People are in Star Iron; who says they're just NPCs?

Who would willingly do something so shameful! Estella felt a surge of anger.

But then again, compared to what almost happened, holding a gun doesn't seem so unacceptable anymore. Although Lin Li often teases her, he's always been relatively restrained.

For example, just now, he could have easily controlled himself and forced himself on me, but he didn't.

Furthermore, he provided crucial intelligence on the antimatter legions and starcore hunters, which significantly reduced losses on the space station and saved the lives of many who might have perished.

He was almost omnipotent in this world, yet he never acted recklessly or unreasonably. Even when he bullied me, it was because I pointed a gun at him first.

He has been all alone in this world for who knows how long, accompanied by loneliness and solitude, and it is already quite remarkable that he only has a slightly strange personality.

Fine, I've already hugged and kissed him, so I'll help him one more time! Just this once!

In an instant, a multitude of thoughts flashed through Estella's mind, and finally, she responded in a barely audible voice, "I...I'll try!"

Chapter Ten: The Last Time I'll Teach You

The girl, having mustered the courage to say yes, blushed so deeply her face was almost dripping with water.

She lowered her head, her pink braids falling loose from the passionate kiss, adding to her captivating charm.

Lin Li leaned back on the bed, his hands casually behind his head, quite satisfied with Estella's reaction. What he was doing now was testing Estella's limits step by step, and then crossing them again and again.

Estella herself didn't realize that her attitude towards Lin Li had subtly changed. From offering a kiss to agreeing to help put out the fire, it perfectly reflected her evolving mindset.

"Hehe, don't be so nervous, just think of it as a gun-handling test. Of course, if you fail the test, there will be a punishment! Another punishment?!"

Estella was a little afraid to hear that word. She pouted cutely but didn't dare to argue. "I...I know."

Estelle raised her hand to tidy her messy hair, then sat down beside Lin Li like a little duck, cautiously extending one hand. Despite having mentally prepared herself, she still felt extremely proud and shy when she actually got to this point.

No matter what, she was a pure young girl who had never even been in a relationship. Before meeting Lin Li, she had never even touched a man's hand. The most embarrassing moments of her life were all related to Lin Li!

Asking her to hold the gun now was incredibly embarrassing for her.

Lin Li watched Shao Manchun's movements with a faint smile, admiring her blushing face and ever-changing vivid expressions.

finally-

The girl took a deep breath, seemingly having made up her mind and no longer hesitating, and gently tore off the fabric covering the gun.

Although she had experience holding a gun before, she was controlled and passive throughout, and didn't even have a chance to observe it carefully. Only now did she have the opportunity to take a closer look at what the gun actually looked like.

The girl's gaze met his and she looked away instinctively. Is...it really that scary?

Estella wasn't completely ignorant; she knew a little about matters between men and women. Could such a terrifying gun really contain it? And what are you thinking, Estella!

The girl suppressed the strange thoughts that were welling up in her mind and carefully gripped the gun. Hiss!

Lin Li took a small, light breath. The girl's slender, fair hands were slightly cool, which did indeed have a cooling and fire-extinguishing effect.

Estelle felt the same way as before: the barrel was incredibly hard and burning hot to the touch. She held the gun blankly, unsure what to do next.

Last time, she was so busy with fear and shame that she didn't remember how Lin Li held her hand.

Estella shyly raised her head and met Lin Li's gaze. The girl's big, watery eyes seemed to speak volumes, carrying a hint of embarrassment and pleading.

"Have you forgotten all the key points?" Lin Li couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's clueless expression.

"Hmm..." She bit her lip and nodded. Discussing this kind of issue with a boy was really strange. "Tsk, then you'll have a hard time passing..." Lin Li transformed into a strict teacher, clicking his tongue repeatedly.

These words sent a shiver down Estelle's spine. Was he going to find another excuse to carry out some strange punishment?

Fortunately, Lin Li didn't intend to torment her this time. He imitated the tone of his teachers from his school days and said, "Fine, I'll teach you one last time. If you forget again next time, you'll have to be punished!"

Hearing that there would be no punishment this time, Estella secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded like a good child.

Lin Li sat up a little straighter, took Ais's slender hand, and began the lesson. "Here, hold it like this for now, with a little force, but not too much."

The teaching process went smoothly. Estella is a smart girl who learns things very quickly. The reason she didn't remember last time was because she never really thought about learning it.

Under Lin Li's careful guidance, she quickly mastered the techniques and was able to hold the gun skillfully.

So Lin Li lay back down, squinting her eyes to enjoy the moment, occasionally giving instructions. "You can move faster."

"Hmm, that's a good pace, keep it up!"

The pink-haired girl leaned slightly forward, one hand supporting herself on the bed, the other holding a gun. Her pink braids swayed gently with the rhythm of her movements.

