"Who are you?"
Kevin Hollowayâs face instantly turned deathly pale. He stared at Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick, a mix of shock and uncertainty on his face. In the few years since sheâd last seen him, he had not only gotten fatter but had also aged considerably. He even had a large bald spot on top of his head. If not for his somewhat recognizable face, Evelyn wouldnât have identified him so easily.
Evelyn glanced at Ronan, who understood immediately. He drew his dagger and sliced off Kevin Hollowayâs right pinky finger.
"The Hooper Family. Where are they?"
"Ah...!" Kevin Holloway screamed in agony.
"They... they went to Frelia, to The Third Base in Frelia. I can give you the address. Donât kill me! Iâll give you anything you want."
Kevin Holloway trembled all over. The wound where his finger had been was numb and throbbing with pain. He was so close to passing out. The pain was excruciating. Evelyn knew just how to inflict the most suffering.
"What do you have?"
"You can take anything in my house. Thereâs a car at the door, too. As long as you donât kill me, Iâll do anything."
"Talk. The Hooper Familyâs address. If itâs fake, youâre dead."
"Everything Iâm saying is true! I wouldnât dare lie to you."
Evelyn took out a pen and paper. Kevin Holloway quickly rattled off an address, complete with the unit number.
"Their family has a food processing plant at The Third Base."
Evelynâs brow twitched. "What about your family?"
"I have no power in the family. My brother and the others set up some greenhouses, but I donât know where. I really donât know anything! You must be from Wyrmrest Base, right? That whole incident had nothing to do with me. By the time I woke up, I was already in the car. I didnât participate in any of it."
"You took the food rations of hundreds of thousands of people, not even leaving behind the seeds, and you say you werenât involved? That was the lifeblood for hundreds of thousands of people! Countless were forced to leave the base to survive, and countless starved to death! And here you are, still living like high-class citizens. You say it has nothing to do with you?" Evelyn took the dagger and cut off another one of his fingers.
"Aaargh...!" Sweat beaded on Kevin Hollowayâs forehead from the pain. He looked at Evelyn in terror and started to shuffle backward.
"I really wasnât involved! The nematode outbreak at the base had nothing to do with me! I didnât know they were taking all the supplies. I really didnât participate!"
Evelyn moved the gun to his forehead. "Sparing your life... isnât out of the question."
"What do you want me to do? Just tell me."
"How much gasoline is your life worth?"
It dawned on Kevin Holloway. "You want gasoline?"
Evelyn nodded. "Deliver the gasoline to the small woods five kilometers outside the checkpoint before eight oâclock tomorrow morning, and Iâll let you live."
"How much do you want?"
Evelyn smiled. "As much as you can get. Donât try any tricks. Otherwise, Iâll be back for you."
"Ten tons. Iâll definitely have it delivered tomorrow."
Evelyn smiled in satisfaction. She sprinkled some hemostatic powder on Kevin Hollowayâs severed fingers, then stood up to leave.
Evelyn had already taken the guns and ammunition from the bedroom. Besides the front door, there was nothing of value left in the villa.
Watching the two of them leave so brazenly, Kevin Holloway was a mixture of furious and terrified. He never expected anyone from Wyrmrest Base to still be alive, let alone find their way here.
"Vera Conrad? Vera Conrad?" The woman who had fainted in the bathroom showed no signs of waking up. Kevin Holloway went on to call the names of other servants, but got no response.
He thought Evelyn and Ronan had killed everyone, and he trembled with fear. It felt like a stone was lodged in his throat, and he couldnât make a sound.
Meanwhile, Evelyn and Ronan had already moved to the villa next door. After knocking out the occupants with the same method, they swept the place clean. Evelyn didnât kill them; after all, Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell had yet to get their revenge.
To Evelynâs surprise, Chairman Holloway was still alive, and he was even keeping several young women as his concubines.
Evelyn trussed him up and hung him from the staircase railing. âCorrupting young girls at his age. The old bastard.â Evelyn drew her dagger, but Ronan stopped her.
"Let me."
Then, with a flash of the blade, the old bastardâs manhood was gone.
"Thereâs a secret room in the study."
Ronan forced the secret roomâs door open. Inside, they saw weapons, medicine, nutritional supplements, and various luxury goods piled up like mountains. âEvelyn decided she would give this old bastard a ghastly haircut later.â
The secret room was enormous. All of the Holloway Familyâs valuables were hidden here, including several crates of gold bars and jade artifacts.
She took everything into her space. Evelyn even dismantled the secret roomâs door and took it with her.
Behind the kitchen was a granary containing nearly two tons of polished rice and fine flour. In the corner were also sacks of wheat bran, coarse flour, and rice bran, likely for the servants.
Before leaving, Evelyn shaved the old bastardâs hair into a ghastly pattern. His sons were the ones behind the nematode outbreak at Wyrmrest Base. Evelyn took out a bottle of pills and shoved a handful into his mouth.
The other villas had a few vicious dogs in addition to the servants, but Kevin Hollowayâs other brothers werenât home. Evelyn didnât have time to look for them, so she had to settle for emptying their villas.
Although sheâd vented some of her anger, Evelyn didnât feel particularly satisfied.
After leaving the villa district and returning to the hotel, Evelyn remained silent.
"Are we leaving tomorrow?" Ronan slipped his arm around Evelynâs shoulder.
"Yeah. I looked around all day, and thereâs not much worth trading for. Letâs leave for Mount Caldera. If we delay any longer, weâll probably end up as wanted criminals again."
Today she had offended the base commanderâs son and plundered the Holloway Family. Evelyn felt like she was back in Westeria.
"Will Kevin Holloway deliver the gasoline?" Evelyn wasnât very confident.
"He will," Ronan said with certainty.
It was getting late. Evelyn checked on the situation inside her space. The seeds sown in the black soil had all sprouted. The gold bars looted from the Holloway Family had been absorbed by the space, expanding it by several more acres.
After sorting through the dayâs spoils, Evelyn lay down to rest.
She needed to rest up and conserve her strength. After all, she still had to go to Mount Caldera to deal with the bandits.
When Evelyn woke up at seven the next morning, Ronan had already washed up.
"Why didnât you wake me?" Evelyn rubbed her eyes.
"Itâs still early. You can keep sleeping. Iâll carry you down later."
"No, Iâm wide awake now."
After washing up and eating breakfast, the two packed their things and left the hotel.
They drove the truck to yesterdayâs checkpoint, only to find many more patrol guards there. Everyone passing through had to take off their hats and masks for inspection.
When it was their turn, the patrol guard looked at the two plain-looking men in front of him and waved them through the checkpoint.
Once the truck was past the checkpoint, Evelyn couldnât help but laugh.
"I wonder how long theyâll be searching."
"I didnât want to make such a big scene. I was just going to lure him into the car and threaten him with a poison pill, but he just had to be difficult."
The white mist in those three spheres wasnât poisonous, but inhaling too much of it would probably give you diarrhea for a few days.
Driving to the small woods, Evelyn checked the time. It was almost eight oâclock, but Kevin Holloway hadnât arrived yet.