Chapter 179: Welcome Gift

[Aetheldawn Estate.]

​"Welcome Back, Boss!"

​The ten now heavily armed security guards standing at the grand wrought-iron gates greeted him in crisp unison, snapping upright in a sharp, military salute as Asher walked through the perimeter:

​"Continue with your work," Asher said with a simple, respectful nod, stepping onto the pristine estate grounds.

​So this was how it felt to be warmly welcomed home. Back in Starfire, only his siblings received this kind of high-status treatment—he could only ever watch silently from the sidelines, treated like an outcast.

​Asher lightly shook the bitter memory away. The second he reached the heavy oak front doors of the mansion, they swung wide open, and Juliana lunged at him from the entryway.

​"....?!"

​Asher quickly opened his arms, catching her mid-air before her momentum could send them both tumbling onto the marble floor.

​"You seem very happy today," he teased, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged him tightly against her chest.

​"Of course I am! Wait..." Juliana pulled back slightly, wrapping her arms loosely around her husband’s neck to stare up at his strikingly handsome face:

​"You are early... Way too early. Didn’t you leave just this morning? It’s only twelve noon!" She said, her eyes wide with concern.

​Normally, elite Awakened raiding teams would take over a day inside an SSS-RANK gate just to locate the central Boss chamber—finding the core creature was often far more difficult than fighting waves of standard high-rank monsters. Even if a full twenty-man squad tried their absolute hardest, reaching the Boss chamber within two days was considered an extraordinary speedrun.

​During that single day, raiders would constantly engage in grueling battles against beasts, completely draining their stamina, physical endurance, and energy pools. This inherent fatigue was the exact reason most cautious Awakened chose to exit a dungeon within twenty-four hours to rest.

​So, his early return could only mean two things: either Asher had abandoned the dungeon to stay safe, or he had actually cleared it.

​Juliana didn’t care in the slightest if Asher had chosen to abandon the SSS-RANK gate—seeing him standing right before her in one piece was more than enough to make her heart soar.

​"I really don’t mind if you abandoned that dungeon... It must have been far too dangerous anyway," she said, gazing up at him with a warm, brilliant smile.

​"Huh? What are you saying? I cleared the dungeon."

​"....?!"

​Juliana blinked a couple of times, her expression unbothered: "Who cares? Come on inside!"

​"....?!"

​Now it was Asher’s turn to be utterly stunned. He had fully expected her to celebrate his unbelievable, record-breaking victory, but her completely indifferent response left him utterly speechless. Was an SSS-RANK Dungeon really that insignificant in her eyes?

​Juliana playfully grabbed his arm, pulling him straight into the expansive, lavishly furnished living room. She pushed Asher down onto the soft leather sofa and immediately sat on his lap, leaving Asher completely dumbfounded by her bold sequence of actions.

​"Now... For your official welcome gift." she murmured, gently cupping his face in her warm hands before leaning in and kissing him straight on the lips.

​The mansion was quiet, and they were completely alone in the sitting room, so there was no one around to interrupt her.

​Asher blinked in surprise, but he certainly wasn’t the type of man to refuse a passionate kiss from his wife. Getting rewarded like this just for returning from a gate... What kind of reaction would he get once he successfully cured Kelly?

​Juliana didn’t hold back at all, parting his lips and deepening the kiss with practiced ease. Asher found himself stunned all over again—he was one hundred percent certain he was the only man she had ever kissed in her life, so how on earth was she so naturally talented? He wouldn’t even consider himself a complete novice, but Juliana’s intensity was something else entirely; compared to her bold approach, Kelly was still very much in the learning phase.

​’Wait... Doesn’t this girl need oxygen?’ He thought, growing genuinely astonished as the seconds ticked by.

​She kept the unbroken kiss going for thirty straight seconds without taking a single breath, and now it was quickly approaching a full minute. Asher set the luxury store bag down on the central glass coffee table, bringing his hands around her waist to pull her slender body flush against his chest. If she wanted to go all out, he certainly wasn’t going to hold back—he was going to show her proper dominance as the head of the family.

​Ten long, breathless minutes later, Asher finally broke the seal, gasping slightly for air as he separated from the kiss.

​What the hell...?!

​A normal human couldn’t possibly hold a kiss for that long without choking for air. If he didn’t possess his superhuman physical stats, and physiques, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with her for so long—meanwhile, Juliana didn’t look even remotely winded or short of breath.

​"You...?" He stared at her playful, triumphant smirk, thoroughly stunned.

​"How was your welcome gift?" Juliana asked seductively, slowly licking her lips as she looked down at him.

​"Where on earth are you learning all of this? And how can you go that long without taking a single breath of oxygen?" He asked, tightening his grip on her waist and pulling her firmly against his chest.

​Juliana’s smirk only widened at his strong reaction. She reached out and lightly tapped the tip of his nose with a slender finger:

​"I can easily substitute my raw spirit energy for atmospheric oxygen... As long as I have spirit energy circulating in my body, I don’t need to breathe air at all." She explained with a bright, innocent smile.

​"....?!"

​Asher blinked, utterly amazed. What kind of completely broken, cheat-like passive ability was that? Having the innate power to replace physical air with magical spirit energy—was that even supposed to be possible under world rules?

​"Explaining the deep mechanics of how it works would just give you a headache... But holding me this tight, don’t tell me you want to continue right here?" She leaned in closer, her warm breath brushing against his ear as she whispered:

​"Or... Do you want to take things even further? I really don’t mind... Besides, I’ve been very curious to see how you’ll handle me."

​".....?!"

​Was this girl actively trying to push him into breaking his explicit promise?! He finally remembered that beneath her refined noble exterior lay a wild, unpredictable streak, the gangster Queen. He was willing to admit defeat in this specific playful encounter, but very soon, she would be the one completely at his mercy, begging him for relief. He couldn’t help but grin wickedly at the thought:

​"I have Kelly’s cure... I can fully cure her right now."

​"...?!"

​Juliana instantly froze mid-movement, her playful demeanor vanishing as her entire body stiffened in absolute shock.