Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 51: Rebellion

The guards had their guns ready, but none of them dared point them towards Karina, let alone press the trigger.

The slum dwellers saw the overbearing grunts cowering and were filled with confidence. Simultaneously, their loyalty to Karina also spiked. When that happened, they boldly declared their grievances to her.

First, it was their women being taken advantage of by Simeon’s men. Then it was about the unjust punishments they had been receiving.

They even told her how they were ’hired’ to act as bait for monsters during hunts, and their families were taken hostage if they didn’t play their part.

They kept complaining until their complaints reverted back to the lack of food.

All the while, Karina did not look at them even once. Her gaze was fixed on her so-called uncle.

Mila, the entertainment district manager, stood just behind Joe, along with her female guards, but Karina had no interest in her.

Unlike Simeon and Mila, Joe was someone she knew and trusted blindly. He was the reason she could leave the base with a free mind to deal with the monsters outside.

Yet her flesh and blood had deceived her. That’s what hurt her more than any amount of bullets could.

"Mila... do something!" Joe hissed, unable to stand Karina’s glare. "You said your ability would have her under control, then why is she acting out now?"

"Now you remember my ability?" Mila scoffed, dropping the cigarette and stomping on it. "I told you never to leave her alone. Yet you did just that. That too for days. Now you expect me to risk my life and charm her again?"

"Damn it..." Joe cursed through gritted teeth. "Where did this girl get so much confidence!?"

Over a year ago, Karina was a broken soul with no one but Old Joe to depend on. However, Joe was scared shitless being around her.

No one knew when Karina would go berserk again, and that’s why no one wanted to be close to her. That’s when they found Mila at the shelter.

She was an evolver with a charm skill. Which made her capable of charming any person to do her bidding, but only as long as their will was weak.

The charm worked on Karina since she was as broken as one could be. A virtual switch was created in Karina’s mind that made her dependent on Joe and Mila.

Karina felt like she was in control, but in reality, she could only do things that Joe and Mila wanted her to. Hence, they could rule the camp as they wanted, all under Karina’s banner.

Things would have been the same if not for the meeting with Aiden.

Back then, when Aiden rattled Joe, some of his control slipped from Karina. Hence, she decided to stay back on her own.

After that, things happened between the two, and she completely broke away from the charm bond. Now, she was bound to Aiden.

In simple words, her infatuation for Aiden had replaced the switch made by Mila’s charm.

"Aiden was right," Karina smiled at her stupidity. "This place... it’s terrible. The people who run this place are even worse."

"Karina, we can talk about this—!" Joe said, but was cut off.

In a second, Karina had covered over twenty feet distance and was holding Old Joe by the neck. His feet were dangling in the air.

"You’re a piece of shit," she snarled. "The food was for them. Tell me where it is before I rip the truth out of your mouth."

Old Joe clawed at her wrist, his legs kicking Karina, but they didn’t even tickle her. His pathetic attempts to get away only made her tighten her grip on his neck.

"I’ll ask once more. Where is the damn food?"

Joe’s eyes rolled for a second before focusing back on her. A grin stretched across his face, even as his breath came out in broken, choking sounds.

He knew Karina had lost her mind. She wouldn’t have gone so violent if she weren’t on the verge of turning. When that happened, he was as good as done, and so was everyone else.

He would gladly use his final moments to push her beyond the edge. Let’s see who will accept her when she gets more blood on her hands.

"Hehe, y-you really think... we’d just leave it... lying around?" he coughed, a string of saliva slipping down his chin. "We distributed it among ourselves... Me, Mila, and Simeon."

He continued, as if enjoying it, "Simeon and I sold most of it to other camps for a huge margin! You’ll never see a single grain from it again."

A murmur spread through the slum dwellers. Karina’s mouth twitched with anger. Just how blind had she been to trust someone like him?

Seeing her reaction, Joe turned towards the slum dwellers and laughed.

"W-what? You rats think you deserve it more than us?" he coughed. "We run this place... we keep you alive! So what if we take a little extra? You should be grateful for even having a place to sleep!"

That was it. Karina would snap at any moment. At least that’s what Joe thought until she let him go. Old Joe fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Killing scum like you would be too easy," she said, patting his cheek. "You love this camp, don’t you? You love the money and power that ruling over it gives you."

Karina got up, her eyes fixed on Joe.

"Fine. Keep this camp. Rule over it as much as you want... without anything of mine."

"Of yours?" Joe laughed out loud. "What here could possibly be yours—!?"

He had barely said those words when Karina pointed towards the people.

"They belong to me," she announced.

Old Joe looked at her, then at the slum she was pointing at, and rolled over, laughing like he had heard the greatest joke.

"That was your big threat?" Joe barked, clutching his stomach. "You’re going to take away some worthless people, and I’m supposed to beg you not to? I almost thought staying away made you a genius, but you’re still the stupid girl you were a year ago!"

Karina ignored Joe’s rambling and turned to the slum dwellers.

"From this day on, you’re my family," she yelled. "I won’t pretend I haven’t wronged you before, but if you put your trust in me, I swear on my life, you’ll never have to degrade yourselves for survival."

"But before that, don’t you think you should be compensated for all the humiliation you have endured for the last year?" Karina smirked, turning to face a baffled Joe. "Take whatever you want from this place! It’s only fair since everything they got was under my leadership."

"Have you gone crazy!?" Joe roared, pointing at Karina with a trembling finger. "Guards! Shoot them! Kill them all—"

"If a single bullet hits them, I’ll rip your hands off and shove them right into your ass!"

That was all Karina needed to say. The few who even raised their weapons quickly brought them down. Old Joe was humiliated, but no one seemed to care about him.

If they followed his orders, they knew Karina would kill them in the blink of an eye. Insubordination was better than death.

The crowd raided one building after another.

Armory? Looted.

Granary? Gone.

However, no one entered the brothel. Karina was surprised by it. After all, Mila should have been in cahoots with Joe. Shouldn’t the slum dwellers also target her?

"We would never harm her, ma’am," a young fellow from the slum told Karina when she asked him. "The little assistance we got after you left was from her. To us, she is a savior, just like you are!"

Karina was surprised by the claim, but it didn’t seem like the man was lying. Others also confirmed the same. What little food they had gotten was from Mila’s side.

Old Joe heard it and snapped. Back when they asked her to sell the supplies along with them, Mila refused, saying she had too many girls to feed.

Back then, neither Joe nor Simeon thought anything of it. After all, her brothel was a hotspot, so they thought the girls needed good nutrition to keep up with the demanding clients.

"What? You bitch! You betrayed us!" Old Joe cursed out loud. "You said you’ll keep the food for your personal use—"

"And so I did," Mila said, hiding her smile behind a decorated paper fan. "One should know when to jump off a sinking ship to survive, you old fool."