Chapter 245 - 233: Control Him

"Exactly. You’re tainted yourself, so why are you trying to ruin someone else’s life? A man as outstanding as Captain Cross—are you even worthy of him?" Kirk Warren couldn’t help but chime in. For some time now, she had known that Tianna Bloom was two-faced, but that didn’t stop her from hating Flora Bloom.

Flora Bloom scanned the women staring at her, all chattering at once as they tried to convince her to give up on Lex Cross. Suddenly, she laughed.

"Heh, heh, heh... I have to say, you’re all ridiculous. Especially you, Tianna Bloom. If you like Lex Cross, go after him yourself. If he actually likes you, I certainly won’t have any objections."

The villa inside the quarantine walls was not far from Morgan Sterling’s. Lex Cross, leading Five, Tanuki, and Gentry, had already reached the outer edge of the crowd surrounding Morgan Sterling’s villa.

Tianna Bloom’s eyes glinted as she spotted the tall, handsome figure behind the crowd. She blocked Flora Bloom’s path as she tried to head toward Nolan Jennings and Ethan Monroe. "So you’re saying that as long as Lex chooses me, you won’t have a problem with it?"

Flora Bloom rolled her eyes at her, not bothering to reply.

But for some reason, Tianna Bloom suddenly grew persistent. "So you don’t actually love Lex at all, do you? That means the bastard in your belly isn’t his!"

When Flora Bloom heard this, a cold light flashed in her eyes. "If I hear one more word against my child from your mouth, I’ll kill you."

Flora Bloom’s intimidating aura made Tianna Bloom shudder, but she still braced herself and blocked her path. "You don’t even like Lex, and you’re carrying someone else’s child. Why are you still trying to fight me for him?"

Through a gap in the crowd, Flora Bloom noticed Ethan Monroe on the ground, his face ashen and bruised. Her brow furrowed, and she was anxious to get to him.

"Get out of my way!"

"I won’t move! You still haven’t answered me! Flora, I’m really in love with him! Is it true that as long as Lex chooses me, you won’t care at all? You don’t like him, do you?"

Flora Bloom impatiently shoved Tianna Bloom aside, an axe materializing in her hand at the same time. "If you block my path again, I won’t be so polite!"

Tears streamed down Tianna Bloom’s face as she wiped her eyes. "Go on, kill me. As long as you give Lex back to me, I’ll let you kill me!"

Flora Bloom took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Tianna Bloom. "Tianna Bloom, I know exactly what kind of person you are, so stop putting on an act in front of me. If you have what it takes, then make Lex fall in love with you. If you can’t stand seeing him around me, then find a way to stop *him*, instead of spending all day spreading rumors and making things difficult for me."

"And another thing, your precious Lex has known about my pregnancy for a long time, so you can all stop trying to make an issue out of it. If he leaves me because I’m pregnant, then he isn’t worthy of loving me, Flora Bloom! Now get lost!"

Flora Bloom shouldered past Tianna Bloom, not seeing the sly, triumphant smile that crept onto Tianna Bloom’s lips.

Indignant, Chelsea Todd was about to go and grab Flora Bloom but was stopped by Tianna Bloom. "There’s no need." Confused, Chelsea Todd looked up at Tianna Bloom, only to catch sight of Lex Cross pushing through the crowd with Five and the others.

"Lex! Five!"

Seeing Lex and his group arrive, Chelsea Todd instantly reverted to her quiet, well-behaved persona. She had learned her lesson from last time: confronting Flora Bloom head-on was useless. Even if Five helped her, he would never go against Lex.

’What’s so great about that woman, anyway? Why does Lex have to like *her*!?’

Lex led his men over. As he passed Flora Bloom, his gaze met hers for an instant before flicking away. He walked right past her and headed for the main gate of Morgan Sterling’s villa.

Flora Bloom’s brow furrowed slightly, but she quickly followed.

Five and Nolan Jennings helped Ethan Monroe up, while Flora Bloom went to help Joel Bloom. She secretly slipped a mouthful of spiritual water into his mouth. "How are you? Can you stand on your own?"