Although the girl's face was flushed, her expression was somewhat—focused?

She is indeed very focused; Aista is almost always this serious and focused when she works. It's clear that although she wasn't entirely willing, she put her heart and soul into what she was doing.

The girl's mind was filled with the key points of every movement Lin Li had just taught her, and she corrected her movements in time to give Lin Li the best experience.

She was indeed putting out the fire very diligently.

"Is it...not done yet?" After more than ten minutes, Estella, her face flushed, asked impatiently. There was no other reason; her hands were just getting sore.

For a noble lady who never lifts a finger, these ten-odd minutes would be considered a physically demanding task.

"Faster," Lin Li's voice was a little low. "Oh, okay!"

Estelle responded, and what was originally held with one hand was now held with both hands, and she increased her speed again... After another half a while.

Lin Li, who was half-lying down, suddenly grabbed the edge of the bed and sat bolt upright. The gun finally fired!

The smell of gunpowder filled the bedroom, making the atmosphere even more ambiguous.

Estelle's beautiful face flushed bright red, because she was too close when the gun went off, and some gunpowder smoke splashed on her, not to mention her slender, fair hands.

As if she had completed some important task, Estella suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, her tense body relaxing completely.

She instinctively shook her aching hand, then a wave of intense shame washed over her. Estella, what are you doing?!

She had been focused on the task at hand and had entered a state of complete mental clarity. But now, when she came to her senses and saw the scene of carnage before her, her defenses were almost broken by shame.

How could you agree to such an absurd request and actually do it? Estella, are you completely bewitched?

The girl closed her eyes in uncontrollable embarrassment, feeling as if she were uncontrollably sliding into an abyss. "You did very well today, go take a shower~" Lin Li patted her head and gently patted the girl's back.

The girl, her mind in turmoil, trembled involuntarily. Coming to her senses, she was too ashamed to look Lin Li in the eye. "Go on, it's alright! After you've finished washing, we'll go for a walk."

Perhaps it was Lin Li's gentle voice that made her feel a little more at ease, and Estella calmed down a bit, then rushed to the bathroom in her slippers as if she were escaping.

Chapter Eleven: A Date with Está

This cleaning took a long time.

Estella's hands, face, and hair were covered in the lingering gunpowder smoke, making it difficult to wash off. More importantly, she needed this time alone to calm her turbulent emotions.

The girl stared blankly at her disheveled appearance in the mirror. Her exquisite and beautiful face was smeared with specks of white gunpowder, and the strands of her pink hair were even stretched into sticky threads from the way her hair was being tossed around.

The girl, who was originally pure and delicate, now possessed an indescribable alluring and seductive charm.

Where is even a trace of her usual noble princess demeanor? Estella, Estella, how did you become so depraved?

As the girl washed her face and hair, she inwardly berated herself for being so shameless.

What made her even more panicked was that at this moment, she felt only endless shame and remorse, but she couldn't feel any disgust towards Lin Li, the one who started the affair.

Even though he was the one who led her to do such shameful things like a demon, she didn't really hate him; in fact, she had slowly gotten used to him betraying her like this.

The girl was completely confused about what was wrong with her.

About half an hour later, Estella emerged from the bathroom, her mind preoccupied with her thoughts. Lin Li outside had already finished cleaning up.

He recently unlocked some new skills unique to him, which he acquired after Estella appeared in this world, such as [Cleanse] and [Restore].

[Clean] It can perform a complete cleanup within a certain area with one click, restoring it to its original clean state. Lin Li has tested it, and the area that can be cleaned is a circular area with a radius of three meters centered on him.

So he could have helped Estella clean the gunpowder off her body earlier, but Lin Li didn't do so because he thought she needed to be alone.

【Restore】is another amazing skill, which can instantly restore the target to full health.

For example, Lin Li just fired a shot. As long as he uses the [Recovery] skill, he can immediately regain his spirits and regroup. Moreover, this skill can be used on other people.

However, the [Restore] function is not unlimited; the cooldown time is three hours, and it can be used a total of three times.

For example, if you have already stored three CDs, Lin Li can use [Restore] three times consecutively without CDs. He can use it a fourth time after three hours. If he does not continue to use it, he can store three CDs again after nine hours.

The skills he acquires all have experience bars that can be upgraded, and experience points are gained by completing tasks.

Estella's visits and departures were brief the first two times, so Lin Li didn't have a chance to observe her condition closely. Just now, while enjoying Estella's fire-fighting service, Lin Li took the opportunity to examine her information panel.

The previously empty "Tasks" panel has changed, and a new task has appeared. "Task Content": Accompany Estelle under the stars for one hour.

[Task Reward]: Estella's Bond Level +5, Skill Experience Points 100.

From what I've seen so far, the increase in the bond level between the characters I've recruited mainly comes from two aspects: one is the various intimate interactions between Lin Li and them, and the other is the rewards from missions.

