A week flew by in an instant. Thanks to a multi-pronged effort, the wormhole responsible for the Xenobeast Tide on Planet B36 was successfully sealed.

For the first time, Zoe Pierce was unable to join Miles Sherman and the others in hunting Xenobeasts. Instead, she was assigned to stay with the military’s other Omegas.

It was her first taste of what being a regular Comfort Officer was like. Every day felt like a nine-to-five job; when her shift started, she would go to the soothing area with the other Omegas and wait for Alphas on the verge of spiritual power exhaustion to arrive for comfort.

It was somewhat busy, but she was never needed.

Every Omega there was a seasoned veteran, seemingly accustomed to such high-intensity soothing.

Miles Sherman and the others had initially been working as a team, but in the face of the massive Xenobeast Tide, their individual skills were quickly pushed to the limit, and Adrian Chapman had to split them up.

For several days straight, Zoe Pierce hadn’t seen any two of them at the same time.

The most frequent visitor was Chase Shaw. His spiritual power was the most volatile to begin with, and his control over Gravity proved exceptionally effective for controlling Xenobeasts. As a result, he was nearly drained dry each time before being sent back.

Nearly twenty minutes had passed since she received the message that Chase Shaw was waiting for her in her tent.

Zoe Pierce had left her Intelligent Brain behind in the soothing tent. When she realized, she hurried out and jogged toward her own tent.

The moment she poked her head into her own tent, Zoe Pierce froze.

Chase Shaw was curled up on her lounge chair, fast asleep.

He was such a powerfully built man, yet here he was, curled up in a corner.

His chiseled face was etched with exhaustion. His brows were tightly furrowed and his arms were crossed over his chest. He was dressed in the standard-issue Alpha uniform that Adrian Chapman had provided, and his messy black hair partially obscured his eyes.

Zoe Pierce immediately softened her steps.

She slowly walked over to Chase Shaw’s side, wanting to touch his hand to soothe him, hoping he could then sleep more comfortably.

But his hands were tucked away too well today. Zoe Pierce could only inch closer, looking around for an opening.

But she was clearly out of luck. She figured that to get to his hand, she would have to pull it out from under his arm. It wouldn’t be hard, but the movement would surely wake him up.

She really didn’t want to wake Chase Shaw.

That being the case, the only exposed skin was on his face.

Without much hesitation, Zoe Pierce gently rested her fingers on Chase Shaw’s face, letting her spiritual power slowly seep out. She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when, the next moment, her body lost its balance and she tumbled heavily into the man’s embrace.

Her fingers, which had only been a light touch, were now pressed firmly against his face, and his head was buried in the hollow of her shoulder.

"Chase Shaw?" Zoe Pierce called out uncertainly.

’Is he awake?’

But she called his name twice and received no response.

How to put it... the scene felt vaguely familiar. This wasn’t the first or second time she’d found herself in Chase Shaw’s embrace.

But both times had been during the joint exams, which was a while ago now, so she hadn’t recognized the feeling at first.

The narrow lounge chair could barely hold him alone; squeezing Zoe Pierce in as well made it feel even tighter.

Zoe Pierce felt as if she were practically lying on top of Chase Shaw—her head, her legs, all of it.

If she were in this position with anyone else, Zoe Pierce might have found it a bit intimate. But with Chase Shaw, her brain automatically supplied a logical reason for his behavior.

’He’s only like this because his spiritual power has been overdrawn for so long. He isn’t fully conscious.’

’There was no reasoning with a patient who wasn’t in his right mind.’

Unlike before, when she would have been completely powerless, Zoe Pierce could now use her spiritual power to lift his arm, preparing to find a way to get up.

But the moment she acted on this thought, the arm wrapped around her tightened its grip.

He was holding her so tightly.

A man’s hoarse, murmuring voice whispered by her ear, "Don’t go... I’m begging you..."

Zoe Pierce’s heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster. He tightened his hold on her, as if afraid she would escape. It was then that Zoe saw the bloody gash scraped across the back of Chase Shaw’s hand. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

It stretched from the webbing of his thumb all the way across the back of his hand. It wasn’t the kind of wound worth making a fuss over, but she knew for a fact it hadn’t been there the last time she saw him, and she couldn’t help but be concerned.

Zoe Pierce sighed to herself.

She patted him gently, as if offering comfort. "I’m not going anywhere."

Her palm finally had a chance to rest on the back of his hand, covering the bloody mark as her spiritual power gently flowed into him.

A faint, almost inaudible murmur continued to brush against her ear. "Zoe... don’t go..."

Zoe Pierce’s fingers trembled. She was a bit curious. ’Is Chase Shaw dreaming? What could he possibly be dreaming about me to make him say something like that?’

For now, she could only swallow her questions and, like she was caring for an unreasonable child, pat him gently. "It’s okay, I’m not going."

After repeating these soothing words seven or eight times, she finally felt Chase Shaw’s breathing grow steady.

His spirit sea also calmed down.

Zoe Pierce couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she felt that something was off with Chase Shaw’s spirit sea this time, though it didn’t seem too serious. On the other hand, her soothing ability had leveled up, and she’d noticed that soothing in general had become much easier. So, while the discrepancy was a bit puzzling, she ultimately didn’t dwell on it.

The man’s breathing was steady now, as if he were sound asleep.

But whenever she so much as twitched, she could feel him reflexively tighten his hold on her.

The more she worried about waking him, the more restricted her movements became.

At this point, Zoe Pierce couldn’t even rub her aching temples. ’Fine,’ she thought with a hint of resignation. ’I’ll just let him hold me a little longer.’

Behind her, where she couldn’t see, the man’s gray eyes slowly cracked open, gazing down at the woman in his arms.

His gaze was calm and profound.

’Delirious from a chaotic spirit sea? That was just an excuse.’

He had sensed her the moment she entered the tent. After just a brief hesitation on her part, he heard her steps slow and move gently to his side.

And so, he continued to feign sleep.

He was a bit greedy, coveting the feeling of her presence.

’Yes, all the others had grown closer to her through various twists of fate. Only he remained, painfully lucid.’

’So, it’s okay to be a little greedy, right? Just using the excuse of a spiritual power flare-up to embrace her the moment her fingers touched his face... that should be okay, right?’

A pang, sharp and sour as lemon juice, squeezed Chase Shaw’s heart.

Here, it was just the two of them.

Sunlight spilled across the entrance of the tent. It was noisy outside, but in here, there was a sliver of peace to be found.

Zoe Pierce didn’t suspect for a second that he was faking. He had begged her in a low voice not to go, and she had patted him and promised she wouldn’t.

’Heh. What a liar.’

’She’d be gone the very next second.’

The sweet fragrance of her hair drifted up to him. Her body, soft as if boneless, fit perfectly in his arms. His gaze deepened. There could be no afternoon more perfect than this.

’And no one was going to disturb them.’