Chapter 356: The Cat’s Hint
Chapter 356: Chapter 356: The Cat’s Hint
And so the absurd days began.
The base started charging for water. At first, it was regular Crystal Cores, but later it gradually changed to Mutated Crystal Cores, Gold, and even supplies...
Superpower Users could go to the water management office every day to drink a fixed amount of water, but ordinary people without Superpowers didn’t have that privilege.
Ordinary people were already struggling to survive, and this completely cut off their means of living.
Later, some visiting Water Element Superpower Users occasionally saw a business opportunity and started selling water in the base, but once discovered, they were executed on the spot.
Even the few Water Element Superpower Users who awakened later while hiding in the base were taken away.
For a time, panic swept through the base.
Every day, people in the base caused disturbances, but they were always executed. This continued until no one had the strength to resist anymore, and the protests fizzled out.
Gradually, some Superpower Users even began to think this was how life should be—that ordinary people without Superpowers were destined to live at the bottom of the food chain.
"This is human nature, I suppose."
Nina Jacobs murmured.
Everyone was already living in dire straits, yet some people still insisted on fighting for dominance.
The more unevenly resources are distributed, the more a certain group of people will be willing to fervently support the one in power.
Simply because they are the beneficiaries.
As for ordinary people like Isabella Ramsey, their only choice was to leave the base to search for supplies and find a glimmer of hope for survival.
But after struggling so hard to get here, they encountered... that.
’It seems the root of the problem is the water supply,’
Nina Jacobs recalled something she’d heard in her past life: a base leader surnamed Langdon, wanting to hoard all the supplies for himself, had introduced the zombie virus into the base’s water supply, causing the entire base to become a sea of corpses...
’So that must be him—Evander Langdon.’
Later, Ian Chandler’s father, Heath Chandler, rescued some survivors and lured the zombies out of the city, which is how Tomorrow Base was established.
Some say that Base Leader Langdon died inside the Zombie City.
Others say he successfully escaped and lived a carefree life with thousands of tons of supplies.
In any case, those thousands of tons of supplies vanished completely in Keldorn.
And now, it seemed she had arrived right as Lornwood Base was beginning to go through its own upheaval.
’I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.’
Nina Jacobs closed the diary.
Keldorn was remote. According to the system map, it would take about nine more days to get there.
Without the system map’s real-time route, it might have taken half a month or even longer.
Isabella Ramsey’s diary also mentioned that it had taken them over twenty days just to reach Veridia.
In the remaining two days, Nina Jacobs completed her "Zero-Dollar Shopping" tasks up to Task 51 inside Veridia.
Only then did she set out for Keldorn with Wayne Warner.
But before reaching Keldorn, there was another place she planned to check out.
Previously, in the Mutated Weasel’s lair, she had used a Truth-telling Talisman on Alistair White, who had attacked her. He confessed the location of a place: Aurelion, Griston.
This was likely one of The Aegis Conclave’s strongholds, and it was on the way to Keldorn.
At her current pace, she should be able to arrive on the morning of the fourth day.
As Nina Jacobs left, she could still hear the sounds of zombies being killed throughout Veridia.
’That must be people from the base collecting supplies.’
The farther she drove, the scarcer the zombies became.
The road to Keldorn was wide. Even with a few wrecked and abandoned vehicles on it, they were usually easy to drive around.
On both sides of the straight highway was desertified wasteland. Occasionally, a few squat, abandoned houses appeared, so corroded and cracked they looked as if a gust of wind could shatter them.
After the SUV passed, pair after pair of withered hands clawed their way out of the wasteland, revealing one rotten face after another.
They climbed to their feet and staggered after the departing SUV.
Nina Jacobs saw the zombies on both sides of the road in her rearview mirror but paid them no mind.
’This just proves that no one has passed this way in a long time. Some of the regular zombies have even been buried by the wasteland soil.’
After driving for a few more hours, Nina Jacobs pulled over to rest.
A few abandoned cargo trucks lay scattered about, but there appeared to be no zombies.
"Let’s get something to eat."
She got out of the car to stretch, then took out some food and placed it on the retractable table in the trunk.
"Yeah."
Wayne Warner replied. To him, being alone with Nina Jacobs out here was actually more comfortable.
Especially when it came to food.
Nina Jacobs had also stopped here because she’d seen an abandoned public restroom by the side of the road.
Just as she was walking toward the restroom, a sound came from behind a nearby dirt mound.
Nina Jacobs was instantly on alert.
MEOW—
It was clearly the sound of a cat.
Then, a long-haired cat limped out from behind the dirt mound.
The cat had pale blue eyes and a short black tuft of fur on the tip of each ear.
There was no hint of aggression in its eyes, yet it stubbornly blocked Nina Jacobs’s path.
Nina Jacobs couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
’This doesn’t seem to be a mutated cat.’
Its body was only slightly larger than a domestic cat’s, but it was more agile.
She had heard before about people who encountered animals blocking their path while traveling, a situation that often meant danger lay ahead.
’Could this cat be trying to warn me about something?’
Nina Jacobs tried taking two more steps forward, but the cat continued to block her, letting out a warning cry.
SQUEAK—
Just then, several hairless zombie field mice charged toward them.
Before Nina Jacobs could even react, the cat leaped and pounced!
With a few perfectly aimed swipes of its paws, the zombie field mice were instantly killed.
Then, it turned to look at Nina Jacobs.
As if it knew the danger had passed, it began to back away, step by step, toward the dirt mound.
’It’s helping me?’
Nina Jacobs was a little surprised.
At the same time, she noticed a damp patch on its hind leg.
’That must be a wound. No wonder it was limping.’
It looked quite pathetic.
’The cat killed the zombie field mice but didn’t eat them, which means it knows they’re inedible.’
’It must be intelligent, like Treasure.’
To show her gratitude, Nina Jacobs took a bag of cat food from her storage space and poured it into a basin.
She also tossed in a few pieces of frozen chicken breast.
Seeing this, the cat immediately came forward and began to eat ravenously.
Nina Jacobs crouched beside it, took out a can of Blood Stopping Spray, and sprayed its hind leg a few times.
MEOW—
It seemed to be expressing its thanks before burying its head in the food bowl again.
Nina Jacobs couldn’t help but laugh.
When she came out of the public restroom, she found the cat was still there.
It had eaten every last bit of the cat food and frozen chicken breast in the basin.
"I’m leaving now."
Nina Jacobs said to it.
MEOW—
Despite its ragged fur, it stood there elegantly, watching Nina Jacobs leave.
A few minutes later, the SUV reversed and came back.
"Do you want to come with me?"
Nina Jacobs saw it was still there when she got out of the car, so she bent down and held out her hand to it.
MEOW—
As if sensing the human’s invitation, the cat immediately leaped through the open car door.
"It’s not like I’m going anywhere nice, but if you stick with me, at least you won’t go hungry."
Nina Jacobs noticed the cat was very well-behaved. After getting in the car, it didn’t stand on the seat but instead lay down obediently on the floor mat in the back.
Wayne Warner glanced at it. The man and the cat stared at each other for a moment, then Wayne Warner went back to eating his beef jerky...