A Hundred Times: Ascending With The Strongest System
Chapter 70 - 69: Crumbs of Compassion

Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Crumbs of Compassion

Devon stood behind Zoey’s office door, visibly nervous as he trembled from fear. It had become night time and he was keeping a lookout with his squad for any signs of danger, with Zoey’s help, she defended the base from all harm over and over again multiple times throughout the day, her strength never failing to both amaze, and terrify him.

’Is this a selfish request? Maybe....it’ll be different if I ask her....’ Devon thought to himself, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. Hesitantly, with his bits of courage, he knocked on the door to Zoey’s office.

"Come in." Her voice came from the other side, and Devon pushed the door open, standing in the hallway.

Zoey sat firm in her desk, changed into new, more appropriate clothing as she sat there eyeing Devon with a serious gaze. Her old clothes were torn by the bullets, so they wouldn’t be comfortable to wear anymore.

"What brings you here, Devon?" Zoey asked, raising a brow curiously as she tilted head slightly.

"Miss Zoey...." Devon nervously started, anxiously clenching his fist at his side, "I want to ask you for something....I want to make a request."

’Miss? Heh, amusing~’ Zoey thought with a red glint in her eye as she grinned at her new title.

"A request? What request?" Zoey asked, her tone shifting to a more interrogating one.

"It’s my daughters birthday today....and I want to celebrate it by bringing a cake for her, miss." Devon said, clenching the fists at his sides harder, his eyes half-closed as he expected to be rejected.

Marlius wouldn’t give him a cake, even if he had some, he always took the luxurious delicasies for himself. He was truly a selfish bastard. He expected Zoey to be the same as he was, if not worse.

Afterall, Zoey was a force on her own, one that could easily bend the laws of this world to her will, just by using her power alone.

’Cake? I thought he was going to ask for something else, maybe even a weapon or something of that nature. But, I guess I can comply, it is his daughters birthday afterall.’

"Alright," Zoey said, her voice taking on a more gentle tone.

"W...what?" Devon’s eyes widened, suprised evident on his features.

"Go ask the ones in charge of the food supplies, whether there is cake or not. And if there is, you may take it to celebrate your daughter’s birthday."

Zoey said, a kind smile on her face. Devon stared at her for a moment, blinking in suprise, before quickly shaking his head.

"T-thank you, miss." Devon said, "I shall take my leave now." He said, before walking out of Zoey’s office.

As Devon walked down the halls, a weird feeling nagged at him. Her kind smile, it wasn’t anything he was expecting to see from her before, it felt strange, especially coming from someone who could murder so easily.

’Was I wrong about her?’ Devon thought, contemplating deeply as he walked.

"Ah!" A suprised gasp suddenly came from someone he bumped into, he quickly snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at the woman infront of him. It was the same woman Marlius had accepted to....satisfy his manly pleasures, in exchange for saving her life.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there." The woman replied, a bit embarrassed.

"No worries, I should be apologizing too, I was deep in thought and that caused me to bump into you." Devon told her.

"Hehe," The woman chuckled, "Are you perhaps going somewhere? You should be resting at this hour, the other watch team will take over tonight." She said.

"Don’t worry, I’m heading over to the food supply management team, the Boss gave me permission to go and grab a cake to celebrate my daughters birthday." Devon said, a small smile on his face.

’Huh? Zoey really did that?’ She thought, suprised visible on her face as her eyes widened slightly.

"Ah, I see. Well, enjoy your night, and happy birthday to your daughter." The woman said as she walked past him.

’Did Zoey really give him permission for that? Marlius would never do that, as he wouldn’t just give food to anyone like that. What is she thinking? What’s with this sudden act of kindness? She must be playing some sort of game.’

The woman thought, slamming her fist onto her open palm as she contemplated while walking.

As she continued to walk, her eyes suddenly widened in suprise as she saw Zoey walking down the hallway towards her, and immediately she became intimidated.

