Chapter 98: Hunter Lowell’s Night Raid
Logan Holland wiped his mouth and subconsciously sat up straight. "As expected, just like Jason Lynch," he reported, "he’s been oppressing the residents for a long time, bleeding them dry to fill his own coffers."
He paused before continuing, "Worse, his daughter used her father’s position as Base Commander to lord over everyone in the base. She’s victimized many young men and women. Her actions are unforgivable!"
"Hmm..." Lily Hart nodded, satisfied.
She asked with keen interest, "So, who will the new Base Commander be?"
Logan Holland remained silent. The matter was still under discussion, as various factions were trying to install their own people.
’Is that a secret, too?’ Lily Hart decided not to press the issue. ’Better to know less.’
Logan Holland also seemed lost in thought, and the atmosphere grew inexplicably tense. Roman Rowe was just about to try and smooth things over.
"Boss Hart, I’ll probably head back to Central Command tomorrow. I’ll be bringing my wife and child over in three days, so I’ll be counting on you," Logan Holland said earnestly.
"No problem. Just find Leo to get them checked in," Lily Hart agreed with a nod.
Beside her, Frost Shaw’s ears suddenly perked up. ’What? Leo? Why does she say his name with such familiarity? Are they that close?’
’She’s never even called me Frostie or Fro. I guess the feelings have faded after all.’ Frost Shaw’s shoulders slumped, and he suddenly felt listless.
But no one noticed.
Only Roman Rowe shot him a confused glance. ’What’s with this kid now?’
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways.
A couple of customers had been playing the scratch-offs throughout their meal. Talk about being hooked—they were scratching away while enjoying the aroma of the food.
They seemed happy enough. One customer stuffed their ticket into the Lucky Cat’s mouth, and it spat out a pitch-black component.
It was completely different from Arthur Sullivan’s part, but the design style was similar. ’Could they be from the same helicopter?’
He copied Boss Hart and patted the Lucky Cat on the head, but after waiting and waiting, nothing happened.
Lily Hart walked over with a sigh and tapped the back of its head. The machine quickly made an announcement: [Congratulations, you have won a helicopter component.]
Logan Holland, who had just finished his meal and was about to head back to his hotel, stopped in his tracks. He walked over curiously, picking up the component and turning it over in his hands.
"It really is a helicopter component," he said in amazement. "If you collect them all, can you actually build a whole helicopter?"
Lily Hart glanced at the Lucky Cat, and the others fixed their gazes on it too. [Collect all components to redeem one helicopter.]
Logan Holland’s eyes lit up. ’Amazing! It even has a helicopter. Is there anything you can’t win from this thing?’
"I’ll give you two Crystal Cores for it. How about you sell it to me?" Logan Holland asked.
"Nope, not selling." The man shook his head, giving Logan an odd look. ’Who is this guy?’
"Look, it’s useless to you on its own," Logan reasoned. "You might as well sell it to me. With two Crystal Cores, you could buy more scratch-off tickets. Wouldn’t that be better?"
"That’s true... Here, you can have it." The man blankly handed it over and was quite pleased with himself after receiving the two Crystal Cores.
Lily Hart witnessed the entire exchange but only shrugged, saying nothing. ’Best to let people decide their own fate.’
The crowd gradually dispersed. Logan Holland held the helicopter component, unable to put it down. Lily Hart walked over, a look of slight disdain on her face. "You can’t even build helicopters these days?"
Logan Holland waved his hand dismissively. "Where are we going to find factories and machinery on that scale? The helicopters we’re using now are all just holdovers from the Era of Civilization."
Lily Hart complained to herself, ’What a pathetic apocalypse.’
Then she silently opened the shop on her Light Brain and searched for "helicopter." The long string of numbers in the price tag nearly blinded her.
She closed the window and complained to herself again, ’What a pathetic, poor Lily Hart.’
Logan Holland’s mind was entirely on the helicopter component, so he didn’t notice the shift in Lily Hart’s mood. He walked back to his hotel, stroking the piece of metal the entire way.
Lily Hart retracted the RV’s walls, went up to the second floor to wash up for bed. The moment she lay down, she heard a POUND, POUND, POUND at the door.
She frowned in annoyance but got up anyway. Wearing a cute set of animal-print pajamas and shuffling in her slippers, she went downstairs to open the small viewing window.
Only to be met with an unexpected face: Hunter Lowell.
She instinctively activated the RV’s highest level of security. A transparent membrane enveloped the vehicle, preventing anyone from entering.
Only then did Lily Hart feel secure. She met Hunter Lowell’s bloodshot eyes, suppressed her drowsiness, and asked, "What do you want?"
The viewing window was tiny—about 40 by 40 centimeters—just large enough to see the face of the person outside.
Hunter Lowell’s eyes were bloodshot, and the hand hidden behind his back was clenched into a tight fist. He wanted nothing more than to kill the person standing before him.
He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. "Boss Hart," he said, his voice as level as he could make it, "I’ve come to apologize. Could you please ask Minister Holland to let me go..."
"Get lost," Lily Hart said curtly, and immediately began to slide the window shut, intending to block him out completely.
But he, not knowing what was good for him, seized the opportunity before the window was fully closed and threw a punch with all his might.
His fist seemed to hit empty air, yet it was stopped by what felt like a sticky, viscous membrane. He tried to push forward but couldn’t move an inch.
"AHHH—" Hunter Lowell shrieked and yanked his hand back. For some reason, the back of it had begun to slowly decay.
A thick, dark green fluid started to ooze from the skin, and the area of decay began to spread.
It reached his wrist, then his forearm, snaking its way up his arm like a cold, terrifying serpent.
Hunter Lowell screamed, shaking his hand violently and yelling, "What the hell is this stuff? Get it off me! Get it off!"
Hearing the ghost-like wails outside, Lily Hart reopened the little window to enjoy the sight of him having a complete, cornered-animal meltdown.
"Nyah, nyah, nyah~" Lily Hart stuck her tongue out and made a face at him. It wasn’t very harmful, but it was incredibly insulting.
This sent Hunter Lowell completely over the edge. He started jumping up and down, trying to fling the sticky, decaying green goo from his hand while also wanting to charge in and attack Lily Hart.
"Come on in! Get in here if you’ve got the guts!" Lily Hart added, provocatively flipping him the bird and bobbing her head.
Frost Shaw was jolted awake by Hunter Lowell’s scream. Without even taking the time to change, he rushed downstairs in his pajamas.
When he hurriedly arrived, he was greeted by the sight of Lily Hart flipping off a man who was hopping around frantically.
She looked adorable, bobbing her head with her hair down. It was a messy cascade, unlike the neat and tidy way she usually wore it during the day.
As he got closer, he realized the man was Hunter Lowell, his arms completely covered in a disgusting, viscous substance.
Hunter Lowell was still screaming. Not only was the stuff on his hands disgusting to the touch, it also burned intensely.
It was itchy and painful all at once. Hunter Lowell wanted to chop his own hands off. He no longer cared that there were people watching.
He dropped to the ground and started frantically rubbing his hands on the gravel, which provided a slight relief from the itching.
But the pain was immense. The sharp stones tore bloody streaks across his arms, and fresh blood began to stream down.
The mixture of red and green was a horrifying sight. Combined with Hunter Lowell’s piercing screams in the pitch-black night, the scene was genuinely terrifying.
"B-Boss Hart, please, save me! I don’t want to die!" Hunter Lowell fell to his knees with a THUD and began to crawl forward on them.
The itching on his arms was relentless, but now a separate, bone-deep agony began to radiate from within his very marrow.