The black-haired female swordsman originally had a murderous aura enveloping her entire body. Seeing Li Ang come out, her stern expression immediately softened.

"Li Ang."

She appeared in front of Li Ang like a phantom in an instant.

"What are you doing here?" Li Ang took a small step back to prevent her from crashing into his chest; he wasn't keen on getting in contact with that wild hair.

"I wanted you to hold me, went to hit you up at night, and found you were gone, so I came out to find you."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ang already regretted it.

Sure enough, Morales looked at him and Meluna with an indescribable expression of shock.

Hey, watch it with the others around—this was clearly what the beast-eared young man wanted to say.

Do you think I don't want to be careful? Li Ang thought.

He sighed, holding his forehead; now, never mind public perception, his acquaintances must think...

"Are you guys always like this?" Xiaomo couldn't help but ask.

"It's not like this... not usually..."

Previously, Li Ang didn't dare take Meluna out, naturally for this reason as well. However, during the dating period, nothing was subject to his will; what Meluna wanted to do wasn't something he could decide.

Back then, fortunately, Meluna had no interest in socializing, and Li Ang's awkward relationship with the new Soul Apex meant she wouldn't come into contact with many people, hence relatively safe.

"I can't even imagine your life, it's so damn frustrating." Xiaomo clenched his fist, looking extremely disgruntled.

"What kind of Sky Cavalry is this? I'm going to report you to the Order Knights."

"Trust me, this is a most unusual case."

Li Ang couldn't explain specifically and could only show weakness.

Moreover, no one would believe someone like Meluna could exist.

Are you saying there's an extraordinarily beautiful girl, born invincible and devoid of family education, who doesn't interact with ordinary people and wanders alone; then she meets you in this otherworld, becomes your girlfriend because you can support her, and is infatuated enough to let you do anything?

No one would believe such a tale.

Or rather, the trouble Li Ang would face if someone did believe it...

"Okay then, I'll believe you aren't that kind of person, how could the entire group just fool around like that, right?" Xiaomo patted his chest.

"Li Ang..."

Dorothy cautiously peeked her head out from the cave entrance.

"You too?"

I did say too. Li Ang tensed.

"Well, when I went looking for you, I ran into Meluna, but luckily we didn't have a fight."

The half-elf sighed with relief and lightly patted her chest, causing something soft to shake.

Li Ang heard the heavy breathing beside him; he didn't dare turn his head to look at Morales.

"There's no third person, right?" Li Ang asked almost beggingly.

If another head popped out, he wouldn't have any hope of maintaining his reputation, though now it's almost gone.

"No, why does it feel like you guys had a secret meal on Mengze Island, each of you looking not the least bit urgent? Only I—"

"Stop it."

"Oh."

Li Ang walked straight ahead, not looking at anyone.

When they got there, Li Ang and Xiaomo had already reached the depths of the Mechanical Creation Furnace, and all the workers outside had gone back to rest, leaving only guards outside.

These people were at most around Tier 4 in level; just the sword intent from Meluna was enough to render them unconscious, and they likely wouldn't remember the encounter afterward, only thinking they fell asleep due to exhaustion.

As they passed the fallen guards, Meluna came over: "Did I do something wrong again?"

Li Ang didn't deliberately distance himself from her, so now she was as close as Dorothy.

If they had come out a bit later, Meluna entering the Mechanical Creation Furnace could've been quite helpful; although her abilities dropped from crossing world lines, she could at least prevent such a hasty retreat.

"It's okay, just think things through more before doing them, don't trouble innocent people."

Meluna seemed somewhat understanding, and Dorothy chimed in: "Oh, innocence and causing trouble, these are hard concepts for Big Meimei to grasp."

She then looked at Meluna: "You should tell him you came because you were worried about his safety."

The Golden Canary chirped, and Li Ang sensed something was off.

"Why are you saying this? Aren't you afraid of her?"

Dorothy stopped, her eyes shifting, secretly watching Li Ang timidly say: "I, I actually think she's kinda nice."

"She said she won't compete with me for Li Ang, so she doesn't count as a fox spirit." Meluna said.

"Really? You better mean what you say." Li Ang replied.

"Well, it's like Big Meimei was unclear; I've always had that attitude, you know."

Given Dorothy's constant talk about just being an occasional fling, Li Ang completely understood her implication.

But something felt off, as per her usual behavior, seeing Meluna should lead to hiding, not talking, unless she intended to find her in the first place.

"Wait," he suddenly realized a problem, "You weren't getting close to Meluna to use her to bind me in some remote unknown cave, were you?"

"No, not at all."

"Heh heh."

"If I really did that, wait till you escape and beat me then."

"A win-win for you, is it?"

Li Ang couldn't deal with this shameless person and could only say: "I'm not kidding, don't go too far."

"I'll definitely behave."

Li Ang shook his head; now he was utterly exhausted, after such a day, he just wanted to rest well.