Chapter 140: Seeing Nude Bodies and Kissing – Understanding Esdeath

"No, Esdeath is an extremely self-centered and willful person. Even if she genuinely falls in love with little Qi, she won't change her mind because of it. It's more likely that she'll try to persuade Qi to join her Jaegers squad. That's just the kind of personality she has," Najenda said, lighting another cigarette.

"Little Qi, come back soon," Akame said.

"Still my partner who worries about me."

"I want to eat roast meat."

"I don't want to go back."

"Little Qi got captured by Esdeath. Does that mean he doesn't want me anymore?" Sheele asked with some confusion.

"......"

"I'll gather some intelligence on the Jaegers over there. That's all, my energy consumption is too high, I can't hold on any longer."

"Speaking of which, earlier little Qi seemed to mention that his girlfriend—the girlfriend he always kept on his lips as a shield—is no longer in this world, waiting for him in another world," Mine suddenly said.

"My, my, is flat-chested Mine suddenly feeling romantic stirrings? But with Esdeath and Sheele as rivals, your chest is too small, you have no say in this," Chelsea teased with a chuckle.

"Wretched Chelsea, if you have the guts, don't run."

......

"Huh..." The moment Qi's consciousness returned to his body, he felt that something was wrong.

"Are you awake? Seeing you fall into a deep sleep just now, I froze the major nerves in your body so that your body couldn't obey your brain's commands. This is something I figured out from interrogating and experimenting on prisoners," Esdeath said with a smile as she laid Qi down on her bed.

"A forced melon is not sweet; I'm not in the mood for romance right now," Qi said helplessly, twisting his neck.

"It doesn't matter, let's spend some time together first. I'm sure you'll be conquered by me soon. I'm going to take a bath first." Esdeath smiled indifferently, her smile no longer carrying its habitual cruelty, but instead revealing a gentle yet confident warmth.

Qi was utterly speechless at this turn of events. It was his first time encountering such a domineering woman, and he had no idea how to respond.

Not far from the bedroom, the blurred figure and sounds of Esdeath bathing were transmitted directly to Qi's brain, giving him a strange sense of stimulation and guilt.

Esdeath sealing his nerves didn't affect him too much, so right now was the best opportunity to escape. Qi climbed up, wanting to slip away from the room quietly.

However, he underestimated Esdeath's acute perception. The bathroom door flew open instantly, and a completely naked Esdeath, showing not the slightest trace of shyness, rushed to Qi's back at top speed and froze him solid before his bewildered eyes.

"Oh? You can still move even with your meridians sealed? As expected of the man I've set my sights on, though this makes things a bit troublesome. No, this way I can openly keep you by my side all the time and let you experience my charm—what a great idea."

Smiling, Esdeath carried the tightly-eyed Qi into the bathroom and proceeded to take a joyful bath.

Qi was enduring absolute torture, forcing himself to block his hearing so he wouldn't do something he'd regret.

Ten minutes later, Esdeath emerged from her bath wearing a shirt, carrying Qi encased in ice back to the bedside. "Sorry to keep you waiting, what would you like to drink?"

Esdeath thawed the ice around Qi's head and asked with a smile.

"No need, I'm not thirsty. Do you really intend to bind me like this for the rest of our lives?" Qi asked with a hint of discouragement. Until his spiritual energy fully recovered, escaping Esdeath's control seemed nearly impossible.

"No, didn't I say so already? Once you grow to like me and become enchanted by me, I'll naturally release you. Besides, the ice on your body is no ordinary ice. A few days ago, while fighting an interesting man, I heard him say my ice-manipulation skills were too crude, so lately I've been researching how to wield and control ice with greater precision and versatility." Esdeath smiled smugly.

"What are you trying to imply?" A bad premonition arose in Qi's heart.

"The ice on your body is one of my results. Ice also has distinctions of strength and weakness. Previously, I only manufactured ordinary profound ice for offense and defense, but after undergoing my extreme compression, my ice has become more than twice as strong as before. As long as you stay by my side, even in your prime, you won't be able to escape."

Could the final boss actually grow even stronger? This defied all reason.

"Then I'll just have to try it out once I recover my full strength," Qi said calmly, closing his eyes.

"So unyielding, yet so cute. Kaitian, let's chat. Where is your hometown? Do you still have family members there?" Esdeath sat on the edge of the bed with a beaming smile.

"......"

"If you tell me, I can share my stories with you too."

"......"

"Mm—" Qi's eyes widened instantly as he felt an alien sensation invade his lips. Invaded by someone other than the black cat.

"I've never been in a relationship, so I'm not entirely sure what lovers do, but I've heard kissing is a way to express affection. If you won't talk to me, I'll just keep kissing you until bedtime," Esdeath said with a triumphant smile.

"I was born in a remote little village, and there's no family left for me in this world," Qi surrendered, resigning himself to his fate.

"Then who did you learn your martial arts from?" Esdeath was quite satisfied with Qi's reaction, reaching out to stroke his silver hair as she smiled.

"I've always been self-taught. Ever since I was a child, I was different from ordinary people. I went to the battlefield to kill enemies at the age of five, and after that, I traveled everywhere to spar and challenge people until now. Hearing there were many powerful masters here, I came over." Qi said, mixing truth with falsehood.

"Oh, we're very much alike. We really are a great match. I was born in the Paltus tribe on the northern border. Have you ever heard of it?" Esdeath reminisced.

"No."

"It's a tribe that makes its living hunting Danger Beasts. From around the age of ten, I went out alone to hunt Danger Beasts. My mother was eaten by a Super Danger Beast, and my father said it was because she was too weak that she got eaten—just like how we are stronger than the Danger Beasts we hunt, which is why we can kill them. It was simply their fault for being weak.

Later, I lurked alone in the deep mountains for several days and finally hunted a rare flying Danger Beast. When I returned to the tribe, I found that everyone had already been slaughtered. My father, leaving his last breath, said to me:

'Northern demi-humans crossed the border and attacked. Although I killed dozens of their soldiers, I was still too weak, so being killed couldn't be helped. Therefore, you must survive—live on by becoming stronger than anyone else.'"

"I heard you buried forty thousand northern demi-humans alive. Was that to take revenge?" Qi found himself captivated by Esdeath's words before he knew it.

"No, it was just out of convenience, and the Prime Minister's orders were also to that effect—to deter the insolent. Although my father's death made me sad, it couldn't be helped, because he was weaker than the enemy, which is why he was killed.

Later, I hunted Danger Beasts alone on the northern border until there wasn't a single one left, and then I came to the Imperial Capital to become an official and started hunting humans."

Seemingly recalling the sensation on the battlefield, Esdeath wore a cruel smile. Seeing this threatening yet deeply charming smile up close on her beautiful face for the very first time made Qi's heart skip a beat involuntarily.