On the rooftop, the Black-haired Boy and the green-haired girl stood leaning against the railing, city lights and the dark night wind caressing them.
"I need to thank you." Polaris Lorna stood tall, her hands on the railing, bringing her to Xi Nian's height. She gazed out at the distant city and suddenly spoke, unaccustomed to such words.
"Thank me? For what?" Xi Nian asked, looking at the girl's delicate, fair profile.
"Thank you for taking care of Wanda. For giving her a new home, not leaving her alone in New York..." Lorna whispered, then as if she couldn't hold it in anymore, she said with a touch of annoyance, "Thanking someone is just too embarrassing! Let's just go straight to the reward. What do you need? Or rather, who do you want to teach a lesson? I'll help you!"
Xi Nian couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at!" Lorna glared at him again, feeling that Xi Nian's laughter at this moment made her seem—silly!
"You don't need to thank me for Wanda. If anything, she takes care of me more than I take care of her," Xi Nian shrugged, then asked curiously, "That time, why didn't you just take Wanda with you?"
Lorna was silent for a moment, then said, "My place... isn't suitable for her."
"And you're suitable there? At your age, you should be..."
Before Xi Nian could finish, Lorna cut him off, saying coldly, "Even my own parents didn't care for me, so you certainly can't control me!"
Xi Nian fell silent. He had vaguely guessed Lorna's background, which made him feel even more tenderness for this girl, who was perhaps even younger than Wanda.
"I..." Xi Nian opened his mouth, then said firmly, "How about I take care of you?"
The small body of the green-haired girl beside him trembled slightly, then quickly returned to calm. She then looked at him with a disdainful side glance: "You? Forget it. It'd be more reasonable for me to keep you."
Xi Nian felt a blow to his ego.
"Remember, I'm your boss. That's a fact that will never change!"
The green-haired girl suddenly pushed forward with both hands, her body lightly rising backward, as if dancing briefly in the night sky. Just then, a strong gust of wind blew from outside, sweeping away the baseball cap she wore, along with strands of green hair.
Following the girl's leaping figure with his gaze, Xi Nian's eyes flashed with admiration.
Under the bright, cool silver moonlight, Lorna's lustrous green hair flew wildly, making her like a shooting star across the night sky, blooming into an extremely beautiful moment.
"Kiddo." Lorna narrowed her emerald-like eyes. With her hands behind her back, she walked closer to Xi Nian, puffing out her somewhat youthful and flat chest, lifting her proud and wild chin, and sticking out her pink, playful tongue as she smiled at him, "Are you sure you don't want... a reward?"
Xi Nian's back was against the rooftop railing, with nowhere to retreat.
"Tch, if you don't want it, then fine..." Lorna pouted her lips.
Before her words could fall.
Xi Nian cupped the girl's face, which was so close, quickly lowered his head, and captured that small, soft thing with his mouth.
"Mmm!"
Lorna, who had been so domineering a moment ago, suddenly widened her eyes, and her body quickly softened like ice cream.
Xi Nian felt like he was tasting a filled candy, sweet and delicious, though the candy's exterior carried a faint scent of tobacco.
At the same time, due to the physical contact and the obtained medium.
Xi Nian's hair suddenly turned dark green. The boy and the girl were like positive and negative magnets, their bodies tightly embracing each other. Fireworks-like green luminescence emerged and gathered around their bodies, swirling like a brilliant star belt encircling binary stars!
After a long while.
Lorna voluntarily stepped back, wiped her mouth, and gasped for air, "You almost suffocated me!"
Xi Nian was speechless, only then realizing that the girl had been holding her breath the entire time.
"Kiddo, I should go. Oh, I'm still investigating the Pietro matter." Lorna waved her hand casually, and without waiting for Xi Nian's response, she turned and left.
"Polaris, be careful yourself. And remember, don't smoke anymore," Xi Nian urged.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" Lorna glared back at him as if in a fit of pique, then turned and went downstairs... Xi Nian secretly opened the door and slipped in, only to look up and find Scarlet Maid standing in front of him, almost scaring him into a cold sweat!
"Master, it's time for dinner. Oh, what's wrong with your hair again?" Wanda looked at Xi Nian's hair curiously. Her Master's hair would change color, which she was almost used to by now.
But it was always silver before; why was it dark green this time?
"Let's eat dinner. Don't worry about these details," Xi Nian said, forcing himself to remain calm.
Wanda nodded and didn't press further, instead taking Xi Nian's slippers and placing them on the carpet.
Watching the Scarlet figure of the girl return to the living room, Xi Nian secretly sighed in relief.
He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like he'd been caught cheating by his 'little wife,' and the other person was his 'wife's sister'?
Ah, this was too exciting; his heart couldn't take it!
...A week passed.
During this week, Xi Nian finally felt like he had returned to his daily life as an ordinary person.
Of course, he knew this rare normalcy wouldn't last long.
After all, recent television and newspaper reports had begun to continuously broadcast news of people mysteriously disappearing!
The identities of these missing people varied: some were teachers, some were shop assistants, some were Professors, and some were just ordinary cleaners. The locations of their disappearances also varied: some were in their own homes, some were on their way home, and some evaporated from laboratories!
Cameras at the scene of the incidents were all uniformly broken, but they left behind many severe damage marks that could not have been caused by human hands!
Among them, Metropolis had the most missing people! This city, which was originally most protected by Superman, feared no crime, not even major natural disasters!
Xi Nian knew that this must be the dark forces from Apokolips, lurking on Earth, causing trouble.
So recently, Aunt Diana had become increasingly busy and had even specially taken Guan Luo, who spent all day sunbathing at home, wanting to use its abilities to help search for the evil presences of the Apocalypse forces.
Although the actual, overt war had not yet begun, Xi Nian could clearly feel the undercurrents swirling; the Justice League and the Apocalypse forces had already begun their strategic game!
The Justice League's objective was naturally to protect the remaining mother boxes and thoroughly eliminate the Apocalypse forces hidden in the shadows of Earth.
The Apocalypse forces' objective was to gather the three mother boxes and unite them as a trinity!
Therefore, once the war between the two sides broke out into the open, it would signify a battle where all final cards were played!
Xi Nian, evidently, was already prepared to be Aunt Diana's final trump card!