Chapter 194: Defense and Offense

"I didn't know there was a lake here," Lyca muttered, she lowered her voice as if afraid that it would scare away the fireflies. She stood next to him, eying the insects that glimmered on the top of the lake.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hmmm." She nodded. "Just like a drama that I watched before. But I wasn't expecting this would be very beautiful in real life." She muttered. "We should probably start doing stuff that they do in dramas see if experiencing it is better than watching it."

"Stuff like what?"

"Kissing in the snow, me pretending to drown so you can save me, stuff like that."

"…" Shen Qui looked at her, wondering if she was only joking. There wasn't a hint of amusement in her voice. "You should probably stop watching TV series. It's poisoning your mind."

"Really?"

"Yes. This is the reason why young girls thought every man should act like the one on the series. Like a prince charming, saving them every time they fell on a horse."

"That's harsh." She uttered. "And I am not hoping to find a prince charming."

"You don't? Then what about me?"

"You— You are the beauty. I am the Prince charming."

"…" He chuckled at that. "Right. Saving the beauty is your mission."

"Hmmm," Lyca said before she gestured Shen Qui to sit down with her. They have been walking for about thirty minutes and her feet were aching.

"Do you want the beauty to carry you later?" he smiled as he found a space where they could sit down. It was one of the roots from a dead tree just next to the lake. Because of the light from the firefly that was reflected on the surface of the lake, the surrounding areas were not as dark as the other parts of the forest.

"That's for the best." She chuckled. "This Prince Charming is weak when it comes to things like that."

Silence followed their words as the two looked at the firefly flying around as if choreographed by an unknown force. 

"Hey, did you mean what you said about me being a zero?"

Lyca fought the urge to roll her eyes. By now, she was perfectly aware that she wasn't as romantic as most women out there. She wasn't really looking for any romantic stuff either. And talking about her emotions can sometimes be a little … cringey. "Yeah. Why?" She doesn't need to look at him to know that he had that silly smile on his face again.

"I like it. Why don't you start calling me Zero? I think it's a pretty call name too."

"…" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"No. I think my Qui'er is just fine."

"But Zero is fine too, and it's mysterious. You know kinda like me."

She chuckled in response. Ah… she really can't get enough of this man's cuteness. 

"What is your plan for today? Are you going to make them do a lot of exercises?" 

Lyca breath a sighed of relief when Shen Qui changed the topic. "No. I am making them run to the mountain. With weights."

"I heard on the first day… only three people finished the mission?"

"Only two of them finished the mission. The third one doesn't count. She is number fifteen's lover."

"So… you are planning to divide the team soon?"

"Hmmm. Number one and fifteen might be the leader." Lyca answered, her eyes were still on the fireflies. "Hogan told me that everyone had been learning martial arts and basic exercises before I woke up. So I am not going to teach them how to exercise. They can do it on their own. We only have two months to create experts. I won't spend that time letting them roll in muds." Shrugging, Lyca suddenly pulled something out of her pockets. It was a small velvet box. She handed it towards Shen Qui.

"What's this? Are you proposing?"

Unable to stop herself, she laughed out loud. "What the hell are you talking about?" She held the box in front of him, waiting for him to accept it.

"We are dating… next is a proposal, no?" Chuckling, Shen Qui accepted the box and opened it. Inside was a small vial with some sort of green liquid inside. "What's this?"

"A gift. I thought this is the perfect time to give it to you."

"A gift." He took the vial out and held it in front of his face. "What this?"

"It's the enhanced ingredient for the bullet. I wanted to create vests that this bullet won't be able to melt or pierced. Lai Su is already working on it." She smiled as she remembered Lai Su's wide eyes when she told him about this idea. "This is better than the Long Family's bullet."

"You wanted to create a vest that could stand against this bullet?" Shen Qui frowned.

"Yes. Our experts will wear that." Lyca was perfectly aware that the perfect bulletproof doesn't really exist. Even steel bars or kevlar would still be pierced by the right gun if you hit it on the same area over and over again. Of course, Lyca was ambitious enough to think about a bullet-resistant vest. "With the technology's evolution, I am certain that there is no such thing as a bulletproof vest, nowadays. Because of this fact, many people would focus on creating the best weapon, the best guns, and bullets. My goal is simple… defense and offense. Our team is not going to be known as the team with the strongest guns but the most impenetrable ones. To do this… I will focus on the defense as much as the offense. At the end of the day, everything will boil down to the pieces of equipment that we can create." She made a deliberate pause as she stared at him. "Do you… do you think that's too much?"

"I like it." His woman's mind was definitely unique- something he was very proud of.

"Really?"

"Yeah… so let's go back to this gift... Why give me this vial? Are you proposing to me?" Judging from his wife's peculiarity, he was certain that a proposal for her would involve something more valuable than a ring. Like a chemical — a very valuable chemical. 

...

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