Chapter 88: Chapter 76: Arriving at the Azuregard City Naval Base

Flora Bloom changed out of her torn clothes. After regrouping with the others, they set off once again for the Azuregard City Naval Base.

Neal Wallace was driving this time, and Flora Bloom sat in the passenger seat, observing the coastal shallows along the road.

A gentle sea breeze blew, and the journey was uneventful, allowing everyone in the car to relax. As they neared the entrance to the military road leading to the base, a joyful message came through Flora Bloom’s mental link.

Ten giant halfbeaks, leading a group of smaller ones, had successfully taken down the leader of another halfbeak school in these shallows and had taken control of the school.

"A success."

The sky was gradually darkening. Flora Bloom didn’t stop the car to retrieve the ten giant halfbeaks into her space. Instead, she had them patrol the nearby waters, gather information, and await her command.

She had a feeling that if they managed to borrow a boat and set sail, the journey would be anything but calm.

Finally, the group arrived at the entrance to the military base.

But strangely, there wasn’t a single person at the entrance—only a long barrier blocking vehicles from entering.

"Strange. Why is no one on guard here?"

Cynthia Grant stared at the entrance in surprise, her brow furrowed. The Azuregard City Naval Base was a key military installation. Its special direct entrances were always heavily guarded; it was impossible for them to be unmanned.

The group got out, and Flora Bloom stored the car in her space. The sight made Cynthia Grant excited all over again, exclaiming how wonderful it would be if she had a space of her own.

As they walked, everything they saw was out of place for a key military installation.

Haphazardly parked vehicles, broken supply crates, and empty food wrappers and bottles littered the ground.

They hadn’t walked far before they began to see filthy civilians. Some were with their families, others huddled together in pairs, and some were alone. All of them were curled up wretchedly in their own little corners, warily watching everyone around them.

Cynthia Grant couldn’t believe it. She had only been away on a mission for a few days, yet the base had completely transformed. The once clean and solemn drill grounds now looked exactly like a refugee camp. All sorts of people were thrown together in a chaotic mess, bearing no resemblance to a key military installation.

Flora’s parents, Caleb, Neal Wallace, and Ethan Monroe were also stunned by the scene before them.

"This is a military base? It looks like a refugee camp!"

Ethan Monroe mumbled, his words muffled as he gnawed on a compressed biscuit. His action seemed to attract a great deal of attention.

A stocky man—not particularly tall, but with broad shoulders and a wide frame—charged at them from the side, his target being Ethan Monroe.

Other than Flora Bloom, the group was completely unprepared. They were gawking at their surroundings like country bumpkins in the big city. Only after hearing a squeal like a stuck pig did they turn to look at Ethan Monroe and Flora Bloom.

Ethan Monroe was frozen in place, unsure how to react. The man had rushed over, snatched the last bite of the compressed biscuit from his hand, and shoved it into his mouth. Even as Flora Bloom twisted one of his arms behind his back, he screamed while frantically chewing the biscuit.

Once he had swallowed the biscuit, he grimaced and yelled in pain for a moment before begging for mercy. "S-Sorry! I was just so hungry. Please, let me go."

Flora Bloom’s eyes narrowed slightly as she slowly released her grip.

But unexpectedly, as soon as the man flexed his arm and felt the pain subside, he glanced at Caleb, the youngest among them. In a sudden lunge, he tackled Caleb to the ground. His hands shot out, trying to rip off Caleb’s backpack, but he found that the boy was clinging to the shoulder straps and wouldn’t let go.

He yanked the backpack up with all his might, lifting Caleb’s small body along with it.

"Sister! Sister!"

A dark look flashed in Flora Bloom’s eyes, and an axe appeared in her hand. She advanced slowly on the man, axe in hand, her expression unchanging from beginning to end.

"Let the boy and the bag go, and I’ll let you walk."

The man looked at the slender girl threatening him with an axe and found it laughable. Days of starvation made him dismiss the girl’s empty-seeming threat.

He held Caleb up with one hand while his other reached for the zipper on the child’s backpack.

SWISH! The sound of the axe cutting through the air was followed by the man’s pained cry as he clutched the back of his hand.

"AH! How dare you fight with a weapon on a military base! I’m going to report you!"

Flora Bloom pulled Caleb to her side and patted his head, intending to comfort him. But she found that he didn’t look scared at all. Instead, he was glaring fiercely at the man before them, his small fists clenched tightly.

"Caleb, go to Auntie Jade."

By now, the commotion had drawn a large crowd of onlookers. Each one of them looked as wretched and had likely been starving for as long as the man who attacked them.

"Hand over your food, or I’ll report you for armed assault! The officers here will definitely arrest you!"

Flora Bloom had no intention of dealing with the man’s absurd tantrum. She gestured with her axe, ready to lead her group away, but was blocked again.

"Everyone, come quick! These people’s bags are full of food! There are compressed biscuits and water, and maybe other things, too!"

The man stood in front of Flora Bloom’s group and shouted at the top of his lungs. The crowd of onlookers grew from a scattered few to a large mob. Many starving people who had been resting on the ground stood up, their eyes gleaming, and began to close in.

The crowd pressed forward, shoulder to shoulder, surging toward Flora Bloom’s group. Some of the men even had lecherous glints in their eyes as they desperately pushed their way to the front.

Seeing what was about to happen, Neal Wallace readied his flames out of sight. Caleb Bloom’s hands had already turned to metal, poised for battle. Even Ethan Monroe was on high alert, preparing to defend one side from the encroaching crowd.

Standing beside Flora Bloom, Cynthia Grant yelled at the top of her lungs, telling everyone not to crowd them, but no one paid her any mind. Every person’s eyes were locked onto the group’s backpacks, their hunger driving them to the brink of madness.

Flora Bloom’s expression turned cold. A vicious glint flashed in her eyes as she looked at the man who had started the trouble.

She was like a cold-blooded goddess of slaughter as she slowly approached the man, axe in hand.

’If I can just stir things up,’ he thought, ’everyone will rush in to grab what they can, and I can snatch this woman’s bag in the chaos. It must be full of food.’

But his smugness didn’t last long. He felt a powerful force slash across his chest, and the momentum sent him staggering backward.

The people in the front row saw the instigator fall backward and hit the ground. A bloody gash running from his collarbone to his abdomen gushed blood. Before he could even cry out in agony, the girl with the axe pinned him to the ground with a foot on his chest, right on top of the long, gruesome wound.

"Don’t covet what isn’t yours."

Flora Bloom spoke calmly, her eyes sweeping over the crowd, which was gradually falling silent.

The sight of the glaringly fresh blood on the ground shocked the starving and freezing crowd back to what little sanity they had left.

In the apocalypse, hunger could shatter a person’s morals and unleash their inner beast. Only the fear of blood and death could awaken their reason and calm.