Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Things Are Looking Up

After returning home from The Crestview Hotel, Melody Summers had a relatively peaceful week.

During this time, she had been mining in The Arcadian Mines, hoping to dig up more coal in preparation for the brutal blizzards expected in a few months.

Just as Melody Summers was moving a basket of coal to a small compartment in the warehouse, the Leopard jumped out of nowhere!

It ran up to Melody Summers, staring with its clear eyes, and tilted its head to affectionately rub against her leg.

After spending the past few days with it, Melody Summers felt that this Leopard was incredibly affectionate. Whenever she entered the space, it would pounce on her and rub against her incessantly. Even Albus wasn’t this cuddly.

Melody Summers was fondly exasperated by the affectionate Leopard.

She took off her mining gloves and gave the Leopard’s sleek, glossy coat a few hearty pets, savoring the wonderfully soft and fluffy sensation beneath her hand as she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

’Nothing beats the feeling of petting a big cat!’

As Melody Summers stroked it, the Leopard began to PURR contentedly from deep in its throat. It stretched languidly before rolling over on the ground.

The Arcadian Space had grasslands, forests, and a large lake—a far better environment than the second basement level of The Crestview Hotel. The Leopard was very satisfied with its "immigration" to this place.

It spent its days eating, drinking, and playing, and its entire body had become visibly plumper.

Melody Summers smiled as she petted it and asked, "Flora, are you hungry? I’ll go get you some meat."

Upon hearing this, the Leopard excitedly swished its big, fluffy tail, and its eyes seemed to light up.

Melody Summers sighed. Feeding the Leopard was a huge drain on her meat supply; it consumed several kilograms of fresh meat every day.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a picky eater. As long as it was meat, it would eat whatever Melody Summers fed it.

Melody Summers left the warehouse and went to the livestock farm. She passed the pens for chickens, ducks, rabbits, piglets, and lambs, finally arriving at the cattle pens at the far end of the farm.

Cattle had a long growth cycle, so Melody Summers hadn’t had the heart to slaughter any of them so far.

After more than a year, the cattle in the pen had multiplied from the initial five adults and three calves to eleven head. Now, five more cows were pregnant, with three of them close to giving birth.

Melody Summers patted the cows. Once they gave birth to their calves, she could collect some colostrum. She’d heard that colostrum was highly nutritious and could be processed for Miss Lowell and her grandma to drink. With the constant lack of sunlight, the elderly especially needed to supplement their calcium and nutrients.

The cows were to be kept for breeding and milking, so Melody Summers drove a bull into the processing workshop. After it was processed by the machine, she was left with a pile of cleaned offal and beef.

The Leopard sniffed around. It wasn’t very interested in the beef, but its eyes lit up when it saw the pile of offal.

Melody Summers understood. She set aside all the organs, planning to feed a portion to the Leopard each day. The large pile of organs probably weighed over a hundred pounds, enough to feed the Leopard for many days.

From the pile of beef, Melody Summers picked out the best cuts to take home and share with her family.

She listed the remaining four hundred-plus pounds of beef on The Arcadia Store, divided into five-and-a-half-pound portions, along with the large cow’s head, beef ribs, and the cowhide.

Grain-fed beef, 150,000 per portion.

Whole cowhide, 200,000 each.

Large cow’s head, 200,000 each.

Beef ribs, 100,000 per portion.

The items sold out almost instantly.

After all, the cost of raising cattle was high, with each one consuming a large amount of feed daily. Even the corporations engaged in indoor farming and animal husbandry didn’t offer a regular supply, to the point that many wealthy people had forgotten what fresh beef tasted like.

Melody Summers boxed and packed the beef, then had Albus help with the shipping.

The human and cat were busy all afternoon, while the Leopard quietly gnawed on a piece of fresh, sweet, and crisp beef liver, eating with great relish.

After finally finishing the shipments, Melody Summers lay on the lawn with Albus in her arms, stretching lazily before picking up her phone to browse the news.

The Leopard had also finished its liver. It patted its full belly in satisfaction, licked its paws clean, and cozied up next to Melody Summers, settling down for a nap.

The news that The Crestview Hotel had been completely taken down was trending on the city’s news feeds. The police were sparing no effort in cracking down on the remaining gangs involved in kidnapping and human trafficking.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Adler, who had escaped from the Adler Company, was now wanted by the police.

Reading this news, Melody Summers sighed. ’I can’t believe that old bastard Kenneth Adler still managed to get away...’

’Then again, it makes sense. In my past life, Kenneth Adler was extremely cautious, always making his son, Flynn Adler, act as his front while he stayed out of sight. Even when Flynn Adler and Sylvia Lancaster were officially a couple, he never once paid a visit to The Lancasters.’

’The police will have their work cut out for them trying to catch Kenneth Adler.’

At this thought, Melody Summers felt a sense of helplessness. These things were beyond the control of an ordinary citizen like her. She could only pray that Kenneth Adler would be caught soon.

Melody Summers exited the news page, a little disappointed. The police report hadn’t mentioned Hector Hayes or Raymond Hayes. ’I wonder if it’s because they don’t have solid evidence,’ she thought.

Melody Summers then scrolled through the homeowner’s group chat for The Metropolis Residences.

The previous batch of specialized medicine had been distributed to The Metropolis Residences. Any residents who had developed respiratory and lung infections could receive the medicine for free by showing their ID.

As Melody Summers scrolled through the group messages, she saw the residents all marveling and endlessly praising how effective the medicine was.

Some residents had been suffering from lung infections for half a month, finding every breath agonizingly painful to the point they had nearly considered suicide to end the torment. They never expected to be completely cured the day after taking a single dose.

With the illnesses caused by the volcanic ash gone, everyone’s desire to live grew stronger. The will to survive spread like wildfire, burning brighter and brighter.

The number of suicides by jumping had also decreased in the past few days. Everyone in the group was encouraging one another, promising to keep fighting and live on together.

Melody Summers felt gratified seeing these messages. She hoped the medicine would help more and more people.

After exiting the group chat, Melody Summers switched apps and clicked into Brianna White’s livestream.

Brianna White had been back to streaming for several days now. The comments in her stream were mostly positive, with everyone encouraging each other to survive and walk out of the darkness together.

Occasionally, trolls would show up and call Brianna White a gold digger, clamoring that it was a fact she had taken someone else’s fever medicine. But their comments were quickly drowned out by others, failing to make any waves.

When Melody Summers entered Brianna White’s stream, Brianna was reading private messages submitted by her fans, comforting those who felt they couldn’t go on. Her gentle voice, paired with the soothing background music, seemed to have the power to dispel the darkness and heal everything.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

Melody Summers turned off her phone and let out a long sigh of relief.

For now, everything was going smoothly. Her main concern was still her Peach Blossom Value. The number had stabilized at 42 and hadn’t changed all week.

******

By the time she came out of the space, it was almost dinnertime.

Melody Summers left her room, ready to prepare dinner with her family. Unexpectedly, as she came downstairs, she found Officer Roman Rhodes sitting in the living room, chatting idly with Miss Lowell and her grandma.

Melody Summers quickly ran down the stairs to greet Officer Roman Rhodes and ask him about the current situation of the young women who were rescued from The Crestview Hotel.

So many days had passed, and Melody Summers had been worried about those poor girls.