Seeing the mischievous grin on William's face, Laura—who already had feelings for him—didn't hesitate in the strange atmosphere of this alien world.
She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and pressed her lips against his.
As for William, it was impossible for him not to be tempted by the 21-year-old, vibrant, and fiery Laura Crawford.
Before long, his flowing red cape expanded, fusing with the materials of his armor, enveloping both of them in a cocoon of privacy.
More than an hour later, William descended from the sky, holding an exhausted Laura, her body still wrapped in the embrace of the cape.
Flying toward the small cave near the waterfall, he entered the narrow two-meter-high shelter.
Inside, he found several firearms—both long and short—but all out of ammunition.
A crude wooden bed, a few cups, some animal-skin blankets, and other simple living supplies littered the area.
Seeing how rudimentary her living conditions were, William, used to a life of luxury, initially planned to teleport Laura straight back to London.
But on second thought, Laura Crawford wasn't the type of woman who would cling to him just because they shared an intimate moment.
Unlike Nissa and Selene, who had already signed blood contracts with him, Laura was still independent.
More importantly, there was no need to reveal his interstellar teleportation abilities just yet.
His Sentinel armor and abilities? That could be explained with technology.
After all, if someone could invent a spaceship, creating a flight-capable, electricity-wielding battle suit wasn't that surprising.
As for magic, England had plenty of wizards, and ever since William imposed a mass silence spell inside Buckingham Palace, the supernatural community worldwide was well aware of his existence.
Only those who had been in seclusion for decades might still be in the dark.
Most importantly, William wasn't ready to leave this planet just yet.
He wanted to see whether Laura thought this was an underground world beneath Earth or if she realized they were on an alien planet.
Approaching the wooden bed, he prepared to lay the already-sleeping Laura down so he could go check on the Thunderbird and see if it could be tamed.
But as he tried to let go, he found that even in her sleep, she was still holding onto him tightly.
With no other choice, he decided against leaving.
After all, abandoning her right after an intimate moment wasn't exactly gentlemanly.
—
Two hours later, William, still dozing, suddenly felt someone staring at him.
Without opening his eyes, he extended his psychic senses and immediately sensed Laura watching him with a smile.
Smirking, he tightened his arms and pulled her onto his chest, rubbing his face against hers playfully.
Another hour later, thoroughly recharged, William and an equally worn-out Laura left the cave and headed to the waterfall to freshen up.
Perhaps due to losing her father and spending so much time alone in this dangerous world, Laura's mind was now completely fixated on William.
Not only did she smile more, but she also started throwing small, harmless tantrums—she even acted coy at times, which was unusual for her.
They swam in the pool beneath the waterfall for an hour until King Kong, unable to hold back his hunger any longer, began growling softly despite his fear of William.
Laughing, the two left the water and started preparing a fire to cook meat.
With William's help, the pile of logs King Kong had knocked down was quickly arranged into a neat stack and set ablaze.
As they cooked, Laura finally had the chance to ask how William had found her.
After thinking for a moment, William answered honestly, "I was in the North Pacific with Nissa and Selene, watching right whales, when I unexpectedly received your recorded distress signal.
At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, but after listening a few more times, I realized the voice sounded familiar.
Then, when Sunday tried contacting you and found you'd been missing for over a year, I knew something was wrong."
Hearing that William hadn't come specifically to find her—that he had just been enjoying himself at sea with two women and stumbled upon her signal—Laura's smile faded.
William chuckled and pulled her into an embrace, then began telling her, with some omissions, about his time stranded on Mars.
Hearing that William had been trapped on Mars all alone, Laura immediately tightened her grip on his arm, concern flooding her face.
"And then what? How did you get out?" she asked anxiously.
"Ha! I did everything I could to survive until Nissa and Selene arrived in a newly built spaceship to rescue me."
Hearing this, Laura—who had held nothing but disdain for those two—felt a flicker of gratitude toward them.
However, she couldn't help but snark, "So, after they saved you, you took them on a yacht party?"
William laughed. "If not for them, I wouldn't have gone to the North Pacific to watch whales.
And without that, I wouldn't have received your distress signal or tracked you down."
"Hmph."
Even though she understood his point, accepting the fact that William had other women in his life wasn't easy for her.
But she had always known what kind of man William was.
From the moment she first met him at a militia parade in Wales four years ago—when she had approached him for help finding her father—she had kept track of his movements.
After training at Kingsman, going on various missions, and even participating in the battle against werewolves in England, she had long since learned that he had multiple women in his life.
If not for their isolation from human civilization, the loss of her father, and six months of solitary survival, she would never have let herself get so close to him, knowing he wasn't a one-woman man.
—
"Alright, let's change the subject. You've been here a long time, and you seem to have a good relationship with King Kong.
Have you ever thought about leaving with him and returning to the surface?"
"The surface?" Laura frowned at the deliberate wording but shook her head.
"This can't be an underground world beneath Earth," she stated firmly.
Pointing at the sky, she continued, "Look at those two satellites. That alone proves this isn't Earth."
William glanced up.
Indeed, at some point in the last few hours, two celestial bodies—larger than Earth's moon—had appeared in the sky, alternating their positions.
Cursing internally, William quickly put on an astonished expression.
"You're saying… this is an alien planet?"
Laura rolled her eyes at him.
Scratching his nose, William pretended to be excited.
"Does that mean we've discovered a habitable exoplanet?"
"Maybe," Laura replied hesitantly.
"When I first arrived here, I was sure this was another planet.
But the longer I stayed, the more uncertain I became."
What's there to be uncertain about? William thought to himself.
Two moons in the sky were evidence enough.
Frowning, he asked, "Why do you doubt it?"
"You've already seen the Thunderbird and the T-Rexes," Laura said.
"But if you were to see the legendary fire-breathing dragons, unicorns, tiny sharp-nosed elves under a meter tall,
and countless other mythical creatures… you'd start questioning whether this is an alien planet or a magical world."
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