Lisa's face darkened as she glared at him, sweat dripping down his face. "What is it? Why are you screaming like that?" The man stammered nervously, glancing at her expression, "M-Ms. Eland ... your private stash—duck breast, caviar, truffles ... Mr. Olson's Wagyu, Devilroot, deer velvet ... everything. Every last bit of them was eaten by animals! There's nothing left!" "What?!" Lisa shot up from her seat. The others were just as shocked. "Animals ate all of it?" "I know this guy! He's Nicholas, the guy in charge of the storage. Did someone break in?" "Could this be one of Godfrey's tricks, leaving someone behind to sabotage us?" "What about the rest of the supplies? Do we even have food left?" Lisa raised her hand sharply. "Quiet!" Immediately, the room went silent, though the tension on their faces didn't fade. Everyone knew how crucial the food storehouse was. If the supplies were gone, survival was nearly impossible. Lisa forced herself to calm down and sat back, fixing her gaze on Nicholas Chasey. "You're the one in charge of the storage?" Nicholas nodded timidly. "Yes, ma'am." Lisa said, "Don't panic. Just tell me exactly what happened. How did animals get in?" Four guards were assigned to the storehouse: one loyal to Lisa, one from Godfrey, and two neutral caretakers. Nicholas was one of the neutral ones who had been in charge since before Godfrey's rebellion. Because Lisa and Godfrey didn't trust each other, each had stationed one loyal man, forcing everyone to keep watch together. But today was different. Godfrey's men were off at Greenhaven Mountain, and Lisa's men were at the banquet, leaving only Nicholas and one other behind. Nicholas, near tears, explained, "I had an upset stomach all day and kept running back and forth to the bathroom. I never expected that when I came back, I'd find a dog, a chicken, and a rabbit inside the storage, stuffing themselves ... " Lisa frowned. What on earth is this guy talking about? A chicken, a rabbit, and a dog? Is he out of his mind? It's been years since the apocalypse—where would you even find a live chicken or rabbit anymore? At best, you might catch sight of one or two half-starved wild dogs still clinging to life, but even those had practically disappeared. Last year, their gang had hunted down quite a few wild dogs, turning them into stew and dried meat. Now you couldn't find any, no matter how hard you looked. Pretty much every small animal had already been eaten to extinction. This guy must've gone mad under the pressure of surviving the apocalypse. His head clearly isn't right. Philbert, standing beside Lisa, scowled. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? How dare you make up stories to mess with Ms. Eland!" Nicholas burst into tears. "I swear it's true! There was a dog, a chicken, and a rabbit in there! The dog was huge and ugly, fat as a barrel! The chicken was three, maybe four times the size of the ones my grandma raised! And the rabbit ... it was massive!" He gestured wildly as he spoke, the story growing more absurd with each word. How could animals that big even exist? Everyone is skeletal by now. Maybe Nicholas stole from the storage and is covering it up with a ridiculous tale. Someone asked, "You said you went to the bathroom. What about the other guard? Weren't there supposed to be two of you?"Nicholas burst into tears. "He ... he got crushed by that fat dog!" "What?!" The room froze. This is getting ridiculous. What kind of dog is it? It didn't bite but instead crushed someone? If it can crush a person, is it even a dog? Sounds more like a pig! Nicholas, seeing their doubt, grew frantic. "I saw it with my own eyes! That fat dog sat right on him, like he was a cushion, and ate comfortably while squashing him!" His face twisted as he recalled it. "The guy coughed up blood ... and flattened like paper ... " Even though no one believed him, Lisa didn't take chances. She immediately sent several men to check the food storage. Then she turned back to Nicholas. "What about the sugar and chocolate? Were those touched?" Nicholas shook his head. "No. All of that is safe. The dog couldn't touch chocolate, so it's all untouched ... " Someone laughed. "Nicholas, if you're lying, at least make it believable. Now the dog's picky?" After being doubted for so long and still freaked out from earlier, Nicholas just shut up and stood quietly off to the side, trying to keep it together. Once the men returned from the storage, Lisa would see for herself that he wasn't lying.