Half an hour later.
After tidying up his home, Locke silently retrieved the wiretaps from the room and quickly rushed to the rooftop terrace of Gwen's apartment building.
A moment later.
The rooftop door was pushed open.
"Locke" lead the way, followed by Gwen. After "Locke" stepped onto the terrace, he let out a small "Huh?" as if he had spotted something, and walked toward the shadows where the real Locke was hiding.
Gwen, following behind, blinked as her boyfriend suddenly vanished into the gloom. "Locke?"
As the words fell, the real Locke stepped out from the shadows. He looked at Gwen, tilted his head, and glanced behind him. "I swear, I just saw a cat dart right past me, but it disappeared the moment it hit the corner."
Phew.
Fortunately, there were no floodlights on the roof of Gwen's building; otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the chance to recall his clone.
Gwen blinked, looking as if she had discovered a new continent. "Do you like cats that much?"
Locke thought for a moment. "I like horses."
He was a cowboy. It was only natural for a cowboy to love horses.
Gwen's mouth twitched. "You can't exactly keep a horse in your apartment."
Locke shrugged. "Then cats it is. I like Napoleon cats—the munchkin ones. They look pretty cute."
Gwen's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Locke nodded.
It was a lie, of course.
But Gwen had a pet magazine in her room where a picture of a Napoleon munchkin cat was circled. Locke had specifically looked it up online; otherwise, he wouldn't have known such a breed even existed.
Suddenly, Locke's legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees.
Gwen was startled and rushed to his side, supporting him. "What's wrong?"
Locke shook his head. "I'm fine."
The side effects of the Apple of Eden.
He had indeed come to Gwen's house for dinner today, but he had used the Apple to create a clone for the visit while his true body was busy fishing over at the Star Tower.
If it had just been Megan tonight, it wouldn't have taken much time. It was HYDRA that had disrupted his rhythm.
Although his Supreme Golden Talent provided infinite energy, its rank was only Level 1. With ranks came limitations.
The energy supplied to the Apple to maintain the clone was steady, but Locke could clearly feel that after exceeding the one-hour mark, his physical stamina began to drain rapidly.
Simply put, while the mana was inexhaustible, his current physical vessel couldn't withstand the strain for long. If he hadn't downed a small health potion on the way over, he probably would have collapsed mid-journey.
And now?
He felt he could hold on. It was just... he was incredibly sleepy.
Locke let out a yawn and looked at Gwen. "I think I might just be exhausted."
Gwen blinked. "Is that all?"
Locke gave an affirmative hum.
His Level 2 Extraordinary Talent Resilience, was continuously working its magic. In a few more minutes, he'd be fine.
However, just as Locke was preparing to say his goodbyes, Gwen turned to her father. "Daddy, I know drunk driving is illegal. What about driving while exhausted?"
George, who was sitting in the living room with his wife, Helen, drinking wine and chatting, laughed. "Of course it counts. Didn't we have a case in Brooklyn last week where a fatigued driver crashed a truck into a café?"
Gwen let out an "Oh."
The next second, she pointed a finger at Locke and looked at George. "I'm reporting him. Locke plans to drive while exhausted."
A yawning Locke blinked. "What?"
George and Helen exchanged a look. "..."
...
Half an hour later.
In the guest room on the second floor of the Stacy home.
Locke stood there with his mouth slightly agape. He turned to the door to see Gwen walking in with a smile, carrying a blanket Helen had just brought out. He found the whole situation a bit surreal. "What kind of move was that?"
'How did I end up staying the night?'
Gwen tossed the blanket into Locke's arms and said with a serious expression, "You heard my Dad. If you go back now and a patrol officer spots you, they'll think you're driving tired and throw you in the station. Trust me, you wouldn't want to spend time in a holding cell at any NYPD precinct."
A handsome guy like Locke would surely be bullied by those thugs and hooligans inside.
"Alright then."
Gwen clapped her hands, tossed her blonde ponytail, and gave Locke a smile. "Get some rest. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
[T/N:- Unrelated but man, after playing HSR story quest. Whenever I see "See you tomorrow" it hits different (╥﹏╥).]
Locke watched Gwen turn and close the door. He looked at the door, then down at the blanket in his arms.
He had already recovered.
His Level 2 Extraordinary Resilience guaranteed that no matter how much energy he lost, he could recover in the shortest possible time.
The reason for the earlier collapse was likely because he hadn't recalled the clone yet, causing Resilience to believe he was still in the middle of a battle.
Back on the rooftop, the talent might have misjudged his depletion and overcompensated all at once. It's well-known that humans need oxygen, but too much oxygen can lead to toxicity.
"Forget it," Locke thought, shaking his head as he climbed into bed. "The cleanup at the Star Tower is finished anyway. Staying the night isn't so bad; it actually makes my alibi even more solid."
Besides, coming to Gwen's for dinner hadn't even been Locke's idea.
Since the school dance was tomorrow starting at 6:00 PM, Locke couldn't exactly show up at 5:00 PM and tell George, "Surprise, I'm your daughter's date."
Every Friday, Helen had Gwen invite Locke over for dinner. After all, Locke was an orphan, and Helen was a kind-hearted, virtuous woman. So Locke had come, and he had used the dinner table as the venue to break the news to George.
Helen seemed to have been mentally prepared for this. After all, back in the eighth grade, Gwen hadn't cared at all about what her dress looked like. This time was different. After the dance was confirmed, she had gone to the boutique with Helen to pick out the perfect gown.
George's reaction, however, had been quite interesting.
Of course, George's reaction was exactly what Locke had expected.
Normally, George and Locke went to the shooting range every Saturday. But after Locke finished speaking, George had hummed for a moment and moved the range time to Sunday.
He was likely thinking: 'Wait until tomorrow's dance is over to see if he mistreats Gwen. Then I'll decide whether I'm taking him to the range to shoot targets... or taking him to the range to be one.'
While it sounded the same, there was a very distinct difference between the two.
Sleep, sleep!
Thinking this, Locke closed his eyes and fell asleep in an instant.
But... while Locke could sleep soundly, some people found it impossible to close their eyes tonight.
***
Read 30 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666