Chapter 434 - 379: A New Faction’s Rapid Rise
Chapter 434: Chapter 379: A New Faction’s Rapid Rise
That day, Seth Warren brought Chelsea Todd to Villa District No. 3; she kept her head down and didn’t say a word.
Chelsea Todd was captivated by the beautiful scenery of Villa District No. 3. The plants were lush, and the air was filled with the songs of birds and the scent of flowers. For a moment, she completely forgot she had come to explain the incident involving Selina’s premature birth.
She spotted the roses blanketing the wall of Flora Bloom’s villa. The largest bloom was bright red with pink edges, over thirty centimeters in diameter. She could smell its candy-like fragrance even from a distance.
As if in a trance, she drifted closer and reached out, plucking the largest flower from its stem.
Seth Warren, standing nearby, hastily warned her, "Don’t touch the plants!"
But it was too late.
Word had spread throughout the base that the plants in Flora Bloom’s villa were no ordinary flora.
Chelsea Todd plucked the rose and brought it to her nose, taking a deep breath. A hazy look clouded her eyes, eclipsing the light within them.
"Chelsea Todd? Chelsea Todd?"
Seth Warren wanted to grab Chelsea Todd and find Flora Bloom at once, but it was as if she couldn’t hear him. She clutched the rose stem in one hand, oblivious to the fact that its thorns had pierced her palm and drawn blood.
Flora Bloom had known the moment the rose was picked. She had long ago commanded the rose vine not to attack humans without provocation, which was why it hadn’t struck out even when its flower was taken.
However, the rose vine itself was poisonous. The toxin in its thorns was a powerful hallucinogen, capable of affecting any living creature.
Its effects were especially potent on higher-order beings like humans.
By now, Chelsea Todd was completely delirious. She stood in Flora Bloom’s yard, laughing foolishly one moment and crying the next, which made Caleb Bloom and Jade, who were just stepping out, think they had run into a lunatic.
Caleb Bloom and his wife were just about to head out hunting with Sherman Lynch’s group. They gave Chelsea Todd a few puzzled glances, but when Jade saw the rose in her hand, her expression soured.
Everyone in Villa District No. 3 knew you weren’t supposed to pick the plants. On top of that, while the plants could grow without water and wouldn’t die of thirst...
...the fact was, she, Jade, painstakingly watered every single plant growing in Villa District No. 3 each day.
"This girl has no manners! How can you just walk into someone’s home and start picking their flowers?" Jade turned to Seth Warren. "Captain Warren, she’s with you. Why weren’t you keeping an eye on her?"
Flora Bloom emerged just then, and Seth Warren quickly apologized to Jade. "I’m sorry, she didn’t mean to!"
"And I suppose causing the pregnant woman in my group to go into premature labor wasn’t intentional either?"
A chill went down Seth Warren’s spine at the coldness in Flora Bloom’s voice. He managed a smile and said, "Miss Bloom, there’s more to the story. What happened with Selina’s premature birth isn’t what you think!"
Flora Bloom looked at Seth Warren without a word, then found a chair in the yard and sat down. A tendril from the rose vine on the wall stretched out toward her, as if reporting Chelsea Todd’s crime.
"I’ll investigate Selina’s premature birth myself. You can go." A smile touched Flora Bloom’s lips as she looked at Chelsea Todd. "But she stays here."
Seth Warren nodded but didn’t leave right away. "I... I was wondering if you’ve considered my proposal to join your team?"
Flora Bloom just smiled at Seth Warren, saying nothing. Suddenly, Yue Mao appeared behind him, a dagger pressed to his neck.
"Consider it? You want to join us with this level of skill? My boss is very selective! With your lack of awareness, you’d better go back and train some more!"
Yue Mao snatched the rose from Chelsea Todd’s hand, heedless of whether the thorns tore open more wounds in her palm.
He held the rose out to the vine near Flora Bloom’s hand. As if sentient, the vine responded, extending a tendril that reattached the severed flower to the stem, leaving no trace it had ever been picked.
"Alright, you can go now. Focus on developing your own team here at the base. You don’t have to join me to have a better life."
Dejected, Seth Warren departed. He glanced back at Villa No. 3, a flicker of dark calculation in his eyes, before returning helplessly to his own villa.
Azure Leroy came out. "Did she agree?"
"No."
"I told you, that woman, Flora Bloom, isn’t so easy to deal with."
"She’s keeping Chelsea Todd there."
"That silly girl... I don’t know what her deal is, but she’s always causing trouble. Maybe it’s for the best that Flora Bloom teaches her a lesson." Azure Leroy’s expression was also one of displeasure as she spoke of Chelsea Todd.
Ever since she’d saved Chelsea Todd, the foolish girl had been constantly clinging to her, wanting to go hunting one minute and browse the trading market at the mall the next.
And somehow, trouble seemed to follow them everywhere. It was a run of bad luck for her as a companion, too. ’Out of sight, out of mind’ was for the best.
Things at the base were quiet for a while. The teams led by Quinn and Seth Warren maintained their cooperative relationship, though Quinn learned of Seth Warren’s two visits to Villa No. 3.
Quinn was a capable man. He knew what was on Seth Warren’s mind but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he focused on managing his own team more strictly. As a result, three of his ordinary team members had recently awakened abilities.
And they were all offensive types: Fire Element and Wind Element.
But Crystal Cores were now in severe shortage both inside and outside the base, and he had none to spare. The few they had left were saved for emergencies during hunts. He had experienced the terror of spiritual power exhaustion firsthand, so he was exceptionally cautious.
Meanwhile, another team had suddenly and rapidly risen through the ranks at the base. In less than a month, they had grown from the original five members to a squad of one hundred, their size and strength now surpassing even Seth Warren’s team, the most established group in Morhaven Base.
The founders of this team were none other than the five-person squad of Shawn Hale and Rita, who had originally arrived at the base with Lex Cross.
Flora Bloom was aware of this team’s existence but hadn’t paid it much mind. However, seven days later, when Seth Warren led his entire group to merge with this newly risen power, it finally caught her attention.
One day, while Lex Cross was with Flora Bloom at the mall’s trading market, they came face to face with one of the five captains of this new power: Rita, the only female among them.
She was wearing a pristine white dress, her hair long, black, and straight. Her eyes were bright and innocent.
The young woman, who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, was the very picture of youth. Her every move exuded a pure, luminous beauty, like that of an unattainable first love.
The person accompanying her through the market, however, was someone Flora Bloom hadn’t expected to see: Sepherdine.
Sepherdine was also dressed in white, but his was a traditional robe that gave him an ethereal, otherworldly aura full of classical grace. If one didn’t know he was a man, his captivating presence could rival that of any stunning beauty.
Lex Cross noticed Flora Bloom’s gaze fixed in one direction. He followed her line of sight, and his brow furrowed slightly when he saw Sepherdine.
’He’s handsome, sure, but it’s a shame he’s a man.’
And so, a hand with long, slender fingers suddenly blocked Flora Bloom’s line of sight.
"My dearest Flora, staring so intently at another man right in front of me. Has my charm failed to hold your attention?"
Lex Cross playfully flicked her forehead with two fingers, finally pulling Flora Bloom’s attention back to him.