Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse

Chapter 529: Chapter 529: Power Trip

The next morning, Melody Summers accompanied Nina Summers to an interview in the reconstruction zone.

After several months of development, the once-desolate wasteland in the city’s mountainous outskirts was now completely transformed. Newly constructed office buildings stood alongside vast farming and aquaculture bases on the mountainside, each complementing the other.

Compared to the devastated South and East Districts, which had been ravaged by the flood, this place was a picture of vibrant life—a symbol of humanity’s rebirth and salvation.

Melody Summers gazed at the scene, marveling at the miraculous speed of the country’s infrastructure development.

The men and women entering and exiting the office buildings were all respectably dressed. They seemed to be from a different world compared to the ragged refugees sheltering at The Metropolis Residences. It just went to show that in this environment, having a decent job was truly a life-altering miracle.

Melody sighed inwardly. Looking at Nina Summers beside her, however, she felt a headache coming on.

Melody sighed, her voice laced with resignation. "Nina Summers, can you please stop shaking..."

Nina Summers clutched her interview materials, her face a little pale. Though she tried to appear calm, a closer look revealed she was trembling from head to toe. Even her teeth were chattering, CLACK CLACK.

It was as if she were heading not to an interview, but to the execution grounds.

Hearing Melody’s words, Nina Summers took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. But she was so nervous her voice was on the verge of tears. "I... I’m just... just a little nervous..."

Melody rubbed her forehead and offered some comfort. "Don’t be so nervous. It’s okay if you don’t pass this time. There will be other opportunities. Just think of this as gaining some interview experience. All you have to do is be yourself."

Nina managed a weak smile. She was about to say something when a man’s voice suddenly called out from behind them—

"Hey! You two! Stop right there!"

Melody and Nina turned in unison to see a man in a security guard’s uniform.

The guard looked young, around his early twenties. He was also very tall, standing well over six feet.

He was frowning at Melody and Nina, his face full of displeasure. "Your employee access cards? Show them to me."

Seeing the guard’s less-than-friendly expression, Nina shook her head helplessly. "We... we’re not employees here yet. We don’t have access cards..."

The guard scoffed at her words, a look of ’I knew it’ crossing his face.

’He could tell just by looking at how they were dressed—these two weren’t company employees!’

’If they aren’t employees, why are they loitering around here?’ The guard’s eyes darted around as a thought struck him. ’These two are probably counting on their youth and decent looks to "run into" a guy with a job here, hoping to land a husband and a meal ticket for life!’

’He’d seen plenty of materialistic, gold-digging women like them!’

With that in mind, the guard’s expression turned stern. "No one without an employee access card is allowed inside! This is a research institute of Rhodes Enterprises, not your backyard!"

"I can’t stand women like you, always idle, wandering around trying to snag a rich guy... Alright, alright, just get lost. Don’t get in the way!"

The words were laced with obvious hostility, and Melody frowned slightly upon hearing them.

’I should argue with him, maybe even punch him a couple of times,’ Melody thought. But then she remembered Nina’s upcoming interview and decided it was best not to cause trouble.

So she took a deep breath and explained as calmly as possible, "We’re here for an interview, not loitering."

Hearing this did nothing to soften the guard’s expression; in fact, his frown deepened.

He looked Melody up and down, and when he spoke again, his tone was filled with undisguised contempt and disdain. "Here for an interview? Don’t you know you’re supposed to wear formal attire to an interview? Who shows up looking like you?"

At his words, Melody subconsciously glanced down at her own outfit—she was indeed dressed very casually today. A loose T-shirt with a cartoon print, paired with slippers. Her appearance was certainly out of place at the research institute.

’Good thing I’m not the one being interviewed today,’ she thought.

So Melody patted Nina’s shoulder and said to her, "You go on in. I’ll wait for you out here."

Nina only grew more nervous. Her palms were sweating, but she had no choice but to bite the bullet and nod.

But just as Nina was about to enter the institute alone, the guard stopped her again.

"Wait!"

The guard’s voice made Nina jump. She turned back, her face fraught with anxiety, wondering why he had stopped her when she was clearly dressed in formal attire.

The guard scanned Nina up and down, his expression unpleasant. After a moment, his eyes darted about and he suddenly said, "You’re here for an interview? Where’s your resume? Let me see it first!"

Melody frowned slightly.

’He’s just a security guard. What right does he have to see an applicant’s resume?’

But Nina had already obediently handed over her resume.

The guard took Nina’s resume, glanced at it, and let out another scoff. With a mocking tone, he said, "This is it? Haha, don’t even bother going in for the interview. You’ll definitely be rejected!"

Nina was already a bundle of nerves, and hearing the guard’s words made her tremble as her face grew even paler.

"That’s enough!" Melody snatched the resume back from the guard’s hand and said with a scowl, "Whether she gets selected or not isn’t your call! You’re a security guard, not HR. What right do you have to stop someone from going to an interview?!"

Hearing Melody dare to talk back, the guard angrily clenched his fists.

’It’s true he was just a guard, but as the saying goes, "Even a doorman at the prime minister’s manor holds sway." He was that doorman right now, and he could stop whomever he pleased!’

’It was just their bad luck to run into him when he was in a foul mood.’

’He had finally landed this security job in the reconstruction zone and confidently confessed his feelings to the girl of his dreams. He thought his respectable job would win her over, but to his surprise, he was rejected!’

’He’d been furious ever since, and now the sight of any pretty woman just irritated him!’

The guard’s face was ashen. He was about to kick Melody and Nina out when an unexpected female voice came from behind him—

"Excuse me, are you Miss Summers?"

The three of them whipped their heads around at the sound. A young woman in professional attire was walking out of the institute’s entrance.

She wore a white blouse and black trousers, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail. It was a modest, serious, and even slightly aging outfit, but on her young, pretty face, it somehow looked lively.

Melody was surprised to see who it was—it was Joanne White!