Chapter 111 Chapter 111 kissed him.
Su Cheng was a little surprised.
Gerald quickly retreated and stood up straight, as if he had been burned.
A burning crimson crept up the boy's earlobe, staining the thin cartilage cherry red and even spreading to his neck.
Then it soaked her snow-white cheeks.
Su Cheng suddenly forgot what he wanted to say.
The young man lowered his head slightly, and his thick, brilliant golden curly hair, under the light of the basement, flowed with the sweet color of honey.
A few strands of hair fell on the side of her face, making the shocking redness of her face even more prominent.
The long eyelashes drooped and trembled like a feather fan, casting a fragile shadow under the deep eye sockets, and the dark green eyes seemed to be covered with mist.
Su Cheng: “…”
incredible.
She still remembered the lazy look of the God of Jealousy leaning on the couch. After all, that face was truly unforgettable.
He was completely different from the awkward boy he is now.
Just a kiss of thanks and Gerald seemed to combust on the spot.
This pure, undisguised shyness made that overly delicate and beautiful face bloom with an unimaginable seductive beauty.
He no longer seemed like a real person, but more like a camellia dyed rouge before a sudden rainstorm.
—and then bloomed for her.
The basement was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Su Cheng heard his own heartbeat.
She reached out her hand as if possessed by a demon, and gently cupped the boy's burning cheek. The skin her palm touched was surprisingly hot.
Gerald seemed to freeze for a moment, then raised his deep emerald green eyes and stared at her blankly.
Su Cheng looked at him, "You——"
She thought of something that happened long, long time ago.
Although it was in the past for me.
But in my memory, those green eyes seemed to always burn with a cold and poisonous flame, filled with strong malice and negative emotions.
What exactly did he go through?
Su Cheng felt a little complicated. His eyes swept across the boy's distinct eyelashes and looked at his tightly pursed rose-red lips.
Su Cheng: "...your lipstick color looks nice."
Gerald: “?”
The next second, Su Cheng leaned over and kissed him.
He opened his eyes wide in shock. The lips stained with flower juice were incredibly soft, like rose petals covered with morning dew.
The boy's slender body suddenly tensed up, and his hands hanging at his sides suddenly clenched up, as if he wanted to hug her, but did not dare to do so.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment. Su Cheng did not rush to deepen the kiss, but just gently rubbed his lips, as if touching some fragile porcelain.
She could still taste a hint of sweet honey from breakfast.
Gerald tried to respond, but he was so inexperienced that he could only clumsily open his mouth slightly, without even sticking out the tip of his tongue.
Su Cheng wanted to laugh a little, but held it back. He bit him gently and then licked the bite mark that quickly disappeared.
The boy's breathing seemed to become rapid, and he made a small whimpering sound.
He leaned forward subconsciously, as if wanting to bear more, but he didn't know how to get closer, so he just looked at her intently.
Su Cheng raised his hand to press the back of his neck, then kissed him, his tongue gently moving between his lips and teeth, slowly guiding him.
Gerald finally relaxed a little and put his arms around her.
They gave each other a passionate and tender kiss in front of the basement steps.
After his nervousness completely subsided, his breathing became steady and the blush on his face faded a little, but his expression was still a little unnatural.
"Ahem," Gerald cleared his throat, "...is it time to start?"
This time they both forgot about lunch, and the servants would not come down to disturb them.
So the training continued into the night.
Because he used magic too many times, Su Cheng felt a slight headache and sat on the ground to rest his forehead.
Gerald leaned against the wall, his lean chest heaving slightly, his blond hair a little damp.
He casually unbuttoned two of his collar buttons. "Speaking of which, I'm sorry for letting you see what happened this morning—"
Su Cheng glanced at him, meeting those gloomy, rich, dark green eyes. "You don't need to apologize, and I won't apologize for anything I said, except for when I said you couldn't beat me. That was just a rant. I don't know what the outcome would be if we fought to the death."
He raised an eyebrow, "I don't think we need to know, and I don't mind you saying that. I just... do you think I'm a coward?"
Su Cheng blinked, "Yes."
He closed his eyes silently.
Su Cheng groaned, "But I don't think it will always be like this. I think you are just going through a certain stage. Maybe one day you will resolve all these problems."
Gerald opened his eyes. "What if it was you? What if your family treated you like this?"
Su Cheng sighed, "Don't ask me. I've been called a beast, a heartless thing, and I raised you in vain since I was a child. Because since I can remember, no matter who hits me, I will fight back."
"Even when you were very young? I mean, when you didn't have fighting spirit or magic?"
"Well, whoever hits me, I will hit him back, even if I can't beat him. Unless they knock me out, I will keep fighting back. If you hold me down, I will grab and bite them. If you let me go, I will use a folding stool, a kitchen knife, anything else... to fight back."
