Chapter 110: Prescribing the Right Medicine
"So manipulative," Roman Rowe commented.
"Maybe he’s targeting you," Frost Shaw said cautiously.
"Right," Leo Colby agreed, his eyes and hands moving fast as he snatched the last shrimp from the pot.
Lily Hart actually found herself thinking... ’Well, at least he’s willing to put some thought into getting my attention...’
Roman Rowe looked up. "So, what should we do?"
Lily Hart said breezily, "We’ll counter his moves as they come."
He was just one man. Not worth making a big fuss over.
They praised her mindlessly. "Brilliant!"
After his praise, Roman Rowe used the slotted spoon to fish for shrimp in the pot. A moment later, he shot to his feet with a cry, "Where are my shrimp?!"
A quick glance revealed a pile of shrimp shells next to Leo Colby’s bowl, more than double anyone else’s.
Roman Rowe’s lip trembled. He went straight to Lily Hart to tattle, sitting down pitifully and pinching the hem of her sleeve with one hand.
He whined, "Boss Hart, look at him! He ate so many and didn’t even save any for you. That’s so unfair!"
It might not have worked on anyone else, but when a handsome guy acted cute, Lily Hart was a total sucker for it.
The corner of her mouth twitched up. Even though she knew he was just putting on an act, she was still secretly delighted. She could only nod in resignation. "Fine, I’ll buy you more."
As long as he was willing to put in the effort for her, that was good enough.
Roman Rowe immediately beamed with joy and stuck his tongue out at Leo Colby. The latter couldn’t be bothered with him and didn’t even spare him a glance.
But his goal was to eat shrimp, and now that he’d achieved it, he was happy.
Stan Sterling boiled some water, made instant noodles, and squatted on the pitch-black balcony, gazing at the warm RV.
Their cheerful laughter was so loud that Stan Sterling found it jarring, yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Watching them be happy was the only thing that made him feel like he was alive, too. But at the same time, he felt like a mutated rat in a gutter, spying on other people’s happiness.
He stayed on the balcony for as long as they ate hot pot. When his legs got tired from squatting, he simply sat down on the floor.
He then watched them leave the RV one by one. Lily Hart did something, and the vehicle’s body quickly closed up, hiding the interior from view.
But soon, the light on the RV’s second floor turned on. About an hour and a half later, it went out.
Stan Sterling figured Lily Hart had probably gone to sleep. He sighed, got up, and stomped his numb feet before heading back to his room.
But as he lay in such a soft, cozy room, filled with a faint, fresh scent, Stan Sterling stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
The sun rose as usual. Stan Sterling woke up very early; it would be more accurate to say he had hardly slept. It was difficult to feel at ease in such an unfamiliar environment.
He stood on the balcony, hands resting on the railing, looking at the still-closed RV.
Stan Sterling changed into some tattered clothes and went out, planning to kill zombies.
Outside Fortune Base were sprawling industrial parks. There were quite a few zombies, but the layout was a bit complex.
By the time Stan Sterling returned, the lottery shop and convenience store were both open. His eyes lit up, and he immediately jogged over to the RV.
He ran straight to Lily Hart, carefully took two Crystal Cores out of his pocket, wiped them on his clothes, and then placed them on the counter.
"Boss Hart, here are two Crystal Cores to pay you back first. I’ll get you the rest as soon as I can," Stan Sterling said with determination.
Lily Hart was sitting behind the lottery machine. She looked at Stan Sterling, whose clothes were tattered, even torn in several places.
But the placement of these holes was rather interesting. There was a tear at the left side of his collar, conveniently revealing a delicate, pale collarbone.
There was also a medium-sized hole below his left pectoral. The clothes were loose, so with any slightly large movement... it was enough to make one’s imagination run wild.
And just above and to the side of his navel, an irregularly shaped tear revealed a hint of lean muscle underneath.
It was a short-sleeved shirt to begin with, and the right sleeve had been completely torn off, exposing a well-defined arm.
