As the two walked into the large building, the doors automatically slid to either side to allow them entry. At the entrance, there were two guards stationed there who bowed the moment they saw who was entering.

“Greetings, my lady,” they greeted Lina simultaneously with a respectful bow.

“Hello,” she greeted them shortly.

With that, they gestured for her to walk towards the reception desk at the entrance. As they walked forward, four people consisting of both men and women, arrived expectantly with an eager grin.

“Welcome back, my lady!” They greeted her enthusiastically with a respectful bow. “I hope you’re faring well.”

“Naturally,” replied Lina with a smile as they straightened up to meet her eyes.

“So, are you here for the usual, miss?”

“No,” she shook her head in denial and gestured at Zayden. “I’ve come today to do shopping on his behalf.”

“For him?” The one at the front, who was acting as the leader, reacted in surprise and look towards Zayden.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Now, where might the men’s section be?”

“We’ll take you there!” The man said with a grin with enthusiasm.

He raised his hand up and clicked his fingers, which made two of the people behind him to hurriedly approach him.

“Lead the madam and sir upstairs to the men’s section,” he ordered them.

“Yes, sir!” They replied firmly. Then they turned to Lina and said, “This way miss.”

Nodding in assent, she turned to Zayden and said, “Come along.”

“Y-Yes!” He reacted with a surprised look on his face.

Since entering the building, he had been very amazed by the amount of respect the staff were showing towards Lina. He also judged, just from the previous conversation that they had, Lina frequents this place and often buys big seeing the staff brimming with joy by her presence.

Lina led the way alongside the staff while Zayden following behind. They stopped at a side glass door and when the staff pressed a button on the wall, the glass doors slid open to reveal an interior on the inside. Zayden was amazed by this as they got into the lift before the doors closed behind them. Then they pressed a button among the numerous buttons on the side panel and there was a slight jerk before they were moving upward.

“So, this is an elevator?” He thought to himself in wonder, glancing around at the interior.

He knew very well what this was, but as it was his first time seeing this physically rather than knowing from memories of the original owner of the body, he was quite amazed. As such, he began glancing around with curiosity as they passed floor after floor before coming to a stop.

When the glass doors slid open, they exited the elevator and Zayden was amazed by what he found. It was a large space filled with clothes of different kinds with different colours made from different materials.

“W-Woah…!” He muttered in awe.

Hearing him, Lina turned to him and smiled as she asked, “Well? What do you think?”

“These are… too extravagant,” he replied with a bewildered look on his face while glancing around at the clothes.

“Of course, miss!” The woman said respectfully with a smile and turned to him. “I take it this is your first time coming here, sir, so let me give you an explanation of the men’s clothes that we sell. Right this way please.”

From there, the woman led the way while followed by Zayden and Lina as she began explaining the different kinds of clothes, what they were made of and the finer details that makes them premium. Zayden became more and more baffled by what he heard about the clothes and was dumbfounded by the cost that she presented to him for each type of clothes.

“Even the underwear is premium?” He asked, staring down at the underwear lined neatly in rows.

“Yes,” she said.

“Why?!” He demanded, looking at her with a flabbergasted look.

“For the comfortable feeling.”

Zayden remained silent for a moment before asking, “For the comfortable feeling?”

“Yes.”

“You’re being serious?”

“Yes.”

He stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face as she beamed at him with excitement.

Just then, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and he turned to see it was Lina giving him a sympathetic look while holding back her laughter.

“Get used to it,” she finally said after containing her laughter.

“This is expensive! Like, super expensive!” Zayden exclaimed with a distraught look.

“I told you the bill is on me,” she told him reassuringly.

He shook his head and said, “You don’t understand, Lina. One premium underwear is worth five months of my income. There is no way I can accept something like this.”

For a moment, she was saddened by the reality of his life, but then she cheered up and said, “Don’t choose the underwear then. Just choose any regular wear,” and she waved her hand at the wide area. “You can even buy some party wear in case you need to attend one in the future.”

“But—!” He began hesitantly.

“Nothing!” She finished for him firmly. Then she turned to the staff and said, “Please choose and fit his clothes that are suitable for him.”

“Of course, miss!” They told her confidently while he looked at her with a resigned look.

