Chapter 560 - 569: Scrambling to be First
Chapter 560: Chapter 569: Scrambling to be First
The few people Stella Sterling had called out had a flicker of fear in their eyes. They subconsciously took a few steps back.
Their reaction was jarringly out of place in the crowd, and everyone’s gaze shifted toward them.
Everyone knew Sterling’s status in the base. In the past, anyone she called on would have been overjoyed, but the way these few were acting...
They immediately realized something was wrong. Considering the current situation, it didn’t take long for them to put two and two together. They quickly distanced themselves from the group, forming a circle around them.
Stella Sterling was satisfied with this reaction. She watched them.
When those people saw what was happening, their faces turned ashen, and their bodies even began to tremble slightly.
One of them stammered, "S-S-Sterling, is something wrong?"
The others said nothing, but they looked visibly uncomfortable.
Seeing the angry looks from the people around them, their gazes grew even more shifty.
Stella Sterling stared at them. "You’re afraid. Why?"
The man trembled for a long time but couldn’t get a single word out.
The others just lowered their heads.
After a moment, the man suddenly dropped to his knees. "I’m sorry, Sterling! I was wrong! Please spare me, I don’t want to die!"
Seeing this, the others followed suit, kneeling and beginning to beg Stella. "Sterling, we were wrong! We hid the truth from you, we lied!"
"But we didn’t mean to! We just don’t want to die!"
"That’s right, Sterling! Even if we ate the meat, it should be fine, right? Look at us, we’re perfectly okay! Nothing’s happened! Maybe the ones who transformed were just a statistical probability. It doesn’t mean it’ll happen to everyone!"
"Look, plenty of people out there have eaten that meat, and things are still quiet outside. Maybe... maybe..."
At this point, the man looked at Stella Sterling hesitantly, not daring to say the rest.
Stella Sterling stared at him, her expression calm. "Maybe what? Say it."
The man looked at Stella and finally summoned his courage. "Maybe... maybe this is all just your own speculation, Sterling. Maybe things aren’t that serious at all..."
He was only halfway through his sentence when several high-ranking members of Caeluna Base glared at him furiously. "Shut up!"
The others also looked at the man who had spoken, their expressions angry.
’What are they trying to say? Are they blaming Sterling?’
Besides, Sterling already said that Meridia Base has seen many such transformations. Yet these people were still clinging to wishful thinking!
To be honest, it was true that everyone wanted to live. They could even understand their reluctance to admit the truth. But they never should have blamed Sterling’s decision when they were the ones in the wrong.
Here at Caeluna Base, that was the greatest mistake one could make.
Sterling had saved all of their lives. If it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t have the life they had now.
Forget about having full bellies; out there in the man-eating apocalypse, they would have likely died horrible deaths long ago.
They wouldn’t allow anyone to speak disrespectfully of Sterling.
Everyone glared at the group, their eyes filled with a hatred so intense it was as if they wanted to tear them apart.
Under their gazes, a few of the accused fell silent. But the person who had called Stella Sterling’s theory a guess—a woman—saw this and decided to throw caution to the wind. "What are you all staring at us for? Was I wrong?"
"In this world, go ask any of the survivors out there! How many of them have eaten that meat? But they’re all perfectly fine! On what grounds does Sterling get to decide that everyone who ate it will turn into one of those monsters? She’s being arbitrary! She doesn’t value our lives!"
"This isn’t happening to you, so you don’t have to die. Of course you can stand there and calmly accuse us! If it were happening to you, wouldn’t you be resentful?"
Zane Xavier and Arthur Shaw looked at Stella Sterling with concern. They were afraid that after hearing these words, even the most loyal followers might begin to have their doubts.
But unexpectedly, that didn’t happen.
Instead, the crowd grew even more furious, interrogating the dissenters word by word.
Just then, the young woman whose brother had committed suicide stepped forward. She said, "I wouldn’t be. If I had really eaten that meat, I would have chosen to kill myself, just like my brother. I would never drag anyone else down with me."
"In all our time at the base, every member has become like family. If you know you’ll end up being a burden to your family but choose to hide it anyway, you don’t deserve to be called our family!"
As soon as she spoke, the others voiced their agreement one by one.
At this, the male dissenter’s face turned ashen. He was bewildered. ’Was I wrong?’
’But I just want to live. Was I wrong?!’
Watching the scene unfold, Stella Sterling’s expression soured as a sudden thought occurred to her.
After a moment, she said to Stephen Lawrence, "Deal with them."
’From his perspective, he isn’t entirely wrong. Right now, there’s no hundred-percent proof that everyone who ate the meat will turn into a monster.’
’He has a point.’
’But I’ve lived through this once before. I’ve already experienced it. I know better than anyone that there’s no room for wishful thinking here.’
’I originally wanted to punish those who hid the truth, but I’ve had a change of heart. From their perspective, they weren’t wrong.’
The group was quickly dealt with.
She looked down at the people below and said in a low voice, "Do you resent me?"
She gave a sarcastic laugh. ’I really am cruel. Looks like I’m not a good person after all.’
"Sterling, we don’t resent you! We believe that no matter what decision you make, it’s for our own good."
"That’s right! You’re the one who gave us our lives. Even if you wanted to take them back, we would let you!"
Staring at the sincere eyes of the people below, Stella Sterling fell silent for a moment.
In that moment, her heart ached.
After a short while, she suppressed her emotions and looked down at the crowd. "For the safety of everyone here, I will be using some... special methods to question you all."
Then she turned to Stephen Lawrence and the others. "That includes you."
They nodded without the slightest hesitation.
Stephen Lawrence was the first to step forward. "Boss, let me be first!"
’I was the first one to follow the master. At a time like this, I naturally have to be the first to step up and set an example for everyone.’
Seeing Stephen Lawrence step up, the others all started clamoring to be next.