Slime Evolution

Chapter 398 - Curious Fox

The engine of the white carbon fiber Pagani purred softly before falling silent as Isabella Vance carefully parked the luxury sports car in the private garage of Lohan’s penthouse.

The space, lit by light blue LED lighting, was spacious and secluded.

Isabella shut down the holographic dashboard’s navigation systems and opened the gull wing door as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and stepped out of the car wearing an elegant dark silk tailored set that highlighted her slender silhouette, adjusting the small genuine leather designer bag on her shoulder with even more ease.

Stepping onto the garage floor, she looked around with curiosity.

Even though that luxurious penthouse at the top of the Upper Zone belonged to her, Isabella had never lived there, nor had she ever used the space for any leisure activity, since she’d bought the place only to rent it out to Lohan.

There wasn’t the faintest sentimental memory tying her heart to those walls. However, now that Lohan occupied the space, the place seemed to carry an entirely new feel to it.

Even though she’d come only to help with his nutrition, a great curiosity was rising in her chest, eager to see how the simple, striking presence of that boy from the Lower Zone had changed the place.

’I think a little peek won’t hurt anyone, right? He won’t get upset over something like that...’ She thought, with an excited smile forming on her face.

Walking at a calm pace, Isabella’s first stop was the outdoor leisure area.

On the terrace beneath an artificial sky, her golden eyes were drawn straight to the barbecue area.

Approaching the dark granite counter, she noticed the metal utensils arranged flawlessly beside the stainless steel sink. They were completely clean, gleaming without a single trace of dust or grease residue.

It was clear the equipment had been used recently and washed with meticulous care right afterward.

Isabella pulled her hand back and let out a frustrated sigh, a small pout of disappointment forming on her pink lips. "So he really used this recently..." she murmured to herself, feeling disappointed at having missed, once again, the chance to eat the barbecue Lohan had promised to make for her.

The memory of the disastrous dinner in the Upper Zone brought a sense of dissatisfaction, and seeing the clean utensils there made her want to press him about that promise even more insistently the next time they had the chance.

Turning around, Isabella walked toward the main entrance, but chose to pass by the private gym attached to the terrace.

The translucent glass wall let her see into the training space.

Stepping into the climate controlled room, her eyes swept over the state of the art strength training equipment, and she immediately noticed the arrangement of the dumbbells and the incline of the adjustable bench press were subtly different from how they’d been the day Lohan moved in.

Everything was arranged with great care, the mats aligned and the pulley cables coiled up, showing the young man used that setup frequently to refine his physique in the real world.

Isabella remembered how she’d been watching Lohan during their recent encounters and how quickly his body had been changing, his posture becoming perfectly straight and his shoulders broadening.

Seeing that equipment kept in such good condition only confirmed that Lohan was working hard to make sure his strength outside the game matched up, taking advantage of the strength conversion from a mythic base.

She crossed into the main living room, and the feeling of curiosity grew.

Isabella walked through the vast open concept space, her eyes searching for small traces of life that might reveal Lohan’s personality.

She’d hoped to find something about his past in the Lower Zone, or some object that showed his real tastes. However, looking at the minimalist design shelves and the gray walls, she didn’t find any decorations, paintings, or photos revealing the young man’s individuality in the place, which left Isabella a little disappointed.

That absence of decorative identity brought a faint pang of melancholy into Isabella’s chest.

It was as if Lohan, despite living in the most luxurious place he’d ever had access to, still behaved like a temporary visitor.

He lived there only in passing, unwilling to put down roots or believe that security was permanent. Lohan kept his mind focused only on getting stronger, leaving the space as clean and devoid of feeling as a high end hotel room.

’Why are you so focused on the shadows, Halon?’ she thought, with a silent sigh as she gripped the strap of her designer bag.

His determination was admirable, but his refusal to let himself enjoy the material comfort of her apartment left her with a feeling of frustration she wasn’t quite sure how to categorize.

Isabella walked down the main hallway toward the apartment’s master suite, feeling her heart race involuntarily as the distance to the door shrank.

She knew Lohan would be connected to the game, since he himself had warned her over the mental link that he’d keep his consciousness in Elysium to sustain his clones at the Broken Suns’ mansion.

Even so, the physical closeness to Lohan’s bedroom brought an electric tension that made her skin tingle beneath the silk of her clothes.

She stopped in front of the suite’s imposing dark wood door. Isabella took a deep breath, trying to steady the rhythm of her breathing, and raised her delicate hand to knock gently on the polished wood surface.

"Halon? It’s me, Isabella." she announced, her voice coming out in a soft, steady tone, knowing perfectly well the young man wouldn’t answer her call, being with his biological senses completely disconnected from physical reality at that moment.

Without waiting for a response she knew was impossible to come, Isabella gripped the metal doorknob and slowly pushed the door open, letting the hallway’s soft light spill into the darkened room.

In the center of the suite, lying peacefully on the high density mattress of the double bed, was Lohan’s physical body.

The Elysium virtual reality helmet, with the blue glow of its indicator lights blinking rhythmically along the side, covered the upper part of his face.

However, as soon as Isabella’s eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, she froze in place, her breath catching immediately in her throat, and a violent scarlet blush rising up her pale cheeks in under a second.

Lohan was lying there shirtless.