Last time, Estelle took the initiative to kiss him, which increased her favorability by 10 points. This time, she helped Lin Li put out the fire, which also increased her favorability by 10 points, bringing her current favorability to 30 points.

"Finished washing?" Lin Li gave the graceful and charming young girl a warm smile. "Yes!"

Logically speaking, Estella shouldn't have been very friendly to Lin Li, but when she saw Lin Li's smile, her originally complicated and indescribable feelings inexplicably calmed down a lot.

Unbeknownst to her, Lin Li had already occupied a place in her heart, and a rather significant one at that.

This is inseparable from Lin Li's repeated attempts to test and push the girl's bottom line with intimate actions. As she gradually got used to Lin Li's various intimate gestures, Lin Li's image was naturally engraved in her heart.

For example, right now...

"Come on, let's go for a walk!" Lin Li stretched out his arm towards Estella.

The girl pursed her lips and glanced at Lin Li, hesitating slightly, but still reached out and took Lin Li's arm.

Estelle not only linked her arm with Lin Li's, but also subconsciously shifted her weight onto him, making them look like a young couple strolling through the streets.

It gently caressed me.

"Where...are we going?" Estelle's emotions had calmed down considerably, and she had emerged from the extreme shame and embarrassment she had just experienced. "You're the stationmaster of the Black Tower Space Station, so be my tour guide this time. Tell me about any fun places you can visit."

"I am the stationmaster, that's true, but you are the master of this world, much more powerful than me, the stationmaster," Estella complained with a hint of resentment.

When has this guy ever acted like a stationmaster?

"Come with me, I'll take you to see the stars!" The girl gently pulled Lin Li around, leading him in a different direction. At the mention of stargazing, Estella's eyes sparkled.

She loved the starry sky since she was a child and dreamed of becoming an astronomer. Her privileged family background gave her the power to explore the stars, but as she grew up, this dream was regarded as a heretical path by her family.

Only after Lady Black Tower brought her to the space station could she freely pursue her dream.

The space station has many astronomical telescopes for observing the stars, all of which she funded. Her favorite one is placed in her office.

Estádio's office is very large, but not luxurious. It is mostly used to house instruments and equipment, such as this rather large telescope.

She pulled Lin Li to the telescope and skillfully began operating it.

Lin Li looked up at the enormous telescope, a strange smile appearing on his face, a hint of reminiscence and longing flashing in his eyes. He knew this telescope very well!

When I first came to this world, my favorite thing to do was to put Estelle on this telescope and play with her.

If it weren't for the daily reset, this telescope would probably have malfunctioned long ago from being soaked in their fluids. He glanced at the pink-haired girl focused on operating the equipment, and couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and longing.

Estella in her NPC form is too dull and boring. How interesting it would be to completely win her heart and soul and have her climb onto the telescope on her own!

"It's all set up, Lin Li, come and take a look. This pre-stellar cloud core is what a star looks like before it's born, and the center is the [stellar embryo]. Maybe we can witness the birth of a star."

Upon entering her area of ​​expertise, she immediately became excited, temporarily setting aside her complicated emotions, and began to earnestly explain the knowledge points to Lin Li.

Lin Li naturally wouldn't spoil the mood by telling her that everything here resets at 12 o'clock every day, and the birth of stars would no longer be visible.

He smiled, moved closer to the telescope, and accompanied her to appreciate the infinite charm of the vast starry sky, while also listening to Ms. Estádio's astronomy lesson.

Chapter Twelve: Why isn't she awake?!

Lin Li had thought that watching the stars with a girl would be a very romantic thing, but he felt like he had just attended a class on literature.

He had little knowledge of astronomy; to be precise, the world he originally lived in was far less developed in its exploration of the stars than Estelle herself.

After all, in Estelle's world, interstellar travel is commonplace, while in her own world, there is still debate about whether humanity has even landed on the nearest celestial body.

So this class was a bit difficult.

Estella is a thoughtful girl who keenly noticed Lin Li's lack of knowledge in this area.

She wouldn't feel superior because of this; everyone has their own expertise, and no one is omniscient or omnipotent.

However, she thoughtfully reduced the use of technical jargon during the conversation and shared more anecdotes about the starry sky, making their exchange less technical and boring.

That's what makes it feel like a date.

Although Lin Li couldn't keep up with the more technical topics, he didn't show any fear and could chime in on any topic.

Moreover, he hadn't had such a free and open conversation with someone in a long time. As long as he could chat with real people, he didn't care about taking a more professional class!

Together, the two operated the telescope, admiring the beauty of the vast starry sky. Before they knew it, several hours had passed. At one point, Estella's little head accidentally bumped into Lin Li's forehead, and she suddenly realized how quickly time had flown by.