Great, we're doomed now!

Because Ruri remained silent for so long, Carmilla thought she was going to refuse outright, but Ruri eventually recovered.

"Why me of all people? Miss Chika is closer to you and more interested in this kind of thing than I am—though she won't admit it."

“Because of body shape,” Carmilla said. “Your body data is closer to mine, so the simulation results will have less deviation. As for Chika… some parameters don’t match up.”

Liuli's fingers curled unconsciously, her neatly trimmed nails scratching a tiny line on the table.

This woman is really unlikable.

She took a deep breath, placed her hands back on her knees, and resumed her standard sitting posture.

“You are an important asset to Lord Ye Shou.” She spoke, her tone regaining its usual calmness when handling official business. “From the organization’s perspective, I naturally hope that you can stay by his side with peace of mind, but if this matter is not handled well, it will only widen the rift between you.”

“A crack? How could that be?” Carmilla was stunned. “He didn’t lose anything.”

"Not necessarily. That person is actually surprisingly innocent in this regard and will feel deceived," Liuli said without changing her expression.

It sounds funny at first, but Liuli is serious.

"Lord Ye Shou... has always been chaste and upright, and until his second year of high school, he had never had any intimate contact with the opposite sex."

—By the way, I accidentally received that person's first kiss.

Please don't worry about it, I just suddenly remembered it.

"..."

The maid paused, her eyes sharpening slightly: "But after the attack on the demons of Mount Sukana, he... perhaps somewhat disrespectful, but he was indeed very uneasy, and had a sense of desperation, like an Indian native seeing a colony's ship for the first time."

In order to fight against certain things in his heart, he changed his usual way of doing things and completely liberated himself, which led to the various encounters that followed... Even so, he never really indulged himself, always prioritizing feelings and never seeking only physical intimacy.

"Isn't this considered pure love?"

As Liuli spoke, her face turned red, not from shyness but from... excitement.

"Lord Ye Shou is just too adorable..."

"Indeed, she is so good-looking, yet so innocent."

—Carmilla resonated with Ruri in a strange place.

"So! You should give up those ridiculous ideas!"

Go to his room now and tell him the truth—you're having romantic feelings for him and need him to teach you a lesson.

No skills required, no simulation needed, just do it!

Liuli enunciated each word clearly: "Lord Ye Shou is ruthless on the battlefield, but he is always gentle in matters of the heart. You don't need to worry about suffering—not in that sense."

Carmilla's eyelashes fluttered: "I didn't do this out of the desires of a lower animal... I did it because I wanted to beat him."

Okay, okay, yes, yes, yes!

Say whatever you want~

"Let's skip it today."

After much deliberation, Carmilla decided to back down.

"I'm not in the mood... Let's talk again another time."

"Yes, yes, I also want to get to know Lady Carmilla better."

The maid smiled sweetly.

Carmilla's expression softened considerably. Although she had almost lost face today, she felt a rare sense of relief and confided a lot of her troubles. Her conversation with Ruri had even changed her opinion of the maid a little.

Perhaps she is someone worth getting to know better, and perhaps the two of them could become friends, just like Chika.

That evening, Ruri cleared the room out beforehand, led Ye Shou into the room next to Carmilla's, and then deliberately made a loud noise.

-

The lunar base, beyond the dome lies endless deep space.

Ye Shou stood in the control room, his fingers tracing the computation matrix on the holographic projection, the light spots dancing on his fingertips. He was focused, occasionally frowning.

This self-regulating defense system has been tested for three whole days.

It was already quite perfect, but Ye Shou felt that the lunar base had a great responsibility, so it would be better to refine it further.

Well, let's leave it at that for now.

After the debugging was completed, Ye Shou turned off the projector and walked along the corridor toward the hangar. Once inside, the lights automatically turned on, and the cold white light shone on Bayeri's armor, giving it a faint metallic sheen.

The silver-white mobile suit hovered directly above the weightless area, its limbs outstretched, half of its armor removed to reveal its intricate internal mechanical structure. Several maintenance drones circled it slowly, spewing out fine white mist that condensed into frost on the surface before quickly evaporating, carrying away most of the dirt—even though it was already quite clean, this was like a sauna for the Gundam, purely for enjoyment.

Ye Shouting stood at the edge of the hangar, looking up at Bayeli, and let out a long sigh of relief.

He didn't leave, but instead sat in the open cockpit. The ambient light inside automatically adjusted to a warm yellow, and the backrest conformed to the curve of his spine; the familiar touch made him relax completely.

He closed his eyes, listening to the gentle tapping of the maintenance drone on the outer armor, his fingers moving rhythmically with each tap... Slowly, he seemed to forget all his troubles, and time slipped away unnoticed.

When he opened his eyes again, the lights had automatically switched to night mode, dim and soft.

"You've been here all day."

The sound came from behind, and then Ye Shou'er felt something soft pressing against his back.

The machine spirit, Bayeri, leaned over from behind the cockpit, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and rested her chin on the crook of his neck. Ye Shou didn't reply, but simply raised his hand and placed it on her forearm. Bayeri seemed even happier, and hugged him even tighter, pressing her entire body against him. Her body temperature was slightly higher than a human's, making her warm and comfortable to hold.

