Chapter 189: Never Show Mercy

"I’m fine. And I’m not the type to be pushed around."

Stella Sterling shrugged, her tone light.

Then she turned to look at Basil Xavier. "And it’s a good thing I didn’t get hurt."

He didn’t quite understand why Stella Sterling had added that last part, and he felt there was a deeper meaning hidden in her words.

Stella Sterling looked at him but didn’t offer any further explanation.

Basil Xavier thought for a moment but decided not to press for the hidden meaning.

He looked at Stella Sterling and said, "Here at the base, as long as you don’t start trouble, you don’t have to be afraid of anything else. Just do what you want. No one will be able to bully you, not even Academician Magnus."

As Basil Xavier finished, he deliberately mentioned Academician Magnus, his tone growing heavier.

He was, of course, aware of what had happened at the hospital yesterday, which is why he was giving her this specific reminder.

He wanted Stella Sterling to know she didn’t need to be afraid. Even if Marvin Magnus had really gone after her back then, he had the power to protect her.

Still, he was relieved that the two of them hadn’t clashed directly.

Hearing this, Stella Sterling raised her eyebrows in surprise.

She crossed her arms and said with a hint of playful mockery, "You should have told me that sooner! If you had, I wouldn’t have been so scared yesterday. Knowing I had such a powerful backer like you, what would I have had to be afraid of?"

Basil Xavier looked at her playful act and recalled what Raiden had told him yesterday about Stella Sterling’s reaction.

’No matter how I look at it, she doesn’t seem like she was scared at all.’

He even had a feeling that, with Stella Sterling’s maverick personality, she probably wouldn’t have been afraid even if Marvin Magnus had genuinely tried to do something to her, and even if she’d had no one backing her up.

It was a good thing Academician Magnus was a man of prestige and integrity. Although his high position had made him a bit temperamental, he wasn’t so intolerant that he would want someone dead just for refusing his invitation.

Otherwise, with Stella Sterling’s personality, the two of them would have definitely come to blows.

Of course, if it had really come to that, he would have done everything in his power to protect Stella Sterling.

It just would have been a bit of a hassle.

Looking at Stella Sterling’s demeanor, he joked, "With how tough you are, I’m sure you wouldn’t have been scared even without me."

They both chuckled. Afterward, they chatted about other things, and Basil Xavier would occasionally bring up Gordon Ford’s experiences over the past two years.

He also asked Stella Sterling how she had been for the past two years.

Originally, he had planned to wait for Gordon Ford to arrive and let the two of them meet and talk things over themselves.

But he hadn’t expected Stella Sterling to be leaving before Gordon Ford even got here. So now, he figured he should ask some questions on Gordon’s behalf and get to know her a little better. That way, he could put that guy’s mind at ease.

However, Stella Sterling’s answer was simple. She just told him that for the past year or two, she had mostly stayed in her old house and rarely went out, so there wasn’t much to tell.

But Basil Xavier clearly didn’t quite believe what Stella Sterling was saying.

’How is that possible?’

Before all this, staying indoors for two years wouldn’t have been strange. There were plenty of homebodies who would just stock up on food and drink.

But now, you only had so much food and water at home. Once it ran out, you had to find a way to go out and search for more, no matter how dangerous and difficult it was outside.

The world outside these past two years had been filled with blood and brutality.

’How could she possibly have spent most of the last two years inside her room, just like she said?’

The world today forced you to fight for what you wanted.

He assumed Stella Sterling simply wasn’t comfortable telling him about her experiences over the years, so he just gave a small smile.

Seeing his expression, Stella Sterling’s lips curved into a smile. ’Sure enough, in this world, no one believes the truth anymore.’

’But it’s better if they don’t believe me.’

"By the way, that guy you’ve been getting close to, Louis Grant—his parents are both high-ranking officials in Meridia Base. His father, Dr. Grant—Adrian Grant—is in charge of developing new seeds for the base, a position with a status similar to Academician Magnus’s. His mother is one of the leaders of the base’s armed forces department."

"That’s no ordinary family status. As for their son, Louis Grant, we don’t know much about him since he wasn’t originally from the base."

"But from what I’ve been able to find out, he’s not as simple as he appears. You should be careful when you’re with him."

Basil Xavier said this in a low voice, watching Stella Sterling’s rather nonchalant expression, unsure if she had taken his words to heart.

Even though Stella Sterling wouldn’t be staying at the base and likely wouldn’t have much to do with it in the future, he still felt he had to give her a heads-up.

If Stella Sterling was serious about what she’d said—about building a world of her own—then she would have to keep her guard up, not just with Louis Grant and his family, but with everyone she faced.

Her own strength was formidable, but sometimes, sheer combat power wasn’t enough.

Brains and brawn; you needed both.

"Thanks for your concern."

Stella Sterling laughed, but the feeling in her heart was a strange and complex one.

She wasn’t that close with Basil Xavier. Even if they were very close, couldn’t people turn on each other in this apocalypse at any moment?

So, listening to him teach her to be wary of others—even though she knew he was being sincere—still felt incredibly strange.

Of course she was wary. Not just of Louis Grant, but also of the man in front of her, Basil Xavier. She wouldn’t even place her complete trust in Gordon Ford.

Right now, there were no conflicts of interest or disputes between them, so she could still consider them friends.

But if a day came when their interests clashed and they stood on opposite sides, she wouldn’t hesitate to strike, and today’s camaraderie wouldn’t make her hold back in the slightest.

She turned her head to glance at Basil Xavier, an expression in her eyes that he couldn’t decipher.

Basil Xavier’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t understand that look from Stella Sterling.

He felt that beneath her calm gaze lay a turbulent storm.

He couldn’t understand it. This woman in front of him was clearly a few years younger than he was.

Yet she was so impossible to read.

He had thought her cold-blooded and vicious, but he was discovering that her inner world was far richer and more complex than what she showed on the surface.

Before he could figure out why Stella Sterling was looking at him like that, she had already turned her head to gaze into the distance.

The strange feeling Stella Sterling had given him just a moment ago vanished completely, as if it had all been his imagination...