Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Even Keith Preston came to tell him, "It would be great if you became the City Lord."

Colin Koenig, on the other hand, was quite nervous. He visited several times to explain that he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

As soon as the rumor spread, the four families led by the Woods Family, along with other factions with their eyes on the City Lord position, began to grow uneasy.

In fact, even before this, they had considered Marcus Monroe a major threat.

But at the time, Leo Joyce hadn’t died yet.

And their power struggle hadn’t yet reached a fever pitch.

But things were different now.

A few days after the rumor began to circulate, Marcus Monroe discovered that several different groups were tailing him.

Most of them were unsure of his Superpower Rank, but that didn’t stop them from knowing he was extremely powerful. So, the people lying in wait only tailed him, taking no further action.

But this was already hampering Marcus Monroe’s movements.

He sneered at Colin Koenig, "Someone’s trying to paint a target on my back!"

Colin Koenig couldn’t agree more.

It was obvious with a little thought. Someone had to be orchestrating these rumors from behind the scenes, and their only goal was to focus everyone’s attention on Marcus Monroe.

Whether he intended to become the City Lord of Southreach or not, he had become a target for everyone to fire at.

"No matter who it is, they’re going to pay the price for this."

The day after saying this, Marcus Monroe took swift and decisive action against a group of people who were tracking him.

Of course, he didn’t kill them, even though he wanted to.

But that would have meant instantly making a host of new enemies.

So, he simply set a trap and captured them all. Then, he knocked them unconscious, stripped them naked, and dumped them in the main city plaza. The dozen or so men all had minor injuries, and on each of their backs, a large exclamation mark was painted in their own blood.

This all happened in the early morning.

So, before these unlucky bastards even woke up, a huge crowd had already gathered to gawk at them...

The sight of a dozen naked bodies all lined up was quite a spectacle, to say nothing of the bloody symbols on their backs.

The Woods Family, the Forrest Family, and other involved parties soon learned what had happened.

A chill went down their spines.

Outsiders might not have known, but they understood perfectly well.

Some of those men were theirs.

This time, they had sent their families’ best trackers, all of whom were also skilled fighters.

Who would have thought they’d all be taken down in one fell swoop!

And Marcus Monroe had made such a public spectacle of it for one reason: to warn them.

Just as they were all scrambling to devise a counter-strategy, Marcus Monroe was summoned by Elder Woods.

"When are you going to arrange for my departure?" Faye Webb asked, trying to suppress her impatience.

Marcus Monroe replied unhurriedly, "After the city lockdown is lifted. I believe I’ve told you that already."

"But..."

"What’s the matter? Scared?"

Faye Webb pressed her lips together tightly.

She was, of course, afraid.

Kieran Woods had already come by twice recently. Everything he said, both directly and indirectly, was an attempt to probe for information about Marcus Monroe and his position.

This forced her to wonder.

’Is Marcus Monroe really planning to become the City Lord of Southreach?’

’How much longer will I have to wait?’

’There’s no guarantee that something won’t go wrong in the meantime.’

’If my disguise is discovered, it’ll all be over for me!’

Marcus Monroe glanced at her.

He thought she might still be useful, so he had actually posted men here to protect her in secret. He didn’t plan on telling her that, however. Instead, he said, "If you’re really that scared, you should go into seclusion."

While Faye Webb was still hesitating, Marcus Monroe had already stood up. "That detached house in the backyard is a good spot. Just stay inside, and someone will deliver food and water regularly. As long as you don’t do anything foolish, I will uphold my end of the bargain."

With that, he turned and walked out the door.

Faye Webb stared blankly as his retreating figure disappeared. A long moment passed before she finally looked away and lowered her head.

’Every time I see him, he’s always so confident and self-assured, as if nothing in the world could ever defeat him!’

In truth, she had snuck out before when she wasn’t needed to impersonate her grandfather.

She knew a little about what was happening outside.

For instance, the rumors, and the incident with the naked men in the plaza... When she heard about that, her first instinct was that it had to be his work.

