Hearing Henry Lawson's words, George Hughes felt as if he had been granted amnesty. The few who could still move picked up the guy who had been knocked out by Andrew Stone's kick and hurriedly fled.

"Your taekwondo is pretty good, but it's not practical," Henry Lawson said to Andrew Stone as he carried his things on the way back to the dormitory building.

Andrew Stone knew that by "not practical," he meant it wasn't useful for killing, and couldn't help but give a wry smile. "I just learned it for fun back in high school. How could I compare to you? When will you have a chance to teach me a few moves?"

"Maybe if there's a chance," Henry Lawson replied ambiguously. The deadly close-combat techniques of the Dragon Shadow Unit weren't something you could just teach.

He looked up at the darkening sky and asked Andrew Stone beside him, "What time is it now?"

"Six thirty."

Upon hearing this, Henry Lawson let out a strange cry—oh no!

Chapter 10: The Date

Henry Lawson handed the shopping bag in his hand to Andrew Stone, then used the speed he had developed during armed cross-country runs in the Dragon Shadow Unit, dashing like the wind toward the small pavilion by the campus lake. Only at this moment did he remember what Ashley Young had told him during registration that morning: after dinner, wait for her at the pavilion by the lake.

Dinner time at Donghai University’s cafeteria was at 5:00 p.m. Even if Ashley Young ate gracefully, half an hour would be more than enough. Adding in the usual reserve of girls, she might arrive at the pavilion half an hour late, but even so, Ashley Young had already been waiting in the pavilion by the lake for a full half hour!

Henry Lawson couldn't even imagine what would happen if the male students of Donghai University found out that he had stood up their goddess for half an hour. The public outrage would be unimaginable. All he could do now was speed up, speed up, and speed up again, reaching that little pavilion in the shortest possible time.

Ashley Young raised her wrist to look at her white porcelain watch. This was already the fifth time she had checked her watch since arriving at the pavilion. From childhood to now, she had received countless invitations because of her beauty, but this was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to invite someone. If it were anyone else, they would probably be waiting here, dressed up and holding roses, but that damn Henry Lawson actually dared to stand her up, making her wait foolishly in this pavilion for half an hour!

In this half hour, no fewer than a dozen couples had walked hand in hand past the pavilion, occasionally pointing at her and whispering, which only made her feel more embarrassed and annoyed. Ashley Young bit her silver teeth and told herself silently, five more minutes, just five more minutes—if Henry Lawson still doesn't show up, he's dead!

When Ashley Young raised her wrist for the sixth time and saw the hands of her watch reach the final deadline, and Henry Lawson still hadn't appeared as she had expected, she stomped her delicate foot, turned, and started to walk out of the pavilion.

At that moment, a figure suddenly darted out from the small grove beside the pavilion, blocking Ashley Young's path. The sudden appearance startled Ashley Young, but when she saw who it was, she patted her ample chest and let out a heavy sigh of relief. Then, with her willow brows raised, she said in her uniquely cold voice, "Henry Lawson, you’ve gone too far!"

"S-sorry, I’m late."

There was still a grove between the woods where George Hughes had confronted him and this pavilion. Henry Lawson was so frustrated he wanted to curse. Was the principal’s head caught in a door or something? Why plant so many trees for no reason? Wasn’t this just creating opportunities for those passionate, eager couples to have their wild trysts?

To get to the pavilion as quickly as possible, Henry Lawson had even used his signature jungle cross-country skills from the Dragon Shadow Unit.

Seeing Henry Lawson's chest still heaving as he caught his breath and the sheen of sweat on his forehead, Ashley Young knew he must have run hard to get here, and her resentment faded quite a bit. Still, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any sense of time as a soldier—a man—should?"

"Something came up on the way and delayed me." In no time, Henry Lawson had already caught his breath.

In special forces operations, especially infiltration behind enemy lines, sometimes you had to carry equipment and ammunition and march dozens of kilometers on foot. So, in addition to good physical strength, you also needed to use scientific breathing techniques to conserve energy and maintain combat effectiveness.

Henry Lawson had started training with his master at the age of ten, following the U.S. Navy SEALs’ weighted cross-country training regimen to build up his strength and endurance. By the time he was fifteen and taking the Dragon Shadow Unit’s entrance exam, he could already carry twenty kilograms and do a forty-kilometer extreme cross-country run, far surpassing the limits of the other candidates.

"Did Emily Wood give you trouble?" As clever as Ashley Young was, she immediately guessed the real reason for Henry Lawson's tardiness.

"No, I just went shopping at the mall with Andrew Stone and lost track of time," Henry Lawson shook his head and denied it. Trouble? In Henry Lawson's eyes, that didn’t even count as trouble—at most, Emily Wood had just sent him some free human sandbags for entertainment.

Although she knew Henry Lawson was obviously making things up, since he didn’t want to talk about it, Ashley Young wouldn’t press him. She didn’t believe those underlings of Emily Wood could do anything to the wild dragon of the Dragon Shadow Unit anyway.

The two of them walked back into the pavilion by the campus lake. By now, it was completely dark. If you didn’t get close, you couldn’t even see who was standing in the pavilion, which saved Henry Lawson and Ashley Young quite a bit of trouble.