Chapter 227 - 215: The Start of the Rumors

Stephen Bloom glared at Five, his hands turning a metallic color as he unleashed his Gold Ability. "You’re nothing but one of Lex Cross’s dogs. What right do you have to speak to me like that?"

RUMBLE!

With another crack of thunder, before Stephen Bloom could retract his Gold Ability, Lex Cross zapped him. Smoke billowed from his body, and his metalized hands crackled with lingering electricity.

Mark Sterling and Falken, who had come out with Sherman Lynch to wait for Flora Bloom, had been getting along splendidly with Stephen Bloom’s family. Tianna Bloom, being an Ice Ability User, possessed an icy, proud aura that they found agreeable. They had assumed that with names like Tianna and Stephen Bloom, they must have a close connection to Flora and Caleb Bloom.

But who would have thought it was such bad blood!

Upon seeing this, Sherman Lynch and his two companions immediately backed away from the conflict, making their stance clear. It was as if they wanted to draw a line in the sand between themselves and Stephen’s family. This enraged Stephen Bloom, who had just been chatting pleasantly with them moments before, so much that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Ah, Flora, you’re back! You should hurry home and get some rest. This place is full of strangers; what if you run into trouble? Let’s go, let’s go. What are you two rascals still doing here? Flora’s back, isn’t she?"

With a smile, Sherman Lynch dragged Mark Sterling and Falken along, following Flora Bloom’s group back to the villa area on the other side of the quarantine wall.

Only after Flora Bloom’s group was far in the distance did the lingering electrical energy on Tianna Bloom’s family finally dissipate.

The onlookers in the villa area were almost all superpower users, most of whom had been Morgan Sterling’s former subordinates. Seth Warren, having watched the scene unfold, turned to leave with a few of his men, his expression unreadable.

As he left, he failed to notice that Kirk Warren had remained in place. After watching her brother walk away, she approached Tianna Bloom’s family.

"Um, are you all okay?"

Kirk Warren first helped Sharon Caldwell to her feet, then did the same for Tianna Bloom.

Tianna Bloom watched Kirk Warren warily. "And you are?"

"Oh, I’m Kirk Warren. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name."

Tianna Bloom sized up Kirk Warren. ’She’s not particularly pretty, and her skin isn’t as good as mine. A person like this would be safe to get close to; she won’t be any competition.’ With that, she began to lower her guard.

"I’m Tianna Bloom, and these are my parents." She let out a soft, gentle sigh, her expression shifting to one of innocent, rabbit-like distress and fear.

"Sigh... I’m so sorry everyone had to witness our family problems."

Supporting Sharon Caldwell, Tianna Bloom was about to follow her father in the direction Lex Cross had gone, but Kirk Warren stopped them.

"Wait! You’ll be in trouble if you go over there! Don’t!"

The family of three froze in their tracks. "In trouble?" Stephen Bloom asked, turning back.

"Yes. That woman, Flora Bloom... I don’t know what kind of trick she’s using, but she controls a swarm of bees. Any stranger who gets close to the villas inside that quarantine wall gets attacked. You’ll be hurt if you rush in there!"

Tianna Bloom clenched her fists, and the icy energy radiating from her body was so intense it froze the gravel path beneath her feet.

When Kirk Warren saw that Tianna Bloom was an Ice Ability User, an idea sparked in her mind.

"How about this? All the villas here are occupied now. If you don’t mind, why don’t the three of you come stay at our family’s villa for the night?"

Tianna Bloom was still hesitant, but Sharon Caldwell and Stephen Bloom exchanged a glance before Stephen spoke up. "Sigh, what a disgrace to our family! How could the Bloom family produce such heartless and disloyal wretches! Young lady, thank you for offering to take us in. We’ll be troubling you, then!"

Kirk Warren led the three of them toward her family’s villa, asking curiously as they walked.

"Um, Uncle Bloom, what is your relationship to Flora Bloom’s father, Caleb Bloom?"

Stephen Bloom sighed. "He’s my biological younger brother! After the apocalypse started, his family used their powerful daughter as an excuse to abandon us in the countryside while they left."

