He paused for effect, waiting until everyone was begging him to spill before going on. "The creepiest part was, his face and his whole body turned bright green! It only lasted a few seconds, but he dropped dead with his eyes wide open, just like that!" "Green?" Everyone shivered. "Why would he turn green? Was it some kind of poison?!" The man scoffed, "What kind of poison does that to a person? Word is, he looked just like an avocado!" "If you ask me..." His voice dropped even lower. "It's more like our deputy leader was hit with some kind of evil curse." Everyone started talking at once. "That's some serious dark magic!" "The leader was always saying we should move our main base to Greendale. Well, that plan is definitely done for!" "I always said it was a terrible idea anyway..." At that moment, there was a heavy knock at the door. "Open up! Room inspection!" The whole group fell silent and scrambled up to open the door. A squad of soldiers, bundled up and armed, stormed in and started searching everywhere. The room was barely bigger than a college dorm, so it didn't take long before they'd turned the place upside down. Once the soldiers finally left, someone whispered, "I heard the leader and the deputy leader weren't even that close. Why the huge investigation?" "If the leader didn't put on a show of doing a thorough search, everyone would think he was behind it. What's he supposed to do, throw a party to celebrate?""So you're saying the leader—" "Hey! Enough! I never said anything, okay?" The man who had started the story rolled his eyes. "Don't get any wild ideas. My classmate's cousin was there. The leader was so freaked out that he practically lost his mind. No way he was the one who did it. "He's just making a big deal out of this because he's scared that if they don't find the killer, he'll be next." Everyone nodded. "You're right." Then they all started whispering again, "What kind of curse could turn someone green like that?" Meanwhile, over in Greendale's ancient city, midnight had passed, and Natalie's storage space had reset. She took one last look at Anthony and the others' green corpses, then blinked up to the roof with the three little ones and Cassian. Fiorella's place was huge, and the rooftop was just right for takeoff. Natalie pulled a helicopter out of her space, and soon she, Cassian, and the three little ones were all aboard. Before taking off, Cassian asked Natalie, "Do you want to check the other two Greendale Gang warehouses?" Natalie thought for a second, then shook her head. "No, let's just go." Those two bootlicker branch leaders always sent anything good straight to Fiorella. Natalie could tell that those other branches were dirt poor just by looking at how the underlings dressed. At best, they'd have basic supplies, like rice and oil. She had so much food in her space that she could live off it for generations, or use it as money and live in luxury, so there was no reason to waste energy making extra trips for the basics. Besides, it was pitch-black out. Just finding those warehouses would have been a huge hassle. If she had the energy, she'd rather hurry up and get to the southern warehouse. Cassian's stash was way better anyway. The faster she cleared it out, the sooner she could get back to her hillside villa and relax. Cold nights like this are meant for staying home warm, watching "The Legend of the Crowned Women" and eating instant oatmeal. I wonder how Olivia, Harold, and Ghania are doing. With weather like this, I hope they're hanging in there okay. Cassian started up the helicopter right away after hearing Natalie's answer. It was so cold that he had to try twice before it finally took off. The blizzard had stopped, so the chopper's roar echoed loudly through the night. In a nearby three-story building, Jarvis, Matthew, and Selene—who'd already been sleeping lightly—were all jolted awake by the noise. Jarvis reacted first. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the warehouse. Matthew tried to follow, but he was shivering so badly that he hesitated at the door. He grabbed a burning log from their campfire, then staggered after Jarvis. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Jarvis's shocked face. He looked up, following Jarvis's gaze, and his own eyes went wide. His teeth chattered as he struggled to speak, and finally he managed just two words. "Holy crap!" There, overhead, was a super-luxury AW139 helicopter, its searchlight blazing like the brightest star in the night sky, putting his flaming stick to shame. Oh my God, where did that badass, tricked-out chopper come from?!Judging by its path, it wasn't about to land here. It had just taken off from the alley where they were standing!