"What's going on?"
This girl had been acting strangely all day, and now at night, she even came sneaking around to spy on them. And what, she peeps at him and then just runs away? Then wouldn't all the Tesseract energy he's been absorbing all this time be for nothing?
With a flash of movement, Arthur was already standing right in front of Mantis. Yet she didn't even seem to notice, and with a plop sound, she bumped straight into Arthur.
It was like touching Iron Man as her body twisted, about to fall over.
Arthur quickly reached out to steady her by the shoulder. "Hey now, faking an accident for compensation isn't going to work."
Mantis, dizzy from the collision and nearly seeing stars, looked at Arthur with teary eyes full of inexplicable fear, quickly stumbling back a step.
She wanted to run again, but what had just happened told her clearly: in front of this man, escape was nothing but a fantasy. All she could do was look at Arthur pitifully. "I'm sorry…"
Sorry? For what?
Arthur was speechless, rubbing his chin in thought for a long moment before finally speaking. "Are you… really that afraid of me?"
Mantis instinctively nodded, then quickly realized what she was doing and shook her head violently. "No! I'm not afraid!"
"Yeah, I totally believe that," Arthur's mouth twitched.
"Really?" Mantis raised her head to look at him, but the instant she caught sight of his expression, she ducked her head back down. "I'm sorry…"
"…If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?" Arthur really had no idea what else to say.
"What's a police?" Mantis asked.
"Mm, they're special people whose job is to catch folks like you who like to spy on others."
"Are they all as strong as you?" Mantis asked.
"Compared to me… well, they are about the same," Arthur shook his head, not planning to argue on that point. "So then, why are you so afraid of me?"
Mantis kept her head lowered, silent and unmoving, as if she didn't even exist.
Arthur almost laughed, then said helplessly: "Do you even know who I am?"
"No."
"Ever heard of me before?"
"No."
"Know where I came from?"
"No idea."
'Good grief. She knows absolutely nothing, then why is she so curious about him?'
Arthur's brows rose and furrowed, feeling twistedly annoyed. "Let me tell you then. I come from a faraway land, and in our country, if someone bumps into another person, they receive a penalty."
Mantis's eyes widened, and she immediately lifted her head. "What kind of penalty?"
Arthur hesitated slightly, then said seriously: "The death penalty."
"Ahhhhhhh!!!" Mantis screamed and bolted.
Arthur froze. 'She actually believed it? What's wrong with this girl?'
In the blink of an eye, he vanished, reappearing directly in front of Mantis. She barreled right into him again while trying to flee!
When Arthur steadied her once more, she looked utterly desperate. "I don't want to die… even less do I want to die twice!"
Seeing that she was genuinely terrified, Arthur couldn't help but feel like laughing and crying at the same time. "It's fine. In my country we have laws. If you bump into someone once, it's the death penalty. But if you bump into someone twice, two death sentences cancel each other out."
"Really!?" Mantis looked at him in shock. "The laws in your country are incredible!"
'Yeah, they are incredibly ridiculous! Who in their right mind would believe that, except her!'
"Alright, you don't need to die anymore. So, why don't you tell me, why were you spying on me during the day? And at night, why sneak over to my room's door? What exactly were you planning?"
Arthur tried to relax his expression as much as possible. He couldn't shake the feeling that this girl was like a startled bird, raise his voice a little, make his face a bit stern, and she'd bolt without hesitation!
The girl with the antennae lowered her head again, biting her lip. After hesitating for a long while, she finally said: "I sensed… that you were trying to destroy."
Arthur's heart instantly skipped a beat. He actually did know a little about this girl, after all, he'd seen her in the movies.
She possessed a very special ability, one that could put Ego to sleep and also read people's emotions. In terms of spiritual and mental powers, she was incredibly strong.
He hadn't expected, though, that just watching him from afar, she'd already be able to sense it.
Was his intent really that obvious?
Even though Ego likely didn't have an ability like this, what if he had a hint of it? Would he start fighting Arthur the moment they met again? That possibility wasn't zero.
Arthur took a deep breath, calming himself, and smiled as he said: "Destroy? Destroy what?"
"Destroy this place…"
Mantis risked a cautious glance at Arthur before lowering her head again. "But… the purpose behind your destruction seems to be… to help."
Her ability was really this strong? Arthur's expression stiffened slightly as he looked at the girl in front of him.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Would you be willing to come to my room? We could have a proper talk."
The moment the words left his mouth, even he felt speechless. 'Why did that sound like some sleazy trick to lure in a naïve young girl?'
But Mantis looked at Arthur, then actually nodded! She didn't hesitate much either, which surprised Arthur. 'Well, since she'd agreed, he had no reason to back down.' The two of them went to Arthur's room.
The room wasn't small, but its furnishings were quite simple. Aside from the necessary equipment, there was just a table and some chairs. The two sat down, and Mantis still looked very reserved.
Looking at her like this, Arthur couldn't help but feel as if she were the guest here, while he was the real host of the place…
Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, Arthur tapped the table twice with his finger and said: "We didn't get a proper introduction earlier today. I'll go first. My name is Arthur, and I come from a great nation on a peaceful planet!"
"My name is Mantis… I don't even know where I come from," Mantis blinked.
Arthur chuckled. "That's alright. It's enough that you exist. Sometimes, knowing where we come from isn't necessary."
"You think so too?" Mantis looked at him in surprise, then smiled. "I feel the same way."
"Looks like we should celebrate our first shared belief," Arthur said. "So then, how about we explore a second question?"
Mantis tilted her head curiously at him.
Arthur looked into her innocent eyes and, for a moment, didn't know how to phrase it.
After a long silence, he finally said: "I really do… want to destroy this place."
(End of chapter)
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