Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Paige Summers had thought that since Shawn Monroe was dealt with and she was safe, her mother must have been rescued as well.

So, the first time she woke up, she was too exhausted to ask many questions.

But when she woke up again and mentioned her mother to Marcus Monroe, she learned that wasn’t the case at all. That brat Shawn Monroe was refusing to talk, no matter what. No matter how they interrogated him about the whereabouts of Wendy Lowell and the rest of the Central Army, he wouldn’t say a word!

Marcus Monroe said through gritted teeth.

Blood ties aside, he and Shawn Monroe had crossed paths before and were somewhat familiar with each other’s methods.

Shawn Monroe must have known perfectly well that if he confessed, Marcus Monroe would never let him live.

Leaving aside everything else, the simple fact that he had kidnapped Marcus’s wife, causing her to suffer so much that their child was born prematurely—that alone was unforgivable.

But as long as he kept quiet, Marcus’s hands were tied.

He couldn’t just disregard his mother-in-law’s safety, no matter what.

She had come all this way just to take care of her daughter, and she had dedicated herself to it completely. Now she’d been kidnapped. If he failed to rescue her, Marcus wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Besides, he knew Paige Summers had genuinely accepted Wendy as her mother. For that reason alone, he had to take this seriously.

But just thinking about it made him seethe with anger.

Shawn Monroe was still suffering from severe blood loss, so they couldn’t push the interrogation too hard. If the man died, they’d have no leads at all. He and Claire Chapman had already taken turns searching every inch of Southreach; she definitely wasn’t in the city. That meant she had to be in one of the smaller bases outside.

He had already given those bases a once-over when he was looking for Paige, but Wendy Lowell was a different story. A pregnant woman was a conspicuous target and easy to find. Wendy, on the other hand, could easily blend into a crowd with a simple disguise, and the Central Army soldiers could just as easily disperse and melt into the populace.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized what a tricky situation this was.

On top of that, getting in and out of Southreach wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

The zombies lingering outside had grown cunning.

As soon as they saw the new city walls getting stronger, they simply relocated, and now they loitered around the city gates every day. At a glance from inside, it didn’t look like there were many, but the moment there was any activity at the gate—the moment someone tried to leave—hordes of speed-type Zombies would come sprinting over in packs.

It was a scene straight out of ancient times, like starving refugees waiting for a wealthy family to hand out grain—they were ravenous!

As a result, the Hunting Parties were completely holed up in the city, unable to make a move.

Hunting was important, sure, but their lives were more precious.

It wasn’t that Marcus couldn’t lead a team to break out, but it would almost certainly mean taking losses. After the battle at Mount Gorrow, Bloodfall had already lost a significant number of members. He was already struggling to find replacements and was certainly unwilling to risk a trip outside the city.

He gave Paige Summers a rough outline of the situation.

To Paige, those team members were also incredibly valuable, so she naturally agreed with his decision.

She thought for a long moment before saying, ”Shawn Monroe probably won’t let his people mistreat my mom. Since he can’t get back to them, his subordinates wouldn’t dare do anything to her. Let’s put this on hold for now. We’ll see how things develop here in Southreach first.”

That’s what she said out loud, but inwardly she was thinking, ’I don’t know what’s gotten into Shawn Monroe, but he’s completely fixated on the idea that he’s in love with me. That means he can’t possibly harm my mom. In that case, once I can move around, I might as well try to coax the information out of him. Maybe he’ll talk to me.’

She couldn’t move her body much, but her eyes were darting about, the wheels in her head clearly turning.

It only took a moment for Marcus to guess what she was thinking. His expression immediately darkened. He leaned in, pressing his face close to hers. ”You stay away from him, understand? If you get any funny ideas, I’ll kill him right now!”

Paige was taken aback for a second, then she pouted.

’So he saw right through me!’

Seeing her still-defiant expression, Marcus grew annoyed and, in a flash, nipped her on the cheek. He didn’t feel vindicated until he heard Paige’s startled cry, which was half pain and half fright.

He slowly straightened up and looked down at her. ”If I need you to step in just to get a confession, then what kind of man would that make me? In short, stay out of this. And don’t have any more contact with him. Otherwise...”

Paige tilted her head. She suddenly felt an urge to laugh.

’He’s jealous. And really, really jealous at that!’

’Then again, it made sense.’

’That scoundrel Shawn Monroe really did have designs on her. It would be strange if Marcus *wasn’t* jealous.’

’But why did he look so serious even when he was jealous?’

After a moment of thought, she finally found a word to describe it. ’Hmm... adorable!’

Marcus, of course, had no idea she was having such a ”horrifying” thought about him. Believing himself to be deadly serious, he continued his threat, ”...you won’t get off easy!”

’Oh? And how won’t you let me off easy?’ Paige was sorely tempted to retort. But then she thought better of it. If she kept teasing him, Marcus might fly into a rage out of sheer embarrassment. Better not.

’Hmm... but most importantly, I’m getting sleepy...’

’This wretched body!’

”Alright, I got it!” Paige’s eyelids drooped. She finally gave him the reassuring answer he wanted, then snuggled up against little Annie, who was already fast asleep beside her, and closed her eyes.

Only when her breathing became deep and even, a clear sign she was sound asleep, did Marcus let out a resigned smile. He gazed at the mother and daughter for a long while before finally leaving the room.

On their end, aside from the situation with Wendy Lowell, things were relatively peaceful. The same could not be said for the people in Southreach’s Citadel.

