In a seemingly ordinary room, Isabella sat dazed in the corner, wearing the most ordinary clothes, like the Mariluo people at the bottom.
She looked poor, dirty, and even had a strange odor about her.
Even at this mont, she hadn’t shaken off that attack. It was terrifying, in what was possibly just under half an hour, everything was destroyed!
A group of people from who knows where sohow entered the highly fortified General’s Mansion, and then began an efficient and rciless massacre.
The people outside the General’s Mansion seed to have been turned into deaf people by the gods; they didn’t even try to get into the mansion to save them or do anything.
Isabella was resting at the ti, awakened by gunshots, and then hid away.
She didn’t think of retaliating; since they could kill their way into the General’s Mansion, trying to fight back at this point would purely be seeking death.
She hid in a secret chamber only she knew about, which she had prepared to guard against her brothers.
There were rumors that many assassinations against the General’s children were actually orchestrated by Sanchez, so she needed a safe space, not too big, just enough to hide herself and hold out for a few days.
She sat quietly in that space of less than two square ters, listening to the faint cries and wails outside, and the constant sound of gunfire.
About thirty-four minutes later, it was all over, and the entire General’s Mansion was eerily silent, as if... everyone was dead!
She didn’t leave, continued hiding inside, and then she heard so people co into her bedroom, rummaging around, firing a few shots, and eventually, a wall began to heat up.
Thankfully, a heavy rain fell in ti, preventing the fire from spreading completely.
Two days later, when she erged from the ruins of the General’s Mansion, she was shocked by all the news.
The General was assassinated in his seat, shot full of holes, unmistakably dead.
The won Isabella didn’t like, who carried the General’s blood, were all hung from the crossbeam of the General’s Mansion’s main gate, and those people even tore open their children, a dreadful sight.
Her two brothers were also beheaded, their bodies thrown into the fountain, and their heads onto the flower beds.
The water in the fountain turned red, continually spewing out.
Other than these relatives, everyone else was dead, maybe they all died, or maybe soone managed to escape.
She was lucky, or perhaps well-prepared; there were civilian clothes in the safe room, and she sared mud on her face; no one would be interested in a filthy woman, and she successfully avoided disaster.
She didn’t know who was reliable and who wasn’t, which made it impossible for her to accurately judge where the enemy ca from.
After moving between several hiding places, she settled here.
This was an ordinary dwelling, always inhabited by a blind couple and a little boy.
Isabella sotis aided those in need, which brought a touch of warmth to the society under the oppressive rule of the Warlord; she felt she was doing well.
The couple was blind, having little material desire.
The little boy, just sixteen, had not many complex thoughts, so it was relatively safer.
She kept pondering who did this, almost completely destroying them all; this person must have prepared for a long ti, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy to kill their way into the General’s Mansion.
The people she used to see continually appeared in her mind, but she found nothing; instead, everyone seed deliberate.
The sky outside gradually darkened, and when Isabella turned back, she was startled by the little boy standing silently at the doorway, watching her without a word.
It almost made her think another assassin had co after her.
"You startled ," she said. "Is there sothing you need?"
The little boy walked over silently, and when he was just a few steps away, Isabella heard his sowhat heavy breathing.
She seed to realize sothing, and in the next second, this "little boy" in her eyes, who was already married many tis locally, suddenly knocked her to the ground.
He tore at Isabella’s clothes, his breathing beca even more rapid.
He knew who this woman before him was, knew that his family’s current life was thanks to the support from "Marlori’s Sapphire."
But knowing is just knowing.
This family was unfortunate because both adults were blind, lacking the ability to perform complex labor, incapable even of supporting themselves.
Without Isabella’s support, they might not have had a child and would have long since perished.
They were still alive now, but being alive didn’t an happiness; no one wanted to marry a girl into such a family.
The family considered for a long ti and finally made this decision.
If they could make Isabella one of the family mbers, then all problems would be solved, and the young man had no objections to this either.
Others, neighbors, those kids his age, were already married, with wives, and even had children.
Only he was still alone.
At this mont, he could already sll the woman’s scent emanating from Isabella, making him more manic and violent. During their quarrel, he suddenly punched Isabella hard.
A hot stream surged in Isabella’s nasal cavity imdiately, but it didn’t flow out.
She lay on the ground face up, with that nosebleed flowing directly into her mouth, and her respiratory system. She choked on her own blood, severe coughing leaving her montarily powerless.
Feeling her outer garnt being torn apart, Isabella looked dazedly at the young man tearing at her clothes in front of her...
Bang...
The young man on top of her suddenly paused, and all his movents stopped at that mont.
He looked down at the hole in the chest of his shirt. This shirt was one he had saved money for a long ti to buy, a shirt from the Federation, bought specifically for a matchmaking eting.
He usually couldn’t bear to wear it, even getting it dirty would make him upset for half a day, but now, it was torn.
He raised his hand to touch the hole, and quickly the area around the hole was stained red, spreading rapidly.
There was so confusion in his eyes, and he glanced again at the gun in Isabella’s right hand, seemingly understanding sothing.
Isabella flipped over, pushing the boy to the ground. She quickly moved towards the next room, where the blind couple had already stood up, supporting each other as they headed out.
She caught up, and behind them she pulled the trigger continuously.
Gunshots in Mariluo were nothing unusual; every city almost nightly rang with so gunfire, battles between gangs, warlords, and ordinary people continuing indefinitely.
Looking at the two who had fallen, Isabella recalled when she first t them, about seven or eight years ago?
Back then, their family was facing survival issues.
Actually, this couple wasn’t blind from the start, not congenital; they reportedly drank sothing, which caused their blindness.
At that ti, Isabella gave them so money, not much, but a little every month, and sotis she would visit.
They didn’t seem at all like they were today, not as crazy as now.
Standing there for a few seconds, she imdiately returned to the room, packed up a bit, and left under the cover of night.
Soon after, so neighbors gathered around, standing outside and peering inside.
Seeing the couple lying on the ground didn’t scare them; instead, they proceeded inside.
Once they realized no one was in the room, they began quickly rummaging through everything, taking away anything valuable!
Night fell, and the temperature had already dropped to about three or five degrees. Isabella’s heart was sinking in the darkness, filled with despair.
This damned world.
She considered it for a long ti and finally decided to contact the Federation people. If she didn’t, it might be difficult for her to survive.
The city, which should have been filled with a sense of security, was making her feel unfamiliar and afraid.
She thought her frequent contacts with civilians, under the protection of the military, offering them help, ant pleasant interactions with them.
Unexpectedly, they didn’t care at all about past kindness; then who can be relied upon?
Only at this mont did she understand that the Federation people were genuinely reliable because they needed to utilize her. As long as she had value, the Federation wouldn’t let her die.
Just like her brother Sanchez, she was always keeping an eye on Sanchez’s situation. Only recently, with the Federation’s help, Sanchez had taken two cities as his territory and gathered people to fight for him.
He was doing better than ever, and the Federation would protect him!
Tightening the clothes on her body, she quickly found a working phone.
Loading bullets into her gun, she frowned at the fresh corpses in the corner, dialing the contact number the Federation gave her.
Half a minute later, the call connected.
"This is Tonight’s Sweet Talk Hotline. Our company has professional operators who can et any client need. Do you have a familiar operator?"
"If not, we can recomnd so for you."
"Our company’s charge is one dollar every five minutes!"
If soone who didn’t understand the situation accidentally called this number, their first thought would certainly be to hang up. It was clearly an adult phone service, and the fees weren’t cheap.
Isabella’s expression was sowhat strange. She was silent for a while, "I am Isabella, you need to arrange for soone to save !"
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