Read Novel Full Chapter 376: Rules
Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Rules
The words slipped out smoothly, yet his fingers had curled slightly at his side, betraying a trace of nervous anticipation.
For a second, Annie simply stared at him.
’His... secret hideout?’
Of course she knew it. He was the one who had told her.
Her lips parted and then pressed together again.
She hadn’t expected such a direct invitation, let alone one that sounded so carefully planned.
Felix watched her closely, his chest tightening as silence stretched. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind all at once.
’Did I push too far? Was that too sudden? What if she thinks I’m trying to corner her?’
Just as he was about to awkwardly backtrack, Annie nodded, slow and deliberate.
"Alright," she murmured, her voice soft but clear. "I’ll come."
That single sentence sent a quiet jolt through Felix’s body.
His ears burned faintly as he turned his face away, pretending to clear his throat while the corners of his mouth betrayed him by lifting higher.
Behind them, Ember’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. She leaned closer to Kael and whispered under her breath, "Do you feel that?"
Kael crossed his arms, gaze fixed on Felix’s back. "Unfortunately. I feel it very clearly."
"It’s the stench of romance," Ember muttered grimly.
Silas glanced at Ivy and drawled, "Looks like someone’s about to cook his way into a relationship."
Ivy shot him a warning look, though there was a faint, helpless smile tugging at her lips. ’Kids... grow up faster than you realize.’
If Felix knew that Ivy was calling him kid, he would have exploded, but for now he was too immersed in Annie.
Annie reluctantly moved her gaze away from Felix and stared at Ivy.
By now Silas was sitting on the sofa with Ivy in his lap.
"Boss, the people you had asked me to look out for have started to move."
Ivy’s eyes narrowed suddenly as killing intent started to pulse under her skin, but she masked it and looked at Annie with a smile.
"Oh? Thank you for informing me. Also, do they..."
"No, they don’t have any external contacts, and from what I can see, they aren’t linked to any other base," Annie murmured.
Her eyes lingered on the report longer than necessary.
Ivy didn’t speak; she was lost in deep thoughts.
Slowly, she narrowed her gaze and dug deeper, fingers tapping lightly against the table.
’Something still doesn’t sit right.’
Dr. Thompson had conducted extensive research on her... far too extensive for someone without backing.
Ivy found it hard to believe that a man like him could act alone. However, another thought surfaced.
’Those experiments were carried out five years after the apocalypse...’
That changed everything.
Perhaps his accomplices weren’t part of the old world. Perhaps they were formed after civilization collapsed.
With that realization, Ivy lowered her lashes and nodded slightly.
"I understand," she said calmly.
Annie, standing across from her, shifted uneasily.
"What should I do next?"
Ivy’s voice remained steady, almost detached.
"The next step is something I need to handle myself. There’s not much you can do about it."
She paused briefly, then added,
"Tell Martha to focus on the legal framework instead."
Annie blinked, then nodded slowly.
"Alright. I understand."
In truth, Ivy had already instructed Martha to focus on law enforcement and internal regulations long ago.
She had sensed it coming; man’s nature was never truly extinguished. When survival stabilized and time stretched on, boredom and greed would inevitably brew darker thoughts.
And Ivy hadn’t been wrong.
The moment she had fallen unconscious, certain people had already tried to take advantage of the power vacuum.
They never even got close. The system teleported them directly into prison cells without warning.
Two days earlier, a woman named Joy had been walking back to her assigned residence after returning from a hunt.
The air was cold that evening, carrying the damp smell of soil and blood from freshly slain zombies. Her fifteen-year-old brother trudged beside her, his steps sluggish from exhaustion.
They were almost home.
Then, without warning, a rough hand yanked her backward.
Joy stumbled, her breath catching painfully in her throat. When she turned and saw the men standing behind her, her brows furrowed in confusion for a brief second.
That confusion shattered instantly.
Fear surged through her veins like ice.
’No... not them.’
They were her tormentors from before the apocalypse.
Back then, her parents had taken on an enormous debt, working themselves half to death to repay it. Even after clearing the principal, the interest remained, an absurd amount, nearly double the original debt. The pressure crushed them slowly, day by day, until their bodies finally gave out.
They died from overwork.
Joy and her brother were left alone.
At first, Joy had wanted to press charges against the loan sharks who had exploited her parents. But before she could act, those men came to her privately.
They smiled. They promised.
They said they would stop harassing her and her brother.
Joy wanted to fight. She truly did.
But when she looked at her brother, thin, quiet, and clinging to her sleeve, she swallowed her anger.
’If anything happens to him... I’ll have nothing left.’
So she restrained herself.
That decision, however, only encouraged them.
Instead of guilt or remorse, the thugs began to stalk her openly. Sometimes they catcalled her on the streets.
Other times, they sold her phone number to explicit websites. Her phone rang endlessly with unknown callers, lewd messages, and threats disguised as jokes.
Joy endured it silently at first.
She knew that reacting too strongly might paint a larger target on her back.
But the harassment escalated.
One night, a hand brushed against her waist deliberately. Another day, someone grabbed her wrist and laughed when she flinched. The fear grew until even stepping outside her apartment made her legs tremble.
She began working from home. She stopped going out unless absolutely necessary.
Then came the moment she truly broke.
She realized their intentions had rotted completely. They weren’t just harassing her anymore.
They wanted to do something unspeakable.
Joy contacted the police immediately.
Those men were arrested and thrown behind bars. However, even as they were dragged away, they sneered at her and spat venomous words.