"Oh, that’s right. There are no security cameras around here, big sis," Hugh Hayes said, then frowned slightly, feigning annoyance.

But then he smirked, his eyes filled with malice as he looked at Melody Summers. He enunciated each word, "But don’t worry. I’ll have them record the whole thing for you." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He then turned and beckoned to the two thugs behind him. "You two, go ’welcome’ this stuck-up bitch. Remember to get it on video. Make sure you get a clear shot of her face."

With that, Hugh Hayes turned and left the alley. He got back in his car, put on some music, and closed his eyes, waiting for his men to report back with the good news.

After Hugh Hayes left, the two thugs slowly advanced on Melody Summers.

Melody Summers didn’t show the terrified expression they expected. She simply watched them, her face impassive.

The moment before they could grab her, Melody Summers vanished into the Arcadian Space, causing them to lunge at empty air.

Melody returned to her space, grabbed the crossbow she had prepared, and in the next instant, reappeared in the air above and in front of the two thugs. She fired loaded bolts directly into their shoulders.

Her recent training had clearly paid off. The power of the custom-made crossbow was far beyond that of any ordinary bow. The bolts pierced straight through the thugs’ shoulders, pinning both of them firmly to the ground. They couldn’t move an inch!

Before they could even cry out in agony, Melody pulled two apples from her space and viciously shoved them into their mouths!

"Don’t scream. Make one sound and I’ll kill you!"

After her threat, Melody removed the apple from one thug’s mouth. She then produced a knife, pressed it to his throat, and asked in a measured tone, "Tell me. What did Hugh Hayes want you to do to me?"

"He... he wanted us to humiliate you," the thug answered, grimacing in pain. "Please, let us go! We’re just hired hands, doing what we’re paid to do!"

Melody sneered. ’The way those siblings, Clara and Hugh Hayes, do things... just as disgusting in this life as the last.’

"Alright, I can let you go," Melody said with a nod. "On one condition. Do to him exactly what he wanted you to do to me, and I’ll spare you."

"What!?" The thug’s eyes went wide. He whimpered, "But... but he’s a guy!"

"So what if he’s a guy?" Melody frowned. "What, you can’t get it up for a man?!"

At this, the thug was on the verge of tears. "Please, I’m begging you, just let us go! He’s our boss’s son! If we really do what you’re asking, we’ll be dead either way!"

’Tsk.’ Seeing their lack of cooperation, Melody frowned. "Fine. Then just tell me the truth. This isn’t your first time doing this kind of thing, is it? How many times before this?"

"We’ve... we’ve only ’handled’ a few women who got on the wrong side of the Young Miss and the Second Young Master. That’s it, no one else," the thug replied, his voice trembling. "We’re just hired muscle! You know the saying, ’seek out the source of your grievance.’ This has nothing to do with us!"

Melody nodded upon hearing this, letting out a calm "Mm."

Then, as relieved smiles spread across the thugs’ faces, thinking they had just escaped death, she spoke again. "That’s more than enough. Go to hell."

Melody slapped a hand on each of their shoulders, pulling them directly into the Arcadian Space. A moment later, the space’s defense mechanism activated, and their breathing ceased.

After dealing with the two thugs, Melody saw the two pools of blood they’d left on the ground. Frowning, she transferred the blood-soaked earth into her space as well.

With that taken care of, Melody stood up, walked out of the alley, and approached the luxury car where Hugh Hayes was waiting. She knocked lightly on the car door.

Hugh Hayes was resting with his eyes closed. When he heard the knock, he stretched lazily and asked, "Done already? A bitch with a body and face like that is a rare prize. You guys should’ve had fun for at least two hours."

With that, Hugh Hayes opened the car door, ready to ask his men for the video to post online. But he was shocked to find Melody Summers standing before him.

Seeing Melody completely unscathed, Hugh Hayes was surprised. A chill shot down his spine. He felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of danger, as if his sixth sense was screaming at him to get out of there right now!

But Melody gave him no such chance. She grabbed Hugh Hayes and gave him a gentle smile. "Hugh Hayes, I wasn’t even looking for you, but you just had to come courting death. I guess it’s time we settled the score for two lifetimes’ worth of hatred. Now, let me send you where you belong."

