What surprised the other four great families even more was that this new Family Head was a woman in her forties with no superpower of her own. She was, however, flanked by two High-level Superpower Users, a man and a woman.
And so, the Thorne family had gone from having no High-level Superpower Users and ranking at the very bottom, to now possessing two formidable High-level Superpower Users, plus Regan Thorne, who was on the verge of advancing to High-level. Although their overall strength couldn’t match the Adler family, their top-tier combatants now outnumbered them.
News of Lex Cross’s return to the base quickly spread among the great families. And Lex Cross, leading Five and the others, headed straight for the Thorne family’s estate in plain sight.
Leigh Atwood sat casually on a sofa in the main hall, as if waiting for someone’s arrival. The male and female superpower users stood motionless by her side.
"Tell me, do you think it’s really him? I snuck away from my family and I’ve been searching for him for so long... What if I’ve been looking in the wrong direction? What if he’s not even on Earth?"
Suddenly, an attendant came to report from outside the door.
"Family Head, Lex Cross is here."
Leigh Atwood froze. A flicker of excitement crossed the face that had been feigning cold indifference. But she kept her voice icy as she said, "Understood. You may leave."
’The attendant didn’t say he was requesting an audience, just that he was here. That means he must be the type of arrogant man who can’t be controlled by anyone.’
’In her memory, that was exactly what he was like.’
’Is it him? Could it really be him?’
Leigh Atwood’s face, though she was in her forties, was impeccably maintained. Even in this apocalypse, she showed no signs of filth or hardship.
Lex Cross strode into the living room, followed by Five and Saul Sterling. Nolan Jennings and the others waited in the courtyard outside. In that courtyard, a dozen attendants and servants lay silent and still, a number of them superpower users.
It had happened so suddenly that the three people inside the living room, despite being so close, hadn’t heard a thing.
"Captain Lex Cross, long time no see," Leigh Atwood said, her gaze fixed on him with earnest intensity.
Lex Cross gave a cold smirk, took a long stride, and sat down on the sofa across from Leigh Atwood.
"Cut the act. Who else came here? Is she here?"
Leigh Atwood’s heart began to POUND upon hearing his words. ’That’s right,’ she thought. ’This Lex Cross’s original surname was Adler, but he changed his name to Lex Cross himself. Across all the star nations, who would dare to falsely use the Cross family name and his title of War God?’
"It really is you." A girlish coyness and a smile unsuited for her age spread across Leigh Atwood’s forty-year-old face. "I finally found you. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?"
Lex Cross frowned. "You of all people should know what I despise most. If you make that disgusting expression again, don’t blame me for what I do to you."
"You..." Leigh Atwood looked deeply wounded, a trace of fear and sorrow in her eyes. "The first thing you do is ask for her. Yes, that’s right, she’s here too. When she heard your older brother had injured you and forced you to escape into a space rift, she nearly followed you in. But you shouldn’t only be thinking of her, you know?! Lex, I was supposed to be your fiancée! It was supposed to be me, do you hear me! She was the one who sent people to poison me and knock me unconscious right before I was to go to the Cross family. She disfigured me, and in the end, my family had no choice but to let her take my place."
Lex Cross’s brow furrowed, but he remained silent.
His silence seemed to give Leigh Atwood a surge of courage, and she pressed on.
"But things are different now. My face has been restored, and the family is already discussing my return to my rightful position as your fiancée—as a daughter-in-law to the Cross family. Lex, shouldn’t you be happy for me?!"
Suddenly, a shackle formed of black energy materialized around Leigh Atwood’s slender neck, growing tighter and tighter.
"Ugh—COUGH, COUGH! Lex, you... why?"
The man and woman behind Leigh Atwood moved to intervene, but Five stepped in, blocking their path. Two Wind Blades pressed against the necks of the superpower users, already drawing blood.
"I’ll ask one last time: where is she? If you don’t answer, I see no reason for you to continue living."
Suddenly, Leigh Atwood’s forty-something face contorted as she burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, where is she? Lex, you still care about her? Don’t you already have a new love here? Oh, what was her name again? Flora Bloom, wasn’t it?" Leigh Atwood stared with a crazed look at Lex Cross’s handsome face, now just inches from her own. "That’s right. The memories in this body tell me that this Flora Bloom was once my student."
Leigh Atwood narrowed her eyes in concentration, forcing herself to read the memories inside the original Leigh Atwood’s mind.
"She’s pregnant... Wait. That child... She... she actually dared to carry your child!" At this memory, Leigh Atwood completely lost her sanity. "How dare she! How could she dare to carry the bloodline of the Cross family’s War God! Hahaha, the slut! I’m going to kill her! Kill her!"
The expression on Lex Cross’s face shifted from its earlier stern coldness to one of complete apathy.
The ring of black energy around Leigh Atwood’s neck tightened, and she knew then that Lex Cross was truly enraged.
Enraged over a woman from some backwater planet.