MD-Chapter 323 You Were Picked Up by Me

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A sudden, silly sneeze escaped Lily without warning.

After it happened, she stared at Arthur in shock and quickly began to wipe his face. "Sorry, sorry..."

"Lily... you've become a bit silly," Arthur said helplessly, wiping his face with his hand. "Now, lie down."

"...What are you going to do?" Lily asked nervously.

Arthur replied, "I'm going to boil some water for you and find some cold medicine."

"Then..." Lily grabbed Arthur's sleeve and asked, "Why couldn't I reach you on the phone?"

"...Because I was at a different place," Arthur said, glancing at her and taking a deep breath.

Some things needed to be said.

He looked at Lily seriously. "Lily, I like you!"

"Ah?" Lily's eyes widened, and then she couldn't help but smile, her grin stretching almost from ear to ear.

"...Don't get too happy just yet," Arthur said, feeling a warmth spread through him.

What could be more joyful than realizing that the person you like feels the same way?

"Oh," Lily responded immediately, her glances at Arthur becoming even more intense.

This intensity was clearly not due to her fever.

In fact, at that moment, Arthur felt as if he might catch a fever himself.

He took a deep breath. "Wait for me."

After rummaging through the cabinets for a while and failing to find any cold medicine, he finally boiled a pot of water. Then, he drew the Eye of Horus in the air.

Under the golden light, Lily let out a comfortable hum.

"What is this?" She looked at the eye-like symbol above her head, marveling at its presence and magic.

"The Eye of Horus," Arthur explained. "It has three forms, and this is one of them."

"Then... what did you use when you flew?" Lily had clearly been holding onto this question for a while.

"That was the Wings of the Raven God," Arthur said, gently pressing his hand to her forehead. "Now, listen to me first. There are some things I need to tell you honestly. I want you to know who I really am. Finally, I'll give you one last choice... a choice about whether to be with me or not."

"Of course I—"

"Don't rush," Arthur quickly interrupted, seeing her eagerness. "Listen to me first, okay? There are some things I can only share with you."

"Oh."

Lily nodded, her eyes wide and blinking.

Arthur couldn't help but feel a mix of laughter and tears at her expression. Clearly, her mind was racing with thoughts.

This girl's thought process had always been a bit different from most people's.

Feeling the golden light slowly healing Lily's budding cold, Arthur began softly, "I won't go into the distant past. Let me tell you about my beginnings... as you know, I'm the one you've heard about in rumors... the Instructor."

The story was a bit long, starting from his days as a rookie soldier during World War II to the battle with Schmidt on the wings of the Valkyrie. Arthur explained carefully: "I thought that was my end, but I didn't expect to come back to life and meet you."

"No wonder," Lily perked up. "No wonder your clothes looked so strange. When I was doing laundry, I thought they were tattered but resembled a military uniform. I figured you were just a small-time extra in a film crew who got beaten up by some bad guys."

"Actually, you're not wrong. I did get beaten up by some bad guys," Arthur said with a self-deprecating smile.

"But you're a hero..." Lily propped her chin on her hand, gazing at him.

"I... am not a hero," Arthur shook his head. "After that, many things happened. I'm still alive, so there are still stories to tell. Some people know about me, some have found me. Among them... is the big green guy we saw. He may look intimidating, but he's really interesting."

"Interesting?" Lily seemed skeptical about that description.

"It was an accident."

Arthur briefly explained what happened with Banner.

Lily listened quietly, her expression serious.

"And after that, I had an accident..."

Arthur continued, "An accident occurred while harnessing the energy of the Tesseract. Because of my connection to it, I was lost for seventy years. My deep ties with the Tesseract caused its energy to go out of control during the experiment. In a critical moment, I had to cut off the energy transmission channel, but the result was that the Tesseract sent me away..."

"So that's why you disappeared?"

A trace of fear crossed Lily's face.

Arthur nodded. "I went to the universe and saw many incredible things, all kinds of aliens..."

"...Were they friendly?"

"They treated me as a prisoner," Arthur smiled. "Of course, some were friendly, but others were not. And at that time... I was broken..."

Lily instinctively grabbed Arthur's hand.

Then Arthur continued to share his story: escaping from prison, meeting Star-Lord and Yondu, going on adventures with Star-Lord, the war on the trading planet... He didn't hide any of these events.

He recounted how he encountered the Bifrost, met Thor, and finally returned to Earth.

Arthur tried to present his story to Lily in the simplest and most relatable way.

Finally, he talked about the battle in New York, SHIELD, even the Mandarin, and then the Aether Particles and the Dark Elves.

Then Arthur looked at Lily seriously. "Actually, today was an accident. I'm dangerous, and my surroundings are dangerous too. I never planned to take our relationship further at this time. Because..."

"You're worried about my safety?" Lily tilted her head, looking at him, then suddenly smiled. "My boyfriend is a hero! You're fighting bloody battles for all of humanity; how could I be a burden to you? I'll be fine, I'll be as I always was, quietly... I'll try to minimize my presence. I... I want to be with you; I don't want to be apart from you. Even if there's danger, I'm not afraid."

As if worried Arthur might change his mind, she grabbed his sleeve. "You were picked up by me; you can't leave me."

(End of Chapter)