Sickly Cannon Fodder: Spoiled by the Powerful Apocalypse Bosses

Chapter 313: Chapter 313

She froze in her tracks and whipped her head around. Aaron was standing only a short distance away.

Noticing her gaze, he stopped walking and offered her another sweet, compliant smile. It was the exact same face and the exact same smile, yet Suzy felt an overwhelming wave of unfamiliarity. This person felt like an absolute stranger. He wasn’t the Aaron she knew at all.

She stared at him for several seconds, her eyes sharp and piercing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Aaron asked, tilting his head with an air of pure innocence.

"Are you really Aaron?" Suzy asked softly. Inside her coat pocket, her hand gripped a handgun that she had summoned out of thin air.

To her surprise, the moment the words left her mouth, a sudden daze washed over Aaron’s face.

Suzy took a step back. She could feel two distinct auras—one familiar, one entirely foreign—intertwining and violently clashing, as if fighting for control over the body before her. In that moment, Suzy’s senses had never been sharper.

Has Aaron been possessed? The thought flashed through her mind, sending a shiver down her spine.

Just then, the chaotic aura abruptly vanished.

"What are you talking about? I don’t understand," Aaron said, tilting his head innocently once more.

Suzy didn’t answer. She studied him, her eyes scanning his face inch by inch. It was still Aaron’s face—his eyes, the bridge of his nose, his lips, everything was identical. But the soul inside had changed. No, it hadn’t just changed; it had been replaced.

It was like a house where the old tenant had moved out, and an entirely different person had moved in. The structure remained the same, but the curtains were new, the lights were different, and even the very air felt foreign.

"You can stop acting," Suzy said coldly. "You aren’t Aaron. Or rather, you aren’t just Aaron."

Aaron’s head-tilting gesture hitched for a fraction of a second.

"I really don’t get what you mean." He was still playing along, but his tone was no longer as effortless as before. His eyes were smiling, but the warmth didn’t reach them.

Suzy’s grip tightened on the gun in her pocket, her hand trembling slightly. She was hesitating. Should she pull the trigger and kill this version of Aaron? But... what would happen to the real Aaron? They would likely die together.

Her knuckles turned white as her finger rested against the trigger. She could hear the frantic rhythm of her own heartbeat, thumping against her ribs like a war drum.

Sensing her murderous intent, the "Aaron" across from her suddenly laughed. "What? You want to kill me?"

"Who the hell are you?" Suzy demanded.

Aaron maintained his innocent facade. "I’m Aaron, of course."

"No, you’re not," she countered.

"Fine. Seeing as you’re about to die anyway, I won’t bother hiding it from you." Aaron let out a soft breath, his white plume of breath dispersing into the freezing air. "I’m here to kill you."

Suzy’s expression shifted. "You’re one of them?"

"Is that what you call us? Well, yes. I am exactly one of ’them’."

Suzy’s expression grew incredibly dark. She hadn’t expected that the Aaron standing before her would be just like Janine—another cleaner sent to eliminate her. But if he had been lurking by her side this entire time, why had he waited so long to strike? What was his endgame?

Her mind was in absolute chaos. She wasn’t even sure anymore if the Aaron she had known before was this impostor playing a part, or a completely different person.

"If that’s the case, why didn’t you strike sooner?" Suzy asked. He had been lurking around her for so long and had countless opportunities, yet he had never made a move.

Aaron tilted his head to look at her. A look completely unsuited to his teenage face surfaced—not guilt, not hesitation, but the leisurely cruelty of a hunter watching his prey struggle in a trap.

"Do you think I’m stupid? Of course I had to wait until you were alone," Aaron laughed.

Suzy remained silent.

"With those male leads crowding around you, if I actually killed them, I wouldn’t be able to handle the wrath of the children of destiny," Aaron sighed, sounding genuinely helpless.

Suzy blinked in surprise. So that was it. Children of destiny...

"So, naturally, I had to wait for you to be isolated before I could make my move." Aaron stepped closer, slowly drawing his right hand from his pocket. "You know, I’ve been waiting for this chance for a long time. If I hadn’t been constantly disrupted by that guy... tsk." He abruptly cut himself off.

"What guy?" Suzy frowned. Could it be the real Aaron? There really are two consciousnesses in that body!

"Ah, whatever, none of that matters now." Aaron closed the distance rapidly, a knife suddenly flashing in his hand. "Time to die."

"Get lost!"

With sharp reflexes, Suzy ducked to the side, dodging his sudden lunge. She whipped the pistol out of her pocket and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot shattered the silence of the empty, snowy landscape.

But Aaron was gone. The bullet struck the exact spot where he had been standing, kicking up a spray of loose snow and dirt.

Suzy had no time to be shocked. Driven by pure instinct, she threw herself into a sideways roll just as a cold blade grazed her ear, shearing off a few strands of her hair. She hadn’t even heard him move. He was too fast—so fast her eyes could barely track him.

The entity inside Aaron was incredibly strong.

"Is that all you’ve got?" Aaron’s voice drifted from behind her, laced with amusement.

Without looking back, Suzy fired blindly over her shoulder. The bullet shattered the glass at the entrance of the abandoned building, sending shards raining down onto the ground.

Aaron stood three meters away, entirely unscathed. He hadn’t even bothered to dodge; the shot had missed him by a mile.

Suzy’s heart sank.

"Stop struggling, you’re no match for me." Aaron twirled the fruit knife in his hand, the blade catching the cold, white reflection of the snow. "Even if you kill me, so what? Others will just come after you. You’re going to die sooner or later."

"You might as well die by my hand right now. The guys coming after me are total psychopaths."

"So, how about it? Die by my hand, Suzy."

His final murmur was incredibly tender, but it sent a sickening wave of revulsion through Suzy.

Aaron stepped toward her again, his voice carrying a manipulative, coaxing edge. "If you die, I promise I’ll return that little brat to Liam."

"But if I die, you might not find him. I hid him pretty well. It’s freezing out here, and he was wearing very thin clothes when he came out. If this drags on, he’ll freeze to death soon. Think about it carefully."

"You bastard! Noah’s disappearance really was your doing!" Her instincts had been right; the boy’s disappearance was connected to this monster. But his acting had been terrifyingly flawless.

"So what if it was?" Aaron said indifferently. "To be fair, if it wasn’t for him, I never would have gotten an opportunity like this today."

Pausing, Aaron closed in on Suzy once more, his voice dropping back into that gentle tone. "Well? Have you made up your mind? I have no intention of hurting him; my only target is you. That kid means nothing to me. As long as you cooperate, not a single hair on his head will be harmed."