Chapter 408 - 418: Smelled It Wrong?
Chapter 408: Chapter 418: Smelled It Wrong?
A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes. ’So Miss Sterling was in her room this whole time,’ he thought. ’Then why wasn’t there any sound when I was knocking for so long?’
He shook his head, pushing the question aside. ’This isn’t the time to be thinking about that!’
He looked at Stella Sterling anxiously. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Miss Sterling, can I come in to talk?"
He shot Stella Sterling a meaningful look as he spoke.
Stella Sterling nodded and let Felix Lawrence in.
Felix Lawrence shut the door behind him. He was about to speak when he paused with a soft "Huh?" and looked around the room.
"What is it?"
Stella Sterling sat down and asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Felix Lawrence rubbed his shiny, bald head, his expression growing more perplexed. "Is my sense of smell on the fritz? Why do I smell alcohol... and barbeque?"
Even as he said it, Felix Lawrence found it unbelievable. They were deep into the apocalypse—where would anyone get barbeque?
’Could it be that I’m just hallucinating because it’s been so long since I’ve eaten anything like that?’
Hearing this, Stella Sterling looked at him, feigning confusion. "I don’t smell anything. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"
As she said this, a flash of exasperation crossed her eyes. ’I even made sure to air the place out before I left my space.’
’I can’t believe Felix Lawrence still caught the scent.’
Hearing Stella Sterling’s denial, Felix Lawrence agreed. He must have been mistaken. Otherwise, where would you find barbeque in the apocalypse? Or beer?
Besides, he couldn’t see any leftovers in Miss Sterling’s room.
He nodded, a bit embarrassed. "I must have been mistaken. It’s been so long since I’ve had anything like that, I must be craving it."
Felix Lawrence grew more embarrassed as he spoke, a faint blush creeping up his face. He couldn’t believe his cravings had gotten this bad.
But he wondered if it was just his imagination—a moment ago, he could have sworn the smell of alcohol in the room grew a little stronger.
He shook his head sharply. If Stella Sterling wasn’t in the room, he would have slapped himself on his big, bald head.
’I must be going crazy, thinking about booze this much!’
’Then again,’ he thought, ’there was that small bottle of liquor in the last batch of supplies we found!’
He swallowed hard at the thought...
’After this is all over, if we really manage to kill River Larkin and get our revenge, I’ll have a little taste with the guys!’
’But not before. Drinking clouds your judgment. In this apocalypse, you have to be cautious, then more cautious, and then even more cautious still!’
’We absolutely can’t afford any mistakes!’
Stella Sterling watched him and knew he had smelled the alcohol on her. But since he couldn’t find the source, he could only blame himself and wouldn’t overthink it.
She changed the subject. "You still haven’t told me why you were looking for me. What’s so urgent?"
Hearing Stella Sterling’s question, Felix Lawrence slapped his forehead in frustration. His supposed hallucination had made him completely forget why he was here.
At that thought, he pushed all the distracting ideas from his mind.
He sat down across from Stella Sterling, his expression turning serious.
He pulled a piece of paper from inside his clothes and handed it to Stella Sterling. "Miss Sterling, is this you?"
The person in the drawing wore a practical short-sleeved shirt and long pants, their face covered by a mask.
Stella Sterling recognized the figure immediately—it was her.
She even glanced down at her own clothes; she was still wearing that same short-sleeved shirt and pants.
Just then, Felix Lawrence also noticed the clothes she was wearing, and any lingering shred of hope he had vanished.
Stella Sterling nodded. "It is."
She recalled the warning the man had given her earlier that day and already had an idea of what was happening.
’It seems the person behind Attorney Walsh is looking for me. Are they really this fast?’
Seeing how calm Stella Sterling was, Felix Lawrence found his own anxiety inexplicably settling.
He gave a wry smile and explained to Stella Sterling, "Our men were undercover in Veridia and saw people from Sanctyr Base showing this drawing around, looking for someone. I always keep a close eye on Sanctyr Base’s activities, so when my guys saw it was them, they did some digging."
"They found out that the person in the portrait killed some of Sanctyr Base’s external personnel, and now the base is searching for them. One of my men brought back a copy. It looked familiar, so I wanted to come and ask you."
But the moment he saw what Stella Sterling was wearing, he knew the answer without even having to ask.
Before Stella Sterling could respond, Felix Lawrence continued, "Don’t worry, Miss Sterling. My men are all completely reliable; they won’t let this leak. The problem is, this is Sanctyr Base’s territory. If they conduct a real search, I’m afraid it won’t take long for them to track you down."
"We need to get ready to face Sanctyr Base."
Stella Sterling nodded. After a moment’s thought, she described the evening’s events to Felix Lawrence.
After listening, Felix Lawrence sneered. "The guy deserved to die. It seems like no one from Sanctyr Base is any good. The things they do are all completely loathsome!"
A flash of anger crossed Felix Lawrence’s eyes at the thought.
Stella Sterling, however, looked right at him. "This place might be exposed too. Are you afraid?"
"No."
Felix Lawrence shook his head with a smile. "I was a little worried at first, but now that it’s come to this, I actually feel relieved."
Stella Sterling let out a couple of hearty laughs, then reassured him, "Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal."
"Even if they do find this place, as long as you and your men don’t get involved, they won’t necessarily know about you."
Felix Lawrence frowned at her words, his expression disapproving. "Miss Sterling, are you planning to face this alone? We agreed to cooperate. How could I let you do that?"
A hint of a smile touched Stella’s eyes. She shook her head. "I’m not trying to go it alone. It’s just that if you’re exposed, River Larkin will come after you."
"My situation is just a minor annoyance; it’s not enough to make Sanctyr Base mobilize its full forces. As long as you stay out of it, this is still a small problem that’s easy to solve. I can handle it myself."
"We haven’t reached the point of all-out war with Sanctyr Base yet."