Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 528: The worst fate.

They searched the kitchen. They searched the walk-in fridge. They even checked the tiny crawlspaces under the floorboards.

Nothing. No children. No hidden rooms. The small crowd of Ferry Island’s elite was even more certain that Mrs. Krotchner was being wronged.

And Vicente, he started re-thinking his decision of allowing Sunshine and her group to conduct the search. He was the one that would be burned by the hopeless search in the end, after all.

Sunshine was determined to keep searching, despite not being able to find any proof so far. Not even Major Elio had alerted her to the presence of a baby in the restaurant.

"Nothing here, Boss," Nusra said, wiping sweat from her forehead. "It’s just a really fancy restaurant."

"Could it be that we were wrong?" O’Toole asked_ himself mostly.

Nimo shook her head, still choosing to believe Oliver_ especially his fear. That kid had described Mrs. Krotchner perfectly and the fact that he knew her name could not be erased. She was hiding the children. "Nah.....she must have moved them."

Luca smirked, crossing his arms. "As I said. A waste of time. I expect an apology and a tax break for this insult, Vicente. We will also be sending a list of other demands. If you want to be good with us, you better fulfill them or we will look into accommodations elsewhere."

Vicente let out a loud growl. "You people need to leave." He said to the fortress four team. "I granted you room at the orphanage and you found the dead children Fifi Quinn stole. She wasn’t one of mine, so her crimes are not on my people. Your informant must have got the wrong information."

Sunshine stood in the middle of the dining room, her heart sinking. She had a feeling that something was off here, but the physical evidence was missing. She closed her eyes and whispered to the system. "System... scan for anything suspicious. Find me a sign. Anything. Where are those children?"

Inside the nearly industrial sized kitchen, she had counted only six adult workers. Maybe the children worked at night, and the adults took the morning shift. A faint red light, invisible to everyone but Sunshine, swept across the room like a laser. It scanned the walls, the floor, and finally... it paused.

The red light focused on a high-end barbecue grill built into one of the center tables, where a waiter was currently grilling expensive cuts of meat for a couple that was watching what they thought was a drama.

[Host, human bones identified on the grill.] the System’s voice echoed in her mind.

Sunshine’s blood turned to thin ice. "What? Scan again. Are you sure?"

[Identification confirmed. Bone structure is human, young human.] The System replied coldly.

At the same time, Hunter who had been carrying out her own investigation whispered in her ear. "Sunshine... the deep freezer. There are "special" cuts in the back. There is animal meat but there is a section that isn’t. From the bone sizes, I am confident that those were not adult sized humans. It could be some of the missing children you are looking for."

Sunshine’s eyes locked onto the sizzling meat on the grill. The smell, which had seemed like delicious spices a moment ago, suddenly turned nauseating.

The sweet, fatty aroma hit her nose, and her brain finally connected the dots. "Oh... oh God," Sunshine whispered.

She doubled over, the world spinning. The horror of the orphanage, the missing kids, and the "saintly" Mrs. Krotchner all crashed together in her mind.

"Boss lady? You, okay?" Poncho asked, reaching out to help her.

Sunshine didn’t answer. She lurched to the side and vomited right onto the pristine marble floor.

The room went silent. Mrs. Krotchner stopped crying, her eyes suddenly going cold and sharp_ the mask of the innocent victim finally starting to slip. "Bloody ducking hell! Couldn’t you vomit elsewhere!? This is a highly sanitary area. Are you doing this on purpose just because you have not found what you are looking for?"

Nimo handed Suni a napkin and bottle of water. Sunshine wiped her mouth, her eyes red and full of a new, terrible kind of fury. She looked up at the wealthy people of Hilly Grove, who were slicing into the meat, chewing with smiles.

"Stop eating," Sunshine rasped, her voice trembling with pure, unadulterated rage. "Stop eating right now!"

The rich residents of Hilly Grove looked at Sunshine like she had completely lost her mind. A few of them even rolled their eyes and went back to chewing their expensive steaks and other meats, completely unbothered.

Nimo leaned in, her voice a worried whisper. "Suni, talk to me. What is going on? You’re making everyone look at us like we’re nuts."

Sunshine didn’t look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the center of a nearby table, where a piece of meat was sizzling over a small charcoal grill. She pointed a shaking finger at it.

"The children..." she managed to choke out.

She didn’t need to finish the sentence. The silence that followed was heavy and cold. Everyone understood.

Vicente’s face twisted into a mask of pure disgust. He looked like he had been slapped. "Mrs. Quinn," he growled, his voice trembling. "Are you saying... are you telling me that the meat on those grills is actually... the kids you are looking for?"

Sunshine nodded slowly.

The reaction was instant. The man who had been chewing a large bite of steak suddenly turned green. He tried to swallow, gagged, and then vomited directly onto his plate.

All around the room, the sound of coughing and retching broke the silence. People who had called this restaurant their favorite place for a long time were now clutching their throats in horror.

They had heard about cannibals in the apocalypse, people driven insane by hunger. But they never thought such savagery would touch them. They had food...normal food. Why would they indulge in human flesh?

"Impossible." A woman shouted. "I know the taste of animal meat. If....."

"She mixed it in the smaller pieces, just look at the bones if you don’t believe me." Sunshine screamed. "Go to the freezers and confirm it with your own eyes."

A man near the grill touched it like there was no fire below. He raised one of the smaller pieces of meat and looked at it keenly. As a doctor, he knew what human bones looked like. He threw it down, a look of horror on his face. "Oh God...." he cried out and started clawing at his tongue.

At his confirmation, there was more retching, especially from those that were eating small sized pieces of meat.

Some of the cooks turned to run, but they were arrested by Sunshine’s men. One was slapped back by Father Nicodemus’ wings. Their escape was taken as a confirmation of facts.

"Where is she?" O’Toole shouted, raising his rifle. "Where is that witch!?"

Everyone looked around the diner, seeking the woman that had been shouting her innocence. Now was the time to prove it, but the space where she had been standing was empty.

In the middle of the chaos, Mrs. Krotchner had vanished. While everyone was busy being horrified, she had quietly slipped out the back door.

"She’s gone!" Poncho yelled. "She must be on the run!"