Chapter 61: Chapter 50: Space Spirit Water

Back inside, the house was no longer secure since the front and back doors had been destroyed.

So, under the odd gazes of the crowd, Flora Bloom had her little pets stand guard around the yard and sent Vert to dissect the zombie cow to check for a Crystal Core. Afterward, she was carried into the house in Lex Cross’s arms.

Monkey Two and Monkey Three nodded in a very humanlike manner, then bounded a few times into the darkness and leaped onto the pear tree by the river. Da Kong and Xiao Kong followed close behind the little white tiger into Flora Bloom’s backyard. Xiao Jia found a patch of mud, dug at it furiously, and then burrowed inside, leaving only a small mound of earth behind.

For the thirteen special forces soldiers, the sight of their leader walking in while carrying a woman was nothing short of explosive news. Their boss, who famously steered clear of women, was actually holding a local girl from this planet, and with a look of keen interest and a broad smile on his face, no less.

Are you kidding? The boss hadn’t smiled once since they’d been stranded on Earth!

And what about this girl? She looked plain and unremarkable, yet she could control these massive beasts? What was even more shocking was that she was currently in their leader’s arms, looking completely resentful and displeased.

As everyone stood there in shock, the fortune-teller looked at Flora Bloom and asked with a hint of hero-worship, "Miss, your... your little pets... where... where did they come from?"

He was the only one who had accompanied Lex Cross to inspect the situation off-world. Naturally, he had witnessed the unique life forms on those otherworldly battlefields.

’Their leader is incredible! He won over this girl who can control off-world creatures in such a short time. He’s our leader, all right!’

Flora Bloom was glaring at Lex Cross, completely deaf to anything else being said.

A moment ago, Flora Bloom had been thinking about currying favor with this future powerhouse, Lex Cross. But now that she knew he was Polly’s father, she only wanted to stay far, far away from him.

’This man... if he ever found out Polly exists...?’ Flora Bloom immediately cut off her own absurd train of thought.

’In this apocalypse, don’t all powerful men like him have beauties flocking to them? Why would he care about a nobody like me?’

’If he found out Polly existed, I might have to spend the rest of my life in hiding with her.’

Meanwhile, her own parents had actually gone back to the kitchen, made tea, and were now serving it.

"Mom, can’t you see I’m being bullied? And you’re making tea for them?"

Jade looked at the man holding Flora Bloom; his affectionate gaze spoke volumes. It was obvious to her that the soldier was interested in her daughter.

"Ahem. Bullied? What do you mean, bullied? Didn’t you see that they saved us?"

"Tch. I could have killed those things without them," Flora Bloom muttered under her breath, which made Lex Cross chuckle inwardly.

By now, Flora Bloom’s living room was packed with people. Tanuki and The Crown Prince, who had been burned by the zombie cow’s flames, were laid out on the floor.

Flora Bloom shot Lex Cross a hard glare and said, "Hey, your two men have severe burns on their lower bodies. With current medical technology, there’s no way to heal them. It would have been impossible even before the apocalypse."

Lex Cross nodded. "You have a way?"

’Flora Bloom hated smart people.’ He knew what she was going to say before she even said it. "If you don’t put me down," she said, "then you can just watch them become cripples." What she didn’t say was that as long as they were breathing, she could regrow their entire bodies even if only their heads were left.

She’d never tried it on a person, but she remembered that when she had just tamed the Golden Cicada, it had regrown its severed limbs inside her space after drinking some spiritual water.

Lex Cross thought for a moment, his gaze falling on his two men. They were pale and drenched in a cold sweat from the pain, yet they remained completely silent.

"Alright," he said. "Heal them."

He slowly lowered Flora Bloom to the ground. When her legs buckled, he quickly steadied her by the shoulder. Her shoulders felt small and soft in his grasp. He gave one a little squeeze, earning himself a ferocious glare.

Satisfied that he had her attention, he subconsciously classified the woman before him as one of his own, not even noticing the flicker of affection in his eyes.

