Free Web NovelChapter 514: Chapter 514
Melody Summers’s voice was calm, her gaze almost pitying. But to Felix Ford and Sylvia Lancaster, she was more terrifying than a demon from the depths of hell.
’Millions of hours of continuous work—strenuous manual labor, like mining—without a single second of rest. A fate where they could neither live nor die.’
Was there anything more terrifying in this world?
’If that’s really what’s going to happen, it would be better if she just killed us now!’
’Even being sliced to death would be better than this!’
Felix Ford and Sylvia Lancaster wanted to fall to their knees and wail, to beg Melody Summers to just kill them outright.
But their hands and feet were bound, and their mouths were gagged with rags. They couldn’t move or make a single sound.
The next second, a rank, foul odor filled the air. Felix Ford had been so terrified that he had lost control of his bladder.
Seeing her Trading Floor getting soiled, Melody Summers immediately frowned.
She ripped a glass ornament off the side of The Trading Floor, plunged it viciously into Felix Ford’s eyeball, and snarled, "What are you pissing for?! You won’t get a single sip of water for the next 1,800 years! And you dare to piss now!"
’Now I have to clean The Trading Floor. How disgusting!’
Felix Ford felt a searing pain in his right eye. The sharp glass ornament had pierced it, and a torrent of blood gushed out. His eyeball had been completely destroyed.
An animalistic howl tore from his throat, a sound filled with utter despair, as if he had completely shattered.
Just a few hours ago, he had been brimming with confidence, thinking he was the protagonist of the world, full of ambition and ready to conquer all. But now...
Melody Summers watched him wail and rolled her eyes in disgust. ’He just lost one eye, what’s there to scream about? This is nothing.’
’Once he gets to the Ore Star, there’s far more torture waiting for him.’
Melody Summers had read in the fine print that the overseers on the Ore Stars might chop off a slave’s legs to make it easier for them to crawl into narrow mine shafts.
Felix Ford would have to atone for those he had killed with 1,800 years of torture.
Just then, a system notification sounded:
[Two humans detected.]
[Both humans have been detected to have ingested the Work Secret Medicine. Connecting to designated Ore Stars.]
[Ore Star D-06300 confirms reception. Preparing for departure to said planet.]
The next second, the agonized wails vanished. A massive ship carrying Sylvia Lancaster and Felix Ford departed from Terra, bound for the Extragalactic System.
At the same time, another system notification sounded:
[Value verification complete. A total of 270 million will be deposited into your account.]
Melody Summers was speechless.
’This is ridiculous!’
A combined total of 2,000 years of labor from two people, and she only got 270 million for it.
That worked out to less than 16 an hour!
’They must have calculated this based on the minimum wage back home!’
’Looks like even the capitalist mine owners outside the Milky Way Galaxy deserve to be strung up on lampposts!’
Muttering under her breath, Melody Summers glumly deposited the money into her account. She planned to save up to 10 billion to exchange for an "animal gift package." It would be another way for those two to atone for what they had done.
******
After more than two weeks of investigation, a report about the Sheffield Family hit the news.
The news reported that all three Sheffield brothers had been dismissed from their public positions and had their assets seized. Mitchell Sheffield and Scott Sheffield were sentenced to eight and nine years in prison, respectively.
Jim Sheffield, however, was found guilty of a far more heinous crime: he had beaten four of his wives to death. He was sentenced to death, with the execution to be carried out immediately.
Caleb Summers broke into a cold sweat as he read the verdict. ’Thank god we never got around to arranging a marriage with the Sheffield Family,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, we would have been dragged down with them.’
’I wonder what powerhouse the Sheffield Family pissed off to get purged so completely. Not a shred of mercy was shown...’
Just then, Zoe Kane’s voice came from behind him. "Honey, can you stop looking at your phone and help me with the luggage?"
Caleb Summers frowned without even turning his head. "I can’t. I’ve had a headache for the past two days... I told you not to bring so much luggage, but you just wouldn’t listen. Who’s to blame now but yourself?"
Hearing this, Zoe Kane pouted resentfully but didn’t dare say anything more. She could only continue to struggle with the luggage, stepping through the puddles of floodwater.
Due to the continuous torrential rain, their residential complex had also been flooded.
The flooding wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was a disgusting type of worm that had started hatching in the stagnant water.
The worm-like creatures wriggled like maggots. They were a mix of red, green, and yellow, making them incredibly conspicuous in the water. From a distance, the sight of the dense, brightly-colored mass was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
Experts said that these worms, like the Sandvine Worms, were a new species that had appeared after the natural disaster. For now, they hadn’t been observed to actively attack humans, so there was no need for excessive panic.
But despite the experts’ assurances, how could the public not panic?
’They’re so brightly colored, they have to be poisonous!’
’And even if they aren’t, a swarm of garish-looking maggots is still disgusting enough!’
Fortunately, these worms only appeared in areas with large amounts of standing water. Since most of the South District was submerged, the creatures were crawling everywhere. In contrast, the unflooded North District had yet to see any sign of them.
Many residents of the South District woke up to find the worms had crawled up their walls and through their pipes, writhing all over their homes.
Out of fear of these unknown creatures, many people packed their bags and hurriedly moved to the North District.
Caleb Summers and Zoe Kane’s family was among them.
The day before, they had woken up to find their home infested with these worms. Chester and Howard Fletcher had burst into tears, Zoe Kane had been screaming nonstop, and even Caleb Summers himself had been repulsed. So, they packed their bags overnight, preparing to take the children and move into a cheap rental in the North District.
...
When the family of four finally made it to the rental building, they found the hallways packed with other refugees. Mattresses were laid out on the filthy ground, so damp you could wring water from them.
With the lack of sunlight, a foul, fermented stench filled the hallway. Zoe Kane pinched her nose, nearly gagging.
She couldn’t help but think, ’Thank goodness we still have enough money to rent a place and don’t have to crowd into the hallway with the other refugees. If we did, I don’t think I’d want to go on living...’
After finally dragging their luggage to their rental unit, the family of four discovered that the previous tenant hadn’t even moved out yet.
Just as Caleb Summers’s family arrived, they saw the previous tenant standing at the door, trying to get the landlord to be more accommodating.
The landlord was frowning, scolding the middle-aged woman in front of him. "Hurry up and move out! I told you the new tenants were moving in today! Why are you still here, refusing to leave?"
Elaine Hughes wrung her hands in embarrassment and said in a placating tone, "We really have nowhere else to go... Please, I’m begging you, just give us a little more time..."
The landlord’s frown deepened. "More time?" he said, displeased. "You haven’t paid rent in a month! What more do you want from me? You think this is some kind of charity shelter? This is ridiculous! You bitch, are you looking for trouble? Pack your things and get the hell out!"
Berated by the landlord, Elaine Hughes didn’t dare to talk back. She just meekly begged, "...My daughter went missing recently, so I can’t get the money together right now... But don’t worry, as soon as she comes back, we’ll have money. We’ll definitely pay you all the back rent then..."
