Maybe it was because he instinctively felt that communicating with my mom was pointless.Ashton looked at my dad with awe, as if he were observing a rare beauty, and remarked, "Psychic abilities. Impressive."… After that revelation, my mom transformed into a completely different person. She became unusually attentive toward my dad, a stark departure from her usual demeanor. "Since Ashton said you don't need to eat, we won't eat. How about a rock to gnaw on instead? I'll go find you one."Derick, I've charged your phone."What are you listening to? You're smiling so much. Let me listen, too."Derick, your daughter farts, grinds her teeth, and snores in her sleep. I don't want to share a bed with her anymore."'Seriously, this woman,' I grumbled to myself. I was utterly mortified. "How shameless of you."Given my mom's previous treatment of my dad, I expected him to ignore her for at least a month.As predicted, my dad responded with a cold snort. "Do you regret it now? You
"Who are you?" another middle-aged man asked."Who cares about that, John? We lost five people on this trip and came back empty-handed. Look at them. They're carrying so many supplies. It's like lambs walking into the slaughter.""Hand over the supplies, and we will let you go."Since the man, John Cooper, was holding a gun, we were understandably frightened.As we reluctantly set down our supplies, the group's audacity grew. The blonde guy flashed a grin and said, "Why don't the two beauties have some fun with us? I'll give you two packs of instant noodles in exchange. How about that?""Enough," John interjected sternly.Hearing his command, the blonde guy pouted but quickly resumed his smile, saying, "Don't worry, John. I won't force them if they're not willing."Just when I thought we were at their mercy, he suddenly grabbed Ashton's and my dad's hands.I was left speechless.Ashton didn't resist, but his expression turned icy. My dad, meanwhile, was visibly shocked.At t
When my mom heard his words, her eyes lit up. She didn't care whether Ashton had lied to her or not. She only asked eagerly, "Ashton, do you have any meat or vegetables?" On the other hand, my dad was excited. "Wow! Alternate space? That's the kind of ultimate cheat the main characters have in novels! Ashton, I'll be your number-one sidekick from now on!" Looking at their reactions, Ashton glanced at me in confusion. Then, I quickly chimed in, "I want to eat meat, veggies, and ice cream too!" 'Mostly, I want to eat you,' I thought inwardly. In that split second, Ashton stiffened, and his ears turned slightly red. Then, he ignored me and said to my dad, "Mr. Olson, thank you for saving me. I'm forever in your debt. You can consider me as part of your family." Hearing his words, my dad was deeply touched. However, my mom interrupted them and said, "Let's eat first." Soon, we found a two-story house on the side of the road that was built by some local folk. That night, we ha
"This is my brother." For some reason, Ashton suddenly looked upset and had a grim expression for the entire time. 'Didn't he say he wanted to be a part of my family? That makes him my brother, right?' I thought. Afterward, my mom was taken for a test of her mutant abilities. As we waited outside, we suddenly heard a loud bang. In that split second, the entire ground shook. … When my mom came out, she was surrounded by the staff. "Are you sure I don't need to pay for that? Don't come at me later looking for trouble. I'm not owning up to it. You guys are the ones who told me to hit it." It turned out my mom had smashed the strength-testing machine with one punch, and the concrete ground had sunk more than a meter deep. "Cool," I exclaimed. Hearing my words, my mom instinctively tried to smack me, but I quickly darted behind Ashton for cover. Initially, my mom was assigned to District 3. However, she was being brought to District 5 since our family didn't want to be s
Seeing that I was feeling awkward, Xandra said she would take me for a walk around the neighborhood. She was quite friendly, probably because it was rare for her to have peers around."I heard from your mom that your name is Anna."I nodded. "What about you?""My name is Xandra Tayson."The neighborhood wasn't quite big. She took me on a walk and kept chatting, giving me a new understanding of the base.It turned out the leader of the base was a leader at the nuclear power plant who had previously served in the military. He was a very upright and selfless person. Initially, there was no need for people to pay the crystal core to the base every month as he would lead the mutants to gather food and support many ordinary people.However, as the number of people at the base increased, he became overwhelmed, which led to the tax system. He encouraged everyone to find jobs and actively contribute to building the base, going out to eliminate zombies, collecting supplies, and even establi
Ever since I found out he had an alternate space, I immediately suppressed any inappropriate thoughts. After all, he must be a powerful figure. He told us that the area of his space was ten times bigger than my family's supermarkets, assuring us that we could eat as much as we wanted.Thinking about it, I felt inferior. With the current conditions, he could have any woman he wanted. He could even marry ten women without any problem. Hell, those women might even have tried to snatch him. This only proved that we were not a perfect match.As Xandra tried to pry information out of me, I kept repeatedly emphasizing I was only siblings with Ashton.In the meantime, Ashton stood at the door and looked at me coldly before going back to help in the kitchen.Then, she pointed toward the kitchen and said, "I think he has a crush on you."Hearing her words, I felt that she must have gone mad since such a thing would be impossible. Even after all that time with him, I had never seen him wav
"Welcome aboard," said Jessica.Just as Xandra said, Jessica resembled a cold fish with a warm heart.After I thanked her, I quickly took the apple and headed back.My mom insisted we return the favor since they had sent such a precious gift. She had wanted to visit the new neighbors since the first day we arrived and was now anxiously rummaging around for something to give them."Maybe what we have the most of is what she needs the most." I reminded her.Hearing my words, my mom quickly gathered a large bag of toilet paper, sanitary napkins, towels, and socks before heading out.After some time, she still hadn't returned. Recalling how sparing those two were with words, I wondered why my mom could be gone for so long.That evening, Xavier came home.Xavier was a bright young man. He was tall, handsome, and skinny.He didn't smile much but was polite. He brought a bag of cereal and thanked us for taking care of Xandra. He also mentioned that he hoped we could look after her wh
At that moment, Melanie's cries and Selina's desperate pleas sounded from upstairs. For the first time, I cried helplessly.…Then, someone held my hand and pulled me into an embrace. The scent was familiar. I looked up and saw it was Ashton.He frowned as he gently wiped my tears away and said, "It's okay. I'll take you inside." Then, he held me as we stepped forward.No matter who tried to stop us or what strange abilities they possessed, they couldn't get within a meter of us. It was as if we were enveloped in an invisible barrier that no one could harm us even the slightest.In the villa's hall, a few more people charged toward us. Ashton merely glared at them, and they froze, unable to move.In the master bedroom upstairs, Melanie was tied to the bed. She was stripped bare, and her eyes widened in fear as she cried out, "Someone, save me!"A middle-aged man who only wore his underwear jumped off the bed and looked at us warily.Ashton quickly covered my eyes. "Don't look.