Apocalypse Rebirth: Crazy from Day One

"Alright."

Looking at the two people before her, Stella Sterling didn’t say much, simply agreeing to their request.

The little boy had prepared a whole speech, but he never expected her to agree so easily.

Now, he didn’t know whether he should say the rest of what he’d planned. His mouth hung half-open as he stared blankly at Stella Sterling.

He remained that way until the little girl beside him tugged on his arm. "Brother, the lady agreed."

She didn’t understand why her brother had refused the food and chosen to follow this lady instead. It had been so long since she’d eaten.

But over the past while, she had grown used to following her brother’s lead in everything. She did whatever he told her to do.

The boy snapped back to his senses. He pulled his sister down with him to kowtow to Stella Sterling. "Thank you. My sister and I are very smart. We won’t be freeloaders. We’ll work hard to repay you in the future."

"Mm."

Stella Sterling nodded, offering no further comment on his words.

She had saved them and was taking them back with her; it was only natural that they should repay her in the future.

Looking at them, her voice, as clear as a mountain spring, seemed to pierce their hearts. "From now on, you will call me Sterling, just like the others. You will be loyal to me. Your lives will consist of constant training to strengthen yourselves, and then you will work for me."

The little boy nodded firmly. "Yes, Sterling. We won’t let you down."

He knew this was his chance, and he had seized it.

Given the state of the world outside, he and his sister wouldn’t have survived for long. Even if they had escaped disaster today, who knew whose hands they would fall into next.

To survive, they had to find a powerful faction to depend on—one that would give him time to grow.

No other place would take in two children. They had no combat ability, would consume food, and were, simply put, two burdens. No one would give them time to grow.

Even if some faction did agree to let them join, who knew what hidden intentions they might have.

Although he was only nine, he had already been through a great deal.

His parents had died one after another to protect him and his sister. In the time since, he had struggled to keep his sister alive, facing countless dangers.

He felt he could take a gamble on the woman before him.

Hearing the boy’s earnest promise, Stella Sterling smiled and asked, "Then do you know which of the things I just told you is the most important?"

The little boy thought for a moment before answering seriously, "Loyalty."

Stella Sterling stood up. "Very good. Remember your answer today."

The two of them went to stand by Shane Lawrence’s side. After a nod of approval from Stella Sterling, Shane Lawrence gave them something to eat.

Now that these two were her own people, Stella Sterling naturally wouldn’t treat them poorly.

She turned her attention to the others, taking in each of their expressions.

She saw that, aside from the two who hadn’t been given food, the other four looked happy, as if they were happy for the two little ones.

She thought for a moment, then said to the four of them, "Do you have any special skills? If so, our base is also recruiting. We welcome talented people."

Hearing this, their eyes lit up. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Among the four were two young men, brothers, who had previously been scientific researchers.

Normally, people like them should have been highly sought after by other bases.

In fact, they had chosen a base to join before, but they had rather blunt personalities and couldn’t turn a blind eye to many things.

Unfortunately, the base they had joined was involved in some shady business behind the scenes.

As a result, they offended many people at the base. However, because of their skills, the base didn’t do anything to them directly.

But a doctor at the base was conducting human experiments. The two of them disagreed, gravely offending him.

The people in the base sided with the doctor, supporting his experiments. So, the brothers were kicked out.

The base also put out the word that no other faction was to take them in.

That base was very powerful, and the surrounding factions all deferred to it, so no one else dared to offer them shelter.

They understood that while the base hadn’t killed them outright, this action was essentially pushing the two brothers toward a dead end.

To survive, they fled to this area, only to have the misfortune of being captured and nearly ending up as someone else’s food.

After hearing their story, Stella Sterling glanced at them in surprise. She felt a pang of sympathy. ’What a pair of unlucky souls.’

They had real skills; they just hadn’t met someone who valued them.

And on top of that, they still held on to their kindness, which was how they ended up offending so many people.

There’s nothing wrong with being kind, but in this environment, kindhearted people were destined to have a harder time surviving than others.

She extended a hand to them. "Welcome aboard. I hope you’ll be able to put your skills to good use at our base."

Stella Sterling was in a good mood. What had started as a rare act of kindness had led to an unexpected gain.

The two brothers’ eyes lit up. When they had explained their situation, they hadn’t held out much hope.

Many bases wouldn’t like their situation. After all, taking them in meant potentially offending the base that had kicked them out.

As they spoke, they were also testing her.

After all, joining an ordinary base would be useless. They shared their story to see if this woman had the guts to take them in.

But she had agreed so readily, which showed she wasn’t afraid at all. It also indirectly proved that the power backing this woman was not to be underestimated.

"Sterling, we’re glad to join you."

Their form of address had already changed. They had noticed that everyone else called this person Sterling, and that she had even told the two children who had just joined to call her that as well.

So, even though they were both a few years older than her, they followed suit.

It wasn’t a matter of age, but a sign of their respect for her.

Stella Sterling nodded, accepting their address, which signified that these two were now her people—one of them.

Of the two, the one who looked slightly younger spoke up with a smile, "Sterling, there’s one more thing we didn’t tell you."

When Stella Sterling looked over, the man continued with a laugh, "Although from the looks of it, you’re not afraid of offending another faction, some things are just too much of a coincidence. The faction that drove us out? It’s the same Sanctyr Base those men just mentioned."