The car drove all the way to Longyuan headquarters. In the command room, Yang Jian and everyone else were waiting, their faces full of anticipation.
The door opened.
Jiang Nan walked in with a radiant smile on his face, left hand in his pocket, striking an odd pose.
The instant Shan Mao saw him, her eyes lit up, but then, as if remembering something, she quickly turned her face away. She adopted a cold expression, pouting slightly, doing her best to look angry.
Jiang Nan’s gaze landed on her. He blinked twice, and his eyes instantly reddened.
(๐ŏ﹏ŏ๐)
“Woo, woo woo woo, Sister Shan Miao!”
With a cry full of longing, tears rolled down Jiang Nan’s cheeks.
He did not even teleport. He just ran straight into her arms, tears scattering through the air.
Shan Mao jumped in surprise but stayed rooted to the spot like a telegraph pole, refusing to look at him.
Jiang Nan kept nuzzling his head against her, sobbing. “I was so scared. They all bullied me!”
“A whole crowd surrounded me in Area 53 and beat me. They said they would kill me. It hurt so much!”
Everyone else was speechless.
Pfft.
In the satellite footage, who was the one standing on an aircraft wing, laughing arrogantly, roaring “I, Jiang Da Pao, refuse to accept this” while firing a grenade launcher?
You were clearly the one bullying them.
Shan Mao bit her lower lip, feeling a pang of heartache, but she still held back and refused to look at him.
Jiang Nan: (‘-﹏ก̀) Woo woo.
“I was also chased by Pierce and the others across half the Pacific. They pursued me the whole way, cursing me. It made me so angry I cried!”
“I almost could not get back!”
Ye Zhenguo and the others: (乛~乛◦)
Come off it, kid.
You blew up their entire Area 53. Of course they would come after you.
Clearly, Pierce and his group were the ones cursed all the way, too furious to even speak.
Jiang Nan: ˚‧º·(˚˃̣̣̥᷄﹏˂̣̣̥᷅)‧º·˚ Sister Shan Miao, I missed you so much!
Shan Mao, still biting her lip tightly, could no longer keep up the act. She pulled Jiang Nan into her arms and gently stroked his head.
“No more crying, okay? You are home safe now. They will not bully you again!”
Jiang Nan: (❛⌂ก̀) Mm mm.
Shou Hou and the others nodded along.
Mm mm. With Nan Shen back, Hua Guo is safe. We will not bully them any more.
Shan Mao: “You must never lie to me again, understand? If anything happens, you have to tell me. Do you know how worried I was?”
“If you had died out there, I… I…”
As she spoke, her own eyes reddened. Jiang Nan’s heart melted.
He gently patted her back and whispered, “I… am back.”
Then he softly wiped away her tears.
Yang Jian: (￢ก￢) Cough cough.
Shan Mao instantly straightened up, pushed Jiang Nan aside, and stood at attention.
Jiang Nan: ……
So love really does disappear, does it?
Yang Jian smiled. “You have guts, kid. Bold yet careful. Good, very good.”
He had clearly already learned the full story.
Jiang Nan shyly rubbed his nose. “Without Old Brother Ye and the others, I would not have made it back. By the way, did I go a bit too far with Area 53?”
Ye Zhenguo was speechless. You only think of that now, after blowing the whole place up?
What were you thinking earlier?
Yang Jian laughed heartily. “Too far? Not at all, not one bit. Every country has long wanted to strike Area 53. Some even drew up plans.”
“It is just that Area 53 is deep inland with perfect defences, so all the plans were shelved. None of us expected you to actually pull it off.”
“Tell me, what reward do you want? Just bringing back those research materials is already a huge achievement.”
“We are already searching for a space-type spirit pearl for you, though… it is best not to get your hopes too high.”
At the mention of this, Yang Jian frowned slightly, recalling an earlier unpleasant conversation.
To prepare Jiang Nan’s reward, he had previously phoned Li Mingshan, hoping to obtain a space-type spirit pearl from him and compensate him elsewhere.
As Hua Xia’s space-type Dao Tian, Li Mingshan was believed to still have two such pearls.
But Li Mingshan had refused the request, and Yang Jian could not press the matter.
Jiang Nan smiled. “I will find a space-type spirit pearl myself when the time comes. I have never been to the Void Sea yet.”
