Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Paige Summers and Marcus Monroe looked at each other. They didn’t need to say a word—they both knew who was coming.

The two who had just left had drugged them; now, they were naturally here to check on their work.

But they weren’t the only ones.

Five people in total, fanning out to surround the tent as they closed in.

’Like shooting fish in a barrel?’

The idiom flashed through Paige Summers’s mind, and she couldn’t help but smile.

’No, no, that’s not the right way to put it. The truth is, from the moment they realized they’d been drugged and chose to do nothing, she and Marcus Monroe had been the ones lying in wait.’

’And now, the rabbits had arrived.’

The rabbits were true cowards. Even though the tent was silent, they still didn’t dare to enter, instead blowing more of the powder inside.

It was clear they had great faith in the drug.

Unfortunately for them, compared to the Antidote Andy made, their powder was pathetic.

Marcus Monroe had already settled Paige Summers onto a sleeping bag. He gestured for her to stay put while he rose silently to his feet.

In the end, the five ”rabbits” never even made it inside the tent. Marcus Monroe finished them off decisively with his Energy Blade. Five agonized screams erupted almost simultaneously, sounding like a single, drawn-out cry. The different vocal tones made it jarringly discordant and all the more piercing.

This time, Marcus Monroe wasn’t holding back.

They were dead. There was no doubt about it.

’But it wasn’t enough.’

For a sexually frustrated man, the best way to vent was to eliminate the entire team, leaving no loose ends.

He swept out of the tattered tent like a gust of wind.

Paige Summers pursed her lips, then followed him.

As expected, he was heading for the tents a hundred meters away.

Paige Summers followed him into one of the tents. Inside was a lone woman. She was plain but with delicate features, and she didn’t look very old. She was terrified, her body trembling uncontrollably, but she seemed desperate to hide it. Her face was flushed red from the effort of trying to keep still.

Her eyes flickered with fear and indignation, but also a stubborn resolve to maintain what was left of her dignity.

Seeing the woman, Paige Summers felt a stir of compassion.

Marcus Monroe, however, couldn’t be bothered with any of that. He raised his hand to kill her.

Paige Summers rushed forward to stop him.

Marcus Monroe glanced at her, then at the woman. ”A woman’s pity,” he said coldly.

Paige Summers blinked. ’So what if it is?’ This woman clearly wasn’t part of the group of five. Otherwise, she would have gone out with them earlier.

As if encouraged by Paige’s actions, the woman managed to steady herself and speak. ”I heard Heidi Lee when she went out, but I pretended to be asleep because I guessed what she was up to. She’s a bit stronger than me, but I knew she couldn’t possibly be a threat to you, so I didn’t think to stop her. However, I didn’t expect the others to do what they did. The captain warned everyone not to get any funny ideas. If I had the power, I would have absolutely stopped them. They’ve already drugged our captain; they were afraid he’d get in the way. As for me, I’m too weak for them to care about, so they didn’t even bother drugging me. That’s why I can still stand here. But I swear, I had no intention of harming you!”

’She chose her words very carefully,’ Paige Summers thought. ’A clever girl, indeed.’

If she had started by pleading her innocence before explaining, it would have sounded like a weak excuse. But by admitting she knew what was happening first, then explaining she was powerless to stop it—all while subtly defending her captain—she sounded far more sincere.

A small smile touched her lips. ”Is your captain still unconscious?”

”Yes.” The woman bit her lip, then added, ”The little tree outside their tent told me. My superpower is communicating with plants.”

Paige Summers was surprised. ”You can do that from this far away?”

The woman nodded, a hint of dejection in her voice. ”Even though it’s considered a Natural Ability, it’s especially difficult for me to Promote compared to others. At the Fourth Rank, that’s already my maximum range.”

Paige Summers frowned, thinking for a moment. She vaguely recalled hearing about this kind of superpower somewhere before. It was indeed different from most other abilities.

Before she could put her finger on it, Marcus Monroe lost his patience.

He grunted heavily, turned, and stalked out, heading for another tent.

The woman looked at Paige Summers pleadingly. ”Besides those few, the captain and the others really weren’t involved. Please, could you...”

Paige Summers gave her a reassuring smile. ”Wait here. I’ll go take a look.”

In the other tent, the captain who’d spoken to them earlier was sleeping as if he were dead; all the commotion hadn’t stirred him in the slightest. Three other team members lay beside him in the same state.

The woman hadn’t been lying.

As furious as Marcus Monroe was, he wasn’t about to attack a few unconscious people. He glanced inside from the tent entrance, then turned and stalked back sullenly, not even sparing Paige Summers a look.

The person being ignored could only shrug and go talk to the young woman herself.

The young woman’s name was Hazel Hayes, and she was the same age as Paige Summers. Now that she had calmed down, she spoke much more coherently. In just a few sentences, she clearly explained the Wildfire Hunters’ situation and her own superpower.

Paige Summers thought it over. This superpower could be very useful to her. The ability to communicate with plants meant the ability to communicate with crops. In the future, when the base wanted to start large-scale farming, having someone like her around would help them avoid a lot of trial and error.

