Chapter 52: Provocation
The smell in the air was so acrid it stung the eyes. As soon as she entered the RV, Luna Dawson closed the door and turned on the air purifier. She couldn’t let it ruin everyone’s meal.
She also activated the RV’s 360-degree surveillance system. The screen in the booth seating area displayed a live feed of their surroundings, allowing them to monitor the burning zombies.
Luna Dawson had everyone take off their coats, storing them all in her personal space.
The heating in the RV was cranked up, and everyone instantly relaxed the moment they stepped inside.
Luna Dawson asked everyone, "What do you want to eat? As long as I’m in a good mood, you can order whatever you like."
No sooner had she spoken than she pulled out a serving of extra spicy stir-fried river snail noodles and a carton of iced soy milk for herself.
The tempting sight of the meal made Blake Blue’s mouth water. "Luna, I want to try what you’re having."
"I want some!"
"I want that too, and with an extra egg!"
The others looked at the glistening, bright-red noodles, and every one of them decided they wanted the same thing.
And so, everyone transformed into hissing snakes, finding the noodles unbearably spicy yet unable to stop eating, all while going, "SSSSS, HAAA!"
After finishing, Blake Blue quickly asked, "Did Uncle Verne make this? The flavor has a real kick. It’s a little addictive."
"Yep. I’m glad you like it," Luna Dawson said happily. "My uncle also knows how to pickle bamboo shoots. If you guys like this, we can have river snail noodles with soup next time." ’It was so rewarding to have others appreciate the food she loved.’
Kevin Keane didn’t handle spice well, but he couldn’t resist trying some. Before long, his lips had turned an unnatural shade of crimson, and his eyes were slightly red from the heat.
Luna Dawson saw this and couldn’t help but tease him, "Out of everyone in this RV, I bet you’re the only one who can’t handle spicy food, Coach Keane."
He lifted his eyes to look at Luna Dawson. His reddened, watering eyes seemed to hold flecks of starlight, and his tone was stubborn. "It’s just a little spice. After a few more times, my body will learn who’s boss."
It was such a stark contrast to his usual self that it was almost comical.
Luna Dawson said, "Alright, then. Next time, you can try the extra spicy fire chicken noodles!"
Kevin Keane: "..."
After the meal, the group sprawled out wherever they could, some lying down, some leaning back, all resting.
Luna Dawson took out two sets of loungewear. She and Rhonda Dawson changed and then lay down in the bedroom to watch anime on a tablet.
After a long while, a glance at the monitor showed that the smoke in the square had mostly cleared.
They quickly changed their clothes and went back downstairs to begin their haul.
And it truly was a haul.
Approaching the pile of corpses, Evan Olson activated his superpower, blowing away a layer of ash from the surface. Glistening Crystal Cores and some incompletely burned bones were revealed, covering the ground. The sight made everyone’s eyes nearly pop out of their heads.
Everyone grabbed a large, fine-meshed net and a broom and began sweeping the Crystal Cores into the nets.
Kevin Keane’s eyes lit up. "This is certainly efficient."
Luna Dawson smiled and waved her hand, saying, "We should thank the military for luring away and eliminating the main zombie horde yesterday. Otherwise, with the zombie density in the commercial district, a large-scale explosion would have endangered the city’s survivors. And with a small-scale one, we wouldn’t have been able to collect any Crystal Cores; we would’ve been immediately surrounded by zombies drawn by the noise."
Evan Olson nodded as well. "True. Playing with bombs in a densely populated area is just too dangerous."
"If we kept collecting Crystal Cores like we did yesterday, it would take forever for our team of more than a dozen to upgrade!" Miles Dawson exclaimed, already too excited to hold back from gathering the cores.
Kevin Keane looked at her. "Not bad, little boss!"
Luna Dawson grinned slyly. "That’s what I like to hear."
"Haha!"
Seeing Luna Dawson’s smug little expression, the others couldn’t help but burst out laughing. They started collecting the Crystal Cores, chatting and laughing as they worked.
