Chapter 367: Chapter 367
"How about your body? Is there anywhere that still feels uncomfortable?" Suzy asked again.
"I feel much better now," Mark replied.
"Then get up and freshen up. After breakfast, I’ll drive you to the base," Suzy said.
Mark nodded upon hearing her words.
"By the way, here are some clothes. They might not fit perfectly, but put them on for now."
Suzy pulled a neatly folded set of clothes from a drawer and handed them to him—something she had retrieved from her spatial realm. During her earlier free-for-all supply sweeps, she had collected plenty of clothing in all sorts of sizes, both men’s and women’s, which came in handy right about now.
As for Mark’s original clothes, she had stashed them in her spatial realm. The cleansing talisman had stripped them far too clean, and fearing it might spark his suspicion, she decided against returning them to him.
Mark took the clothes, looking a little dazed for a beat before squeezing out a response: "...Thank you."
Suzy thought he was surprisingly polite.
"Get dressed then. I’m going to freshen up."
With that, she opened the bathroom door and stepped inside.
Mark glanced at the closed bathroom door, then down at the clothes in his hands, and swiftly changed.
When Suzy came out again, Mark was already fully dressed. The simple T-shirt and trousers she picked fit his slender frame surprisingly well.
"How does it feel?" she asked.
Mark offered her a gentle smile: "Very comfortable. Thank you."
"Your turn to wash up," Suzy gestured toward the bathroom as she stepped out.
Shortly after he went inside, she opened the mini-fridge, grabbed some bread and milk, and set them on the dining table. Without waiting for him, she began eating her own share.
By the time Mark emerged, Suzy was already halfway through breakfast.
"Breakfast is right there. Help yourself."
Mark sat down across from her without standing on ceremony, tearing open the bread packaging and opening the milk before eating with quiet, polite grace.
The cabin fell silent for a while, save for the faint sounds of chewing and the occasional gust of wind outside the window.
Once finished, Suzy gathered the trash into a bag. She stood up, gave the cups and tabletop a quick wipe, and glanced out the window.
Morning had fully broken, light filtering through the murky grey cloud cover to cast pale shadows across the ground. The road ahead was much clearer than last night, and the rain-slicked asphalt was gradually drying off.
Suzy turned her attention back to Mark. "We should be good to go. Are you ready?"
Mark nodded, finishing the last sip of milk.
Suzy stepped on the accelerator, and the RV slowly lurked forward, jostling on the muddy terrain. Discreetly, she slapped down a Grounding Talisman, and the ride instantly smoothed out.
Mark leaned back against the couch, gazing out the window. Their RV was the only vehicle traveling along this muddy stretch of road.
"Are we heading to the base now?" he asked suddenly.
"Yeah," Suzy replied, assuming he was eager to get there. "It’s pretty quick from here—we should arrive in about half an hour."
A subtle flicker passed through Mark’s eyes.
The base... there doesn’t seem to be any reason to go there anymore. Now that the curse inside him had vanished, he was free to go wherever he pleased.
"Are you not going to the base?" he asked.
"Nope," she said.
"Then where are you planning to go?"
Suzy paused for a moment before answering softly, "My friend is in P City. I need to make a trip over there."
"Oh," Mark murmured.
Suzy didn’t push the topic further, and a quiet lull settled between them again.
It wasn’t until they approached a fork in the road that Mark broke the silence out of nowhere:
"Can I come with you to P City?"
Mark’s request caught Suzy off guard. She instinctively slammed on the brakes and turned to glance back at him.
Mark looked entirely innocent, his eyes filled with pure earnestness.
"Why the sudden interest in that base?" she asked, feeling that something was slightly off.
"When you brought up P City’s base, it reminded me of something, so I changed my mind," Mark replied, his voice smooth as silk. He stopped short of explaining what that "something" actually was.
After all, it was just a spur-of-the-moment lie to tag along with her. He didn’t actually care where he went; now that the curse in his body was gone, he had zero lingering worries. Right now, staying close to Suzy promised far more entertainment than anything else.
Suzy didn’t agree right away. Stepping back on the gas, she spun the wheel and turned the vehicle around, heading straight toward P City.
It wasn’t until Mark noticed the scenery shifting outside the window that Suzy finally spoke in an unhurried tone: "Alright, let’s go together then."
Keeping him around wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, she was still hung up on the noise she’d overheard earlier—specifically those words about a "romance strategy."
Lately, she found herself replaying that moment over and over, feeling more suspicious by the day. She had a strong hunch that what she’d heard wasn’t an illusion at all.
Mark was definitely someone worth keeping an eye on; he might be hiding a massive secret. Instinct told her that keeping this guy close wouldn’t hurt. She hadn’t picked up any malicious intent from him, and besides, his combat strength was impressive. Traveling together to P City would be much easier than going solo.
In a matter of seconds, she had weighed all the pros and cons in her mind.
Upon hearing her agreement, a faint smile spread across Mark’s face. "Thank you."
"Don’t mention it."
With a mutual agreement reached, Suzy continued driving.
P City was hundreds of kilometers away, and with the roads in terrible shape, the journey wouldn’t be easy. If they could take the highway directly, it would cut the travel time down significantly. The problem was that large stretches of the highway were completely destroyed, forcing Suzy to make multiple detours in just a few short hours.
Five hours flew by in a blur.
"Are you tired of driving? Want me to take over?"
Seeing Suzy yawn several times in a row, her energy visibly flagging, Mark floated the question carefully.
"Can you drive?" Suzy asked without turning her head, letting out another small yawn.
"Yeah, I have my driver’s license," he replied.
In that case... letting him take the wheel didn’t sound like a bad idea.
"Sure, let’s swap in a bit," she said. She was indeed feeling exhausted; driving was a physically demanding task that required non-stop focus, especially when navigating around countless road hazards despite being the only vehicle on the road.
"Okay."
Suzy slowly pulled the RV over in an open clearing ahead and swapped seats with Mark. She settled into the passenger seat and clicked her seatbelt into place.
The moment her buckle clicked, the vehicle started up.
As the chassis swayed, Suzy instinctively glanced over at Mark, only to realize that he had already started driving without putting his seatbelt on.
"Seatbelt!" she quickly reminded him.
Mark caught on belatedly. "Oh, right."
"Buckle up before you start driving—didn’t they teach you that?" she chided gently.
"I know, I just forgot," Mark replied honestly. He reached out with one hand to fumble for the strap, but kept missing it.
Just as Suzy was getting rendered speechless, Mark finally caught hold of the seatbelt. He pulled it down, glanced at the buckle, and began poking around.
He lined up the metal tongue over the latch twice, but missed the slot entirely. The edge of the tongue pushed the side of the buckle off-center, clinking against the plastic casing. He tried a second time, but it still wouldn’t click. A subtle frown creased his brow, as if he genuinely couldn’t comprehend why such a simple task was giving him trouble.
Sitting in the passenger seat, watching him fail his third attempt to push it in, Suzy finally couldn’t hold back:
"...Are you clumsy, or are you doing this on purpose?"
Mark turned his head to look at her, his expression thoroughly innocent—as if saying, "I’m really trying here."
Without a word, he lowered his head and gave it another shot. This time, the metal tongue actually slid into the latch, but something got caught. The moment he let go, it popped right back out with a soft snap.
Watching his clumsy struggle, Suzy let out a helpless sigh. "Let me do it."
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