Chapter 106: Grovelling Joe
Karina shot up from the couch, her fingers clenched into fists.
"That bastard dared to show his face here!?" she roared, lunging towards Marcus. "Where is he!?"
Aiden was surprised by Karina’s outburst. He thought since she had spared the old man and had been ’normal’ for the following days, she must have gotten over his betrayal.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. She was still as enraged as ever. However, Aiden was more interested in why the old man approached him?
Their shared dislike wasn’t a secret. Aiden had only let him and his fallen camp live because he felt they weren’t important enough to kill. If it came to the worst, Aiden could just use them to break through the next class.
In simple words, they were pigs waiting to be slaughtered and absorbed by him.
Yet he appeared at my doorstep on his own?
Only two reasons popped up in his mind for the given scenario. Either something had made him desperate, or the sly fox was plotting something.
The probability of the latter was nonexistent. The fool wouldn’t dare to do anything to them, especially after seeing Karina’s ruthless side.
Besides, since the camp was essentially ruined, the first reason made more sense.
"Let’s see what he has to say first," Aiden said, wrapping his arm around Karina’s waist.
"Aiden, you don’t have to be kind to him just because he’s my uncle—"
"Oh, come on, it would be rude of me not to greet my uncle-in-law, right?"
As soon as he said those words, Karina’s face turned red like a tomato. How could he so casually call her wife (indirectly) without ever proposing to her or having a wedding?
Aiden sensed her thoughts and pinched her exposed waist.
"Wait till next week," he whispered into her ear. "That said, you should probably start looking for a dress."
"Y-You! Ugh! You’re impossible!"
Karina shoved Marcus aside and walked out, trying to hide her embarrassment. Safe to say, she liked the indirect proposal.
"What are you waiting for?" Aiden said, snapping his fingers in Marcus’s face. "Take me where he is before Karina beats him into a pulp."
Meanwhile, outside, Old Joe was nervously walking around, rubbing his hands. Since James had revealed the location to both him and Karina, Old Joe knew where the building was.
He was alone as he didn’t want others to see him humiliate himself, and also not to reveal the location of the apartment and make things worse for himself.
After all, he was there to plead for help, and doing anything against Aiden’s interests would harm his chances of getting his help.
Still, he couldn’t help but be surprised to see how much things had changed in mere days. Back when he first appeared there, there was still an air of apocalypse around the building, but now it looked like any other apartment complex from before the apocalypse.
The fool had looked down on Aiden once, but now he had to grovel before the guards just to send him a message. Now he stood there, waiting for the verdict.
That’s when he noticed someone walking out of the entrance. Seeing the flowing red hair, Old Joe was happy. Karina must have missed him, and that’s why she was running towards him.
"My baby niece! Uncle is here—wait... why are you rolling your shoulders? Eek!" Old Joe shrieked as Karina’s fist came barreling towards his face.
Her knuckles stopped half an inch from the tip of his nose. The wind generated by the force of her fists knocked him to the ground. Karina stood there, not lowering her arm as she stared at him.
"You got some nerve showing up here after everything you did," she snarled, clearly enraged.
"M-My sweet niece, hear me out—" he stammered.
He didn’t dare speak anymore when he noticed Karina recoil her arm for another punch.
"Don’t you dare call me that! I’m no niece of yours!"
Old Joe was terrified beyond his wits. Although he knew Karina would be angry at him, he didn’t expect it to be so explosive. However, the next second, he slammed his head to the ground, apologizing for all his mistakes.
"Please save us..." he pleaded every time his face came up. "I’m a piece of shit, but not everyone at the camp is like that. You know it... so please—"
"Now you look like someone begging for help."
Old Joe looked up with a lot of fear and a hint of reverence and saw Aiden standing next to Karina. A moment later, Aiden squatted down, patting the old man’s head.
"Sir... no, Lord! Please save us."
"What do you need our help with, huh?" Aiden smiled, patting the man’s cheeks. "Karina only took the helpless population from your camp. How come you’re groveling now?"
Aiden already knew the answer. After Karina emptied the slums and left, most capable people already knew it was the end of the camp. Hence, most of them had already left for greener pastures, but they didn’t dare approach the apartment.
Even though they respected Karina, they didn’t think living with people from the slums was worth it. In simple words, their prejudice ran deep into their bones, and they couldn’t let go of their superiority.
What happened to them after Aiden didn’t know, nor did he care about them. While having tenants was crucial, he wanted capable people, not freeloaders.
"Please... help!" Old Joe grumbled, handing Aiden the threatening note. "The Butcher Gang... they will kill us all!"
Aiden read the text and frowned. What did he mean by the Butcher Gang? It was clearly mentioned that the Nurture Gang was the one after the attack.
Wait, a minute... It’s Joan.
It was natural that Old Joe was unaware of the fall of the butcher gang. So he still thought it was the Butcher Gang’s doing.
Joan must have come looking for us and mistook them... haha!
Just as he was about to laugh at her foolishness, Milarel’s voice echoed in his head.
My lord! I have terrible news!