emotion

Ivy's fingers pressed on the piece of bone carved into an ivy leaf, and her pupils trembled violently.

“… Bones?!”

She screamed and clenched her hands subconsciously, worried that she would break it. Although it was unlikely to be so fragile.

This is truly the most unique gift Ivy has ever received.

Now, it has completely replaced Song Xu's four wisdom teeth inlaid with diamonds - the latter was Ivy's eighteen-year-old coming-of-age gift, and now lies quietly in a sandalwood cabinet in Ivy's bedroom.

"Well," Lorraine said simply, "it's more practical."

Practicality

"The next time you have bone damage," Lorraine said, "if you don't have bone growth enhancers, you can quickly make one from this."

Ivy's expression changed from ·o· to 0_0.

She knew where the bones in her body came from, in a weird way that was almost like mitosis...

Does the raw material of bone growth agent need his bone cells?

"Don't worry too much. Even if we don't give them to you, these badly damaged bones will be treated as medical waste," Lorraine said in his calm voice. "You can use them as waste."

In the candlelight, Lorraine, separated by lush lilies and roses, had her heterochromatic eyes sunk into the darkness that the candle could not reach.

Ivy said, "Who would emphasize 'recycling' when giving a gift? You seem so contradictory."

real.

Ivy found Lorraine very contradictory. What he said was completely different from what he did.

——He is just like a big cat, and he is also an arrogant one. On the surface, he is indifferent to humans. If you take the initiative to touch him, he will not only avoid you, but also immediately take a defensive posture. In fact, he will also come over and rub her palm arrogantly.

But Ivy couldn't imagine Lorraine rubbing her palm on her own initiative, so she just did a simple cat-like movement. This horrible thought gave her goosebumps.

"What's the contradiction?" Lorraine said, "I'm just stating the facts."

Yes, Ivy thought, he was telling the truth—unique, hand-cut bones, and in principle, any bone in his body was unique.

Moreover, he deliberately emphasized that he did not take it out to give her a gift - this made Ivy feel much better.

If he really took the bone for the purpose of giving it away, Ivy would be screaming and giving it back now.

Ivy accepted his statement: "Yes, you are right - but this gift -"

"Thank you for saving Xin Lan," Lorraine said in a voice that would not tolerate rejection. "Take it. This is a token of my appreciation."

Ivy understood.

hush money.

She took the initiative to put the bracelet on her wrist and found that it was the perfect size for her wrist.

I have to admit that Lorraine's handicraft skills are really good. Whether it is the finely polished and woven leather rope or the delicate ivy leaves, they are not inferior to some of the exquisite jewelry given to Ivy by her parents. Ivy has very few jewelry, only those worn at the wedding and those given by her parents on a daily basis. For a warrior, these things are really dispensable.

Ivy also noticed that there were fine lines and engravings on the side edges of the ivy leaves. Before she could take a closer look, the robot controlling the serving of the food brought the delicious meal to the table, interrupting Ivy's continued questioning.

After losing her emotions, all the memories of Lorraine are still there, but become strange, just like reading a story with "Ivy and Lorraine" as the protagonists. This is the "most familiar stranger", they are familiar to the point of negative distance, but Ivy has lost the sense of reality for those things, so she instinctively takes the most cautious way to treat Lorraine.

Ivy talks about the pill Lorraine stuffed into her bra: "I wanted to give it back to you, but the bra is missing—"

"It's okay," Lorraine said, "eat first, you look like a three-day hungry winter bear."

Ivy is still upset about losing such a precious thing, but Lorraine doesn't seem to care.

The dinner ended in a fairly harmonious atmosphere. The food was to Ivy's liking and the flowers smelled nice.

——It would be better if this restaurant could have electricity and lights on, and better soundproofing so that we don’t have to listen to the piano and cello ensemble next door.

Ivy thought seriously.

Ivy returned to the rest area and sat on the toilet with her feet dangling, messaging Green's team members. They planned to leave tomorrow.

Dangdang's fainting has improved a lot, but he still needs regular oxygen inhalation. He explained this as lack of oxygen caused by excessive energy consumption.

Wei Xi and Cong Cong enthusiastically sorted out the information and documents that Ivy needed to apply for the deputy captain position. They also happily showed Ivy the internal news -

Fortunately, there are no pictures, otherwise Ivy would have fainted as soon as she clicked on it.

The latest news release enthusiastically congratulated Lorraine and his two outstanding expedition teams, Green and Iris, for their new discoveries in the underground city, saying that they not only successfully brought back a large number of mainframes, but also discovered some of Yuan's bionic material research equipment underground.