’She had a completely different personality from the night she was drugged. Her unpretentious vulnerability that night, and her feigned, steely composure now... both sides made him deeply interested in this little fox in rabbit’s clothing.’

Flora Bloom wasn’t used to physical contact with strangers. She shook her shoulder impatiently, saying with disdain, "Let go. Let go."

The other eleven special forces soldiers, including the two injured men on the floor, suddenly held their breath and stared at Lex Cross.

’It’s over. This woman must be insane.’

’The Boss is showing her respect by helping her, right? And she dares to refuse him?’

’Refusing is one thing, but to glare at the Boss with such disgust?’

’Who is our Boss? He’s the infamous Living Yama! In his eyes, anyone who offends him—man or woman—meets a terrible end.’

The twelve men had all just witnessed Flora Bloom fight the zombie cow. Not only was the girl powerful, but if it hadn’t been for her, The Crown Prince and Tanuki would have been burned to death by the zombie cow’s flames.

The Crown Prince and Tanuki were the two injured men lying on the floor. Seeing the situation, they conveniently ignored their boss’s shameless behavior of squeezing the girl’s shoulder just moments ago. With pale faces, they spoke up.

"Boss, she saved us. Please, spare her this once."

"Yeah, Boss! In a way, she saved your life, too. If it weren’t for her, that mad cow would’ve killed you."

"That’s right, Boss. She’s a girl, after all. Please don’t hurt her."

"Boss, a real man doesn’t stoop to arguing with a young woman."

Flora Bloom listened in utter confusion, having no idea what these special forces soldiers were going on about. But Lex Cross’s expression grew darker and darker. He turned his head and swept a glare over his men.

"Are you all itching for a beating? Fine. Now get the hell out and stand guard."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man whose grim, severe expression had earned him the name ’coffin-face’ a moment ago instantly broke into a smile the moment he looked at Flora Bloom. "Sorry about that. My men don’t know any better."

This caused the jaws of the special forces soldiers still in the room to drop.

"’Are *we* the ones who don’t know any better?’"

’Is... is this still our Boss?’

’Did... did Yama just smile again?’

Flora Bloom shot him an irritated glare and then ignored him.

Just then, Neal Wallace came in from outside, cupping a handful of Crystal Cores as he approached Flora Bloom.

He poured all the Crystal Cores into Flora Bloom’s hands. "I went through all the corpses outside," he said. "These are all the Crystal Cores." Then he glanced at Lex Cross and his men before handing Flora Bloom something from his other hand. "This is what Vert dug out of the zombie cow’s head. Keep it somewhere safe."

At this point, Flora Bloom couldn’t care less about the Crystal Cores. Seeing the gore-covered stones—still slick with brain matter and other disgusting fluids—being poured into her hands made her stomach turn. Her superpowers were depleted, so she could only summon a little spiritual water from her space to rinse them off.

Once that was done, she picked up the Crystal Core from the zombie cow to examine it.

The Crystal Core was a brilliant, fiery red, saturated with potent Fire Element Energy. Flora Bloom could also sense a strong, corrosive aura within it.

This was a complete Level 3 Fire Element Crystal Core, and it even had a corrosive property. If a Fire Ability User absorbed it, their superpower would likely gain that corrosive attribute, giving them an extra edge against their enemies.

’A surprise attack when the enemy least expects it.’

She quickly stored the rare Crystal Core in her space. Then, feigning a sudden realization, she looked at Lex Cross and said, "Here... you guys helped kill the zombies, too. You should have a share of these."

The smile in Lex Cross’s eyes as he watched Flora Bloom only deepened.

"No need. We have plenty. You can have them all." Upon hearing this, Flora Bloom’s face lit up. "So generous!" she exclaimed. She then tossed him several bottles of spiritual water from her space and said, "Have the injured drink some. The more serious ones should drink more." Then, she plopped down on the floor, crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and began to absorb the Crystal Cores.

Right now, Lex Cross couldn’t care less about the Crystal Cores. After seeing the spiritual water Flora Bloom had produced, he watched the woman sitting on the floor absorbing the Crystal Cores, his expression complicated.