Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Paige Summers, Claire Chapman, and their group didn’t head straight back to Bloodfall Base, instead choosing to make a stopover at Stoneridge Base.

For one, they happened to catch up to the trucks carrying the laborers just before entering Stoneridge Base.

The situation had been urgent, and with Paige gone, her space was unavailable. Claire couldn’t possibly have prepared a large amount of food for them. For the past two days, the laborers had merely been kept from starving; they were far from full. Combined with the hurried journey, they were all listless and in poor shape. Therefore, Claire and Paige decided to stay at Stoneridge Base for a couple of days to at least let them recover a little.

Secondly, Stoneridge Base was very close to their own, so it was a good opportunity to build a relationship.

The last reason was also the most important.

They wanted to see the reaction from Southreach. For instance, would they send people in pursuit? They needed to confirm what Leo Joyce’s attitude toward this matter really was.

Soon, two days had passed.

Everything went smoothly.

The laborers finally got to eat meat after so long!

Although Paige had already reminded them that this was a special treat and they definitely wouldn’t be able to eat it every day once they were back at the base. Of course, they would be given their fill of other food.

But the crowd, their mouths glistening with grease, all declared that this was already amazing! ’We really made the right choice! Bloodfall Base is the best!’

It wasn’t hard to understand why.

For ordinary people, Mutant Beast meat was truly something they could only dream of.

After becoming Superpower Users, their appetites increased dramatically. The meat they hunted was barely enough for themselves, and any surplus could be sold at a high price. Who wouldn’t treat it like a treasure?

Even families with a Superpower User didn’t necessarily get to eat it, let alone solitary, ordinary people like them.

To be able to eat meat before even arriving at the base—how could they not be excited!

It wasn’t just about satisfying their cravings; it showed that the people at Bloodfall Base were definitely not stingy.

Thinking this way, the crowd finally had a little more hope for the future!

Although a few meaty meals couldn’t change their gaunt and sallow physical state in a short time, it did genuinely change everyone’s morale!

Paige was quite pleased.

’Honestly, ever since I got the Planting Space, I’ve really wanted to save more people. At the very least, I don’t want them to die of hunger. Maybe I can’t change the living conditions of everyone in Astoria, but I’ll save as many as I can!’

’The space is stable for now, but something gained by accident could just as easily be lost by accident. If all the grain is still piled up inside when that happens, it would be a total loss! And the seeds are even more important...’

That was why when she went to Norgate, she had acted as a ”Grain Distributor” for Marcus Monroe’s subordinates in Jovitas. While it was partly to boost Marcus’s popularity, this had also been a part of her intention.

’But you really can’t let untrustworthy people know about this. Casually giving out grain is just asking for trouble!’

In Jovitas, she had confidence in Black S’s and Marcus Monroe’s management abilities.

And her own base, of course, was even more trustworthy.

So she planned for all new arrivals at the base to go through a probationary period. As long as there were no issues, the members of their own base would definitely have grain as their staple food!

The first matter was resolved smoothly, and the second wasn’t difficult either.

Franklin Forrest, the Base Chief of Stoneridge Base, already knew a little about Claire Chapman and Paige Summers.

As a mandatory stop for travelers going south or north, Franklin Forrest received news in a timely manner. The establishment of Bloodfall Base, who its Base Chief was—information like this generally couldn’t be hidden from him.

He knew something of Claire Chapman’s and Paige Summers’ reputations in Central City.

And that little something was enough for him to treat them as honored guests!

In this era, there was no gap between north and south, only a gap in strength. Franklin Forrest had managed to maintain Stoneridge Base; how could he possibly be a man who didn’t understand the times!

So, as soon as Claire Chapman and Paige Summers announced their names, they were personally greeted by Franklin Forrest.

The man had even prepared a rather high-class lunch.

With both sides intending to build a good relationship, the conversation was naturally very pleasant.

Finally, Franklin Forrest squeezed his way in front of Paige, his fleshy body—so out of place in the apocalypse it was enough to inspire class hatred—jiggling as he beamed obsequiously.

”Little Sister Sue! Look, we’ve shared a meal together, so we’re friends now, right? How about this, when your older sister comes, you talk to her for me. Get Big Brother Forrest a new weapon?”

Paige suppressed a laugh and nodded. ”Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

”Yes!” Franklin Forrest replied, his voice loud and excited.

A weapon from Summers Armaments! He’d heard they were incredibly sharp; people in Central City were fighting tooth and nail for them! If he could get his hands on one, making others burn with envy was secondary. The key was that it would make hunting much safer!

The moment Paige and Claire were outside, Claire started to laugh.

”What’s so funny?”

”I think you should really rebuild Summers Armaments! Look at that Fatty Forrest—that meal was clearly for you! If you can cultivate more fans like him, will we ever have to worry about not having enough people?!”

Paige laughed as well.

”You don’t have to tell me. I was actually planning on starting a class to take on apprentices!”

”What! For real?”

”Of course, it’s real.” Paige smiled and looked up at the sky. ”The more people who learn, the better. I look forward to someone surpassing me! In my hands, the Summers Family’s knowledge of Artifact Making can only be glorified, not allowed to decline!”

Claire said, ”That’s certainly a good thing! But in your current state, you probably aren’t very convincing. It won’t be easy to recruit good apprentices!”

”We’ll see!”

To do that, they definitely had to return to the base. By now, they were fairly certain that Leo Joyce wouldn’t be coming after them about the May Joyce matter for the time being.

So, there was no need to delay any longer. They set off that very afternoon.

The three vehicles returned to Bloodfall Base with considerable momentum.

The team members who had stayed behind were also overjoyed.

After settling in the newcomers and holding a lively welcoming feast, everyone got busy!

First was expanding the scale of their planting operations.

Among Bloodfall’s current members, aside from the teams that took turns going out to hunt, everyone temporarily stopped considering major missions and instead switched their jobs to farming.

Food is the first necessity of the people.

With Paige’s Planting Space providing a steady supply of seeds, not taking full advantage of it would be a criminal waste! Members with farming experience were chosen to be teachers, and everyone else followed their lead.

Originally, Claire hadn’t planned to do it on such a large scale, so he had opted for secretive management.

But Paige didn’t think that was necessary.

There was no way they could eat all the grain themselves. The surplus would naturally have to be sold, so sooner or later, others would find out that Bloodfall Base could grow crops.

Since that was the case, there was no need to be secretive. They might as well go all out and plant openly.

The important thing was protecting the seeds and the immature plants.

Of course, for the time being, Bloodfall Base had very few new personnel, so there wouldn’t be any major problems. But as more and more people joined, protection would have to become extremely strict to prevent sabotage or theft.

Claire took on this task.

Paige, meanwhile, threw herself into working on the smelting equipment.

There was a lot of well-preserved equipment in Onyx’s space, which just needed to be calibrated. As for the rest, especially immobile things like the blast furnace that were already damaged, they would have to be rebuilt.

Paige and the newly recruited workers spent at least twelve or thirteen hours a day on this.

Of course, their diligent work yielded remarkable results.

Nearly a month later, Paige announced that they could begin the first smelting!

This made everyone nervous, especially the ordinary people who had participated in the work. This was, after all, their first job since arriving at Bloodfall Base. Success or failure would, to some extent, be a measure of their abilities!

A man named Magnus, representing the others, asked respectfully and nervously, ”Miss Summers, if it doesn’t work, does that mean you won’t let us work here anymore?”

Paige asked in surprise, ”Why would you say that?”

Magnus stammered, but finally managed to say, ”We’re just ordinary people. There isn’t much we can do. If we can’t even do this, then... then...”

Paige suddenly smiled. ”Of course not. None of us are familiar with this; we’re just feeling our way through. If we fail once, we can try again. You’ve all signed contracts, are you thinking of backing out?”

”No, no, no, we’re just afraid...”

”No need to be afraid!” Paige cut off his timid words. ”You’ve all worked very hard these past days; I’ve seen it. As long as you maintain your current attitude, then not just for ten years—as long as you’re willing, you can stay here forever!”

”Really?!”

”Of course!” Claire said as he walked over from the side. He gave Paige a wink, then turned to everyone and announced loudly, ”You are all under Susie’s management, and she has my full authority to decide whether you stay or go! Now you can rest easy, right?”

”That’s great!”

”Thank you, Captain, thank you, Miss Summers!”

”You shouldn’t call him Captain anymore, it’s Base Chief!”

”Yes, yes!”

”...”

A little over half a month ago, Claire had been officially appointed Base Chief of Bloodfall Base, with Paige as Deputy Base Chief. Given that she was currently ”unavailable,” Susie was acting in her place, in charge of smelting.

Naturally, no one objected to this decision.

But Paige’s current appearance made it very difficult for people to connect her with the Deputy Base Chief, which was why these people were hesitant.

Claire understood this situation, which was why he had come here today—to vouch for her.

Paige smiled at him.

’It’s clear his words are quite effective.’

These people were clearly much more at ease.

’Still, this body of mine is such a hassle!’

After using her superpower in Southreach, she had recently shrunk to the size of a twelve-year-old.

Fortunately, after an examination by Levi Young, it was confirmed that the medicine’s effects in her body should have been fully realized. In other words, if nothing else changed, she would remain at this stage and wouldn’t have to worry about regressing into a toddler!

But as a twelve-year-old, she was still just under one-and-a-half meters tall... Her limbs had become much thinner, and the strength in her arms had also weakened...

She really didn’t dare to imagine what a headache it would be for Marcus Monroe when he returned and saw her like this!

Just as she was lost in thought, a dark shadow suddenly swept in and lifted her off the ground!