Zayden was then dragged away to get his measurements done so that they could choose the right fit of clothes for him. Then the procession began of trying on clothes, coming out to be verified by both the staff and Lina that they suited him, and then he went back to change into the new clothes they gave him to try out.

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This lasted for more than half-an-hour before he finally came out wearing his original clothes with an exhausted look.

“I don’t want to try anymore, please!” He pleaded with Lina, who chuckled at him.

“Are you tired already?” She asked with a chuckle. “I thought it will last another two hours with all the clothes you could try out.”

“Another… two hours?!” He winced at the suggestion and stared at her with a horrified look.

“Yes. That’s how long I spend shopping anything really,” she said casually.

“Unbelievable…!” He muttered with an amazed look.

With that, the procession of trying out clothes had come to an end. Then Lina walked over to the staff and told them to pack all the clothes that she felt were suitable for him. He was shocked by her statement while they expressed their happiness and willingness to follow her orders.

Zayden tried to convince her to stop, but she refused and told him to just accept it.

“When you’re being gifted honestly, just accept it,” she told him with a smooth smile, making him look surprised. “I know there are those out there that will ask you want what you want, or gift you something while expecting something in return. I’m not that kind. If I want to give, I will give. That’s me.”

She had spoken with such a cool manner that he somehow got mesmerised.

“What a woman…?” He wondered to himself in awe. “Not afraid to speak her mind, firm in her resolve, and a bit bossy. It almost feels like… I’m with them again…”

The familiar feeling of her company suddenly made him feel very emotional as he was reminded of something from a distant past. This caused tears to form in his eyes, which she noticed and was startled by.

“W-What’s wrong?!” She exclaimed, looking worriedly at him and getting closer. “What happened? Is it something that I said?”

“Oh no. It’s not that,” he said and quickly wiped the tears away before smiling at her. “I was just deeply moved by your words. That’s all.”

“Is that so…?” She asked with a worried look.

Nodding in assent, he turned away while thinking to himself, “I can’t believe I actually cried. Am I still capable of being this that emotional after all this time? But… what’s the point? The past is the past. I will… never get to see them, talk to them, and be with them again…!”

With that, the smile on his face faded and was replaced by a sombre expression. Lina got even more worried and probed him, but he continuously assured her she was not the cause while putting on a smile.

“It’s fake,” she said.

“What sorry?” He asked in confusion.

“Your smile. It’s fake.”

He blinked in surprise and asked, “Huh? Fake? What do you mean?” and he smiled once more.

Lina shook her head and said, “From the moment I met you at the hospital, not once have I ever seen you smile from the heart. It’s almost like you’re unwilling to smile and smiling for the sake of smiling.”

Zayden was shocked by her words as he had never expected someone to say that to him. It was as if she had seen right through him, but he was unsure how that was possible. This caused him to lose his smile entirely and an unsmiling expression formed on his face, which startled her.

At that moment, a staff woman appeared arrived before them and said to Lina, “Miss, the order is ready for payment.”

“Alright,” she told her, then told Zayden, “I won’t be long,” before following the women away while he watched her go with an unsmiling expression on his face.

After a while, Lina returned and told him the payment was made, to which he responded lightly. Then they moved towards the elevator since the shopping was complete. Only when they reached the ground level and were walking out of the elevator did they begin speaking to each other again.

“Did I perhaps… say something I shouldn’t have…?” She asked him hesitantly.

He shook his head and replied, “No. I just realised I don’t need to smile when I don’t want to.”

Asura, who was in control of Zayden’s body, did not even remember when was the last time he had truly smiled from the heart. The whole reason he had been putting up a pretence in Zayden’s body was him trying to mimic the behaviour of the original owner.

The memories he acquired told him that Zayden was never truly happy, but despite that he always put on a smile to never worry about anyone. However, Lina’s words made him realise he did not need to pretend just to please somebody else. As such, he came to a decision.

“I haven’t truly smiled in a really long time, so why do it now?” he wondered aloud to which Lina turned to look at him with a worried expression.

As she was about to speak to him about it, the staff suddenly came over to her with each carrying boxes full of clothes and her attention got diverted.

“Good,” she said and held her handbag out before saying, “Intake.”

In an instant, there was a strong suction like wind began forming around them and the boxes of clothes flew out of their hands and got absorbed into her handbag. It only took a few seconds for all the boxes to get absorbed into her handbag before she issued the command, “Close,” which caused the suction power to vanish and returned the wind to normal.

