Chapter 184: Vile Scoundrel, Eliminating a Public Menace

After all, she wasn’t that kind-hearted. Bad blood had been sown between them, and given the chance, the man wouldn’t let her go. Of course, she had to strike first.

Ethan Young frowned, his tone extremely displeased. "These rats in the dark never seem to stop."

"We repeatedly stress that this kind of behavior isn’t allowed in the base, yet people still do it!"

"Don’t worry. I’ll give you a proper resolution for this. It’s also a good opportunity to use this man to deter others."

After saying this, Ethan Young left with two of his men.

He had Stella Sterling lead the way.

Stella Sterling raised an eyebrow but didn’t refuse, heading back toward the man’s place with them.

The angrier Ethan Young appeared, the happier she was, as it meant the man’s punishment would not be light.

This way, Ethan Young would take care of this future threat for her, and she wouldn’t technically be the one breaking her promise to the man. What wasn’t there to like?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?! Why are you knocking so loud? Did someone in your family die or something? What’s the big rush?"

The scrawny man’s furious shouts came from inside. He had taken a huge loss today and was already in a foul mood, still stewing over how to earn it all back.

His temper was already running high, so the disturbance made him snap.

Outside, everyone could hear his hurried, aggressive footsteps. It sounded like he was looking for a fight.

Ethan Young’s face darkened. In the base, no one had ever dared to speak to him like that.

The man was so arrogant and brazen; no wonder he dared to bully newcomers in the base.

Standing behind Ethan Young and his men, Stella Sterling gloated even more openly.

’Perfect,’ she thought. ’Now Ethan Young is even angrier.’

The rickety little door was flung open, revealing the scrawny man’s furious face. He immediately started to curse, "You motherf—"

But halfway through the curse, he got a clear look at the people standing at his door. Even if he didn’t know them personally, he recognized their uniforms. They were from the Meridia Base Armed Forces—definitely not people he could afford to mess with.

Besides, how could he not recognize the man in the lead? It was Ethan Young—Captain Young—the head of the entire Meridia Base Armed Forces.

He had only seen him from a distance a few times before. The man’s oppressive aura sent a chill down his spine, making him afraid to get too close.

He swallowed the rest of his words, his face flushing beet red.

After a long moment, he finally found his voice, completely changing his tune. "Captain Young! It’s you! What brings you here? Do you need me for something? About what I just said... that’s not what I meant."

He didn’t see Stella Sterling standing behind Ethan Young and his men.

’I’m just a small fry in this base. Even though I’ve made a bit of a name for myself among the lower rungs, it’s not for anything good.’

’Why would someone like Ethan Young personally come to see a nobody like me?’

He grew anxious, a terrible premonition starting to form.

Facing the man’s confusion, Ethan Young didn’t bother to explain. Without another word, he waved his hand. "Arrest him and take him away."

Two of the Meridia Base men immediately stepped forward and restrained the scrawny man.

Only then did the man snap out of it and begin to struggle violently. "Why are you arresting me? I haven’t done anything wrong! You have no right to arrest me!"

But how could one man like him possibly break free from two well-trained members of the Armed Forces?

When he saw that struggling was useless—in fact, their grips only tightened—he finally stopped. Gazing at Ethan Young with wide, innocent eyes, he began to proclaim his innocence. "Captain Yates, even if you arrest me, you have to have a reason! I’m just a law-abiding resident! I haven’t done anything! I’ve been framed!"

"You know full well what you’ve done. You don’t need to explain. I’ve already had someone investigate your deeds, and I know everything."

"Take him to the plaza. Today, I’m going to make an example of him."

Ethan Young’s voice was cold; he was unmoved by the man’s agitation.

Of course, he wouldn’t just take Stella Sterling’s word for it. So, while he was bringing his men to arrest this person, he had already sent others to gather information on the man’s usual activities.

His subordinate had just reported the man’s daily transgressions to him.

He discovered that the man’s actions were far worse than what Stella Sterling had described.

Stella Sterling was capable enough to handle herself, so the man hadn’t succeeded with her.

But the others he’d scammed had suffered terribly. He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked into it, but the investigation revealed a shocking number of people within the base who had been bullied by this man.

Furthermore, he was just one of many; there were plenty of other scumbags like him in the base.

He could not let this slide. He had to use this man to strike fear into the others. He needed to make them utterly terrified. Only through fear would these people not dare to commit the same offenses again.

The scrawny man never imagined he wouldn’t even get a chance to explain. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He began to truly panic and started shouting his head off.

But in the next moment, the barrel of a gun was pressed to his head, and he instantly fell silent. The base’s men started marching him toward the plaza.

His mind was still racing, trying to figure out how to save himself.

’But no matter how I rack my brain, I can’t think of anything. Ethan Young came to arrest me himself, so he must know what I’ve done. I can’t escape.’

’It went so smoothly all those other times. How did it all go wrong this time?’

Just then, he saw Stella Sterling standing behind Ethan Young and his men.

Seeing his gaze, Stella Sterling smiled and gave him a small wave.

The scrawny man’s eyes widened, and he became agitated again. "It was you! You did this, didn’t you?"

How else could it be such a coincidence?

Restrained by the two Armed Forces members, he couldn’t charge at Stella Sterling, but he stared daggers at her.

Stella Sterling nodded, and the man’s glare grew even more venomous. "You treacherous, promise-breaking snake!"

She had clearly promised to let him go after taking his things, but now she had turned around and sold him out. How could he not hate her?

’To think I’d be taken down by some little slip of a girl.’

"I’m just getting rid of a public menace. It’s a good deed,"

Stella Sterling retorted unhappily, defending her actions.

Her words made the scrawny man’s breath come in ragged, furious gasps.

Ethan Young glanced at the two of them. It seemed there was more to this story than he knew.

There was something strange about the man’s injuries, too.

He glanced at Stella Sterling a few more times but ultimately said nothing, simply ordering his men to continue marching the man toward the plaza.

No matter what else was going on, the man’s crimes were a fact. Stella Sterling hadn’t dealt with him privately; she had handed him over, which in itself was a statement of her attitude.

Since that was the case, he would give her the respect she had earned.