Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Going Home

On the way back, Lu Xiao noticed Ares looking at her strangely. “Don’t listen to what Fred was saying,” she couldn’t help but say. “I only managed to get out of there safely thanks to him and his comrades. I really didn’t do much of anything.”

’I only used my purification ability to take down a few males, and that was only because they were caught off guard.’

’Plus, they underestimated me. Under normal circumstances, with my build, there’s no way I could take down a normal male.’

She didn’t want to come off as some kind of Superpower Female Warrior in front of Ares.

Ares took Lu Xiao’s hand, pulling her into a half-embrace. “I’m sorry, Xiao Xiao. I should have been by your side, but I failed to protect you right away. I feel so guilty for letting you suffer.”

Lu Xiao knew he must have been holding those words in for a long time. She reached out and cupped his face, looking into his reddened eyes. She recalled their reunion inside the Black Tower and what she’d felt when he’d hugged her then… ’Those must have been his tears.’

“What do you have to apologize for, Ares? You’re not a god. You were just doing what you had to do. No one could have predicted that I’d run into danger. Besides, it’s not like we can prevent things like this from happening, right? If you’re going to apologize, then I should apologize to you, too. I’m sorry, Ares. I was careless and broke our promise. I didn’t wait for you properly, and I made you worry for so long. I’ll be more careful next time, okay?”

Ares took her hand and pulled her into his arms. “My lady, please never apologize to me. No matter where you are, I will wait for you, and I will find you.”

“Okay,” Lu Xiao said, gently stroking his back. “Then it’s a deal. No matter where I am, you have to come find me.” She was soothing the big dog in her arms.

Later, Admiral Kelan came to tell Lu Xiao that they hadn’t found anyone named C Luo among those they had captured.

“Are you sure you didn’t misremember?”

’If C Luo was really unconscious, how did he disappear?’

Lu Xiao furrowed her brow. She hadn’t expected C Luo to be missing from the list of captives.

’Looks like his identity isn’t as simple as it seems.’

“However, while investigating the scene, we did find two unmatched fingerprints. One of them probably belongs to C Luo. We don’t have any data on the other one yet.”

Admiral Kelan didn’t have any good solutions for this situation. After all, a place like the Underground City was full of people without official identities.

Since the Empire had a hands-off policy for this place, it certainly wasn’t going to go to the trouble of conducting a census here.

Doing so would be enough to shock everyone here to death.

“Let’s take our time,” Lu Xiao said, comforting Admiral Kelan. “They’re bound to make another move sooner or later.”

Admiral Kelan laughed at her words. “You don’t need to comfort me. I’m not as fragile as you think. But thank you. The Law Enforcement Department will take over things here. We can leave now. Go home and get some proper rest.”

“I know, Father. By the way, I arranged with Vice Admiral Fred to invite him and his comrades over to our house. You should come too, Father. We can all get together and have a good time.”

Admiral Kelan didn’t refuse. “Alright. I’ll be there.”

“That’s wonderful,” Lu Xiao said, reaching out to hug Admiral Kelan. “Father, I’m sorry to have made you worry so much.”

A warmth spread through Admiral Kelan’s chest. He gently patted Lu Xiao’s shoulder. “As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

He had so much more he wanted to say, but at the crucial moment, he couldn’t get the words out. A thousand thoughts were ultimately distilled into that single sentence.

After they left, Lu Xiao and Ares took a private hover car home.

On the way, Lu Xiao remembered something. “How did that business with Yuna get resolved?”

“The Male Beastman named Sharp was sent to the S-Class Shelter. Babbit was injured and is still being treated at the hospital. As for Yuna, she was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and sentenced to ten days of compulsory labor. She’s still serving her sentence.”

Lu Xiao wasn’t surprised by what happened to Sharp and Babbit, but she was surprised about Yuna. “I thought the law was meant to protect females? Why was she punished?”

“If she weren’t a female, her punishment would be much worse. What she did was very serious. She deliberately instigated a conflict between males, which led to a riot and caused injuries. Not even the Female Protection Association could protect her. It’s necessary for her to be punished and taught a lesson.”

After listening to Ares’s explanation, Lu Xiao nodded with a smile. “That’s a pretty good rule.”

’If Yuna could get away with causing such a huge incident without any consequences, she’d really think this world had gone mad.’

’Does that mean this world wouldn’t care if a female committed murder or arson?’

’Just because they’re females?’

Having gotten the full story, Lu Xiao didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, she sent a message to Teacher Ai Li and the others to let them know she was safe: “Dear Teacher Ai Li, I’m back! I’ll rest for a day, then come see everyone the day after tomorrow!”

Teacher Ai Li’s reply was almost immediate: “You’re finally back! Did you have a good time? Ares said you went on a trip, and I was wondering why it was so sudden. It’s good to have you back. Don’t be in a rush to come to work. Take some time to rest properly; it’s not too late to come in after that. We can handle everything at the institute for now.”

Lu Xiao had already heard from Ares that he had arranged her leave of absence for her.

Ares hadn’t overlooked even the smallest detail.

’Her big dog was just so thoughtful.’

As the hover car slowly descended, Lu Xiao looked out the window at her familiar home. It felt like she hadn’t been back in ages.

’It felt so good to be back.’

The moment she stepped out of the hover car, Lu Xiao started walking eagerly toward the house, but Ares came up from behind and swept her into his arms.

Startled by his sudden move, Lu Xiao instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her gaze meeting a pair of black eyes filled with forbearance and restraint.

Lu Xiao’s heart skipped a beat. She knew exactly what this meant. ’Her big dog was hungry.’

’She wondered if her absence had shattered the sense of security he had only just begun to build.’

She could clearly feel it in his embrace this time; he was exceptionally unrestrained, almost frantic.

It was as if he wanted to meld her into his very being.

She was completely overwhelmed.

’Only now did she realize that all this time, Ares had been restraining himself, always yielding to her.’

’When he was completely unrestrained, she had no power to resist him at all.’

’But she didn’t refuse. She knew her puppy needed this kind of reassurance, needed to feel her presence.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep