Chapter 304: Bread and Stars! Doomsday Marauder! Fanatic Fans!

"Back already?" Drumph, who had been busy cleaning up the battlefield, turned around and saw Luca strolling back with a knife in hand.

Seeing Luca covered in blood, Coarmy couldn’t help but ask, "What’s with all the blood?"

Most monsters’ blood is black, but Luca’s blood was clearly human. He had only been gone for a short while—how did he end up covered in human blood?

The others also glanced over, their eyes filled with surprise. Had this guy gone out and killed someone?

Luca didn’t bother to elaborate, responding only with, "It’s nothing. I just took care of a few animals. Have the people from the stadium evacuated?"

By now, the central plaza was empty of ordinary citizens, with only a few soldiers remaining to clean up the battlefield.

Seeing that Luca didn’t want to talk further, Drumph didn’t press the issue. "The civilians have all been evacuated. We’re planning to set up a defensive position here to help clear out the monsters in Celephais."

The stadium’s location was at the heart of Celephais City, and with this as the center, they could cover the entire central area.

Coupled with the underground passages scattered throughout the city, clearing the monsters in Celephais would be a much easier task.

Luca nodded slightly, agreeing with the plan.

Drumph smiled and then, as though remembering something, his expression turned serious. "Once Celephais is cleared, we move on to the Northern Territory. Just don’t disappear on us again."@@novelbin@@

"What do you mean, disappear?" Luca said with a slight chuckle. "I was handling some important business, alright?"

Talking about Eternal World with them wouldn’t make much sense, and it involved too many complicated details. Luca figured he would explain it to them when the time was right.

Donald and Darabont had already left, so Luca thought for a moment and then said, "I need to head back first. I came in such a hurry earlier that I didn’t get a chance to deal with the monsters around the villa area."

As long as Sini and the others were safe, he could focus on helping with the monster cleanup, but the safety of the villa area was paramount. Drumph understood Luca’s reasoning and waved him off, signaling him to go and return quickly.

"By the way," Coarmy said, "That big star, Renamon, left a business card for you. She said you can contact her if you need anything." Coarmy handed over the card, and the others looked at Luca with envious expressions. After all, it was a business card from Renamon herself—something most people could only dream of getting.

However, Luca simply gave a nonchalant "Mm," stuffed the card into his pocket without even glancing at it. Some people still hadn’t shifted their mindset, but Luca understood clearly: after the apocalypse, many things would have to change. What used to be unattainable—like a famous star’s business card—might, after the apocalypse, be worth nothing more than a loaf of bread.

Luca didn’t linger any longer. He leaped into the air and quickly vanished from sight, his figure disappearing atop the rooftop.

"I don’t want to crawl through a sewer either." Fuzzsir watched him with a touch of envy, while Donlow, rolling his eyes in annoyance, muttered, "I think you just want to feed the monsters."

...

By the time Luca returned to the villa area, the sun had already set, and the sky had darkened. Donald and Darabont still hadn’t returned—no one knew where they had gone—and Luca honestly didn’t have the energy to go searching for them.

However, just as he was about to enter the villa, his brow furrowed. The sharp, metallic stench of blood hit his nose.

But this wasn’t the foul, monstrous blood scent—this was human blood. Faintly, he could hear a cacophony of shouting and cursing coming from inside.

Someone’s here? His expression darkened instantly, his body tensed as he leapt over the wall and into the villa in a single bound.

The once pristine villa, tidied up by Sini and Zoey, was now in shambles. The garden grass had been scorched black, the sunshade and dining table were overturned, scattered on the ground.

A few young men, dressed in bright, garish clothing, were wielding machetes, cornering Susie, Sini, and the other girl, all of whom looked pale and frightened.

A large, burly man lay unconscious on the ground, a gaping hole in his chest, blood pouring from the wound. A silver-white eagle mouse stood in front of the trio, baring its teeth at the men.

Sini, pale-faced, gripped a handgun, her voice trembling with anger. "You... You better leave right now. Don’t make me shoot!"

"Big deal, you have a gun! How dare you kill our boss!" The lead man, a tall, thin figure, shouted furiously, his bloodshot eyes blazing with rage. "You all won’t leave here alive today!" The others around him raised their own guns, aiming them at Susie and the others, their expressions dark and hostile.

The group of ordinary people had never encountered a situation like this. Sini and the others were all pale with fear. They had only stepped outside to check on Luca and the others’ safety.

But they hadn’t expected to run into a group of Marauders trying to rob them, and worse, they were intent on harming them. That’s why Sini had shot one of them in self-defense.

