"You... How on earth did you do that? You’re a Water Ability User, so how can you also have a Fire Ability?"
Flora Bloom stared at Regan Thorne. "When the base was in trouble and you were needed to fight, you refused. Now you’re on a power trip, trying to harm another man’s daughter. Have we given you too much leeway? With people like you around, who’s to say others won’t be snatched up for your experiments in the future?"
Hearing Flora Bloom’s words, Regan Thorne suddenly grew furious. "What do you know? In this apocalypse, how can there be any progress without research institutions like ours? When ordinary people are scratched or bitten by zombies, there’s no medical treatment that can stop them from turning. The probability of awakening superpowers this way is so low! Our research is on the verge of a breakthrough that could grant every ordinary person the potential to awaken! How dare you say we aren’t making a contribution? What we are doing is a great undertaking for the survival of every common person in this apocalypse!"
The more Regan Thorne spoke, the more agitated he became, lost in his own grand ideals. He failed to notice the look in Flora Bloom’s eyes, which was utterly cold and filled with killing intent.
"But that’s no excuse for you to use living people as research subjects!"
"Living people? Flora Bloom, you’re too naive! Cynthia Grant and Gavin Todd are unconscious right now. Can you guarantee they’ll even wake up? They were both injured by that black scorpion and the new type of zombie—things we humans haven’t researched yet! Who knows what new kind of monsters they’ll become when they awaken? Who in this base can guarantee otherwise? Who can guarantee the safety of the public?"
Regan Thorne’s words were less about reasoning with Flora Bloom and more for the benefit of the crowd that had gathered to watch.
Most of the onlookers were ordinary people, not superpower users. What did they fear most? First, food. Second, mutating into ugly, disgusting monsters like zombies.
Regan Thorne was now telling them that they too could awaken and become those impressive superpower users. That they could protect themselves, hunt zombies on their own, and no longer be ordinary people hiding behind others, waiting for aid or begging for food.
Receiving charity is the most humiliating of things. Humans are creatures that fear shame, but they are also social creatures. To them, becoming a superpower user meant becoming superior to others, a way to live better in the apocalypse.
"Actually, Manager Thorne has a point. If we don’t do research, won’t we humans just go extinct in this apocalypse?"
"Yeah, if I awakened a superpower, I could fight for the base’s safety too!"
"Look at those two. They’re lifeless. They probably won’t wake up anyway. It wouldn’t be so bad for them to make a contribution for our sake."
"That’s right! The girl—didn’t Manager Thorne say her own father was the one who wanted to send her to the research institute? Her father is being so noble and righteous, but this outsider is sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong!"
Regan Thorne didn’t continue arguing with Flora Bloom. In the apocalypse, there were no legal restraints; the moral high ground was power. And sometimes, the support of the masses was even more useful.
Besides, the Thorne family’s research had indeed hit a bottleneck. They had been studying the dead and zombies, but for their research on living superpower users, they only dared to use First-Level ones.
For the current base, Second-level and Level 3 superpower users were its core strength. Losing even one would be a major problem, so they didn’t dare.
He had just tested them inside. Cynthia Grant and Gavin Todd... one was a Middle Level plant-type superpower user, and the other, who had previously been just a Second-level Earth Element user, was now Level 3.
This was a potential breakthrough, a stepping stone to success for their superpower-awakening agent. He absolutely could not let this opportunity go.
Just then, Hector Grant emerged, walking slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.
"What’s all this, old friend Thorne? Why are you still here?" Hector Grant noticed Flora Bloom and her group. "Well, well. A pregnant woman who won’t stay put at home, running around the base causing trouble for everyone. Don’t forget, you entered the quarantine area for pregnant women but left before your time was up. That’s a serious violation of the base’s safety regulations."
The surrounding crowd was a fickle mob, siding with the Thorne family’s lab when they heard the research could let ordinary people awaken, then suddenly backing away and treating Flora Bloom like a virus when they heard she hadn’t completed her quarantine.
This behavior of believing every rumor meant they were either actors hired by the Thorne family or apocalyptic dregs with no minds of their own, let alone any sense of responsibility.
For leaders like them, interests came first. For everyone else, it was a matter of life and death. Only by grasping the mentality of the masses could one gain more supporters.
Flora Bloom watched as the crowd and the Thorne family’s superpower users overwhelmingly sided against her. She was frantic but didn’t know how to respond.
She could mercilessly cleave the heads of zombies and kill those who harmed her family without hesitation.
She wanted to save Cynthia Grant and Gavin Todd, and she wasn’t afraid of anyone if it came to taking them by force. But she couldn’t avoid the risk of injuring innocent bystanders.
Just then, a deep, cool, and familiar voice cut through the crowd. The onlookers automatically parted, clearing a path for the owner of the voice.
Lex Cross walked straight up behind Flora Bloom and placed a hand on her shoulder. Without even a glance at her, his chilling gaze swept across the surrounding crowd.
"So you’re the ones who want to awaken superpowers?"
Cowed by Lex Cross’s glare, most of them flinched and lowered their heads. But there were still a few brave souls who dared to meet his eyes directly.
"What’s wrong with wanting to awaken and become a superpower user? Besides, the lab’s studies on superpower users don’t kill people! My cousin is a research assistant there. The superpower users who go in just get some blood drawn and a check-up at most each day. Why are you trying to stop the lab’s research on superpower awakening?"
"Exactly! I don’t care if Cynthia Grant is some kind of royalty. She’s unconscious, and her own father agreed to let her contribute to the research. It’s an honor, okay!"
Lex Cross suddenly chuckled. "Heh. Since it’s such an honor, you can go sacrifice yourselves. Do it for the safety of our apocalypse."
"Let’s go."
With an arm around Flora Bloom’s shoulders, Lex Cross started to lead the way out. Nolan Jennings and Five, each carrying one of the unconscious individuals, were about to follow when suddenly, Cynthia Grant’s finger twitched.
Not only that, but the plant-type superpower energy surging from her body was also strangely intense. It was as if she had suddenly jumped from a Middle Level to a High-level Superpower User, the rising energy exploding upwards.
Flora Bloom stopped and hurried over to Five, who was carrying Cynthia Grant, to check on her.
"This superpower feels wrong!"
Suddenly, Cynthia Grant’s skin turned a vivid green, as if covered in thorny vines. In the brief moment Five was stunned, she abruptly stood up. Her expression was blank, and the skin on her body and face flickered between green and its normal color.
"Cynthia? What’s wrong?"
Hearing someone call her name, Cynthia Grant immediately patted her foggy, muddled head.
"I... what’s happening to me!" As Cynthia Grant was puzzling over the changes in her own body, someone with sharp eyes in the crowd noticed something strange about her.
"Everyone, look! Cynthia Grant’s skin! Don’t tell me she was infected and is mutating!"
"Yeah, that’s too dangerous! Isn’t the base supposed to protect us? Why aren’t you doing anything about something so horrifying!"
A few people said this, then ran fearfully toward the edge of the crowd, shouting as they went.
"How can a person’s skin turn like a plant’s! She must have been infected with a virus. You people wanted to do research, right? Hurry up and capture her!"