What Ivy didn’t know was that this very decision would change the trajectory of the entire world and accelerate events far beyond her expectations.
She returned to her room, lay down, stared at the ceiling, and fell asleep almost imdiately. Exhaustion claid her without rcy.
When she woke up again, two hours had already passed. A knock sounded at her door.
She opened it to find a soldier standing outside, carrying a huge bag filled with iron balls.
The mont Ivy saw them, she smiled softly.
"Put them inside."
After the soldier complied and left, Ivy looked at the iron with a thoughtful gaze. She had made a deal with Silas earlier.
Iron was sothing her temporal storage couldn’t multiply since she wasn’t the one who had picked it, making it one of its biggest limitations.
But now, with enough raw material, Silas could multiply it endlessly.
’An iron barrier around the base... that’s doable,’ she thought.
Her mind wandered further, to the machines she had asked Martha to acquire. Soon, she would be able to copy their chanics. Once that was done, she could transform the entire base into a real city.
The thought made her giggle softly. She quickly shook her head and sat down to cultivate.
Crystal after crystal was absorbed into her body, energy surging through her veins. A warm aura wrapped around her like a cocoon, and suddenly, sothing deep within her cracked open.
Unlocked. She opened her eyes, scanning her surroundings with curiosity.
’What changed?’
Nothing seed different at first.
After a long mont, she frowned and decided to test her abilities.
She activated her safe zone power.
At first, nothing happened. Then realization struck her like lightning.
Her sensing range had expanded. Far beyond what it used to be.
Now, she could clearly sense an area exceeding twenty-five thousand square ters.
Her breath caught. Before, she couldn’t sense anything even with her power. Now, this felt like a massive breakthrough.
’Even if I awaken nothing else,’ she thought steadily, ’this alone is worth it.’
Just as she settled into that thought, sothing prickled at the edge of her senses.
She closed her eyes. The next second, she cursed under her breath.
anwhile, far away from her room, Martha stood hesitantly outside Kael’s door, her hand hovering in the air, uncertain whether to knock.
She had entered Ivy’s residential building and now stood outside Kael’s door, hesitation written clearly across her face.
Ivy’s words echoed faintly in her mind, stirring emotions she had tried hard to suppress.
When she learned that there was even a small chance Kael might be willing to give her another opportunity, her heart had filled with restless anticipation. She wanted to give him a chance too. Truly.
Yet now that she was here, her courage wavered.
’How am I supposed to talk to him?’ she thought uneasily. ’After the way I treated him last ti...’
The mory made her fingers curl tightly against her palm. She had been rude, sharp, and unfair, letting her bad mood lash out at him without restraint.
The more she thought about it, the darker her thoughts beca.
’What if he’s already moved on?’
’What if he thinks I was disrespectful... or worse, ridiculous?’
Her chest felt tight.
Just then, the door in front of her opened.
Martha froze.
For a brief second, her mind went completely blank as she stared at Kael standing before her.
He was wearing nothing but black joggers, the fabric sitting low on his hips.
His upper body was bare, revealing firm, defined muscles and clearly outlined abs that caught the soft hallway light.
His skin still carried a faint warmth, as if he had just finished training, and the subtle scent of soap lingered in the air.
Martha swallowed.
His black hair fell ssily over his forehead, framing sharp features, while his purple eyes widened slightly in shock at the sight of her.
Her throat felt inexplicably dry.
’How can soone look this handso... and this dangerous at the sa ti?’ she thought, her pulse quickening despite herself.
But the next mont shattered the spell.
"What are you doing here?"
Kael’s voice was cold and distant, stripped of any warmth.
It felt as though icy water had been poured over her head.
All the expectations and excitent she had carried with her vanished instantly.
Martha hesitated, her lips parting before she forced herself to speak.
"I... the last ti we t, I was in a bad mood," she said carefully. "I scolded you for no reason. I am sorry."
Kael fell silent.
His expression remained unreadable, but if Martha had looked closer, she might have noticed the faint tremor in his fingers.
Inside, his heart was racing. The fact that she had co to him on her own, and even apologized sent a surge of excitent through him that he barely managed to suppress.
’I can’t ss this up,’ he reminded himself, Silas’s words flashing through his mind.
With a steady breath, he slowly extended his hand.
Martha didn’t step back. Instead, she looked at him with confusion flickering across her face.
In the next instant, Kael pulled her inside the room. The door shut behind them with a soft thud, and he gently but firmly guided her back until she was leaning against the wall.
One arm reached out to close the door fully, while he tilted his head slightly, his gaze steady.
"So," he said calmly, "how are you planning to compensate for shouting at ?"
Martha stared at him, stunned.
Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure he could hear it. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay grounded.
"It wasn’t just my fault," she said, her voice shaking despite her effort. "You were wrong too."
Kael didn’t interrupt.
He rembered Silas’s advice clearly: Listen first. If a man rushed to justify himself without hearing what truly hurt the woman, the relationship would crumble before it even began.
So he waited.
Martha looked at him, at how patiently he stood there listening, and her heartbeat grew erratic. Heat crept up her neck, her toes curling unconsciously.
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