Chapter 509: In the Ruins
Chapter 509: Chapter 509: In the Ruins
The weather was unusually cold.
The temperature had already dropped to ten degrees below zero.
As a Fire Element Superpower User, Nina Jacobs didn’t feel the cold, despite wearing only a form-fitting black leather outfit.
A drone zipped past overhead, apparently still searching for something.
As the minutes ticked by, the drone finally flew away. From a previously empty patch of shadows, Nina Jacobs’s figure emerged.
The sound of coughing came again.
Nina Jacobs walked along the cold, stone-paved road, heading toward the sound.
A blasted slab of stone leaned precariously against the remains of a wall.
Beneath the slab was a dark, huddled shape.
Looking closer, the dark object appeared to be a drafty black plastic bag, and the coughing was coming from underneath it.
The person, or whatever it was, seemed to have noticed her too.
A pair of mismatched eyes watched her warily from the darkness, but the body huddled beneath the black plastic bag trembled nonstop.
’Not a Drakonian?’
Nina Jacobs stared at the dark figure for three seconds.
Finally, with a blank expression, she turned and walked away.
She remembered the path the drone had taken. It was unlikely to search the same areas twice, so she kept to a route that offered cover.
Nina Jacobs heard a faint sound following behind her but didn’t turn back.
"Please..."
It wasn’t until the plea, punctuated by coughs, reached her ears that Nina Jacobs finally stopped.
A smile touched her lips. ’Hook, line, and sinker.’
Nina Jacobs turned around and saw a thinly-clad girl.
The girl had brownish-blonde hair and looked about her age. Though she had a pair of beautiful green eyes, her lips and face were frostbitten. Beneath the black plastic bag, she was wearing only shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
"You speak Drakonian?" Nina Jacobs asked.
The girl, curled up on the ground, nodded and answered in a trembling voice:
"My mother is Drakonian. I didn’t move abroad until I was ten."
"Then what are you doing here?" Nina Jacobs asked after a moment of thought.
"I..."
The girl fell silent, merely squatting on the ground and shivering uncontrollably.
Nina Jacobs took a small, vacuum-sealed down jacket and a new pair of fleece-lined leggings from her backpack and placed them in front of the girl.
"Those people are looking for you, aren’t they? Remember to hide well."
Nina Jacobs said.
Seeing the warm clothes in front of her, the girl quickly snatched them up, her hands shaking.
"Thank you. Do you have any food or medicine? I can trade you for it."
Although her limbs were stiff from the cold, the girl quickly pulled on the clothes.
The black down jacket and gray leggings made her figure look much leaner.
"Oh? And what will you trade me?"
Nina Jacobs asked, intrigued.
’She’s not just trying to get a free handout, she wants to trade. I’m curious to see what she could possibly have.’
"This. This is all I have right now."
After putting on the warm clothes, the girl fished out a round object from under the black plastic bag and held it out with her red, frostbitten hand.
Nina Jacobs looked at the object, and her pupils constricted slightly.
It was clearly the same type of special grenade Julian Shaw had used back at the foot of Mornfell.
This grenade was incredibly powerful, enough to even shatter her Diamond Sand Cover.
"What’s this? Food is so precious, and you want to trade this for it?"
Nina Jacobs asked, feigning ignorance.
A faint blush appeared on the girl’s pale face, but she still argued:
"It’s a weapon I made. It’s very powerful. I can make lots of other weapons, too. Whatever you need, I can... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
Seeing the girl’s violent coughing fit, Nina Jacobs took out a bottle of water and handed it to her, followed by two small bread rolls.
Under the shelter of a ruined eave, the girl began to eat ravenously.
"You said you made this?"
Nina Jacobs asked, skeptical.
The girl nodded. "I’m a weapons research doctor. This is called a Superconductive Bursting Grenade. It can kill a lot of zombies."
Nina Jacobs wanted to say she’d already seen what it could do, but since she didn’t know who this girl was, she just silently accepted the Blast Hand Grenade.
"Those people are constantly looking for me, but I don’t want to be found, and I don’t want to go back with them."
"If you keep hiding here, they’ll find you sooner or later. Even absorbing a Mystic Ice Core won’t help."
Nina Jacobs said after listening to her.
The girl seemed shocked. "You know about the Mystic Ice Core? How did you know I absorbed one?"
Nina Jacobs smiled. "The people you’re talking about, the ones who could bomb this place into its current state, must be part of a powerful organization. They’re bound to have Spiritual Element Superpower Users. If you hadn’t absorbed a Mystic Ice Core, their Spiritual Element Superpower Users would have probably found you long ago."
"You’re so smart! COUGH, COUGH..."
the girl said, but she was soon coughing so hard she could barely breathe.
Seeing this, Nina Jacobs took out a box of common over-the-counter cough medicine.
Superpower Users had robust constitutions and didn’t get sick easily, but if they weren’t careful in extreme environments, their bodies could weaken and become susceptible to illness.
"My name is Nia Quinn. I really like my last name, because my mom’s last name was Quinn."
The girl took the cough medicine with the water Nina Jacobs had given her and instantly felt much better.
"I’m leaving. Are you coming with me?"
Nina Jacobs said, getting to her feet.
Using her Five Senses Enhancement, she heard people entering Quelldra County.
"You can’t get me out. They’ve already surrounded this place, and it’s full of zombies outside."
Nia Quinn said, her head lowered.
"If I could get in, I can get you out. The question is whether you want to leave."
Nina Jacobs also wanted to figure out the story behind these grenades.
This field of ruins was clearly not a good place to talk.
Seeing Nina Jacobs was about to leave, Nia Quinn hurried after her. "If you can get me out, I’ll repay you for saving my life one day."
"Stop talking and keep up."
Nina Jacobs was worried their movements would attract something.
She could already hear the sounds of zombies.
The Mystic Ice Core could block Spiritual Element Superpower Users, but it was useless against zombies.
Soon, a few zombies appeared before them.
SHIIINK!
The next second, Stone Spikes erupted from the ground, precisely impaling the zombies.
"I’m afraid we’ve been discovered."
Nina Jacobs said, looking at the corpses of the pathetic zombies.
’These zombies must have been used to track Nia Quinn.’
"You’re right about that. I’m surprised you’re still alive."
A voice came from behind a derelict vehicle nearby.
Then, a group of well-dressed people walked out.
Nina Jacobs looked over. She didn’t recognize any of them.
The words seemed to be directed at Nia Quinn.
"Nia, you’ve killed quite a few of our people these past few days. But as long as you’re willing to come back with us, we will guarantee your safety."
The middle-aged man in the lead said, extending a hand in invitation.
"I’m not going back with you! Even if you corner me, I won’t go back!"
Nia Quinn had already taken a fighting stance.
It was like she had become a different person; her eyes once again held the same wary look from when she was hiding in the ruins.
"You think you can take us on by yourself, just because some random person stumbled in here? Don’t be a fool. You’re surrounded."
As the middle-aged man finished speaking with a smile, figures appeared from all directions, surrounding them.
"That’s right. It was hard enough finding you. This time, you’re not getting away. A few of you, take care of that one over there first,"
another woman who had stepped forward said.