Chapter 70: Consequences
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Bear looked down at Nina, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.
"Whose kid is this?" he demanded. "Take her away."
Nina’s face flushed bright red with anger. "I’m not a kid!" she snapped. "I’m twenty-three this year!"
Even Leo looked at her sideways, his expression skeptical. Feeling his gaze, Nina snapped her head toward him.
"I’m not lying!" she yelled. "Ask everyone else!"
A slow look of realization washed over Bear’s face. "Oh..." he muttered. "So you’re the other defect."
Nina glared right back at him. "You’re the defect. Your whole family’s defective!"
Bear’s patience snapped.
"Brat," he growled. "Move."
Instead of backing down, Nina marched right up to him and planted both hands on her hips.
"I won’t. What are you going to do about it?"
Bear’s eyes went cold. Without another word, he swung the back of his hand in a casual arc.
Smack!
Nina cried out as she stumbled backward, losing her footing and hitting the ground.
The spoon in Leo’s hand stopped dead halfway to his mouth. Across the fire, the playful grin vanished from Rex’s face.
Nina sat in the dirt, staring up at Bear with reddened, angry eyes. Bear looked down at her without an ounce of pity.
"This is what happens when you refuse to listen," Bear said flatly.
"Next time... it won’t be a shove. I’ll smash your head open."
Nina bit her lip. She wanted to fire back, but she knew the truth ,she was no match for him.
Just then, Leo rose to his feet. Every eye in the area shifted to him. Bear simply stood there, waiting to see what the man would do.
To everyone’s surprise, Leo simply turned around and began walking back toward his truck.
Rex couldn’t hide the disappointment that flickered across his face.
Nina froze, too. For a brief second, she had actually believed Leo would stand up for her.
A heavy wave of letdown washed over her face, and her eyes welled with tears.
Leo caught the look from the corner of his eye, but he kept his feet moving.
It wasn’t out of fear. He was unarmed, and picking a fight right now meant turning the military into an open enemy.
The timing was all wrong. More than that, he knew that if he stayed there a second longer, he might lose his grip on his temper.
"Heh."
A mocking chuckle drifted over from behind him. Bear was staring down at Nina with pure scorn.
Leo’s boots stopped. A heavy silence settled over the campfire.
The next instant, Leo spun on his heel. Before anyone could even blink, he strode straight back to Bear.
Smack!
The plate of food in his hand slammed squarely into Bear’s face. Rice, vegetables, and soup splattered across the man’s head and uniform.
Bear stood locked in place. He had not expected the attack in the slightest. The entire campsite went dead quiet. Even Rex’s eyes went wide.
Leo calmly let go of the empty plate, looking Bear right in the eyes.
"Your spit landed in my food,"
Leo said evenly.
"So... you’d better enjoy the taste."
For the first time since he had arrived, Bear stood rooted to the spot in utter disbelief.
A quiet snicker broke the quiet air. Rex clamped a hand over his mouth, though the corners of his lips kept twitching.
Leo turned his back on Bear and walked over to Nina.
Bear ground his teeth together.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" he hissed.
"Do you know who you’re provoking?"
Without slowing down, Leo called back, "Don’t know. Don’t care."
He stopped right in front of Nina and held out his hand. After a second of hesitation, Nina took it. Leo pulled her up to her feet. The moment she was up, she looked away, crossing her arms defensively.
"Hmph," she muttered. "I didn’t need you to stand up for me. I could’ve handled it myself."
A faint smile touched Leo’s lips. He knew she was just trying to save face, so he let it go.
Instead, he turned his attention back to Bear.
Bear’s eyes burned with hatred.
"I hope you’ve already thought about the consequences."
Leo ignored the threat entirely. Instead, he raised his voice, throwing it loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"Oh? So this is how the military behaves now?" Leo called out.
"First you monopolize the city’s resources... and now you bully ordinary survivors?"
His voice carried across the dirt. One by one, nearby survivors stopped what they were doing and turned toward the noise.
The resentment that had been building over the last few days bubbled right to the surface. Their families were gone, food was scarce, and yet the military kept a tight grip on most of the supplies. Plenty of people were already furious.
Now, that anger had a clear target. Whispers rippled through the crowd as more eyes locked onto the standoff.
Bear swept a glance over the gathering crowd and let out a cold laugh.
"So... this is your plan?" Bear sneered. "You think I’ll bow to public pressure?" He looked around at the onlookers with pure disgust.
"I couldn’t care less about what these maggots think. They’re nothing but parasites. All they know is how to complain."
Leo narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t truly expected the crowd to stop Bear, but it had been worth a shot.
His relaxed posture vanished, and every muscle in his body coiled tight. He prepared himself for a brawl.
The air around the fire grew heavy and suffocating.
Nina slipped her hand into her pocket, her fingers wrapping around several metallic spheres.
Rex stood up, too, the easygoing smile completely gone from his face.
Bear’s lips pulled back into a cruel grin. "Half-Beas..."
He cut off. His pupils shrank to pinpricks.
A strip of cold steel rested silently against his neck.
A calm, aged voice spoke from right behind him.
"Brat..." the man murmured. "Dare move a single muscle... and we’ll find out whether you can bear the consequences."
Bear’s body went rigid.
Standing right behind him was Grandpa Jiro.
The old man held his sword perfectly steady against Bear’s throat, his usual carefree attitude completely gone. Only a sharp, lethal intent remained.