Li Haojun and Malaya's Las Vegas mission was still ongoing, so they had to stay put during their day off. Li Haojun needed to wait for new testing equipment to arrive for installation and calibration. But how would the two pass the time on this day off?
At the hotel breakfast table, Li Haojun gazed at Malaya across from him, a smile spreading across his face.
Malaya glanced at him before returning to her meal.
Li Haojun knew she must have sensed what he was thinking—his mind had drifted back to last year's trip here with her and Qin Wenjing. Only this young girl seemed to have matured significantly over the past half-year. He could no longer interact with her as freely as before. Li Haojun truly missed those carefree, joyful times.
“Ethan, do you have any plans for today?” Malaya finally spoke up.
“No, you always arrange my schedule, so I haven't thought about it.”
“Today is a day off.”
“Oh, right.” Staring at Malaya's now somewhat unfamiliar face, Li Haojun could only sigh silently.
"So? What do you want to do? May I accompany you?" The question arose because Li Haojun noticed that today, Malaya had gotten up early—he didn't know when—and braided her hair into many tiny plaits. She secured them with colorful hair ties, coiled them atop her head, and applied light blue eyeshadow, orange-red blush, and bright red lipstick. She looked completely different from the innocent young girl she used to be.
Perhaps this was the vibrant youth she desired.
“Hmm, shall we go to Earth Village again?”
“Sure.”
Early summer in Las Vegas meant the sun was already blazing fiercely. A breeze carried the scent of sun-baked gravel, and waves of heat washed over them.
Holding Malaya's hand as they walked along the path in front of the hotel, Li Haojun finally saw a smile appear on her face.
He wondered if he had been deliberately distant with her because she had grown up, causing her unhappiness.
Just as they reached the intersection to wait for their pre-booked taxi, Li Haojun noticed his hand, clasping Malaya's, had become sweaty. He glanced at Malaya again. Her white smock reflected the scorching sunlight perfectly; she showed no sign of perspiration.
“My uniform has temperature regulation,” Malaya explained.
“Oh, that's nice. But actually, sweating serves a metabolic purpose. Moderate perspiration in summer helps expel the cold accumulated in the body during winter—that's how I understand it.” "Li Haojun immediately thought of his greatest concern regarding Malaya's health, not wanting her to suffer from internal cold dampness accumulation due to this air-conditioned uniform.
Malaya smiled and teased,
“Hmm, okay.”
As they spoke, Li Haojun noticed her hand was already slippery with sweat—whether from the heat or his own nervousness, he couldn't tell.
Worried she might dislike his dampness, he tried to quietly withdraw his hand, but Malaya showed no sign of letting go.
Their pre-booked air taxi arrived—a two-seater quadcopter. Local taxis sported a blue-and-white livery, reminiscent of the azure skies and white clouds over the Las Vegas desert.
Their hotel wasn't far from Earth Village in downtown Las Vegas, but there was a noticeable vertical elevation difference. The air taxi began climbing immediately after takeoff. Looking down, the gradual change in building heights from the city center to the outskirts was clearly visible.
“What should we do?” Malaya asked, flipping through the activity booking screen.
Li Haojun was still pondering the earlier question about Malaya wearing a thermoregulatory suit. She was young, perhaps naturally warm due to high metabolism, but what about her joints? Could prolonged exposure to low temperatures affect their health? Or was it simply that her Western physiology differed from his, rendering such concerns irrelevant?
“What?” Li Haojun hadn't caught the beginning of Malaya's question.
“I asked what attraction you'd like to try?”
“Ah, you pick. Anything's fine,” Li Haojun leaned closer to look at the screen too.
“Let's ride the roller coaster.”
Li Haojun hesitated.
“Heh, scared?” Malaya chuckled.
“Well, I just don't think we should take unnecessary risks,” he said, then quickly added,
" I mean, if there's any maintenance issue, we shouldn't..." He watched Malaya's expression as he spoke, then quickly added,
“I'd rather ride in a plane you're piloting than this thing.”
Malaya smiled at him without comment.
Li Haojun grimaced wryly.