Blake Blue and Evan Olson worked together, moving along the edge of the square to dig out cores from the heads of zombies that hadn’t been fully incinerated.
Just then, a group of seven or eight people appeared, loitering furtively around the edge of the square. They gradually approached a small pile of zombies that had been killed by the rocket launcher.
Luna Dawson straightened up every so often to scan the area. ’I knew it,’ she thought. ’An explosion this big was bound to attract attention.’
She saw a woman in a pink down jacket from that group reaching a hand toward a zombie’s head.
Seeing someone dare to lay a hand on the fruits of her labor, Luna Dawson bellowed with surprising force, "That’s mine! Touch it and see what happens!"
The woman in pink froze for a second, her eyes darting nervously. But instead of stopping, she dug in harder, yanked out the Crystal Core, and shoved it into her pocket with practiced speed.
Luna Dawson laughed, furious. "Damn, you must be tired of living, trying to rob me?"
Kevin Keane told the others to keep collecting Crystal Cores while he walked over with Luna Dawson.
When the woman in pink saw them approaching, she scurried like a frightened turtle to hide behind a tall man in a black down jacket.
The man had a simple, honest-looking face, but the back of his hands were covered in garish tattoos. The moment he saw Luna Dawson, his eyes lit up and fixed on her.
’The power and water have been out for ages. Where could you still find a woman this clean?’
As she got closer, he caught a faint, pleasant scent. Her pretty face was incredibly alluring, and his thoughts immediately turned vile. ’I’ve got to get this woman into bed and teach her a lesson.’
Outwardly, however, he put on a show, chuckling lewdly. "Hey there, miss. Sorry about that. We just came over to lend a hand. Seemed like you’ve been at this a while and might be overwhelmed."
Luna Dawson’s eyes swept over them: six men and two women.
She spoke calmly, "We don’t need your help. Also, tell the woman behind you to hand over what she took."
The woman in pink immediately poked her head out and whimpered weakly, her eyes occasionally flicking toward Kevin Keane as she put on a pitiful act. "Miss, I didn’t take anything. I was just curious and took a look."
"Don’t make me get physical," Luna Dawson’s gaze hardened, her tone leaving no room for argument. "When I find out which hand took it, I’m cutting that hand off. I mean what I say."
The group was stunned, exchanging bewildered glances. ’This woman is unbelievably arrogant.’
A skinny man standing in the back, who had the sickly look of someone completely drained, looked utterly disdainful. He tilted his chin up, shook his leg leisurely, and sneered, "You fucking bitch, who do you think you are? I’m a Superpower User. Around here, no one dares to mess with us..."
BANG!
Before he could finish his sentence, a bloody hole appeared in the skinny man’s forehead. His body went limp and he slowly collapsed without so much as a grunt.
"AHHH—!"
The woman in pink shrieked, her voice piercing.
The burly man in black was shocked for a moment before his face turned vicious. He pulled out a gun and roared, "MOTHERFUCKER! You dare touch my men? Get her!"
Hearing this, the four lackeys behind him howled and charged forward.
Luna Dawson wasn’t the least bit flustered. She instantly formed two water spheres at her fingertips and sent them flying with precision at the heads of the two men in front. The spheres enveloped their heads completely.
The feeling of suffocation was immediate. The two men clawed madly at the water spheres, their faces turning beet red, unable to even cry for help.
Luna Dawson drew her knife, took a few steps forward, and with two swift, clean motions—SHLICK! SHLICK!—slit their throats. "If your mouths are that foul," she said coldly, "then you shouldn’t be allowed to open them again."
Meanwhile, Kevin Keane also activated his superpower. Three blinding bolts of lightning erupted from his hands, striking the remaining three men straight in the forehead.
With a series of crackles—CRACKLE!—the men’s heads were instantly charred black. They dropped to the ground, stiff as boards, with not a breath left in them.