Chapter 320: Chapter 320: Death of the Previous Life
Stella Sterling laughed. "Who would dare make you a chef? No one would have dared in the past, and they’d dare even less now."
But Gordon Ford looked at her earnestly. "Who says no one? You can. I only want to be a chef for you, and you alone."
In fact, Gordon Ford himself hadn’t cooked in many years.
After all, he was usually very busy. He’d just grab a few bites of whatever was available. He never had the time to cook a proper meal.
Only when he was with Stella Sterling could he feel this relaxed.
"Hmm, I’ll think about it. A man who can cook is pretty charming."
Stella Sterling laughed, then looked at the veritable feast she had devoured. She felt a little embarrassed.
He had gone to so much trouble to prepare all this, yet most of it had ended up in her stomach. Gordon Ford himself had barely eaten anything.
She opened her mouth to explain, "I have a lot of strength, so I have a pretty big appetite, too."
"It’s fine. As long as you enjoy it. The portion you set aside for me was just right."
Gordon Ford shook his head, his words completely sincere.
Since Stella Sterling had brought up the subject of her strength, Gordon Ford went along with it. "But I remember you used to have normal strength. How did it get so great after just a few years?"
At this, a hint of worry crept back into Gordon Ford’s heart.
’I wonder if Stella Sterling has taken some kind of potion?’
’Those things can increase a person’s strength, but the side effects are significant.’
’And from the looks of it, this isn’t a temporary boost from a recently consumed potion. Her strength is consistently this high. If it’s from a potion, the side effects would have to be even more severe.’
"Yeah, it’s strange to me, too. Not long after the apocalypse started, I found I was eating a lot more than usual. At the same time, my strength increased quite a bit."
Stella Sterling said. It wasn’t a lie.
She had, however, concealed the matter of her dimensional space, not telling Gordon Ford about it.
For now, Stella Sterling had no intention of revealing her secret.
She thought of her death in her past life.
Back then, she and Caleb Xavier had been combat partners for a long time.
Later on, she had spent most of her time on missions with Caleb Xavier.
Their abilities were comparable, and as they got to know each other over time, they gradually built up trust. They had been through so many life-or-death battles together.
At the time, Stella Sterling had believed he was a trustworthy friend.
Besides, her abilities in her past life hadn’t been as formidable as they were now.
She needed the help of her dimensional space for many things.
And since she was always on missions with Caleb Xavier and had to use her dimensional space, she couldn’t keep it a secret from him forever.
Eventually, Caleb Xavier found out about her dimensional space.
The man had never shown any sign of duplicity to her face. He had even reminded her multiple times not to expose the secret of her dimensional space.
But she never would have imagined that this very person would be the one to backstab her in the end.
Just before she died, she remembered the look on his face as he tried to snatch the blood bracelet from her wrist.
Although he didn’t succeed.
But because of him, she had been eaten alive by a swarm of insects.
From the moment he tried to take her blood bracelet, she knew he was after her dimensional space.
Even though she had trusted him back then, often using the convenience of her dimensional space to aid them in battle, from which Caleb Xavier had also benefited greatly.
But the human heart is, by its nature, greedy.
’Perhaps in Caleb Xavier’s mind, no matter how good I was to him, my dimensional space was better off in his hands than in mine.’
So in the end, he chose to betray her.
Stella Sterling had no intention of exposing the existence of her dimensional space. The only two people who knew about it were Stephen Lawrence and Black Swan, and they had both taken the Loyal Servant Pill.
They were incapable of betraying her, so she could reveal its existence to them without worry.
But Gordon Ford was different.
Thinking of this, Stella Sterling lowered her head, hiding the complex emotions in her eyes.
Gordon Ford gave her a surprised look. For a moment, he felt that Stella Sterling was distracted, as if lost in some memory.
In that instant, the very air around her seemed to turn cold.
Gordon Ford knew she must have recalled something unpleasant. He even suspected that her current cautious and defensive nature was related to whatever she was thinking about.
Seeing Stella Sterling lower her head, a flicker of heartache crossed his eyes.
But since she clearly didn’t want to talk about those unpleasant memories, he didn’t press the issue.
He pretended not to notice her change in mood and continued his line of questioning. "Before you realized your strength had increased, did you ever accidentally ingest something you shouldn’t have?"
Stella Sterling looked up again and met Gordon Ford’s eyes, which were filled with concern.
She froze for a second.
Then she realized what he was worried about and understood why he had suddenly asked her such a question.
She smiled. "No."
Before Gordon Ford could say anything, she continued, "Don’t worry. I haven’t taken any of those potions that increase a person’s strength. My strength gain has nothing to do with them."
"Besides, I’m a doctor myself. I’ve examined my own body. I’m perfectly healthy, with no side effects whatsoever."
She finished with a joke, "I’m strong enough to take down an ox right now."
Hearing this, Gordon Ford couldn’t help but chuckle.
He knew Stella Sterling wouldn’t joke about her own health, so he was finally able to put his mind at ease.
He still didn’t know why Stella Sterling’s strength had suddenly increased, but as long as there were no side effects, it was a good thing.
In this apocalyptic world, the stronger you were, the better.
’Then again,’ he thought, ’the other members of her base also seem a bit stronger than average.’
’What’s their story?’
But in the end, Gordon Ford didn’t ask. Some things were probably secrets of her base, and it wasn’t his place to pry.
As long as he knew she was healthy, that was all that mattered.
After the meal, the two of them slowly cleared the dishes together.
Just as they finished, Basil Xavier walked in with a grain of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth. "Stella Sterling, that’s just cold," he whined. "You didn’t save me any? You ate it all?"
As he spoke, he rubbed the back of his head, which was still sore. He couldn’t believe Stella Sterling had actually knocked him out.
But while he was grumbling internally, he didn’t dare complain to her face, afraid she might just do it again.
For now, all he could do was grumble at the two of them about the food.
