Chapter 477: Preparing to Watch the Battle
Chapter 477: Chapter 477: Preparing to Watch the Battle
Evander Langdon felt as if he’d been having a very long dream.
In the dream, he was no longer himself, becoming brutal and savage.
He had seen too much bloodshed and death.
But then, he had another dream, one that was wonderfully pleasant.
He was a child again in this dream. His grandfather led him by the hand past a gurgling mountain spring, pure sunlight casting a glow on his grandfather’s back.
He heard him say:
"Evander, my boy, Grandpa hopes you will be like a clear river—to pass through the muck and remain pure, to be unrestrained... to live wildly and freely..."
Live wildly and freely.
Evander Langdon’s eyes snapped open.
The sounds of frantic running and shouting filled his ears.
He was alone in the room. Wanting to know what was happening outside, he struggled to sit up.
He stared blankly for a moment at the hospital gown he was wearing, then shakily got to his feet.
It felt like he had been asleep for a long time, but a flood of memories returned to him.
He opened the door and was met with the long-absent stench of blood.
The smell made him feel agitated and restless, but he quickly forced the feeling down.
"Quick, treat him first! He’s more seriously injured!"
Dean Coleman ran in, carrying a person drenched in blood on his back.
"Put him down, quick! I’ll stop the bleeding first."
Irwing was covered in blood, but none of it was her own.
"What’s going on outside?"
A man in a hospital gown walked over and asked.
"That bastard Anselm Hughes strapped bombs to some people and sent them into the base.
People nearby got caught in the blast... blown to bits!"
Dean Coleman said furiously.
He had recently been responsible for transporting survivors from Lornwood Base to Tomorrow Base with Genevieve.
Lornwood Base was already on lockdown, so they were lucky to get this group out at all. They never expected that a few of them would be suicide bombers sent by Anselm Hughes!
Fortunately, the inspections at the base gate were strict, but some people were still harmed in the attack.
"You should get treated, too. Your injury is pretty serious."
Evander Langdon said, pointing to the wound still bleeding on Dean Coleman’s abdomen.
"Thanks, but it’s not urgent. I..."
Dean Coleman looked up, and his jaw dropped when he saw the man’s face.
It was unmistakably the commander of Lornwood Base, Evander Langdon!
"Y-Y-You... You..."
’He’s back to normal?’
Although Dean Coleman was just an ordinary person with no Superpower, he had learned a few things by following Genevieve and the others to help the base these days.
He had hated Evander Langdon, but when he learned that Evander had also been under someone’s Control, his hatred turned to sympathy.
Compared to the suffering of ordinary people like them, the ones who were truly pitiful were those forced to do things against their will.
"Was it just the bombings?"
Evander Langdon asked, crouching down.
Dean Coleman came to his senses. "For now... yes, it seems so."
"I doubt it...
He wouldn’t stop at just this..."
Evander Langdon swayed as he got to his feet.
His body, sustained only by nutrient solution for so long, felt dizzy, but he still headed outside.
’Human bombs... Knowing Anselm Hughes, he wouldn’t be satisfied with just this.’
He knew this wasn’t Lornwood Base.
This base looked tidier and cleaner. Though the people on the streets were hurrying about, their faces were full of life.
Not the numb, apathetic expressions he was used to seeing at Lornwood Base.
People stood beneath the high city walls, buzzing with discussion.
"I thought they said Lornwood Base was attacking? It doesn’t look like there’s anything out there."
"That’s what Commander Jacobs said. Told everyone in the base to prepare for battle."
"But doesn’t the vice-commander have a Spiritual Element Superpower? He didn’t detect anything, so how can they be so sure?"
"I don’t know. All I know is the City Guard Soldiers are at their posts. I just came to see if there’s anything I can do to help."
"That’s right! Protecting Tomorrow Base means protecting ourselves! We absolutely cannot be defeated!"
"I think it’s going to be tough. We still have too few people, and the base was only established a month ago. Can we really stand against them?"
"..."
The clamor of the crowd’s discussion also reached Nina Jacobs’s ears.
She had already activated her Five Senses Enhancement and could hear every sound within the base.
"All personnel, attention! A large number of zombies are appearing to the southeast!"
After Felix Finch absorbed the Mystic Ice Core, the detection range of his Spiritual Element Superpower had more than tripled.
Now, even without being on patrol outside the base, he could detect situations several kilometers away.
"Zombies? Why would zombies be coming?"
Seraphina Chase asked in disbelief.
The last time they came to Tomorrow Base, they had brought Evander Langdon with them. Afterward, she signed up to become one of Tomorrow Base’s city defense soldiers.
As did Redmayne Spencer and the others.
Their time at Tomorrow Base had been a rare period of hope for them.
They knew a battle between the two bases was inevitable.
And when Anselm Hughes arrived, it would be their day to take revenge.
"Only they would be so despicable. They must be trying to wear us down with a wave of zombies first,"
Redmayne Spencer said.
They had been stunned to learn that Nina Jacobs had established Tomorrow Base all by herself, but now, their primary emotion was worry.
Tomorrow Base currently had just over 1,000 city defense soldiers.
Although the base’s surrounding defenses were astonishing, their greatest enemies this time were other people.
And an unknown number of zombies.
The alarms within the base began to blare.
A moment later, a woman’s voice rang out from the loudspeakers:
"This is Nina Jacobs. In a few moments, Tomorrow Base will likely face a small zombie horde. I ask everyone to please prepare to watch the show."
A zombie horde?
’A lot of zombies are coming to Tomorrow Base?’
"We’re done for. Are we really going to get wiped out right after finding a good place?"
"What did she just say? Prepare to watch the show?"
Some people caught the implication.
’Not to fight, but to watch?’
"So, you’re saying we knew their plan all along?"
Cordelia asked in astonishment, standing beside Nina Jacobs.
This was the tenth day since Nina Jacobs had returned.
She had rushed over in a frantic hurry, only to find that Nina Jacobs seemed to have been preparing for this day all along.
Nina Jacobs shook her head. "It was just a guess, based on the changes in zombie activity over the past few days. And, of course, the intel from Grim."
The "human bombs," however, were an unexpected development.
’This must be the first part of Anselm Hughes’s plan—sow chaos and throw us into disarray.’
Fortunately, however, according to reports from the scene, besides the bombers themselves, there were only three casualties so far.
"A zombie horde... can our base really hold it back?"
Cordelia was still worried.
"I’m a hundred percent confident. Besides, this will be a good test for us,"
Nina Jacobs said with a slight smile.
’Crestfall hasn’t been breached, so the zombies Anselm Hughes lured here are a perfect opportunity to test the base’s defensive capacity.’
"Kid, I’ve never looked forward to something so much in my entire life.
But it’s only been a few days, and a lot of things aren’t fully complete. If something goes wrong, you’ll have to bail me out."
Ethan Chase said in a joking tone.
He had only been at Tomorrow Base for ten days, and he’d spent eight of them building traps. Thankfully, Nina Jacobs had assigned him plenty of Wood Element Ability Users and Gold Element Superpower Users, allowing him to complete one of his trap designs.
But standing here now, he still felt a little uncertain.
"Of course."
Nina Jacobs replied.
"They’re about three kilometers out, and the horde is moving extremely fast!"
Felix Finch reported.
According to plan, they would only be using traps to fend off the zombies this time, with basically no need for Superpower Users or weapons.
That was why Nina Jacobs had just told everyone to prepare to watch the show.