Book 3 Chapter 21.3 - Return
Several hours later, the off-road vehicle passed through Dragon City's sentry station. Another half hour later, it finally stopped in front of the apartment building he lived in.
This block was quiet, secluded, and peaceful. Rows of three story or even four story buildings rested at both sides of the street. Old style street lights released a warm radiance, contributing some feeling of warmth. Every household had their own private garden, and the gardens were verdant and lush with flowers and trees of all types that were meticulously trimmed and protected. Even though it was already spring, the temperature late into the night was still below negative ten degrees. Most olden era flowers and trees couldn't survive in this type of environment. What grew within these block gardens were mostly breeds that possessed cold and radiation resistance.
Once survival no longer became an issue, almost all families with some influence would pursue the olden era's way of life as the standard, and gardens were naturally an indispensable part. As a result, there were quite a few biochemistry and biotechnology breeding companies around the outskirts of Dragon City. Meanwhile, for the sake of granting the extremely high requirement dragonriders with the perfect living environment, general headquarters naturally wouldn't be stingy with greenery.
The off-road vehicle slowly came to a stop. Su jumped out from the driver's seat. He carried the electromagnetic rifle on his body, and with a smile, he said, "You can come out now. We're home!"
Madeline raised her head. She looked towards the apartment building where warm radiance was seeping out from every window, and then her azure eyes released a bit of perplexity. However, she still reached out her hand, opened the door, and walked out from the off-road vehicle. She then looked towards those warm windows.
"This is the place where we will live in the future. Let's go inside." Su carried the enormous golden gun case. He gave Madeline who was standing next to the off-road vehicle and staring at the apartment in a daze a look, and then he called out with a smile.
Madeline hung her head. A hand wrapped tightly around the battle clothes wrapped around her body, and then she followed Su towards the flight of stairs leading into the apartment building. Her left hand quietly reached out, grabbing onto the corner of Su's clothes. In reality, Madeline was now already practically the same height as Su, but in Su's mind, he felt as if the one following him was still that eight year old little girl.
When she reached the flight of stairs before the apartment building, Madeline's body suddenly trembled slightly, and then she stood in place. Her hand still tugged at the corners of Su's clothes, also making him stop.
At this moment, two figures vaguely flashed past the second floor's window curtains.
Su knew what Madeline was thinking, and then with a smile, he said, "Two of my subordinates live inside this apartment. One is called Li Gaolei, and the other is Li. They've followed me for close to a year already, and they can pretty much be considered friends that I've gone through life and death with. Come, don't be scared. In the future when I go out to fight, I might even have to ask them to protect you!"
Madeline stood in her original spot for an entire minute, seemingly struggling with something inside. In the end, her head that had been hanging downwards this entire time quietly nodded. However, before entering through the doors, she suddenly fetched a tactical cap from Su's clothes and put it on her head. The drooping hat covered most of her face.
By now, the second floor living room had already been transformed into a combat area. Li and Li Gaolei were weaving in and out about the table, chairs, couch, and flower stands with lightning speed, practicing indoor combat techniques. The amount of free space within the living room was actually not that large, and the coffee table even had a few wine cups and a pile of magazines. The two even more so continuously moved about their surface. Only, regardless of whether it was the large and heavy Li Gaolei or the fierce and agile Li, even when their feet landed, they never broke the wine cups or trampled the magazines to a mess.
It wasn't too hard for Li, with every single attack quick and violent like thunder, and every movement exceptionally swift and agile. After all, her four levels of dexterity and speed were not there just to look pretty. However, Li Gaolei didn't have this skill. Whenever he leapt up and landed, there were great winds, and his actions carried imposing power. What was strange was that no matter where his feet landed, the couch would become hard, and the glasses wouldn't shatter. The magazines seemed to be sticking together as well. When he passed, however, everything would then return to normal, almost appearing even more fragile than before.
It was clear that Li Gaolei was already using his area control ability when fighting, and his extent of control over it was clearly much more skilled than in the past, already almost reaching the second level of expertise. Second level area control was equivalent to a fifth level Mental Domain ability.
Despite the area control ability making the living room environment unfavorable for Li, she still chased Li Gaolei until he was sweating profusely. He could only dodge with difficulty, completely unable to retaliate at all.
Faced against Li's fierce and vicious attacks, Li Gaolei could only laugh bitterly inside. Retaliate? With his current three levels of power against Li's five levels of power, a single fist might blast him outside the room. Where would he possibly get a chance to strike back? It had to be said that Li, with her five levels of power, four levels of defense, speed, dexterity, and small area defense strengthening ability, was completely a miniature tank.
For some reason, even though these two were supposed to wait for Su's return in the apartment after their discharge, because Su had already told them of his return day, Li suddenly felt more and more vexed, to the point where she began to half discuss, half threaten Li Gaolei into practicing indoor combat! In under three minutes, Li chased Li Gaolei until he was battered, exhausted, and running about in disarray.
Li Gaolei's body moved through the air and landed in the living room corner. To the left was a flower rack, and to his right was a liquor cabinet; there was now no place left for him to dodge. He suddenly turned around, and his arms crossed together to block Li's attack, deciding to firmly contest against her in strength. Even though this was a struggle fated to result in despair, just like Li, Li Gaolei did not have a habit of giving up.
However, as soon as Li Gaolei raised his arm, Li's fist already stopped in front of his fist. The slightly tanned fist almost made contact with the tip of Li Gaolei's nose!
Li's body suddenly became as stiff as a statue. Only with great difficulty did a flat voice sound through her clenched teeth. "It seems like leader returned."
Li Gaolei's body didn't budge an inch. Li's fist was too close, close to the point where he couldn't even nod his head. Then, in a similarly flat voice, he said, "It is leader that returned."
Unknown as to what kind of tacit agreement they came to, neither of the two mentioned the girl behind Su.