Chapter 472: Criminal Record

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: Criminal Record

The group’s clothes weren’t exactly thin, but one look was enough to tell they weren’t warm. They were riddled with holes and caked with grime.

Despite this, they all wore arrogant expressions as they surrounded Stan Sterling. The leader was a pudgy man, the fat on his face jiggling with every movement.

"Stan Sterling? Do you have any idea how long we’ve been looking for you!"

Surrounded, his expression turned cold. "I’m no longer part of Fortune Base. What do you want with me?"

The pudgy man sneered, pulling out a Wolf Fang Club. He heaved it menacingly onto his shoulder and threatened, "You were born a member of Fortune Base, and you’ll die a ghost of Fortune Base! The Base Commander is the one who gave you your life!"

"I hear you’re a fruit shop owner now! If you want to live, think about the poison in your system. You’d better contribute more supplies to the Base Commander!"

Stan Sterling shot back, "Life my ass! I suggest you all scram! If Boss Hart sees you, it won’t end well for you!"

"Well, well~" the pudgy man said, surprised. When had Stan Sterling become so assertive?

He swung the Wolf Fang Club, intending to teach him a lesson.

But he found himself rooted to the spot, unable to take a single step forward. The pudgy man looked around and was shocked to find his companions were in the same predicament.

Terror washed over their faces, every trace of their earlier arrogance gone.

"Where did these monkeys come from?"

Lily Hart’s voice, teasing and flippant, came from behind them, openly mocking the group. Stan Sterling turned his head.

Her arms were crossed, her sharp gaze fixed on the men, but she didn’t forget to shoot him a reassuring glance.

Roman Rowe chimed in from the side, "My, my, where did these monkeys come from in the dead of winter? This isn’t a circus. If you want to perform, you should go somewhere else."

Stan Sterling couldn’t help but laugh.

He remembered the potion Lily Hart had given him, which had completely purged the toxins from his system. He no longer needed to take the antidote on schedule.

From that moment on, he was no longer shackled by Fortune Base. To prove his loyalty, he had even gotten a new Light Brain, starting everything over from scratch.

Lily Hart knew this, and so did he.

So a few words from this group weren’t going to change anything.

The pudgy man roared, "Stan Sterling, you can run, but you can’t hide forever! Don’t you want to be cured?"

Stan Sterling’s face fell. He strode forward, slapped the man across the face, snatched the Wolf Fang Club from his grasp, and brought it down on his head with a few heavy CLANGS.

The force of the blows sent the pudgy man’s head rocking back and forth, and a few teeth flew from his mouth.

From inside the RV, Lily Hart clapped and cheered. The moment she’d spotted the group, she had immobilized them, preventing them from moving or using their superpowers.

’Threatening Stan Sterling for supplies? They should have considered whose man he was.’

The immobilized men were like lambs to the slaughter. Lily Hart didn’t even need to lift a finger. Wielding the Wolf Fang Club, Stan Sterling went after them one by one.

Scream after scream rang out as he beat them to a bloody pulp.

Lily Hart clicked her tongue and had the system dispose of the trash. They were an eyesore.

Stan Sterling tossed the Wolf Fang Club aside and shook out his aching arm. It had been a long time since he’d had to beat someone with pure brute force.

But he had to admit, it felt incredibly satisfying. He had vented all his hatred for Fortune Base.

Stan Sterling massaged his right arm with his left hand, trying to ease the ache.

Lily Hart waved at him with a beaming smile. "Quick, come up and rest for a while."

’This is how a man should be. Why waste words? Taking direct action is the quickest solution.’

Stan Sterling headed up, still kneading his arm, and explained, "Don’t worry about them, Boss Hart. They’re nobody important."

Lily Hart shook her head. "I’m not worried. If you run into something like this again and can’t handle it, come find me."

Her powerful words instantly gave Stan Sterling an immense sense of security.

’The Base Commander must have sent people a while ago. They were probably just delayed on the road and happened to arrive now.’

’Besides, the fact that he was the owner of the fruit shop had already spread far and wide. A simple online search would bring it up.’

’They wanted to use the antidote to threaten him into handing over supplies.’

’But that was impossible. He wasn’t an idiot. This was Boss Hart’s territory; all he had to do was report them.’

Stan Sterling gave a serious nod. Roman Rowe’s eyes darted back and forth.

They shifted from Stan Sterling to Lily Hart, and he couldn’t resist asking, "You were with Fortune Base before?"

Stan Sterling’s expression stiffened. He wasn’t sure if Roman Rowe knew about his "past."

—A male courtesan trained by Fortune Base, though he’d never once been put to use.

His mind raced. He decided to tell half the truth. "Yes. Boss Hart rescued me."

Roman Rowe went, "Ohh~," indicating he understood, and didn’t press the matter.

Lily Hart and Stan Sterling exchanged a glance, both a little fuzzy on who exactly knew about his past.

Frost Shaw definitely knew, and so did Leo Colby. Back then, Stan Sterling had even self-harmed in Leo’s hotel.

The memory of that idiotic past made Stan Sterling’s expression turn awkward.

’He didn’t know what had been wrong with him back then. His brain must have short-circuited for him to do something so stupid.’

’At first, he’d planned on getting something out of Boss Hart, but as they spent more time together, he was the one who ended up getting drawn in.’

’Still, he felt it was the best decision he’d ever made.’

’Meeting Boss Hart and starting a new life.’

After his mind wandered for a bit, Stan Sterling took his leave. "I’ll head back to the vegetable patch now~"

The moment Stan Sterling left, Roman Rowe looked like he wanted to ask something, but a sharp glare from Lily Hart shut him down.

"You should head back to the clinic and stay put. Stop wandering around all the time, okay?" Lily Hart said.

Her tone was slightly coaxing, as if she were talking to a kindergartener.

Roman Rowe seemed to enjoy the treatment. He pouted, put his hands behind his back, and headed down.

Quiet returned to the living room, leaving only the rustling sound of her organizing scratch-off tickets.

Lily Hart settled back into her usual spot, finding it hard to believe Fortune Base could be so stupid.

’Stan Sterling hadn’t contacted them in so long. It was obvious he had switched sides.’

’And they still deluded themselves into thinking they could control him with the antidote. It was probably the only leverage they had left.’

Lily Hart let out a cold snort. Deciding not to dwell on it, she got up and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of yogurt from the fridge.

She twisted off the cap and took several big gulps. It was smooth and creamy, with the perfect amount of tartness. GULP, GULP.

The bottle wasn’t very big, and Lily Hart finished it in just a few gulps, but she still wasn’t satisfied.

’She wanted another one but decided to restrain herself. Drinking too much just meant more trips to the bathroom.’

With nothing to do after finishing her drink, Lily Hart opened her Light Brain again to deal with matters from the other base commanders.

It wasn’t just purchase requests for supplies; there were, of course, also messages cursing her out.

They cursed her for not visiting their bases yet, accusing her of looking down on them.

They asked if she only cared about Central Command and complained that her supplies were so expensive they couldn’t afford them anymore.

Lily Hart ignored it all. She’d seen it all before and was completely unfazed.

As she was replying to a message, the sound of fighting erupted outside the RV again. CLANG! BANG!

Lily Hart knelt on the sofa to look outside and saw two groups of people fighting. Both sides were dressed in black.

’Strange,’ she thought, ’aren’t they cold? It’s at least twenty degrees below zero out there.’