Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Why Did You Have to Provoke Me?

"Young people these days... they’re all so much sharper than we were back in our time."

Ethan Young sighed. After watching Stella Sterling’s back disappear from view, he turned and strode away.

She had been busy all morning, and it was already close to two or three in the afternoon. The mess hall was closed by now, so she had missed lunch.

Stella Sterling was about to head back to her quarters to rest for a bit and take care of lunch.

But she was stopped halfway by someone. "Hey, beautiful. You’re new to the base, aren’t you?"

Stella Sterling stopped and looked at him, silently gesturing for him to get to the point.

"I just saw you heading toward the mess hall. You probably didn’t get anything to eat. But I’ve got a way to get you some food. You can trade something for it, or just use points."

She looked at him. "I’m a newcomer. Where would I get any points?"

"No points? No problem. You must have some belongings on you, right? You can trade them with me."

"Oh, right. Let me give you newcomers a tip. There’s a points exchange over there. You can trade your personal items for points."

The man blocking her path pointed in another direction.

Stella Sterling glanced over before looking back at the man in front of her. "What do you have to trade?"

Seeing her interest, the man’s eyes lit up. "Too many people here. This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go over there."

The two of them went to a corner. The man started taking off his jacket. "I’ve got a lot of good stuff in here. As long as you’re willing to part with some points or trade something." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He fumbled with the zipper, reaching inside his jacket as he spoke.

Seeing the woman watching him with curiosity, his expression suddenly turned sinister. With a flick of his hand, he threw a white, powder-like substance at Stella Sterling.

’Another one in the bag. Just as I thought, these newcomers are the easiest to trick.’

His tone was already dripping with triumph as he imagined her falling into his clutches.

These people who had just joined the base knew nothing about it, but they often had plenty of good stuff on them.

That’s because when new people joined, their personal belongings weren’t confiscated. This was when they were at their wealthiest.

’She’s a woman, and she’s alone. The perfect target. I’ll make her hand over all her things, and I bet a newcomer like her won’t dare say a word. She’ll have no choice but to suffer in silence.’

As he thought this, his movements didn’t slow. A dagger appeared in his hand, and he intended to subdue the woman as quickly as possible.

But in the next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his ass, as if he’d been kicked. His entire body went flying, and he landed face-down on the ground.

Before he could even process what had happened, he felt a foot press down on his back, pinning him firmly to the ground, unable to move.

At the same time, a cold voice sounded above him. "You thought you could trick me with a pathetic little scheme like that? You need more practice. Though, you probably won’t get the chance."

As she spoke, Stella Sterling slapped him hard across the head.

The blow made his head ring, his mind going blank for a moment.

She stared down at him, her expression calm and indifferent.

At first, she had genuinely thought he wanted to make a trade with her, or maybe sell her something to make a quick profit.

But when he led her to this secluded spot, she sensed something was wrong.

Meridia Base allowed residents to trade privately amongst themselves. That being the case, why would he go to all this trouble? Something was clearly fishy.

So she had been on guard the whole time. When he suddenly dropped the act, she wasn’t surprised at all.

Seeing that he had failed and was now in her clutches, the man immediately changed his tune, putting on a fawning smile. "Hehe, beautiful, it’s a misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding! I was just playing a joke on you!"

"Oh, so it was a joke. That’s fine. I, for one, love playing jokes on people."

Stella Sterling’s tone was light and her voice was gentle.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

Stella Sterling grabbed his head with one hand and brutally twisted his body around to face her. The rough movement made the man scream in pain, breaking out in a cold sweat.

He wanted to get angry, but the thought that he was still pinned under her foot made him hold it back.

Meanwhile, Stella Sterling watched him calmly, snatching the dagger from his hand.

The flat of the blade slid across his face, and the fear in his eyes grew.

But her smile only grew gentler. "So, tell me. What kind of joke were you playing on me? What’s the punchline?"

"Think carefully before you speak. If I don’t like your answer, I might get angry."

She emphasized her last few words, and the man shivered.

He had just blurted out the first excuse he could think of; how could he possibly come up with a coherent explanation now?

He opened his mouth several times but couldn’t think of a plausible story, and a cold sweat began to pour down his face in panic.

’He cursed his bad luck. He had carefully selected a lone newcomer to target, only to realize he’d kicked an iron plate.’

"Speak. Why have you gone quiet?"

Stella Sterling’s tone turned displeased. She suddenly plunged the dagger into the man’s shoulder. She didn’t pull it out right away, instead twisting the blade inside.

The man was in so much pain that a cold sweat drenched him, but he couldn’t even manage a scream.

"Of all the people to provoke, you just had to pick me. Do I really look like such an easy target?"

Stella Sterling scoffed, asking as if genuinely puzzled.

The man couldn’t speak at all. He stared at Stella Sterling in terror, never imagining she would be so ruthless and so bold.

After a long moment, he calmed down enough to speak. "Y-You dare to harm someone? Aren’t you afraid the base will hold you responsible?"

"Weren’t you the one who tried to harm me first? I was just defending myself. Why would the base come after me?"

Stella Sterling looked unconcerned, completely unafraid of his verbal threat.

"But no one saw me make the first move! You’re new here, you don’t know the base’s rules. You’ll be punished for this!"

"No one saw? Then what do I have to be afraid of? If I just killed you right now, the base would probably never even know, right? After all, this spot you found is so secluded. No one saw a thing."

Hearing this, the man’s pupils contracted violently. Only now did he feel true fear.

He never expected that today, he had dug a pit only to fall into it himself.

"Please, don’t."

He looked at her, his eyes pleading. "I have people backing me! You can’t touch me! If you do, someone will come for revenge. Let me go, and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened."