Chapter 185: Chapter 173: How Do We Settle the Score for You Barging Into My Heart?

Azure Leroy watched the back of the man who strode away with his arm around Flora Bloom. A smile that didn’t quite match her pure, innocent demeanor appeared on her fair, delicate face.

Once the three of them were out of sight, she suddenly turned to Morgan Sterling. With a cool, sharp gaze, she said, "They don’t trust you."

"It was my miscalculation. I just didn’t expect this Flora Bloom to be so capable. This villa district is much larger than the area inside the base. If we could incorporate it into the base, it would be greatly beneficial for our future development."

"I can’t be bothered with your grand plans, nor do I want to be." Azure Leroy’s voice was cold. "It looks like their team is centered around that woman. If you could successfully woo Flora Bloom, I imagine this area would be yours for the taking."

Morgan Sterling frowned slightly, then his expression relaxed into a smile. "If I successfully woo Flora Bloom, would that give you the perfect opportunity to slip into that other man’s arms?"

Azure Leroy gently caressed Morgan Sterling’s handsome face with one hand, her eyes devoid of any emotion as she stared into his. "All these years, if we hadn’t broken up long ago, I’d sometimes suspect you were still in love with me.

But it’s useless even if you are. I want that man. He will be mine. Understand?"

With the swarm of bees staring menacingly at them from the isolation wall’s entrance, getting inside was impossible. So, they just looked at the lawns on either side and the surrounding scenery before leaving.

Meanwhile, Flora Bloom, her father Caleb Bloom, and Lex Cross, who had been following her, arrived at a villa outside the lawn area.

Flora Bloom fell in love with the villa at first sight.

The villa was spacious and faced south, getting plenty of sunlight during the day. It had a large yard with two small patches of dirt inside the walls. Only two persimmon trees grew in the patches, leaving a lot of untilled empty space. Once they moved in, she could plant some vegetables here, which would also help conceal the existence of her space.

Jade, leading Cynthia Grant and Caleb, came out from inside, carrying discolored bedsheets, comforters, and other miscellaneous items, which they threw on the ground.

Flora Bloom rolled up her sleeves to help, but suddenly, a commotion of familiar voices approached from the distance, accompanied by a loud "BUZZZZZZ" of warning.

"Boss, Sister-in-law, help!"

"What are these damn things doing here? Oh god, help!"

Only when several people, led by Five, skillfully vaulted over the yard wall of their new home did Flora Bloom see what was happening.

Nine special forces soldiers followed Five, vaulting over the wall one after another, with a huge swarm of giant bees hot on their heels, leaving them in a sorry state.

She used her mental link to make the swarm recognize the newcomers, then ordered them back to their respective hives.

Worker bees collect pollen to make honey for the larvae, and they secrete a substance from their glands to produce royal jelly. Because of this, the workers and larvae are the quickest to bond with her. An adult queen bee must eat royal jelly newly produced by a bonded worker bee before it will bond with her as well.

Flora Bloom counted the number of queen bees in her mental link.

’One, two, three... fifty-six. A full fifty-six queen bees? How could so many hives be hidden in just half of this small villa district?’

And that wasn’t even counting the undeveloped larvae.

’Once the larvae matured, they too could fly off and establish their own colonies. If her swarm had a few more queen larvae, a mutant bee army would be within her grasp.’

She looked at the ten people before her and was about to say something when another person suddenly appeared at the yard’s entrance. A strange woman, at that.

"Brother Five, you... you guys ran too fast! Wait, wait for me!"

The woman looked to be only twenty-five or twenty-six. The dense Water Energy suffusing her body made her skin dewy and radiant. Combined with her naturally fine features, she possessed a very unique kind of beauty.

She took a few ragged breaths, and when she looked up and saw Lex Cross standing there, she suddenly ran over with a beaming smile. She pushed Flora Bloom and Lex Cross apart, her eyes sparkling with adoration as she gazed at him, completely ignoring Flora Bloom’s presence.

"Brother Lex, I knew you’d be here! Is this where you live? Can you show me around?" She took Lex Cross’s arm, but her words were cut short the next second by Flora Bloom’s voice.

