Chapter 302: Chapter 302: Special Feature-4

Austin struggled and tried to defend himself. "What is happening? What are you all doing here? I... I was here to rescue these girls and women!"

Thud!

Before Austin continues, one of the citizens, furious at his audacity to lie, punches him hard.

"We heard your conversation before! Do you think we are idiots?" Someone from the enraged crowd yelled; his voice echoed the sentiments brewing in the hearts of others.

Austin’s face drained of color. His quick mind formulated a plan, and he proposed, "I am ready to give 1 kg of rice as compensation! Just... please show mercy. It was a momentary greed! I swear to God! I am not like this!"

However, his words fell on deaf ears because everyone present knew the reality. Before, they might have been tempted by such a generous offer, but now? After buying 5 kg of rice and knowing about the grocery store, all of them let the humanity in them burn brightly.

Kael threw Austin in the crowd; his stern voice, like a matchstick being lit, started the fire called justice. "Go on and show him the result for forgetting humanity’s moral line."

"Yes!"

"You bastard! How dare you kidnap my wife!"

"I considered you a kind politician, and you kidnapped my daughter!"

The echoes of past grievances drowned the pleas of Austin. His past deeds had now come back to bite him in his ass, and he struggled to protect his important parts of the body; however, in the end, he still died in the hands of the same people he had wronged before.

Silas and Ivy watched Austin dying, and even subordinates of Austin weren’t spared.

The cruelty they faced might look pitiful, but the numerous fates destroyed under their hand were far more pitiful.

Once the crow’s anger calmed down, Ivy and Silas led them to Fortis’s base.

Of course, they asked the citizens to stay inside the cargo area and pretended to stop in between.

It created an illusion that the group indeed encountered trouble.

Once at the Fortis base, Ivy, along with the other citizens, spread the incident of the human trafficking and even exposed the base.

By the time they had completely dealt with the matter, it was already 4 am.

Tired and worn out by the sting operation, Ivy and her family decided to rest before departing for the helicopter.

They could finally leave!

Ivy remembered the promise she had made to the old man, and hence, the next day, she pretended to enter the base from outside (the doors were getting repaired due to Ivy and Silas’s stunt).

She secretly delivered 1000 kg of white rice, 1000 kg of white flour, 1000 kg of salt, 200 boxes of canned meat, and 1000 gallons of water.

At least for the upcoming years, even if the apocalypse prevails... the old man will live a good life.

When the old man saw the food Ivy had brought, he was moved to tears.

Patting Ivy’s hand, he murmured, "Thank you so much! May God bless you and fulfill all your wishes!"

There were a few more people who wanted to exchange items with Ivy.

After all, a few of the people who had confirmed the existence of the grocery store mentioned how the grocery store only accepted crystals.

Ivy agreed to the exchange, and in the end, she even had to conduct a few ’trips’ before she exchanged an enormous sum of grains for properties.

Silas never questioned her and even aided her.

As a result, Ivy owned 30 properties and 100 kg of gold. Her net worth, according to pre-apocalypse standards, rose to $4 million!

In a good mood, Ivy and Silas left the Twilight base and returned to the location where they had asked Mike to wait.

Sure enough, they found Mike living in the helicopter with a carefree expression.

To not raise his suspicion, Ivy even had brought Felix and Kael outside with her.

As for Ember, Helena, and Victor... Felix and Kael insisted that they stay inside the temporal storage. The temperature was slowly rising from 42 degrees Celsius to 45.

Ivy knew that at one point the temperature would rise straight to 50 degrees Celsius, and at that point, even stepping outside for a minute could lead to heatstroke.

The landscape around them was already a hazy, shimmering wave of heat, each breath thick and heavy. Even the helicopter metal felt blistering when touched.

Felix and Kael had made the right call in keeping Ember, Helena, and Victor inside the temporal storage.

Even though with Ivy’s appearance they won’t feel heat at all, the space in the helicopter was limited.

Mike, oblivious to the turmoil Ivy and Silas had gone through, slouched lazily in the pilot seat with a sunflower seed between his teeth, humming some tune.

When he saw Ivy stepping toward the helicopter, he spun around and flashed a grin.

"Welcome back, boss lady! I was starting to think you abandoned me to become a desert cactus."

Silas raised an eyebrow. "If I wanted to abandon you, I would have at least left water so you could grow properly."

Ivy chuckled under her breath.

Mike let out a dramatic gasp. "Cold-hearted! Absolutely heartless! I risk my life flying through zombie-infested skies and scorching heat, and this is my repayment?"

"You risked nothing. You literally slept!" Silas pointed at the blanket mess in the back seat.

Mike ignored the accusation completely. "So? Mission success?"

"Yes," Silas said quietly. "We saved them."

With that he stepped aside. Kael and Felix came into Mike’s view. Mike wiped away the sweat dripping from his forehead and wondered in his heart,

’Eh? Is it my imagination? Why is the area feel cooler, and I don’t feel hot at all?’

However, he didn’t speak his mind; instead, he made space for Kael and Felix.

Once everyone was seated, Mike gave a signal to Silas. Silas and Kael immediately held the rifle and started to look for mutated birds once they set off.

While Ivy’s temporal storage chimed in.

[Ding! A huge amount of kindness energy directed at the host was detected! A special feature is unlocked...]