Liora led the group inside, her footsteps steady as she pushed down the lingering thought of disapproval. She did not know why, but she had a feeling that in the coming monts, she would be even more disappointed.
She could already predict how this was going to go. The mont those base officers laid eyes on the supplies, they would forget everything else—who had fought for it, who had bled for it, and who had nearly died protecting it.
And she was right.
Her only sanity would be the rewards for finding them. They should be as good as the trio claid, or believe her, she would make them pay for it. In her opinion, the supplies should belong solely to them. She could not imagine giving them away freely.
She knew that it was because of them that they got the location, but it was entirely with the help of the system that they were able to find so many supplies. It was impossible, as everyone could see, since the place was visited by countless people each year, yet it had remained hidden from everyone.
As soon as they stepped into the storage area, Commander Xu and Captain Han’s expressions shifted. Their eyes scanned the neatly stacked supplies—boxes of canned food, dical kits, and clothes.
Their previously stern faces suddenly brightened with unmistakable greed.
Commander Xu strode forward, his fingers tracing the edge of a crate as if it were already his possession. "This is more than we expected," he remarked, his voice cool yet satisfied. "Good. We’ll take everything back to base."
Captain Han nodded in agreent, already making ntal calculations of how much they could transport at once. Neither of them so much as glanced at Liora or Zhou Yinuo. They did not acknowledge the effort it had taken to secure these supplies, nor did they ask what had happened in their absence.
But Chen Wei and Liang Zihan noticed what they failed to see.
Their eyes imdiately landed on the five bodies sprawled across the floor, blood pooling around them. Their breaths hitched at the gory sight. They exchanged a look of horror before quickly counting the corpses. One, two, three... five.
When they had left in the morning, there had been no bodies. No bloodstains. No sign of a fight.
"There were no bodies here when we left this morning," Chen Wei muttered, his tone sharp and laced with unease.
Liang Zihan’s face was grim. "Which ans these people attacked while we were gone."
At their words, Commander Xu finally acknowledged the corpses, though with barely any interest. He only cast a brief glance at them before turning back to the supplies, as if the dead were nothing more than an afterthought.
Zhou Yinuo stepped forward, her voice calm but firm. "It happened a few hours after you left. A group of ard survivors showed up, thinking we were easy targets. They tried to take the supplies—and us. So we fought back."
Chen Wei’s jaw tightened. "You fought them?" His gaze darted toward Liora, scanning her for injuries as if only now realizing how reckless the situation had been.
Liang Zihan was no better. "Are you two okay?"
"We’re fine," Liora cut in before Zhou Yinuo could answer. "They underestimated us, and we sent them exactly where they belonged." She gestured toward the bodies with a nonchalant wave.
Zhou Yinuo nodded in confirmation. "Yeah! They were very aggressive, but Liora gave them a good beating. And you won’t believe it, but one of them was actually an Awakener—a plant type."
Chen Wei exhaled sharply, his fingers clenching into fists. "Damn it."
Liang Zihan shook his head, his expression filled with frustration and concern. "We should’ve been here."
"You weren’t," Liora said simply, her tone lacking bla. "But we are okay, see."
She did not say it to comfort them, but it seed to have that effect. Though their anger had not completely faded, they at least seed reassured that neither she nor Zhou Yinuo had been seriously hurt.
Commander Xu, however, did not spare any words for the matter. He was already inspecting the supplies, giving orders to Captain Han about how to load them up. His lack of concern did not go unnoticed by Liora, but she expected nothing more.
People like him never cared about anything beyond what benefited them.
As the officers moved to secure the supplies, Liora leaned back against the wall, watching them with an impassive expression.
Let them take what they wanted—for now. But if Commander Xu thought he could simply walk over them without consequence, he was sorely mistaken.
But her mind diverted as she heard Zhou Yinuo comforting Chen Wei and Liang Zihan, who were still sulking with guilt.
Zhou Yinuo shrugged, her tone light despite the grim topic. "I an, they lost. That’s what matters."
Liora glanced at them and sighed. "We’re fine," she reassured them, noticing the worry in their eyes. "It wasn’t easy, but at least we won."
Chen Wei exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "Damn it, we shouldn’t have left you alone."
Liang Zihan muttered a curse under his breath. "We had no idea people were lurking around."
Liora gave them both a small smirk. "That’s why I took care of it. I can’t have you two feeling guilty over nothing."
Commander Xu, who had been ignoring the conversation entirely, finally spoke up—though not about the attack, not about the bodies, not about whether they were injured. Instead, his voice was brisk, businesslike. "We’ll load the supplies now."
Liora’s expression darkened once more. Of course, he had to interrupt them.
"Can’t he just shut up?" Liora felt disgusted just looking at his an face and greedy eyes.
Looking at Commander Xu and Captain Han, Liora realized sothing—people like them never had to fight for survival because they thrived off the struggles of others. And the worst part? They never even felt guilty about it.
Now she could understand why they were so well-kept and fed. It was because their base imposed heavy missions on people with little rewards while they stayed behind the scenes, enjoying the hard work of others.
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