Lorraine verbally scolded Green and Iris for being "reckless, impulsive, immature and bad", but in fact, in these interviews, his evaluation of both teams became "brave and fearless, selfless".

Professional journalists in the military would not be so kind as to provide embellishment to prove that Lorraine did make such an assessment in the interview.

Ivy couldn't imagine the way he praised people, and she couldn't even find many scenes in her memory of Lorraine praising her. After searching for a long time, his most sincere compliment seemed to exist only when the two of them were making love. Ivy obediently reached out to hug her legs, and he slowly penetrated her breasts and praised her in a restrained voice, "Very good, take it all in, go."

Besides, Lorraine didn't look like the kind of guy who would use this kind of excuse to lie. What good would it do him to lie "You like me very much"? He didn't look like he liked her that much, and he didn't look like he would deliberately cultivate an admirer.

At this moment, Ivy suddenly became curious about the part of "emotion" that she might have lost.

She wanted to know what kind of mentality and thoughts she had that could make her fall in love with Lorraine despite his cold treatment.

Could she be the Chosen M Saint?

This shouldn't be the case. Every time I see Song Feng, Ivy feels her hands itching and wants to beat him until he barks...

Ivy read the report, which was less than a thousand words, three times, carefully noting every word to make sure it did not mention "bionic man", "corpse" or "bone growth agent".

Lorraine kept all this secret so well, how did he keep it a secret from everyone else?

Ivy didn't know.

Forget about the others, Ci Li and Lorraine have a grudge...how did he convince the other party?

Another chat message popped up in Team Green's internal channel.

Congcong: "Do we want to go back together tomorrow, Ivy?"

Cong Cong: "Or, do you want to rest here and leave with Admiral Hector, Xin Lan and the others?"

Ivy: “Go back.”

Ivy: I'm with you guys

Late at night, Xin Lan almost slipped off the wheelchair when she learned that the gift from Lorraine was a bone.

"Bone... bone?" He couldn't believe his ears. "Your bones? Didn't you give them all to Ivy to research bone growth agents?"

"I kept a complete piece," Lorraine said. "Didn't you say it should be unique?"

Xin Lan: "...but I didn't ask for something so unique! I admit that Ivy is brave and good at fighting, but can you please consider that she is also a girl who joined the expedition team right after graduation...Oh! My! God! I will prepare a gift immediately to apologize. I hope she can forgive you for your behavior because we have been through so many life and death together..."

“Don’t stereotype,” Lorraine said, “she loves it.”

Xin Lan said, "Are you sure it's not because of her politeness?"

“I’m not sure,” Lorraine said.

Xin Lan: "...God! Ah!"

"At least she is willing to wear it now," Lorraine said, "I may not be able to leave a complete body. Once I die, the control of the laboratory will automatically transfer to..."

Having said this, Lorraine paused.

At this moment, he realized that until now, there was still no human being worth trusting.

Xin Lan has a special identity and needs to replace energy regularly; Ci Li? No, that guy will only sing stupid songs and destroy everything crazily.

"...transferred to Ivy," Lorraine said, "If the laboratory is destroyed, the bone will also be a backup."

His calm words made it impossible for Xin Lan to blame the other party for his emotional investment.

Xin Lan asked tentatively: "Are you planning to have an heir with Ivy?"

"Pregnant? No," said Lorraine, "She is my heir."

Xin Lan was quiet.

Throwing the crutches aside, Lorraine calmly applied medicine to the surgical sites on his body, and heard Xin Lan say.

"A lot of times, you two are really alike," Xin Lan said, "you're both equally good at debate, equally agile, and equally good at learning..."

Lorraine is not the type of person who would pour cold water on others when they hear them praising their children, and humbly say that this child is not good enough in this way.

He accepted all the compliments Xin Lan gave to Ivy.

“She is really good.”

"It's the same in this regard," Xin Lan said sadly, "Because of her genetic problems, she always thought she would die prematurely, so she didn't value her life at all. She even hoped to die in a wasteland... You are the same."

Lorraine rolled down her sleeves to cover the marks left by the scalpel, and faced the mirror as she replaced the protective patch on her face that covered the scars.

He had never used this thing before.

But Ivy might mind the ugly, unhealed scar.

"'Yuan' cannot be completely wiped out or defeated," Xin Lan advised, "As long as the safety of the first district is guaranteed, there is no need for you to fight so hard... Why bother? Human life span is too short, only a hundred years, and 'Yuan' has lived for so long... Are you sure you want to fight him to the end?"

