“Dating.”
Those two words caused Su Nian to lose her composure instantly.
She looked at Chu Tian’s face, which was filled with sincerity, and saw the undisguised, blazing affection in his eyes that seemed almost hot enough to melt someone.
An indescribable wave of complex emotions flooded her.
Something seemed to let out a faint, resistant cry from deep within her soul, but that voice was too distant.
It was immediately drowned out by the violent thumping of her heart against her ribs.
She was absolutely certain of her feelings in this moment; her undisguised joy caused the final sliver of defensiveness and reserve in her heart to completely collapse.
‘Maybe amnesia isn’t a bad thing after all.’
‘I can experience that fuzzy, heart-fluttering feeling of a first love all over again.’
From the initial meeting to finally coming together.
‘Heehee.’
Since she and Chu Tian had been a couple before, it was only natural for them to start dating again.
Everything was finally moving in the “correct” direction under her control.
She looked at the man before her, seeing a sea of stars in his eyes.
Her cheeks grew as red as a ripe apple.
She lowered her head shyly, her gaze falling upon her fingers resting on the table.
Her two index fingers poked at each other unconsciously.
Gently… and then, in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum but incredibly clear, she spoke.
“Yes.”
The smile in Chu Tian’s eyes was like a sparked flame that instantly set a prairie ablaze, turning into a brilliant sea of stars.
His undisguised joy made his appearance look even more handsome.
Su Nian buried her head even lower, the crimson on her cheeks spreading all the way to her delicate collarbones.
‘Dating…’
To her, the word was both strange and possessed a sense of fated familiarity.
In this moment.
All the evidence, all the guesses, and all her self-convincing merged into the gentle, focused gaze of the man before her.
It turned out that even if she forgot everything, the feeling of her heart fluttering would still arrive as promised.
However, the truth was that before her amnesia, Su Nian had never considered the man known as the “Horned Demon” to be her lover.
Instead, she had treated him as her mortal enemy!
She had even forgotten the fact that she herself had once been a boy.
One could only imagine the state of things three months later, when all her sealed memories returned like a tidal wave.
When she remembered how she had once been forced to endure his advances, and how she had only humored him for the sake of revenge…
What kind of embarrassment and humiliation would the restored Su Nian feel then?
Most importantly, during these three months, she would mistakenly believe that she had deeply loved him and would invest real emotions and actions into the relationship.
When the truth finally came to light, knowing that she had given her true feelings to her “enemy,” she would feel an unparalleled sense of humiliation…
This was also the reason why the Humiliation Value System remained temporarily silent.
***
Su Nian and Chu Tian reached their agreement and officially began dating.
On the first day of their official relationship.
After eating breakfast, Su Nian decided to head out.
Once the sweet palpitations of her heart settled, a deeper sense of responsibility surfaced.
Even though she had lost part of her memory, she still clearly knew the purpose of her trip to Hidden Dragon Town.
Based on the testimony of her Contract Beast and the complex blueprints for the “Energy Gathering Magic Circle,” she naturally wouldn’t forget her official business.
Combining the Floating Magic Circle with the Energy Gathering Magic Circle and installing them onto warships or fortresses was the plan.
This was a force of absolute military suppression capable of changing the entire landscape of the war; it was also the key weapon for humanity to resist the Demon Race.
The previous battle at Academy City’s Floating Fortress had already proven with bloody reality that the Demon Race’s space magic allowed them to launch surprise attacks on any human city at any time.
If they divided their forces to defend, it would be difficult for any single city to resist the edge of the Demon Race’s blade alone.
However, a Floating Fleet centered around a Floating Fortress would become a sword hanging over the heads of the Demon Race—the only hope for humanity to turn the tide of the war.
This had also been the final bargaining chip that prompted the various nations to form a united army against the Demon Race.
Therefore, the experimental Floating Fortress and warships had to be built as quickly as possible.
This was her mission.
Alnd… his.
According to the various pieces of evidence she had pieced together, she, as the “Star-Moon Saintess,” was the person on the surface who had offered this technology.
But in reality, the person standing behind the scenes, conceiving and driving all of this, was Chu Tian.
That thought made Su Nian’s heart skip another beat.
‘Is Chu Tian like those “Heroes” or “Protagonists” from the otherworldly novels in my past memory bank, those who hold the script and save the world?’
‘How amazing! As expected of the man I once took an interest in. Heehee.’
A sense of pride and shared glory quietly sprouted in her heart.
She straightened her back.
Chu Tian had not decided to have Shadowmoon Manor build the experimental fortresses and warships alone.
Shadowmoon Manor’s financial resources were deep, but trying to build a Floating Fortress out of thin air was still somewhat difficult.
Academy City had other factions with even more heritage.
For example, the Magic Academy and the Magic Workshop.
They possessed the top technology and the most excellent craftsmen.
Some of them even had valuable experience from destroying that crashed Floating Fortress.
Shadowmoon Manor only needed to design and control the core magic circles.
Her trip this time was to use her identity as the “Star-Moon Saintess” to contact these people and push this massive project forward together.
However, reality was often harsher than one’s ideals.
Although she was nominally the hero of Academy City, when she actually began to contact the various factions to push the project, she realized the difficulty far exceeded her imagination.
The phrase she heard most often was, “This matter is of great importance; we need to wait for approval from our ‘leadership’ and superiors.”
The buck-passing and stalling were equally headache-inducing in any world.
Fortunately.
In the Magic Academy, she was not just the respected “Star-Moon Saintess,” but also a Mentor with outstanding strength.
Furthermore, some of the gatekeepers in the technical departments were mages she had once fought alongside on the battlefield.
This bond of camaraderie was far more substantial than an empty title.
Thus, the Magic Academy became the first breakthrough.
Their efficiency was the highest. Tomorrow, they could convene a group of elite mages to first conduct simulation tests on the two most critical magic circles.
As long as the core technology of the magic circles was verified as feasible.
The remaining construction of the fortresses and warships would merely be a matter of time and resources—it wouldn’t be difficult.
Evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky a magnificent orange-red.
Su Nian stood atop the highest research tower of the Magic Academy, watching the busy craftsmen and apprentices below as she stretched lazily.
A day of running around and coordinating had left her feeling a bit tired, but her heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.
Her mood… was actually quite good.
To be precise, it was very good.
She noticed the corners of her lips were unconsciously curling upward.
This was because, after a busy day, she was going home.
‘That’s strange. In the past, I don’t think I was this happy when I went home after finishing work…’
‘Was it because… There is someone waiting for me at home?’