Having made her decision, she asked Hazel Hayes, ”Wildfire lost most of its elite members here. It’ll be hard for the team to recover once you get back. Why don’t you switch to a new Hunting Party? How about Bloodfall?”

”Bloodfall?!” Hazel Hayes’s eyes shot open. ”Are... are you Paige Summers?!”

”I am.”

Paige Summers smiled, not surprised the girl knew who she was. Bloodfall had a considerable reputation among the Hunting Parties, and as its vice-captain, she was naturally a prominent figure. Besides, there weren’t many female Superpower Users who had reached such a High-level.

Hazel Hayes felt like she was dreaming. She had met her idol, Paige Summers, and was even being invited to join the Bloodfall Hunters! There was no way she would refuse; she just nodded her head frantically.

Paige Summers gave her a dagger and told her to go find Brother Archer directly once she returned to Central City. Only then did she hurry out.

Outside, Marcus Monroe was standing beside Sweetie, practically seething with rage.

The whole night had been a disaster. He hadn’t gotten any proper rest, and not a single thing had gone his way.

Paige Summers, on the other hand... not only had she dodged him, but she’d even used the opportunity to recruit a new team member. The very thought of it annoyed him. He was especially irked when he saw Hazel Hayes following closely behind Paige, her face full of adoration, like a little puppy dog.

As the two women approached, he suddenly smirked. He walked over to the woman he’d knocked unconscious earlier, gave her another kick, and sent her tumbling in front of Hazel Hayes, blocking her path.

He shot Paige Summers a glare, motioning for her to go on ahead. Then he turned back to Hazel. ”I hear you’re joining Bloodfall? In that case, I’ll leave this woman’s disposal to you. She’s not dead yet.”

Hazel Hayes froze for a second before she understood what he meant. Her face paled slightly, but she still gave a firm nod. ”I understand.”

Aboard Sweetie, Paige Summers and Marcus Monroe quickly lifted off the ground.

Hazel Hayes looked down at Heidi Lee on the ground. The dagger in her hand wavered for a few seconds, but then, with a swift motion, she brought the blade down and ended the woman’s life.

She sighed, gazing at the distant black dot that was Paige Summers and Marcus Monroe. She turned, dragged the corpse over to the discarded tent, and set it on fire along with the other five bodies.

The flames were conspicuous against the dim sky, and both Marcus Monroe and Paige Summers turned to look, just able to make them out.

Marcus Monroe sneered. ”Not bad. She’s not completely useless.”

Paige Summers nodded as well.

Marcus Monroe suddenly reached out and stroked her lips, his touch forceful enough to nearly push his fingers into her mouth. Just as Paige Summers was about to bite down, he snatched his hand away.

”Tonight,” he whispered, ”don’t even think about running...”

The whisper made Paige Summers’s face flush, her embarrassment and anger mixed with a sense of resistance and helplessness.

’She’d never imagined things would turn out like this.’

’They had been intimate many times before, but Marcus Monroe had always been so respectful. In the end, she had even been the one to take the lead before they took that final step. But now he was...’

’No, no. I told myself I wouldn’t dwell on the past, wouldn’t have regrets. I have to treat him as a new Marcus Monroe.’

Paige Summers pressed her fingers to her forehead, nearly groaning aloud.

’Am I being too dramatic about this?’

’But what choice did she have? If he were really just some guy she’d recently met, who in their right mind would want to sleep with him? Or was it like those cheesy romance novels about the domineering CEO and his innocent wife, where love could be... manufactured?’

She thought the rest of the night was bound to be a struggle. In reality, neither she nor Marcus Monroe could have guessed that all her mental anguish was for nothing. That evening, they encountered the Power Corps retreating back to Central City.

Their column stretched for a long way. Paige Summers did a quick mental count and estimated there were over two thousand soldiers.

While that was a huge number compared to a Hunting Party, it was far too small compared to the total size of the Power Corps.

A chill went down her spine.

’Could all the others really have died fighting Nora Lowell?’

’If that’s true, I’ll have to completely re-evaluate Nora Lowell’s current strength!’

Marcus Monroe frowned when he saw the situation as well.

”Let’s go down and ask what happened.”

Paige Summers was more than willing. ”Do you know Kiera Walsh?”

”I’ve met her.” Marcus Monroe rubbed his chin. ”But Kiera Walsh isn’t leading this column. If I’m not mistaken, these must be troops from the other two divisions.”

A suspicion began to form in Paige Summers’s mind. She seized the opening. ”Regardless, let’s go down and assess the situation first.”

Their descent caused a minor commotion among the ranks of the Central Army.

Soon enough, after they identified themselves, they were invited into one of the vehicles.

Inside sat Kent Kane, the commander of the Central Army’s Second Division.

Kent Kane was an incredibly burly man, looking like a black bear at first glance. However, he was clearly not in good shape. His face was unshaven, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

His attitude was surprisingly enthusiastic when he saw them. He had his adjutant bring water and food, only relenting when they accepted the water but politely refused anything to eat.

In his eyes, Marcus Monroe was clearly the more important of the two.

As a result, he addressed Marcus Monroe almost exclusively.

”We thought we could take Norgate this time, but someone cut us off halfway. This whole damn fight has been so fucking frustrating!”