Su Cheng whispered, "If you mean the age when I couldn't even lift a knife, I don't remember anything about that time. Anyway, they later felt that beating me was too much trouble, so they stopped doing it. At most, they would throw things around, and if there was something wrong, they would just quarrel."
Gerald looked at her in shock. "I never thought you were that kind of person."
Su Cheng nodded slightly, "I have also killed strangers for some strange-sounding reasons, and I didn't think to verify it further-"
"Oh, stranger," he waved his hand nonchalantly, "that's different. I was just talking about family."
"...You're weird," Su Cheng hugged his knees and stared at him, "If you really loved him, you would be angry about my attitude towards your father, right?"
"Are you mocking me?" Gerald frowned. "You're not wrong, I'm well aware of that. Besides, I'm just a little surprised that you seem to worship the God of Law. Is the influence of the Church even greater where you are?"
"This matter has little to do with the Holy See—"
Su Cheng said subconsciously, then was stunned.
Holy See?
According to rumors a thousand years later, it was because of the complete split between the God of Darkness and the God of Light that the main gods took sides.
Now the Siege of the White Night has not even begun. That event will take place at least ten or even dozens of years later, and the relationship between the Holy See and the Esoteric Cult is not yet hostile.
Although it cannot be said that they are very friendly, on the surface, the two sides can even build temples in the same city, but they will keep some distance between them.
Could it be that during this period, the God of Law had already become an ally of the God of Light?
Su Cheng had some questions in his mind but didn't know how to speak them out.
Because once this question came up, Gerald would probably feel that her character was untenable.
She decided to slowly find out the answer.
They trained like this for a few more days, and one morning at the dinner table, Gerald summarized her progress with satisfaction.
He said she was already able to fight some regular battles, especially in one-on-one situations. "If there were more people, there would be many uncontrollable factors, and I wouldn't be able to guarantee it myself..."
He then invited her to join a research project, also private, on the improvement of storage devices.
"Your necklace. Although it looks like it was originally a bracelet?"
Gerald raised his hand and pointed at her. "That's space equipment, right? I assume you bought it. Then you should know that there are basically two types of jewelry with storage functions on the market. Stable ones have independent spaces attached to them, but they are very limited, so the spaces are often small. Unstable ones are cracked crystals. The internal structure will be destroyed by the injection of magic power, and they can't last for long."
Su Cheng didn't bother to explain his necklace. "...Do you want to make any improvements?"
"Well," he said, resting a hand on his face. "In the spatial magic system, there's a folding principle. As long as you can calculate the true axis, you can fold around it. The folded independent space is very small, making it easy to integrate with jewelry. Almost any material used for storage items on the market can be used. Of course, there's a limitation: only beginners in the field of spatial magic can unfold the folded space."
"Oh," Su Cheng understood, "You don't want to make money, right? Otherwise, the customer base is a bit small."
"Well, I just want to confirm some theories, but I need help to cut and stabilize the separated space at specific times. Folding it is also a bit difficult. Although I can do it alone, I also want to maintain a better state of concentration for observation and sensing."
"Well, if you remember that I'm just getting started and that you think I could really help you, then I'd love to. It sounds like fun."
So Su Cheng stepped into the third underground floor of the villa for the first time.
Su Cheng: “…”
Su Cheng: "How deep is it down here? Is there a secret tunnel leading to the southern continent?"
Gerald seemed to be in a state of confusion as well. "How is that possible? Why would I do that? I might as well build a teleportation array."
Su Cheng: “?”
Su Cheng: "Can you really make it?"
"Yes," Gerald shrugged, "I'm just short of some materials. If you really need them, I can steal some from the secret temple.
Su Cheng: "...Not really. What if you get caught and they ask you to stay and work?"
"Huh?" Gerald crossed his arms. "Yasuo's temple? I've been in there several times, and no one has ever been able to spot me!"
Su Cheng stared at him speechlessly.
Still a habitual offender.
Su Cheng: "If you have the guts, why don't you go to the secret cult's headquarters? Wait, don't go."
Gerald held his forehead with his hand. "Highgarden? There's a magical barrier there set by the Dark God. There's no spatial magic that can tear open a passage from the outside."
As he spoke, he began to clean up the laboratory on the third underground floor.
It's actually very clean here, but it seems a bit messy because there are too many things.
The thickened walls were set with layers of protective magic and hung with various exquisite forging tools. There were small forges and stone slabs in the room. The stone slabs were covered with dense calculation formulas and some strange geometric shapes. Surrounding them were calculation steps and some cited source page numbers.
There were even more strange tools on the operating table. Su Cheng took a quick look and found that there were hardly any that he could name.
Among them are several thin rectangular blocks made of transparent crystals, strung together from above by a thin crystal tube.
"This is a resonant sound brick made of cracked crystal—"
Gerald lifted one of the pieces and tapped it gently.
