Chapter 405 - 415: The Reckless Tracker
Chapter 405: Chapter 415: The Reckless Tracker
The ones who came away with nothing were once again drowning in regret.
They cursed themselves for not being faster, letting someone else walk away with all the goods for free.
But despite their grumbling, no one made a move on anyone else.
They all understood now that getting into a fight was a bad deal. If you got hurt, the only ones who would benefit were the vultures circling nearby. It just wasn’t worth it.
The man Stella Sterling had terrified earlier glanced in the direction she’d gone, then looked down at his own pile of things.
After a moment’s thought, he quickly stuffed everything into the backpack he was wearing. As he worked, he muttered nonstop.
"Damn it, I was scared to death today. Forget this, I’m done. I’m going home to get some rest. My luck has been shit today."
Still muttering, he finished packing his things, gave a nod to a few people he knew, and started walking home.
Many of the people nearby had heard him.
They couldn’t help but shake their heads and chuckle. The guy really had been scared out of his wits.
Thinking back on what had just happened, they knew they would have been just as scared in his shoes.
So, his reaction was understandable. After going through something like that, he must have been feeling awful. Wanting to go home and rest was only natural.
What they didn’t know, however, was that as soon as the man was out of sight, he changed direction and began to chase after Stella Sterling.
’Still no sign of Black Swan tonight,’ Stella thought. ’And I can’t sense them at all, which means they’re still far away. They probably haven’t even reached the outskirts of Veridia yet.’
Stella Sterling decided to head back to Felix Lawrence’s place. It was already the wee hours of the morning; dawn was just a few hours away. Time to go back and get some rest.
But as she walked, Stella’s gaze suddenly turned cold. She stole a glance behind her from the corner of her eye and, just as she suspected, saw someone jogging in her direction.
Stella’s eyes grew colder. ’Did what happened earlier get me tailed?’
Normally, Stella would have tried to lose her tail, but this time, she just stopped walking.
She was deliberately waiting for her pursuer to catch up.
Seeing her stop, the person behind her picked up their pace and ran right for her.
Stella turned around, a mocking expression on her face. ’Looks like it’s just one person. Is it possible that someone else from that crowd, another idiot like Derek Walsh, has decided to try their luck with me?’
’They really don’t know what’s good for them!’
’I guess what happened earlier wasn’t enough of a deterrent. They still think they can mess with me.’
’In that case, I might as well send him on his way to the afterlife.’
At that thought, she slowly curved her lips, but her smile was laced with a hint of dark amusement.
’I really feel like my temper has mellowed out a lot lately,’ she thought. ’At least my urge to kill isn’t as strong as it was right after I was reborn.’
’It’s just that there are always idiots who don’t know what’s good for them, insisting on throwing themselves at me.’
’So you can’t really blame me for what happens next, can you?’
But when she turned to face him, she saw a vaguely familiar figure.
She took a closer look and realized it was the same middle-aged man she’d terrified earlier—the one who had desperately begged for his life.
Did I misjudge him?
He acted so terrified before. He didn’t seem like the type to pull a stunt like this.
’Don’t tell me I was fooled by his act.’
With that in mind, Stella reined in her killing intent. She decided to just watch and wait for him to reach her. She was curious to see what he was planning.
’Even if I did misjudge him, it doesn’t matter. If he’s throwing away his chance to live and walking right up to me, then he’ll have no one to blame but himself.’
When the man saw Stella stop and wait for him, a flash of surprise and joy crossed his eyes. He shouted, "Miss, wait for me!"
Stella watched him, her expression calm. "Why are you following me?"
The coldness in her voice made the man freeze for a moment.
Then it hit him: following someone from behind like this could easily be misinterpreted as him having malicious intent.
His face instantly paled.
’I didn’t think it through,’ he thought, panicking. ’What if she misunderstands and just kills me?’
At that thought, he quickly backed away a few steps and blurted out an explanation. "Don’t get the wrong idea! I don’t mean any harm! I came to warn you!"
He spoke in a frantic rush, terrified that if he was even a second too slow, he’d never get the chance to explain himself before he was killed.
After all, wasn’t that exactly what happened to Derek Walsh? He hadn’t even had time to beg for his life before she made her move.
Hearing this, Stella raised an eyebrow. The corner of her mouth twitched as she took in his panicked, fearful state.
She asked, "Warn me about what?"
When he saw that she wasn’t attacking him, but was asking a question instead, the man breathed a sigh of relief. He knew she was listening.
His body relaxed slightly, no longer as tense as it had been moments ago.
He stayed put, not taking a single step closer, maintaining a safe distance of several meters. That way, if she did decide to attack, he’d have a little time to react.
Seeing her watching him, he quickly said, "I came to warn you. You need to leave Veridia. Fast."
Stella raised an eyebrow at his baffling statement, waiting for him to go on.
Seeing her reaction, the man gritted his teeth. He glanced around, and after making sure they were alone, he continued speaking.
"The man you killed earlier was named Derek Walsh. He was always pulling scams and cheating people, but do you know how he got away with it for so long? It’s because he has powerful backing. No one in Veridia dared to touch him."
"You look like you’re new here, miss, so you probably didn’t know who he was. But what you did... you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest. Now that you’ve killed him, the people who were backing him will definitely come after you."
"So, you need to get out of here now, before they find you. Once you’re away from this area... well, it’s a big world. They won’t be able to touch you."