Chapter 168: Gossip

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Gossip

"Captain Kessler, did I cause trouble for you? I’m sorry..."

Luna Dawson widened her teary, captivating eyes. Her slender fingers gently tugged at the hem of Kyle Keith’s combat uniform, swaying it slightly. Her eyes brimmed with just the right amount of vulnerability, making her look incredibly pitiful.

Kyle Keith turned his gaze to Luna. The smile on his face didn’t diminish in the slightest as he spoke in a gentle tone. "It’s fine. I hope it didn’t ruin Captain Dawson’s appetite."

Luna gently withdrew her hand, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She then took an exquisitely packaged box of cookies from her spatial dimension and handed it over.

"These are butter cookies my grandfather specifically told me to bring. Since we also troubled Miss Stone just now, please accept this box of pastries as an apology."

Kyle Keith froze for a moment, taking several seconds before accepting the box. His smile was as warm as a spring breeze. "Alright, it would be impolite to decline then. Thank you, Captain Dawson."

Before long, Susan Vaughn’s injuries were properly treated. Tucking her head down, she practically fled back to the Endless Squad’s tent. As soon as she got inside, she gritted her teeth and cursed inwardly, "Luna Dawson, that damn woman! Nothing good ever happens when I run into her! Sooner or later, I’ll find a chance to kill her!"

On the other side, Luna’s gaze fell on the members of the Endless Squad. They were setting up iron pots and boiling water over fires, preparing to heat the standard-issue supplies distributed by the base. The rock-hard frozen steamed buns, mantou, and shumai, along with a good amount of high-energy biscuits, instant powders, and fruit and vegetable soups, were all pre-prepared rations. Just a moment of heating would make them ready to fill their stomachs.

She and Kyle casually chatted about trivial matters, the atmosphere peaceful and calm. It wasn’t until Miles Dawson came running over in a hurry to call her back for dinner that the two politely nodded and parted ways.

Little Tiger shrank back into its miniature form and leaped into Luna’s arms as they walked toward the light-steel villa together.

"Sister, the official meals are pretty good," Miles said as he walked, observing the camping grounds where cooking smoke rose everywhere.

"For the many people who can’t get enough to eat, it really is quite good," Luna replied in agreement.

For lunch, they had eaten the savory bacon rice balls distributed at departure, and for dinner, there were two or three flavors of steamed buns. In her past life, let alone having three square meals during a mission, if she could just eat like this for a single meal, she would have been so thrilled she’d wake up laughing in her sleep.

Just as the two entered the house, they heard Aaron Palmer’s booming voice ring out. "Is this charcoal really that amazing?"

Blake Blue was squatting down, adding large chunks of charcoal to the fireplace.

Lynn Shelby explained patiently, "This charcoal is made from the carbonized branches of mutated plants. It’s the latest product from the research institute, called Evolution Carbon No. 1. It has extremely high density, can burn for up to twelve hours, and is completely smokeless."

As they chatted, they saw Luna return and all turned to look at her. Luna didn’t waste time; after calling back Rollo and Tina, she closed the front door, walked over to the dining table, and pulled out thirty or forty boxed meals from her spatial dimension.

"Let’s eat, everyone."

"Luna, you’re back! That second-generation VIP from the base didn’t come with you?" Nancy Sullivan shoved the blocking Aaron out of the way and skipped over to sit in the chair next to Luna.

"Sister! I want to eat hot pot," Miles said, immediately taking a seat beside Luna.

Wayne Dawson frowned in disagreement. "Forget it, let’s keep a low profile. The smell of hot pot is too strong."

"Uncle Wayne is right. Let’s just eat the boxed meals—they’re quick and convenient. I did invite Kyle Keith, but he declined." Luna shrugged. It was for the best that he didn’t come, otherwise it would have been awkward eating together.

Nancy stared at Luna as if trying to read something from her face. Confused, Luna instinctively touched her own cheek.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Let me see... are you interested in Kyle Keith?" Nancy blurted out without a filter.

Luna rolled her eyes at her and raised three fingers in a swearing gesture. "Even if every man in the world died off, I still wouldn’t be interested in him."