Su Cheng suddenly felt that the space began to fluctuate, in accordance with a certain established frequency, once, twice, three times, and slowly slowed down with the passage of time.
Next to it is a calibration instrument, which looks like a semicircular ruler and a set of lenses made of polygonal crystals. Below it is a small box containing various rare mineral fragments.
"Come here, I'll teach you how to use it."
The blond boy waved at her, "First, use your lens to observe these crystal fragments and feel their internal structure. Use the method of a space mage..."
Their heads were pressed together, their hair almost tangled.
Gerald gave a brief explanation, then tilted his head slightly and suddenly saw the girl close by.
He paused for a moment, then continued as if nothing had happened, "...You try it."
Su Cheng got the hang of it quickly.
She first saw the internal structure that could be observed with the naked eye, the turbid impurities and cracks, and then tried to extend her mental power into it.
——Search for the feeling of stepping on a magic circle when teleporting.
Forget those concepts related to distance and direction, and let that paradoxical intuition envelop you.
Everything around me started to become blurry.
She seemed to fall into the water, as if she had entered a world that could not be described in words.
There is no up, down, left, or right here.
There is only one concept of association.
She saw countless glowing lines, as if she were in a magnificent forest of light.
The root systems of all trees intertwine, connect, and support each other.
Each line is so clear, bending at perfect angles, twisting into elegant spirals, converging at a random node, and then extending in all directions.
This is the internal structure and underlying logic of crystal.
The cracks and flaws seen in the real world are presented here as broken roots and branches, or as holes that look like they have been gnawed by insects.
As her perception deepened, the number of lines she could perceive increased.
The light became chaotic and bent, and the forest turned into a maze.
She subconsciously followed the brightest mainstream and "saw" more spots of light.
They drift like schools of fish in a sea of light.
A moment later, she realized that it might be the special energy in the crystal.
Su Cheng forgot about time and why he came here. He just chased those energies and tried to understand their trajectories and dynamic changes.
At the end of the river of light, she seemed to see the door again.
That strange, eerie door that constantly generates a strong gravitational force like a whirlpool.
Flash by.
Su Cheng suddenly woke up.
Gerald was sitting nearby eating a baked potato with a glass of iced tea. "...is your adventure over?"
Su Cheng held his forehead, "Well, is it noon now?"
"No, this is the second night. You started observing yesterday morning."
He pushed aside a half-full bowl of baked potatoes. "It seems you have a high affinity for Fringel crystal. Perhaps we don't need to test anything else, as we're both quite sensitive to this material."
Su Cheng nodded.
They soon entered a new phase of research, and she began to cooperate with him in doing some tests.
Su Cheng originally thought she would be in a mess, but the experience of traveling inside the crystal greatly enhanced her perception and control of spatial power.
Gerald was also able to give her clear instructions, so things went very smoothly.
He was responsible for most of the calculations, and she only helped him check some numbers.
The two of them worked on their research day and night, only going up to eat once a day, and sometimes they even forgot to do that, and several days would pass by in this mess.
Because he had to consult ancient books from time to time, Su Cheng was forced to improve his Elvish language proficiency, and he memorized hundreds of words in just a few days.
And this is under the premise of continuing research.
She admires herself very much.
Gerald also helped her get identification.
When they finally sealed the folded independent space, Gerald started the furnace and began to prepare to process the ring.
He also took down various tools from the wall.
Su Cheng paused.
The blond boy was holding a small hammer that looked to be forged from a single piece of mithril, with a matte silver-white color running through it.
One end of the hammer is a flat square, and the other side is a curved sickle shape, like a raised eagle's beak, sharp and pointed.
The entire hammer is very small, and for people of their size, it can be controlled with one hand.
"Hmm?" Gerald looked at her. "Do you like this?"
He threw it to her and said, "I'll go upstairs first."
Su Cheng was holding the hammer, and before he had time to look at it carefully, he heard voices coming from above.
The man from before came again and had already reached the second underground floor. Apparently, Gerald heard his father's footsteps.
"...Yes, it's almost finished."
The boy seemed a little impatient and said, "I didn't write a paper. Uh, I only have some calculations. No, I don't want to write..."
"You must write!" the man roared. "Your brother needs something of significance like this. All of Dean Toler's students have produced decent works, but your brother hasn't—"
"The reason he became the dean's student is because he kept plagiarizing my work. Isn't it natural that he can't produce it?"
Bang!
Another slapping sound was heard from above.
"You bastard, that's your brother! He needs all this! Otherwise, how would our family break into Yasuo's celebrity circle? With a freak like you?"
"...No." Gerald whispered, "If you can't squeeze in, it's your own fault. This achievement is not yours. This is the research of my friend and me. It's also a gift I want to give her. No one can take it away."
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