Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

"Um...senior, may I take a look at your wounds?" Megumi's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible tension. Her gaze fell on the hem of Choi Myung's clothes, and her fingers curled slightly—after hearing Choi Myung's story, her curiosity about those scars was now mixed with a touch of heartache.

"Hmm? Sure." Cui Ming's answer was still straightforward, without the slightest hesitation. He raised his hand and lifted his shirt, revealing his chest and abdomen covered with scars.

"!!!!" Megumi's eyes widened instantly, and she unconsciously paused for a beat.

To put it simply, the shock of that scene was far more intense than she had imagined. Although she had seen a few shallow wounds on Cui Ming's arms during training, the scars that came into view now were more numerous and more gruesome—there were dark brown acid burn scars with wrinkled edges, spreading like a map along her side waist; there were penetrating puncture scars, clearly showing the original path of the wound; and there were several light-colored marks with a metallic sheen, obviously left by burns from high-temperature attacks. The various scars intertwined and overlapped, almost covering most of her upper body.

As Kijima Megumi stared at the wounds, only one thought remained in her mind: How did Cui Ming survive? With so many potentially fatal injuries, he was still able to stand here unharmed and even continue fighting; it was nothing short of a miracle.

"Can I touch it?" She hesitated for a long time before speaking softly, her tone cautious and tentative, afraid of touching Cui Ming's sore spot.

"Sure, feel free to touch, just don't touch anything weird." Cui Ming remained calm, even offering a slightly joking reminder.

Megumi slowly reached out her hand, her fingertips gently landing on a shallow burn scar. The scar felt rougher than she had imagined, with calluses left by time. She could clearly feel the outline of the bones beneath the skin and imagine the horror of the injury.

"Senior, you're very experienced?" She withdrew her hand and couldn't help but ask—Cui Ming's reaction just now was too natural, not at all like it was the first time someone had touched his wound.

“I often touch those wives,” Cui Ming said bluntly, without any attempt to hide it.

"Oh," Kijimi responded, but she wasn't surprised. Given Cui Ming's scars and what he had been through, it seemed perfectly reasonable for someone to stay by his side and even tenderly touch his scars, to have someone build a harem for him.

Meanwhile, Cui Ming was wondering to himself: his injuries looked quite frightening, so why did his wife and the Norma girls always want to touch them? Especially the Norma girls, their eyes would light up like hungry wolves every time they saw his injuries. If he hadn't been so determined, he probably would have been entangled with them long ago.

Fortunately, he kept his bottom line—he would never touch anyone under the age limit; and he had taken precautions against women as mature and proactive as Jill, so he wouldn't be too passive.

But the thought of "Project Seed" filled Cui Ming with a sense of helplessness. People from both worlds were urging him to take down the Norma, saying it was for the continuation of their races. What could he do? He had no choice but to go for it.
Everyone is trying to survive.
Because of this, Beria laughed at him for a long time, saying that he was "timid and hesitant in front of a group of young girls, unlike the ruthless man who demolished the Imperial City back then."

Thinking of this, Cui Ming couldn't help but sigh, put down his lifted clothes, and said to the still stunned Ju Jian Hui, "I've seen it all, I've touched it all, is there anything else? If not, I'll head back now." Cui Ming put down his clothes and was about to turn and leave when Ju Jian Hui suddenly spoke up behind him, her tone carrying an unmistakable seriousness: "Senior, let's go on a date."

"Why the sudden change of topic?" Cui Ming stopped abruptly, turned to look at her, his brows furrowed slightly, his eyes full of doubt—one second they were looking at the wound and talking about the past, the next second she was suggesting a date, the turn of events was too fast, completely beyond his expectations.

Megumi didn't find it abrupt. She straightened up, looked into Choi Myung's eyes, and said frankly, "It feels better this way." When she touched those scars earlier, her heartache and admiration grew stronger. Seeing Choi Myung's tense state, she suddenly wanted to help him relax—perhaps a more relaxed setting would be better for him to calm down than a serious conversation in the office.

"..." Cui Ming fell silent. He stared at Ju Jianhui for a few seconds, trying to find any trace of "joking" on her face, but all he saw was seriousness. He really didn't understand Ju Jianhui's thoughts. After all, in his understanding, their previous conversations had all revolved around ancient civilizations and combat experiences. How did they suddenly start talking about "dating"?

However, he thought about it again—there hadn't been any monster attacks recently, and there wasn't much going on at the base. He really needed to relax his tense nerves. Besides, Camilla had told him to spend more time with Megumi, so even if it was just a "date," it would still be part of his "mission."

After hesitating for a moment, Cui Ming nodded: "Then let's go for a walk." He didn't say "date," but only used "walk" to define the trip, as a way to save face for himself. "It just so happens that there are no monster attacks these days, and I need to calm down." The second half of the sentence was more like talking to himself, explaining his reasons for agreeing.

Upon hearing this, Megumi's eyes lit up instantly, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards—she had been worried that Choi Myung would refuse, but she hadn't expected him to agree. She immediately picked up her coat from the back of the chair and strode over to Choi Myung's side: "Where shall we go? The park? Or the shopping street?" Her tone was filled with the excitement typical of a woman in her twenties, completely lacking the composure she had displayed in the office.

Seeing her obvious excitement, Cui Ming's doubts deepened, but he still went along with her and replied, "Anything is fine, you decide." He didn't have much of a concept of these "date locations." In the past, when he went out with his wives, they mostly made the arrangements, and he was only responsible for accompanying them.

“Let’s go to the shopping street!” Ju Jianhui made the decision immediately. “I heard that a new dessert shop recently opened in the shopping street and it has a very good reputation. We can go and try it!” As she spoke, she took the lead and walked towards the office door with light steps, completely unlike the calm captain she usually was.

Choi Myung followed behind her, watching her retreating figure, and shook his head helplessly—although he still didn't understand why Kijima Megumi had suddenly suggested a date, seeing her excited expression seemed to ease the tension in his heart a little. Perhaps, occasionally taking a "different" turn like this wasn't such a bad thing.

The two walked out of the TPC headquarters one after the other, the sunlight warm and gentle on them. Kijima walked ahead, occasionally turning back to tell Choi Myung about interesting things that happened in the shopping district.

It seems they've made some plans. (End of Chapter)