Arthur waved his hand hastily, forcing an awkward smile.
"Bring as many people as you like."
A faint smirk curved Ivy’s lips.
The very next second, bodyguards flooded toward Ivy, their heavy boots thudding against the ground as their imposing presence closed in around her.
Arthur couldn’t help but gulp, his throat dry, as Hannah’s words echoed relentlessly in his mind.
’She sounded so certain... too certain,’ he thought uneasily. Hannah had insisted that Angelina had revealed Damien’s location to her, and all Arthur needed to do was lure Ivy in that direction.
Once Ivy arrived near Moon Base, everything would fall into place. A permanent house, a real one, not so temporary shelter, would finally be his.
’Maybe if she’s pleased enough... she might even give more than two complexes,’ the greedy thought crept in, sweet and poisonous at the sa ti.
Yet now, standing directly in front of Ivy with ten bodyguards surrounding them, fear crawled up his spine like icy fingers.
’What if Hannah lied? What if this was all a setup?’ His palms grew damp. ’Wouldn’t I be the perfect scapegoat then?’
Only now did he truly understand why his parents had condemned him so fiercely, why they had begged him not to co. This was a blatant trap.
If he failed, the permanent house he so desperately wanted would slip straight into Hannah’s hands. His steps faltered, and he lurched slightly, instinctively beginning to retreat.
Ivy followed him without a word, her eyes narrowing. Her sharp gaze swept the surroundings again and again, as though she were dissecting every shadow.
Behind her, one of the suited figures was Bella. Seeing Ivy’s rigid stance, Bella moved closer and murmured, "Don’t worry so much. With all of us here, nothing will go wrong."
Soon, they reached the destination. It was hidden deep inside a cave. The mont Ivy stepped closer, a pungent, rotten sll assaulted her senses, stinging her nose and coating the back of her throat.
Her brows drew together tightly. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, her heart whispered a grim certainty. ’There’s a high chance Damien really is here.’
Then she heard it. Footsteps.
Her muscles tensed as two figures erged from the shadows, one male and one female. The instant Ivy’s eyes landed on the man, they widened in shock.
"How... how can he be here?" she murmured under her breath.
How could she not recognize him? His na was Joel.
In her previous life, he had been one of the chief researchers in the Talon Base.
A brilliant mind, yet twisted beyond redemption. He had believed Ivy to be so kind of hybrid because of her ability to keep zombies at bay. Worse, he had even suspected she was undead.
Those suspicions had brought her nothing but suffering.
mories surged forward uninvited, sharp and painful. Her hands clenched tightly as hatred boiled inside her chest.
This ti, the hatred was far more intense than ever before. He had crossed lines that should never be crossed, leaving wounds that ti had never healed. Ivy shut her eyes briefly, forcing herself to breathe, terrified that she might lose control.
Around her, people felt it too. The atmosphere shifted unnaturally, a biting cold spreading through the air. Several bodyguards rubbed their arms, confused and unsettled.
Joel, on the other hand, studied Ivy with open interest. Earlier, he had imagined soone entirely different, perhaps flashy and superficial.
But now, standing before her, he found her almost srizing. ’Beautiful,’ he thought darkly. ’Too beautiful to waste.’
A slow, unpleasant smile spread across his face as he glanced at the bodyguards around her. "As long as you dismiss them yourself," he drawled, "you’ll suffer less pain."
At that mont, Ivy opened her eyes. Her gaze was calm, deadly calm, as it locked onto him.
"You really know how to be stupid, Joel."
Joel stiffened instantly. Hearing his na from her lips sent a chill down his spine. He shot a suspicious look toward Hannah, while Hannah stared back at Ivy in shock before turning toward Joel.
For a split second, both of them wondered the sa thing. ’Did the other betray ?’
Ivy didn’t give them ti to speak. With a sharp motion of her hand, she signaled her bodyguards. "Take them down."
However, the next second, more than twenty ard figures appeared from the shadows. Ivy’s pupils shrank. She knew instantly that they were now at a disadvantage. Yet instead of fear, a fierce determination surged through her.
’I won’t retreat.’
She finally had a chance to take revenge. How could she possibly turn back now?
Without hesitation, Ivy lunged into the fray alongside her guards.
The clash of bodies and weapons echoed through the cave.
Even though her people were well-trained, she quickly realized the truth. Joel had brought out his strongest soldiers, the elite of his ranks.
’This won’t be easy,’ she thought grimly.
In her previous life, Moon base hadn’t existed long before rging into Talon base. Even after the rge, Joel had remained the sole controller of Moon base, simply because he possessed sothing invaluable: information.
He held knowledge about the apocalypse that few others did, making him one of the most respected figures in the Talon Base. There were tis when even the base leader sought his opinion.
Later, Ivy had discovered the real reason behind that respect. Joel’s private army.
It wasn’t large in number, but each soldier was terrifyingly powerful. He poured resources into them far beyond what most base leaders would spend in a year.
Every one of them beca a living weapon. Even the Talon Base leader thought a hundred tis before daring to oppose him.
And now, Ivy stood against that very force. She knew this battle would be brutal.
’I won’t back down.’
She would make Joel regret everything he had ever done. He loved experinting on others, treating lives like tools.
’This ti,’ she vowed silently, her eyes burning with cold fury, ’I’ll make you understand what it truly ans... to be the one on the table.’
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