Chapter 310: Chapter 298: Preparations Before Going to the Capital
Flora Bloom’s villa district wasn’t exactly open to everyone for free. During this recruitment drive, those who joined her side were offered complimentary lodging. However, the living conditions weren’t as luxurious as one might imagine.
The villas in District One weren’t especially large. Each two-story villa was over 600 square meters, with three rooms on the first floor and four on the second. Every room housed two to four people.
Of course, married couples would share a room, while groups of up to four same-sex friends could room together.
But for those who had long been homeless in this post-apocalyptic world, conditions like these were paradise.
As for the superpower users on Sepherdine’s team, if they wanted to live in Flora Bloom’s villa district, they had to pay rent. While not as outrageous as the 10,000 Crystal Cores Morgan Sterling had once demanded, they still had to pay Flora Bloom a monthly fee of 500 Crystal Cores for a smaller villa and 1,000 for a larger one.
If they couldn’t pay, they had to work off their debt.
But what if you were bold enough to enter Flora Bloom’s territory with the attitude of, ’I’m living here and I’m not paying. You want me to work? Dream on. What’re you gonna do about it?’
The consequences were predictable.
And so, over the next three days, a few individuals who had tasted the good life in the villas but couldn’t produce the Crystal Cores were "escorted" out by Flora Bloom in a rather unique fashion.
BZZZZZ.
"Aah! What the hell are these things?! Don’t—don’t sting me! It hurts so damn much! I’ll pay! I’ll pay, alright?!"
BZZZZZ.
"Aaargh!"
BZZZZZ.
Dense swarms of worker bees descended like a dark cloud, relentlessly attacking the people who refused to pay rent and wouldn’t leave. They stung them until their bodies were covered in angry, venomous welts.
Such cries were incessant over the next three days, yet Flora Bloom never had to personally intervene. All the new residents, whether they were superpower users or ordinary people, began to obediently pull their weight.
After all, each villa was equipped with its own power generator, along with either floor heating or radiators. They simply couldn’t find a better place to live.
The issue of water resources, however, was not something Flora Bloom needed to manage. Many of the new residents were Water Ability Users who had previously made a living selling water. This trade not only earned them Crystal Cores to upgrade their powers, but also solved the drinking water problem for a portion of the base’s residents.
Flora Bloom had no intention of disrupting the Water Ability Users’ livelihood.
Of course, even after all the other villas were occupied, no newcomers moved into District Three, where Flora Bloom and her people resided.
The reason was simple: a certain superpower user who couldn’t keep his hands to himself had touched a wall in District Three, and his entire arm had been bent and trapped inside it.
The man wailed for ages until Flora Bloom herself came out, forcibly yanked his arm from the wall, and tossed it back to him.
Clutching his severed arm, the man trembled in pain but still tried to argue his case with Flora Bloom. With a headache coming on, Flora shouted into the empty air, "The Crown Prince!"
In the next instant, The Crown Prince appeared out of thin air and knocked the man unconscious with a single chop to the neck. Flora Bloom sighed. "Bring him inside."
This entire scene was witnessed by two superpower users in the neighboring Villa District Two.
Soon, a rumor that Flora Bloom and two other superpower users had committed murder for profit spread throughout the entire base.
Except for the residents of District Three, the rumor spread like wildfire, growing more distorted with each retelling.
"What? You’re saying Captain Bloom’s subordinate knocked a guy out and dragged him into District Three?"
"Huh? You mean Captain Bloom beat someone up, broke his arm, and then destroyed the body to hide the evidence?"
"What?! You’re saying Captain Bloom killed him and dismembered the corpse?"
"Say what? Captain Bloom killed and dismembered someone?"
"No way... Did Captain Bloom kill him and then cook the body?"
"BLECH!"
"Our three daily meals are so rich... It couldn’t be, could it...?"
"And a lot of people have gone missing from the base lately. Maybe..."
In the end, panic swept through the villa district, affecting everyone except the residents of District Three. Even Sepherdine and his men started to half-believe the rumors. After all, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. For a rumor to start, there must be a reason.
Flora Bloom’s new daily ritual was dialing Lex Cross’s communicator, but the call never went through. This made her increasingly agitated. A pregnant woman’s moods are already unpredictable, and the more she dwelled on it, the more she felt that something was terribly wrong.
’With the skills Lex Cross and his people have, would they really run into trouble so bad they couldn’t even find time to make a call back?’ she thought. ’It only takes a few hours to fly from the Argent airport. Couldn’t he have come back to talk it over with me first?’
’Unless... they ran into a situation that left them without transportation or a working communicator.’
The more Flora Bloom thought about it, the more she realized how serious the situation might be. She decided to push forward decisively, finishing the base’s construction, finalizing personnel assignments, and setting up all security measures as quickly as possible. Then, she would immediately go find Lex Cross.
Sepherdine himself had also intended to go to Argent to provide support. Even though Flora didn’t know the details of the situation there, this told her that Sepherdine was a magnanimous man who thought about the bigger picture. After having Luna trail him for a few days to confirm he was genuine and not just putting on a show, Flora felt comfortable enough to partner with him, including him in the planning and design of the entire base.
It had to be said, Sepherdine truly had leadership potential. He suggested that Flora Bloom divide her people into smaller squads based on their skills, with an appointed captain and specific duties for each.
And so, Flora Bloom divided her forces into eight squads. The first was the Logistics Department, captained by Jade. Its members included the pregnant Selina, the teenager Lisa, the youngest member Caleb, and David Warren’s sister, Millie.
After awakening her Space Ability, Jade had used Crystal Cores to reach Level 3, giving her a storage space of a full 100 square meters. Flora Bloom transferred a portion of her own vegetables, grains, and essential resources to Jade, allowing her to practice and learn how to best utilize her skills as the logistics captain to manage the entire base’s supplies.
The Hunting Squad was led by Captain Sherman Lynch. Its members included Flora Bloom’s father, Caleb Bloom; Fire Ability User Neal Wallace; Earth Ability User Ethan Monroe; the healer Shauna Wallace; and Ice Ability User Tianna Bloom, who was under the control of Flora Bloom’s spiritual power through a spatial brand.
Furthermore, after more than half a month of training under Sherman Lynch, Joel Bloom had matured rapidly in both physical conditioning and mental fortitude. At his persistent request, Flora Bloom agreed to let him join the Hunting Squad. However, since Joel was not yet a superpower user, Flora wanted to enhance his chances of survival. Using her control over space, she assigned the little white tiger to the squad. This not only provided the team with a powerful Thunder Element trump card but also served as a bodyguard for Joel during critical moments.
Mark Sterling and Falke were also technically members of the Hunting Squad. However, as two non-superpower users who were highly proficient with all kinds of firearms and ammunition, they were reassigned by Flora Bloom to serve on Quinn’s team.
When Quinn had first awoken and learned of the base’s situation, he had immediately reached a cooperative agreement with Flora Bloom. He would form his own team within the base, and in return, Flora would provide him with the necessary weapons and resources.
