Chapter 439 - 382: Reasoning?
Chapter 439: Chapter 382: Reasoning?
"Your sister already said she wouldn’t wear it even if you got it back for her, and a pregnant woman like you can’t fit into something so small. So why won’t you just give the clothes back to me?"
A flicker of flame rose from Flora Bloom’s palm. The instant it touched a corner of the denim, the clothing was incinerated, turning to dust.
"Are you trying to reason with me?"
Watching the clothes turn to ash, everyone present held their breath.
’What an overbearing pregnant woman!’
"You! You’re being too tyrannical!"
"I forgot to tell you. The reason my sister doesn’t want it is because *you* touched it; she finds it filthy. It’s just second-hand goods now. Burning it is cleaner this way. It’ll save the base from some future unpleasantness and scandals."
At first, Rita didn’t get it. But once the meaning behind Flora Bloom’s words sank in, her face flushed crimson. "You... what are you trying to say? Who are you calling used goods!"
Flora Bloom didn’t even have to say a word. The surrounding crowd, who had just been watching the spectacle, suddenly burst into laughter—this was especially true for a few of the women.
Girls like her, with that pure and innocent act, were what they called "straight-guy-killers"—the dream girl for most men. But it takes a woman to see through another woman’s game.
Today she’s calling one man "brother," who knows what she’ll be calling someone else tomorrow! Take that "dear Shawn" she talks about—isn’t that her boyfriend?
So, as for Sepherdine, who she was calling "dear Sepherdine"... if things progressed smoothly, "dear Shawn" would soon have a nice new hat to keep his head warm.
Flora Bloom pulled Lisa and Caleb back to her side. Seeing Shawn Hale’s face drain of color, she felt a swell of satisfaction. "Captain Hale, I suggest you keep a tighter leash on your people. After all, someone else might just share your tastes."
Just then, the Guard Squad that had been leaving suddenly turned back. A glimmer of hope sparked in the weeping Rita. ’It seems Sepherdine is going to help me after all.’
But when the ten men reached Sepherdine and he spoke to them, her eyes went wide and her face turned ashen.
"Take that man away. He’s forbidden from setting up a stall here ever again."
Before the stall owner could even figure out what was happening, the ten-man Guard Squad had bundled him up and tossed him out of the shopping center.
Only then did Sepherdine step forward to smooth things over.
"Captain Bloom, while it’s true Rita spotted the clothes first, I was the one who paid for them. Had I known young Lisa had chosen them first, I never would have gotten involved."
"How about you do me a favor and let this go? She’s only sixteen or seventeen, after all. She doesn’t know any better."
Flora Bloom suppressed a laugh and put on a reluctant expression. "Since Chief Sepherdine himself has spoken, we’ll let the matter drop. Lisa, Caleb, do you want to keep shopping or head home for dinner? We still have half of that wild boar we caught last time!"
Caleb’s eyes lit up. "I want barbecue!"
"I want stir-fried pork!" Lisa piped up, not to be outdone.
"Alright, let’s go. We’ll head home and have Uncle Ethan make it for us!"
Lex Cross hadn’t said a word the entire time, but his focus was entirely on Flora Bloom. His aura was fully extended, his spiritual power already pinning everyone in place, and the surrounding Thunder Element energy was crackling, ready to strike.
If anyone had tried to launch a sneak attack amidst the chaos, they wouldn’t have stood a chance of escaping his notice.
Shawn Hale and Rita could only watch helplessly as Flora Bloom’s party of four departed, completely powerless to stop them. Their only recourse was to turn to Sepherdine.
"Aren’t you going to give us an explanation, Captain Sepherdine? My girlfriend can’t just be bullied for no reason."
Sepherdine threw up his hands. "Don’t come to me looking for justice. You can go find Flora Bloom at Villa No. 3 yourselves. What’s it got to do with me?"
Any thought Sepherdine had about recruiting Shawn Hale and Rita’s team for the sake of the base’s harmony was now completely gone.
He had never seen this overbearing side of Flora Bloom.
The incident with the clothes was really just a mistake born from the stall owner’s poor judgment; neither Lisa nor Rita was truly at fault. The real problem was what Rita had said to Lisa earlier.
In the apocalypse, the strong command respect. She had been using him as a temporary patron to fuel her vanity, but to Sepherdine, that was all irrelevant.
The only problem was that her target was one of Flora Bloom’s people.
Compared to Lisa, who had no superpower, Rita was certainly powerful. But compared to Rita, Flora Bloom was an insurmountable chasm.
No matter how furious or resentful Shawn Hale and Rita felt, they couldn’t change one simple fact: they couldn’t afford to mess with Flora Bloom.
It is only natural for the weak to bow before the strong. Just as Lisa couldn’t reason with Rita on her own.
And just like Flora Bloom—so powerful she didn’t need to reason with anyone. In her eyes, Rita was an ant. An ant she couldn’t even be bothered to crush.
Moreover, Sepherdine could read between the lines of Shawn Hale’s words: a demand for justice and an explanation. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have minded pulling rank as the base chief and granting them that bit of face.
But since it involved Flora Bloom...
First, his instincts screamed against it.
Second, he didn’t have the guts!
He’d worked so hard just to get a spot at the dinner table in Villa No. 3; it hadn’t been easy! How could he let these newcomers ruin it all? Flora Bloom’s reaction just now had shown him that she wasn’t holding it against him, and only then did he feel relieved.
Before leaving, Sepherdine glanced at the still-sobbing Rita, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. "Oh, and by the way, don’t call me ’brother’ anymore. In fact, if my parents were still alive, I’d be their only son."
What Flora Bloom didn’t expect was for Shawn Hale to show up outside Villa No. 3 the very next morning, Rita in tow, asking for an audience. They were accompanied by five or six others with superpowers, each person laden with bags of all sizes filled with various resources. At a glance, you’d think they were here to visit family.
Flora Bloom had no intention of seeing them, but from inside Villa No. 3, she sensed something interesting among the items they’d brought.
A rabbit.
Alive.
And pregnant.
Neal Wallace and Joel Bloom came out to greet them.
When Shawn Hale saw Neal Wallace and Joel Bloom emerge instead of Flora Bloom herself, his expression soured. But given the special purpose of their visit, he swallowed his pride.
’Rita felt like she was about to explode.’
’What kind of place *is* this Villa No. 3? The entrance is guarded by a swarm of head-sized bees.’ Seeing them glaring menacingly, practically begging to dive down and sting them, even Shawn Hale felt his knees go weak.
Such bees were a common sight throughout the base: at the main gate, under the eaves of every house, in the trees, amidst the flowerbeds, and even on the lampposts.
But seeing this now, it was clear a swarm of this size wasn’t a natural phenomenon; it was artificial.
Rita herself was a Summoning System superpower user, so she’d done some research on the subject. The Summoning System had two branches. One involved conjuring powerful creatures to fight for the summoner, which was her type.
The other involved summoning existing creatures and taming them.
’This swarm must have a queen. And there has to be someone with a Summoning System superpower in Flora Bloom’s Villa No. 3 who has already tamed it for their own use.’
With this thought, the pair became wary of the two men who had come out to meet them.
But they needed help, so they had to bow their heads.
Half the members of their newly formed squad had gone missing. They’d gone out hunting in the woods yesterday and hadn’t returned.
Even the search party sent after them had vanished without a trace.
Shawn Hale and Rita had asked several teams they were friendly with for backup, hoping to form a joint search party, but they were all refused.
No one was willing to help.
After asking around, they finally learned the reason: they had offended the master of Villa No. 3, Flora Bloom.