Chapter 580 - I AM BACK, BABY!

Akira looked at her suspiciously. The expression on Hu Lei's face was a little perverted. Akira was sure that Hu Lei was thinking about more than a honeymoon. But she did not want to know the nasty details.

"You have been married for like two years. Haven't you gone on a honeymoon? It cannot be that hard for you guys to take a trip." Akira asked as she sat at the small vanity table in the nursery. 

Hu Lei took the scissors and combed the wet hair with her fingers. She pushed all the hair to one side before creating a small section on one side of the head. She held the strands in her fingers and snipped them before responding. 

"We take a lot of trips." Hu Lei said. "But if someone ends up dead, I do not think it can count as a honeymoon. We have not had a chance for a real relaxing holiday." 

"I guess things must have been a bit hard in the last year after Wang Lei was born," Akira said apologetically. "Most of that was our fault." 

She could understand the reason the couple was busy after Wang Lei was born. She showed up just as the baby was about to be born. Then, the couple went on to find someone to get Kaito from Martial Island. A little later, she was in a coma. 

Hu Lei shrugged. "You cannot control life. A good life comes from rolling with the punches. The last year has been an adventure. I thought I was going to be a real housewife, but instead, I am here on an island that people don't know exists. My life is f**king great!" 

Akira smiled. "I wish I could get your attitude." 

Hu Lei continued cutting Akira's hair. "Honestly, making your hair is a good first step. You are only a little afraid because of the trauma you experienced. Trust me. I know." 

"When Ah-Feng rescued me from Antarctica, I was a mess. And my hair was even worse. I could not even remember how to talk. Looking in the mirror was a nightmare because I did not even recognise myself." Hu Lei's eyes were a little misty. 

"I thought for sure that I would never feel like myself again. It was like I was constantly fighting within myself and making it worse. I thought I would never be able to enjoy the normal things in life or feel whole again." 

Akira was touched that Hu Lei would talk to her about her past. She had never imagined how Hu Lei had felt after returning from Antarctica. All she had seen were a few videos from that lab, and it was already enough to make her feel helpless. 

"So, how did you move on? How did you become yourself again?" She asked. 

"It is a story with a bunch of random and different facts. But the most important thing I realised is that you cannot remain to be the same person you always are. A person is shaped by their experiences. You just need to keep adding to who you are. Do not settle on being stagnant." Hu Lei said. 

Akira contemplated for a moment, but she still did not grasp something completely. There was something within her grasp, but it eluded her. She felt like she was on the verge of enlightenment. Like she was about to experience metamorphosis. 

"I am done." Hu Lei said. 

Akira looked up into the mirror and saw a familiar face. Her small head was no longer shrouded by thick hair. Her initial cut was a bit crude, so her hair was a bit shorter than she was used to. But she liked the lightness and simplicity. 

Her lips stretched into an involuntary smile. 

"I take it you like it?" Hu Lei said. 

"Your talents surprise me." 

"Give me a blade, and I will take over the world." Hu Lei said. 

"Thank you." 

"It is nothing." Hu Lei patted the head. "I hate to cut and run, but I gotta go. If you decide to leave the house, remember to carry your sword." 

Before Akira could ask, Hu Lei was already gone. She could only look at Hikari with blank and confused eyes. But she was sure of something. Everyone was hiding secrets from her. It made her a little uncomfortable. 

At that moment, she started to think back to the occurrences on the island, and the shady manner in which Taiki was behaving. Moreover, she knew that Hu Lei had a strange deal with Yuan Haoran because of her. 

Her mind, which had remained dormant for a while, was once again active. She was not just someone hiding from the world. She was the agent who was scouted by the Minister of Defence to head all covert operations in the country. 

She could figure out anything. 

It was likely that Kaito did not also know the details of what was going on. She believed he would have probably told her something, or she would have sensed something. Her mind went back to Taiki talking to Kaito about the championships.

The older man said that Kaito did not have to fight. 

At the time, the two of them assumed that he meant that Kaito could drop out from the tournament. However, if the information was evaluated in another way, Uncle Taiki might have been saying that Kaito did not have to fight anymore. 

In other words, there would be no fight, meaning that someone probably planned to disrupt the Triennial Championships. It was likely a covert mission to launch a coup, so Taiki could probably not say anything directly. 

The plan most likely involved Yuan Haoran, which would explain Hu Lei's and Zhong Feng's presence. If that was the case, they were probably planning on attacking Martial Island during the opening ceremony, effectively preventing the fight. 

Akira stood up suddenly. 

She could naturally not guess the intricacies of the plot, but her deduction skills were exceptional. She was rarely wrong when she decided to uncover a mystery. The only reason she missed the obvious plot was that she turned off her brain since waking up from the coma. 

Or maybe, the hair had been causing her mind to overheat and run inefficiently. 

Akira looked at herself in the mirror and turned to Hikari, who was dozing off. 

"I am back, baby!" She shouted. 

Immediately, Hikari started crying.