“Then let's play the simulated Colosseum. That can't be dangerous.”
“Fine. If you like it, I'll play with you.”
“Mm.”
Soon the air taxi landed at the transportation hub of the vertical city. They took an elevator to the amusement park.
This simulated Colosseum attraction was a 3D virtual space interactive game. Due to electromagnetic forces, players had to change into form-fitting suits and remove all metal objects. Each person then occupied a human-machine interface station.
First, the holographic view displayed the ancient Roman Colosseum, complete with spectators. Heh. Li Haojun glanced at Malaya beside him. In the game environment, she was already clad in armor. Looking down at himself, he saw they were wearing matching outfits—couple's gear, ha.
“What do you think?” Malaya asked, though it wasn't clear what exactly she was asking about.
“Alright, do we need to coordinate?”
“Just wing it. Pick your weapons, pick your weapons.”
Urged by Malaya, Li Haojun glanced at the prompt menu. The opening difficulty pitted them against eight wolves. Available weapons included short swords and shields, long-handled battle axes, spears, heavy swords...
He turned to see Malaya had already chosen—dual swords in hand. The weapons players wielded were physical objects, but electromagnetic forces simulated varying mass characteristics to adapt to each player's grip and strength.
Following Chinese tradition, a bamboo pole could fend off wolves, so Li Haojun considered selecting a long staff. Finding none available, he settled for a spear instead.
As the game commenced, Li Haojun realized it differed from his expectations. These wolves wouldn't halt merely because someone brandished a stick. They were genuine predators, interacting with each other as they approached cautiously from various angles.
Li Haojun glanced back at Malaya, standing back-to-back with him.
“Ready?” Malaya's clear voice asked.
How should he respond? He'd never done this before. His stick could only swing in full circles, but with Malaya behind him, he could only manage half-circles—otherwise he'd hit his own ally. What should he do?
“I'll try my best,” he murmured.
“Hahahaha!” Her clear laughter erupted as she lunged forward, thrusting her left-hand sword at the foremost wolf.
Canids were uniquely social creatures—sensitive and cunning. Malaya's single move had triggered the entire pack's offensive.
Fortunately, Li Haojun's spear held a length advantage. He lowered his left hand and suddenly thrust forward with his right, scaring off the wolf in front.
Just then, one wolf attempted to flank him from the left front. Li Haojun yanked his spear back and lunged fiercely at it. At this distance, he should have hit, but the beast was cunning. It twisted its body, dodged, and leaped away.
Li Haojun never imagined the opening would be this challenging. This wasn't like some casual game! As he pondered this, his peripheral vision caught a wolf circling toward Malaya.
Using the momentum from withdrawing his spear, Li Haojun swung it overhead with both hands. Anticipating its path, he channeled all his strength into a crushing blow aimed at the wolf's midsection.
This time, the blow connected. The wolf howled and fled, tail tucked between its legs.
As his left knee hit the ground, Li Haojun glanced toward Malaya. A wolf was limping away from her as well.
In that instant, another wolf leapt toward him from the corner of his left eye. His left hand snatched the spear shaft back to block the attack.
The charging wolf bit down on the shaft instead of Li Haojun. Though it missed him, the sheer force of the impact knocked him off balance. He twisted his upper body, yanking his left arm back while swinging his right arm upward to rotate the spear shaft 90 degrees. As he hit the ground, he drove the shaft into the earth. His right elbow followed through, pinning the wolf to the ground.
Immediately, the wolf circling in his peripheral vision on the right lunged forward. Li Haojun’s right hand was already occupied. He tried to roll over and swing his left arm, but a flash of cold steel appeared before him—Malaya’s right-hand sword had already sliced through the wolf’s shoulder blade.
“Challenge won. 6 injuries, 2 escapes. Game over.” With the prompt, the wolves on the ground—and the one that had charged into him by inertia—vanished.
Li Haojun rose to his feet and saw Malaya standing before him. The setting sun of the ancient arena seemed to pierce through time, illuminating the armor she wore. Beneath that armor, however, lay the graceful form of a woman.
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