Chapter 415 - 363: The Unreliable Golden Crow
Chapter 415: Chapter 363: The Unreliable Golden Crow
"Oh, right, Lex. Are there any shops or warehouses in Argent that sell grain seeds?"
"What’s wrong? Tell me what you’re missing, and I’ll bring it back for you."
"It’s just that I’m almost out of rice in my personal dimension. If it’s convenient, could you look for some rice seeds or seedlings for me? It’s been a long time since the apocalypse began, so they might be hard to find. It’s not essential, just grab them if you happen to see some."
On the other end of the communicator, Lex Cross didn’t say anything, just gave a nod that even he found odd. Suddenly feeling a bit silly, he let out a soft chuckle.
"Huh? What are you laughing at?"
"It’s nothing. I just feel that it’s my honor to be of service to Flora."
They chatted for a little while longer on the communicator before Lex Cross, insisting that a pregnant woman needs ample sleep, urged Flora Bloom to go to bed early. And so, they finally ended their call, which had lasted for over an hour.
After hanging up, Lex Cross’s cold expression returned. Saul Sterling happened to walk over just then. Stepping closer, he asked, "The missus?"
Lex Cross nodded, but the hesitation in his eyes was something Saul Sterling had never seen before.
"Boss, do you really plan on staying on Earth indefinitely? When the time comes, we have to return to our true forms. Otherwise, this body won’t hold out."
"I understand."
"I know she’s important to you, but Boss, the situation on the cosmic battlefield is constantly changing. Those powers and territories that are rightfully yours can’t be allowed to fall into the hands of another family. If you don’t go back, they’ll all go to your older brother."
"Saul, have you ever seen me fight a battle I wasn’t confident of winning?"
Saul Sterling shook his head.
"Alright, we’ll head back to the center of the City of Argent tomorrow. You need to level up faster. You should know as well as I do that we’re running out of time."
"Boss, with her talent, she’ll have surely broken through to a High-level Superpower by the time we have to leave! We can take her with us."
Lex Cross pressed his thin lips together. The rosy pink of his lips blanched for a moment under the pressure before the color returned.
"Saul, if one day our Star Nation suffered a devastating blow and was on the brink of collapse, would you choose to stay and fight to the death, or would you desert and wait for another opportunity?"
Saul Sterling was baffled by Lex Cross’s sudden question. "Our Star Nation... With you around, Boss, I’ve never even considered such a thing."
Lex Cross gazed impassively at the night sky beyond the terrace, his expression unreadable. "Think about it now."
"I wouldn’t retreat! I’d defend it to the death!"
A smile touched Lex Cross’s lips, but it was tinged with helplessness. ’If only she weren’t so strong, so insistent on putting up a front, so fiercely self-reliant. If only she would lean on me more. At least then, when I have to take her away, she won’t have any other choice.’
He met Saul’s gaze, and his own eyes lit up with the vibrant life they only held when he thought of Flora Bloom. "She thinks the same way."
Saul Sterling frowned. "More and more places on Earth are suffering from spatial fractures. I can even feel my own power steadily returning. Boss, even *they* have arrived. Stabilizing this plane of existence is absolutely impossible."
Seeing that Lex Cross remained silent, Saul Sterling pressed on. "Boss, you have to make her understand the stakes! Once a world’s spatial integrity collapses, all life within it is instantly annihilated.
Those people are here for these Space Fragments, aren’t they? To expand their own territory?
Wait, that’s not right! Boss, that Divine-level personal dimension she possesses, the one that has acknowledged her as its master... if those people find even the slightest clue about it, the consequences..."
Lex Cross exhaled and nodded. "That’s why your strength must be restored immediately. Those people... cannot be allowed to live."
Before dawn the next day, the thirteen special-ops soldiers departed from the base. Their target this time was the horde of thousands upon thousands of zombies in the city center. They needed Crystal Cores.
They returned to the Argent base after dark. Just as they reached their small, rundown courtyard home, they found Chelsea Todd had already been waiting in the living room for some time.
Upon seeing them return, Chelsea Todd immediately went over to greet them with a bright smile, affecting a girlish coyness.
Lex Cross shot Five a glance and headed straight upstairs. Not wanting to meddle in their brother’s affairs, Saul Sterling and the others also made excuses and slipped away.
Chelsea Todd had just called out, "Brother Lex," and by then, nearly everyone was gone, leaving only Five behind.
"Brother Five, what’s wrong with everyone? Why does it seem like they’re not very happy to see me?"
Seeing Chelsea Todd again, Five was filled with a storm of complicated emotions. ’I should have realized it sooner,’ he thought. ’With a personality like hers, how could she possibly be the same little girl who took care of me back then?’