Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 287: The Embrace Behind 268_2

Chapter 287: The Embrace Behind 268_2

The washbasin was set outside, and there was a mirror above it, in which my accustomed face was reflected.

How does Mazao regard me, exactly? This question rose again in my mind. Although I inquired Little Bowl last night, desiring to know whether Mazao might develop romantic feelings for me, even Little Bowl could not guarantee a conclusion. After all, Mazao had repeatedly shown her disgust and contempt for "adult men who like little girls" in front of her.

Little Bowl suggested I should not directly confront Mazao about her true feelings towards me, so for the time being, I decided to heed her advice. Yet, it made things rather complicated.

Simply being Mazao’s best friend or like a family member would naturally not satisfy me. If she truly harbored no such thoughts towards me, then what should I do to advance our relationship?

If I could become a few years younger, maybe it wouldn’t be so inappropriate. Although others might say it’s puppy love and so on, at least it’s far better than being considered a pervert by Mazao. Perhaps it was a similar thought that made me wary when Dong Che became interested in Mazao. Even when the demon hunters at Fufeng Base compared Mazao and Dong Che, I felt a bit conflicted inside.

So, is there a possibility that if I really became younger, I wouldn’t seem so deviant?

While no one was paying attention, I quietly disassembled and reassembled my body, taking on the appearance I had when I was twelve or thirteen years old.

On two previous occasions, I had shifted into this form in front of Mazao, and after quickly reverting back, she showed a look of regret. Although I didn’t understand what was good about this appearance, maybe she actually liked me changing into it, or perhaps it was just a novelty for her.

I planned to test her reaction using this form first.

I gathered the snacks and soft drinks in my arms and returned to Mazao’s side. Upon seeing me in this state, she immediately showed a surprised expression and asked why I had changed my appearance.

"Just changing my mood, don’t mind it."

I replied earnestly, then placed the snacks and beverages beside her.

She nodded in confusion, then observed me with a peculiarly intrigued gaze from head to toe, as if trying to etch my current self into her retina. It was the first time she regarded me with such a gaze, and it felt somewhat awkward not knowing where to put my hands. After all, in doing this I could be said to be acting younger than I am; had she teased me, I might have felt more at ease. Now, being silently watched by her like this, honestly, I felt embarrassed.

"By the way, Mazao, take this..."

Out of a desire to shift the topic, I summoned my Divine Seal Fragment and handed it to her.

"Uh? Okay."

Although she seemed not to understand my intention, she took the Divine Seal Fragment anyway, then curiously asked, "Why are you giving this to me?"

The Divine Seal Fragments of The Chosen Ones in the Void Realm should not be touchable by anyone other than the bearer themselves, not even by those who are fated to have a connection with the fragments. Yet indeed, the Divine Seal Fragment did not phase through Mazao’s hands. Having reconfirmed this phenomenon, I then explained its significance and my own speculations about it.

Perhaps this outcome was also a function of the Broom Star Physique, and my connection with the Divine Seal Fragment might well be thanks to Mazao... I explained this in a serious tone, and as I did so, I slowly realized that Mazao had been looking at my face all along, as though there was something strange drawn upon it.

Maybe the serious topic seemed out of place with my current appearance.

To test whether she was focusing on the topic, I ventured a question—since those without fate cannot touch the Divine Seal Fragments, it was strange that Chen Long could use the Power of Divine Seal Fragments. Could it be that Chen Long, by chance, also had a destiny with the fragments? Considering the attitude from the side of Fufeng, such individuals should be exceedingly rare.

"Chen Long himself should not have had any direct contact with the Divine Seal Fragment," Mazao spoke as if recalling the information she had gathered from Chen Long’s severed arm, "He didn’t use the Divine Seal Fragment directly, but through Dr. Silver Mask as an intermediary. Essentially, by affecting those fated with the divine seal to influence the Divine Seal Fragment, in turn being influenced by the Power of Divine Seal Fragments."

The existence of Dr. Silver Mask in the real world isn’t much different from a magical artifact, and that’s probably the truth.

Seems like Mazao is still paying good attention to what I say.

Just as I thought this, I saw her sitting on the edge of the bunk bed, patting the spot next to her with a look of anticipation, "Zhuang Cheng, want to come over here?"

"Huh? Why?"

I asked, puzzled, but obediently followed her request, sitting honestly next to her.

She then curled up towards the inside of the bunk, slowly shifting her body, squeezing behind me, and then stretched out her arms from behind and gently embraced me.

I could feel her soft and slender body pressing tightly against my back through the fabric of our clothes, her body heat transferring through the material.

This wasn’t her first time embracing me, but in the past, I would only find out after waking up from sleep, and I always slipped out before she woke up the last two times. This was the first time she took the initiative to embrace me from behind while we were both awake. My heart seemed to be beating faster.

Was transforming into a twelve or thirteen-year-old the right move? She hasn’t been very physically close to me lately, but now that I’ve changed, our distance immediately feels different. Before, she mostly treated me as a creep who liked little girls, but if I’m not an adult and instead a boy, then my liking her is just like liking a peer.

Her voice, filled with a sigh, sounded very close to my ear.

"It feels like I’ve become an older sister," she said.

Older sister... That feels a bit different from what I expected. Like this, it seems I’m just being placed in a brother-sister relationship, not a lover. I kind of want to change back again. But if I change back into an adult now, she might not hug me anymore.

Since she’s happy, I might as well stay like this for a bit longer.

Mazao didn’t continue speaking, just quietly embraced me, as if enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. I didn’t struggle, just sat honestly on the edge of the bed, feeling the touch and warmth of her hug from behind.

After a while, I suddenly received a message from afar.

It wasn’t a message received on my phone, but in my consciousness. It was a thermal energy marker from a remote branch facility in Luo Mountain that I had left in Lu Chan’s body that had triggered a preset command, sending me an alert. I subtly followed the connection with the thermal energy marker to sense it. The source was at one of the branch facilities in Luo Mountain, a thermal energy marker I had left in Lu Chan’s body.

One of the preset commands I set for this thermal energy marker was to alert me when Lu Chan was about to make a noteworthy move.

This was a notably vague preset command. What constitutes a noteworthy move is quite difficult to define, and without a precise definition, there would be huge problems during the execution phase. Normally, such preset commands could not be executed by the thermal energy marker and "fireflies," but ever since the Power Awakening, my control over this has improved, becoming more adept. Even these kinds of ambiguous commands could be made to work.

Now, through the thermal energy marker as a medium, I saw Lu Chan sitting next to a desk, holding a black pen, writing a short line of text on a notebook—

"Zhuang Cheng, are you there?"