Volume 1, Chapter 45: Ulterior Motives

"Come in." Lin Ye's deep voice came from within the room.

An Ruoran took a quick breath, instantly putting on a respectful smile as she gently pushed the door open.

Mo Youxue followed closely behind, struggling to suppress the exhaustion and complex emotions lurking in her eyes.

Lin Ye was already fully dressed, standing before the massive floor-to-ceiling window with his back to the door. The morning light outlined his tall, powerful silhouette.

"Marshal, your breakfast." An Ruoran's voice was softer than usual, carrying a trace of unperceivable lightness.

Holding the tray, she carefully walked over to the coffee table by the window and set the plate down gently.

Mo Youxue hurriedly stepped forward as well, placing her tray down with slightly stiff movements.

Only then did Lin Ye turn around. His calm gaze swept over the two of them before finally resting on the food on the coffee table.

His eyes lingered for a fraction of a second on the steak and the perfectly shaped heart-fried egg before moving away, revealing no emotion, positive or negative.

"Hmm," he replied faintly, pacing over to sit in the single-person sofa.

Instead of immediately reaching for the cutlery, he picked up the tablet computer beside him, his fingers sliding across the screen as if reviewing some report.

An Ruoran and Mo Youxue stood quietly to one side, momentarily at a loss.

Mo Youxue secretly glanced at An Ruoran and noticed that her head was lowered slightly, her gaze fixed on Lin Ye's fingers holding the tablet. Her cheeks appeared a bit rosier than before, but her expression remained one of respectful tension, betraying nothing unusual.

*She's acting way too much like it...* Mo Youxue muttered inwardly.

For a moment, the only sounds in the room were the subtle scratching of Lin Ye's fingertips against the screen and the faint hum of vehicle engines from outside the window.

The atmosphere was subtly stagnant.

Mo Youxue felt awkward whether she stood or left, and just as she was about to ask if there were any further instructions, An Ruoran beat her to it.

"M-Marshal," An Ruoran's voice was very soft, tinged with a tentative hesitation, "D-does this... does this breakfast... suit your taste? The steak was thawed just this morning, so it's very fresh..."

Her words carried a trace of imperceptible anticipation, as if seeking some form of validation.

Lin Ye's gaze finally lifted from the tablet, landing on An Ruoran's face.

His eyes were deep and scrutinizing, seemingly capable of piercing straight through a person's heart.

An Ruoran's heart skipped a beat under his gaze, and she instinctively averted her eyes, her fingers nervously twisting the lace hem of her maid apron.

"It's fine," Lin Ye uttered just two words, giving no clue whether he approved or disapproved.

He put down the tablet, picked up the knife and fork, and began cutting the steak with graceful movements.

An Ruoran seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, the corners of her lips curving into a tiny arc before instantly flattening back into her dutiful expression.

She cast a sideways glance at Mo Youxue and saw that the latter was frowning, her gaze darting back and forth between her and Lin Ye, filled with inquiry and a trace of undetectable irritation.

An Ruoran immediately lowered her eyelids, acting as if nothing had happened.

Mo Youxue felt even more blocked up inside.

She always felt that An Ruoran's look just now and that question were somewhat off, yet she couldn't pinpoint any concrete evidence.

Lin Ye's reaction was even more nonchalant, as if nothing had occurred at all.

Could it really be that she was just overthinking? The sounds last night... Ruoran's foot... and now this vague atmosphere...

No, something was definitely fishy!

Mo Youxue was almost certain, but lacked any proof.

Lin Ye ate his breakfast quietly at an unhurried pace.

He cut off a small piece of steak and chewed it, yet his gaze seemed to casually sweep across An Ruoran's lowered profile once more.

Her eyelashes were very long, fluttering slightly and casting a tiny shadow in the morning light.

The corners of Lin Ye's mouth twitched upward imperceptibly—so fast it could easily be mistaken for an illusion.

He popped the last bite of the fried egg into his mouth and picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of his lips.