"I’m fine, Sis. That guy’s vines have a paralyzing effect. You all need to be careful. And that other guy, he used spiritual power to attack Mr. Monroe. Sis, go check on Mr. Monroe!" Joel Bloom pointed at Chester Bell as he spoke, and the gesture made Chester’s scalp tingle with fear.

Flora Bloom looked at Ethan Monroe, checked him over, and then turned her gaze to Chester Bell, who was standing behind Zane Locke. "It seems you didn’t understand what I said."

Chester Bell’s face suddenly flushed red. He clenched his fists and pointed at Flora Bloom. "What are you looking at? I didn’t know he was one of your people! Besides, this house is ownerless. The strong deserve to take it. Why should we just hand it over because you want it?"

Flora Bloom looked at Isla Preston behind her. "Control him."

Neither Zane Locke, Chester Bell, nor Sepherdine’s newly arrived team understood what Flora Bloom meant. ’Control him? What did she mean by "control him"?’

But in the next second, Chester Bell’s body suddenly started to tremble. His face switched between flushed and pale, and his eyes were filled with a struggle.

"Agh! You!"

"Hmph."

"Agh! You want to control me? It won’t be that easy!" As Chester Bell spoke, rings of black energy began to ripple out from him. This energy felt very familiar to Flora; it seemed to be exactly the same as Caleb’s superpower. However, Caleb’s black energy formed an energy magnetic field and was purer and denser than this.

Suddenly, Isla Preston looked at Chester Bell, and a yellow light flashed in her eyes.

"What is your name?"

The struggle in Chester Bell’s eyes lasted for a long time. After swaying a few times, he finally stood still and grew quiet.

"Chester Bell."

"How old are you?"

"18."

Isla Preston walked to Flora Bloom’s side and said with her head lowered, "It’s done."

A mocking smile touched Flora Bloom’s lips as she looked at Zane Locke. "I don’t know what you’re all here for, and frankly, I don’t care what you want to do. But if you harm my people, then no matter who you are, you will pay the price."

’Zane Locke’s mind was racing. ’Just who is this woman? Even the unassuming pregnant woman with her is a Spiritual Ability User, and a Control System type at that, one whose level is much higher than Chester Bell’s.’

"Miss Bloom, it’s true that my subordinate was offensive earlier. It was unintentional. Please, be merciful!"

Sepherdine, watching from the side, was dumbfounded. ’The impossibly arrogant Zane Locke... was bowing his head to a woman so quickly? This shouldn’t be happening.’

"Unintentional? Oh, so that’s how it is."

The words had barely left her mouth when, for some reason, Chester Bell’s eyes suddenly turned red. He looked at Zane Locke, then lunged, grabbed him, and bit down hard on his ear.

"Agh, Chester, have you gone mad?! Why are you biting me?!"

But it was as if Chester Bell couldn’t hear him and didn’t even recognize Zane Locke. He frantically held onto Zane Locke’s head, seemingly trying to bite his ear clean off.

Among the twenty-six superpower users behind Zane Locke, a plant-type user shot a long, red vine from under Chester Bell’s feet, trying to pull him away. But before it could touch Chester Bell, the red vine was entangled by a cluster of silver vines.

This silver vine shimmered with a metallic light. Its texture no longer looked like a plant but more like soft metal. And yet, it was wreathed in dense, green plant filaments and pulsed with the aura of plant-type Life Force.

Nolan Jennings snorted coldly, and with a surge of his superpower, he yanked the plant-type user to his feet. Not only that, but Gentry’s body suddenly swelled to three or four times the size of a normal person. He grabbed the plant-type user as if he were a toy, and with one hand, he yanked the red vine from the man’s grasp as if pulling a sinew from flesh. He then crushed it to a pulp, and red sap oozed out.

Then, he casually tossed the man into the fountain at the entrance of the villa area. The man fell into the fountain with a SPLASH.

Zane Locke gritted his teeth as he watched his subordinates get brutalized one after another, but he didn’t dare let his anger show.

"Miss Bloom, is all this really necessary? We may have had some misunderstandings, but you should know when to stop."

Flora Bloom gave a scornful laugh. "We’ve already taken out two of your people. At this point, aren’t we enemies to the death?"