Chapter 119: Beating Him at His Own Game
He’d rather endure the pain of self-harm to fight the poison than ask for help from the people at Auspice Base...
Lily Hart wavered slightly. ’Could I have been wrong about him?’
Stan Sterling gave a bitter laugh. "What else can I do? This is it. If I go too long without the antidote, the poison will just build up in my system..."
The outcome would be either death or a painful death.
Everyone understood. The atmosphere fell silent once more. Stan Sterling struggled to turn onto his side, his back facing the two of them.
His voice was muffled as he clutched the bedsheets tightly, whispering, "Thank you, Boss Leo and Boss Hart. I’ll pay back the points..."
It was a subtle way of asking them to leave.
They were all adults; they understood. People don’t want others to see them when they’re vulnerable.
Lily Hart and Leo Colby left one after the other. Out in the hallway, they both sighed. "Let’s go. Time to eat."
Once they were back in the RV, Lily Hart finally asked, "Why were you in Stan Sterling’s room?"
"He asked for a towel, so I brought it up to him," Leo Colby explained.
"But don’t we have a robot for that?" Lily Hart asked, finding it odd.
Leo Colby was lazy, but he had plenty of Crystal Cores and had figured out all the hotel’s basic functions.
Now, they used a robot to deliver items to guest rooms. All one had to do was enter the room number and place the requested items inside.
"It just so happened to be out of power," Leo Colby said. He found it strange, too. ’How could it be such a coincidence?’
The situation had been urgent, so he hadn’t thought about such details at the time. It was only after Lily Hart’s reminder that he realized something was off.
The robot charged in the hotel lobby. Stan Sterling must have seen it on his way upstairs.
Not long after getting back to his room, he’d said he needed a new towel and toothbrush because the previous ones were dirty. Naturally, Leo Colby had gone up to deliver them.
And he’d walked right into it!
The two of them exchanged a look, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
"Well, I’ll be. That Stan Sterling kid is more calculating than he looks!" Lily Hart cursed. To think she’d actually felt a pang of pity for him just now.
"The poison is real, and the fact that it acts up if he doesn’t take his medicine on time is also real. The only thing that’s fake is that he probably has the antidote but isn’t taking it," Leo Colby analyzed.
Raising male companions to be sent as gifts to curry favor with powerful figures wasn’t uncommon in the apocalypse. To prevent them from getting ideas about escaping, they were often fed slow-acting poisons that made life a living hell when they flared up.
Lily Hart fell into thought. ’This is so complicated.’
’Did Stan Sterling approach me with a purpose, or did he just happen to escape to this area?’
But this sequence of events seemed so seamless: his escape, his plea for help, the poison flaring up, the self-harm—all for her to see, soften her heart, and offer aid.
It was just too much of a coincidence...
Frost Shaw arrived at the RV and saw the two of them standing extremely close, whispering to each other. He couldn’t help but feel a little sour.
He immediately squeezed in between them. "What’s wrong? Did something happen?"
Lily Hart explained the whole situation to him. After listening, Frost Shaw said decisively, "It was intentional."
"Why?" Lily Hart looked at him, frowning. ’How can he be so sure?’
Frost Shaw laid out his analysis. His reasoning was largely the same as Lily Hart’s—everything was too coincidental.
It was as if the entire setup was a trap designed specifically for Lily Hart.
Lily Hart listened intently, nodding repeatedly in agreement. ’That’s exactly what I was thinking!’
Finally, Frost Shaw warned, "Boss Hart, you absolutely must not fall for it. Have as little contact with him as possible. Or, you could..."
"Turn the tables on him!" Roman Rowe finished the sentence, then looked at Frost Shaw, waiting for praise.
Instead, Frost Shaw smacked him on the back of the head. "Are you an idiot? Isn’t that just sending Boss Hart into the lion’s den? We don’t even know who we’re up against..."
While he was scolding his foolish brother, Lily Hart had taken the idea to heart. ’Turn the tables on him and draw out the real mastermind.’
