Chapter 252: Chapter 246: The Shadow Organization

The strongest girl pushed past everyone else to get to the food first.

She ate quickly, shoveling food into her mouth while warily watching the other girls for any sudden moves.

The girls who had been sitting with her were no longer as docile as before. They eyed her predatorily, waiting for a chance to snatch her food.

A brawl broke out. Food scattered across the floor as the girls descended into a chaotic, undisciplined scrum.

Aurora Sinclair scooted to the side. The fighters were mostly the stronger girls; the weaker ones hovered at the edges, waiting for a chance to snatch scraps from the floor and cram them into their mouths.

The brawl didn’t end until the last grain of rice in the cell had been devoured.

The strongest girl wiped at her bleeding arm and slowly stood up.

She kicked over a girl who was on the ground, scrambling for the last few scraps.

She glanced at Aurora Sinclair, who had been sitting aside the entire time, seemingly too disdainful to fight for food. The girl spat, straightened her hair, and walked over.

Aurora Sinclair’s placid gaze irritated her, and she suddenly lashed out with a kick.

But Aurora’s body was as hard as iron, and the girl collapsed to the ground, her own foot aching from the impact.

“Get her!” the girl screamed.

Her scream was like a royal command, and all the girls in the room surged forward, even the frailest ones.

Their eyes burned with rage, as if Aurora Sinclair had committed some unforgivable sin.

Aurora Sinclair didn’t move. The Power within her body slowly coalesced into a domain, and the girls closest to her suddenly froze, as if an immense pressure was crushing their bodies.

Their legs gave out, and with a THUD, they collapsed to their knees.

Fear crept into the strongest girl’s eyes as she looked at Aurora Sinclair, and her body began to tremble.

One girl even dropped to the ground and began kowtowing to Aurora Sinclair, chanting in an unknown language as if praying to a god.

Seeing that they had quieted down, Aurora Sinclair slowly withdrew her Power and closed her eyes, resting.

The terrifying pressure vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving the girls’ bodies trembling involuntarily.

They could finally move again.

Terrified, they scrambled backward until their backs were against the wall, keeping a safe distance from Aurora Sinclair.

Their gazes were filled with pure terror.

***

「Some time later.」

The light on the reinforced door changed color again, and the door was opened.

“All of you, out!”

Aurora Sinclair, who had been sitting cross-legged, snapped her eyes open. The chilling look in her gaze made the girls across from her flinch.

Only then did the person at the door notice the strange atmosphere in the room. He gave Aurora Sinclair a second glance, then walked over and unfastened her chains, leaving only the shackles on her ankles.

The other girls in the cell hurried out, their expressions joyful at the sight of these people.

After leaving the cell, they formed an orderly line against the reinforced glass wall outside.

Aurora Sinclair was the last one out. The corridor outside was already full of people. A little ways ahead, she saw Alvin Morgan, also standing in line.

The corner of his mouth was bruised, and blood dripped from the back of his hand. He looked like he’d just been in a fight.

Aurora Sinclair’s pupils constricted. She glanced at the men next to him, her gaze locking onto the strongest one.

He had a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth and a black eye, as if he’d just taken a severe beating.

When Aurora Sinclair looked back at Alvin Morgan, she met his eyes. He subtly pointed in a direction with his finger. Aurora’s eyes darted over and found Mia.

She stood in the adjacent group with her head bowed, her face black and blue. It looked like she’d been through a rough time.

“What are you looking at? Get moving!” A man in a protective suit shoved Aurora Sinclair, displeased that she was spacing out.

His voice drew the attention of others. Mia finally saw her, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

Aurora Sinclair gave her fingers a subtle shake, as if to comfort her. Mia’s heart gradually settled.

Everyone from the preparation area was led to a place resembling a small plaza.

It was huge, on par with a small athletic field, except it wasn’t on the ground floor.

Aurora Sinclair observed the crowd again. Many faces were filled with yearning as they gazed with single-minded devotion at the large screen on a high platform.

Just then, the large screen lit up, playing a looping promotional video of a home so beautiful it looked like paradise.

A gentle female voice with a soothing quality recited a passage, looping it in several different languages.

“Welcome to The Shadow. Here, there is no hunger, no war, no poverty, no disease. You can enjoy the safest, warmest home in the world. You can obtain the greatest Strength. You can have everything this world has to offer…”

Aurora Sinclair’s fists, hanging at her sides, suddenly clenched tight.

’So it’s The Shadow Organization…’

***

Next, a group of people in protective suits began to perform physical examinations on them one by one, recording the data on paper.

Each person being examined wore a hopeful smile, eager to be chosen.

A quick glance revealed that most of the people standing there were from the slums, all of them looking malnourished.

When they measured her, Aurora Sinclair deliberately controlled her heart rate and other vital signs so that none of her metrics met their standards.

However, the strongest girl from their cell was selected.

The girl excitedly covered her mouth, looking as if she were about to cry. She rushed to stand in another line, as if terrified of having to come back.

Only five people were chosen from this batch: two girls and three men.

The line immediately erupted with sobs and heart-wrenching screams.

Some even ran to hug the legs of the people in protective suits but were quickly subdued and pinned to the ground.

They were sent back to their respective cells.

This time, the cell wasn’t as quiet as before; everyone was discussing the girl who had been chosen.

Others were curled up in a ball, sobbing and muttering about how it was all over for them.

Aurora Sinclair’s gaze fell upon two girls speaking an international language. She stood up and walked over to them.

Terrified, they curled into a ball, afraid Aurora Sinclair was going to hit them.

“Repeat what you just said.”

“Wh-which… which part?” the two girls asked, their voices trembling.

Aurora Sinclair pressed her lips together and looked at them, then repeated what she had overheard.

One of the girls quickly said, “If they’d just let me eat my fill, I could’ve been chosen too…”

“I still have one more chance…”

Aurora Sinclair crouched down, looking at the girl who didn’t dare to meet her gaze, and asked softly, “What chance?”

“The chance to be selected… We each only get three chances. If you’re eliminated all three times, you lose your chance to enter The Shadow Organization forever.”

“Where do the people who are eliminated go?” Aurora Sinclair asked.

But the girls just shook their heads. “They’re probably sent back where they came from.”

Her gaze shifted to the girl crying hysterically in the corner.

“She’s used up all three of her chances.”

A moment later, someone came in and dragged the hysterical girl away.

A flicker of secret delight passed through the eyes of the other girls in the room. Now that there were two fewer people, they could get more food.

When it was time to eat again, the food had just been pushed in when Aurora Sinclair, moving before anyone could lunge for it, swiftly picked up a tray and a bag of the staple food.

They were still afraid of her, their eyes gleaming as they watched her, but they didn’t dare to step forward.

“Everyone, return to your places. I will divide the food for you.”

She had the two girls who spoke the international language translate for her.

The girls looked at her in disbelief.

The weaker girls had already returned to their places, but the stronger ones were still watching her like hungry wolves.

Under their watchful eyes, Aurora Sinclair divided the staple food and the dishes into seven equal portions, then had them come up one by one to collect their meal.

Each girl, upon receiving her food, immediately crammed it into her mouth, afraid it would be snatched away by someone else.

Aurora Sinclair took a bite of the food and froze.

This food was laced with certain drugs that could nourish one’s meridians and enhance their physical Strength.

It was a bit like the concoctions Warner always made her drink.

The person watching the monitor for Aurora Sinclair’s room suddenly laughed when they saw the situation.

“Interesting… Cut their food supply in half.”

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