Chapter 193: Protest

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Protest

"Sister is the absolute best! The absolute GOAT! She can do anything!" Little Sweet Potato chimed in loudly, splashing around while doing the backstroke in its water basin.

"Yeah, absolutely! We definitely picked the right boss to follow!" Aaron Palmer immediately agreed like a total brown-noser, his eyes full of admiration.

Miles Dawson leaned in, adding with a cheeky grin, "You bet. So many people want to be my sister’s sugar baby, but they don’t even stand a chance."

As soon as he finished speaking, SMACK! The spoon in Mrs. Dawson’s hand rapped against his forehead. "You two are always spouting nonsense all day long! Watch your mouths!"

Her scolding sent everyone in the villa into fits of laughter. The warm atmosphere quickly dispelled the gloom of having to eat their meals in secret.

Unexpectedly, this joy didn’t last long. A sudden, urgent shouting erupted from outside, calling Luna Dawson by name and demanding she come out.

Luna’s stomach dropped. With lightning speed, she swept the half-eaten boxed lunches and the mostly devoured lamb chops from the table into her spatial dimension. Then, she quickly activated her superpower to cycle the air in the room several times. Only after confirming that not a single trace of food aroma lingered in the villa did she cautiously approach the window and lift a corner of the curtain to peek outside.

After all, when surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people who were practically starving to death, being cautious about eating meat was a form of kindness.

Luna focused her gaze and was surprised to see thirty to forty people clamoring outside the courtyard. They looked unfamiliar yet somewhat recognizable. Thinking carefully, she realized they were members of other squads who had come along for this escort mission.

She wondered to herself, "I haven’t caused any trouble. I was even careful when eating, just to avoid drawing anyone’s resentment."

Because the dog and cat were so plump, she was afraid they would attract covetous eyes. Thus, she never let them out in the safe zone, keeping them strictly inside her spatial dimension. But even with all these precautions, someone had still set their sights on her and come knocking at her door.

The family exchanged glances, each seeing vigilance in the others’ eyes. They never went out of their way to cause trouble, but they absolutely weren’t afraid of it either. Together, the whole family walked outside.

"What is it?" Kevin Keane spoke first, taking a step forward to shield Luna. His voice was as cold as ice.

In the crowd, a tall, thin man who was already feeling guilty took one look at the intimidating presence of the Sunset Squad turning out in full force and immediately lost his nerve. He instinctively tried to shrink back. Seeing this, the woman next to him viciously pinched the soft flesh of his waist. He grimaced in pain and could only bite the bullet and step forward.

"Captain Dawson, you must have quite a lot of rations stored in your dimension for us mission personnel, right?" The tall, thin man gulped and forced himself to speak. "Right now, Dai and Gu are both out. How about you give us our share in advance? We’re gnawing on hardtack every day—stuff so hard it could bludgeon a dog to death. It doesn’t fill us up at all! If our bodies break down, who’s going to escort these hundreds of thousands of survivors? Am I right?"

He seemed to have gathered a tremendous amount of resolve to finish it all in one breath, but his eyes unconsciously darted toward the area behind Luna’s group. Kevin instantly caught this detail. He whipped his head around to look in that direction and faintly saw a figure flash behind the wall of the neighboring building, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Kevin leaned in and whispered a few words into Luna’s ear.

Luna nodded. Stepping out from behind Kevin, she pulled up her collar zipper to fend off the biting wind and spoke slowly. "An advance? You sure are dreaming."

Seeing this, the woman standing next to the tall, thin man quickly interjected, her tone acerbic and mean. "What do you care if my man is dreaming! Just hand over the rations, and stop batting your eyes to seduce men!"

"Who are you saying is batting her eyes?!" Mrs. Dawson’s temper flared the moment she heard this. How dare this woman insult her daughter like that! She stepped forward, pointing right at the woman’s nose, and shot back, "You’re ugly as sin yourself, and just look at that toad of a man beside you! Merely looking at you dirties my eyes!" With that, she readied herself to charge forward and fight.

With quick reflexes, Miles threw his arms around his agitated mother, repeatedly urging, "Mom, calm down. Don’t lower yourself to their level."

Luna also reached out to press down on Mrs. Dawson’s shoulder, signaling her to stay calm. She then looked at the tall, thin man, her tone calm but oppressive. "Who told you to come ask for an advance? If I give you the rations today, what do I do if you come back tomorrow, or the day after, asking for more?"

Hearing this, the tall, thin man thought there was hope and hurriedly explained, "Don’t worry, Captain Dawson! Look, there are dozens of us here. I’m from the Ironblood Squad, and there are also members of the Kindar Squad and Shadowhunt Squad among us. With so many witnesses, how could we possibly deny it?"

Luna scoffed, her tone dripping with undisguised mockery. "If I give you all the rations now, what happens on the return trip? If you all gang up and file a complaint, saying I was the one who didn’t distribute your share and embezzled it instead, I’d have no way to defend myself."

Most of this group were marginal squad members. They had likely been goaded by a few words from someone else and willingly came over to be used as pawns. However, these thirty to forty people didn’t see it that way. They felt that as the captain of the Kensington Base’s number one squad, Luna simply didn’t understand the hardships of going hungry. To them, she was merely too stingy to hand over the rations that rightfully belonged to them.

In their eyes, once things entered Luna’s spatial dimension, they became her private property. She would inevitably embezzle a portion of it and would never be willing to bring it out again.

From the back of the crowd, a middle-aged woman squeezed her way to the front. Pointing at Luna’s nose, she unleashed a torrent of abuse, "You little seductress! You’ve definitely never gone hungry! Don’t you know how to be flexible? Would it kill you to take out some rations?!"

Upon hearing this, Kevin could no longer hold back. A thick, powerful bolt of lightning suddenly struck out, hitting the middle-aged woman with pinpoint accuracy.

With a loud BZZT, the woman’s hair instantly frizzed up. Her face was covered in black soot, and she exhaled a puff of white smoke before collapsing straight backward. Fortunately, her stomach was still rising and falling slightly; she was evidently still breathing.

The dozens of people who had gathered were severely startled by this sudden attack. They instantly scattered, retreating several steps to put some distance between themselves and the courtyard. However, their burning gazes remained fixed on the courtyard; they still refused to leave.

Luna was momentarily surprised and gently grabbed Kevin’s sleeve. He patted her hand, soothing her in a low voice, "Don’t worry, I held back. She won’t die."

Miles, Evan Olson, and the others immediately stepped forward, shielding the elderly, the children, and the women, including Luna, behind them. Their eyes were sharp, and they looked ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

Seeing Kevin attack without hesitation, the woman next to the tall, thin man subconsciously glanced back at the building behind her, as if seeking instructions. Then, she gritted her teeth and continued her provocation, her tone becoming even more vulgar. "Tsk, tsk. You two little girls might have pretty faces, but how can your hearts be so black?"

She paused, her eyes shifting as an obscene smile appeared on her face. She continued to humiliate them with unspeakable words, "Look at all these big, strapping men hovering around you. Are you able to keep up at night? No wonder you look so glowing. I bet you don’t even have time to close your legs at night... You really are—"

Before she could finish, several attacks struck simultaneously—a bolt of lightning even thicker than before, a powerful whirlwind, a scorching Fire Dragon, and countless metal and ice blades that sliced through the air. All of these intertwined and plummeted straight toward the woman!

"Ahhhh—!"

The shrill and horrifying scream lasted for only a few seconds before coming to a dead halt.