She remembered her grandfather muttering to himself about the various factions and prominent Superpower Users in Southreach. He’d said that they all lacked true courage and that if a real crisis ever struck Southreach, they wouldn’t be able to hold the city together.

She hadn’t understood what he meant back then.

But after something went wrong with her grandfather’s Cultivation and he passed away quietly, forcing her to take on his appearance to manage the situation, she realized he had been right.

The fiasco with sending troops to exterminate the Zombies was the best proof of that.

’If there’s anyone who can secure Southreach’s future now,’ she thought, ’it’s that man who just left, Marcus Monroe!’

’If only they had met under different circumstances!’

For Marcus Monroe, the situation with Faye Webb was just a minor interlude.

Even the rumors circulating outside weren’t a major problem.

The most important thing right now was that he couldn’t find a trace of Claire Chapman.

"Boss, you don’t think he’s already..."

"No," Marcus Monroe stated flatly to his subordinate.

Although they had no leads for the moment, he didn’t believe Claire Chapman was dead. ’That guy is far too clever,’ he thought. ’There’s no way he’d get himself killed so easily!’

’They must have deliberately lured him away...’

’Otherwise, why would he be the one to go missing? He wasn’t the only one there.’

’He didn’t care about Leo Joyce when he was alive, let alone his corpse. With his intelligence, would he really chase someone down over a dead body, to the point of getting captured himself?’

’Absolutely impossible!’

’So, there must be another reason for his disappearance.’

’And whoever went to all that trouble to abduct him certainly didn’t do it just to kill him.’

Marcus Monroe leaned back against the sofa and slowly exhaled.

Outside the city, the Southreach army had already engaged the zombie horde in battle. Inside the city, the atmosphere between the factions was growing increasingly tense. Things were about to come to a head...

’If everything else gets resolved and I still can’t find Claire Chapman, or if his captors don’t show themselves, I really don’t know how I’m going to face Paige Summers.’

’She would be heartbroken.’

’Besides, Claire Chapman is the Base Chief of Bloodfall. If he’s gone, that burden will fall onto Paige Summers’s shoulders.’

The thought of either of those outcomes was enough to piss Marcus Monroe off.

’Looks like I’ll have to make a big move.’

’Even if it means seriously offending some people, I can’t afford to worry about that now!’

Just as he was thinking this, however, and before he could make any arrangements, a message came from Colin Koenig. It said that several families, led by the Woods Family, had jointly petitioned Division Commander Cheney to hold a private election for the position of City Lord.

It was scheduled to begin at nine o’clock the next morning, and Koenig urged him to be there.

Marcus Monroe agreed without much hesitation.

’If Colin Koenig changes his mind, I’ll give him a push,’ he thought. ’If not, I’ll help the Forrest Family this time.’

’In any case, the Forrest Family is far less shameless in their ambitions than the Woods Family.’

He arrived promptly at nine the next morning on the top floor of the Government Administration Building.

It was a small conference room with a capacity of just over thirty, though only about twenty people were actually present.

Marcus Monroe recognized most of them.

As for those he didn’t, he quickly deduced their identities.

The heads of the Woods, Koenig, Forrest, and Zhang families; the division commander and deputy division commander of the Power Corps; five ministers from The Government, along with Colin Koenig himself; and all of their respective assistants.

’Looks like all the key players are here,’ he thought.

As Marcus Monroe’s gaze swept across a corner of the room, it paused for a moment.

Under his cold gaze, Maisie Joyce slowly walked over from that corner.

She volunteered an explanation. "Deputy City Lord Koenig invited me. He said that as the sister of the previous City Lord and the only survivor of the Joyce Family, I was welcome to attend as an observer."

Marcus Monroe just grunted in response and said no more. Intending to dash Colin Koenig’s hopes once and for all, he refused Koenig’s attempt to seat him in the front row at the conference table. Instead, he casually chose a chair placed against a side wall and sat down.

Maisie Joyce hesitated for a moment before choosing an empty seat two chairs away from him.

The others took their seats one by one, with Colin Koenig at the head of the table.

The election was about to begin.