She Is Not Human

Chapter 4

Many people who were secretly watching held their breath. Was that the Radiance Organization?

They all felt relieved they hadn't jumped in to cause trouble. A massive force like that, dominating human space—how could a small group from one city stand up to them?

Even Barbara, who usually exuded confidence, didn't dare to make a move. For a moment, no one stepped forward.

The atmosphere was tense and silent, with everyone's eyes glued to Maya.

She still had Leo pinned down despite him splattering blood all over her shirt. Her expression remained calm and unchanged.

Finally, Barbara shouted angrily, "Are you really just going to watch Leo die?"

The bodyguards who had struggled to get back on their feet looked pale and terrified under the cold stares of the three men from the Radiance Organization.

They couldn't handle Barbara's fury either.

Moving forward meant certain death; staying put also meant death.

Bound by their duty but scared out of their minds, the bodyguards gritted their teeth and prepared to step in and grab Maya when suddenly a suitcase flew in from the side, knocking over two tall bodyguards before hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

“Mr. Anderson.”

The three men from the Radiance Organization dropped their stern looks and respectfully moved aside.

"Who dares touch her again?" Max said as he adjusted his travel bag strap with his right hand while casually letting his left arm hang at his side after throwing the suitcase. His deep black eyes narrowed slightly, flashing an intimidating glare.

Maya—who had been steady as a rock—finally turned her gaze toward Max when he appeared, locking onto him with an indifferent yet strangely flickering look in her calm eyes.

"You're Max Anderson?" Barbara looked at the guy in front of her with a bit of coldness. She paused for a moment before speaking up, "Now that you're here, just pay attention. None of us touched her, but she was about to hurt my fiancé. Even if the Radiance Organization is around, I need to make this clear: if anything happens to Leo, the Rodriguez family will come after you!"

With a loud thud, Max tossed another travel bag aside, nearly hitting Barbara. She was completely taken aback.

Never in City 9 did she think there'd be someone bold enough to stand up to her.

"You... How dare you?"

"I dare do plenty of things. Step aside." Max shot Barbara an icy glare and then glanced at the others. His cold stare made even the bodyguards—most of whom were ex-mercenaries—shrink back like they'd seen a ghost.

It was like looking into the eyes of someone who had taken many lives. If they hadn't known he was actually a doctor who saved people, they might've thought he was some ruthless killer.

Max only showed his softer side to Maya; everyone else got his tough exterior.

Just then, Leo let out a muffled groan and started coughing hard.

Barbara rushed over anxiously, "Leo! Are you okay?" After shouting without thinking, she remembered Leo was unconscious and couldn't respond. Just as she moved closer, she saw him raise his arm weakly and wave it off.

"I'm fine..." His voice came out faint, but had this unique charm that caught everyone's attention.

That one simple sentence left everyone stunned.

Maya really did heal him!

No wait—she didn't even say she'd cure him; just by being there and looking at him seemed enough!

What kind of skill is that?

Everyone in the room was filled with doubt, but nobody said anything out loud.

Even Max, who's pretty famous for his skills, couldn't just touch someone and make them healthier.

If doctors could do that, it would be way too miraculous!

Looking at Grandpa Jock's stunned face, one could see how blown away the real doctor was!

Right now, Maya didn't care about anyone's reactions or expressions.

She was just focused on the liquid metal she had pulled out from Leo's brain.

With the help of some metal needles inside her body, that liquid metal flowed up to her brain, spinning around and coming together until it formed a diamond-shaped piece that quickly merged with another little bit of rotating liquid metal about the size of a soybean.

"This is definitely my weapon!" Maya thought.

Over all these years—and maybe because survival has been tough—humans have become really resistant to robots.

Especially those humans who are strong enough to get through dangerous zones and leave human territory for mechanical space; they've stirred things up quite a bit over there.

Her reason for coming into human space had something to do with this too.

So, knowing how much humans dislike and fear robots, she brought along her special weapon.

Too bad though—the weapon got broken when passing through that dangerous zone. She never expected she'd actually manage to grab one of its pieces from this human.

“Maya! Maya!" Leo called out from across the room, snapping Maya back to reality.

