Chapter 540: Extra - 1: Dream and Reality 3, Part 2
He chuckled.
The thought that his boss’s “kindness” was just a result of being henpecked secretly delighted him.
What he didn’t know was that Paige Summers and Marcus Monroe had argued over this very letter.
According to Marcus Monroe’s original plan, Shawn Monroe and Nora Lowell were, after all, a problem that should be eliminated if the chance ever arose. Before, it had been inconvenient to act because Shawn Monroe was part of the Central Army, but now that he had left, that concern was gone. Especially if they really showed up in The Dead City, it would be an insult to himself not to kill them. He had been holding back his grudge for a long time—the grudge from when they’d abducted his pregnant wife, causing their son to be born prematurely!
But Paige Summers was unwilling to do so.
Strangely enough, when Shawn Monroe left with Nora Lowell, she had a strong feeling that the two of them had completely walked out of her world. The mystical connection between them was gone. They wouldn’t have chance encounters anymore, and they wouldn’t be facing off as enemies… No, it wasn’t so much that they had left her world. Rather, it felt more like she had walked her own path, step by step, and had finally broken free from *their* world!
Her intuition told her this was the best outcome for everyone. If they insisted on killing them, it might actually cause more trouble.
Paige Summers had always trusted her intuition.
She decided to let nature take its course.
This was why she and Marcus Monroe had disagreed.
Of course, as the outcome showed, Marcus Monroe ultimately “couldn’t withstand” her various “offensives,” and things ended up going her way.
Although Martin Warren didn’t understand the full story, he was completely loyal to Marcus Monroe. So, he would do whatever his boss said.
And so, before long, his subordinates brought Shawn Monroe and Nora Lowell before him.
Martin Warren glanced at Nora Lowell. Seeing an unfamiliar face, he naturally assumed she was Shawn Monroe’s woman. And a sickly one at that. He paid her no mind. He did, however, make a point of telling Shawn Monroe that this wasn’t an act of his own magnanimity, but entirely Marcus Monroe’s will, and hinted that he should behave himself.
Shawn Monroe had long since lost the pride and arrogance he’d had as the Young City Lord. He wasn’t angered by these words, just smiling dismissively.
‘If I really wanted to cause trouble, would I have come back with only Nora Lowell in tow?’
So, he was just here to reminisce about the old days.
Shawn Monroe and Nora Lowell settled down in The Dead City.
Martin Warren even arranged their lodging.
It was only after everything was settled that Howard Everett found out. He was unhappy for a while, but once he understood it was Marcus Monroe’s idea, he had no choice but to accept it.
Naturally, he still had to send people to keep an eye on them, just as a precaution.
Shawn Monroe pretended not to know.
At first, he was keen on wandering around and looking at things.
Especially the shop that Woody Warren and Paige Summers had opened back in the day. Inside, much of the furniture and other things Paige Summers had made were still in perfect condition. Back then, Marcus Monroe had someone lock up the shop, planning to bring Paige Summers back to it someday.
Now, it was Shawn Monroe who got to benefit.
He would go in and wander around from time to time.
To his own surprise, looking at the exquisite, retro-style furniture and feeling the grain of the wood, Shawn Monroe felt himself growing calmer day by day. The initial feelings of bitter resentment for what he could never have, which had been suppressed but never erased, gradually melted away.
Shawn Monroe suddenly began to emulate the Paige Summers of the past, picking up a carving knife and wood and carving, stroke by stroke.
At first, everything he carved looked like a lump, earning him Nora Lowell’s secret scorn for putting on airs.
But slowly, the wood in his hands began to take shape.
When he carved a beast, it looked like a beast. When he carved a person, it looked like a person.
As he grew more engrossed, Nora Lowell’s gaze also became more serene.
‘Since I can’t die, I might as well live like this,’ she told herself.
Perhaps these were the most peaceful days of her life.
But surprisingly, she didn’t find them boring.
Every day, while Shawn Monroe carved, she would go out and hunt Mutant Beasts, returning to split the kill in two. She would eat her half, and then cook the other half for him.
His gaze, when not on the object in his hands, would fall upon her, and the two of them gradually started to communicate more.
The unspoken understanding of eating at the same table and sleeping in the same house led them to unconsciously learn to respect each other’s habits and boundaries.
Like two neighbors living next door to each other.
Peaceful and tranquil.
Sometimes, they would also go for walks together.
Just like their relationship, The Dead City was also changing, and for the better.
The road to Central City was cleared, and more people began traveling between the two major bases. The people of The Dead City also got to eat wheat and rice grown in reclaimed soil.
Later, The Dead City also received a quota of soil conditioner.
Later still, as raw materials became more abundant, industries that had once collapsed—manufacturing, electronics, and so on—slowly began to recover…
Their living environment was undergoing massive changes, but Paige Summers never returned to The Dead City.
And Shawn Monroe, one day, finally put down his carving knife.
By now, he was somewhat famous in The Dead City.
As people’s lives improved, they had more time to pursue “luxury goods,” and his carvings were considered among the best in the city.
He knew, however, that the person he was waiting for would never come.
Superpower Users lived longer than ordinary people, but they weren’t immortal. Over the years, as wrinkles gradually appeared on his face, Nora Lowell hadn’t changed at all.
Even with some attempt at disguise…
But he knew they couldn’t stay here any longer.
And so, one morning, they left quietly.
As The Dead City shrank to a black dot behind them, about to disappear, Nora Lowell turned her head back with a faint smile.
The man in the driver’s seat had lost his youth, but his face had grown more distinguished with time.
She recalled the past in a daze, as if it had all been a dream.
‘Thankfully, this ending isn’t too bad. At least I’m not all alone. If one day he leaves this world, I probably won’t continue on either…’