I have to say, Cynthia Grant was proving extremely useful in temporarily concealing Floraâs pregnancy.
After being urged by Jade to go in and check on Flora, she came out and gave Jade a detailed explanation using her knowledge of Chinese medicine. "Auntie, Flora is just exhausted, and her stomach is a bit upset. Sheâll be fine after a while. For now, donât let her eat any seafood or anything too greasy."
Jade nodded and took note of everything, but a faint unease still lingered in her heart. Seafood, greasy foodsâthese things kept reminding her of a certain unsettling possibility. However, this matter was soon overshadowed by the events that followed.
When Flora Bloom came out, she gathered everyone to discuss the move. But of the original nineteen people, one was missing. Lucia was gone.
Not only that, but a flurry of chaotic footsteps echoed from downstairs, accompanied by shouts of, "Someone in this building is infected!"
The building housed a mix of ordinary people and Superpower Users. The appearance of someone infected by a zombie posed an immense threat to the regular people. And while First-level Superpower Users had a lower chance of being infected, it wasnât impossible.
Instantly, residents from every apartment poured out and rushed downstairs, where personnel were guarding the exits, checking everyone who came out.
Although being interrogated made many people unhappy, they endured it and cooperated for the sake of mutual safety. Besides, the person leading the operation was Heath Holden, one of the three major powers in the base, so everyone had no choice but to comply.
However, nearly everyone from the building was already downstairs. As Heath Holden watched the people at the exit, he still hadnât spotted the figure he was expecting.
"Is there no one left in the building?" one of Heath Holdenâs subordinates asked someone who had just come out.
"I-I donât know anything."
The Superpower Users and ordinary people driven downstairs by Heath Holdenâs men lined up neatly. Yet, they were neither checked nor questioned.
Meanwhile, after Flora Bloomâs group gatheredâeighteen people in totalâlittle Caleb came down carrying a white goose almost as big as himself, still fast asleep.
"You lot, stop for inspection! Not one of you moves!"
It was only when she saw the crowd downstairs surrounded by another group, with the stairwell exit also blocked, that Flora Bloom saw the person in charge.
"Whatâs going on?" Caleb Bloom stepped forward and asked.
"I suspect someone among you is infected with the zombie virus. You must be taken away for quarantine!"
Heath Holden spotted Flora Bloom and her group in the crowd and walked over with a faint smile. âThe intel had been right after allâthe little white tiger was gone, no longer by this womanâs side.â
âWithout that little white tiger, this Flora Bloom is just an ordinary Water Ability User, no threat to me at all. If I capture them all now, theyâll be putty in my hands.â
"Thatâs right! Itâs you! Weâve received a report from the public that someone in your team has been infected by a zombie!" one of Heath Holdenâs men shouted, pointing at Flora Bloom.
"You hear that? Thereâs an infected person in your group. They must be quarantined immediately to prevent them from harming the public!" Heath Holden pointed at Flora Bloom, his face full of smug satisfaction, and continued, "If you know whatâs good for you, youâll come back with me quietly. Otherwise, donât blame me for eliminating a threat to the Morhaven safety base!"
As he finished speaking, a dozen or so Superpower Users suddenly stepped out from his ranks and formed a line in front of Flora Bloom and her team.
Before Flora Bloom could act, a wall of flame erupted as Neal Wallace moved to stand in front of her.
After a full night of leveling up, there were no longer any first-level Superpower Users in Flora Bloomâs team, aside from the missing Lucia.
As for Level 3 Superpower Users, besides herself, there was also Caleb.
Calebâs superpower wasnât for combat; it was spiritual power control. Although Caleb had only ever tried his superpower on animals, humans were also animalsâadvanced ones. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Caleb himself would never think of using his superpower to control a human.