"Haha, is there really a need to be so vicious?"

"PFFT."

"Brilliant."

Luna grumbled inwardly that there certainly was. He was the one who willingly associated himself with that disgusting Susan Vaughn. She couldn’t muster any good feelings for Kyle, even though he was undeniably handsome. But his smile never reached his eyes. When he smiled at her, she always got the feeling he was looking at something else entirely.

"Well, I think he’s handsomer than Francis Grant. Though Francis is handsome too, he acts too much like an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy, and he’s older," Nancy muttered.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Why are you paying so much attention to this stuff?"

"Just bored, I guess. Ever since joining the Special Abilities Operations Department, I’ve met a ton of people, and now I just go around eating up gossip every day," Nancy said as she took the boxed meal Shane Shaw handed her and opened it. As if recalling something else, she continued, "Vanessa Stone is the niece of the Seventh District’s mayor. Rumor has it that Kyle’s health is poor, so they specifically assigned someone to follow him."

"That woman even tried to flirt with Evan and Miles earlier." Kevin Keane leaned back comfortably in his chair, picking through the boxed meals, seemingly having a hard time choosing a flavor.

Upon hearing this, Evan Olson’s face flushed red. "I’m sure she was just scouting for squad members for Kyle."

Luna sighed helplessly. "Alas, when gods fight, mortals suffer."

Shane chuckled softly. "You guys are hardly mortals. Everyone knows you’re the ones who rescued Ron Rivers from the Containment Zone hospital. After this mission, the Sunset Squad will probably become even more famous around the base."

Nancy added, "Oh, right. A lot of people in the Special Operations Department are now saying you guys are close with Kyle."

"Don’t say that, we only had one meal with him," Aaron quickly clarified, wanting to distance themselves.

Luna smiled without saying a word, simply listening to everyone’s gossip as she slowly ate. She had chosen a rice bowl topped with boneless beef stir-fried with water bamboo and a side of braised pork. She took large bites, continuously absorbing the surrounding air into her spatial dimension and swapping it out with the fresh air from her spatial courtyard. She was terrified that the delicious aroma of their food might drift out through the cracks in the doors and windows.

Nancy really had a way with words. Her story about how Skylar Quinn pestered Francis Grant was told so vividly that it seemed to make everyone’s meal taste even better.

The meal ended amid everyone’s boisterous chatter. Shane handed over two Second Order Crystal Cores to pay for the food, then led his sister back to their squad’s tent. He mentioned they had just come over to say hello, and that moving forward they still had to eat and sleep with the main unit. After all, they were part of the official establishment; constantly seeking special treatment would only draw resentment.

It was only eight-thirty, so everyone headed back to their respective rooms to rest. Luna took the little ones into the master bedroom on the first floor and vanished into her spatial dimension.

The day’s events had completely exhausted her from all the car rides. Even though she didn’t have to walk, she was still drained. She had brought Purple Bean into the space many times now, and every time, it would excitedly chirp "Grandpa, Grandpa!" If the real grandfather wasn’t outside, Purple Bean probably would have never wanted to leave the space.

Now, as soon as it came in, it was very self-sufficient. It and Little Sweet Potato first went to the spring to scoop out a basin of spirit spring water, and the two happily went to soak and absorb the energy. Rollo and Little Tiger also had their own friends and vanished in a flash.

Luna went into the bathroom for a comfortable shower and immediately seized the time to hop into bed. With the army soldiers keeping watch with guns outside, even if she slept for ten hours in the dimension, only two hours would pass in the real world. Even if the sky fell, surely Francis Grant and Kyle Keith could hold the fort for two hours.

She slept until she naturally woke up. Sensing the outside of the space, everything was peaceful and quiet. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table outside the dimension—it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet.

Excellent. She got up, washed up, and tackled the seemingly endless farm work. In her heart, she happily wondered when her spatial dimension would finally be able to allow people inside.

Lost in thought, she quickly finished all the harvesting chores, grabbed a large bucket, and headed over to fertilize the Bodhi Tree again. Out of several thousand Crystal Cores, aside from the regular consumption for Crystal Core Solution, nearly half had been dedicated to this precious tree.