"What? Your own brother? How could he abandon his own flesh and blood like that! That’s unbelievable!"

"Exactly! If Captain Cross hadn’t been kind enough to bring us to Argent, we would’ve long been buried under a pile of zombies!" Sharon Caldwell added.

"That Captain Cross... is he the man who was with Flora Bloom?"

Seeing Kirk Warren’s cautious yet adoring expression, Tianna Bloom lowered her eyes for a moment before lifting her chin proudly. "That’s right! He’s the young master of Argent’s most powerful military family. His background is illustrious, and he has countless military achievements to his name. And now, in the apocalypse, he’s a genius who has awakened a Thunder Ability. He can fight off a thousand zombies all by himself."

Upon hearing this, the adoration on Kirk Warren’s face vanished. She looked up at Tianna Bloom, her expression now filled with envy.

"Tianna, I’m so envious. You get to be with such an incredible man."

Tianna Bloom’s gaze faltered for a second. ’Together? That’s right. Even Uncle Cross acknowledges me as the Cross family’s future daughter-in-law. So, aren’t we together?’

"Sigh, what is there to be envious of? I was just too naive. I believed him when he said he was only out on a mission to hunt zombies. Who would have thought... that he and my own cousin would..."

Tianna Bloom lowered her head, pretending to be heartbroken, and let out a few choked sobs. Her performance immediately drew an angry response from Kirk Warren.

"That’s horrible! To think that someone who looks so righteous and strong on the outside is actually a total scumbag!"

"You’ve misunderstood him, Coco. It was my cousin, Flora... Sigh. She’s the one who seduced him. At first, I thought, ’He’s a man, what’s a little fling?’ But I never imagined she would use their one and only time together to threaten him."

All the while, Stephen Bloom and Sharon Caldwell walked on in silence.

Before the apocalypse, Kirk Warren had been a pampered rich girl, spoiled by her parents and older brother her entire life.

Hearing this kind of story for the first time, she was immediately filled with indignation.

"That woman is so shameless! I can’t believe she’d dare to blackmail Lex with something like that! Tianna, you probably don’t know yet, but that woman, Flora Bloom, is already pregnant with some other man’s bastard! It’s not Lex’s child!"

At Kirk Warren’s words, all three of them stopped dead in their tracks. An excited expression crept onto Tianna Bloom’s face.

"What? Are you sure about that? How do you know?"

"I overheard her talking about it with Neal Wallace from her team the other day. Lex still doesn’t know!"

A thrilled smile flickered across Tianna Bloom’s lips before she quickly suppressed it, replacing it with a wide-eyed, shocked stare at Kirk Warren.

"Heavens, that’s horrible! How could Flora do such a thing! And to think my uncle and aunt are just letting her get away with it!"

"That little bitch Flora Bloom has no self-respect! She’s a disgrace to the Bloom family! No, I’m going to find Caleb and demand an explanation! I, Stephen Bloom, will not suffer this humiliation!"

Stephen Bloom said this and turned to go find Caleb, but Kirk Warren stopped him again.

"Uncle Bloom, don’t bother! Caleb Bloom isn’t at the base. He was taken out to hunt zombies by some of the former leader Morgan Sterling’s men. He hasn’t come back yet, and I’m afraid things don’t look good for him."

"Really?" Stephen Bloom’s eyebrows shot up, his face instantly lighting up with unconcealable joy. ’Caleb, oh Caleb,’ he thought, ’to think you would die before I did.’

"Flora Bloom’s mother is in a coma, too. Who knows if she’ll ever wake up. Well, I guess wicked people get what they deserve!"

The three of them, now in high spirits, followed Kirk Warren to the entrance of her family’s villa. Seth Warren was waiting at the door for his sister. When he saw that she had brought back the trio who had just been causing trouble for Flora Bloom, his brow furrowed deeply.

"Coco, why did you bring them here?"

"Bro, they just got to the base, and Flora Bloom and her friends were picking on them. They don’t have a place to stay. Just let them stay here for one night!"