Free Web NovelChapter 497: Chapter 497: Untitled
In his past life, Felix Ford had a "tangled history" with Sylvia Lancaster. He had accidentally learned that Sylvia possessed a space, one that could produce a "Holy Water" with healing properties.
But not long after discovering this secret, Felix died.
When Felix opened his eyes again, he found that he had been reborn before the start of the apocalypse.
Relying on the memories of his past life, Felix built a safe house in advance and stockpiled a massive amount of supplies. With these resources, he made a fortune after the apocalypse began, recruited a group of loyal followers, and became a local powerhouse who could call the shots.
Savoring the taste of money and power, Felix grew bolder, and a plan began to take shape in his mind.
He had always enjoyed reading novels, and it suddenly occurred to him: ’Maybe I’m the protagonist of this world. Why else would I be the one to be reborn?’
Felix felt he couldn’t waste the chance heaven had given him. ’I have to do what a novel protagonist is supposed to do!’
Thus, leveraging his wealth accumulated in the early days of the apocalypse and his information advantage from his past life, Felix made many predictions about the cataclysms. He slowly established his own sect, which he named "The Advent Sect."
Felix believed he was a new god descended upon the world. ’Jesus Christ and all that is obsolete!’
As the sect grew, so did Felix’s ambition. He began to emulate the arrogant protagonists from novels, challenging the iron fist of the state. He, too, hoped to establish his own new regime and become the emperor of this world.
However, unlike the protagonists in novels, Felix failed in his challenge. He did not establish his own new regime. On the contrary, he was beaten to a pulp by the paramilitary police and was forced to abandon his lair, fleeing in disarray with a small group of followers.
Just like in his previous life, Felix fled to Anworth.
In his past life, Felix had also fled to Anworth as a refugee. Back then, he was penniless and had nothing to his name. He heard there were jobs available on the mountain behind The Metropolis Residences, so he went to apply.
But in this life, Felix had money and many loyal subordinates.
In a corner hidden from the police’s attention, Felix and his group of followers quietly put down roots in Anworth.
Relying on his memories from his past life, Felix found Anworth’s mafia boss, Hector Hayes. Both men wanted to throw Anworth into chaos, so they hit it off immediately and conspired to plan a terrorist attack.
But to Felix’s surprise, the Adler and Hayes families, who had been perfectly fine in his past life, fell one after another in quick succession.
He knew for a fact that in his past life, these two families had been incredibly prosperous. They were still at the height of their glory right up until the moment he died.
The Adler Family had even secured a project from the Anworth reconstruction department, contributing to the national rebuilding effort and receiving official government commendations.
Yet in this life, both families were wiped out in just the second year of the apocalypse.
This was completely beyond Felix’s expectations.
Felix surmised, ’My rebirth must have triggered a butterfly effect, which is why the Anworth police have gotten stronger.’
But none of that mattered. Felix’s ultimate target wasn’t these people—it was Sylvia Lancaster.
Felix knew that in the previous life, Sylvia Lancaster had obtained something called a space and used its "Healing Holy Water" to achieve both fame and fortune.
Felix believed that he was the true protagonist of this world. ’A magical item like the space should rightfully belong to me,’ he thought. ’I have to get the space before Sylvia does!’
But he knew nothing about the space itself, only that Sylvia had obtained it when the flood arrived. So, he had secretly laid low near Sylvia early on, observing her every move.
But he soon realized something was wrong. ’Why did Sylvia Lancaster marry Ethan Sutton so early in this life? In my past life, she was still single.’
Many subsequent events also took Felix by surprise, such as Sylvia having a miscarriage and nearly dying in the hospital.
Felix began to realize, ’The power of the butterfly effect is just too great.’ To avoid further complications and not disrupt the original timeline any more, he didn’t dare to have much contact with Sylvia.
Later, when the flood finally arrived, he watched as the police wiped out his lair and caught all his subordinates in one fell swoop. Felix couldn’t hold back any longer and re-established contact with Sylvia.
Interestingly, Felix discovered that Sylvia was trying to seduce Winston Sheffield, and as it happened, Felix had some history with the Sheffield Family.
In his past life, while working on the mountain behind The Metropolis Residences, the project manager for his construction site was Winston Sheffield. The two had chatted before, and Felix learned that Winston’s grandfather had died from the same cause as his own father. Because of this, he had unintentionally memorized the cause and anniversary of Winston’s grandfather’s death.
After being reborn in this life, in order to cultivate more connections, Felix used his real name to get acquainted with the Sheffield Family. He told them about the cause of the illness and the time of its onset, which he knew from his past life.
Once again, Felix felt it. ’Heaven is really helping me this time. I truly am the protagonist.’
And so, with Felix’s help, Sylvia successfully gained the trust of Winston Sheffield’s grandparents, and Felix himself gained Sylvia’s trust...
Just then, Simon Lancaster suddenly spoke up. "Did the Sheffield Family agree to buy us a place in The Metropolis Residences? I heard from the refugees in the hallway that sales in most of the northern district’s residential complexes have been halted. The vacant units have all been requisitioned by the government to house refugees from the flood discharge zones."
The rain was even heavier today than yesterday. There was news that the upstream reservoirs would be releasing water again. This time, it was feared that most of the city would be flooded, and large numbers of displaced people were awaiting resettlement and evacuation.
Sylvia Lancaster pulled her gaze away from her ring and nodded. "It’s true, sales are halted. We can’t buy a place for now."
Hearing Sylvia say this, both Simon Lancaster and Elaine Hughes looked disappointed.
Not being able to buy a new home meant they either had to stay in this filthy, dilapidated, low-rent apartment and battle with backed-up sewers and toilets, or be evacuated with the other refugees and crammed into a single apartment with dozens of them.
Neither option was what they wanted.
Seeing Simon and Elaine’s disappointed expressions, Sylvia added, "But the Sheffield Family arranged for Winston Sheffield to work in the reconstruction department. When the time comes, he can figure out a way to get our family assigned to a private apartment!"
’In truth, getting into the reconstruction department already makes Winston a promising young talent,’ Sylvia thought. ’But with his background, he’ll probably be a low-level employee for his entire life. It’ll be hard for him to climb the ladder, and even harder for him to give me the life I want.’
’So, I only plan to use Winston for a while,’ she mused. ’Once I find the space, I’ll break up with him...’
******
After several days of rest, the wound on Nina Summers’s shoulder healed at a visible rate.
To help Nina’s injury heal, tonight’s dinner included a rich, milky bone broth, crispy fish fried to a golden brown, pork ribs stewed until they were fall-off-the-bone tender, vibrant green stir-fried choy sum, and a steaming bowl of millet porridge with plump grains cooked to perfection.
Seeing Nina Summers come downstairs for dinner, Grace Sutton chided gently, "Oh, you! Why are you out of bed again? You’re still injured. Be a good girl and stay put, don’t run around. I was about to bring your dinner up to you!"
Nina smiled, a little embarrassed. "It’s okay," she replied. "My wound is almost healed."
Melody Summers glanced at the wound on Nina’s shoulder. The gash, once deep enough to expose bone, was now almost completely healed. ’As expected of an S Level potion, the healing effect is incredible,’ she thought. ’Just two more days of rest and it should be fully recovered.’
Melody thought for a moment before adding a reminder, "Oh, right. You absolutely cannot go out in the rain for the next few days. Got it?"
