Chapter 503: New Discovery
Chapter 503: Chapter 503: New Discovery
To Nina Jacobs’s relief, the zombie Julian Shaw’s space seemed to be enormous.
The supplies he "took out" quickly piled into a small mountain.
The packaging on all these supplies was covered in Drakonian script, and there was a large amount of food and other goods.
Nina Jacobs carefully inspected and organized the items.
Then, inside a Metal Box, she found several bottles of a clear liquid.
The liquid was colorless and odorless. One bottle was already half-used. Nina dripped a few drops onto the zombie Julian Shaw’s rotting skin.
This was a trick she had discovered in her past life: while a Healing Potion couldn’t cure the zombie virus, it would release a faint white smoke upon contact with it.
Watching the white smoke rise from Julian Shaw’s body, Nina confirmed that these were indeed the System’s Healing Potions.
But they weren’t hers.
They belonged to someone else.
Greg Unger had said those people had used this kind of potion more than once.
’Could it be that another person with a System is in Veridia?’
Wayne Warner was still provoking the zombie Julian Shaw, and this time, Nina found a few more of those special grenades.
She put the grenades away, planning to give them to Chelsea Walsh to examine once she returned to City D Base.
Chelsea Walsh worked at the weapons research institute in City D Base; perhaps she could figure out what kind of weapons they were.
Next, a laptop and a tablet appeared on top of the pile of supplies.
Nina found a file on the laptop that looked like a list, but it required a password to open.
"Looks like I’ll have to get someone to help me crack this,"
Nina said.
The amount of supplies from Julian Shaw’s space was immense—so much that the first floor of the 100-square-meter safe house couldn’t hold it all.
Nina stored everything directly into her System’s storage slots.
As night fell, only after the zombie Julian Shaw could no longer "take out" any more supplies did Nina set it on fire.
"I haven’t heard of a lot of these supply points."
Nina summoned the System and voiced her question.
[As long as supplies can be utilized by humans, the System defaults to classifying the supplies as not destroyed and will not include them in "Free-for-All Missions."]
the System replied.
"So you’re saying the System doesn’t notify me about supplies taken by these foreign looters."
’No wonder the System’s "Free-for-All Mission" notifications have become rarer lately.’
She had assumed the supplies were being found by the government or other Drakonian survivors.
Now, it seemed possible they were being taken by people from Veridia or other organizations.
[The System can configure the detection range for "Free-for-All Missions." Does the Host wish to change the settings?]
the System asked.
Nina thought for a moment, then replied, "Change it so that Drakonian supplies can only be collected by Drakonians."
[The System has been updated. Supplies collected by humans from outside Drakonia will now be classified as "Supply Loss."]
[Apocalypse Survival Mission initiated: Free-for-All Mission 54
Mission Details: Within 2 days, supplies at Vornholt in Mirewood will be lost. Clear out 90% of the supplies in the warehouse.
Mission Rewards: 1 System Storage Slot, +120 Experience Points.
Mission Difficulty: ★★★★]
’Mirewood?’
Nina knew of this place.
She and Adrian Shaw’s group had passed through it on their way to Mornfell.
At that time, the System hadn’t issued a Free-for-All Mission notification.
But after she changed the settings, a notification appeared. This meant there was a high probability the supplies here were about to be taken by people from outside Drakonia.
Nina pulled up the System map and saw that Mirewood wasn’t far.
Moreover, it was on her way back, a place she could reach by the following afternoon.
Before sleeping, Nina used her remaining Superpower to nourish the Divine Wood.
She always got the best rest inside the safe house. Early the next morning, she and Wayne Warner set out.
Along the way, the two of them killed a large number of zombies.
She discovered that her Wind Element Superpower could blend perfectly with her other superpowers.
Especially when combining her Wind Element with her Speed Element Superpower, it produced unexpected effects:
Instant Step Wind Blade, Sky Stepping Evasion, Tornado Instant Kill...
Watching Nina, whose figure was nearly impossible to track and whose killing moves were hard to counter, Wayne Warner’s eyes gleamed with admiration.
Nina noticed that Wayne Warner was also starting to invent his own moves.
In particular, when facing a few Mutated Zombies, he unleashed a Thunderous Heavy Punch. With a single blow, its terrifying force pierced through all four of them.
And Wayne Warner’s Superpower Value had already reached 68.
"Mirewood is just ahead. We need to turn in and find Vornholt."
Nina came down from the upper floor of the safe house.
They had just killed over a thousand zombies and were covered in a foul stench, so she had deployed the safe house for a temporary break.
With Lexy around, their water supply had greatly improved, allowing them to wash off the filth whenever they needed.
"Right,"
Wayne Warner nodded.
Lexy had also finished its cat food and had even washed the zombie fragments off the armored vehicle outside.
"Let’s go."
The two humans and one cat hit the road again.
Nina checked the map. If all went well, they would reach Mirewood in an hour.
Mirewood was a large county based on agriculture.
Nina remembered buying kabocha squash and other agricultural products from here before the apocalypse.
But now, the farmlands on both sides of the road were dried out, the former crops having rotted into the ground.
A little further on were the outskirts of Mirewood. The zombie corpses lining the road were a clear sign.
Someone had already been here.
Sure enough, at the end of a main road ahead, several white vehicles were parked across the intersection, blocked by a number of fully armed people in camouflage uniforms.
Off to the side, people from two other vehicles seemed to be arguing with them.
Nina had Wayne Warner pull over, and the two of them walked over.
"Why can’t you let us in? Even if you’re from a base, you can’t just block us from passing through, can you?"
"Yeah! You collect what you want, can’t we go into the city to find some other useful supplies?"
"..."
Several men were protesting to a man standing at the front.
The man didn’t speak, just watched them with a faint smile.
Suddenly, he raised a hand, and the camouflaged soldiers behind him instantly aimed the dark muzzles of their guns at the group.
But the men weren’t intimidated.
"Trying to scare us? Aren’t you afraid of violating base regulations? No base’s rescue team would kill survivors."
"That’s right! We’re going in today, no matter what!"
Drakonian bases protected survivors; they wouldn’t kill them indiscriminately unless attacked first.
But then they heard the man say, "Then why don’t you try?"
A glint of ice flashed in the man’s eyes. His tone finally scared the arguing men.
Just as they were about to turn and leave, the group of camouflaged soldiers instantly surrounded them.
"Mr. Gordon, two more have arrived,"
one of the camouflaged men in the back pointed out.
Gordon made a slight gesture, then looked toward Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner.
"Hey, you two! You here for supplies, too?
They’re not letting anyone through."
A woman in a tracksuit, her hands raised, shouted from beside her car.
They were surrounded, but she still seemed to think these people were just trying to scare them.
Seeing the scene, Nina already had a good guess what was happening.
"They won’t even let people pass? Why?"
Nina asked.
The woman replied, "They’re the official rescue team from Riventon Base, supposedly clearing out the zombies in Mirewood.
If you ask me, they just want to hog all the supplies inside."