The next morning.
Qi Li was sleeping in, hugging the world's largest diamond.
A knock came at an inopportune moment.
"My dearest Qi Li, your good friend Maverick is back!"
"Still not up? Forget it, I'll come in myself."
"Huh? The door is locked?"
"With my years of experience paying house calls, Qi Li, you must be hiding a man or a woman in there."
"I wonder who it could be? I really want to know..."
When Qi Li was woken by the knocking, someone's muttering still continued without pause outside the door.
In a foul morning mood, he shouted toward the door: "Damn it! Maverick, if you don't shut your stinking mouth in the next second, I swear! I'll pull out the intestines behind you and stuff them into your stinking mouth."
Qi Li meant it.
Maverick fell silent all at once.
Qi Li didn't say another word; his mouth was now blocked by the tall foreign woman beside him.
Sigrid also woke up.
She was in her normal state right now.
Qi Li had asked her about it last night.
When excited, Sigrid often couldn't control herself and would go straight into diamond form.
To keep Qi Li from being caught off guard midway, she had gone into diamond form right from the start, to give him a heads-up so he could gauge his limits.
If it really didn't work out, there was still time to regret it.
She hadn't truly intended to harm anyone.
Fortunately, Qi Li had risen to the challenge.
He was so glad he had prioritized super defense.
Thanks to Steelclaw Man, thanks to Shuttle, thanks to the superhumans who had died at his own hands.
Without them, how could he have enjoyed such unprecedented novelty, thrill, and endlessly memorable experience?
It had to be admitted.
Compared to ordinary humans, superhumans could play far too many tricks.
As Qi Li got dressed and got up to open the door, he noticed several head-shaped indentations on the ceiling.
One could imagine how intense last night's battle had been.
He opened the room door.
Maverick was still the same; all that could be seen in front was that red hat.
"Hey, bro."
Maverick extended a hand to greet him amiably, though Qi Li couldn't see his hand.
"I thought you wouldn't be able to get out of bed today."
Groggy and grumpy, Qi Li yawned and stepped aside to let him in.
No misunderstanding—he just thought that since Maverick had crawled all over campus yesterday, he should continue resting now.
Maverick walked in, saying confidently: "My skin is carbon super-material, tough and durable. That is... wow! It seems last night's battle was even more intense than mine."
Maverick noticed the completely collapsed bed in Qi Li's room at that moment and exclaimed immediately.
Just as he was speculating which male or female at the school was most likely to have spent the night with Qi Li, Sigrid fastened her trench coat and glided over from the sofa.
"Hey, Maverick."
Sigrid walked over, first openly kissing Qi Li, then greeting Maverick, and headed straight for the washroom.
"Hey, Sigrid."
Maverick stared at Sigrid's back, stunned for a moment.
Once the washroom door closed,
he hurriedly said to Qi Li, his tone full of disbelief: "Oh my god! You actually hooked up with the school's super-popular White Widow?"
As the former Godkin University No. 3, Sigrid was very popular both on and off campus.
Qi Li wasn't surprised by that.
But what did White Widow mean?
He asked Maverick.
Maverick explained quickly: "White Widow—that is, Sigrid's superpower is diamond form. Not only her skin and internal organs, but everything about her turns into diamond. Can you imagine, when you hook up with her, the image of two diamond mountains, the hardest in the world, suddenly rushing at you at supersonic speed to squeeze you?"
Hearing this, Qi Li nodded slowly, full of reminiscence.
No need to imagine—he had personally practiced it.
Seeing Qi Li's expression, Maverick clutched his head with both hands, looking shocked: "Oh my god!! Qi Li, you couldn't have..."
Maverick thought his good brother had lost the second half of his life.
Since it concerned his reputation, Qi Li hurriedly patted his chest to indicate he was unharmed.
Maverick half-believed, half-doubted: "Really? I heard that last year a guy at school kept pursuing Sigrid, and when she got annoyed, she just pinched with five fingers, and then..."
As fellow men, whenever Maverick thought of that bloody scene, he couldn't help but bare his teeth.
As Qi Li listened, his own facial features twitched unconsciously.
In the spirit of science, Maverick continued:
"The adductor muscle group of both legs can generate far more force than the grip of a palm. Plus Sigrid's incredibly hard diamond body. Such a fragile place—not even a superhuman can withstand it. Over the years, the only one who wasn't afraid at all was Godkin University's former No. 1, nicknamed 'Steel Soldier,' Derek, who has been pursuing Sigrid all along."
"That's because his superpower also covered his little brother, so of course he wasn't afraid."
At that moment, the washroom door opened, and Sigrid's voice came from inside.
Maverick's eyes lit up as if he'd heard earth-shattering news, and he hurriedly asked: "So, when Derek uses his superpower, he becomes a stainless steel man?"
Sigrid had tied her hair into a neat high ponytail, walked out, and said lightly: "That's a very apt summary."
Maverick turned into a gossip reporter and asked excitedly: "Then why does he still pursue you?"
Sigrid said expressionlessly: "To prove his male dominance to others? To use my fame to keep climbing? Who knows. Anyway, I'm not interested in playing with his fingers."
"By the way, Qi Li wasn't lying. Last night I had the most wonderful night of my life."
Sigrid finally walked up to Qi Li, straightened his collar, waved her hand, and left with flair,
"I'm off. Let's hang out when you have time."
Maverick watched Sigrid leave, turned back to look at Qi Li, and said with sincere admiration:
"Bro, you're awesome! Only one day into school and you're already with Sigrid."
Qi Li remained very calm: "Just getting what each of us needs, that's all."
Sigrid had seriously mentioned to him last night that she didn't want this time, nor any future interaction, to affect either of their respective lives.
Now she focused more on her career; love was just a seasoning.
Qi Li naturally praised her as a career-minded strong woman, a true representative of women in the new era.
Hearing this, Maverick admired him even more: "Qi Li, you're practically a model for men."
"Does that include you and Sloan?"
"Of course not, we're true love."
"Heh."
"If you don't believe me, Qi Li, I'll bring Sloan over and personally prove to you how perfectly in tune we are, devoted only to each other."
"...I swear to God, if you really do that, I'll stuff you into a donkey's ass, so you'll never be separated."
Chapter 18