Chapter 499: Omen
Chapter 499: Chapter 499: Omen
The moment Nina Jacobs accepted the box of Crystal Cores, the system sent a notification:
[Host has completed a supply trade. "The Doomsday Supplier" title triggered. Received 5000 System Experience Points.]
Just like before, the System Experience gained from trading Healing Potions was far greater than for any other supplies.
"So many people know about the Holy Water, yet no one can find its source," Nina Jacobs mused. "It seems the person providing it is no simple character."
They asked for supplies, but they also wanted Crystal Cores.
’Could they be trying to gain System Experience this way, too?’
Speaking of which, a look of confusion appeared in Mordecai Quinn’s eyes.
"That’s right. The identity of the person behind them is a secret; my people are having a hard time finding any clues. These guys probably aren’t just middlemen, either. Who knows how many hands it’s passed through."
"You’re definitely not the only one investigating. The other party must have made thorough preparations, so there’s no need to rush this," Nina Jacobs said.
Nine months into the apocalypse, if the other party also had special skills to hide their identity, it was unlikely an ordinary person could uncover them.
"Yes. As for you all, perhaps you could stay here and see what these people do next," Mordecai Quinn said.
But Nina Jacobs shook her head. "No. Even if we pursued them, we wouldn’t find anything."
The freezing weather was coming, and she planned to leave right away.
"I also heard some rumors earlier. It would be best if you prepared for them."
"What rumors?" Mordecai Quinn asked immediately.
"The weather’s been abnormal. There might be a major drop in temperature soon."
After Nina Jacobs finished speaking, disbelief was written all over Mordecai Quinn’s face.
’From scorching hot to extremely cold?’
That seemed hard to believe.
Nina Jacobs nodded. "You don’t have to believe me, but since someone brought it up, what if it does happen?"
"If anyone else said it, I definitely wouldn’t believe them, but since you’re the one saying it, I have to."
Mordecai Quinn knew Nina Jacobs wouldn’t say something like that without a reason.
Most importantly, Meridia Base was small and had almost no cold-weather supplies.
However, he did know of a few places in Veridia that had such supplies.
’Looks like it’s time to go collect them.’
Nina Jacobs left Meridia Base early the next morning, accompanied by Audrey Crowley, Silas Crowley, and the others.
Mornfell split the main road in two.
Here, they would part ways. Silas Crowley was reluctant to leave, but he knew it was inevitable.
"Miss Jacobs, thank you so much for everything. I hope we can meet again someday," Audrey Crowley said.
"Yes, we definitely will."
Nina Jacobs waved to the group.
From now on, it would just be her and Wayne Warner on the road—and Lexy, of course.
"Does anyone else feel like it’s a little cooler today?"
After bidding farewell to Nina Jacobs, Silas Crowley heard his younger cousin, Julian Crowley, speak.
"Must be your imagination. I’m about to die from the heat," Gemma Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she got in the car.
"No, the temperature has indeed dropped," said Julian Thorne, the programmer.
The watch on his wrist was already displaying the real-time temperature.
"It’s dropped three degrees compared to yesterday."
Julian Thorne started the car.
He was sensitive to data and remembered the daily temperatures from the past few days.
Silas Crowley’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.
Ever since the apocalypse began, the daily temperature had only risen, never fallen.
’Could the rumor Nina Jacobs mentioned be coming true?’
At that moment, Nina Jacobs also keenly noticed the change in temperature.
Although it was still hot, the temperature had actually started to change the day they left Keldorn.
A change of just a few degrees didn’t feel like much, so very few people had noticed.
’In my past life, we all just thought it was a sudden plunge in temperature. Turns out there were warning signs beforehand...’
She had to speed up her journey back.
Ahead of them lay the sprawling Mornfell range. Lexy was perched on the rear windowsill, curiously watching the world outside.
With Godfrey Thatcher’s help, Wayne Warner had learned to drive. Nina Jacobs sat in the back with Lexy, organizing her remaining supplies in the system’s storage.
Her trip to Keldorn had actually increased her supplies rather than depleting them.
Although she had made two large trades at Tomorrow Base, she had collected so many supplies in Whittaker Town that what she’d traded away amounted to less than a tenth of the two mountains of goods from there.
And that wasn’t even counting the supplies from the underground warehouse at Lornwood Base.
However, her system had recently leveled up twice. With the expanded storage, she could now free up a lot more space.
Nina Jacobs planned to wait until the supplies in Tomorrow Base were nearly depleted before making another trade.
Keeping the supplies with her was the safest option. Besides, the storage grid prevented food from spoiling by default, so the shelf life of any edible items wouldn’t be affected.
Mornfell looked close, but it actually took them the better part of a day to drive up to it.
"At this rate, we should be able to get through Mornfell by this afternoon."
After killing a few zombie animals blocking the road, Nina Jacobs got back in the car.
There were many zombie animals and Mutated Animals blocking the road along the way, and they had to get out and clear them each time.
This was pretty much Wayne Warner’s first time driving for Nina Jacobs, but his driving was very steady.
Nina Jacobs couldn’t help but regret not having him learn to drive sooner.
"Be careful on the road ahead," Nina Jacobs said.
Just a moment ago, she’d started seeing more and more remains of zombie animals by the roadside, along with clear signs of a fight. She suspected someone was nearby.
"Okay." Wayne Warner nodded in acknowledgment.
Sure enough, after driving for a few more minutes, the road ahead was blocked by rows of Wood Element Vines stretched horizontally across it.
The vines were as high as a wall. A few people hidden on either side of the road were waiting for the vehicle to stop before revealing themselves, but then they saw their vines suddenly burst into flames without any warning.
"Was that the people in the car?" one man said with a frown, watching the vehicle drive straight through.
"They were turned to ash in an instant. This person’s stronger than you," another person clapped Jason Garner on the shoulder, gloating.
They weren’t in a hurry. Jason Garner just gave a cold laugh, pulled out a walkie-talkie, and said:
"Our ambush failed. The target has a Fire Element Superpower User. Number of hostiles unknown."
The person on the other end was silent for a few seconds before replying, "Understood."
’Number of hostiles unknown... so it really is the person who used the Ice Core.’
"A Fire Element Superpower User, you say? Ronso, take ten men," the man commanded after ending the call with Jason Garner.
"Yes, Mr. Shaw."
A man who was juggling two balls of ice in his hands walked over.
"Do you want them killed or kept alive?" Ronso asked.
Normally, they would have just killed them outright. But for the past month, they had found nothing near Mornfell, so Julian Shaw replied:
"Leave two of them alive."
Ronso nodded, walked to the middle of the road ahead, and placed his palm on the ground.
A layer of ice quickly covered the ground, stretching for several meters.
Meanwhile, two other Earth Element Superpower Users created a stone wall at a corner, a foolproof measure to ensure the ambush succeeded.
After setting everything up, the group retreated to the sides of the road, waiting for the vehicle to take the bait.
"Looks like these people are up to no good. Stop the car up ahead," Nina Jacobs said.
Although the armored vehicle they were currently using was a gift from Audrey Crowley, its performance was excellent, and it was new. She wasn’t ready to see it wrecked just yet.
"Okay."
The wheels stopped two inches in front of the ice.
Barely two seconds later, the sheet of ice melted into a puddle of water.
A group of people emerged from the side of the road.
"Hey, you in the car! Aren’t you getting out?" Ronso demanded, his tone hostile as an Ice Spike formed in his hand.