Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System
Chapter 197: A Night of Silence

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: A Night of Silence

The moment Liora returned to the base, she didn’t stop to greet anyone. Not Zhou Yinuo, not Mei, not even Chen Wei, who usually hovered near the house with a report in hand.

Her feet were heavy. Her thoughts, even heavier.

She kept her head down, quietly walked across the base like a ghost, and didn’t say a single word to anyone. There were only a few residents that were outside, and most of them had gone to their respective dorms.

The few who were outside looked her way, expecting something, maybe an explanation but she gave them nothing. She simply vanished into the building and went straight to her room.

Once inside, she locked the door, shut the lights, and leaned back against the cold metal frame of her door.

Her knees gave out soon after.

She sank slowly to the ground, breathing shallowly, her heartbeat loud in her ears. The world outside continued on as normal, but her own world... it had completely shifted.

Atlas’s words rang in her head like an echo she couldn’t escape from.

"Kazren... the one who was exiled from the Spire. The wheat you harvested... it was his."

That single sentence had ripped open something inside her and was full of dread. Even though she was very calm in front of Atlas, only she knew what kind of turmoil was going on inside her.

Liora dragged herself to the bed, not even bothering to change her clothes. She crawled onto the mattress like a broken puppet and laid there on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Minutes passed.

Then an hour.

Maybe two.

Her mind wouldn’t stop spinning.

She turned her head and finally spoke out loud, her voice hoarse and almost breaking.

"System... you heard everything Atlas said, right?"

The familiar chime of her system responded in her head almost immediately, its voice calm but low, as if aware of her emotional state.

[Yes, Host. I was monitoring the full conversation.]

"Do you think he was lying?" Liora asked softly, but even she didn’t believe that.

Part of her wanted to think maybe Atlas was tricking her. Maybe he exaggerated everything to make himself look important, and maybe it was just one of his pranks. But another part of her knew that wasn’t true.

Kazren’s power.

His presence.

That moment when vines tore through the building like paper. The void that appeared beneath him and the pressure that crushed the air itself.

No.

Atlas wasn’t lying.

And that was what made her want to scream.

"I only picked up some wheat," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "I didn’t even know it was his. How could a mistake so small... lead to something this dangerous?"

The system remained silent for a long moment before replying.

[Host, your fear is not unfounded. Kazren’s power level is extremely high. His hostility toward this system is also confirmed to be severe.]

Liora closed her eyes tightly.

"So I’ve not only angered him... I’ve put you at risk too?"

[That is correct. His aura disrupts my signal. When he appeared last time, I had to forcibly shut myself down to avoid detection.]

What? The last time you shut down? Liora mumbled to herself. Then suddenly an idea popped up in her mind. "System, you mean... Kazren is the same man from the supermarket?" Liora asked because in her mind only two people were capable of affecting her system: one was Atlas, and the other, the man from the supermarket.

[Host is right! Kazren is the same man. He was the one who had saved you in the supermarket.]

That memory hit Liora like a blow.

That day.

Back at the supermarket, when she was still weak and barely surviving. when she had nearly fallen prey to a filthy man who thought she was just another helpless girl. But someone had intervened.

A tall man with a chilling presence.

She had never seen his face clearly that day. Only the shadow of his back and the eerie silence that had followed him. His words were enough to make her spine chill.

She always wondered who had saved her.

But she didn’t want to find it now, and when it was confirmed that both of them are same. Liora felt something inside her collapse a little.

Back then, she had done nothing wrong. She had only been desperate and weak. And yet even then, Kazren had made her feel like prey. Even then, the system had gone silent out of fear.

And now—now that she had actually stolen from him, taken his precious aether crops, fed them to her entire base, what would he do?

What kind of man was he really?

Atlas had said Kazren was once part of the Spire. Not just a criminal, but an exile. Someone brilliant, dangerous, and completely unregulated.

Liora turned to lie on her side, curling her knees slightly, looking outside the window, lost in her thoughts.

"I built this base with everything I had," she whispered. "I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to go back to being homeless. I don’t want to live out in the streets again, scrounging for scraps and hiding from zombies."

She bit her lower lip, her eyes burning but still dry.

"This place is my home now. I made it. I protected it. And now... now because of one stupid mistake, I might lose everything."

The system’s voice softened slightly, almost comforting.

[Host, you are not alone. I am stronger than I used to be. Now that you are at Level 17, I can remain active and conceal my presence from him. However, his awareness of you has already been triggered. We must tread carefully moving forward.]

"What do I do then?" she asked bitterly. "How do I protect everyone from someone like him?"

[Become stronger. Upgrade the base. Build defenses. Train your people. I will assist you with everything I can.]

Liora didn’t answer.

She simply stared at the ceiling again, her breathing slowly calming down.

The room was dark. The air was still. But the fire in her chest remained.

Fear.

Regret.

But also determination.

If this was the consequence of building something valuable, then she would not back down. She wouldn’t let Kazren take what she built. Not without a fight.

She would do whatever it took to make him regret landing his eyes on her people and her base.

No matter the cost.

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