Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Don’t Want Them to Be So Comfortable

It was a long while before Ms. Carter came out.

Her expression was exceptionally grim.

"Break it up."

Ms. Carter said.

"It was just a minor scuffle. As long as Ms. Carter doesn’t pursue it, we’re good."

"Now all of you, head back and keep a low profile."

Reinhard Caldwell said to the crowd after finishing his conversation with Ms. Carter.

"It’s over just like that?"

Zachary Sterling couldn’t help but speak up once the crowd had scattered as if granted a general pardon.

"Yeah. In the past, wouldn’t they have rounded everyone up for questioning?"

"And then executed them one by one?"

"But did you guys see it? What was underneath... HISS!"

The Space Superpower User, Manfred, had barely gotten the words out before he felt a dull throb of pain.

Nina Jacobs glanced at him. "If you want to live a few more days, shut up."

Although the incident had been brief, she sensed that something was off.

Zachary Sterling and Manfred exchanged a look. Though surprised, they both realized something was amiss.

Once they were back with Team 1, Zachary Sterling lowered his voice and asked:

"Are you saying there was something fishy about what just happened?"

Nina Jacobs nodded. "That woman, Ms. Carter, arrived too quickly."

The store is at the far end of the correctional pod, the furthest point from the registration office, and Ms. Carter works at the registration office.

What surprised her even more was that the leaders of several teams all seemed to take orders from Ms. Carter.

’Just who is Ms. Carter?’

"Could it have been a coincidence?" Sophia Spencer asked.

"You’re telling me that someone could gather over 300 people that quickly, right after we finished shopping?"

Nina Jacobs didn’t think it was a coincidence.

Of course, it was most likely aimed at her and Wayne Warner.

That was why she had intervened earlier.

"It’s also possible someone didn’t want us to get such a huge reward..."

Zachary Sterling thought Nina Jacobs had a point.

Everyone in Team 1 had points in the millions, enough to live for a long time without worrying about food or drink.

So, someone didn’t want them living so comfortably.

Ansel Garner was most likely acting on orders, and it wasn’t hard to guess who was pulling the strings.

"They were probably trying to kill two birds with one stone, but I think they’ve just stirred up a hornet’s nest."

Nina Jacobs sneered.

The person behind this probably never expected the floor to be torn up like that.

"Ah."

Theseus York finally caught on.

"What is it now, Chief?" Zachary Sterling asked with a sigh.

"How could there be a tunnel under there?"

Theseus York asked, confused.

They had been in the correctional pod for so long and never knew there was a basement level.

"Did we see something we weren’t supposed to see...?"

Sophia Spencer’s face grew a few shades paler.

Nina Jacobs smiled and shook her head.

"It’s too late. By now, I’m afraid everyone in the entire pod knows."

Three or four hundred people saw it at once. This isn’t a problem you can solve just by silencing witnesses anymore.

"Good point. In any case, we should all stick together for now. Those sons of bitches are sore losers; I bet they’ve already got their eyes on us."

Zachary Sterling said.

If it hadn’t been for Nina Jacobs tonight, they probably wouldn’t have been able to protect their points cards and would have suffered heavy casualties.

Now, at least, they were back in one piece.

After returning to her room, Nina Jacobs focused her Five Senses Enhancement on the store’s location.

’There’s something wrong with that store.’

’The boxes holding the Crystal Cores were identical to the ones she’d used when gathering supplies on the train.’

’They were wooden crates with yellow serial numbers on them.’

’So it’s very likely the Crystal Cores in here were also shipped away.’

’Those people are collecting Crystal Cores, too.’

Nina Jacobs deduced.

Sure enough, just as she was about to doze off from her vigil, she finally heard voices near the store.

It sounded like a few Superpower Users repairing the broken floor.

"Making us work overtime in the middle of the night in a place like this instead of letting us sleep. This fucking sucks."

"The sooner we fix it, the sooner we’re done. The cargo down below is still waiting to be shipped out."

"So many people saw this. We’re not gonna get silenced, are we?"

"What’s the big deal? Everyone here is going to die in the end anyway. They can’t get out even if they wanted to..."

Hearing their conversation, Nina Jacobs’s eyes darkened.

’What did he mean, everyone here is going to die in the end?’

’Could it be that the plan to slaughter all the survivors in the base has already started?’

’Or maybe... this was their plan from the very beginning...’

’Someone’s guarding the place tonight, so I can’t just go over there.’

Nina Jacobs had originally planned to find an entrance leading down from near the store after dark. Even if one didn’t exist, she could have created one with her Earth Element Superpower.

’Looks like I’ll have to wait for another opportunity...’

In the following day’s matches, the two of them remained undefeated.

Naomi Summers’s condition had also improved, though she still couldn’t get out of bed.

When Nina Jacobs went to see her, she was sitting in a wheelchair, using her Water Element Superpower to clean bloody instruments for Harlan.

Although Naomi Summers looked uncomfortable, it was clear she was washing them with great care.

"The Shadow Legion of General Hughes you mentioned before, roughly how many people are in it?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"We only saw General Hughes gathering them in the courtyard."

"There were about... seventy? Oh, no, maybe a hundred..."

"I took pictures before. I hid the phone in the secret passageway Zoraida and I had."

Naomi Summers answered.

’A phone?’

Nina Jacobs thought of the dead phone Zoraida had given her.

’Zoraida said it was Naomi’s. Could it be that she didn’t want me to charge it, but to see what was inside?’

"At first, I just worked there..."

Naomi explained that in the beginning, the Water Element Superpower Users working at the Water Source Management Office were allowed to go home.

Then it changed to once every three days, and then once a week.

So that Zoraida wouldn’t be sad, the two sisters dug a hole at the base of a wall. They would record messages for each other on the phone and secretly hide it in the hole.

But later, the entire area around the Water Source Management Center was sealed off.

Not only could they no longer get out, but their actions inside were also monitored, cutting off the sisters’ only means of communication.

"Your sister, Zoraida... I know her."

Nina Jacobs still hadn’t told Naomi what happened with Isabella Ramsey and Zoraida.

"Really?"

Naomi Summers’s face lit up with joyful surprise, and she almost stood up.

Nina Jacobs quickly steadied her.

"Zoraida has Cordelia and the others taking care of her now. She should be fine."

As Nina Jacobs finished speaking, Naomi Summers froze.

’Why would Zoraida need someone else to take care of her?’

’Unless...’

Seeing Naomi’s tears fall like rain, Nina Jacobs patted her back comfortingly.

"Zoraida is still waiting for you to come back."

Nina Jacobs only told her that Isabella Ramsey had left and not returned.

The truth—that she had been locked in and eaten by zombies—was far too cruel.

"Zoraida... all alone out there... the poor thing..."

Naomi was overwhelmed with grief.

The thought of someone as young as Zoraida having to endure all this alone made it hard for her to breathe.

"How touching. Tsk, tsk."

Harlan pushed the door open, interrupting their conversation.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Maxwell."

"I’ll get back to work."

Naomi hurriedly wiped away her tears and went back to cleaning the instruments in the sink.

Nina Jacobs frowned. "What did you do to her?"

Naomi seemed terrified of Harlan.

"Nothing. I just scared her a little. Told her I’d kill her if she didn’t do her job properly."

"But now that she knows her little sister is waiting for her, she’s sure to work hard, won’t she?"

Harlan said with a strange, mocking tone.

Nina Jacobs was about to say something, but he continued:

"It must be nice, having someone waiting for you."

"The feeling that you just have to endure a bit of suffering to see the person you miss."

"It’s a shame I’ll never get to experience that in this lifetime..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.