Chapter 414 - 295: Degeneration
Although Marcus Monroe had only been at the base for a short time, many people noticed something odd, especially his old subordinates.
His attitude toward Paige Summers was far too intimate!
This wasn’t how you were supposed to treat your sweetheart’s cousin.
It would make more sense if she were the sweetheart herself!
For a time, the team members who sensed something was wrong didn’t know how to react.
As for the workers smelting under Paige’s guidance, they couldn’t have cared less. For one, they were too busy to pay attention to such matters. For another, even if Marcus Monroe really had fallen for Miss Susie, it was no skin off their back. At most, they just thought the age difference made them a poor match. But since the apocalypse, everyone had seen plenty of strange things; this was nothing.
Paige Summers soon realized something was amiss.
This group of team members had actually begun to openly shun her.
Not sitting with her at meals, making snide remarks as they passed by, trying to scare her with disgusting things...
Paige Summers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
’So childish!’
She knew they wouldn’t do anything too drastic. After all, in their eyes, she was still Paige Summers’s sister. Plus, she was also skilled in Artifact Refining and had a real talent for smelting...
But this couldn’t go on forever.
Claire Chapman figured they just had too much time on their hands, so she planned to increase their work hours and have them clear a few more plots of land for planting.
Paige Summers didn’t object. It would be good for them to learn a lesson.
’They shouldn’t think they can get away with this just because we’re on the same side!’
’Hmph!’
Still, she said, "Have the squad leaders tell them the truth about me."
Sean Raines and Levi Young had already holed themselves up in the newly built laboratory. Before going in, Sean had said that he wouldn’t be out for a good while and told her not to be impatient.
In truth, she understood even without him saying it; developing an antidote was no easy task.
The antidote’s energy had to be equivalent to the medicine she’d taken.
She’d heard that Silas Dudley had struggled for years, going through several teams of researchers, before Professor Warren finally managed to develop it—and even then, it was only a prototype...
If it weren’t for the Jade Pendant Mark, she would have died long ago.
So, if Sean and the others managed to solve it right away, *that* would be the real surprise!
This just went to show that returning to her original appearance was going to be incredibly difficult.
She couldn’t keep it a secret from the rest of the base forever.
In that case, it was better to just come clean.
Claire Chapman asked, "Are you sure?"
"Mm."
Claire Chapman frowned. After a long moment, she asked, "I haven’t asked you this before, but does the medicine have any other side effects?"
"No."
’Probably...’
Not even a month after saying this, Paige Summers discovered something: the strength in her right arm was gradually fading...
Before, she could punch through a wall with ease. Even when she had just arrived at the base, she could lift the small smelting equipment. But now, her strength was about the same as that of non-Power-type Superpower Users!
"Deputy Leader, what’s wrong?"
Heath Hughes peeked out from the other side of a large boulder, looking at her with a puzzled expression.
After the team members were informed that Susie was, in fact, Paige Summers herself, Claire Chapman—ignoring their guilt and remorse—decided to have even more land cleared.
Today, Paige Summers had just come to lend a hand with clearing the area.
The new farmland now extended to the foot of the mountain, where there were many huge boulders. Moving them would take considerable effort, especially since there weren’t many pure Power-type Superpower Users at the base.
That was why Paige Summers had volunteered to help.
But she’d never expected to make such a huge discovery!
Recently, since it was inconvenient for her to use her superpowers, Ben had rushed to do any physical tasks in her stead. The decline in her strength was gradual—so slow that she had been completely unaware of it until now.
The moment she truly realized it, she froze.
Heath Hughes also sensed something was wrong. He stood his ground and didn’t press her, just watched her with a concerned gaze.
After a long moment, Paige Summers lowered her hand and looked up. "Hey, why don’t you get back to it with the others? I have something I need to think through."
With that, she slowly walked back to the residential area.
The moment she left, Ben followed, entering the house right behind her.
Paige Summers sat on the sofa, her thoughts in a tangle.
If it were just the strength in her arm fading, she could ignore it. What worried her was the possibility that *all* the superpowers granted by the Jade Pendant Mark were fading.
The Rainbow Water, for example. And the spaces.
The Stillspace wasn’t a major concern. After all, she had fused with Onyx’s Crystal Core. Even if her original Stillspace vanished, she would at least have this new space for storage.
The key was the Planting Space!
By all rights, the Planting Space was already ridiculously powerful. It didn’t just produce vast amounts of food every day, but also precious seeds. Paige Summers had once been perfectly content with it. But in that moment, she suddenly wished it could work even faster!
’I have to figure something out.’
’Recovery is out of the question; that isn’t something I can control.’
’But if the space is going to disappear one day, I have to do something before it’s too late!’
A hand awkwardly came to rest on top of her head.
She lifted her face and saw Ben, his eyes filled with worry.
Paige Summers forced a smile. "Things are a little rough, but at least it’s not the worst-case scenario. Even if all my other abilities disappear, at least I still have my Speed Superpower!"
Ben blinked.
Paige thought he was trying to say, ’I’ll protect you!’
She suddenly felt the urge to cry. Ben had changed a bit since she’d returned, especially in his attitude toward her. Before, he would basically do whatever she told him to. But now, he seemed to have become her protector.
It was a different feeling from the romantic love she sensed from Marcus Monroe. It was more like an endless acceptance—someone who would always have her back, who would help her no matter what. It made Paige feel as if she had returned to her past life, to the time when her grandfather was still alive...
She wiped her face messily and, turning the tables, tried to comfort him. "I’m fine! As long as I’m alive, this is nothing! Things were even worse when I first came to this world..."
"What do you mean, ’worse when you first came to this world’?"
Paige Summers jumped.
She looked up to see Marcus Monroe walking in through the door.
He looked weary and dust-covered from a long journey, clearly having rushed here. Now, he was staring at her in confusion, as if he couldn’t comprehend what she’d just said.
’Of course he couldn’t understand!’
’Because she was thinking of when she’d just arrived here, gotten bitten by a python, and then been rescued by him... But how was she supposed to explain that now?!’
When Marcus Monroe saw that she was not only silent but also avoiding his gaze, he grew even more puzzled.
"What is it that you can’t tell me?"
His voice hardened.
Paige was stumped for a long moment before she suddenly blurted out, "I was just looking for you! Uh, the strength in my right arm is fading, and I’m afraid the space is going to disappear along with it, so you have to help me find more seeds, fast! I have to cultivate every kind of seed I can find before it’s gone, just in case they’re useful later! Also... also..." She spilled the bad news and the half-baked idea she’d just had all in one breath. Unable to think of anything else, she mumbled for a moment before finally saying something even more frank: "I missed you."