Carolina Davis

Vardona's main city stands on a plain nestled between mountains and water, seemingly situated within a picturesque and enchanting landscape of lush green grass. The towering buildings, shoulder to shoulder, are bathed in the morning light, casting jagged shadows across the verdant meadows.

The city is often blessed with abundant rainfall by the humid monsoon, and the sunshine is always just right. It is no wonder that Vardona is described as a paradise on earth with favorable weather. Compared to it, Mara Sara is nothing more than a barren, rotten rock in the universe.

When war came, the people of Vardona were not entirely unprepared. When the Zerg approached Vardona's sister colony, which had been established around the same time in the Terran Confederacy, the people of Vardona were already prepared.

Veterans who had participated in the Guild Wars and brave volunteers from Vardona spontaneously organized themselves at the call of the local nobles to assist the Federal Marine Corps stationed in Vardona in resisting the Swarm's attack. Countless patriots and warriors sacrificed themselves to protect their homeland.

--The ball held by the Vardona nobles, imitating the ancient court banquets of Earth, continues, gathering Vardona's elite from all walks of life, trying their best to find traces of the past in the melodious music.

Emmett Tagore was the initiator of this banquet. As a descendant of the Old Families of Tagore, that frivolous and cruel fellow was enjoying the wonderful feeling of being the center of attention.

As a member of the Old Families, Emmett Tagore has been staying in Vardona for several days. The Tagore Family has told the news media, which closely follow the Old Families's every move, that the young family member is undergoing mental rehabilitation treatment, as his mental instability and intermittent ravings are already widely known.

While this was also a scandal that tarnished the pride of the Tagore Family, it paled in comparison to the child abuse and murder charges brought by the Tarsonis Confederacy Police.

Emmett originally planned to travel to the Edge World of Halsen, a peaceful and idyllic agricultural world. Halsen's climate was extremely suitable for agriculture, and the paths along the green farmland, fences, and red-brick houses created a tranquil and idyllic landscape.

The laid-back pace of Halsen is a great place to rest and relax, and perhaps it's also suitable for people with mental illness.

However, after the massive Zerg invasion, all the Edge World were considered dangerous and vulnerable areas, so Emmett's journey was put on hold.

Carolina Davis was also at the party, but she wasn't as at ease as usual.

Davis was leaning back on a sofa in the corner of the banquet hall, sipping his red wine and gazing at the city outside the window. It was a towering skyscraper in the heart of Vardona, with the silhouettes of other buildings visible just outside the window.

Everyone knows that the flames of war have reached Vardona, and a brutal war is unfolding on the outer plains. General Valan of the Federal Marine Corps is leading this war against the Zerg, deploying as many as an entire Vardona Legion and dozens of militia regiments.

The Davis Family rulers firmly believed that the city was the safest place at this moment. This downtown complex, which took twenty years to build, has complete modern facilities and at least eighteen efficient security systems, including vibration sensors, infrared monitors, vibration sensors, and motion capture equipment, and is guarded by the most famous security company in Vardona.

Since the Korhal Revolutionary Army and the Sons of Korhal committed numerous horrific atrocities in the Terran Confederacy, the nobles in the Terran Confederacy have been living in fear. Even wealthy merchants who have not had much conflict with the Revolutionary Army have begun to strengthen the security of their residences and factories.

Once the Zerg invades the city, Davis can escape Vardona via the rooftop helipad. The Davis Family doesn't have absolute power in Vardona, but as a prominent family, they also own numerous businesses in other territories of the Terran Confederacy.

But Davis wasn't complacent about her status; she was preoccupied with the Zerg invasion and had no time to concern herself with the decadent lifestyles of the wealthy and powerful. Admittedly, old Davis wasn't wrong; what could a young noblewoman like her possibly do in a war of blood and fire?

As the daughter of a nobleman, Davis should have been wearing elegant gowns that accentuated her alluring figure and frequenting places where nobles were expected to be. With hundreds of male and female servants revolving around her life, there was absolutely no need for her to put herself in danger.

However, this was not the life Davis wanted. Davis was tired of the ugliness and social obligations of aristocratic circles, and she desperately longed for a new life or a war.

