"Otherwise, you know… this place is in the middle of nowhere. If something happened to you out here, no one would even find your body!"
"Of course. A smart person would know what to do," Stella Sterling said with a nod of approval.
Seeing how cooperative she was, Boss Pence roared with laughter. Her composure wasn't a facade; she had clearly accepted her fate and given up the fight.
'She really is a smart one, able to read the situation. A bit too arrogant, though, daring to come here alone in the middle of the night. I have to admire her nerve!'
"It's good that you can see reason, Miss Sterling. I, Mr. Pence, am just in it for the money; I don't want to kill anyone. If you want to do business again, I'd be more than happy. Don't worry, the price will be the same, but I guarantee the goods will be genuine next time!"
Boss Pence smiled genially, his gaze pleased as he looked at Stella Sterling.
"You're mistaken. I'm taking the goods right now. And not just the goods…" Mid-sentence, Stella Sterling fell silent. She produced a small knife from her space and stabbed at him. As he cried out in pain, she spun behind him, the dagger in her hand now replaced by a machete, which she swung at the tall, thin man. "I'm taking the goods, and I'm keeping my life. As for the money… I was going to give it to you. But now, I'm taking the money, too!"
The tall, thin man was quick to dodge and wasn't killed in one strike, but she managed to gash his arm. Stella Sterling sighed in disappointment.
'This body is still too weak. It's nothing compared to my previous life. Looks like I'll have to work on my physical conditioning as soon as I get a chance.'
'That way it'll be one strike, one kill. One strike, one kill—'
The small knife was a fruit knife she'd brought from home, while the machete was one the bald man and his crew had left in their beat-up little car. She wouldn't have dared come to such a desolate wasteland alone in the dead of night without being prepared.
Gazing at the terrified expressions on Boss Pence and his men, Stella Sterling didn't waste another word. She simply dragged the machete and started walking toward them.
Boss Pence and his men snapped out of it. He couldn't believe this little brat still dared to fight back. Boss Pence almost scoffed. "She's courting death! Tie her up! A good, hard lesson is all she needs to learn how to behave!"
Several men rushed to a stone platform, each grabbing a machete. Their expressions turned vicious, and their practiced movements made it obvious this wasn't their first time doing something like this.
However, when they turned around, Stella Sterling, who had been in the cave just a moment ago, was gone. Their vicious expressions turned to dumbfounded confusion. They glanced around blankly. "Where is she!"
Stella Sterling had already slipped into her space, only to silently reappear behind one of the men. She viciously plunged the machete into his chest, then tore it out with force. As blood geysered from the wound, Stella Sterling vanished into her space once more.
"Damn it, where is she—"
"We're not dealing with a ghost, are we?!"
"No normal person would dare come to a place like this in the middle of the night!"
Watching a person vanish and reappear right before their eyes was too much of a shock. Terror and disbelief spread across the faces of Boss Pence and his men.
Just then, Stella Sterling reappeared behind another man, finishing him off in the same manner. Her movements were phantom-like and impossible to defend against…
A few moments later, the only ones left in the cave were Stella Sterling and the corpses on the floor. Stella Sterling was quite dissatisfied with her own performance. "All this trouble just to take out a few people. What a waste of energy…"