Chapter 356: Chapter 356: The Light of the Righteous Path
The refugees at the bottom would do anything to survive, to avoid being kicked out of the base. They’d work fourteen-hour days without a single complaint. They ate the worst food and slept in the most crowded bunks, all to stockpile enough grain for the base. And now, they were about to be cast aside, their purpose served.
"It’s a shame we couldn’t find out who wrote that letter to Shane Landry, or if they’re even in this base. They wrote to him, telling him what would happen over the next five years. They probably wanted the base to prepare so that more people could survive. Who would have thought the base would decide to reduce its population instead?"
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "They might have used some special method to make Shane Landry believe them, which is why he did all this. It makes sense. Shane Landry is the Base Leader; he has the authority to issue any command."
"Let’s spare his life for now."
The two arrived at the villa of their next target. Before they even went inside, they heard a cloyingly sweet, coquettish cry from within.
Evelyn Ford pulled out the file and glanced at it. "Quinn Zane, forty-three. Former director at the Marris Water Conservancy Bureau. Had a husband, dead. Two children, one dead."
Evelyn Ford raised an eyebrow. "That voice doesn’t sound forty-three."
Ronan Kendrick coughed. "How about I go in? You can wait for me out here."
Ronan Kendrick had already guessed there would be a disgusting scene inside. He could deal with it with his eyes closed, but he absolutely could not let Evelyn Ford see it.
Evelyn Ford smiled. "Alright, I’ll wait for you here."
Ronan Kendrick tossed a Smoke Bomb inside, and the various noises immediately ceased. He pushed open the front door, and the first things he saw were clothes strewn everywhere, wine bottles, and a cake on the floor.
Quinn Zane hadn’t passed out yet. She was holding a wine bottle, stumbling and swaying around, still singing a song.
A gust of wind blew past. She saw Ronan Kendrick suddenly appear, and before she could even cry out, she collapsed. Her eyes remained wide open, as if she couldn’t rest in peace.
Ronan Kendrick didn’t linger. Once he was done, he immediately left the villa.
"Let’s go."
Evelyn Ford stared at Ronan Kendrick’s shoes and pant cuffs. "You’ve got frosting on you. Were they celebrating a birthday in there?"
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "The floor was covered in cake. I stepped in it by accident."
Evelyn Ford sneered. "Anyone who wastes food deserves to die. She got what she deserved."
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "Exactly. Anyone who wastes food deserves to die. Throw them all in the drowning cages!"
"Where’d you hear that?" ’He’s even learned about drowning cages.’
"I saw it on TV."
Evelyn Ford was speechless.
"Two left, and they’re both quite the characters. Jean York, thirty-five. According to the file, she was an internet celebrity before the apocalypse. Now she’s the director of the canning factory. Then there’s Sharon Lawrence, forty. Former official in Aeridor, now the director of the clothing factory."
Evelyn Ford finished reading both files. ’Shane Landry really did his homework on these people.’ The files even had detailed notes on who Jean York was having affairs with.
"This Jean York is quite something."
"They keep a lot of bodyguards. Let’s be careful."
Even though Ronan Kendrick had destroyed all the surveillance cameras along their route, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Arriving at Jean York’s villa, they found it was different from the others. It was very quiet. The main gate was shut tight, and not a sound came from inside.
"No one’s here."
Evelyn Ford was a little disappointed. "Don’t tell me we came for nothing."
"Let’s go deal with Sharon Lawrence first. She’s the worst of the bunch. The file says she used to be in education. When it came to population reduction, others suggested driving the refugees out. But she? She proposed locking them up and ’disposing’ of them with poison gas."
Evelyn Ford decided to use that proposal against her. "There’s Sting-tail Scorpion venom in the bag. We’ll let her get a real taste of what it feels like to be poisoned to death."
A thought suddenly occurred to Ronan Kendrick. "Should we leak the base’s population reduction plan?"
Evelyn Ford shook her head. "Leaking it would only make things worse. After tonight, Shane Landry will know what to do. People in charge like him are better at resolving things than we are. All we have to do is act. We don’t need to think."
"Let’s go take care of that monster in human skin, Sharon Lawrence. I’m going to show her what the ’light of justice’ looks like!"
Not that Evelyn Ford was a saint herself, but that didn’t stop her from taking out the trash.
When they reached Sharon Lawrence’s front door, Ronan Kendrick’s brow twitched. "There are people inside."
After going inside, they discovered that Jean York was also there. The two of them were discussing population reduction, with a pile of documents at hand.
’Talk about a lucky break.’ Evelyn Ford pulled a plastic bag over Sharon Lawrence’s head. As for Jean York, her head was already lolling to the side, lifeless.
Behind a bookshelf, Ronan Kendrick found a box with a stash of weapons inside.
Evelyn Ford helped herself to the books in Sharon Lawrence’s study. Shane Landry’s study had barely any books, yet Sharon Lawrence’s had three whole bookshelves, all filled with famous literary works.
"It’s a shame these books had to be with her."
After dealing with the two of them, Evelyn Ford felt a sense of relief. She had vented her pent-up frustration, and her steps were noticeably lighter.
The pair wound their way through the base, and Evelyn Ford picked up a few things as they went. She mostly took farming tools and some seeds. She already had plenty of grain, so there was no need to scavenge for more.
After leaving the aquaculture zone, Evelyn Ford’s storage space was now richer by some fish, shrimp, and crabs.
After hanging the ten bodies from the trees outside the base in a neat row, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick departed without a backward glance. As for what would happen next, Evelyn Ford couldn’t care less.
"It is a bit of a shame that we don’t know that person’s identity."
"We’re also not sure if this information is accurate. If animal mutations are next, we need to get back to the farm quickly."
Though still skeptical, Evelyn Ford believed it was better to err on the side of caution. She decided to reinforce their defenses immediately upon returning to the farm.
「In the dead of night, Tarr City was silent.」
Stray dogs roamed the streets, searching for food. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick didn’t linger; they drove through the night, leaving the city behind.
Back at Tarr Base, when Shane Landry was shaken awake, he was still fast asleep, sprawled over his desk.
"Base Leader, terrible news! The ten members of the administration who proposed the population reduction plan—they’re all gone."
Even after his assistant finished speaking, Shane Landry wasn’t fully awake. He had a nagging feeling he’d forgotten something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall what it was.
"Base Leader, what happened to your face?"
A fiery, stinging pain came from his face. Shane Landry picked up a mirror and saw the handprint on his cheek and the shoe print on his chest.
"Base Leader, were you beaten?"
Shane Landry frowned. "I don’t remember. Right, what did you just say was gone?"
"The ten administrators who proposed the population reduction plan are all dead. What’s more, they’ve all been hung upside down from the trees outside the main gate. Some have their clothes disheveled, some are wearing gaudy makeup, and some are completely naked."
Shane Landry froze for a few seconds. He looked for the documents on his desk, but they were gone.
"The files are gone. This is going to cause chaos."
