Chapter 545: Extra - 3: Unfulfilled Love, Part 3
Nadia felt like she’d fallen into an ice cave.
The cold was bone-chilling.
Even the slightest attempt to move sent a piercing pain, like being stabbed with needles, through her body.
So she shrank back.
She curled into a ball, hoping it would lessen the pain.
But it was useless.
Tossing and turning, she could never find a comfortable position, which only made the pain worse. Finally, in her despair, she snapped. ‘If I can’t go on living, then I’ll take you all with me!’
But she was the only one who ended up dead.
She thought she saw herself in a dream—her own corpse. Eyes bulging, lips black and purple, tongue hanging far out of her mouth. The sight was so frightening she screamed and jolted awake.
“Ngh…” After uttering a single syllable, Nadia’s forehead was already beaded with sweat from the pain.
Someone helped her wipe away the sweat and said softly, “Your throat is injured. Don’t try to talk yet.”
Fortunately, the wave of pain slowly subsided. Only then did Nadia let out a silent sigh of relief and open her eyes, which had been squeezed shut in agony.
It was Paige Summers.
Seeing her awake, Paige Summers seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but her face remained unsmiling. Her expression was calm, tinged with a bit of resignation.
Nadia blinked, then half-closed her eyes again.
Subconsciously, she felt she couldn’t face her.
But as the memory of what happened returned, her expression grew even more somber.
‘He really wanted to kill me…’
She never knew he was capable of such a thought.
‘Was it because I’d hit a nerve?’
‘Or is it that he won’t let anyone say anything about Paige Summers?’
Nadia suddenly felt a wave of sorrow.
She regretted it.
‘Maybe it would have been best not to have come here at all.’
‘At least then, I could have held on to that last tiny shred of hope, instead of this…’ But a voice in her heart was saying, ‘You’re just lying to yourself. He wanted to kill you. See? You’re in a hospital bed now! If he just wanted to stop you from talking, would he have gone this far? He would only use that much force if he wanted to kill you!’
Overcome with weakness, Nadia squeezed her eyes shut.
Paige Summers shook her head, said nothing, and silently left the room.
Levi Young was sitting in an adjacent room. When he saw her come out, he asked, “Is she all right?”
Paige Summers raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
Levi Young pursed his lips. “I’m sorry. I was too rash.”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Nadia is. I just hope you always remember the laws of Concordia. No one has the right to kill anyone at will within the city, unless that person has committed treason against Concordia or endangered someone’s life… I don’t think Nadia intended to physically harm you. As for mentally, if a few words are enough to provoke you, then I think I’ll have to suggest to Timothy Monroe that you should go to the mountain base for re-training. Do you have any objections to what I’ve said?”
Levi Young shook his head. He tried to remain impassive, but his brow betrayed a hint of irritation.
“Actually, I didn’t really want to kill her. It’s just that the way she was acting at that moment… it made me feel awful. Really awful. It was like… like I was back in the old days, during the time I was imprisoned…” As he spoke, he shook his head as if ashamed of revealing his weakness, trying to shake off those negative feelings. “I promise, I’ll never do it again!”
Paige Summers nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Do you… really not like Nadia at all? I mean, she’s actually a good girl. This time, it was probably just because of everything that’s happened. She’s been bottling it up for a long time, so she ended up spouting nonsense…”
Levi Young’s expression changed. “If I liked her, I would’ve said yes to her long ago, not waited until now. Frankly, I’m really not in the mood, nor do I have the energy, to think about these things. You know, I’m busy. Very busy!”
On the point of being busy, Paige Summers really couldn’t argue.
The Land Activation Agent wasn’t something you could just develop and be done with; it required a great deal of follow-up tracking and testing. The reason Bloodfall had joined forces with Central City to launch a mobilization effort across all of Astoria was because the significance of the Land Activation Agent, if it could be successfully applied to the land, was simply immense!
