Chapter 508: Suspecting It’s Him
Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Suspecting It’s Him
At the Drakonian Command Headquarters in City A.
A secret, unscheduled meeting was in session.
There weren’t many people in the conference room, only about five members.
Samson Thorne knew it was Director Rhodes’s deliberate decision not to summon all the core personnel.
The display screen at the front showed a trend graph of temperature changes over the past month, with measurements precise to several decimal places.
"The temperature is really plummeting. It seems what that person said was true."
Samson Thorne remarked, his gaze fixed on the figure whose hair had grayed considerably.
Over the past half-year of the apocalypse, nearly eighty percent of Director Rhodes’s hair had turned white.
"Do you think... he’s the one?"
Warren Rhodes turned around, the words from that long-ago phone call still echoing in his mind:
"First, the zombie virus is primarily transmitted through blood contact. Infection is rapid, regardless of whether it’s from a scratch or a bite."
"Second, you must destroy a zombie’s head to kill it. Attacking any other part of its body is useless..."
The voice had been altered, its gender indiscernible.
Even though it had been so long, he still remembered its tone and every pause with perfect clarity.
’The owner of that voice,’ he thought, ’must have no idea just how many lives in Drakonia those few sentences saved.’
The apocalypse was here, and there was no shortage of people in the world with extraordinary abilities.
He knew some Ancient Martial Clans possessed prophecy techniques, but he didn’t believe those words were something that could be deduced through such means.
Those were clearly the concise, vital warnings that only someone who had lived through it could have summarized.
Justin Lawson from City D Base had also reported that someone there predicted the extreme cold weather using a precognitive dream.
Although he hadn’t intervened directly, he had always suspected that this person might be the same one who had warned him over the phone.
But since the extreme cold had yet to arrive, it was difficult for him to make a judgment.
But now that temperatures were about to drop below zero, ’could the person who had the precognitive dream really be the one who warned me?’
"It has to be him. There’s no way this is a coincidence."
Ambrose said from the side.
Samson Thorne, however, had a different opinion.
"I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve mentioned this to you before, Rhodes,"
"and Mr. Lawson over in City D agrees."
Samson Thorne had previously spent some time at the City D Base.
He had also come into contact with Liam Grant, the man with the precognitive dreams.
In their opinion, he had revealed the precognitive dream not for the sake of others, but for his own.
"Mr. Thorne has the sharpest eye for character. I trust his judgment."
Ryan Shaw, thirty-two years old and leaning to one side, was a former student of Samson Thorne’s and had grown accustomed to addressing him as such.
"Besides, haven’t Leopold and his team already gone to City D Base to make contact with him? Our main objective now is to see if he has any other precognitive dreams."
Ryan Shaw said.
It was thanks to Justin Lawson having Myra Lawson report the matter in a timely fashion that the command headquarters was able to make secret preparations in advance.
Beyond City A and City D Base, they had already secretly notified the other bases to prepare supplies when the temperature first began its slight decline a few days prior.
According to the man’s precognitive dream, the entire globe was about to be plunged into an extreme cold spell.
Warren Rhodes sighed. "I actually hope it isn’t him."
Once the extreme cold truly arrived, the fact that Drakonia had prepared in advance was a secret that couldn’t be kept forever.
Although the command headquarters had classified the matter, it was likely only a matter of time before someone took notice of Liam Grant, especially before a new world order was formed.
All they could do for now was dispatch people to City D Base to protect him.
It was just impossible to know whether this protection would be a good thing or a bad thing.
"This extreme cold might be for the best. I imagine those vultures won’t be able to make a move on us for a while,
and our troops can use this time to rest and recuperate."
said Dorian Tate, a man with a square face.
He was a military man. Recently, the nations bordering Drakonia had begun to recover from the initial crisis of the apocalypse.
As the saying goes, where there is bounty, there will be bandits.
Many neighboring countries had begun to covet the resources of a major power like Drakonia. In the last two months alone, they had repelled dozens of invasions, both large and small, all across their territory.
Military forces that could have been concentrated on fighting zombies were now stretched thin.
But they had no other choice if they were to protect their supplies and survivors.
"Our top priority is still to select elite individuals from every region,
I heard a Four-element Superpower User has emerged in Cymria. He alone can hold off a horde of thousands of zombies."
Ambrose said.
"A Four-element User actually exists?"
This was the first Ryan Shaw had ever heard of it.
Ambrose continued, "Cymria is being incredibly arrogant. They want us to pay a thousand tons of supplies to ’rent’ their Four-element Superpower User for three months.
It’s utterly ridiculous!"
"Our resources cannot be squandered, much less used to strengthen another country,"
"Drakonia has outstanding Superpower Users of its own. Our priority is to recruit them."
Warren Rhodes said.
Drakonia was vast, and they had already used the notice about the coming cold as an opportunity to have each base recommend talented individuals.
"Exactly. We in Drakonia should create our own ranking list and take those people down a peg!"
Dorian Tate agreed.
For some reason, hearing this brought a particular person to Samson Thorne’s mind.
Before he returned to City A from City D Base, he and a fake Sheila Rhodes had been attacked by unknown assailants.
He still remembered the figure outside the abandoned single-story house.
Back then, she could take on a hundred enemies by herself. ’I wonder how much stronger she’s become since,’ he thought.
...
Near Quelldra County.
Nina Jacobs had finally found a small path leading into the county.
She had to, because every entrance to Quelldra County was now blocked.
Clearly, someone had already occupied the area.
She guessed they were probably from The Aegis Conclave.
After all, back at Lornwood Base, it had been members of The Aegis Conclave who were escorting Veronica Ziegler on her search for the Golden Silk Jade Armor.
Their goal was to get in here and collect the supplies from the granary.
She had learned from one of the mercenaries Veronica Ziegler hired that an Alloyed Zombie capable of phasing through anything was inside Quelldra County.
Fortunately, Quelldra County was on her way back, requiring only a detour of a few dozen kilometers. She had arrived in the vicinity the previous night.
Quelldra County appeared to have been bombed. The buildings were so severely collapsed that driving was impossible.
First thing in the morning, she had taken the small path and circled Quelldra County using her Speed Element Superpower to search the area.
But she hadn’t found any granary.
Much less an Alloyed Zombie that could phase through anything.
’Could it be that someone has already cleared out the granary?’
Nina Jacobs wondered as she walked alone through the ruins.
But something felt off. ’If there’s nothing here, why are so many people still blocking all the entrances to Quelldra County?’
’And why was this place bombed so heavily?’
Nina Jacobs couldn’t make sense of it and decided she might as well leave.
Her Invisibility Potion was going to wear off in ten minutes. She had taken it as a precaution, unsure of the situation inside the county.
Just as she was about to activate her Speed Element Superpower to leave, she heard a faint cough.
The sound was especially eerie in the empty city.
The coughing continued, as if someone was deliberately trying to suppress it.
Her Five Senses Enhancement was active, and Nina Jacobs was certain she hadn’t misheard.
Wanting to find out who could possibly be in this deserted city, Nina Jacobs checked the time, then ducked into a hiding spot.