Chapter 243: His Stomach Has Evolved into a Bottomless Pit
This recent ordeal hit Hector Grant pretty hard.
For the next few days, Hector Grant mostly kept to himself. He didn’t speak, nor did he mention going out to check on the situation again.
Seeing Hector Grant in this state, Sierra Sullivan and the others didn’t try to comfort him.
Hector Grant was a grown man who had been through a lot. There wasn’t much he couldn’t figure out on his own.
It was just a matter of whether he was willing to accept it.
Clearly, Hector Grant was not willing to accept it yet.
But their circumstances wouldn’t change just because he refused to accept them.
This was something Hector Grant had to work through on his own; no one else could help.
Sierra Sullivan, however, had grown accustomed to being cooped up here.
In a way, life here wasn’t so different from life in the Subterra—both meant being confined to an enclosed space.
The only differences were that the Subterra was larger, offered more room to move, provided a little privacy, and had more people.
The systems in place there made it feel like one could lead a somewhat normal life.
But in truth, they were still forced to live in a confined space, with no real freedom.
’Freedom is having a choice.’
They hadn’t actively chosen to live here or in the Subterra; they had been forced into it.
Since there was no choice, the only thing to do was make the most of her limited circumstances.
For Sierra Sullivan, aside from her own training, the most interesting part of her day was teaching Candice Tate.
Candice Tate was naturally bright, so a one-hour daily lesson was a breeze for her.
When Sierra Sullivan offered to add more lessons, Candice wasn’t annoyed at all; in fact, she was thrilled.
It was understandable.
Children are naturally full of energy.
As a High Tier Ability User, Candice Tate had even more energy than the average Superpower User. Forcing her to do nothing would have just made her miserable.
Seeing Sierra Sullivan teach Candice Tate every day, some of the others gradually couldn’t resist. One by one, they came forward and volunteered to be her teachers too.
That was when Sierra Sullivan learned that there were quite a few former teachers among them, specializing in different subjects.
There were even instructors from art workshops.
Calligraphy, painting, chess, musical instruments—amazingly, there was someone for everything.
Sierra Sullivan was surprised but welcomed the help.
She wasn’t an educator, after all. Teaching Candice Tate had been a makeshift solution at best.
Now that there were professional teachers, it was a good thing for both her and Candice.
Sierra didn’t require Candice to learn everything. Instead, she had her try a bit of each subject and then focus on whatever she found interesting.
Of course, Sierra had no intention of letting them teach Candice for free. She paid the full tuition for every lesson.
Sierra even paid for the trial lessons.
She didn’t pay with money, of course.
She let them choose their own form of payment.
If they wanted Crystal Cores, she gave them Crystal Cores.
If they wanted food, she gave them food.
About half of them chose Crystal Cores, while the other half asked for various tasty foods, which they usually ate the same day.
Those who chose the food were generally on their own.
Those who chose the cores, on the other hand, were typically planning for the future.
There were fewer than two hundred people on that small second floor, yet Sierra felt as if she were witnessing a microcosm of society.
Relieved of her teaching duties for Candice, Sierra breathed a sigh of relief, but that was immediately followed by boredom.
’I need to find something else to do.’
After some thought, Sierra decided to focus on physical training.
Her Superpower had improved, but she couldn’t let her physical conditioning fall behind.
Even if she never had to fight in close quarters, being physically stronger could only be a good thing.
She could push herself during her workouts without worrying about recovery.
With Nathan Thorne around, any physical injury could be healed in an instant.
The only one who suffered was Nathan Thorne himself.
It’s said that a healer cannot heal themselves, and that was more or less the case for Nathan Thorne.
Every time he collapsed onto a chair like a dead dog after a workout, Nathan Thorne would lament, ’Why isn’t there another Healing System Superpower User?’
’That way, we could heal each other.’
It was a nice thought, but that’s all it could be.
Another ten days passed in a flash.
During these ten days, Hector Grant would go downstairs every day and stay for a long time.
He looked utterly wretched every time he returned.
Sometimes, seeing his disheveled state, Sierra even wondered if he’d been rolling around in the sand.
’Otherwise, how could he get so messed up?’
But seeing Hector Grant’s expression grow more grim each day, Sierra ultimately kept her thoughts to herself.
A week later, things took a turn for the better.
The massive sandstorm, which had been raging for nearly a month, finally began to show signs of subsiding.
They couldn’t set out immediately, but conditions were clearly much better.
At this, the tension in Hector Grant’s brow eased considerably. Occasionally, you could even see the corners of his mouth turn up in a slight smile.
After a few more days of patient waiting, as the sand and wind continued to die down, Hector Grant eagerly announced that it was time to leave.
In truth, it wasn’t just Hector Grant. Everyone else was just as eager to get moving.
The sandstorm hadn’t completely stopped, but the blowing sand had lessened considerably.
As long as they drove slowly, they could at least make out the road and get their bearings.
Fortunately, their vehicles had been modified. Otherwise, after such a prolonged sandstorm, the accumulated sand would have been so thick that it would be questionable if the vehicles could even drive on it.
Before, everyone had a seat.
But now, they had lost a vehicle.
This meant some people were inevitably stuck in the aisle.
Whether they were standing or perched on small stools, it was certainly not as comfortable as a proper seat.
But no one complained. In fact, to ensure a smooth departure, everyone was a model of courtesy, offering their spots to others.
It was clear they were desperate to get back to the Subterra.
At first, Sierra Sullivan didn’t feel any particular way about it.
But seeing everyone’s eager scramble, she found their excitement to be a little contagious.
’Even though it’s still being cooped up in a confined space.’
’The Subterra is a city, after all!’
’A small city is still a city!’
’It’s got to be better than this!’
The vehicles soon departed.
They didn’t travel fast. Those by the windows didn’t need any prompting from Hector Grant; they watched the world outside, each more vigilant than the next.
When your own life was on the line, who needed to be told to be careful?
Sierra Sullivan and Jayce still sat in the back with Candice Tate. Nathan Thorne was on Jayce’s other side.
Nathan Thorne was cradling a bucket filled with all sorts of food.
His mouth hadn’t stopped moving since he boarded the vehicle.
Even though this wasn’t the first time she’d seen Nathan Thorne eat like this, Sierra couldn’t help but suspect his stomach had evolved into a bottomless pit.
’How else could you explain it?’
’Where did all that food even go?’