Chapter 475: Counterattack, Make a Move

Chapter 475: Chapter 475: Counterattack, Make a Move

A slight smile touched Seraphina Sullivan’s lips, but it was cold, no matter how you looked at it.

"Well, now," she said softly. "Looks like everyone we’ve offended has decided to show up."

She addressed Forrest Sterling, "Thanks, Forrest. The intel came right on time. I understand."

Forrest Sterling’s voice drifted from the Energy White Dove:

"Sullivan, I got you the information in advance, but that’s all the help I can offer. You need to be careful."

"This is more than enough."

Seraphina Sullivan’s tone softened slightly.

"You stay put in the base, too. Don’t get caught sending me messages. Next time we meet, I’ll bring you some supplies."

There was a moment of silence from Forrest Sterling’s end, followed by a soft chuckle. "In that case, I won’t be shy."

As his voice faded, the Energy White Dove quivered slightly, then dissipated into motes of light that vanished into the air.

Inside the RV, all eyes fell on Seraphina Sullivan.

Dexter Luther opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he didn’t know what.

Crystal Lynn clenched her fists. Matthew Dawson leaned in a corner, his face still pale, but his eyes also betrayed his worry.

Paul Payne, however, stared intently at Seraphina Sullivan, as if waiting for an answer.

Sean Chandler was the first to speak. His voice was as calm as ever, yet it held a sharp edge that only surfaced when facing a true battle:

"What’s the plan?"

Seraphina Sullivan leaned back in her seat, her gaze sweeping over everyone present.

Then she smiled.

It wasn’t a flashy smile, but it inexplicably put everyone at ease.

"We fight back, of course."

She paused, her gaze drifting past the window to the darkness outside, a world shrouded in extreme heat.

"But we can’t be too conspicuous about it."

...

「The next day, at dusk.」

On the first night after the extreme temperature disaster struck, the temperature finally dropped a fraction from its terrifying daytime peak.

Although it was still suffocatingly hot and humid, humans could at least move about on the surface with some difficulty.

The management of the Central Base held an emergency meeting and came to a decision.

Starting tonight, the gates to the underground area would only be opened at night, allowing survivors and essential personnel to briefly return to the surface for construction work.

That’s right, work.

In the apocalypse, no one could afford to just lie down and do nothing.

No matter how large the Central Base was or how many resources it had, it couldn’t feed this many mouths.

The underground area was just a shelter, not a permanent home.

To truly survive, they had to build.

Repairing surface facilities, creating new farming areas, clearing rubble, searching for usable supplies...

Everything depended on manpower.

At that moment, at the main entrance connecting the underground area to the surface, the heavy alloy doors slowly opened with a mechanical roar.

Team after team of workers in protective suits and simple cooling gear filed out to begin another round of nighttime labor.

A few soldiers guarding the gate stood by the side, chatting idly.

The night shift was always boring, especially in this extreme weather. All they could do was stand here, watch people come and go, and occasionally exchange a few words of gossip in low voices.

"Hey, have you guys heard?"

A young soldier lowered his voice and leaned in conspiratorially.

"That punk, Ethan Soto, is dead!"

Hearing this, the eyes of several veteran soldiers nearby lit up.

"For real?"

A stubble-faced man asked, his tone clearly gloating.

"That bastard is finally dead?"

"It’s a hundred percent true.

My buddies in the higher-ups told me. He’s confirmed gone—they didn’t even find a body. They’re guessing one of his enemies got him and destroyed the corpse."

"Hahaha! Good riddance!" another soldier couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then quickly covered his mouth and glanced around to make sure no high-ranking officers were nearby.

Only then did he continue in a hushed voice, "That punk, relying on his brother-in-law being a senior officer, acted like a tyrant in the base. How much trouble did he cause?

Stealing people’s things, bullying girls... who didn’t know about it?

It’s just that no one dared to cross him."

"Exactly. Now things are looking up. The heavens have opened their eyes."

"What ’heavens’?" the young soldier scoffed. "He definitely pissed off someone he shouldn’t have.

Think about it, a rich little brat like him, you think he hadn’t offended a ton of people? It was bound to happen sooner or later."

The stubble-faced man waved his hand dismissively.

"Who cares? Good riddance, anyway.

Come on, let’s talk about something happier. Have you guys heard about that group from the Vorlag Safe Zone? That they have some kind of special food?"

"Yeah, I heard about that!" another soldier immediately chimed in. "I think they’re called Growth Potatoes or something. Just a little bit fills you up, and you can grow them yourself.

If we could grow that stuff, we wouldn’t have to choke down nutrient paste every day!"

"I’m about to puke from eating that nutrient paste."

The young soldier said with a grimace, "They say that stuff is nutritious, but it tastes like chewing on wax. No flavor at all."

"Stop, stop, you’re making my mouth water.

If we could really grow those potatoes... french fries, with a glass of..."

"A glass of what?"

"...a glass of ice-cold Coke."

The group fell silent all at once.

Ice-cold Coke.

In times of peace, it was the most common, worthless thing, but now it had become an unattainable luxury.

"Sigh..." the stubble-faced man sighed.

"Who knows when we’ll ever get back to the way things were."

"As long as we work hard to build up the base, we will one day."

A veteran soldier who hadn’t spoken until now suddenly said in a steady voice, "Those of us who survived have to keep looking forward."

The men were quiet for a moment, then nodded.

Yes, to be alive was to look forward.

They didn’t notice a nearly imperceptible wisp of darkness flowing silently in the shadows at their feet.

It was no ordinary shadow.

It was Sean Chandler.

He had activated his Favored Ability—[Demon Cat].

This Ability allowed him to temporarily transform himself into a pure shadow, blending into any darkness, moving silently and making him nearly impossible to detect.

Right now, enveloped within that flowing wisp of shadow was another person.

Seraphina Sullivan.

She was using the Aura Transformation Ability of her [Transformation Ring] to completely conceal her and Sean Chandler’s Auras, merging them with the surrounding darkness.

Never mind these ordinary soldiers on guard duty; even a Player with special sensory Abilities standing right in front of them would have a hard time noticing anything was amiss.

Just like that, the two of them, like true shadows under the cover of night, slipped silently past the soldiers’ feet, through the gate, and into the underground area.

The entire process went completely unnoticed.

As soon as they entered the underground area, Seraphina Sullivan found a relatively hidden corner and signaled for Sean Chandler to deactivate his Ability.

Sean Chandler’s shadow form slowly coalesced, returning to his human shape.

He rolled his shoulders and looked at Seraphina Sullivan.

"What’s next?"

A slight smile played on Seraphina Sullivan’s lips, her eyes glinting with coldness.

"First, we find Connor Webb."

She was going to snuff out the threat while it was still caged.