Ethan Monroe, Neal Wallace, Sherman Lynch, and Caleb Bloom were all Second-level Superpower Users, with Neal Wallaceâs energy fluctuations already nearing Level 3. The men stood protectively in front of Flora Bloom. Flora held her mother Jadeâs arm with one hand and Calebâs hand with the other. Joel Bloom stood beside her, and behind them were several ordinary people like Mark Sterling.
Their team now stood in a standoff against the fifty or more people Heath Holden had brought.
Initially, the other residents of the high-rise area, both Superpower Users and ordinary people, had been wary of each other regarding Heath Holdenâs claim that someone was infected.
But now, hearing that the infected person was in the team that had just exited the building, they immediately turned their suspicious gazes toward the group of a dozen or so people at the stairwell entrance.
This was especially true for the ordinary people. With no superpowers to protect them, they could easily turn into zombies if infected. The terror of the apocalypse had long since made everyone as skittish as birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring; the slightest hint of a threat was enough to set them off.
"Yeah, who the hell is infected? Hurry up and admit it! All of us are stuck out here in the cold because of you!" someone from the high-rise shouted toward Flora Bloomâs group.
"Seriously! Our squad was supposed to go to Point 03 to farm Zombie Crystal Cores today! Youâre wasting our time. Can you even afford to compensate us?"
"Hey, look! Thereâs a pregnant woman in their group! Donât you guys remember what happened at that maternity clinic downtown? A pregnant woman was fine one second, and the next, a baby zombie burst out of her stomach!" a man suddenly shouted, pointing at Selinaâs belly in feigned shock, his face a mask of terror as if he were reliving the moment.
His words were the spark that ignited the crowdâs emotions. Not only the people who had been corralled, but also onlookers who had come downstairs to see the commotion, joined the ranks of the morally superior.
"I remember that! My classmate was eaten by a baby zombie there!"
"Iâm one of the ones who escaped from there! My wife was pregnant, she seemed perfectly fine, but then her stomach suddenly ripped open and a baby zombie flew right out and started biting people!"
"I remember too, I remember too! The city was in chaos back then. That clinic was full of pregnant women, and I saw it with my own eyesâseveral infant-sized zombies crawling on people, eating their flesh. It was terrifying!"
Their words became the perfect tool to incite the mob, giving the crowd an excuse to vent their fears.
"Who is it? Get the hell out here! Youâre a danger to yourself and others! Have you no shame?"
"Get out!"
"Get out!"
Heath Holden and his subordinates stood before their cheering supporters, looking smugly at Flora Bloomâs group. Although Floraâs people were frowning, they showed none of the panic or fear he had expected.
Flora Bloom glanced at Selina, whose face was deathly pale. She squeezed her hand and said comfortingly, "Selina, are you angry?"
When Flora Bloom grasped her wrist, an invisible energy seemed to flow into Selina, giving her support. With a pale face, she looked up at the sneering faces that were hurling accusations and curses at her.
"Angry! And a little scared!"
She was afraid that Flora Bloom and the others would abandon her to the angry mob, throwing her to the wolves. If that happened, the fate of both her and her unborn child would be tragic.
She looked nervously at Flora Bloom and the others, her eyes filled with anxiety and doubt. But she saw they werenât paying much attention to her at all; instead, they were facing the crowd that surrounded them. Cynthia Grant even ran to her side and placed a hand on her wrist, right over her pulse point.
"Selina, a pregnant woman canât get too emotional, itâs not good for the baby! Follow my lead. Deep breath. Deeper."
Selina looked at the people standing in front of her, forming a protective circle, and her eyes couldnât help but well up with tears.
When the apocalypse first began, she hadnât even had time to cry or grieve for her husbandâs death before she was forced to flee into a sterile room. By the time she processed that the world had ended and she might die, she was too hungry to even cry.
But now, she was crying. She knew that in this apocalypse, it would have been understandable if the group had abandoned her. But they hadnât. The thought of trading her for their own safety hadnât even crossed their minds.
"Selina, donât worry. Flora Bloom wonât abandon you!"