Chapter 376 - 386: A Change of Opinion
Chapter 376: Chapter 386: A Change of Opinion
"Hey, beautiful. I think I’m going to have to change my opinion of you."
The SUV cruised steadily down the wide road.
Andrew Shaw sat in the back, studying Stella Sterling intently. As if struck by a sudden thought, he broke the silence.
Stella Sterling tilted her head slightly, looking at him and waiting for him to continue.
Andrew Shaw looked at her and said earnestly, "You’re a good person. You’re kind to the core."
He had to admit, ever since they first met, he’d held a certain preconceived notion about Stella Sterling.
He’d thought she was a twisted maniac who enjoyed toying with people’s lives.
But after spending the last few days with her, he couldn’t help but change his opinion, even though he was still terrified of her deep down.
She was kind to the core—kinder than most people.
It had been true back in the abandoned city, and it was true again this time when she saved those people.
He had to admire her. With her kind of power, she had no reason to fear anyone.
Especially since those people had already willingly abandoned their supplies yesterday.
She could have kept everything for herself, but instead, she gave a portion of it to them.
It was the same thing back in the abandoned city.
At least in his past life, Andrew Shaw had never met anyone like Stella Sterling.
Hearing this, Stella Sterling tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel. With a wry smile, she asked, "So what you’re saying is, you used to think I was a bad person?"
As she spoke, her tone turned slightly dangerous.
’I’ve already been more than tolerant with this guy, keeping him well-fed and comfortable.
But who knows what he’s really been thinking about me all this time.
I mean, the first time I met him, he was trying to get his hands on my supplies.
If anyone else had dared to try and take my things, I wouldn’t have shown any mercy. I would’ve sent them to an early grave long ago.
But I spared his life, brought him along on the road, and gave him food and water.
I even spared him when he’d wanted to kill me.
Forget about him being eternally grateful or moved to tears; for all I know, he’s spent all this time secretly cursing my name.
Have I been too good to him?
Just think about Stephen Lawrence. Even though he’d also taken a Loyal Servant Pill, I treated him like a lab rat back then.
He suffered plenty in the early days by my side, getting beaten from time to time and subsisting on nothing but a single steamed bun and a cup of water.
It wasn’t until I left that residential complex and started establishing Caeluna Base that his life got a little better, and he slowly became the leader of Caeluna Base.
Compared to this Andrew Shaw, I let him eat whatever I’m eating, unless he pisses me off.’
Stella Sterling thought to herself that she had indeed grown much kinder over the past few years.
’If I’d been harder on him from the start, maybe he wouldn’t have the luxury of having all these thoughts.
Then again, it’s not like I’m doing all this without ulterior motives.
But if I really wanted to pry his secrets out of him, I have plenty of ways to do it. There’d be no need to be this nice.’
She wondered if she should be harder on him. That way, he’d realize just how good she was being to him now.
From Stella Sterling’s tone, Andrew Shaw instinctively sensed danger.
Alarm bells went off in his head.
’How could I have forgotten? This woman loves to split hairs. I was clearly complimenting her, so how could she turn it back on me like this?’
His mind screamed danger, and he quickly tried to explain himself. "No, of course not! I’ve always thought you were incredibly kind. If you weren’t, you would have had no reason to bring a little kid like me along."
"Er, it’s just... after the last few days, I’ve realized you’re even kinder than I imagined, that’s all."
Stella Sterling shot him a sidelong glance but said nothing, continuing to drive.
「Twenty or so days passed in this stop-and-go fashion.」
Stella Sterling never lingered in one place for long, always choosing desolate, uninhabited areas whenever they stopped to rest.
Over this time, they rarely encountered anyone else, and saw even fewer cars on the road.
Between the blizzards and torrential downpours of the past few years, most of the old cars had long since been rendered useless.
Those still able to drive on the road were a rare few.
Occasionally, she’d come across disputes, but she paid them no mind.
After all, in this apocalyptic world, conflict was everywhere, and it was impossible to say who was right or wrong.
She wouldn’t meddle in other people’s business.
The two times she had intervened before were only because she had seen that the people involved were fundamentally good, so she’d lent them a hand.
But she wouldn’t help every time, nor would she help just anyone.
During their travels, they had come across one such person who was in danger, pursued by more than ten people.
The person cried out to her for help.
However, Stella Sterling simply ignored the plea. When the person then tried to lead their pursuers to her, Stella took care of them herself.
This incident left Andrew Shaw stunned once more.
Her previous two interventions had led him to believe Stella Sterling was genuinely kind-hearted, someone who couldn’t bear to witness such suffering.
He thought that perhaps she even had the heart of a wandering knight-errant.
He never expected her to refuse so decisively the next time someone begged for her help.
And when she personally stepped in to eliminate that person, it was completely beyond his expectations.
Only later did he understand. Stella Sterling might be kind deep down, but she was by no means the type to be blindly benevolent.
She had her own set of scales to weigh who was worth saving and who wasn’t.
Of course, sometimes it might just depend on her mood. After all, Stella Sterling had always been someone who acted on a whim.
If she took a liking to someone, she might lend a hand. If someone rubbed her the wrong way... well...
Furthermore, along the way, they had also run into a group that had targeted them—or more precisely, their vehicle.
They wanted to take the vehicle for themselves.
There were more than ten of them, while he and Stella Sterling were just two.
Most people understood how dangerous it was for a woman to travel alone with a child; you wouldn’t dare attempt it without some real power.
But with such an overwhelming advantage in numbers, that bit of caution meant nothing to them.
The group’s fate, of course, was easy to imagine.
After nearly a month together, the two had gradually come to understand quite a bit about each other’s personalities.