Seeing this, Luca’s eyes instantly filled with a cold, murderous intent. Whether in this life or the last, the apocalypse was full of beasts that were no different from monsters.

"I’ll give you one more chance. Put down your guns, or you three will die here!" The tall, skinny young man, clearly nervous as Sini pointed the gun at him, threatened in a harsh voice.

However, his shout didn’t make Sini lower her gun. Instead, it startled her, and her finger reflexively pulled the trigger.

Bang! The tall, skinny youth’s eyes went wide, and he collapsed to the ground. A clear blood hole appeared in his forehead.

The air went silent for a moment.

Sini hadn’t expected this shot.

She stared at the youth lying on the ground, a dazed look in her eyes, unsure of when her aim had become so accurate.

But before she could react, the Marauders exploded in fury.

"You damn bitches!" one of the thugs, a fat man with tattoos on his neck, shouted, his face turning red. He raised his gun and aimed at Sini, ready to pull the trigger.

Just then, another gunshot rang out.

Bang! The tattooed fat man dropped to the ground, a clean blood hole appearing in his forehead. This time, everyone lost their composure and instinctively pulled their triggers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!! A series of gunshots echoed above the villa, with Susie’s scream piercing the air. Sini and Zhou Yan, scared out of their minds, shut their eyes tightly. But to their surprise, they didn’t feel any pain, not even a slight sting.

Opening their eyes in confusion, they saw the Marauders looking at them with terrified expressions.

And then there were the orange-yellow bullets, floating in mid-air in dense clusters, along with a cyan shield that surrounded all three of them.

Simultaneously, another thug collapsed with a loud thud, this time also with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

But this time, everyone saw it clearly—it wasn’t Sini who fired.

A chill ran down the thugs’ spines, and they instinctively felt a sense of dread.

"Who?! Who’s messing with us?!" A young man with bleached yellow hair raised his gun, panicking as he scanned the surroundings.

His gaze soon landed on the figure slowly walking towards them.

Waves of blue smoke drifted from the barrel of the gun.

Luca stood emotionless, his finger without hesitation pulling the trigger again.

Bang! The yellow-haired man fell, twitching twice before lying still.

The group of thugs looked at him, their faces full of astonishment. They didn’t even know when someone else had entered the villa.

But when Susie and the others saw him, their faces lit up with joy.

Susie patted her small chest and said, "Where the hell have you been? You scared the life out of me!"

It wasn’t just her—both Sini and Zoey also felt a sense of relief upon seeing Luca.

The boy from a month ago had unknowingly become the emotional pillar of their little family.

"It’s nothing, just went for a quick stroll," Luca casually said, glancing at the thugs standing frozen in place, not daring to move an inch. "You guys aren’t very lucky."

As soon as he finished speaking, he fired the Obsidian pistol in his hand.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The world instantly fell silent.

Luca stepped over the bodies on the ground and walked toward Susie, Sini, and Zoey, frowning. "What are you three doing out here? Didn’t I tell you to stay in the basement for now?"

Susie gave him a hard kick and said angrily, "Isn’t it because we were worried about you?"

Sini and Zoey also shot him an exasperated look. Zoey added, "We saw you on the Celephais news. We were afraid you’d run into trouble."

Luca’s heart warmed. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ve already found my father and uncle."

Just as he was speaking, urgent footsteps sounded outside the villa, and soon Donald and Darabont returned. Their combat suits were drenched in dark blood, and their faces were filled with anxiety.

Seeing the bodies on the ground, both of their expressions darkened, but once they saw that everyone was okay, they finally let out a long sigh of relief. "It’s good you’re okay, really good."

They’d heard the gunshots from far away and thought something had happened.

"You two actually remembered to come back!" Sini and Zoey both looked furious as they rushed over and twisted their ears.

The scene that followed was a bit inappropriate for younger audiences. Luca cleared his throat, took Susie, and led her back to the safe room underground, pretending he hadn’t heard their pleas for mercy.

Susie puffed up her cheeks, clearly upset about something.

Luca thought for a moment, then took out Renamon’s contact information from his pocket and handed it to her.

Seeing Susie’s confused expression, he explained, "It’s your idol’s contact information. I happened to save her when I was at the stadium."

"Idol?" Susie didn’t catch on immediately, but her eyes suddenly lit up. She grabbed the business card from his hand in an instant.

"Renamon! You met Renamon? At a concert! You are so lucky! Tell me, is she as pretty as she looks on TV? Is she more beautiful than me? Come on, tell me!"