Chapter 291: Chapter 198: Borrowing People
The six of them were left speechless and deeply embarrassed by Paige Summers’s words.
They couldn’t stay any longer.
Only Howard Jacobs wanted to argue, but he was quickly pulled away by Mason Hayes as they took their leave.
Paige Summers didn’t try to make them stay, simply offering a polite farewell.
The small living room fell silent once more. Paige Summers poured herself a glass of water and drank it slowly.
Lennie saw them out. When he returned, his expression was somewhat complicated.
"Vice-Captain..." They had started calling Paige Summers by that title after she joined Bloodfall, and it had become a habit. "Were you a little too harsh just now?"
"Was I?"
Lennie scratched his head. "Well, uh, to be honest, when I saw them last night, I also felt that something was different about them, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. After hearing you today, I get it. It’s probably because after the boss left, a lot of people left the team. Our strength was diminished, so they haven’t taken on any major missions."
"Perhaps," Paige Summers said softly.
To be honest, she was a little disappointed.
’In this world, if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind.’
And these people were clearly not like this back when they followed Marcus Monroe.
’Of course, maybe it’s also because they don’t trust me, so they’ve lost the courage to take a gamble.’
’But in this era, if we just hide away in the base, content with the status quo, then humanity will forever be nothing more than livestock, never able to reclaim control of their own lives!’
Lennie was silent for a long moment, then suddenly asked, "So, will they come back?"
Paige Summers shook her head frankly. "I don’t know. It’s up to them. If they come, I’ll welcome them. If they don’t, I won’t force it." After a pause, she added, "Let’s go. We’ll take a look around outside."
Southreach had a management office for Superpower Users, and a place to post missions.
Paige Summers was confident she could find the people Bloodfall needed.
They were out for the better part of the day. By the time Paige Summers returned, Claire Chapman had been waiting for a long time.
"Tomorrow, you’re coming with me somewhere," he said mysteriously.
"Where?"
"You’ll know when we get there."
Paige Summers shot him a scornful look from the corner of her eye. ’What kind of game is he playing? So childish!’
Claire Chapman chuckled but stubbornly refused to spill the beans.
Paige Summers decided to humor him and changed the subject. "What did you think of Leo Joyce today?"
"He was fine."
"What kind of answer is that? That’s completely meaningless!"
"Well, about that... tomorrow. I’ll tell you everything after we go tomorrow."
Paige Summers rolled her eyes. "Fine. Guard your little secret and get a good night’s sleep. Don’t strain yourself."
"I won’t, I won’t!"
He really wouldn’t... because Claire Chapman wasn’t holding anything in. He was just uneasy.
As a result, he still didn’t sleep well that night.
The next day, sporting faint dark circles under his eyes, he got into the car with her under Paige Summers’s mocking gaze.
It was just the two of them, on Claire Chapman’s insistence.
It wasn’t that Paige Summers wasn’t curious, but she didn’t ask, prepared to wait and see what would happen.
The car drove all the way to the City Lord’s residence and stopped in front of a wide-open area.
It wasn’t completely empty; workout equipment was placed in the corners and along the edges.
"This is a training ground?"
Claire Chapman nodded and pulled her to face the other side, where a large group of people was approaching.
Leading the group was Southreach’s City Lord, Leo Joyce, whom he had met yesterday, along with several of his aides. The neatly arranged ranks behind them were clearly Leo Joyce’s troops, all dressed in identical combat uniforms, looking quite a bit like soldiers with their sharp and heroic bearing.
As soon as Leo Joyce came closer, Claire Chapman immediately began making introductions for Paige Summers.
He wasn’t sucking up to the former, but to the pensive-looking Paige Summers.
As for the reason...
...the unknowing Leo Joyce revealed it with a single sentence.
After the greetings, Leo Joyce, who looked to be in his thirties with a gentle, scholarly appearance, pointed to the young people who had quickly assembled on the training ground. "Captain Chapman, Vice-Captain Sterling, this squad’s strength is outstanding. You can rest assured when you take them on the mission. They absolutely will not mess things up!"
A strange glint flashed in Paige Summers’s eyes, but she quickly broke into a smile.
Leo Joyce thought she was very satisfied and also smiled cordially.
Only Claire Chapman felt his heart pound even more nervously.
He had set Paige Summers up like this, banking on the fact that she wouldn’t undermine him in front of others, thus creating an irreversible situation. But now that Paige Summers was actually acting as he had predicted, showing no sign of being out of the loop, he felt exceptionally uneasy.
Paige Summers knew what he was thinking and shot him a fierce glare when no one else was looking.
At this, Claire Chapman actually started smiling to himself.
’It’s good that she’s angry. It’s good.’
’Looks like the magnitude of the reckoning won’t be too high!’
Regardless of what the two were thinking, since there was no backing out now, they naturally had to take a good look and see if this squad was truly as outstanding as Leo Joyce described.
Leo Joyce had already made arrangements for this.
After the young people finished their sparring practice, they stepped out from the ranks one by one to state their superpower and Level. Those who could, demonstrated their abilities—for example, Natural System Superpower Users would shoot Fireballs and Water Arrows into the open area, illustrating their specialties.
Although Paige Summers was displeased with Claire Chapman’s actions, she had to admit that the hundred-odd members of The Power Corps under Leo Joyce were indeed quite good. Even if they couldn’t be considered elites at the moment, they had been carefully trained and had great potential.
Taking a squad like this to The Foundry would undoubtedly shorten the mission time.
However, Leo Joyce wouldn’t help them without conditions.
Many thoughts raced through Paige Summers’s mind, but her face remained impassive.
After watching everyone’s self-introductions, Claire Chapman affirmed their strength to Leo Joyce, then left the City Lord’s residence with Paige Summers.
He didn’t say much else to Leo Joyce; they must have settled everything yesterday. When Paige Summers thought of this, a bad feeling grew in her heart.
As soon as they finally got back to their lodgings and closed the door to the room, Paige Summers shot a fierce look at Claire Chapman. "Spit it out. What did you promise Leo Joyce?"
Claire Chapman waved his hand. "Don’t worry, it’s definitely not anything that harms Bloodfall’s interests!"
"Then it’s about May Joyce?"
Claire Chapman froze for a second, then gave a helpless smile. "You’re too sharp. You even guessed that. Alright, I admit it. I promised that after The Foundry is cleared, I’ll have May Joyce come over and spend some time with her."
"Is that all? Not immediate marriage?"
Claire Chapman hesitated for a moment. "Marriage... well, it’s hard to say. If she’s reasonable and knows her place, marriage wouldn’t be out of the question."
"What do you mean by ’reasonable’ and ’knows her place’?" Paige Summers found Claire Chapman’s choice of words strange.
"Um, probably something like, peacefully doing the things a wife should do, not meddling in the affairs of the Hunting Party or the base, not marrying me on the surface while secretly passing information to Leo Joyce... something like that..."
Paige Summers stared at him for a long moment, then rubbed her temples with a headache.
"What is this? You sold yourself out just to borrow a hundred people temporarily?"
Claire Chapman chuckled. "You’ve got it backward. It should be that Leo Joyce is insisting on lending me these people just to foist May Joyce on me!"
