Lucy

Chapter 88: Lucy

Lucy’s delicate, adorable face went pale as she watched the strangely dressed Kyle outside the door with increasing vigilance. Biting her lip, she said, "You’ve got the wrong place. I never ordered any kind of home service."

"Of course I haven’t. This is 199 Harlem Street, isn’t it? I even know your name is Lucy Jane." Kyle shrugged and smiled as he moved to enter, but the moment he took a step forward, the wooden door slammed shut from inside.

"Uh…" Kyle was speechless. He could hear the click of the front door being locked from inside, followed by Lucy’s huffing warning: "My house isn’t far from the police station. If you keep harassing me outside, weird uncle, the police will come and arrest you!"

Kyle smiled wryly and explained, "Lucy, I was joking just now."

"Bad guy, go away!" Lucy snorted coldly.

Kyle continued helplessly, "It’s me, Kyle. Listen carefully. Has it only been a few months, and you’ve already forgotten my voice?"

"Kyle?" Lucy cried out from inside. After a flurry of hurried, panicked unlocking sounds, the wooden door opened a crack again, and her amber-like eyes scrutinized Kyle outside once more.

This time, Kyle did not fool around. He had already had the Venom Suit remove the disguise of his hat and sunglasses, revealing his young, handsome face.

"Kyle. It’s really you—you’re back?" Lucy was overjoyed. She quickly flung the door open, spread her arms, and rushed forward excitedly, her skirt fluttering as she threw herself into Kyle’s embrace.

"It’s been a few months. Have you been well?" Kyle kept smiling as he wrapped an arm around Lucy’s slender, soft waist and lowered his head to look at the girl in his arms.

After half a year apart, Lucy had turned seventeen and grown even more lovely and graceful.

Her long golden hair was pinned up high, and her pretty features were exquisitely soft and flawless. Especially those clear, sky-blue eyes like amber—each blink was cute and playful.

Not only had she become prettier, but her figure had also filled out considerably. A girl really did change as she grew up…

Kyle sighed inwardly. Although he had not examined her closely, the softness of holding her told him that she was no longer as bony and thin as before.

No wonder she had been so cautious. A beautiful young girl living alone during wartime truly was not very safe.

"The newspaper said you returned to the New York military base last night. I was wondering whether you would come back, and I was worried the room wouldn’t be clean, so…" Lucy said softly. She raised her head, her beautiful eyes looking straight at Kyle, while her hands showed no sign of letting go.

She wore a long, form-fitting house dress with a beige apron tied over her full chest. Clearly, she had been cleaning all along.

"On the German battlefield, I slept in open-air field tents without a care. No matter how dirty the room is, it’s still better than a tent." Kyle smiled, blinked, and said, "It wouldn’t be good if someone saw us standing like this at the door. How about we go inside first?"

If people found out his home was here, this entire street would probably be packed with visitors every day.

"I won’t let go. Just carry me inside," Lucy said courageously, clinging tightly to Kyle’s embrace like a Persian kitten.

"I can’t do anything with you." Kyle shook his head indulgently, supported the girl’s bottom with one hand, and carried her inside. Lucy buried her entire body in his arms.

Inside the villa, the walls, floors, furniture—everything was tidy and spotless.

Lucy had decorated and remodeled the former guest room into her own room. Kyle’s original room was still empty, but it looked as though it had been carefully cleaned and organized every day, without the slightest sign of having been unoccupied for so long.

Kyle first returned to his room, took off the Venom Suit that had been acting as a third wheel, and changed into a custom-made casual outfit for lounging at home. After all, his body had undergone the Super Soldier genetic enhancement, giving him a perfectly muscular human physique. His old clothes had long since stopped fitting.

In the first-floor hall, the fireplace crackled with flickering flames. The Christmas tree decorated with lights had not yet been taken down. A vase of fresh flowers and a fruit plate sat on the table, while a small box beside it was piled with black-and-white newspapers.

Kyle came downstairs and sat on the sofa. Slightly surprised, he casually picked up several newspapers from the box and gave them a brief look. They were all Times issues containing his photographs and reports about him, carefully clipped out and preserved under a thin protective film.

"Ah, don’t look at those!" The girl suddenly cried out in panic from upstairs. Lucy, who had simply changed into a white dress, hurried down the stairs in quick little steps.

Her pretty face was flushed red as she snatched the clipped newspapers from Kyle’s hand, put them back in the box for storage, and explained, "I read those when I’m bored. It’s the only way I can find out what’s happening to you on the battlefield."

Kyle’s heart warmed. He patted the spot beside him on the sofa and said with a smile, "Come here. Tell me how you’ve been living in New York."

"It’s been so boring." Lucy pouted her pink lips and boldly sat on Kyle’s lap, resting the back of her head against his broad chest as she began telling him about the trivial, messy details of her daily life over the past few months since coming to New York.

"There’s a very scary big dog in the next-door yard. Whenever I pass by on my way to the market or shops, it barks viciously at me, so sometimes I’d rather take a detour…"

"Some old men who know I live here often come to bother me. But thankfully, Captain Joseph asked the nearby police station to help, so police officers patrol around here from time to time and arrest or chase away those bad people."

She spoke in great detail, her words carrying a girl’s innocence and tenderness, turning even the most ordinary little matter into a tale as long as a fable.

Yet Kyle was not impatient in the slightest. Instead, he listened intently, paying even more attention than when General Chester and Fury explained the situation at the front lines in the military base.

Ever since gaining the abilities of a Super Soldier, it had been a long time since he had experienced the human thoughts that ordinary people took for granted—fear, worry, vulnerability, and so on.

Kyle lowered his head and looked at the beautiful girl in his arms, speaking softly with happiness overflowing across her pretty face. Suddenly, he realized something.

In this Marvel world, perhaps everyone—including Logan, Fury, and Steve, comrades he could entrust his life to—could be painfully abandoned in a moment of absolute crisis. But Lucy was the only one he could not easily let go of.

Because only Lucy could help him recover the emotions he had once possessed as a human, instead of becoming a cold-blooded being who pursued strength and evolution at any cost, without limits or scruples.

"Compared to that vicious dog next door, I actually like kittens more…"

Lucy was still chattering when Kyle took a deep breath and interrupted her. "Lucy, listen to me first."

"Hm?" Lucy turned around in surprise, meeting his gaze at close range.

Kyle smiled and asked softly, "Would you be willing to be my family?"