"What's bothering you?" she asked. "Tell me about it."

Ye Shou was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I'm not troubled... I just can't figure it out."

"What can't you figure out?"

“There are so many wonderful things around me.” He shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Each of you is important, and I want to cherish each and every one of you, but I can never achieve a balance.”

Bayeri listened quietly.

“Moreover,” Ye Shou’s tone became subtle, “the people around me always come up with some ingenious ideas.”

He emphasized the pronunciation of the word.

Bayeri chuckled softly on his shoulder: "Looks like you're really bothered."

Ye Shou leaned back, resting his head on her shoulder: "I feel a little guilty..."

Bayeri was quiet for a moment, her fingers twirling the stray hairs at the back of his head: "Have you ever thought about another possibility?"

"what?"

"The problem doesn't lie with them."

Ye Shou opened his eyes and met Bayeri's very pale pupils. She wasn't smiling; her expression was serious, almost solemn.

“It’s your fault,” she said.

The man froze.

“You always try to shoulder everything, always feel that you can’t let anyone down.” Bayeri stroked his face. “You gave everyone a reason to stay, and you also gave everyone the confidence to act recklessly—your gentleness is the source of all the chaos.”

Ye Shou opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found he had nothing to say, so he had to shut his mouth.

"Next time, how about being a little firmer? Anyway, no matter what happens, I'll be by your side... Even if you decide to run away from home in the end, I'm willing to wander the universe with you."

Bayeri whispered in his ear, "Actually, we don't need anyone's support. We can survive in any environment on our own. Freedom from all constraints is our true destiny."

"Is this what you really think?"

Ye Shou's eyelids twitched:

Almost forgot, this one is no pushover either!

Why are there so many yanderes around me?!

-

-

P.S.: I'm completely out of drafts now.

I only realized I hadn't finished catching up on the chapters I missed before the new year after someone reminded me... It's pretty ridiculous. Then I wanted to update, but I'm prone to procrastination... But it's already over two million words, and if I keep putting it off, it'll be almost finished. To finish before it's over, I'll try to push myself a little harder~

Chapter 467: Just Consider It My Way to Destroy the World (5K)

The soul is hidden in the folds of the skin.

This phrase is perfect as a signboard for a "beautician".

Sitting on the operating table piled with scrap, David Martinez stared blankly at the dilapidated neon sign written in Latin script, one leg propped up on the table as he fell into deep thought.

On the other side, under the operating lights, a bloodied face was suspended by a medical support arm.

A naked man lay on the operating table, his facial muscles completely exposed to the air. Without eyelids, two spherical mechanical eyes slowly rotated on the silver alloy skeleton, emitting a faint grinding sound.

Tiny claws extend from the end of the auxiliary arm, precisely gripping the outer frame of one of the mechanical eyes and fixing it in place.

Immediately afterwards, a probe pierced through the mechanical eyeball from the inside of the grappling hook, and a very faint blue light flashed inside, as if injecting some kind of liquid into the depths of the eyeball, or as if extracting something from it.

[Nanomechanical injection...DNA information shell...labeling successful.]

The same procedure was repeated on the other eyeball. The whole process was quiet and quick. The man did not lose consciousness and completed the surgery while fully conscious. However, his central nervous system had already been prosthetic, so he never let out a scream.

Beside the operating table, the doctor was sitting on a high chair. His body frame made it impossible to tell whether he was male or female. His proportions made him look like a tall and slender mannequin in a shop window. His head had been completely modified, with a smooth and angular shell, making him look like he was wearing a polished motorcycle helmet.

He has no obvious facial features, only a narrow, dark panel running across his face, occasionally flashing with one or two pale green ripples, which is probably his "personalized skin".

He held a lifelike human face in his hands, wrapped it in a special skull frame, and after slightly adjusting the front and back proportions, made it the same size as the man on the operating table.

That face was clearly a high-end replica from the simulation series, with a texture almost as smooth as genuine leather, and even the pores and fine lines were clearly visible. However, it had not yet been given any "characteristics" and was just a standard human face template.

The doctor slowly glided an electronic pen across the surface of the face. Wherever the pen tip touched, the skin would light up slightly and then quickly dim, as if making some kind of subtle adjustment.

At first, there were no visible changes, but as time went by, the contours of that face, its skin tone, and even the curve of its brow bone began to resemble the original appearance of the man on the operating table.

The doctor worked very slowly, as if he were polishing a work of art, and David and "No-Face" were also very patient, never urging him on.

Once the final step was complete, the doctor carefully placed the face over the man's exposed muscle layer. The auxiliary arm lowered a precision suturer, which moved swiftly along the hairline and jawline, the stitches so fine they were almost invisible to the naked eye. After suturing, the doctor sprayed a thin layer of clear gel onto the interface with an airbrush, and then implanted the prosthetic sutures.

Several microelectrodes were implanted under the new skin and connected to the man's neural interface. A series of data appeared on the monitoring panel in front of the doctor, who looked at it for a moment and nodded slightly.

"From now on, this is your new face."

The man's face, which had been covered by a medical arm, was now suspended in mid-air, like a used, damp towel.

The doctor turned around, walked to the refrigerator against the wall, and opened the door.