While Hugh Hayes could only stare in shock and confusion, Melody raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face, twice. The next second, she pulled him into the Arcadian Space.

Hugh Hayes felt a fiery sting on his face, and then everything went black. He felt his soul being ripped apart, as if he were being consumed by the fires of hell. He lost consciousness amidst that endless agony.

Melody cautiously checked the car’s dashcam. Not knowing if it had any other surveillance or tracking chips, she took no chances and transferred the entire vehicle to the industrial grinder in the Arcadian Space’s workshop.

After a run through the grinder, the luxury car was reduced to a pile of metal shavings.

Melody and Albus stared at the pile of metal shavings and the three corpses for a moment. Albus couldn’t help but ask:

[Are you going to keep these three in the space as fertilizer?]

Melody shook her head. ’That’s too morbid. It feels like it would defile the Arcadian Space.’

While reassuring Albus, Melody opened her phone’s navigation app. She remembered there was a crematorium nearby.

Using her space’s concealment ability, Melody snuck toward the crematorium, following the navigation. She arrived just in time to see workers arranging to cremate the bodies of a group of murderers. Robbery-homicides had become rampant recently, and this particular group had been killed by the police mid-crime. Their bodies had been sent directly here for cremation.

Melody tossed the bodies of Hugh Hayes and his two henchmen into the incinerator. ’All of them were wicked beyond redemption,’ she thought. ’Being disposed of together is a fitting end for them, a ’match made in heaven,’ so to speak.’

After disposing of the bodies, Melody dumped the blood-soaked clods of earth and the shredded car parts into a deep pit behind the crematorium.

Once that was all done, she went back to double-check, confirming there were truly no security cameras near the alley. Only then did she head back to The Metropolis Residences, carefully avoiding any surveillance along the way.

Back home, Melody had no appetite. She lied, saying she’d already eaten out, and went straight to her room.

Albus asked worriedly:

[Host, are you okay?]

Melody shook her head. "I’m fine."

’Today was the first time I’ve killed someone in this life.’ For some reason, she couldn’t stop recalling the moments before her own death in her past life.

Albus thought for a moment before offering some comfort:

[Things are only going to get more chaotic from now on. You need to pull yourself together, Host!]

Melody nodded, her resolve returning. ’First, I’m going to take a shower!’

*

After her recent combat experience, Melody made further improvements to her crossbow.

For the past few days, she’d been mulling over the connection between Nina Walsh and Hugh Hayes. In her previous life, she hadn’t seen Nina at all after the cataclysms began. She had no idea how her "little cousin" had gotten on the wrong side of the Hayes family.

’Nina Walsh’s father, Caleb Summers, works for the government,’ Melody mused. ’And Sylvia Lancaster’s little follower, Wendy Sheffield, comes from a government family too. That’s probably how they all know each other.’

Melody then recalled the "Sheffield" that Caleb Summers and Mindy Walsh had wanted to set her up with, which made her all the more certain of her suspicion.

Afraid of tipping her hand, Melody didn’t contact Nina Walsh again. Luckily, Nina didn’t try to contact her either, so Melody just pretended she’d never seen the message.

Melody recalled how Winnie Summers had come home a couple of days ago and lamented to the family, "The food factories are running out of inventory. There’s less and less variety, and besides the basic staples of rice and flour, the prices for everything else have gone up again."

The extreme heat had now persisted for over six months. Many companies had gone out of business, prices were skyrocketing, and huge numbers of able-bodied adults had lost their jobs, leaving them living hand-to-mouth.

To stabilize the situation, the government issued a round of interest-free loans, available to anyone with no criminal record in the past six months. It also lowered the prices of basic staples like rice and flour. Between the loans and the cheap food, people could at least afford to eat and wouldn’t starve.

’But there are at least two or three more years of chaos to come,’ Melody knew. ’These provisions will last a little over a year, at best. After that, things will get even messier.’

Melody gave everyone in her family a stun gun and explained how to use it in detail, though she hoped they would never have a reason to.