Even back on Earth, Zoe Pierce had never ridden on the back of a motorcycle.
The helt didn’t obstruct her vision. On the contrary, its clear visor allowed her to see every one of Chase Shaw’s movents.
A strange sense of excitent bubbled up inside her. She jogged to the motorcycle, stepped onto the foot peg, and settled in behind Chase Shaw.
"Hold on tight." Chase Shaw’s voice ca through the helt, as clear as if he were speaking right next to her ear.
Zoe Pierce’s arms shot out and wrapped tightly around Chase Shaw’s waist. Even through his clothes, she could feel how firm and toned his body was.
As for Chase, when he felt the soft press against his back, his throat bobbed, and his gray eyes seed to shine a little brighter. "Here we go."
There wasn’t the deafening roar she’d expected, the kind that announced its presence to the world. Instead, there was just the distinct feeling of being shot forward like an arrow from a bow. In a flash, the bike had put a good distance between them and the gate.
Aside from the wind grazing the backs of her hands, the rest of her was so well-protected that she felt nothing at all.
Still, Zoe held on tightly to Chase, tilting her head to watch the passing streetlights blur into colorful streaks.
"Doing okay?" It was Chase Shaw’s voice.
Zoe smiled. "This is a little unexpected."
She’d never thought that in Interstellar Space, she would not only pilot a cha but also ride a motorcycle. Both were extraordinary experiences.
Chase paused for a mont. "If you want to learn, I can teach you. It’s simpler than a cha."
Communicating through the helts was no different from talking face-to-face. There was no interference from outside noise, as they were specially designed for clear conversation.
Zoe replied, "Okay! When we have ti later, you can teach ."
Just like that, she had unwittingly agreed to Chase’s plan.
A "next ti" that would belong only to the two of them.
A smile flashed in his eyes. "You can put your hands in my pockets. You won’t be cold."
Zoe’s hands were slender and fair. He only had to glance down to see them. He slowed the bike slightly, giving her a chance to move.
Zoe obediently did as he suggested, sliding her hands into his pockets and grabbing hold of the special drawstrings inside.
Now, she couldn’t feel the chill on her skin at all.
The motorcycle was even faster than a hovercar. Since Chase was used to piloting cha, he couldn’t help but go fast, and Zoe had grown accustod to such speeds. The two of them reached their destination in less than twenty minutes.
Zoe got off the bike first.
After dismounting, she watched as Chase took off his helt. The man’s handso face was as sharp as a sculpture. His gray eyes, seeming to notice her gaze, lifted to et hers with a hint of confusion.
Zoe, still holding her helt, tilted her head and looked at the backlit man. "Has anyone ever told you that you look a little too handso like this?"
It was as if all his best features were amplified—his exceptional height, his perfect proportions.
Both the atmosphere and his personal charm were elevated to a whole new level.
Even though Zoe saw Chase often, she still found the sight of him now dazzling.
Chase put his helt into his Space Button and walked over to Zoe. As if in disbelief, he lowered his gaze and asked, "Is that so?"
Zoe walked alongside him, nodding. "Really. You’re pretty handso."
She didn’t usually complint their looks so freely. After all, even the most handso person can start to look ordinary after a while. But today, Chase had successfully made her unable to resist stealing a few extra glances.
Chase hadn’t expected that today’s spur-of-the-mont idea would pay off so well.
He grunted in acknowledgnt. "No one’s ever said that. Only you."
Zoe froze for a second. Trailing behind Chase, she suddenly didn’t know how to respond.
Anything she might say felt like it would be too intimate.
She opened her mouth to speak but then saw that Chase had stopped at a keypad lock next to a warehouse. He entered a string of numbers, and soon, a long shutter rolled up.
Blinding white light flooded the interior, illuminating every corner. Inside the warehouse, a silver-white cha stood in the very center.
It was a cha Zoe had never seen before.
She knew for a fact that it didn’t belong to Chase or any of the others.
She suddenly rembered what Chase had told her back on Siren Star—that he was going to give her a cha.
"Try it out. It’s a cha designed especially for you." Chase’s voice was like the other shoe dropping, confirming her suspicion.
"On Siren Star... didn’t you already give one?" That was a gift from all of them. Zoe looked at Chase.
Chase looked back at her. "That was a gift from all of us together."
"I promised you before that I would give you one myself."
Compared to the cha from Siren Star, which had been painstakingly pieced together from carefully selected parts, every single component of this new cha utilized the latest, most cutting-edge technology.
The Siren Star cha wasn’t useless, of course. At the very least, while thinking through the design of this one, Chase had used a lot of the data Zoe had left behind on that cha.
"Try it. Your spiritual power has increased, so you were due for a new cha anyway."
This was sothing only he could have complete control over. No matter what happened in the future, every ti Zoe used this cha, she would think of him. It would no longer be the cha they had all built together. He had completely, deliberately excluded everyone else. This was a gift—her cha—from him and him alone, made especially for her.
Zoe was a little overwheld by the favor. Of all the things Chase had said, his last sentence moved her the most.
After her spiritual power had increased, the cha they had given her on Siren Star had indeed started to feel slightly less responsive. But the feeling was subtle, so she had never ntioned it.
"When did you prepare this?" A cha wasn’t sothing that could be built in just a few days.
Chase said, "I never forgot."
"I started preparing the mont we got back."
As soon as their interrogations were over, he had imdiately set about getting the materials ready. After that, he had thrown himself into the project whenever he had a spare mont.
Thanks to the cha Masters working overti to assemble it, they had barely managed to finish it before the training camp.
Zoe might not be able to use it during this training camp, but he wanted her to have it.
Just as she had the first ti she touched Chase’s cha, Zoe reached out to the silver surface, then looked up at him. "Let prepare a gift in return."
’This is far too expensive a gift. More than the price, it’s the thought behind it.’
The re fact that Chase had accomplished this without saying a word was enough to astonish her.
’I can’t accept this gift with a clear conscience.’
It felt as if a profound affection was now pressing down, heavy on her heart.
Chase looked straight at her and didn’t refuse. "Alright."
"First, I’ll collect so interest," he said.
Zoe didn’t understand what he ant.
Then she saw Chase walk up to her, open his arms, and pull her into an embrace.
Her fingers, stunned, clutched at the fabric of his clothes. Zoe’s head was forced back, and she had to stand on her tiptoes just to properly rest her face on his shoulder.
"Zoe Pierce, are you happy with this gift?" Amid her bewildernt, Zoe heard Chase’s words.
Her gaze happened to fall upon the full view of the cha.
’How could I not be happy...’
It was just... too good. That was why she felt a little guilty.
’I feel guilty, as if I’ve done nothing to deserve his kindness.’
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