The dance music was still playing in the banquet hall, but a light drizzle had begun to fall outside, making the lights outside appear hazy. A squadron of old Vardona Avenger fighter jets streaked across the city, shaking the raindrops sliding down the windows.

The window reflected Carolina Davis's cool and aloof face. Her usually smooth, straight, light blonde hair was styled in a high bun, combed smoothly and softly. This hairstyle, which symbolizes elegance and nobility in Vardona, is a favorite among the distinguished aristocratic ladies.

The lights in the banquet hall with its openwork ceiling shone brightly, making Davis's hair appear even closer to white.

The beautiful Vardona, who frequented aristocratic social gatherings, showed little sign of a smile. She stared intently at her reflection in the window and the gloomy scenery outside, oblivious to the beautiful music and the laughter of the nobles and their guests.

Davis had never loathed these people as much as he did today, not out of disgust for the nobility and ruling class, but simply because he found them utterly repulsive.

"Miss Davis, you look so troubled?" A young nobleman with a frivolous smile leaned drunkenly against the maple leaf table in front of the sofa where Davis was sitting. His tone of concern was as fake as a cat showing concern for a dead fish.

"Thank you, Mr. Henry. You are behaving like a proper gentleman. Oh—I am just worried about the soldiers at the front." Davis glanced at the blond, blue-eyed Tarsonis nobleman and quickly realized that all his attention was on her deep purple, low-cut lace dress.

"Ah, they're just a bunch of mindless bugs, what's there to be afraid of? General Valan will lead the invincible Confederacy army to crush those monsters, and then Vardona's Natural History Museum might just get another Zerg artifact in its collection." The nobleman gave a contemptuous smile, just as he did when he mentioned the Korhal Revolutionary Army in public.

"Oh, really? You idiot," Davis said with a smile.

"What did you say?" The drunken young nobleman opposite him was in a dazed state, and he was undoubtedly doubting what Davis was saying and what he could hear.

"You're so thoughtful." Davis continued to smile, her smile flawless, as sweet as a flower blooming with honey.

"Yes, thank you." The young nobleman immediately realized he had misheard, because in his memory, the pride and joy of the Davis Family was not the kind of person who would say such a thing.

"Tagore doesn't like anyone mentioning the Zerg and the rebels here, but he's busy having fun right now." He was a minor nobleman from Tarsonis who had come to Vardona with Emmett Tagore. He was only the second son in the family, and the wealth and title he could inherit were pitifully small. He was not as fortunate as the offspring of the Old Families.

"I've heard that the Zerg that invaded Vardona are called Jormungand by the Confederacy army. You know, they're mythical monsters, the world-devouring serpents. Sounds impressive, doesn't it?" The young Tarsonis nobleman's mind was filled with images of Carolina Davis's voluptuous body beneath her dress, and he was plotting how to get her.

The Davis Family is a prestigious clan in Vardona, and Carolina Davis's father and brothers are not to be trifled with. This young Tarsonis nobleman must win her over with his personal charm. Of course, he is very confident in this.

"That's impressive," Davis said.

"Aren't you afraid?" The nobleman Tarsonis intended to tell the beautiful young noblewoman from Vardona about the horrors of the Zerg, perhaps imagining that she would scream and throw herself into his arms.

"Man-eating monsters, fanged snakes, scorpion butchers, and monsters with the upper bodies of beautiful women."

"No." Davis looked at him with interest. "What's that in the back? It sounds like a mythical siren. Is it a new variant of the Zerg?"

"It was Limping Mike who said it; he always likes to exaggerate. I also think that thing is really sensational." The young Tarsonis nobleman sat down in front of Davis.

"Don't worry, I told you, the Confederacy forces will deal with those disgusting Zerg, just like they did in the Guild Wars and the Battle of Korhal," he said. "The Zerg are nothing more than slightly larger dogs and snakes, mutated into abominable forms by industrial pollution in the Edge World, and the Korhal IV people are the culprits."

"That so-called Korhal Revolutionary Army is a bunch of clowns. I saw that Augustus Mengsk once in Tarsonis, and he was as frail as a delicate woman."