For Maisie Joyce, having something like this happen right as she was taking power was more than just a slap in the face. And with Leo Joyce involved, things became even more complicated.

After all, Leo Joyce had been the City Lord for several years. He was also skilled at putting on a facade, so many people in the city—both in the Government and the military—still remembered him fondly.

If he had actually died, no one would have objected to a New City Lord taking his place.

But now he was suddenly alive again. What was anyone supposed to make of that?

Maisie Joyce had indeed discovered the truth about the Zombies and the masked men: it was Leo Joyce’s subordinate, Ivan Warren, who had arranged to bring them in.

But that morning, just as they had driven the Zombies outside the walls and begun cleaning up the city’s interior, Ivan Warren had stepped forward. He claimed that he had been deceived and that while his actions were unintentional, his crime was unforgivable... delivering a whole speech to plead for punishment.

He had completely exonerated Leo Joyce!

He also claimed it was his idea to take the critically injured, near-dead Leo Joyce out of the city for treatment, because he believed someone inside the city was coveting the City Lord’s position and posed a threat to Leo’s safety.

His story was all too believable.

After all, anyone with eyes could see that Leo Joyce had been genuinely unconscious at the time.

Finally, with teary eyes, he brought up all of Leo Joyce’s benevolent acts during his years as City Lord. As for the siege on the Citadel? That was just the Second Division protesting the injustice done to their City Lord! And Leo Joyce had only gone there to persuade them to avoid infighting!

In short, with a single speech, he both shouldered all the blame and insinuated that Leo Joyce was the rightful City Lord. If not for some villainous schemer, he would never have had to whisk Leo away to safety, and none of this would have ever happened.

And did anyone need to guess who that ”villainous schemer” was?

Who stood to gain the most?

Ivan Warren was a protégé hand-picked by Leo Joyce. One shouldn’t be fooled by his taciturn demeanor in Leo’s presence; that was only because it was the type of personality Leo preferred. It was a testament to just how shrewd the man truly was.

But at the same time, he was also fiercely loyal.

His loyalty surpassed what anyone had imagined.

Even Leo Joyce himself hadn’t expected Ivan Warren to handle the situation so flawlessly.

Leo’s circumstances had indeed been dire, but with Ivan Warren acting as the scapegoat, he was instantly whitewashed. More than that, it painted him as a glorious figure who had endured humiliation for the sake of the bigger picture, a man willing to suffer injustice and relinquish his title as City Lord!

Ivan claimed Leo Joyce knew nothing beforehand, but as he spoke, Leo quickly grasped his capable subordinate’s painstaking efforts.

After that, without having to say or do a thing, he won the favor of the Government’s Colin Koenig and several other ministers. The others, too, began to waver.

When it came down to it, among everyone present at the meeting, only Maisie Joyce and Keith Preston refused to believe a word of it.

This, of course, was based on their deep understanding of his character.

Maisie Joyce knew this better than anyone.

From the moment Leo Joyce decided to kill her for May Joyce’s sake—and then, deciding to torture her slowly rather than killing her outright, subjected her to immense psychological torment—she had known that Leo Joyce was nothing but a psychopath.

To reclaim his position as City Lord, a man like that would probably make a deal with any demon or monster in the world if it meant they could help him.

Never mind mere Zombies!

Maisie Joyce’s original plan had been to use this to finish him off for good, and in the process, make everyone see that their esteemed City Lord Leo Joyce was not the benevolent man they believed him to be. In reality, he saw the lives of ordinary people as worthless, a complete psycho who would resort to the most extreme measures to achieve his goals.

But alas, it had all fallen apart at the final hurdle.

She had been so busy dealing with the Zombies and quelling the internal riots that she’d had no time to search for evidence of Leo Joyce’s conspiracy. Now, with Ivan Warren’s masterful twisting of the truth, *she* had become the one who put personal gain above the greater good. It was enough to make her sick with rage.

Finding any evidence now would be difficult.

The dead were dead, and the living had fled.

The light in her eyes slowly faded. Just then, Keith Preston suddenly requested a recess and called her out of the meeting.

He said, ”Remember that secret base where Claire Chapman was captured? The guards there were Leo Joyce’s personal soldiers. After being annihilated by The Power Corps, some of them still managed to escape. I heard they took refuge at Bloodfall Base. If we can get them to testify, while it might not be enough to directly implicate Leo Joyce, any discerning person will see that something is wrong. It could also indirectly prove that Leo Joyce was colluding with those Eldorians all along.”

At his words, Maisie Joyce’s eyes instantly lit up.

That’s right!

How could I have forgotten about that?

’They took refuge at Bloodfall Base... so I should talk to Claire Chapman...’

She paused, then said, ”Normally, it would be most appropriate to have Lucian handle this, since he’s the Base Chief, but he’s my fiancé. That would lower the credibility of any witness he produces. And Paige Summers isn’t well. That leaves Marcus Monroe...”

At the mention of Marcus Monroe, both of them fell silent.

It was a well-known fact that Marcus Monroe was powerful and highly capable.

But it was also well-known that he had a foul temper. Most importantly, throughout this entire incident, aside from leading the charge against the Zombies, he had maintained an attitude of a detached observer regarding Southreach’s internal affairs. Rumor had it that he and Claire Chapman had even come to blows over the latter’s involvement.

At a time like this, would he be willing to get involved?