’Hmm, very scheming, very alluring.’
But paired with his innocent face and the earnest expression in his bright eyes as he offered her the Crystal Cores, it didn’t seem scheming at all.
Instead, it just made one feel protective of him. Lily Hart sighed, took the Crystal Cores, and noticed a streak of blood next to the corner of his eye.
His face was also a bit dirty and his hair was messy. Killing zombies was clearly a difficult task for him.
It reminded her of that one meme: a dog comes back from a hunt, all dirty, holding a sack in its mouth, with the caption: "Mama, I’m home!"
’Geez, I was so focused on the holes in his clothes that I didn’t even notice.’
Lily Hart pulled out two wet wipes for him and pointed to the corner of his left eye. "Wipe that."
Stan Sterling took the wipes and tried to clean the corner of his eye but missed the spot. Watching him made Lily Hart a little anxious.
So she pulled out another wipe, stood up, reached across the counter, and grabbed his arm, pulling him a little closer.
She wiped it for him herself—fast and precise, cleaning the bloodstain in one go.
"Go back and get cleaned up. Don’t come out too often. Be careful, they might not have left yet," Lily Hart said, gesturing with a raised eyebrow toward the hotel.
Stan Sterling nodded and obediently returned to the hotel as she’d told him. Lily Hart propped her chin on her hand and fell into thought.
She started to wonder about the motives of the mastermind behind Stan Sterling. The main issue was that everything catered perfectly to her weaknesses...
They knew she liked handsome men and was very tolerant of them, so they sent a handsome, pitiful-looking guy over.
And then what?
What were they trying to do?
’Make me fall in love with Stan Sterling?’
’That’s not very likely. I like handsome men, but I’m not an idiot. Getting a ’love brain’ is out of the question.’
’He’s fine to look at, like a pretty vase, but falling in love is a no-go.’
’Whatever. I’m not going to think about it anymore. It’s a waste of brain cells.’
Douglas Donovan came by again, greeting her enthusiastically. "Boss Hart, good morning! How many days are you planning to stay at Fortune Base?"
Until she earned 100,000 points. Of course, Lily Hart wasn’t going to say that. She just said, "I’m not sure yet. How about I create a group chat for Fortune Base?"
The two of them added each other on their Light Brains. She added Douglas Donovan to the group first, letting him add everyone else.
Afterward, Lily Hart sent him the convenience store’s mini-program and explained some of the basic rules.
Unexpectedly, as he listened, Douglas Donovan was moved to tears. He exclaimed excitedly, "Boss Hart, you’re simply... you’re simply amazing! To make such a contribution for everyone!"
Lily Hart acted modestly. "Not at all, not at all. Just serving the people."
’Ugh, so fake,’ she thought. ’I’m really just doing it to earn points more efficiently.’
Douglas Donovan cried even harder. How long had it been since he’d heard that phrase? And how many people could truly live up to it?
Lily Hart could see that he was a good Base Commander, one who truly thought about the well-being of his residents.
If there were a few more Base Commanders like him, tragedies like what happened at Nutwood Base might not occur again.
The two chatted for a while longer about the mini-program. From their conversation, Lily Hart actually got some ideas on how to better avoid middlemen.
As they were talking, they heard an outcry from the crowd. "Where did this kid come from? How dare you snatch my food!"
Lily Hart and Douglas Donovan looked over to see a man glaring at a small, skinny boy in front of him.
Each of them held half of a mango mille-crepe cake. The boy, without a second thought, shoved his half directly into his mouth.
He stuffed it in so suddenly and quickly that by the time everyone reacted, the boy was already licking his fingers.
"You!" The man was furious. He swung his hand, slapping the boy. He had worked so hard to scavenge that cake, only for some little brat to snatch it and eat it!
The little boy was knocked to the ground by the slap. Without a moment’s hesitation, he scrambled back up, clenched his jaw, and lunged forward to shove the man with all his might.