make or whether she would accept my feelings.

After a while, something seemed to cross her mind, her expression changed suddenly, and she sat up quickly, looking rather embarrassed.

"Um... Zhuang Cheng?" she asked softly, "Are you... watching?"

It looked like she realized I might have been peeking using the thermal energy marker. While I’ve never hidden this ability of mine, I naturally couldn’t admit to it under the circumstances. I had to act as if nothing had happened. Uncertain whether I was watching or not, she returned to her trance and contemplation.

When the hour was up, I went back to the room. Seeing me enter, she looked unsettled but soon calmed herself down, though she seemed at a loss for what to say to me at first. I took the initiative to start the conversation, asking how her thoughts were coming along.

As if realizing she couldn’t dodge the topic, she lowered her head, hesitated for a moment, and finally gave a reply that delighted me.

"I... I want to..." she said in a voice as fine as a mosquito’s.

I restrained my excitement and didn’t rush her to continue, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

Taking a deep breath, she then spoke at a normal volume, "I also want to be with you... don’t leave me."

Having received a firm answer, I couldn’t hold back any longer and hugged her. She let out a surprised noise, and after two seconds, she slowly hugged me back. I held her even tighter.

"This is your own words," I said seriously, "I will definitely not let you run away."

"Mhm."

Her voice carried an irrepressible dependence and joy, and then softly, as if making a promise, she said, "I won’t run away... as long as you don’t hate me."

-

After so many twists and turns, I finally confessed my true feelings to Mazao, and Mazao finally believed and accepted my sincere thoughts.

With that, one major concern hidden in our relationship was completely eliminated. A great weight seemed to be lifted off my heart, leaving me feeling light, almost as if the reality of the situation was too good to be true, like a dream.

But this is not a dream. These are merely words describing my current state of bliss. I too wanted to throw myself onto the bed and roll around to express my happiness, but in front of her, I still wanted to appear more composed, so I put on my mask of calm once again.

She stared intently at my face and then brought up something.

"Zhuang Cheng, this ring..."

She took off the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring from her left middle finger and tried to give it back to me. I didn’t reach out to take it, just looked down at it.

The ring was now damaged. Despite its original appearance like black wire woven together, it now had a burnt look, as if mercilessly scorched by flames.

Lu Youxun was indeed correct, even with my full cooperation, the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring couldn’t survive unscathed after being used by a supernatural power user of my level. From the moment Mazao pulled her hand free, the ring lost its ability to keep the wearer’s hand in an illusion form. This accessory had been with me for some time, helping me a great deal, and seeing it like this, I felt some regret.

But then I immediately thought of Mazao’s Power of Return.

"I should be able to repair the ring, but I’m not sure to what extent," she said.

"Can’t even the power to turn back time completely repair it? Is it because this is not an ordinary object, but a magical item?" I asked.

"It’s not like that. Even magical items, in general, can be completely restored. It’s just that the difficulty of restoration changes depending on the extent of damage," she said. " Obviously, damage involving time and causality goes without saying, but even the high-level destructive power can make restoration difficult. Your power is too strong, and the fact that ’it has been scorched by your flames’ itself carries mysticism, posing an obstacle to my restoration."

This condition of "the fact itself carrying mysticism" is not rare in Mysticism. Many rituals and ceremonies often involve performances that mimic mythological events, and some religious followers even believe that by reciting the words spoken by saints during exorcism from the scriptures, they can gain the power of exorcism. This kind of mimetic action is borrowing power from events that occurred at a certain past moment.

However, most of the events from which power is borrowed involve Gods and Immortals, and even if they concern the great deeds of mortals, those mortals are usually divinized to a certain extent. It seems that through the ages, people have believed that leaving power within events is an act of the divine.

Since I’ve been considered a candidate for Impermanence, it seems somewhat reasonable that I could do such a thing. Moreover, my flames already inherently possess the property of burning causality, which could also be considered "a type of damage involving causality". Even with the Power of Return, it is not an easy task to erase the traces of destruction I’ve left.

"Even if the ring is fixed, you don’t need to give it back to me; consider it a gift from me," I said.

"Is that okay?" She was surprised, "This ring is quite useful to you, isn’t it?"

"It’s fine."

I hadn’t given her the ring with the intention of it being "that kind of ring"; it just seemed odd to take the jewelry off her finger and take it back. If needed in the future, I could simply ask her for assistance.

Mazao probably lacked that sort of knowledge and simply took it as a second gift from me, following the red GPS bracelet. After thinking it over, she nodded, putting the ring back on her left middle finger, gazing at it affectionately, then at the bracelet on her left wrist, her face breaking into a blissful smile.

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