Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Crying from Craving

Sue Lawrence froze for a moment. She turned her head and met Silas Hawthorne’s gaze. It was dark, deep, yet exceptionally calm—the eyes of someone who had long since made peace with life and death, who viewed everything with detachment.

"You did well. If that old gentleman knew his craft would be passed on, he would be very pleased."

For a second, Sue Lawrence trembled, but she quickly composed herself and nodded. "Let’s keep going then."

"Are you okay?"

He was usually such a cold person, someone who would even haggle with her. But hearing him ask this now completely threw her for a loop.

"I’m fine. Let’s continue."

Sue Lawrence took a deep breath. ’The mission is what’s important.’

’Surviving is important, but carrying on these legacies is even more so. I’m not the same Sue Lawrence from my past life who fought all alone. And the person who brought me to understand all this is the very same Silas Hawthorne who was so utterly out of my reach back then.’

"Move out!"

Silas Hawthorne gave a hand signal, and the group moved forward.

In truth, most of the patients on this floor were already dead.

The low temperatures had preserved many of the bodies, making them look as if they had just passed away. Aside from the old man from before, none of them were breathing.

Sue Lawrence still tried to activate her Superpower, but to her disappointment, there was nothing.

Death was the end. It was final. Even the Abilities they had spent a lifetime learning were gone.

Nothing was left.

She followed slowly behind Silas Hawthorne until they reached the doctors’ office. It was a two-room suite with a lounge inside. The moment they pushed open the lounge door, the thick stench of blood hit them. A man in a white lab coat lay in a pool of frozen blood, his chest rising and falling with faint breaths. He must have heard them coming. Upon seeing the fully armed soldiers behind Silas Hawthorne, his eyes widened with excitement, but he could no longer speak a single word.

An unknown sharp object had pierced his chest. A layer of frost had already formed on the wound, and his body temperature was dropping rapidly.

Still, he struggled to speak, repeatedly mouthing the same words: "Over twenty of them... have... Superpower Users... careful... blades..."

Silas Hawthorne nodded at him. Seeing that someone had understood him, the doctor actually smiled. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, but his pupils began to dilate.

Silas Hawthorne frowned. "Sue Lawrence, now!"

Dilated pupils were a sign of life fading away. What Sue Lawrence had to do was go up, deliver the final blow, and plunder his Skills.

[Skill Acquired: S Level Surgery.]

[Skill Acquired: A Level Suturing.]

[Skill Acquired: S Level Pathology.]

[Skill Acquired: A Level English.]

This was a surgeon, an expert at his craft, yet he had died here—not from the cold, but at the hands of other people.

Sue Lawrence bent over and bowed deeply.

’These people were great. And those who disregard human life are despicable.’

Her face turned cold, her gaze darkened, and she spun around.

Silas Hawthorne quietly observed her reaction. He thought he might need to comfort her again, but Sue Lawrence had already managed to adjust her state of mind.

Women were often prone to being overwhelmed by sympathy. As emotional creatures, they could easily get stuck in a negative headspace. He had thought he would need to watch her, comfort her, and, if necessary, pull her back onto the right path. He’d expected to have to work to prevent her from spiraling or even going dark because of things like this in the apocalypse. But none of that happened. None of the things he had worried about came to pass.

Though Sue Lawrence was a woman, her inner strength was far greater than he had imagined.

’That’s for the best. But I can’t let my guard down. In my experience, there’s a certain type of person who likes to hide and suppress their true feelings. The more they do, the more likely they are to go dark and become the most difficult kind of person to deal with.’

"Let’s go!"

’I’ll have to keep a close eye on Sue Lawrence.’

’A Raider’s Superpower is too strong. No matter what, Sue Lawrence cannot be allowed to go dark. If that day ever comes...’

Silas Hawthorne’s gaze grew heavy.

Soon, they had cleared their way down to the first floor.

They had encountered very few living people on their way down. Aside from one doctor and the artisan, everyone else they found was either an ordinary person or already dead.

The only one following them now was the nurse they had just rescued.

The nurse, however, didn’t know anything either.

"I-I only know there were a lot of them. Th-They usually kept us locked in the basement. T-Today, it was only because they saw you that they suddenly brought us out. Th-They wanted to use us as human shields..."

The nurse, trembling, told them everything she knew. Silas Hawthorne ordered someone to give her a set of cold-weather gear and told her to go back to the fifth floor to find Mark Lowell. She would leave with them when the time came. The base was in desperate need of medical personnel; the more, the better.

Silas Hawthorne stood in the first-floor lobby and contacted Victor Keller on his radio.

"What’s your status?"

Victor Keller’s voice came back quickly. "All clear up here. Not a single living person."

That meant every floor from the fifth on up was filled with the dead.

It made sense. The upper floors were even colder. The lower levels at least had a covering of snow, but up there, the walls themselves were frozen through. The inside of the patient rooms was coated in a layer of ice so smooth a fly would break its legs landing on it.

"Rendezvous in the first-floor lobby. And listen, seal all the stairwells. We only need one route back to the fifth floor to get out of here."

"Understood!"

Soon, a RUMBLING sound came from the floors above. That was Victor Keller blocking the stairways. They sealed even the emergency stairs, sometimes just blowing them up with small grenades. In short, they weren’t leaving any chance for escape.

Not long after, Victor Keller and his men gathered with Silas Hawthorne’s group in the first-floor lobby.

"Looks like they’re all hiding in the basement. We’ll rest up, get something to eat, and then head down."

Silas Hawthorne said softly. Everyone sat down where they were and took out their military rations.

Victor Keller posted guards while Sue Lawrence eyed what the others were eating and slowly reached for her backpack.

"I brought some food. Um, my dad stockpiled some supplies."

’It’s definitely not from my Space Ability. Nope, absolutely not.’

Then, the soldiers in the lobby watched, stunned, as Sue Lawrence pulled a small pot out of her large hiking backpack, followed by a dozen packs of instant noodles, some ham sausages, soy-marinated eggs, and even a self-heating hot pot box.

Everyone: "..."

The lobby was silent for a second before erupting in a volley of curses.

"Holy shit! Instant noodles!?"

"Fuck, is the Lawrence Group’s heiress for real? She just casually pulls out a dozen packs of that stuff?"

"And a self-heating hot pot?! Then what the hell is this I’m eating? WHAT IS IT!!!"

"I’m losing my mind! My mouth has been so bland for so long I’ve forgotten what flavor is! A self-heating hot pot, I want some too, AHHHHH!"

"And ham sausages and marinated eggs!! I’d trade my life for one! I haven’t eaten anything with real flavor in over a month, AHHHHH!"

They had just been waiting for Sue Lawrence to make a fool of herself. Who knew that while the girl didn’t seem to have any useful skills, she had stockpiled a ton of good stuff? Not just instant noodles, but a self-heating hot pot, and the ultimate noodle companion—ham sausages!!

No, I can’t... I’m crying from the craving...