As soon as he woke up, Leo fixated on Maya like he was afraid she'd disappear if he looked away.

He completely ignored the guy next to him who looked super grumpy and threatening; he even forgot about what someone else had said earlier that worrying about his safety.

With excitement written all over his face, he grabbed Maya's hand and said eagerly, "You promised me that if I went with you to the party, you'd help me get Barbara to sleep with me obediently! You're not gonna go back on your word now!"

As soon as he said that, the atmosphere got even quieter and tenser than when he first woke up.

Everyone looked really weird, and Barbara's face turned bright red.

She was clenching her fists so tightly that they were making cracking sounds.

All the concern she had for his safety just disappeared, and honestly, she felt like killing him!

This wasn't at her place or Leo's. With all these people listening in, her fiancé actually said something like that!

But Leo was unaware of Barbara's anger since his back was to her.

He kept going on with, "Maya, everyone says you've got the best ideas. Help me out here! Barbara is like a wild cat—if I don't get her under control before we tie the knot, I'm toast once we're married! Look, I showed up to this party like we agreed. You can't bail on me now!"

"Go talk to her yourself!" Before Maya could say anything back, Max kicked Leo away with an impatient flying kick. He came here to see Maya, didn't have time to deal with these people.

Leo landed right at Barbara's feet and looked up to see her half-smiling face. His expression instantly went cold; he froze up completely.

"Leo—"

In the distance, there was a sudden burst of fire.

On a fancy airship thirty thousand feet above them in the sky, a handsome young guy in a suit set down his highball glass and turned to look out the window toward where the fire was coming from with a faint smile on his face: "She really can't sit still for long; hasn't it only been a few days of peace before she starts stirring things up again?"

He connected directly through communication: "Control room."

"Master, what are your orders?"

"Double our speed—we might miss out on some good drama."

"Yes, Master."

Maya glanced over at Barbara and her crew chasing after Leo before turning back to Max.

He was just human—but why did being around him give off such strange vibes?

Compared to their first meeting, it seemed like there was even more energy swirling around inside Max now.

She just couldn't wrap her head around it.

Max had already reached out, gently wiping the blood off Leo's face from hers. The coldness in his eyes was fading, replaced by a look that was both helpless and kind: "Don't play games like this with others again."

To him, Maya didn't really know how to treat people right, so he figured all of this was just some "game" she and Leo were playing on Barbara.

His gentleness felt like a warm wave spreading from where he touched her fingers all through her body. It was such a strange feeling for her—something new.

She grabbed his fingers and looked at them closely, but still couldn't figure out what it was about them.

Max acted cool about it and casually held her hand as they walked back to the house.

That short distance felt like forever for him. It had been ages since he'd held her hand so naturally; it reminded him of when they used to lean on each other and hide away together.

Ever since he killed that boy who tried to get close to her four years ago, she hadn't let him touch her again.

That fight had been their first serious argument.

He never knew Maya actually liked that guy, but he thought protecting her meant taking action.

Maybe the real mistake was letting her see everything unfold.

He left because he couldn't stand seeing that cold, distant look in her eyes anymore.

But now?

She wasn't looking at him like that; instead, she seemed dependent on him like when they were kids. It made him feel uneasy, as if he'd lost something important only to find it again later.

"How are you feeling now?" He tried starting up a conversation.

But Maya kept staring at his hand so intensely that she completely missed his question.

Maybe being ignored wasn't new for Max; he didn't get mad or anything—he just couldn't understand why she found his hand so fascinating.

The leader of the three members of the Radiance Organization followed them inside, while the other two stood by the door.

The crowd gradually thinned out, each person heading back to their own bosses.

This whole scene gave everyone just what they needed.

“Mr. Anderson.”

Max turned his head and paused for a moment: "What's up?"

"The leader just sent a message. He'll personally deliver your payment tomorrow. And don't forget to show up at the ball in ten days."

Since he had an unusual connection with the Radiance Organization, Max didn't treat them as coldly as he did others. He nodded casually and replied, "I'll be there on time."

“Great! I won't keep you any longer then; I'll take off now." With her goal accomplished, the leader decided not to linger and left on her own.

This actually made Max feel pretty good—at least these folks from the Radiance Organization knew how to act right.