Chapter 482: Rescuing the Innocent Girls

Chapter 482: Chapter 482: Rescuing the Innocent Girls

Seraphina Sullivan then slipped silently into the area where Connor Webb lived.

It was a relatively independent and decently decorated suite deep within Area A.

This place was much better than the accommodations of ordinary survivors.

It even had a private bathroom.

There was decent furniture, and even an electronic window that could simulate an outdoor view.

Although the window only showed a looping video of a forest scene, it was at least better than four white walls.

In the living room, several young women were busy.

A girl who looked to be in her early twenties was cooking at the stove, her movements practiced, but her expression numb.

Beside her, two other girls helped chop vegetables and arrange plates. The three of them worked in perfect sync, as if they had repeated this routine countless times.

On Azure Star, in the age of the apocalypse.

This kind of life was a dream for many.

But at this moment.

What filled the air wasn’t warmth, but despair.

"When will this life ever end?"

A short-haired girl spoke through gritted teeth while viciously chopping the vegetables in her hands, "Are we just going to be that bastard’s scapegoats forever?"

The girl next to her sighed, her voice full of helplessness. "There’s nothing we can do... We can’t resist Connor Webb’s Ability."

"I’d rather fight for my life in a disaster instance than be manipulated by him like this!"

The short-haired girl chopped down again, and the cutting board let out a dull THUD.

No one answered.

Because they all knew that no matter how much they wanted to, it was impossible.

The girl who was cooking.

Yvette Ulrich kept her head down, mechanically stirring the food in the wok with a spatula.

Her expression was calm, but her eyes were slightly red-rimmed.

Just then—

A figure appeared silently behind them.

"AH—!"

The short-haired girl was the first to notice, so frightened she almost dropped the knife in her hand.

The others, also startled by the sudden appearance, stumbled back, staring in terror at the woman who had materialized out of thin air.

"Who... Who are you?! How did you get in?!"

Seraphina Sullivan stood her ground, her expression serene, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

"Quiet," she said. Her voice was soft, yet it had a strangely calming effect. "I’m here to help you."

Yvette Ulrich’s hand, still gripping the spatula, trembled slightly, but her eyes held a trace of vigilance, and also a trace... of faint hope.

"Help us?"

Seraphina Sullivan nodded.

"Don’t you want to break free from Connor Webb’s Control?" she said. "I have a way."

The living room fell silent for a few seconds.

The girls exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.

’Break free from Connor Webb’s Control?’

It wasn’t that they hadn’t thought of it, but every attempt had ended in failure.

That invisible Power bound them like shackles, making it impossible to even harbor a thought of resistance.

But this woman before them spoke with such certainty.

So matter-of-factly.

As if... it wasn’t a difficult task at all.

Yvette Ulrich took a deep breath, set down the spatula, and looked Seraphina Sullivan straight in the eye.

"What’s your plan?"

...

「At the same time, in the trading area.」

Connor Webb was standing amidst the wreckage, feeling excited as he watched his three items surrounded by Simon Lewis, Eugene Jensen, and Sunny Sinclair.

’If I can use this opportunity to build a connection with them, my status in the base will be completely different from now on.’ He thought with excitement.

But—

"Simon Lewis, what are you doing?"

Connor Webb frowned, looking at the suddenly aggressive leader of the Hounds. "Even if the trade conditions for my items are harsh, you don’t have to stare at me like that, do you?"

Simon Lewis didn’t speak.

He just stood there, his eyes locked on Connor Webb.

Deep within his pupils, a faint pink glow flashed and disappeared.

The people around them began to sense that something was wrong.

Eugene Jensen frowned slightly and took a step back.

Sunny Sinclair narrowed her eyes, her hand already reaching for the weapon at her waist.

The next second—

Simon Lewis moved!

His figure blurred into an afterimage as he lunged directly at Connor Webb!

"Simon Lewis! Are you insane?!"

Connor Webb’s face paled in terror. He instinctively tried to dodge, but how could his speed possibly match that of Simon Lewis, who was renowned for it?

BAM!

A fist smashed into Connor Webb’s face!

Connor Webb never expected Simon Lewis to attack and was completely unprepared.

The punch sent him flying backward, crashing through several stalls behind him!

The trading area instantly erupted into chaos!

"Holy shit! Has Simon Lewis gone crazy?!"

"Is he trying to kill him and steal his stuff?!"

"Damn it, run! The big shots are fighting, don’t get caught in the crossfire!"

Amidst the chaos, Simon Lewis walked toward the fallen Connor Webb with a blank expression, his knuckles dripping with blood.

His eyes were empty and cold.

As if he had no idea what he was doing.

Seraphina Sullivan’s [Sweet Fragrance] Skill had begun to take effect.

The battle had begun.

...

Meanwhile, a soft golden glow emanated from Seraphina Sullivan’s fingertips—the unique Power of a Food God’s Favored.

She reached out and gently touched the shoulder of Yvette Ulrich, who was closest to her.

Yvette Ulrich flinched instinctively, but a moment later, she froze.

A warm Power surged from Seraphina Sullivan’s fingertips into her body. It felt like warm water flowing over a frozen river; wherever it passed, the invisible shackles of the Binding that had always held her began to loosen, to melt away...

Then, wisps of black mist, visible to the naked eye, began to drift from Yvette Ulrich’s body.

It twisted and condensed in the air, finally solidifying into a fingernail-sized, pitch-black piece of candy that fell into Seraphina Sullivan’s palm.

"This is..." Yvette Ulrich looked down at her own hands in disbelief.

The heavy feeling that had always weighed on her heart, making her unable to resist, was gone!

"It’s really... really gone!"

The other girls beside her were also trembling with excitement.

They had seen the black mist float out of Yvette Ulrich’s body with their own eyes, had seen that black mist turn into a piece of candy with their own eyes.

"My turn! My turn!" The short-haired girl was the first to rush forward.

Seraphina Sullivan touched them one by one, stripping, transforming, and solidifying the power of the [Harem] contract that Connor Webb had planted in them, bit by bit.

One black candy after another fell into her palm.

’I can turn an enemy’s Power into food, but seeing this process of ’breaking a contract’ firsthand is still shocking,’ Seraphina thought.

’This isn’t just a simple ’combat Ability’ anymore.’

’This is... interference on a fundamental level.’

Yvette Ulrich and the others were so emotional their eyes filled with tears.

The short-haired girl dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently.

Another girl threw herself at Yvette Ulrich, hugging her and bursting into tears.

"We... we’re finally not his scapegoats anymore!"

"SOB SOB SOB... I thought I’d never be free of him in this lifetime..."

Seraphina Sullivan put away the black candies and looked at them, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

"Of course," she said.

Yvette Ulrich cried for a moment, then suddenly looked up. Tear tracks still stained her face, but her eyes were filled with anxiety. "But... what if we run into Connor Webb again? Will he... will he be able to Control us again?"