The main purpose of the Land Activation Agent was to kill the viral agents in the soil and revitalize it, making it possible to grow normal crops again.
And that wasn’t all.
If the land returned to normal, then the number of mutant plants would decrease significantly. A decrease in mutant plants would lead to a lower survival rate for Mutant Animals. It was a clear food chain.
Clearly, the land was the key.
Even the water contained within the soil could potentially be purified and revitalized.
Perhaps, in a few years, or maybe a decade or so, all of Astoria would be able to escape the shadow of the apocalypse and get back on the track of normal reconstruction!
Although much had been damaged and lost, as long as the land, the mother of humanity, could return to normal, then humanity could create a better, newer future!
It might sound incredible, but the fact was, the Land Activation Agent, including the potential solutions for subsequent problems—all of it—was the achievement of Levi Young and Sean Raines, leading the experimental team they had formed.
They were true geniuses.
Paige Summers knew how hard Levi Young worked, which was precisely why she hoped he could have a home of his own, a place where he could truly relax…
What a pity.
“No, it’s not a pity at all.” When Paige Summers brought it up with Marcus Monroe after returning home, he immediately disagreed. “Honestly, even though you’ve known him for so long, you still know so little about men.” He suddenly kissed her on the lips. “Of course, I’m very happy about that. But Levi Young’s personality is different from your perception of it. If he were actually with someone he loved, I’m afraid he might not have achieved this much.”
Paige Summers furrowed her brow, about to retort, but on second thought, she just lay back in his arms. “Forget it. It’s their business, and it’s not my place to interfere anyway. They’re adults. Let them handle it themselves.”
“That’s exactly how it should be,” Marcus Monroe immediately agreed.
Levi Young felt the same way.
He had been afraid that Paige Summers would get too concerned about him or Nadia and end up intervening. So when she left so decisively, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Really, it’s such a simple matter. Why make it so complicated?’
He wasn’t a coward.
A mistake is a mistake.
When the doctor informed him that Nadia was fully conscious and could speak, though not excessively, he went to her hospital room.
“I’m sorry!” He bowed deeply. “What happened before was my fault. I don’t want to make excuses. I just hope you can forgive me!”
Nadia leaned against the headboard, silently watching the man who bowed and then straightened up before her. For a long time, she didn’t know how to respond.
She just looked at him.
‘That face was once so familiar, so familiar I felt like I dreamed of it every night. But why does it look so strange right now, as if I never really knew him at all?’
‘Heh. Turns out he has a big black mole on the tip of his nose.’
‘Why did I never notice that before?’
‘And I thought he was flawless.’
‘In the end, was it that I was the one who never saw him clearly?’
‘What’s done is done. Is there any point in forgiving him or not? It means nothing to me, and probably nothing to him either…’
“What if I don’t forgive you?”
At her words, Levi Young’s expression didn’t change, save for a hint of regret. “I will do everything in my power to compensate you. What do you want me to do?”
Nadia slowly turned her gaze to the window.
‘As expected of Bloodfall United City. To build a proper-looking hospital in such a short time… It looks almost exactly like the photos of pre-apocalypse hospitals I’ve seen.’
“Provide the Land Activation Agent free of charge and in unlimited quantities. And, I demand to participate in all subsequent experiments!” ‘Since I can’t have the affection I want, I’ll take compensation in other ways. At least this way… my ever-worried teacher will finally be able to relax…’
Levi Young tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Free of charge is possible. Unlimited quantities, I can’t do. I’ll discuss the specifics with Sean Raines and the lab and give you a definite answer. As for participating in the subsequent experiments, that’s no problem. You’re more than welcome!”
Nadia stared at him for a long moment, then gave a light, almost imperceptible nod.
‘I guess this is just how the world works.’
‘Some feelings just can’t have a happy ending.’
‘You can’t force them.’
All she could do was break free from those fractured shackles and fly toward a new horizon!