Chapter 2

The room suddenly fell silent.

I quietly cleaned up the mess on the floor and made myself a new dinner.

Melody was right.

Our ability to get housing rights on the fifth underground level was indeed thanks to Faisal.

Two years ago, World War IV broke out, and countries frequently used nuclear weapons.

The surface began to suffer from resource depletion due to nuclear radiation damage.

The humans who survived by chance started building underground shelters.

They named them underground capsules.

The underground capsules had eight levels in total, with those closer to the surface being more susceptible to radiation contamination and housing more people.

The first underground level was perpetually dark, like living in a coffin.

Everyone was crammed into large communal beds like livestock.

The more powerful people lived deeper underground, with better living conditions.

At that time, Melody and I were bottom-tier civilians, living on the first underground level.

By chance, Melody met her childhood sweetheart Faisal.

Faisal claimed he had always lived on the sixth underground level and had connections.

He could help us get housing rights on the fifth underground level.

Melody immediately agreed, as she was long tired of being squeezed into the "pigsty" on the first level.

At that time, I had already joined the surface search team and had the ability to take her to live on the third level.Though the conditions weren't as good as the fifth floor, they were much better than the first floor, and we didn't need to hand over as many supplies.

But seeing Melody's longing for the fifth floor, I didn't shatter her dreams.

I just took on missions relentlessly, accepting all the dangerous tasks that ordinary teammates wouldn't dare to take.

All just to provide Melody with a better living environment.

Little did I know that in her eyes, all my efforts were worth less than a single word from Faisal.

Exhausted in body and mind, after dinner, I took a quick hot shower.

When I returned to the room to sleep, I found the bed in disarray.

Pulling back the covers, I discovered a pair of used men's underwear in the middle of the bed.

My face darkened.

Besides me, only Melody and Faisal had access to this room.

The owner of these underwear was obvious without saying.

I felt a wave of desolation wash over me, not wanting to dwell on what Melody and her childhood sweetheart Faisal had been doing in this bed.

While I was out on missions for the sake of our home.

I'd actually had misgivings about her relationship with Faisal for a while.

But Melody always dismissed me with contempt: "Only people with dirty minds see filth in everything!""Faisal and I are just close friends!"

Then she appeared before me in an even more intimate manner.

Just then, Melody returned in high spirits, a stark contrast to her angry demeanor when she left.

Upon seeing me, she initially intended to put on a sullen face.

However, catching a glimpse of the underwear in my hand, her expression quickly changed to one of panic.

She hastily snatched the underwear away, hiding it behind her back.

Watching her actions, I suppressed the anger rising within me.

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Melody's eyes darted around, instantly switching to a placating expression as she clung to my arm.

"Briar, it's not what you think."

"You're often away on missions, and I get so scared being alone at home."

"I just asked Faisal to keep me company, we really didn't do anything!"

"Don't overthink it, Faisal probably left it here by accident while changing clothes."

After saying this, she even turned the tables on me, playfully punching my chest and pouting.

"You're one to talk! If you weren't always going on missions, I wouldn't need to ask Faisal to keep me company at home."

"Come on, it's getting late. Let's go to bed."

With that, Melody started pulling me towards the bed.I watched her slender retreating figure in silence, feeling nothing but amusement.

If it wasn't for giving Melody a better life, why would I risk my neck on these missions?

Her explanations and excuses were probably unconvincing even to herself.

She seemed eager to quickly change the subject.