Chapter 539: You’re Giving Me a Reason to Live

Chapter 539: Chapter 539: You’re Giving Me a Reason to Live

"That’s enough."

Justin Brooks waved his hand dismissively, walked up to her, and looked her up and down. "Didn’t you all leave the Central Base? Why are you back?"

Seraphina Sullivan fell silent for a moment.

’Of course, she wasn’t about to blurt out the real reason for her trip.’

’To find Players and ordinary survivors and recruit them to build her own base.’

’Especially not after these people had just suffered the blow of the base’s chaos and destruction.’

"I heard there was trouble at the Central Base, so I came to see," Seraphina Sullivan said, her gaze sweeping over the corpses and rubble littering the ground. "I came to see if there was anything I could do to help."

Justin Brooks watched her, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes, but he said nothing.

Seraphina Sullivan looked up at the sky where the Floating City, long since vanished, had been. "I saw the Sky Fortress fly away. The military... they’ve evacuated?"

At her words, the expressions on both Justin Brooks’s and Jason Ross’s faces turned grim.

Justin Brooks was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh. "It wasn’t just the Sky Fortress that left. They took the Dungeon with them, too."

He walked over to a collapsed stone slab and sat down, looking as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

"In a way, I suppose that’s a good thing."

He said, "Most of the survivors were taken away. Between the Sky Fortress and the Dungeon, there’s enough room for a lot of survivors. The military has experts escorting them, so there shouldn’t be any major problems on the way."

"But you didn’t go," Seraphina Sullivan said.

Justin Brooks didn’t answer, just stared down at his hands.

They were trembling, not from fear, but from exhaustion and helplessness.

It had been less than three days since he returned from the Trial Dungeon.

The experience in the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon had left him utterly exhausted. He hadn’t even had a chance to catch his breath before chaos erupted in the Central Base.

He and the people he knew had fought desperately to resist.

They’d desperately tried to save people, to protect this place they had finally managed to become a part of.

But in the end, they couldn’t save it.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Justin Brooks looked up at Seraphina Sullivan, his eyes filled with bewilderment, but also with a glimmer of hope he himself hadn’t noticed.

Beside him, Jason Ross also looked up at Seraphina Sullivan.

The ordinary people who had been collecting the bodies also stopped what they were doing and looked over.

Everyone was looking at her.

Seraphina Sullivan remained silent, her mind racing.

’From what Justin Brooks and Jason Ross had said, she had already pieced together the current situation at the Central Base.’

’The high-level leadership had evacuated, the military had evacuated, and most of the survivors had gone with them.’

’The ones left behind were either people like Justin Brooks who couldn’t keep up, or people like Jason Ross who were left to clean up the mess.’

’Or they were the ordinary people who never had the qualifications to enter the Dungeon and the Sky Fortress in the first place.’

’The Central Base was well and truly destroyed.’

’But the ruins were still here.’

’The infrastructure was still here.’

’The buildings were damaged, but most were still usable.’

’The defenses were still standing, and there might still be some supplies left in the underground warehouses.’

’Most importantly—the location was still here.’

Seraphina Sullivan looked up again toward the Floating City that had vanished over the horizon.

She had been looking for a place to build a base.

It needed to be far from the Central Base’s sphere of influence, large enough, and able to accommodate enough people.

She had searched for days without finding anywhere suitable.

And now, the Central Base itself was empty.

’The location is good, the scale is large enough, and the infrastructure is all here.’

’Moreover, this place just went through a catastrophe. The people left behind need someone to lead them, to help them survive.’

An idea surfaced in Seraphina Sullivan’s mind.

’What if she rebuilt the base here?’

’This wouldn’t be robbery, or taking advantage of the chaos.’

’The Central Base’s leadership abandoned this place themselves. The military took their people and left.’

’The ruins they left behind were up for grabs.’

’But how should she put it?’

’Just come out and say, "I’m going to build a base here; you all can join me"?’

’It would be too abrupt, too much like taking advantage of their misfortune.’

’But it would be a huge shame to miss this opportunity, to wait until the survivors dispersed or someone else beat her to it.’

Seraphina Sullivan took a deep breath and looked at Justin Brooks.

"Mr. Brooks," she began, her voice calm but serious, "what are your plans now?"

Justin Brooks froze for a second, then gave a bitter smile. "Plans? What plans could we have?"

"First, we’ll clean this place up, see if there are any other survivors, and then..." His voice trailed off, because he didn’t know what to do after that either.

Seraphina Sullivan nodded, silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly.

"I’m planning to build a base."

Justin Brooks looked up at her.

"It won’t be huge, but it’ll be safe."

Seraphina Sullivan continued, "There will be enough food, a clean water source, and a Shelter that can withstand extreme temperatures."

"I’m looking for people who are willing to join."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"This place... it’s empty now."

"The leadership is gone, the military is gone, and most of the people have been taken away."

"But the framework of the base is still here. The location is still here."

"If someone was willing to stay and rebuild, if someone was willing to provide a safe place for those with nowhere else to go—"

She looked into Justin Brooks’s eyes.

"Mr. Brooks, are you willing to help me?"

Justin Brooks was stunned.

He stared blankly at Seraphina Sullivan, at her calm yet resolute eyes, at the equally determined teammates behind her, and at the RV behind them, wreathed in a vortex of hail.

He remembered a long time ago, back in the Vorlag Safe Zone, when this girl was just an ordinary survivor.

Back then, there was nothing special about her, except that she fought harder, was calmer, and was more unwilling to give up than anyone else.

But now—

She was saying she was building a base.

She said she had enough food and a safe water source.

She said she needed someone willing to stay and rebuild.

Justin Brooks’s eyes suddenly started to sting.

He thought of the people who died in the chaos, of those who left with the Sky Fortress, of his own struggles and efforts over the years, and of the people who thought they had finally found a safe haven, only to lose everything overnight.

Then he stood up and looked at Seraphina Sullivan.

"Help you?" He laughed, and in that laugh there was bitterness, relief, and also something he hadn’t felt in a long time: hope.

"Seraphina Sullivan, you’re giving me a reason to live."

He extended his hand.

"Count me in."

Wesley Moore looked at Seraphina Sullivan, a complex expression appearing on his face, a face etched with the marks of time and hardship.

There was wistfulness, relief, and a hint of self-mockery.

"Sullivan," he said softly, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper, "it seems your ambitions are much grander than ours."

Seraphina Sullivan looked at him.

The once high-spirited leader from the Vorlag Safe Zone was now so worn by time and hardship he looked like a completely different person.

His hair was mostly gray, his eye sockets were sunken, his cheekbones jutted out, and he was so thin he looked like a walking skeleton.

He had been through far too much on his journey here.