Chapter 3

He pointed at the struggling survivors on the ground and ordered them.

“Each of you, give her one shot from a taser. After you’re done, I’ll personally escort you to the oasis, and your food and medicine rations will be doubled.”

The personal guard dragged me up from the ground, completely ignoring my miscarriage.

The survivors who had been forced to drink the contaminated water looked at me, their eyes filled with reluctance.

A middle-aged man walked forward, tears in his eyes, and pulled the trigger.

“I’m sorry, Captain Astrid… I have two children at home…”

One person, two people…

Blue electric arcs flashed again and again, scorching the life out of my unborn baby.

Only after everyone had tasered me and left did Caleb, satisfied, take the water Celeste offered him. He took her hand and walked over to me.

He looked at me, covered in dust, my cheeks bruised, and a flicker of something complex crossed his eyes.

But the next moment, he coldly lifted my chin.

“Don’t blame me for making them do it. I had to teach you a lesson, so you know this is what happens if you dare to be jealous, if you dare to harm others again.”

“Save yourself the trouble of trying to steal Celeste’s credit again.”

My whole body trembled, and I looked up at him.

So, I wasn’t the only one who had been reborn.

No wonder they found the oasis even without my luck.

No wonder he said it wasn’t the “first time” I’d done this.

Because in my previous life, he had similarly framed me and sentenced me to death for Celeste’s sake.

My eyes reddened, and I wiped away my tears.

“Astrid, playing the victim won’t work anymore. No matter how capable you are, it’s useless.”

“I’ve already had the medical team give Celeste the top-tier genetic enhancer. Her powers will definitely upgrade, helping me become the leader.”

I gave a bitter laugh, clutching my constantly cramping abdomen.

“I already paved the way for you. But why did you have them force contaminated water on me? Why destroy Zone C and kill my teammates…?”

He paused, his brows furrowed.

“Don’t talk nonsense. You clearly led your team in a failed breakthrough yesterday, resulting in the entire unit being wiped out.”

Sweat streamed down my face from the pain. I grabbed his pant leg, trying to make him look at Leo, the scout, who was still alive on the monitoring screen.

His face was filled with disgust, and he impatiently kicked my hand away.

“Stop acting. If you want to prove you weren’t trying to harm Celeste, then tomorrow, during the base-wide broadcast, you can personally admit that your abilities were insufficient, that your reconnaissance failed, and that you begged Celeste to share some of her credit with you.”

“Then you’ll hand over all your merits and supplies to her and the child she’s carrying, and in the future, you’ll serve as her loyal deputy.”

“If you dare to play any more tricks, if you dare to touch a single hair on her head, this time I won’t just deal with you and your useless team—Leo, the one you care about most, won’t get a single dose of anti-infection medicine either.”

My eyes widened, staring at Caleb in disbelief:

“Caleb, you bastard! Leo was scratched by a zombie while covering me, he’s a hero of the base! How can you threaten me with his life?!”

Caleb looked annoyed.

“As long as you obediently serve Celeste’s team and take good care of them from now on, I won’t touch him.”

With that, he put his arm around Celeste, ready to leave.

“Celeste, thank you for finding hope for the base. I’m going to reward you well.”

I watched their retreating figures, warm blood continuously seeping from my lower body because of the miscarriage.

Professor Albright, a researcher who treated me like his own daughter, rushed over, his face paling when he saw my injuries.

“Quickly, get her to treatment! If anything happens to Astrid, I won’t let any of you off!”

I was sent to the medical bay, but the healing medic never showed up.

Professor Albright, enraged, demanded to know where the medical team assigned to me had gone.