’Come to think of it....I didn’t eat anything in so long.’ Zoey thought as she placed a hand on her stomach, feeling it rumble slightly as her cheeks became flushed. She wanted to eat something as well, and so she was making her way to the food supply management team.

"H-hello there, B-boss." The woman greeted her.

"...." Zoey didn’t reply though, her cheeks were flushed as she didn’t make eye contact, too hungry and too embarrassed to say anything, simply walking past the woman.

’Huh? That’s weird...I thought I heard her stomach rumble...’ The woman thought curiously as she watched Zoey leave.

’Must be my imagination..’

"What? There’s no cake?" Devon’s voice sounded from around a corner, immediately catching Zoey’s attention. She suddenly stopped as she decided to listen in on the conversation, leaning against the wall.

"You heard me, the cake is finished." Another voice sounded, a hint of irritation in their voice.

"How? I’m sure there are more, what happened to the rest?"

"Marlius ate the rest of the cake yesterday out of celebration, thinking that he’d be able to recruit Miss Zoey into his forces. We tried to warn him against it, as cake was incredibly difficult to find, being one of the best pieces of bargaining in this starving world."

"Sigh.....I understand," Devon sighed, annoyed and heavily dissapointed.

"Is there anything else?"

"No there’s not, our food supply has become heavily limited over the past week, due to Marlius consuming most of it.

There isn’t even enough to help provide all the mouths that reside in this mansion, meaning, that you’re going to have to starve for a bit, until we find more food."

Zoey listened to the conversation with total focus, her mood becoming more and more annoyed by how terrible the image of Marlius was coming out to be.

’What kind of leader finishes their food supply!?’ Zoey thought, finding Marlius to be truly stupid, no wonder he looked the most healthy out of everyone here, as everyone else were basically starving and becoming malnourished.

’I need to do something about this,’ Zoey thought, although she wanted to eat something to satisfy her hunger, she didn’t want to worsen the condition of their food supply any further, so she decided that best course of action would be to find food for her subjects.

Zoey walked past the room where the food was being kept and through the hallways, making her way to the main doors.

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Frank, once Liam’s partner, walked through the halls of the mansion. His eyes were wide and full of trauma, as he witnessed the display of dominance by Zoey, watching him kill Marlius before their very eyes.

He was terrified, he knew that Liam’s idea was a terrible one, as he knew that Zoey’s wrath was not to be messed with. One glare from her was more than enough to prove that, and yet that prideful bastard didn’t listen.

Suddenly, just as he was about to turn into a corner, his heart clenched as a massive weight of dread and fear washed over him, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

It was her, he could feel it. Zoey was close. His body trembled, his knees feeling weak, and sweat started to form on his face from the sheer pressure of her presence.

’I need to hi-’ Just as Liam turned around to run the way he came, Zoey was already standing there, leaning against the wall, with the tip of a golden, thunder sparking sword pointed at his chest.

"You....you’re Frank, right?" Zoey asked, her crimson eyes staring into his with malice, Frank’s heart almost gave out under her intense stare.

"M-miss...." Frank stuttered, trying to find the words, but his throat felt unbelievably dry.

Before he could react, Zoey grabbed his wrist and pulled him close, pressing the sharp edge of [Volt Requiem] at his throat, the cold steel making him gulp out of fear as his body started to tremble.

Zoey stared into his eyes for a moment, her eyes narrowing. She pushed him back, letting him fall on the floor before turning around to carry on with her new mission, leaving Frank stupified as he expected death to meet him.

’I...I’m spared?’ Frank asked himself in suprise, watching Zoey go.

’He wasn’t there when Marlius and his gang came to attack me, so I guess I’ll spare him.’ She thought with a small smile, ’I really do find pleasure in intimidating those weaker than me, hahahahaha!’

She thought, pushing the doors open and stepping out into the cold night, ready to begin her hunt.