Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Austin
The guard at the gate looked straight at Ivy, and his eyes lit up. A lecherous expression appeared on his face, and he didn’t even think about hiding it at all.
The way he stared at Ivy made Silas’s blood boil. He quickly stepped in front of Ivy, blocking the guard’s view.
The guard blinked, surprised by Silas’s sudden move, but then pretended to act calm.
"Pay the fee first. Two kilos of rice for both of you. Rules are rules."
Silas’s jaw tightened. "Two kilos?"
The guard nodded, his voice calm, but his eyes still kept sneaking toward Ivy.
Seeing that, Ivy raised her hand lightly. Two bags of rice appeared in her palm. She placed them down without a word.
The guard’s eyes lit up. He stared at Ivy again, and this time his gaze was even more heated.
A space user? Though their base had a space user too... none of them were as beautiful as her.
’Hm... playing with her would be fun.’
Silas’s face darkened. He grabbed the two bags before the guard could touch them and shoved them forward.
His voice was cold. "Take it. And watch where you look. One day, that stare of yours might end up getting you killed."
The threat was evident in his tone.
The guard accepted the rice but rolled his eyes, pretending not to care.
Inside, he laughed at Silas.
’So what if he acts like her man? Guys like him can always sell their girl for survival. And when that happens, I’ll be the first to take her.’
He smirked at his own thought.
Silas caught that smirk, and his fists trembled.
’I should break his teeth right now.’
But he forced himself to stay calm. ’This wasn’t the time.’
Everyone has to pay for their sins... and the guard was no exception.
He placed his hand on Ivy’s back and led her inside.
The moment they passed through the gates, a horrible smell hit them.
The air was gloomy, filled with the stench of human waste.
Ivy frowned and almost raised her sleeve to cover her nose.
Her heart twisted as memories from her past life returned.
This smell again... Back then, when the Ravencroft family had left her and she was living with Silas’s friends, she often smelled this strange odor.
At that time, she had once asked Chloe about it, and she told her it was because people had no place to dump waste. No system, no order.
’Only filth. I hated it then... and I still hate it now.’
She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay calm.
Silas noticed her discomfort. He frowned, too, and pulled out two small masks from his bag.
He handed one to her. "Wear this. It’ll help."
Ivy accepted without hesitation and put it on.
The foul smell lessened, and she nodded at him. Silas gave a small smile. "Alright. Let’s keep moving."
They walked deeper into the base.
The streets were crowded and chaotic.
People argued, and some shoved each other.
A few women begged on the ground with children clinging to them.
Two men fought viciously over a piece of bread, punching and kicking until blood spilled.
Ivy lowered her eyes.
’I want to help... but I can’t. My resources are already stretched thin. The food produced by my temporal storage is just enough for my base’s people. Not to mention, if I give even one piece of food here, everyone will rush at me. They’ll tear me apart. I can’t risk it.’
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
’Still... if I see someone on the edge of ending their life, I won’t ignore them. I can’t save everyone, but I can at least save one or two.’
She kept walking, forcing herself to look away from the suffering around her.
After turning a few corners, they finally reached a house that looked very different from the rest.
Unlike the filthy huts outside, this one was solid, well-built, and didn’t carry the smell of waste. It even had a system to handle sewage.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed. So the leader has a clean home while the rest live in filth.
Typical. They had the materials to make this house, but not enough to give the same to others.
At the door, two guards stood with weapons. They stepped forward to block Ivy and Silas. "No entry without permission."
Silas stayed calm. "We were sent by Ronak."
The guards exchanged a quick look. At the name, their expressions changed.
They stepped aside, allowing them through.
Inside, the room was neat.
At the center sat a man with shiny brown hair and sharp brown eyes.
He was busy with some papers, but when he looked up and saw them, he smiled.
"You must be Silas and Ivy," he said warmly. "I’ve been expecting you."
Silas didn’t beat around the bush and asked, "Do you know about Helena and Victor?"
The man chuckled before taking out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and putting them on. His aura transformed from a base leader to that of a gentle scum.
"Hello to you too. I am Austin. Would you like to have something? Tea or coffee?"
Silas and Ivy exchanged a glance; they knew they had encountered a slippery eel. With a tactic understanding, both of them sat on the sofa, left to the sofa, Austin was sitting in.
"Nothing. We are here for Helena and Victor. They are researchers, and they have children named Kael, Ember, and Felix." Silas pressed on, in the hopes of getting a quick answer.
"Oh? Well, I do know them." Austin’s languid voice made Ivy’s heart skip a beat.
Is it? Was she finally going to see her parents?
The mere thought of how she was going to see her parents today filled Ivy with joy, and she almost wanted to jump into Austin’s mind to know about her parents.
"However," Austin added, while folding his arms, "I need some kind of reward before I can remember their location."