CHAPTER 70: INTERACTIONS WITH THE NIGHT PART 29

[Congratulations! You have survived Night 4]

[Survivors 11/11]

[Daily Rewards]

[110 EC - Survivor Allowance]

The notification pulled him out of his deep sleep. Kana lay next to him, still fast asleep.

Three more days remained before he could collect another party point. He started to wonder if he should spend more of them on her.

It would shorten her life by a few years, but since she could use ki, her lifespan might reach over a hundred years, like those old monks in martial arts movies.

"Good morning babe, " She rolled over, hair tumbling across her face, and found his lips without opening her eyes.

Her hand moved behind his head, pulling him into a kiss that tasted of sleep and uninterrupted dreaming.

The second her body registered his presence, her leg swung over his hip, pinning him.

"You’re awake?" he muttered between kisses.

"Mm-hmm," she replied, deepening the kiss until it felt mandatory, a hunger barely dented by last night’s excess.

Knock! Knock knock!

A frantic pounding rattled the doorframe.

Both of them sat bolt-upright. Still naked.

"What is it?" Luck asked, sounding annoyed that he been interrupted. A minute ago, he figured he would be joining Kana in the bathroom, and enjoy some shower sex.

When he turned, he saw Kana looking even more frustrated. She was practically cursing, judging by how her lips moved.

Women could be really scary when they got interrupted.

"Big Boss, we have a problem. About twenty people are outside. They want to talk to you!" Jun called out.

"Just tell them to wait."

Luck stood up and started getting dressed. Kana got up too, still half-asleep.

"I’ll handle this. Go take a shower first."

He hugged her one last time and gave her a quick slap on the butt before she stepped into the bathroom.

"I’ll do you again later, so clean it good so I can eat you."

She giggled and hurried inside, feeling excited.

No worry showed on her face, knowing he could handle almost anything—except maybe the top five assassins.

In the lobby, Terrence turned to Jun.

"Are they hostile?"

"Not for now," Jun said. "And they have children and more women with them, so I doubt they’ll try to start a fight."

"Jun, just because they have children doesn’t mean they’re good people. They could be using them to lure us in."

"I’m sorry, Big Boss. I didn’t think of that."

Luck paused and set his hand on Jun’s shoulder.

"Look, you’re my right-hand man. You have to stay sharp when you’re dealing with desperate people. Even the kindest person can snap in a world like this."

Jun smiled, glad to be trusted this much.

But between the two of them, Luck was the one feeling more exited. Jun’s relationship level had just reached 9.

Only one more point to go.

Although the young man couldn’t use Ki, he could still become a strong asset once his other skills reached their max.

.

.

On the watchtower, Luck looked down at the ragged cluster of twenty—eight men, eight women, and four children, two boys and two girls.

A bearded man with worn blue eyes and a battered sheriff’s hat stepped forward.

"Are you the leader of this community?"

"Yes, I’m the one in charge here."

The bearded man put an arm around his wife and son, his shoulders tense with desperation.

But another man stepped forward.

He has a close-cropped haircut, dark stubble, restless brown eyes.

"My name’s Shane," he said, voice low and a little rough. "Look, we just wanna know if you’ll let us in with your group. That’s all we’re asking."

Luck stopped to think for few seconds.

At first, he thought the first man was the leader, but Shane started acting like he was the one in charge.

The look the first man gave him showed he didn’t like being interrupted. It seemed the two were fighting over who should be the leader.

"So which one of you is really in charge? You don’t expect me to talk to just anyone, do you?" Luck asked, letting his voice sound more impatient on purpose.

Shane opened his mouth to say something, but the first man’s wife shook her head and gave a small, hidden signal.

That gave the first man a chance to speak.

"I’m the leader. My name’s Rick."

Luck got the feeling Rick’s wife and Shane had a complicated thing going on.

The look she gave wasn’t one a woman would share with just anyone.

Most people would miss it, but his dynamic view was high enough to catch such subtle expression.

’I’m smelling a third party here... Could she be cheating?’

Well, it wasn’t really his business, so he wasn’t going to go out of his way to tell Rick that his friend was cuckolding him.

[DING:]

[BONUS MISSION: PISS OFF SHANE]

[REWARD: BRONZE BOX]

’System, you really like to watch drama, don’t you? Are you enjoying this, huh?’

The system has no response.

"Can you let us join your group?" Rick broke the silence. "Our last base got compromised, and we can’t move around much because we got elders and children with us."

’This group might be safe. I doubt assholes would bother keeping the old and weak around. That means they have at least some sense of morality.’

This would work in his favor. Twenty people meant 200 EC per day, plus extra stat points on the seventh day.

"Alright, I’ll think about it. But tell me—have you all been together since the start, or did some of you join?"

"No, we’ve been together since the beginning!" Rick answered without hesitation.

None of them also looked surprised by the question.

’That solves one problem, but I wanted that bronze box’

"Rick, you look like a reasonable guy. But I’ve got a bad feeling about the other one... Shane. Seems like the type who will stab the back of the ones who feed him."

Shane’s jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed into a hard glare.

"You don’t know a damn thing about me," he barked.

His hand hovered near his belt like he had to stop himself from reaching for a weapon.

"Well, I like to think I’m pretty good at reading people. And just your face alone gives me that vibe." he paused letting his mocking sink in.

"Besides, you getting all worked up over an opinion just proves my point." Luck shrugged, tossing the words out.

Shane looked around. His jaw tightened with anger, but under it sat something worse. Embarrassment.

Rick’s wife didn’t even look at him. She kept her eyes on the ground like he was some broken thing left by the road.

He had risked so much for her, but now, she wouldn’t even defend him.

"Screw this," he muttered. "We’re wasting our time here."

"Let’s go. All of you. We’re not begging this asshole for anything."

There were some who nodded, while others just decided to say neutral.

"So you’re not just an idiot, but also a bad decision maker."

"YOU!" Shane gritted his teeth.

"I’m just telling you the truth." Luck tilted his head a little.

"We’ve got everything here: food, medicine, clean water and plenty of space for your people to set up camp. So walking away because of your useless pride is the definition of a bad decision."