Chapter 436 - 315: Monster
Paige Summers had Maisie Joyce come over to inquire about the situation in Southreach.
Initially, she didn’t want to tell her about Leo Joyce, but Maisie was quite clever. Paige had barely started before Maisie sensed something was wrong.
"Leo Joyce... Did something happen to him?"
Paige Summers exchanged a look with Marcus Monroe and Claire Chapman. Realizing they probably couldn’t hide it, she spoke bluntly. "Yes. We heard a monster appeared in Southreach and attacked Leo Joyce. He’s now in a coma. We’re worried about the situation in the city, so we want to know who, besides Leo Joyce’s faction, might contend for the City Lord’s position. Once we understand that, we can make plans."
’They’re already talking about making plans. Leo Joyce’s injuries must be severe.’ Maisie Joyce was stunned for a long moment before her gaze dimmed and she began to speak about Southreach.
Southreach’s system was different from Central City’s. Here, the military and the government were one.
In other words, the vast majority of power was concentrated in the hands of the City Lord. Whether it was matters of urban development or deploying troops outside the city, it required Leo Joyce’s approval to proceed.
Therefore, if Leo Joyce were to fall, it would inevitably cause a power struggle.
The military has two divisions. Division Commander Preston of the first division is a die-hard loyalist of Leo Joyce. It was with his strong support back then that Leo Joyce was able to secure his position as City Lord. Division Commander Preston is over forty this year and his children are dead, so he should be part of the pro-Joyce faction.
Division Commander Cheney of the second division, on the other hand, was recommended by the city’s influential families. It seems he’s closest to the Woods Family.
The four great families—Woods, Koenig, Forrest, and Zhang—were once the core followers of the previous City Lord. When the former City Lord passed away, he had no children. He was certain that Leo Joyce had the makings of a City Lord and groomed him as a successor, so the families just went along with it. After Leo Joyce took the position of City Lord, his superpower did indeed Promote rapidly. His strength was outstanding, and he was quite discerning in his management. With Division Commander Preston’s strong backing, the city finally stabilized.
This was the situation with Leo Joyce in charge. But once Leo Joyce is comatose or dead, they will likely all have designs on the City Lord’s position.
"...Woods and Koenig, and Joe Forrest. They form two separate alliances. In terms of strength, they are more or less evenly matched. In the past, Leo Joyce was a master of checks and balances, so they coexisted peacefully enough, but what happens next is hard to say. Among them, the Woods Family and the Forrest Family have more outstanding scions, while the other two families are in a slight decline. Overall, the Woods and Forrest families have the highest chance of coming out on top."
After saying all this, Maisie Joyce fell silent.
Marcus Monroe suddenly asked, "Do you know the origin of that monster?"
Maisie Joyce’s body jolted. After a long pause, she still said, "I don’t know."
Marcus Monroe gave her a look but didn’t press her further.
Afterward, they asked a few more questions, which Maisie Joyce answered one by one. Her tone was very objective and methodical. When everyone had finished speaking, Paige Summers nodded, gave the others a look, and led Maisie out of the office.
The two left the office building in silence and strolled through the base, eventually arriving at the flowerbed where Maisie Joyce loved to sit.
Paige Summers recalled, "I saw you here when I first returned to the base. You gave me quite a scare."
A moment later, Maisie Joyce touched her own face. "Yes, I was terrifying back then." During her time at the base, she had been eating and resting well, so she had naturally put on some weight. Although still thin, she no longer looked like a skeleton. She had gained some flesh on her face and body, and her complexion had improved a lot.
"You’re much prettier now." Paige Summers smiled, turning to sit on the edge of the flowerbed. She leaned back and looked at her. "Actually, I’ve always wanted to ask you how things got so bad between you and Leo Joyce. I was wondering if you’d be willing to tell me about it."
Maisie Joyce’s head snapped toward her, her gaze suddenly sharp. "You knew it was Leo Joyce?!"
Paige Summers tilted her head. "Who else could it have been? Given your status, if you hadn’t had a falling out with Leo Joyce, how could he possibly not have protected you? How could he have let others torment you like that?"
Maisie Joyce stood there, stunned. Suddenly, she let out a bitter laugh. "Yes, I was a fool. Who else but him would dare to treat me this way! Only him!"
"His fate is uncertain right now. Do you want to go back and see him?" Paige Summers asked, as if nonchalantly.
Maisie Joyce sneered. "See him? No, no, I won’t. He hates me. He wishes I were dead—and not a quick death, but one after endless torture! Why should I go see him! He... he doesn’t even deserve to be my brother!"
She cast her gaze to the sky. After a long while, she murmured, "You don’t know... I actually envy May. I’m so, so envious. He favored her ever since we were children. In his eyes, even if she couldn’t do anything, even if she did nothing at all, she was perfect. But I was the exact opposite. No matter what I did, no matter how well I did it, I could never get him to spare me a single glance."
"We didn’t have parents. People say the eldest brother is like a father. I used to respect and try to please him as if he were my father. I never imagined... I never imagined reality would be so much crueler than I thought! He hated our mother, and he hates me. He even hates himself. The only person he ever loved in his entire life was May... but May is dead..."
She turned her head and gave Paige Summers a slight smile. "You probably don’t know this, but May and I planned her death together, including framing you and the Base Chief... I was so naive back then. I thought that with May dead, and after I helped him eliminate Bloodfall, that rising star, he would surely come to value me. But alas..."
As she spoke, her voice choked up. She suddenly covered her face with her hands and began to sob quietly.
Paige Summers raised an eyebrow and reached out to pat her shoulder.
Maisie Joyce immediately seemed to have found an anchor, throwing herself onto Paige and bursting into loud wails.
Paige Summers sighed inwardly.
’What a mess.’
It wasn’t a good time to ask more questions, so Paige could only comfort her. After Maisie had cried for a while and calmed down a bit, Paige said, "Since you don’t want to go back, you can stay here and relax. He’s in a coma now anyway, so it’s not like he can come looking for trouble."
Maisie Joyce lifted her tear-streaked face, her eyes filled with gratitude. "Actually, there’s something I’ve always wanted to say. Thank you. Thank you all for taking me in!"
"It’s nothing. You’re helping us too."
Maisie Joyce hummed in agreement, slowly wiping away her tears and composing herself.
A moment later, she said suddenly, "That monster you were talking about... if I’m not mistaken, it has to be May!"
"What?" Paige Summers’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Maisie Joyce seemed to have made up her mind. She looked at Paige with determination. "Leo Joyce said he would rather turn her into a Zombie than not have her by his side! A while ago, he contacted some people—I don’t know where they came from—and brought them to Southreach. Then he had them modify May’s corpse! He made me watch once, just to torture me. The scene... it was disgusting. He’s gone mad. I just couldn’t accept something like that, so I took the chance while he was away and desperately escaped. I wanted to find someone to stop him, but when I saw you all, I lost the courage to speak up. Until..."
Paige Summers pressed her hand to her temples. The truth about the monster was far more shocking than she could have ever expected!
Right now, her head was throbbing so badly she could barely think.
The scene before her eyes seemed to be blurring...
’What’s happening?!’
She forced her head up to look in a certain direction. Was that... Marcus Monroe?