"He Shuping, you... you’re just going to watch your niece bully a poor widow and her children..." The old woman’s face was streaked with tears as she cried. She hugged her two grandsons and looked at her daughter in a panic.
He Shuping’s expression had already returned to calm. "Mom, you can stop with the crying and wailing. Enough with the drama. I’ve seen more than enough of it over the years."
"The reason I have such a good life now is all thanks to my husband’s family—and because my niece is so capable. The house I live in, the food I eat, the water I drink, everything I use was earned by my niece through her own abilities."
"My husband is just an ordinary person. He goes out with the Hunting Team to Lanshan every day, and he has no problem earning his own rations."
"My younger sister and brother are perfectly able-bodied. Why can’t they go out to work for points? The base’s construction team, Hunting Team, and medical team are all recruiting. As long as they’re willing to work hard, how could they possibly starve?"
"You want them to do manual labor? How can you be so cruel? Your family has so many points. If you just spared a few for them, they could live..."
He Shuping cut her mother off with a cold laugh.
"You don’t need to be jealous of all the points my family has. They don’t belong to my husband and me. They’re all my niece’s."
"What is it? Back then, you dragged your two children around, leeching off your eldest daughter. Haven’t you had enough? Now you want me to swallow my pride, to shamelessly go and leech off my niece? Are you out of your mind, Mom?"
"Mom, Shufen and Da Yong are in their forties. How long are you going to protect them? It’s time to let go and let them stand on their own two feet."
The old woman stared blankly at her daughter, as if seeing her for the first time, her mouth agape and speechless.
Standing to the side, Song Kexin nodded emphatically.
Xie Ning tossed the gun into her bag, but in reality, she threw it into her personal Space.
"Make way, make way! Everyone, get out of the way!"
Just then, a commotion started on the outskirts of the crowd.
Captain Wang of the City Defense Team, leading a group of seventeen or eighteen people, pushed through the crowd. His cold gaze landed on Xie Ning and her family.
"It’s you people."
’Isn’t this the woman Miss Bi Yun asked me to investigate?’
After several days of investigation, Wang Ao knew the identities of the people before him like the back of his hand.
’They’re just a group of refugees from the Song Family Pavilion, an ordinary working-class family before the apocalypse. On what grounds did Young Master Gu give them special treatment?’
’Because of these refugees, Young Master Gu had actually been cold and dismissive toward his Miss Bi Yun.’
"Arrest them all. Take them back to the City Defense Team," Captain Wang ordered, his face cold.
Song You’ai grew anxious. She stepped in front of her daughter and said angrily, "You’re Captain Wang of the City Defense Team, aren’t you? How can you arrest people so indiscriminately?"
Wang Ao looked at Song You’ai with a cold expression. "Don’t try to pull connections. I don’t know you. Private brawls are forbidden within the base. Arrest them all for interrogation."
Seeing several City Defense Team members approaching with smirks to drag Xie Ning and Song Kexin away, Song You’ai became frantic.
"Don’t you touch my daughter and my niece with your filthy hands!"
"Officer, that woman has a gun! Be careful!" the two middle-aged women who had retreated into the crowd yelled out as a warning.
"Firearms are not permitted within the base. Hand it over," Wang Ao said, giving Xie Ning a cold, sideways glance.
Xie Ning could already tell this man bore her family ill will. A cold smile touched her lips. "Come and get it yourself."
Wang Ao strode toward her, a cold glint in his eyes. "Miss Xie, don’t think you can act so presumptuous and smug just because you have Young Master Gu’s favor."
"The base has its own explicit regulations. That’s a fact that holds true no matter who you talk to."
As the man reached for her, Xie Ning sneered. With a flick of her wrist, a long, sharp Metal Spike shot toward Captain Wang’s face.
"A Superpower User!" the crowd gasped.
Some of the lurkers who had been following them with ill intent, seeing that Xie Ning dared to attack even the City Defense Team Captain, immediately lost their nerve and shrank back, daring not to entertain any further ideas.
Wang Ao was already on guard against Xie Ning.
He knew this girl was a Metal Ability User, and her superpower level seemed to be quite high.
But as a Defense-type Superpower User, he was no pushover.
With his ’copper skin and iron bones’, he had never been bested in a fight.
"Miss Xie, I’m warning you to stop right now, or you will pay an unimaginable price!" Wang Ao shouted. "Once you trigger the base’s defense system, you and your entire family will be expelled!"
Xie Ning’s lips curled into a cold smirk, a flicker of viciousness in her eyes.
"And what does that have to do with your pathetic life?" Her killing intent had been ignited. She turned to Song Kexin. "Stay on defense."
Song Kexin nodded firmly and immediately moved to stand by He Shuping and Song You’ai. A Fireball FWOOSHED into existence in her hand.
"A Superpower User!"
"A Fire Ability User!"
The crowd erupted in gasps once more.
My god, in this wealthy family, both of the younger generation had awakened Strong Attack Abilities. No wonder they were so brazen.
Thick jealousy flashed in the eyes of many onlookers.
’The heavens are so unfair! How can one family produce two Superpower Users, while we have nothing?’
Xie Ning went on a full-out offensive, a heavy killing intent flaring in her eyes.
’So what if we have to leave the base? The only problem is that it might cause the elders to suffer.’
’But if I back down today, who knows how many people will take the opportunity to trample all over my family in the future.’
’I was originally planning to give them a way out.’
But now, Xie Ning refused!
Several metal spheres flew from her hand. The moment they hit the ground, they erupted with immense Gold Element Energy.
Several City Defense Team members were caught off guard, sent flying by the explosive force and crashing hard to the ground.
The panicked crowd scrambled backward, their eyes wide with terror as they watched.
"You’re courting death!!" A Metal Spike plunged into Wang Ao’s shoulder, splitting through his formidable defenses with a KRAK!
To Wang Ao’s utter astonishment, it pierced straight through his shoulder blade and emerged from his back.
"AHHH!!" Wang Ao let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Xie Ning pursed her lips, her expression as cold as frost as she gazed down at him, looking exceptionally ruthless.
As Wang Ao fell, Xie Ning sent several more Metal Spikes piercing through his body, causing him to tremble violently and scream in agony.
"Stop! Stop it, stop!!" Zhang Biyun shrieked, rushing over with a team. She hastily pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed Captain Wang’s hand to begin healing him.
Xie Ning’s sharp, cold gaze swept over the crowd. Everyone stumbled back a dozen steps, wishing they could be anywhere but near her.
"Get your mall manager out here!"
The crowd had been causing a scene at the mall entrance, and many of the onlookers were store employees.
One of the employees now scrambled inside and fetched the manager, who arrived drenched in sweat.
Xie Ning brandished the flyer in her hand and declared coldly, "I want all the food on this list. I’m spending all one million points! If you don’t have enough supplies today, get more tomorrow. If that’s not enough, then the day after! Get it all for me!"
"Go inform Yu Tianfeng. We’re leaving the base in three days. Ask him if he’s coming with us."
Song Kexin, Song You’ai, and the others could only nod repeatedly, not daring to even breathe too loudly.