Another World Mall

"Oi! Did you just say you stalked me?"

"It must be just your imagination." Lily's face calmed down as though she hadn't said anything suspicious.

"You…" Michael clicked his tongue. Even though he wanted to say a lot of things, the person in front of him was someone who had overcome her own challenges.

Back then, he could clearly see a woman whose strength had almost been depleted, but she was still hanging on the rope. At that time, he happened to be there and pulled her up.

Michael fell into deep thought. "You're wasting your youth, you know?"

"I won't be able to waste my youth if you are not there."

"What will you do if I pretend I have never heard all this?"

"Nothing will change." Lily smiled, staring at Michael as though she had never been bored with him. "After all, I'm your number one fan."

"…" Michael closed his eyes for a moment. "You know… anyone could have saved you back then…"

"Yes, but it happened to be you back then. Maybe it's fate, maybe it's not. However, even if it's not you, there's a chance my feelings won't be like this."

Michael scratched the back of his head. He truly couldn't win in an argument with her. Still, the situation was simple. How should he respond to her feelings?

In the past two years, Lily had definitely bothered him a lot. At first, she was just annoying. But her presence gradually crept into her heart.

He didn't believe he could be a good person to someone. That was why Michael chose to say, "There is also Kay—"

When he was about to mention Kayne's name, a painful sensation struck his heart. Then, it felt like there was a hand clutching his heart, creating an emptiness aftersensation.

It was at this instant that he realized he couldn't say another name. His heart definitely didn't allow him.

He looked at Lily, who was tilting her head, wondering what he wanted to say.

Eventually, Michael asked, "Lily…"

"Yes?"

"Has the sky been clear to you?"

Lily didn't expect the question, but a big smile appeared on her face. She said without a shred of doubt. "Just by staying like this, it has never been brighter."

That response made Michael gulp down another bottle. "Are you sure you don't regret this?"

"Never."

Michael sighed. "I'm just a man who loves to fight. You are just one of the many people I've saved. And that number might increase a lot in the future."

"You are a man who protects. I am not one of the many people you've saved. I'm the only special person you have."

Michael awkwardly looked away as though he had just gotten the finishing blow. "I'm not a romantic person. But if you don't mind a rough guy like me, then…"

Lily's eyes brightened.

Seeing the expectations in her eyes made him feel guilty. "I need to let you know. I can't do many things. Most of the time, the people under me are doing the stuff. There's only one thing I can promise. I will wield my strength for you.

"You said I fight to protect, then I will protect you, your smile, and your future." Michael scratched the back of his head. "Jeez. I must have been drunk to have said all this stuff without even getting goosebumps. I—Mmmfff!?"

Without wasting any chance, Lily just grabbed his head, leaned toward him, and just took his lips.

"!!!" Michael was in complete shock, but he didn't fight her back.

From that day, Michael and Lily finally confirmed their relationship. As expected, their relationship shocked a lot of people.

The most shocked one was definitely Kayne. Kayne had been pursuing Lily, so he ended up quitting the group after realizing it was impossible.

As a result, the two groups decided to merge. With Michael's strength growing, they gradually absorbed more people into the group.

They had saved a lot of people and gradually formed the biggest influence under the banner of the Hacfield family.

It might be due to Lily's influence, but both of them were completely unrestrained. Lily got pregnant in just a year, so they immediately set up their marriage.

Once the group settled down, Lily finally gave birth to their son, Gerald Hacfield.

Still, Michael continued to grow while Lily was slowing down. They also heard that Kayne had become a powerhouse in another country after leaving their group.

Although it was a shame that their relationship had been cut off, they never treated Kayne as a traitor or as their enemy. In fact, Kayne did the same.

They might have cut their contact with each other, but they were following each other's news.

At that time, the Hacfield family had grown quite large.

It had been fifteen years since the apocalypse began. Gerald was 12 years old at that time.

Blessed with his own talent, Gerald made a name for himself. Although the people realized that his talent fell short compared to Michael, the function of Gerald's talent far surpassed Michael.

Then again, Lily had never been bothered whether their child was strong or not. As long as they were living fine, everything else didn't matter.

Of course, at that time, Gerald met someone whose talent was similar to his. However, their fields were different. Gerald was adept at martial arts, but Aisha's talent revolved around the medical field.

Even though they were different, they had one similarity. It was their curiosity.

Gerald was talking to Aisha because he believed the medical field could boost the martial arts, such as form or muscle. On the other hand, Aisha was learning about martial arts to find a lot of possibilities, and one of those possibilities resulted in evolution stimulation therapy.

Everything looked fine. The Hacfield family had become one of the biggest families in the world. Although Lily slowed down because she was the one taking care of the family's work, which resulted in her getting stuck at Tier 7, Michael continued to grow and ultimately became a Tier 9 human.

At this rate, the Hacfield family could expand its influence to various countries, if not for that incident.