"Clean this up," he said, putting down the napkin and resuming his usual flat tone, as if the brief exchange of glances had never happened.

"Yes," An Ruoran acknowledged.

She immediately stepped forward, starting to clear away the tableware with brisk efficiency.

Her movements carried a kind of... natural familiarity?

Mo Youxue helped from the side, yet felt like an utter outsider.

With the tray packed, the two of them held the empty platters and prepared to leave.

"Wait." Lin Ye's voice sounded once more.

The two stopped in their tracks and turned around.

Lin Ye's gaze fell upon An Ruoran with a hint of a command in his tone: "You,"

He pointed at An Ruoran, "Go report to Chen Feng this morning. He will arrange some paperwork for you to familiarize yourself with the basic operational procedures of the villa."

His tone was strictly businesslike, as though he were merely assigning tasks to a new employee.

A flash of brightness darted across An Ruoran's eyes, instantly replaced by deference: "Yes, Marshal."

Lin Ye's gaze then shifted to Mo Youxue:

"As for you," he paused briefly, seemingly deep in thought, "temporarily follow Li Hua and assist him with survivor registration and basic material sorting. Get used to the environment first."

Mo Youxue froze for a moment, then hurriedly lowered her head:

"Alright..."

"Go." Lin Ye waved his hand, his eyes already returning to the tablet in his hand as if they no longer existed.

Carrying the tray, An Ruoran's steps seemed even lighter than when she had arrived, though she still tried hard to maintain a steady composure.

Mo Youxue followed behind her, watching her straight back. The clouds of doubt in her heart not only failed to disperse, but grew even denser.

Paperwork? Familiarizing with the villa base procedures? Why on earth was it her?

Biting her lower lip, Mo Youxue watched An Ruoran's figure head toward the elevator, a sensation that was half grievance and half resentment spreading deep within her heart.

She vaguely sensed that An Ruoran had already stepped into the periphery of Lin Ye's personal domain—a territory she had yet to touch.

And she, like a genuine maid, was being dispatched to sort supplies.

Half an hour later, led by an expressionless soldier through layers of reinforced temporary roadblocks, Mo Youxue arrived at the "Survivor Assembly Zone," situated on the outer perimeter of the villa district and retrofitted from several cleared large warehouses.

The air here was turbid, thick with the stench of sweat, disinfectant, and an ineffable aura of despair.

Before her eyes were densely packed heads bobbing up and down—at a rough glance, numbering at least seven or eight hundred people.

Most of them were ragged and sallow, their eyes filled with exhaustion, numbness, and fear of the future.

Standing on a makeshift high platform constructed from abandoned shipping containers, Li Hua held a megaphone, spitting as he lectured.

His slick tone was currently imbued with the severity of borrowing authority to intimidate others.

"...Listen up, all of you! Your lives were granted by the Marshal! It is out of the Marshal's supreme benevolence that he has taken you in!

Here, the Marshal's word is absolute law! If the Marshal says east, you do not go west! If the Marshal tells you to stand and die, you will straighten your spines and die! Do you understand?!"

Li Hua's voice echoed through the warehouse via the megaphone with harsh static.

The crowd below was deathly silent, with only a handful of people offering weak, scattered responses: "U-Understood..."

Li Hua's gaze turned dark in an instant, and he abruptly whipped his head toward Leng Feng, who was standing in the shadows at the edge of the high platform.

Leng Feng didn't even look at him; he simply raised the Type 92 pistol in his hand with a blank expression.

"Bang—!"

A deafening gunshot pierced the air without warning! The bullet struck an overhead steel beam, sending a shower of sparks flying!

Instantly, terrified screams and turmoil erupted within the warehouse as the crowd shoved each other like startled sheep.

"Louder! Are you all deaf?!" Li Hua roared into the megaphone, his voice cracking slightly from excitement.

This time, the response burst forth like a tidal wave, laden with terror and a desperate will to survive.

"Understood—!"