"This is different from what I heard." Davis was bewildered, wondering how much fabrication had been added to the story. Davis had also met Augustus Mengsk in person, and a few years ago, she had also attended Andrea Tagore's birthday party and met members of the Terra Family and other Old Families several times.

Augustus Mengsk had already made a deep impression on Davis, but she was unable to squeeze into the group of noblewomen and young ladies surrounding Augustus. Augustus the kind of person you could tell at a glance was extraordinary; he was so handsome and charismatic that no girl could ignore him.

The people of the Terran Confederacy always make wild guesses about rebels, Zerg, and Protoss. Even when the Confederacy officially denies an attack, people with nothing better to do will attribute it to their imagined enemies.

"Not much different," said the Tarsonis nobleman. "The Protoss are just aliens who recently arrived in space. They merely rose to power by leveraging the technology of ancient civilizations and then wreaked havoc on the human world."

"I heard the Protoss burned Ma Sara and Cha Sara to ashes," Davis said.

"If you know how to be afraid," he continued to Davis, "Stay close to me, I will protect you."

"My bodyguards are much stronger than you," Davis grinned, his bright red lips making the young nobleman opposite him stare blankly.

"You must see," the Tarsonis nobleman thought he had succeeded, and just as he was about to say something, a sharp air raid siren suddenly sounded throughout the city.

This immediately caused a gasp in the elegant and opulent hall, and the expensive silk carpets were soon splattered with the priceless amber-colored wine.

"Ah!" The young nobleman opposite Davis, who had been talking eloquently just moments before, screamed and almost threw himself into Davis's arms, but the latter dodged away like lightning.

"Shut your mouths!" As many people frantically searched for a way to escape, Emmett Tagore, standing at the center of the banquet, almost roared, intimidating everyone present.

"Don't stop the music!"

Only then did Davis look directly at this Tagore Family scion named Emmett, who had pale blue eyes and sparse, short gray hair. Emmett Tagore's skin was so pale that he was often called the vampire of Tarsonis.

Emmett was merely an ordinary member of the Tagore Family. His talents in many areas were far inferior to those of his siblings who had received elite aristocratic educations, and therefore he was not highly regarded. The secluded aristocratic life and his high status fostered Emmett's eccentric personality, and in recent years he began to seek out novel thrills.

Davis utterly despised this member of the Tagore Family; he was nothing but a twisted beast. Even though he was disregarded, Emmett continued his life of luxury after committing heinous crimes. If a scion of a Old Families could be brought to trial by law, it would inevitably disrupt established rules and traditions.

Although Emmett was a descendant of the noble Tagore Family, not everyone around him revolved around him, and in any case, the atmosphere could never return to what it was before.

The people here are convinced that the Confederacy army will soon eradicate the Zerg from Vardona, and many even stubbornly believe that the Zerg have never even come to Vardona's surface.

"Are you alright, sir?" Davis reached out his hand but did not help the young nobleman who had fallen to the ground; instead, he reached for his own wine glass.

"It's just an air raid siren, how could Zerg appear in the city?" The Tarsonis nobleman looked up at the window, his terrified eyes reflecting a flock of Mutalisk soaring into the sky. The monsters, riding the heat of the city, flew and emitted sharp horns, accompanied by the roar of Vardona anti-aircraft guns.

At this point, even those who were most optimistic about the course of the war began to feel real fear, and the banquet quickly ended in discord, leaving Emmett Tagore sitting alone on the ground, sulking and venting his anger by smashing things.

"If you think your life is too long, you can stay here." Davis ruthlessly shook off the Tarsonis nobleman who was still trying to bother him and left the banquet hall with the crowd.

"Carolina, the Zerg have breached the city's northern defenses; the war may soon spill over into the city center." The Davis Family's head butler was waiting for her as she left the banquet hall.

"The Confederacy Fleets hasn't arrived yet?" Davis asked his elderly butler, whose hair had turned completely white.

"That's probably it, because it's a rebel Fleets. Rebel warships are anchored above the capital city of Vardona, and they claim to be the saviors of humanity."