Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Marcus Monroe and Paige Summers chose to act late at night.

Of course, their target wasn’t the zombies in Norgate. It was to deceive Kiera Walsh and his men. After all, they had no intention of rescuing Shawn Monroe first.

That night, after most people were asleep, the two of them quietly sneaked toward Norgate.

In Kiera Walsh’s tent, a confidant crept in to report, ”They’ve gone.”

”Mm,” Kiera Walsh responded flatly, then dismissed his subordinate to rest.

In reality, he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.

He had promised Marcus Monroe he wouldn’t send anyone to follow them. Of course, the real reason was that none of his own men were faster or better at stealth. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to swallow his pride and leverage an old friendship just to borrow someone from Black S.

The lack of control over the situation left him feeling uneasy.

Ever since Marcus Monroe had volunteered for the front lines, the course of events seemed to have slipped from his grasp.

Alone in his tent, Kiera Walsh let out a deep sigh, no longer masking his anxiety and worry. ’Ash... can they really save you?’

Just as Paige Summers had guessed, he hadn’t seen through Shawn Monroe’s disguise. He still believed the young man was his son.

In fact, when Nora Lowell had suddenly appeared in Norgate and called out Shawn Monroe’s name, others had heard. Afterwards, some had even deliberately relayed this to Kiera Walsh, suggesting the man was likely an imposter and trying to dissuade him from attempting a rescue.

But they never would have guessed that Paige Summers had anticipated such a thing when she first had Shawn Monroe take on the role.

No matter how convincing his performance, Shawn Monroe could never completely erase his true self.

The first twenty-some years of his life had left an indelible mark.

A look, a gesture, or some subtle mannerism might give him away.

To prevent him from being exposed by old acquaintances, she had told Shawn Monroe to find an early opportunity to let Kiera Walsh know that he had traveled to many places to survive, taking on many disguises along the way.

Shawn Monroe had agreed, so when Kiera Walsh first asked about his life over the past years, he mentioned one of his aliases—Shawn Monroe—and wove a plausible story around it.

First impressions are powerful, and besides, Shawn Monroe was the son Kiera Walsh had always longed for.

Having an heir to carry on the family name is a deep-seated conviction for most Astorians.

Kiera Walsh was no exception.

In fact, having been childless for half his life, he clung to the idea even more tenaciously.

He even began to entertain a strange notion: anyone who didn’t want him to rescue Shawn Monroe must have ulterior motives. This included Kent Kane and one of his own confidants.

Whether they truly had ulterior motives was debatable, but he was convinced.

’My son is so outstanding!’ he thought, already deeply satisfied. ’And with the strategic mind and decisiveness he’s shown in this battle, he’s far superior to those who slander him! They’re just jealous. Worried. They’re afraid that once my son is safe, he’ll cut into their interests, or even take their positions!’

After all, if Nora Lowell hadn’t appeared out of thin air, he would have put his son in charge of the newly captured Norgate. In his mind, it was already a foregone conclusion.

So now, with his son suffering right under his nose—and not only was he unable to save him, but he was also surrounded by people maligning him—his guilt had reached its peak.

Sitting in his tent, the weight in his limbs was a stark reminder of his age. He was getting old. If he couldn’t protect this son, the Walsh Family line would die with him.

After turning it over and over in his mind, he finally made a selfish decision he had long contemplated but never committed to.

He would dispatch the last of his elite forces for the rescue.

Two days!

If there was no word from Marcus Monroe and his partner within two days, it would mean they had failed and alerted the enemy.

In that case, he would play his final card.

In contrast to Kiera Walsh’s inner turmoil, Marcus Monroe and Paige Summers had no such complicated thoughts.

Their primary mission was to figure out how to infiltrate Norgate.

Norgate had a west gate in addition to its main gate.

This gate was a favorite among the Hunting Parties.

A vast expanse of mountains and forests lay just a few dozen kilometers from this gate. One didn’t need to venture deep into the dangerous interior; simply roaming the outskirts was enough to gather mutant plants and hunt Mutant Beasts. On rare occasions, they might even encounter a few zombies from Eldoria.

On the other side of the vast mountain range and forest lay Eldoria, a nation bordering Astoria.

Before the apocalypse, Eldorians frequently crossed the border with permits, and there were even some who smuggled themselves across. So, no one found it odd when they turned up as zombies.

Initially, some in Norgate had wondered if they might face a large-scale attack from foreign zombies. But that was quickly dismissed as baseless speculation.

After the apocalypse, those mountains and primeval forests had become treacherous. They weren’t something you could just waltz through.

Due to its frequent use, the west gate was always left open.

Therefore, after familiarizing themselves with the terrain, Marcus Monroe and Paige Summers chose it as their point of entry.

Under the cover of darkness, they soon reached the vicinity of the west gate.

There were no zombies in sight. Instead, nearly twenty Mutant Beasts loitered about. Paige Summers could recognize the original species of a few, but most were mutated beyond recognition.

Without exception, they were all massive and ferocious.

However, this was consistent with what they had seen during their earlier reconnaissance; nothing had changed.

They exchanged a look and decided to proceed as planned.

Paige Summers moved first.

She ran more than ten kilometers to the west, then began to double back, laying down the bait she had prepared: freshly killed Mutant Beasts.

Drugged, of course.

The thick scent of blood quickly drifted through the air, tantalizing the noses of the Mutant Beasts that had been commanded to guard the gate.

Biologically speaking, an animal’s sense of smell has always been far superior to a human’s.

Though zombies had an enhanced sense of smell after their mutation, it was still no match for the even more developed senses of the Mutant Beasts.

Paige’s task was to control the spacing of the bait to lure the Mutant Beasts without alerting the zombies inside the city.

She carefully calculated the distance, dropping a carcass every so often. When she heard the faint roar of a lion from the direction of the west gate, she decisively stopped. She quickly cleaned herself, then sprayed her entire body with a scent-neutralizing spray. Only then did she leap into the trees and, with the aid of her Hook Claw, swing back the way she came like Tarzan.

When she returned to their starting point, only Marcus Monroe remained. The area outside the west gate was now completely empty.

She looked at Marcus, who had already reverted to his human form, and felt a pang of disappointment. She actually quite liked his White Lion form—it was so majestic. It was a shame he was so reluctant to transform, though she didn’t know why.

She didn’t hide her wistful expression, and Marcus guessed the reason without even needing to read her emotions.

He gave her an exasperated tug, gesturing for her to stop dawdling and get into the city.

But as he followed behind her, the tips of his ears silently turned red.