By the time Flora Bloom and her group arrived at Robin Grant’s residence, twenty ability users from the Thorne family, led by Regan Thorne, were already loading Cynthia Grant and Gavin Todd into an ambulance.
The ambulance was from before the apocalypse, but inside, there was neither medical equipment nor paramedics—just two flimsy, unstable stretchers.
Flora Bloom got a clear look at the still-unconscious Cynthia Grant and Gavin Todd being carried into the vehicle. Just as she was about to rush forward and stop them, Five beat her to it, leaping ahead.
Two gentle gusts of wind, seemingly powerless, were enough to sweep away all the ability users trying to close the rear doors of the vehicle.
"What do you think you’re doing?" Five strode over, flung open the back door of the ambulance, and yanked out another ability user who was sitting inside.
Just then, Robin Grant came stumbling out, being pushed and shoved. "What gives you the right to take my granddaughter! Stop this at once! Hector Grant, you ungrateful traitor! That’s your own daughter! How could you be so cruel! The Thorne family’s damn research lab—isn’t studying corpses and zombies enough for them? Now they want to experiment on the living?!"
Robin Grant trembled with fury, but a vine was wrapped tightly around him, preventing him from rushing to the ambulance.
Robin Grant was only the director of the temporary hospital, responsible for handling the injuries, illnesses, and other medical affairs of the base’s personnel. He only knew that the Thorne family had always researched corpses and zombies; he had no idea that they were secretly using their connections to experiment on living people as well.
It was simply a matter of his clearance level; he wasn’t privy to such information. In contrast, Lex Cross’s team, who were always in the public eye, knew a great deal about it.
"Who the hell are you people? Don’t you know those are our research subjects? If you damage them, how are you going to pay us back?!" a Fire Ability User yelled at Five. The moment the words left his mouth, Five sent several Wind Blades flying. They sliced the man up until not a single patch of his skin was left unscathed, yet deliberately avoided inflicting any fatal wounds.
The gashes were numerous and deep, and he was bleeding profusely. Without treatment, he would eventually bleed out, fall unconscious, and die.
"What kind of trash are you, daring to talk to your Grandpa Five like that!" With that, Five hopped into the back of the ambulance. He effortlessly used his Wind Blades to slice through the bonds holding Cynthia Grant and the other captive, then carefully carried Cynthia down first.
Nolan Jennings went in and helped the other captive, Gavin Todd, out of the vehicle. They both moved to stand behind Flora Bloom.
Flora Bloom walked over to the vine-bound Robin Grant and glanced at the Level 3 plant ability user maintaining the superpower. A flicker of flame shot out and severed the end of the vine that was restraining the old man.
The True Sun Fire was incredibly tenacious. Left unchecked after severing the vine, it shot directly toward the plant ability user.
The ability users the Thorne family sent this time were all high-ranking; even the weakest among them was a Second Level Fire Ability User. This was a far cry from the weakness they usually displayed, which had made them seem to lag behind the other major families.
A force of this caliber was nearly on par with the Adler family.
"Fire! Fire! Put it out, quick! A Water Ability User! Where is a Water Ability User?!" The plant ability user’s face twisted in terror as Flora Bloom’s True Sun Fire engulfed him, and he began screaming for his life.
"I’ll let you live today. But if you ever dare show your face here again, I’ll take your life!"
Robin Grant wasn’t just a doctor; he was a kind and benevolent old man, and a good grandfather who deeply loved his granddaughter.
Doctors in the apocalypse deserved everyone’s respect, not to be treated like this. The sight of the old man, helpless and weeping as his beloved granddaughter was about to be taken away for experiments, struck a deep chord with Flora Bloom.
’How heartbroken Cynthia would be if she were awake to see her grandfather like this.’
Regan Thorne took in the scene and slowly approached Flora Bloom.
"So, it’s you. Miss Flora Bloom, these two have volunteered to return with us to the research lab and dedicate themselves to our various post-apocalyptic research efforts. I don’t believe you have any right to obstruct us, do you?"
Flora Bloom actually laughed at Regan Thorne’s words. "Volunteered? You’re dragging away two unconscious people and you tell me they volunteered? Old man, has age finally made you senile?"
Regan Thorne was a slippery old fox. He glanced at Five and the others, his brow furrowing for just a moment before he replied in a calm, unhurried tone.
"We were commissioned by the person closest to these two. That is why we are taking them to the Thorne family’s research lab."
Flora Bloom frowned. "The person closest to them? Regan Thorne, Cynthia Grant’s closest relative is this old man you’ve restrained with your superpowers, a doctor who contributes to the base’s medical services."
"You misunderstand. In terms of blood relations, the people closest to Cynthia Grant would be her parents. Her mother passed away long ago, so this commission was made by her father. When comparing the bond between a grandfather and granddaughter to that of a father and daughter, the paternal bond is naturally closer! I’m not mistaken, am I?"
It wasn’t just Flora Bloom; Five and the others were also stunned by Regan Thorne’s reasoning.
Five was hot-headed. He glanced at the unconscious Cynthia Grant, then recalled the sight of Robin Grant tied up and helpless. A knot of frustration tightened in his chest.
"A father who’d sell his own daughter is a real piece of shit. Can’t you fucking see who Cynthia Grant is actually closer to? Or are you just old and blind?"
Regan Thorne was an ability user on the verge of reaching the High-level. Although he was only a steward in the Thorne family, even the current Family Head had to listen to his analysis and opinions. Now, to be openly berated by two young upstarts who were still wet behind the ears, he found it impossible to maintain his composure and dignity.
He couldn’t afford to provoke Lex Cross, the man backing Five, but he was confident he could deal with this woman. A blast of Fire Element Energy erupted from his body as he launched an attack at Flora Bloom.
Superpowers were divided into three ranks, with each rank further split into three levels. Regan Thorne’s Level 3 Middle-level superpower shot straight for Flora Bloom’s face. The onlookers were stunned, all of them waiting to see her turned into a corpse with a single strike.
Then, to the utter disbelief of everyone except Five’s group, the attack from a man about to become a High-level Superpower User was stopped less than a centimeter from Flora Bloom’s face. A soft layer of white light had blocked it, causing the attack to instantly dissipate.
Even Five and the others were given a huge shock. It wasn’t that they thought Flora Bloom couldn’t block Regan Thorne’s attack. It was the fact that she hadn’t dodged or even moved, simply standing her ground and letting the attack come at her, that had scared them into a cold sweat.
Regan Thorne was, after all, a Level 3 Middle-level Fire Ability User with an extremely powerful attack. If that strike had landed and something happened to Flora Bloom on their watch, they would have to face Lex Cross’s thunderous wrath when he returned.
And as for the one who harmed Flora Bloom, his wrath might extend to the entire base, forcing them all to pay the price for her death.
Meanwhile, Flora Bloom stood her ground, watching without blinking as Regan Thorne’s sheet of flame vanished before her. Then, a tiny wisp of fire ignited at her fingertip.
’Faye did say my battle suit could withstand attacks from High-level zombies,’ she thought. ’This Regan Thorne isn’t even High-level yet, so what’s there to be afraid of? That flame attack just now didn’t just dissipate. It was absorbed by my True Sun Fire.’
That was something Flora Bloom hadn’t expected. ’My True Sun Fire can absorb other people’s fire abilities?’
And that was what had led to her showy display of standing her ground, taking Regan Thorne’s flame head-on, and making it vanish.