’That’s a good idea.’ Lily Hart put her hands on her hips and announced haughtily, "It’s decided!"
The bickering Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe, along with the silent Leo Colby, all looked at Lily Hart and let out a collective, "Huh?"
"I’m going to turn the tables on him!" Lily Hart said with determination.
Frost Shaw opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Roman Rowe’s cheer. "Boss Hart is brilliant!"
Lily Hart raised an eyebrow at Roman Rowe. "Alright, Roro, what do you want to eat tonight?"
"..." Frost Shaw fell silent. Once Lily Hart made up her mind, very few people could change it.
Leo Colby had always respected people’s choices. When it came to Boss Hart, he was always supportive. If she wanted to do something, she should just do it.
Besides, she had a Seventh-rank Ice Ability User and an Eighth-rank Superpower User like him backing her up. Their combined strength was not to be underestimated.
After the meal, Frost Shaw couldn’t resist asking, "Boss Hart, what’s your plan? How do you need me to help?"
Lily Hart waved her hand. "Don’t rush me. I haven’t thought it through yet. We’ll take it slow. Stan Sterling is the one who should be anxious."
Everyone left one by one. Lily Hart stood inside the RV, unconsciously looking up at the Dawn Hotel.
The side of the building facing her was almost fully occupied, its lights blazing. At a glance, it looked like a residential complex.
Some were long-term residents and even had the leisure to tidy up and decorate their rooms, placing the green plants they’d won as rewards on their balconies to be carefully nurtured.
Lily Hart closed up the RV and went to room 312 of the Dawn Hotel. She knocked, then leaned against the wall, lost in thought as she waited for the door to open.
After a long time, the door finally opened. Stan Sterling stood before her, wrapped in a thin blanket, his hair messy and his face pale.
"Is something wrong, Boss Hart?" Stan Sterling didn’t move, just stood there talking to her. He seemed too weak to stand properly and leaned against a nearby table.
"Let’s talk inside." Lily Hart took a step forward. Stan Sterling, stunned, took a step back.
Soon, Stan Sterling plopped onto the bed. Lily Hart stood before him; their gazes collided in mid-air.
In that instant, Stan Sterling thought, ’The cat’s out of the bag. Should I take poison and die a defiant death?’
He gripped the fresh bedsheets, his fingertips turning white from the force, yet his expression remained nonchalant. "Is something wrong, Boss Hart?" he asked with an innocent look.
In reality, he had been clawing at the sheets so hard they were nearly torn. He released his hands and surreptitiously smoothed out the wrinkles.
Lily Hart took a step back, pulled over a nearby chair, and sat down. She expertly crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knees, as comfortable as if she were in her own home.
Stan Sterling’s breathing hitched slightly but quickly returned to normal. His clear eyes watched Lily Hart’s series of movements.
Their gazes were now on the same level. Lily Hart studied him, impressed by his calm and unruffled demeanor.
Her gaze shifted slightly downward, catching a glimpse of the hand he kept hidden behind him. Then, she casually scanned the room, her eyes lingering on a certain corner for a moment.
She said gently, "It’s nothing serious. I came to bring you some medicine."
Lily Hart took out a few pills. They were all purchased from the system’s store—fast-acting with few side effects.
"Thank you." Stan Sterling held out his hands to take them, his voice a mosquito-like buzz.
After giving him the medicine, Lily Hart got up and left without a second thought, as if she had truly only come to drop it off.
When she reached the door, Lily Hart placed a hand on the handle, turned back to point at a certain corner, and said casually, "Don’t forget to tuck in that tail of yours."
Stan Sterling had his head down, looking at the four pills in his palm. Hearing her words, he looked up in a daze toward where she was pointing.
His expression instantly froze. His face turned deathly pale, and his hands unconsciously clenched the bedsheets again.
When he looked back at Lily Hart, she had already opened the door, left, and pulled it shut behind her. Stan Sterling scrambled to his feet and stored the object away in his space.