"Otherwise?" Lorraine looked in the mirror. "I don't want any more 'Little Ivy' to appear."

"I will not allow any more children to be captured by them and used to make them into gods," Lorraine leaned over, "I must fulfill my promise."

Xin Lan controlled the wheelchair to lie flat, and then straightened her upper body.

"Well," he said, "wait a minute, Admiral, there's something more important than that—"

"What?"

"Ivy is going to go back with Green," Xin Lan said, "Iris and Yu Mo will both be awake tomorrow - you can't let them take advantage of the situation!"

Lorraine frowned.

It was not a good idea to continue injecting anesthetics into Yu Mo. His body was so weak that he would have a crazy reaction if he received a few more injections. Song Xu couldn't hold back either, and there was also Song Feng...

Lorraine wished she could shoot every one of them.

"What's the progress of Dongdong's research?" he asked, "Is there any way to make Ivy recover?"

"It's zero at the moment," Xin Lan replied, "This process is irreversible."

"Why does Yu Mo remember?" Lorraine asked, "He was injected with a larger dose."

"Maybe it's because of the chip..."

"You also use a chip, but its targeted cells are obviously related to those of production knowledge," Lorraine said, "Go get a sample from Yu Mo's body and send it to Dong Dong."

"Okay, okay, but Ivy's matter must come first," Xin Lan pressed down heavily on the table with both hands, and warned Lorraine, "If you really let Ivy go back, it is very likely that after you have dealt with things here, you will go back with a bunch of children hugging your legs and calling you uncle, and then Song Xu - or Yu Mo, or another man, will shake hands with you in a friendly manner and call you ex-husband brother -"

"Ivy doesn't want children," Lorraine said calmly. "She loves the expedition business more than getting married and having children."

"What if she marries someone else? Falls in love with someone else? Don't you care?" Xin Lan said, "Don't wait until you lose her to regret it!"

"Xin Lan, Ivy is a person, not a pet," Lorraine called his name and said solemnly, "If I force her to stay here, what's the difference between me and Yuan?"

Xin Lan's chip flashed.

"I may have to stay here for a while until the Draven issue is resolved," Lorraine said wearily. "I'll try to find time to go over, but Ivy... I lost her."

"Are you willing?"

Lorraine smiled.

He stood up, pondered for a moment, and asked Xin Lan to contact Kitty.

"Tell Kitty," Lorraine said, "I'd be happy to donate to the wildlife charity she's been running lately...but she needs a favor."

Sim blues out of the record.

"The last time you two contacted each other, Kitty cursed angrily. The last thing you said to Kitty was 'You're so stupid that you can be exhibited around the world as an art collection,'" Xin Lan said. "Are you sure you want to ask her for help at this time?"

"Well," said Lorraine, "I'll give her a figure that will make her forget the humiliation."

…

Ivy left here in the Iris team's expedition car the next morning.

Song Xu received a rabies shot and was told that he would need to remain in observation for a while, which led to Song Feng keeping a close eye on Song Xu and not allowing him to get out of the car or approach others. Yu Mo was seriously injured and the remaining anesthesia made him drowsy most of the time.

He was kept here and continues to receive stable treatment.

Before leaving, Ivy visited Anya in the ward.

She remained very aloof and said arrogantly that it was just a piece of cake.

Ivy stared at her arm, which was injured from saving herself.

"That's nothing," Anya said. "You don't have to show mercy in the next fight."

Ivy pointed at herself in confusion: "Me? Fighting with you? One of us belongs to the expedition team, and the other belongs to the army. Is there any conflict of interest between us? Hmm... is it the chicken drumsticks in the cafeteria?"

A new temporary person in charge was appointed to the canteen a few days ago. In order to save costs, he proposed to prepare chicken legs according to the number of people eating there. He also wrote a sign, one for each person. If anyone took more than that, they would be met with his gaze that seemed to say "Spain".

Fortunately he was replaced this morning.

"It's Lorraine," Anya nodded slightly. She said, "Lorraine wants you to continue to be his wife, but the Hector family wants me to be his spouse."

The bracelet on Ivy's wrist rubbed against her flesh, and the piece of bone taken out of Lorraine's body was slightly cool and pressed against her soothingly.

"Well," Ivy said, "I seem to have heard of this rumor."

"That's great. It seems I don't need to explain any more," Anya said. "If you two are in love, I will definitely choose to withdraw, but now it seems that your love for him is not so firm."

