Chapter 303: Chapter 291: Miscarriage Sequelae
Flora Bloom glanced at Sepherdine with an indifferent expression. His features were delicate, his aura as refined as an orchid. If one didn’t look closely, it would be easy to mistake him for a woman.
He was the very picture of a man so beautiful that even women would feel inadequate in his presence.
"We can discuss cooperation later. I don’t like to meddle in the base’s affairs, so you all can just figure it out yourselves."
Just as everyone was letting their guard down, Lucia slowly crept over to Zane Locke’s body. She reached out to pat down the small of his back, a cryptic smile touching her lips.
Joel Bloom was nearby. He was currently avoiding her like the plague, and she could clearly see the utter disdain and contempt in his eyes. That look, filled with loathing and disgust, pierced her mind. It left her disheartened but, at the same time, strengthened her resolve.
’If I fail and there’s no escape, then dying together wouldn’t be so bad. Even if it makes me the villain, I’ll drag him down to die with me on the same day, at the same hour.’
And so, she hid the dagger behind her back and slowly approached Joel Bloom, sobbing as she gazed in his direction.
Flora Bloom had been watching Lucia from the corner of her eye the entire time. Naturally, she saw the whole sequence: Lucia taking the dagger from Zane Locke’s corpse and closing in on Joel Bloom.
Just as Lucia reached Joel Bloom’s side, raising the dagger to plunge it into his heart, a deep blue water shield materialized out of thin air between them.
A burst of energy erupted from the deep blue shield, flinging Lucia back and slamming her to the ground.
"Cynthia, tie her up and bring her back. I have something very important to ask her." ’In that recording, they said to have Tianna Bloom deal with her first, which means the two of them must have some connection to the lab. It’s a shame Zane Locke is dead. A Middle Level Wind Element fighter would have been incredibly useful.’
Seeing that the incident was over, Sepherdine made an excuse and left. Joel Bloom, however, suddenly snatched the dagger from the ground, pressed it to Lucia’s neck, and stared at her with ice-cold eyes.
"Where did you hide Shelly? Talk! Or I’ll kill you!"
Lucia’s expression went blank for a moment before she burst into manic laughter. "HAHAHA! Joel Bloom, you really move on fast! Already in love with another woman. Is that Shelly prettier than me? Does she have a better body? What is it you even like about her?"
"I’m only asking you where she is."
Seeing her brother’s grim face as he pressed Lucia for answers, Flora felt a sense of relief. "Joel, let’s take her back first. I have ways to make her talk."
Joel Bloom nodded. He didn’t toss the dagger aside; instead, he gripped it even tighter, as if he might give in to the impulse to rush over and end Lucia’s life at any moment.
For her part, Flora Bloom had no intention of telling Joel where Shelly was just yet. ’With The Crown Prince and Li Mao on the case, and with Zane Locke dead, one Chester Bell is nothing to worry about.’
Flora Bloom’s family and Cynthia Grant returned to Villa District Three, dragging along Lucia, who was bound tightly in vines.
Lucia’s face was ashen the entire way. As she took in the sights—from a villa district lush with greenery, to clean streets free from the threat of zombies, and then to another, even more tranquil villa district—her despair reached its absolute peak.
She knew she couldn’t escape, and she no longer even wanted to try. Her voice was flat and emotionless as she asked a question.
"Don’t you all feel a little selfish? Clearing out this much residential space, only to enjoy it all by yourselves. All I wanted was to rely on you to survive, but why couldn’t you just accept me? Taking in one more person would have been nothing to you."
Cynthia Grant tightened the vines around Lucia. "What does the area we cleared have to do with you? Why should we have to take care of you? Who do you think you are, some kind of princess? And Joel—did he deserve to be deceived by you?"
"Heh, Cynthia Grant, this is between us. As an outsider, you have no right to interfere!"
Cynthia Grant’s breath caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. "Hah! You should worry about yourself. I checked your pulse earlier. Your vital energy is severely depleted. Even if we don’t kill you this time, you don’t have long to live."
Lucia scoffed. "Impossible. I’m a superpower user; my constitution is far better than a normal person’s. There’s no way I’m going to die from a simple miscarriage."
"That’s a question for you, then. Why would a miscarriage devastate your body this badly?"
Lucia shot Cynthia Grant a venomous glare and fell silent. But then Flora Bloom suddenly asked in a quiet voice, "Around the time of your miscarriage—before or after—did you eat or experience anything unusual?"
Lucia’s expression darkened. "You have the recording of me and Zane Locke. Don’t you already know what I did?"
As she spoke, Lucia suddenly recalled the day of her miscarriage. The stomach pains had started right after she and Zane Locke had... done it. ’But we’d been fine the other times. Why did I suddenly miscarry?’
’To protect the pregnancy, Zane Locke had gotten her all kinds of supplements—anything a pregnant woman should eat. It was all so they could really let loose when they played, without having to hold back for fear of hurting the baby.’
"Looks like you don’t know, either." Flora Bloom smiled and said no more to her. ’The constitution of a superpower user is indeed excellent. Not only is there no risk from sex during pregnancy, but even postpartum weakness isn’t fatal. In fact, even at their weakest, they’re still healthier than a normal person.’
’She trusted Cynthia’s medical skills. Lucia had been pregnant for two months at most, maybe even less. For a pregnancy that early, a miscarriage should have been no more severe than an extra-heavy period.’
’But to die from severe depletion of vital energy caused by a miscarriage... she had never heard of such a thing.’
Flora was starting to feel that everything that had been happening recently was somehow connected to that lab. Even Lucia’s miscarriage made Flora realize she had to be extra vigilant.
After all, she was pregnant herself, and Selina was only about two months from her due date. She had to eliminate every potential danger and create an absolutely safe environment for her own delivery.
If not for the fact that any living being that entered her space was forcibly imprinted with a mark, Flora really would have considered giving birth there. It would be private and safe, and she wouldn’t have to worry about postpartum weakness.
Flora dragged Lucia into her room and dismissed the others to get some rest.
The moment Lucia entered Flora’s room, she was about to taunt her. ’What, is she planning to torture me before finishing me off?’
But before she could even look at Flora’s expression to confirm her suspicion, the world spun around her, and she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar environment.
Not only that, but a powerful and mysterious force bored into her mind, carving an indelible mark upon her spiritual power.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. When Lucia looked up again, the hostility she had felt toward Flora was gone. In its place, she felt a profound sense of closeness to her.
"Master."
Lucia lowered her head obediently, not daring to meet her gaze. Acknowledging a master was one thing, but the spatial imprint didn’t change or erase her previous memories.
"Master, I thought you were going to kill me."
Flora gave a wicked smile. "Killing you brings me no benefit. Now, let me ask you: what is your connection to the lab and the ’Doctor’?"
Lucia shook her head. "I don’t know anything about a lab."
Flora sighed. "I see. Go stay at the villa over by the quarantine wall for now. I’ll be arranging for more people to live there soon, and you’ll be responsible for their daily water supply."
