Chapter 295: Chapter 283: The 50 New Team Members
Flora Bloom’s team recruitment drive lasted for three days.
The number of applicants grew each day. Some, who were already members of other teams in the base, even came in disguise to apply. There were even a few small teams whose captains brought everyone over, requesting to merge their entire group into ours.
Flora Bloom hadn’t expected so many people to apply. On the fourth day, a large crowd was still lined up outside the quarantine wall, waiting to fill out application forms.
So, Flora Bloom closed the gate, summoned her swarm to form a wall of bees, and scared off the lingering onlookers.
However, a boy and a girl, both around three or four years old, watched the swarm by the wall with innocent curiosity, completely unafraid. The two children even began to scramble their way up the wall.
The two toddlers looked as if they had just learned to climb, yet they clung to the wall, steadily climbing straight up to the top. There, they sat perched precariously, looking as if they might topple off at any moment.
Flora Bloom was already heading back to her villa when one of her bees informed her via their mental link about what was happening at the wall. Her interest piqued, she ordered the swarm not to attack the two children and decided to see what they were up to.
But by the time she arrived, the two children were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did those children go?"
Every bee in the swarm was just as baffled. ’They were just perched on top of the wall, teetering back and forth, looking like they were about to fall at any second. How did they vanish in the blink of an eye?’
A rough count showed that several thousand people had applied to join Flora Bloom’s team this time. The entire group, including Caleb and Lisa, gathered to discuss who should be accepted.
Those with superpowers had excellent memories and rarely forgot a face. Ethan Monroe sifted through the piles of application forms, finally selecting fifty names.
"I think these fifty are good." Ethan Monroe handed the fifty application forms to Flora Bloom, who then passed them to Sherman Lynch and the others to review.
"Explain yourself. Why them? Don’t tell me it’s just because all fifty of them are women."
"Good heavens, Flora, don’t get me wrong. About these fifty women... first off, none of them have superpowers. So even if a few turn out to be spies from other factions, they won’t be able to stir up any real trouble in our villa complex. That makes them a very low security risk. Second, I looked through their files, and every single one of them has a unique skill.
Take this woman, for example. She was a housewife before the apocalypse, which means she’s probably great at chores and cooking. Our team is getting bigger and bigger. Just me, Maeve Preston, and a few others doing all the cooking is getting stressful. A few more hands to share the load would make things much more efficient.
And this one was a teacher. She was only an elementary school teacher, but come on, my lady—you, Selina, and Isla Preston are all pregnant. When the kids are born, they’ll need an education, won’t they? Schools are out of the question in this day and age, but having a teacher around would be a good thing."
Flora Bloom nodded in satisfaction as she flipped through the files and listened to Ethan Monroe’s analysis. "I didn’t think you had it in you, Old Monroe. That’s actually pretty thorough!"
Ethan Monroe grinned smugly and glanced at Shauna Wallace. "It was Shauna Wallace’s idea. I never would have thought of it on my own."
Flora Bloom gave Shauna Wallace an appreciative nod and kept flipping through the files. Suddenly, she laughed. "So, let me ask you... what about these ones?" Flora pulled out a few applications. In the ’special skills’ section, they all said: ’None. We’ll do whatever the captain asks.’
Ethan Monroe’s expression suddenly turned awkward. He started shooting meaningful glances at Falko, but Falko pointedly avoided his pleading gaze, pretending it had nothing to do with him.
"What’s this? Pulling some strings behind my back during recruitment? You were making so much sense just a minute ago, and now this? Are you trying to build a team or find yourselves wives? Falko! You! Get over here."
Falko sheepishly rubbed his hands together and shuffled in front of Flora Bloom. "I... uh... she’s an old friend of mine and Mark Sterling’s. She and her friends wanted to join..."
Flora Bloom raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then they should have just applied normally. Why come to you for some backroom deal? What did they do before this?"
"They used to... work for Morgan Sterling. They’ve awakened the Water Ability. But I can guarantee you, they are absolutely not spies from some other faction!"
"Fine. Let them join. But Falko, you’d better make a few things clear to them. Once they’re in, they’ll be treated the same as everyone else. If they can’t meet my standards, they’ll be out."
Falko nodded vigorously. "Don’t worry, don’t worry! I’ll be sure to tell them!"
"Have them wait inside the quarantine gate first thing tomorrow morning. Old Monroe, you and my dad will take them to Zone 002. They’ll start cleaning from there. Their trial period is one month, or until they’ve cleaned all the zones."
Ethan Monroe didn’t seem to mind, but Falko quickly asked, "Flora, doesn’t this mean they’re all accepted? Why is there still a test?"
Flora Bloom looked at Falko. "Why would I recruit a bunch of ordinary people with no superpowers for no reason? To feed them for free? Of course not. They have to earn their keep!"
With a smirk, she waved Cynthia Grant over. "Cynthia, let’s go check out the new mission hall and see if there are any tasks we can take."
...
With a fresh influx of people from the four major factions, the newly established mission hall was now filled with a wide variety of tasks. The rewards were much more generous than before, too.
The moment Flora Bloom stepped into the mission building, however, a pair of venomous eyes locked onto her. It was none other than Tianna Bloom, whose father had just recently died.
Hatred is a force of its own, capable of becoming an invisible energy that hangs in the air. Flora Bloom felt that sinister presence the moment she entered the mission hall, and her entire body went on high alert.
When Yvonne Lynch saw Flora Bloom enter with Cynthia Grant, she immediately hurried over to greet them. "Miss Bloom, what brings you here? Is there anything you need?"
Yvonne Lynch was exceptionally respectful toward Flora Bloom, almost acting as her personal guide. "The missions on this floor are for ordinary citizens. They’re simple tasks, and the rewards aren’t Crystal Cores, so they aren’t suitable for you. You can come with me to the second floor. That’s the mission hall specifically for those with superpowers."
Flora Bloom nodded. "Alright, lead the way."
Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant were just about to follow Yvonne Lynch to the second floor when they were stopped.
"Wait!" The person who spoke was Tianna Bloom. She had completely lost the arrogant air she’d had when she first arrived at the base.
Flora Bloom frowned. She’d thought Tianna Bloom still hadn’t learned her lesson and was about to cause a scene in public. To her surprise, however, Tianna Bloom suddenly broke into a friendly smile and came over to take her hand.
"Flora, I was so immature before. I was always misunderstanding you and working against you. That was my fault. This is your first time in the mission building, isn’t it? Let me show you around." Tianna Bloom had completely changed her tune, taking the initiative to make peace. On the surface, it looked like a truce offering, but the perceptive Flora Bloom still detected the icy chill in her eyes.
