The children stared at Ashley for a long moment before slowly nodding in understanding.

Satisfied, Ashley turned toward Ophelia.

The older woman was still staring at the children with a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

She had expected them to resist. Even forcing them to leave would have created another problem. Yet somehow, all it had taken was for Ashley to claim she was a superhero.

"Ophelia."

The soft call snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned and found Ashley standing only a step away.

"Start moving them as early as now," Ashley whispered, keeping her face turned away from the children. "I have a feeling I won’t be able to wait until dinner."

Ophelia’s eyes widened.

"But, Miss—"

"My men are usually early," Ashley explained. "Never late, and rarely exactly on time. I only just realized we might not have enough time."

She held Ophelia’s gaze. "Can you do it?"

Ophelia pressed her lips together as she searched Ashley’s eyes.

"I’ll try to sneak a few of them out with the kitchen staff’s help."

"Take them in large batches," Ashley murmured, patting her shoulder.

"But—"

Before Ophelia could argue, Ashley gave her shoulder another light tap and walked past her.

"Miss, where are you going?"

"The women’s dormitory." Ashley glanced back with a faint smile. "Don’t worry about whether anyone notices. Just do what I say. Use the same route you showed me just now."

With that, she looked at the children and gave them one last reassuring smile.

"Children, fighting!"

Her smile stretched wider. It was the kind of smile meant to tell them that she had everything under control.

The moment she turned her back on them, however, it vanished.

Her eyes glinted with murderous intent, and her expression darkened into something no superhero would ever wear.

If anything, she looked more like the villain.

Wait until dinner?

Ashley nearly laughed to herself.

That was far too long.

These people didn’t deserve one final meal.

Ashley retraced the secret route Ophelia had used to show her around the base. She barely encountered anyone along the way and eventually returned safely to the women’s dormitory.

When she reached the room she was supposed to share with the other recruits, she stopped at the entrance.

She leaned against the doorframe, crossed her arms beneath her chest, and raised a brow.

The women inside spared her only a brief glance before looking away.

"Uh..." Ashley blinked as she studied their faces. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Huh?"

The women turned toward her again, confused.

"I need to speak to everyone, but going from room to room is such a hassle, and I don’t have the time. This building is huge." She pouted faintly. "Please help me."

The women’s frowns deepened.

Finally, one of them could no longer contain herself.

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" The woman rose to her feet and marched toward Ashley. "Why? So you can declare your big ambition of being a queen?!"

"Do you really not understand what kind of situation we’re in?" she demanded. "How can you—"

A bitter laugh escaped her.

"If being here feels like some kind of dream to you, then good for you. No one cares. But stop acting like we’re your lackeys or as if our fear doesn’t matter!"

The woman panted, her eyes reddening at the corners.

Her entire body trembled, yet she glared at Ashley as though Ashley herself were responsible for bringing her here.

Her voice echoed through the dormitory before silence swallowed the room.

It became so quiet that everyone could hear something dripping.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The woman standing before Ashley furrowed her brows. Then she looked down. Her eyes widened as blood had pooled near Ashley’s feet.

It dripped steadily from the folds of her skirt.

"What are you—"

"Ah..." Ashley glanced down at herself and smiled faintly. "Don’t worry. It isn’t mine."

"You..." The woman stumbled backward, her body shaking even harder.

The others instinctively pressed themselves farther against the walls and bunks.

"I’m sorry if I made you feel that way." Ashley frowned slightly. "That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t mean to offend you, but I really do need your help."

She tilted her head and looked past the woman toward everyone else in the room.

"Do you want to get out of this place?"

No one answered.

They simply stared at her with wide eyes.

"If you do, then go to the other dormitories and tell the women that Ophelia will come here around dinner, just like she usually does," Ashley explained casually. "On your way there, you’ll take a different route—one that leads straight out of the base."

She paused, studying their expressions.

"The moment you step outside, run as fast as you can. You’ll meet some people waiting nearby. They’ll help you."

Her gaze drifted over them.

"As for the women who are probably assigned to tonight’s service..." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe they should stay behind?"

She looked up, unintentionally revealing the dried blood staining her hands.

"Although, do we even need to wait for that anymore when this place is starting to seriously piss me off?"

Initially, Ashley had come here with a clear plan.

But the more she learned about the base, the more she saw, the stronger the urge became to burn the entire place to the ground.

Her patience was thinning by the second.

If possible, she didn’t want these people to remain here for even a few more hours. She had once believed this place couldn’t become any worse than it had been during her childhood.

She had been wrong.

"Ugh. This is so annoying." Ashley scratched the back of her head before snapping her gaze toward the women. "Are you going to help me or not?"

No one answered.

Finally, the first woman lifted a trembling finger and pointed toward Ashley’s skirt.

"That blood..."

Ashley raised her brows and looked down. "Hmm... my period?"

Everyone stared at her.

It was painfully obvious the blood wasn’t coming from between her legs. It was dripping from the outer folds of her skirt.

When no one said anything, Ashley raised both hands in surrender.

"Fine. It belongs to the man who bumped into me on my way back." She sighed. "I beat the hell out of him."

The women remained frozen.

Ashley grimaced.

"Fine. I didn’t just beat him." She hesitated. "I bashed his head in."

Another stunned silence filled the room.

"Ugh. I’m so bad at this." Ashley clutched her head and groaned.

For some reason, she could sympathize with these women. She could understand their fear and feel the weight of their pain.

But the other emotion—the one that had been festering inside her long before she entered this base—was steadily drowning everything else out.

"Who are you?"

"Huh?"

Ashley paused and turned toward one of the women climbing down from the upper bunk.

The woman stared at her, hesitation and hope clashing in her eyes.

"If we do what you’re telling us..." she began, "will we really get out of here?"

Ashley’s eyes brightened. Before she could answer, another woman spoke.

"Can you guarantee that we’ll make it out safely?"

Everyone looked at Ashley with the same desperate expectation.

"Guarantee?" Ashley hummed thoughtfully. "Once you’re out, I can guarantee you’ll be safe."

Her expression softened.

"But if you stay, I can’t guarantee anything." She smiled faintly. "Then again, whether you leave now or remain here forever... it’s not as though staying gives you a better chance, does it?"

Another heavy silence descended over them.

The women exchanged glances.

Fear still gripped their hearts, and some of their knees visibly trembled.

Even so, one by one, they forced themselves to stand.

Without another word, they left the room to spread Ashley’s message throughout the building.

Ashley watched them go with a satisfied smile. Afterward, she made her way toward the rooftop, intending to survey the entire base from above.

However, the moment she reached the top, an unpleasant scene unfolding on the other side caught her attention.

Below, in the large open square, rows of men stood in formation.

Somewhere among them, a guard was beating one of the prisoners.

Ashley narrowed her eyes.

The distance was considerable, but she could still make out the prisoner’s bright red hair.

Her expression went blank before a layer of frost settled over her eyes.

"Goddamn it, Red," she muttered, her face twitching with fury. "This is why I prefer going on missions alone."

Or with Scott.

Whenever she worked alone—or with Scott—she never had to remind anyone not to lose their temper.

Because one way or another, Ashley was always the first to lose hers.

And once that happened, every carefully constructed plan had a habit of turning upside down.