Chapter 606: Hartley's Suspicion

When human survival was threatened, the disguise of humanity would be torn away. Hunger and cold were enough to erode all goodwill. Morality and conscience could easily be trampled underfoot.

But Nina Jacobs believed that no matter how much the world crumbled, certain bottom lines could not be crossed. Cannibalizing one’s own kind—that was something she absolutely could not tolerate. Because in her eyes, those capable of such acts were no different from zombies. In fact, they were even more terrifying.

Looking grim, Shirley Lucas and Hartley gave the group a rough explanation of what had happened inside. A heavy silence fell over the crowd. Beneath the quiet atmosphere, a palpable anger brewed.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get the chance to finish them off ourselves,” Caleb Carter broke the silence. He had to admit, Nina’s fire had been incredibly effective. In mere moments, the entire village of Peldon had been reduced to ruins.

“Fortunately, we secured the supplies. Nothing went to waste,” Shirley said.

When they found the warehouse, aside from a few guards, there were indeed two captive Space Superpower Users locked inside. Initially, they had planned to let the two go, but seeing that they were few in number, the two Space Superpower Users schemed to ambush them and hog the supplies. Ultimately, they were easily counter-killed by Nina.

“So, we really didn’t leave a single one alive,” Shirley explained.

“There was one more we didn’t kill,” Hartley added.

That Wood Element Ability User named Joan Sutton had died from over-exhausting her own superpowers. Although her superpowers had been formidable, she wasn’t worthy of any sympathy.

“I think you did the right thing, Senior. Are we going to keep moving?” Sylvia Shawn asked. It was already nearing dusk.

“We’re not leaving. Someone might come here tomorrow,” Nina said.

“Come here?” Shirley asked. This was nothing more than a destroyed village. Why would anyone come here? Could it be…

“Did you arrange to meet Adrian Paige and the others here?” Shirley realized something was wrong as soon as he spoke. Before coming here, they hadn’t even known Peldon existed.

“We didn’t arrange anything, but my intuition tells me they’ll pass through here,” Nina said, instructing the group to find an abandoned building nearby.

It appeared to be an old village government office, complete with a courtyard and a perimeter wall. The lobby and the second floor were also quite spacious. Though there was quite a bit of damage, it was quickly repaired by the Earth Element Superpower Users in the team.

“It’s a bit run-down, but it feels much safer than staying over there,” Shirley remarked.

They originally could have stayed directly inside Peldon, which should have been safer. However, the whole place reeked of a sour, rotting stench, and the village itself was a filthy mess. Staying out here in this abandoned building in the wilderness actually put them more at ease.

“Yeah. Actually, the entire area around Peldon is relatively safe. They must have cleared it out beforehand,” Nina said after scanning the surroundings using her Five Senses Enhancement.

This abandoned village office was located on one of the roads leading out of Peldon. Meanwhile, Caleb, Sylvia, and a few others had already taken some people to patrol the perimeter.

“Captain Jacobs, are you also suspicious of that guy named Kevin Nash…” Hartley walked out alone and asked as he watched Nina using her superpowers to raise the height of the outer wall.

“Yes, I suspect Kevin and Leo Langley are working together,” Nina replied.

Peldon used coal for heating. Probably due to a lack of cleaning, all the buildings in the village and the vehicles parked by the road were covered in a layer of coal ash. It was identical to the coal ash on the cars Kevin had driven over in. In normal times, this wouldn’t mean much, but in a post-apocalyptic world of extreme cold, coal was a precious resource. Kevin had repeatedly claimed that everyone was frostbitten and freezing, and that they couldn’t keep up with supplies or vehicles, yet those cars proved he was lying.

“Yeah, his timing was way too coincidental,” Hartley agreed, having secretly observed Kevin’s group. He had noticed that the words and actions of Kevin and his dozens of subordinates weren’t very consistent with each other.

“So you suspect the people under Kevin are being deceived by him, too?” Having raised the originally two-meter wall to six meters, Nina withdrew her hands and turned to ask.

Hartley nodded. “Although Kevin’s outer jacket was worn and dirty, the clothes underneath were clean and brand new. When Shirley brought out the food, the eyes and reactions of those base soldiers matched the symptoms of long-term starvation. But Kevin’s eyes looked like those of someone who ate and drank their fill every day,” Hartley recalled.

Faced with the canned meat and hot flatbreads Shirley had provided, those base soldiers only dared to eat in small, shared bites. The longing and restraint in their eyes, along with their trembling hands, showed they had indeed been starving for a long time. However, Kevin and the three men beside him ate as if it were just a normal meal. This subtle contrast was the first thing to catch Hartley’s attention.

“I see.” Nina felt she understood a bit more now.

This was exactly what had been confusing her earlier. If Kevin and Leo were partners, how had he convinced so many of his subordinates to join that absurd setup in Peldon with him? Now, it seemed he hadn’t convinced them at all. He was merely deceiving them.

That night, Nina released several Little Zombie Rats to stand guard around the perimeter. Below, dozens of rescue team members also took turns keeping watch.

Nina opened the system, carefully counting the rewards distributed that day. After she killed Leo and destroyed Peldon, the system’s “Selfless Savior” title had been triggered multiple times. She had received over 700 bottles of Healing Potion in total. This meant that if those people had lived, more than 700 people would have died because of them in the future.

There were also some weapons gifted from triggering “The Best Defender” title, which Nina planned to distribute to the rescue team members who fought alongside them when the opportunity arose.

At that moment, Shirley knocked on the door and brought over a supply inventory list.

“We had a great haul today. This is the inventory I put together. I’ll return it all to you once we get to the base.”

He had collected a massive amount of supplies from Peldon’s warehouse and the storage spaces of those two Space Superpower Users. The quantity of supplies rivaled the total inventory of three large chain supermarkets combined. And he believed these supplies should rightfully be handed over to Nina.

Although the battle at Peldon was a complete victory, Shirley still felt a lingering sense of dread when he recalled the details. Leo had actually laid a trap for them from the very beginning. They had assumed those sky-blotting vines were simply meant to stop them from escaping. If it hadn’t been for Nina, they probably would have fallen for it. And those mutant moles released to eat people—Nina had been the first to detect them, too.

“All right. Pick out a few things you want for yourself; consider it a storage fee,” Nina said after glancing at the inventory list.

Before leaving the City D Base, she had also made a handover with Mason Quincy. The supplies she had previously given Mason in her basement had quickly been sold out by him. And after receiving the Crystal Cores Mason sent back, the system had subsequently awarded her with System Experience. Later, she gave Mason an even larger batch of supplies, which should be enough for him to sell over the next few days.

As for the supplies Shirley collected today, she planned to store them in her system inventory first and gradually release them to Mason to sell to the people at the base.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold back,” Shirley smiled, accepting Nina’s goodwill. Some of the brand-name clothes and shoes among those supplies were things he had never been willing to splurge on before the apocalypse.

“But what you had us drink today… It couldn’t be that stuff, could it?” Shirley strongly suspected that Nina had given them Holy Water to drink.