Ivy said, "You make it sound like his love for me is firm."

"Don't show off in front of me. It's useless," Anya said. "My father does have some means to force Lorraine to choose me between you and me - but I don't want to use them. I hope to fight you fair and square."

Ivy said, "No need to decide, we should both be female."

"Don't use the word 'we two'," Anya said. "You and I are opponents. Don't laugh, and don't correct me."

Ivy felt like she was really like a willful little princess.

“That’s it,” Anya said. “This is the challenge.”

She wanted to take off her gloves and throw them to Ivy - this ancient, Western etiquette duel was like a declaration of war. But Anya's hands were still injured, and she tried twice but failed to take off the gloves.

Still, Ivy was kind enough to help her take it off and handed it to Anya, who then threw it heavily in front of Ivy.

"Well," she announced, "from now on, we are enemies."

…

To sum up, Ivy doesn't think Anya is already in her thirties.

She behaved like a willful and adorable three-year-old girl.

Before entering the safe zone, Ivy had already planned her itinerary. She would go home first, hug her parents happily, and after resting enough, she would go to the base to apply for a free training ground, where she could practice shooting and exercise for free...

But a call from the divorce office interrupted all Ivy's plans.

"Hello, ma'am," the married man introduced himself straight away, "I'm Beta."

Ivy said, "Beta? Oh, I know, Beta who drives the tank - hello, I'm Shuke who drives the plane."

"...I'm not kidding you," said the married man who worked over 200 hours of overtime in a month. His voice was like bread soaked in boiled water. "We have met before. Have you forgotten? In the newly reclaimed safe zone planned for use as a factory, the Divorce Review Office."

Ivy immediately thought of him—the married man whose daily commute took more than four hours.

She apologized immediately.

"Don't apologize, I'm used to it," said married man Beta. "It's like this, we may go to your and your ex-husband's home for an interview anytime in the near future... because this involves... ahem, some confidentiality issues, I hope you can continue to live in your love nest with your ex-husband."

Ivy was stunned: "Is it necessary?"

"Well," Beta, a married man, said uncomfortably, "Yes, this will facilitate some of our...secret investigations. I hope you can cooperate."

Of course Ivy will cooperate.

I could only call my parents and make up an excuse. They said they understood me very well and asked Ivy to eat well. How come I looked so much thinner?

Ivy didn't dare tell them that she almost died.

Although no one had lived in her and Lorraine's home for a long time, robots had kept it very clean. Even the carpet had been replaced with a different kind of exquisite, high-end pure velvet, not to mention some other new furniture. Ivy knew with her toes that these must have been Lorraine's orders.

It was as if he had suddenly transformed from a serious, upright, and old-fashioned military officer into a wealthy and overbearing president.

Ivy had to admit that these new things were more comfortable and she could fall asleep almost in a second when lying on them.

But before falling asleep, Ivy touched the bone that Lorraine gave her, and was surprised to find that there was really something carved on the edge of the ivy-shaped bone.

Not a pattern.

Late at night, Ivy got up and found the magnifying instrument.

She held her breath and carefully moved the bone under the magnifying glass, finally able to see the English words engraved on it.

Loring Cyril

lorraine cyril.

Not Rollin Hector.

This was his original name.

…

Xin Lan is faithfully monitoring Ivy and Lorraine's home.

He did not have the right to read the surveillance at home, which was all in Luo Lin's hands. But Luo Lin could not watch these things 24 hours a day, so he gave the surveillance rights of the yard and the gate to Xin Lan——

Xin Lan will intelligently identify every visitor, record the time they spend in the house, and report the records to Lorraine every day.

This was originally a security measure. After all, Lorraine had taken out the data hard drive containing Yuan's information about "creating gods". It was hard to say whether the other party would use Ivy to threaten him.

There are already eight guards taking turns on duty around the house, but Lorraine still can't be completely at ease.

Something even more worrying happened.

After another unsuccessful interrogation of Yu Mo, Xin Lan knocked on the door tremblingly.

"...Lorraine," Xin Lan said uneasily, "Song Xu went to see Ivy."

Lorraine said without even looking up: "He goes there three times a day. I told you not to worry about it."

"Well..." Xin Lan said hesitantly, "But this time, he avoided the guards at eight o'clock in the evening, sneaked into the back yard, climbed through the window and entered the second bedroom..."

Lorraine stopped writing.

"That room," Xin Lan said stiffly, "is now Ivy's bedroom."

"It's been forty-two minutes now and he hasn't come out yet."