“Is that a magic bag?” Zayden asked curiously.

“It is,” she told him with a smile.

“A very expensive one at that it stored so many of those boxes,” he commented in amazement.

She glanced at him for a moment before saying, “I can gift you this if you like.”

“Huh?!” He exclaimed and looked flabbergasted. “What man would want a magic bag in the form of a handbag?!”

His remark surprised her and made her burst into laughter while he looked indignantly at her.

With the shopping over, they bid the staff farewell and made their way out of the shopping centre. As they came out, the guards saluted to them respectfully once again but just as Lina was about to speak to one of the valet staff when a loud explosion occurred somewhere outside followed by screams of terror.

“What’s going on?!” Zayden exclaimed in worry.

Without a word, Lina rushed towards the entrance to the drive way and Zayden, who was initially startled by her rushing out, soon followed after her. They arrived outside to see clouds of smoke bellowing out from a jewellery shop.

Several people were rushing out from the jewellery shop while one was yelling, “Help! Web Raider is robbing us!”

“Web Raider!” Lina exclaimed with a serious look. “That fiend is up to no good again!” She turned to Zayden and said, “Zay, please call the security guilds to dispatch someone to handle him!”

“H-Huh?!” Zayden exclaimed, shocked at her suddenly shortening his name. As she rushed off, he tried to call after her, “Lina! Wait! I don’t have a phone!!” but she was too far to hear him. Frustrated, he turned around and rushed back to the shopping centre to get help.

Meanwhile, at the jewellery store that was being robbed, a man in strange clothing walked out of the smoke with a gleeful smile appearing on his mostly covered face.

“Today’s a good haul. I like it!” He said, thumping the sack he was carrying over his shoulder.

“Web Raider!” Shouted a female voice, and he turned to see Lina standing there with an angry look. She seemingly pulled out a gun out of handbag and pointed it at him while shouting, “Stop right there!”

“Oh? What’s this?” He asked with a shrill laugh while eying her up and down. “I’m guessing you’re some rich lady out for shopping? Sorry, miss, but this store’s closed for today. Kakakakaka!”

His laugh was strange, but Lina ignored it as she firmly said, “You are breaking the law, so surrender immediately!”

“Or else? What? You’re gonna' shoot me?” He asked with a sneer. Then he formed his hand in the shape of a gun and pointed it at her while saying, “Two can play at that game. Web Pistol!”

In an instant, webs like spider shaped like a bullet were fired from the tip of his finger straight at her. Lina reacted instantly by aiming her gun at each of the incoming attacks and pulling the trigger. The bullet that exited from her gun flew off at immense speed and collided against the incoming web attack, which caused both attacks to get shattered into pieces with a loud bang sound.

“Oh? A markswoman?” The criminal asked with a laugh. “How funny, but I’d like to see you try this!” Then he changed the shape of his hand by opening his hand and pointing all five fingers at her before shouting, “Web Finger Barrage!”

In an instant, rapid web blasts erupted from the tips of his fingers and flew rapidly towards her. Once again, Lina aimed her gun at the incoming web attacks and fired as quicky as he could. However, she realised there were too many of them and dived out of the way of the attack, which flew past her and pierced straight through a vacant car parked on the street.

“Damn!” She cursed as she began to dodge the attacks by using things like poles, cars, dustbins, or any solid object that gave her some hiding space.

“Faster than your gun, aren’t I?!” The criminal named Web Raider proclaimed gleefully and stopped his barrage. “Now then, adios little miss in fancy clothes!”

He turned around and was about to charge away when something flew from above and crash landed heavily a few meters away from him. The crash was so heavy that the ground shook from the impact that seemed like an earthquake. Smoke erupted from the impact but it soon cleared to reveal a tall and muscly man standing at the centre of the crash.

The man had short but spiky white hair matched by the white clothes he wore that had a cape which bellowed in the wind. He was stretching his muscles before smiling when he noticed the criminal begin to look worried at seeing who the man was.

“Wait!”

“No way!”

“Hold on!”

“Is that…?”

“Could it be?!”

Amidist the excited whispering of the people, who were clearly awed by his appearance, the man proclaimed confidently with a confident smile, “Fear not, my people for I, Wonder Man, am here!”