“Forget about other rewards. This trip to Metropolis let me pocket plenty of spending money.”
“But I do have one request, I am not sure if Brother Jian…”
Yang Jian waved a hand grandly. “Speak freely. If I can grant it, I will.”
Jiang Nan’s expression turned serious. “I want to give Boson a home in the Toy House, a place where she truly belongs in this world.”
“Boson is not a tool. I do not want to force her to do anything. Everything should be according to her own wishes. Is that acceptable?”
At these words, everyone stared at Jiang Nan in stunned silence. Even Yang Jian was taken aback.
Jiang Nan had his reasons. If things here were like in the United States, restricting Boson’s freedom and treating her merely as a tool for translating incantations, then what was the point of rescuing her from Area 53?
It would simply be jumping from one fire pit into another.
If that were the case, Jiang Nan would let Boson leave right now, so at least she could still have her freedom.
Yang Jian stroked his chin. “Bringing Boson back was already an unexpected bonus. I can agree to your request.”
Jiang Nan’s face lit up.
Yang Jian continued, “But can you guarantee she will not harm others? If you can, then agreeing is no problem.”
“As far as I know, this Boson injured many people while in the United States. There are things about her you still do not understand. She remains an uncontrollable factor. Even…”
At that moment, the entire command room glowed with a soft white light.
A figure in a white dress, a single horn on her forehead, stepped gracefully forward. Her long, ice-silk hair flowed in the breeze.
Beautiful. So beautiful it took one’s breath away.
Everyone present stared in stunned silence at the suddenly appearing Boson.
None of them had ever imagined that the legendary Boson would truly appear before them, as if in a dream.
Wang Zhengyang sucked in a sharp breath. “She is perfect. Now I understand why Nan Shen risked his life to raid Area 53. If it were me, I would go too.”
Tang Shi curled her lip. “Tch. He managed to bring her back. You would just be delivering yourself on a plate.”
Boson spoke softly. “I can help you translate the incantations.”
“However, the incantations are written in our script. Translating them to a level you can fully understand will take considerable time.”
“The United States kept me imprisoned for ten years. The total they translated amounted to only about twenty per cent of the whole, and some of those were deliberately wrong because I did not wish to cooperate.”
At that moment, everyone stared at Boson in shock. She had spoken.
And in Chinese.
Well…
Yang Jian, stunned, asked, “You are truly willing?”
Boson shrugged, moved behind Jiang Nan, placed her hands on his shoulders, and rested her chin on his head.
“I naturally need to demonstrate my value, mainly because I do not want to make things difficult for Jiang Nan.”
“If I cooperate, the translation progress will increase dramatically.”
“Besides, my strength is not negligible. If I gather enough boson particles, it should be equivalent to what you call Dao Tian level.”
“Within my abilities, I can help you deal with certain troubles.”
Yang Jian was dumbfounded. So cooperative?
This was practically gaining a Dao Tian-level powerhouse for free, and one who could translate incantations.
In other countries, every Dao Tian-level expert was treated like royalty.
Compared to that, Jiang Nan’s condition was hardly a condition at all.
Jiang Nan felt warmth in his heart. How could he not realise that Boson was making concessions, proving her worth, and negotiating for her terms.
Yang Jian took a deep breath, brows deeply furrowed.
“Why help humans? What about your stance? From what I know, Boson…”
Boson interrupted. “I know what you are worried about. There are things I cannot explain fully.”
“But I can tell you this: I am a wanderer, an exiled being.”
“I have no stance of my own. Jiang Nan’s stance is my stance.”
“I am not helping humanity. I am helping Jiang Nan.”
At these words, Yang Jian was stunned. Ye Zhenguo and Zhao Dezhu exchanged a grave look.
The others remained utterly bewildered.
Boson continued, “Once, I was filled with disappointment towards your world. Everywhere I looked, there was only malice.”
“I belong neither here nor to my homeland. At one point, I even considered ending my own life.”
She gently rubbed her cheek against Jiang Nan’s. “Until I met Jiang Nan. He is my light.”
“I gradually changed my view. I want a new way of living, to accept this world.”
Jiang Nan grinned. “So… deal, Brother Jian?”
Yang Jian smiled too. “Deal.”