"If you want to get lovey-dovey, please do it outside! This is my house, and you are not welcome!"

With that, Flora Bloom took her father’s arm and headed into the house. "Dad, let’s go tidy up. We might be living here for a long time!"

Lex Cross shook his arm free from the cloying, artificial touch and turned to see that Flora Bloom had already gone inside. His icy eyes, filled with impatience, stared at the woman before him. "If there’s a next time, you can get lost and go back to Argent!"

Flora Bloom didn’t know where this sudden, towering rage came from. All she knew was that the sight of those delicate hands wrapped around Lex Cross’s arm was incredibly grating. She took a deep breath to push it all to the back of her mind, but then she heard someone call out to her from behind.

"Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law, we’re here to help you clean the house."

Five ran up to Flora Bloom like a gust of wind, a sunny smile on his face. "Sister-in-law, I’m Five, remember me? Ah, it doesn’t matter. Need any help? There are a lot of us, so cleaning up will be fast!"

Behind Five, Saul Sterling and a line of special forces soldiers, still in their combat uniforms, nodded in unison to Flora Bloom. The Crown Prince and Lynx also appeared suddenly.

"Sister-in-law, let us help. It’ll be easier for you, and for Uncle and Auntie too."

Flora Bloom thought about it and agreed. A villa that large, after more than a month of the apocalypse, would be covered in a sea of dust. They also had to remove and replace the furniture and other items in the living room and bedrooms, then sweep and clean. More people would indeed make it faster. So, she didn’t refuse.

Each villa in the district had an independent power supply system, but no matter how many times Flora Bloom flipped the switches, the lights wouldn’t turn on.

So she asked, "Five, these villas should have a power system, but I can’t get it working. Can you help me take a look?"

Five’s eyes sparkled, and he looked a bit embarrassed. "Hehe, Sister-in-law, I don’t know much about electricity. Um, why don’t you ask the Boss? He definitely knows about this stuff!"

Flora Bloom pouted, glanced at her father who was helping her mother move things, then took a deep breath and looked at Lex Cross, who was leaning against a wall by himself.

Lex Cross, his thin lips pressed tightly together, walked toward her. The woman from before was now helping wipe down the furniture, occasionally glancing in her and Lex Cross’s direction.

"Let’s go. I’ll go with you to take a look."

The two of them searched the villa for a long time, one walking behind the other, before finally discovering that the electrical distribution system was in a small room in the basement.

The basement was dark and gloomy, without any light. A normal person wouldn’t be able to see a thing. Even for superpowered individuals like Flora Bloom and Lex Cross, they could only make out each other’s features and the faint reflection of the tiles on the nearby walls.

Flora Bloom followed behind Lex Cross, her eyes fixed on the beautifully defined muscles of his arms, visible outside his combat vest. The image of that other woman clinging to his arm replayed in her mind, impossible to shake.

"Captain Cross, no wonder you rejected Morgan Sterling’s proposal earlier. Turns out you have such a good resource by your side, so of course you’re not lacking for a water source."

Hearing Flora Bloom’s muttered words behind him, the corners of Lex Cross’s mouth curved into a handsome smile, and he suddenly stopped walking. Caught off guard, Flora Bloom walked right into his rock-hard back.

She quickly covered her nose and said irritably, "Could you please give a warning before you stop? If you knock my nose crooked, see if I don’t get even with you!" Flora Bloom thumped Lex Cross’s back with her hand, complaining internally. ’This isn’t a human back, it’s hard as iron.’

In the darkness, Lex Cross suddenly spun around. A brilliant smile on his face, he lowered his head until his forehead was resting against Flora Bloom’s, enjoying the surprise and panic in her eyes. With one hand, he pulled away the small hand covering her nose and enveloped it in his own scorching palm. With his other hand, he gently rubbed her cute, pert little nose.

His magnetic, sexy, low voice traveled past her nose to her ear. "You didn’t give me any warning when you suddenly barged into my heart. How should we settle that score?"