Chapter 522: Unexpected Harvest
Chapter 522: Chapter 522: Unexpected Harvest
[Mission "Zero-Cost Mission 55" Detected as Complete. Rewards have been issued!]
The system’s notification chimed after she had placed all the supplies before her into her storage slots.
This was the Zero-Cost Mission Nina Jacobs had accepted on the spur of the moment after Justin Stone escaped into her vehicle.
[Zero-Cost Mission 55
Objective: Target Justin Stone will suffer a loss of supplies within one day. Empty 80% of the supplies from Justin Stone’s space.
Reward: 1 System Storage Slot, +150 Experience Points.
Difficulty: ★★★★★]
This was her first time encountering a Zero-Cost Mission involving a Space Superpower User.
Since Justin Stone had already gotten into her vehicle, she’d gone ahead and accepted it.
Thinking about it now, it was also possible this was because she had previously modified the range for her Zero-Cost Missions.
This time, the system only required her to empty 80% of the supplies from Justin Stone’s space.
However, perhaps because the volume of supplies in his space was so immense, Justin Stone was still pulling things out even after the mission was marked complete.
As time ticked by, his Space Superpower was heavily drained, and the speed at which he retrieved supplies grew slower and slower.
Just then, the walkie-talkie on Nina Jacobs’s person crackled to life.
"Nina! Nina! There are a dozen or so vehicles surrounding us! I’d estimate a hundred people!"
Nia stared at the vehicles outside the window. Their armored transport was quickly boxed in by a dozen or so other cars, and the people inside them were clearly hostile.
"I know."
Nina Jacobs clicked off the walkie-talkie and looked at Justin Stone.
"Looks like quite a few people have their eyes on you,
just as one group leaves, another arrives."
’No wonder the system predicted Justin Stone would suffer a loss of supplies.’
’Even if he had managed to escape earlier, he would have just died at someone else’s hands anyway.’
"You stay here. Don’t go outside."
With that said, Nina Jacobs walked out.
She hadn’t expected the leader of the newcomers to be Lucian Phelps, the man in the gray coat she’d met on her first day at Riventon Base.
But she also remembered Aurelius Marshall saying that Lucian Phelps was one of Justin Stone’s men.
Seeing his aggressive posturing now, Nina Jacobs understood.
’It seemed Lucian Phelps never had good intentions. He must have known about Justin Stone’s supplies and gotten greedy.’
"You’re the ones who took Justin Stone, aren’t you?
Give us back our Base Commander!"
Lucian Phelps never imagined that Justin Stone would be whisked away by this woman who had suddenly barged into the base.
His original plan had been to follow behind and reap the rewards after others did the fighting.
But then Nina Jacobs had suddenly appeared.
"I saved him, but he’s already left."
Nina Jacobs said.
"Saving people? You’re a real saint, aren’t you?"
Lucian Phelps said, his smile not reaching his eyes.
At this, people began to climb out of the surrounding vehicles.
They were all tall and burly, each bundled in several thick layers of winter clothing.
Lucian Phelps spread his hands. "Here’s the deal. If you don’t tell us where he is, my brothers here are going to have to show you some... hospitality."
"I’ll say this up front: anyone who actively provokes me will die."
Nina Jacobs said.
She would never spare anyone who developed the intent to kill her.
This was her principle.
"This chick’s got some fire. It’d be a real shame not to provoke her,"
one of the men roared with laughter.
It was as if Nina Jacobs had told a hilarious joke.
Then, he unleashed his Earth Element Superpower. Rows of Stone Spikes erupted from the ground, closing in around Nina Jacobs.
Just as he was reveling in his attack, a powerful tremor began to rise from beneath his feet.
"What’s that noise?"
The Earth Element Superpower User seemed to sense something, hastily forming a defensive Stone Shield at his feet.
But in the next instant, a massive Stone Spike shot up from the ground, precisely between his feet!
Blood splattered everywhere.
The onlookers were all terrified as they watched the Earth Element user get impaled and hoisted into the air.
"I told you. Anyone who provokes me will die."
Her cold voice seemed to chill the air even more than the freezing temperature.
"What’s there to be afraid of? She’s just one person! Her friends are too scared to even get out of the car! Let’s get her together!"
a young-sounding man rallied the crowd.
"All at once!"
The Superpowers of dozens of people flew toward Nina Jacobs at once, but the attacks were all blocked by a translucent sand shield.
Nina Jacobs stood inside, completely unharmed.
"Hey, Phelps! This person you’ve picked a fight with is no pushover.
I’ve got a family waiting for me, so I’m out."
Some of the attackers, realizing Nina Jacobs was out of their league, immediately scrambled back into a vehicle.
Others exchanged hesitant glances. Seeing this, Lucian Phelps quickly shouted:
"Justin Stone took the supplies from an entire granary! Are you really going to give up on your only chance to get them?"
An entire granary’s worth of supplies.
As expected, at these words, the eyes of everyone present turned vicious.
"Hand over Justin Stone now!"
"Hand him over, and we’ll spare you!"
Facing the shouts of the remaining men, Nina Jacobs dismissed the Diamond Sand Cover.
"Quick, get her!"
Lucian Phelps yelled.
But dozens of Fireballs had already appeared in mid-air. They morphed into Fire Blades and shot down, fanning out toward the crowd below.
The men scrambled to block them with various Superpower-based shields, but the seemingly ordinary Fire Blades acted as if they were laced with acid, eating through every shield they touched!
"AHH!!"
The moment a Fire Blade touched someone, their thick clothes instantly burst into flames.
"Help! What kind of fire is this? It won’t go out!"
a Water Element Superpower User yelled, watching dozens of flaming figures writhing on the ground.
"Run! We have to run!
She’s a Dual Element Superpower User, and an Intermediate one at that! We’re no match for her!"
someone screamed.
The Fireballs in the air coalesced once more overhead, and many of the remaining survivors scrambled back into their vehicles and fled for their lives.
Only about twenty people remained.
Among them, a pair of Speed Element Superpower Users and a Strength Element Superpower User charged toward her.
Nina Jacobs wasted no more words. The ground around them quickly turned to quicksand.
"Help me! I was wrong!
Let me go! I’ll leave with the others!"
a Strength Element Superpower User trapped in the quicksand begged.
"Too late."
The quicksand solidified into sharp spikes, and the remaining few died in an instant.
The rest of the survivors, including Lucian Phelps, tried to flee but were ensnared by several Fire Serpents.
"Let’s go."
A moment later, Nina Jacobs emerged from the abandoned factory once more.
’Justin Stone should have taken out all the supplies from his space by now.’
As for Justin Stone himself, she had killed him and burned his body to ash to tie up any loose ends.
"So... did Justin Stone really hand over all the supplies?"
Nia asked.
She noticed that Nina Jacobs seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood.
"Yes, all of it."
Nina Jacobs said.
Ten thousand tons of food was certainly a lot, but what she hadn’t expected was that besides all the food, Justin Stone had also hoarded plenty of other supplies.
In addition to the granary supplies, dozens of her previously empty storage slots were now full again.
’A nice, unexpected bonus for the day.’
"That’s good."
Nia relaxed.
For the rest of the journey, they thankfully encountered no more ambushes.
Nina Jacobs didn’t say anything, but she kept staring out the window, observing the zombies they passed.
"What is it?" Nia asked, curious.
"The zombies are moving more freely."
Nina Jacobs replied.
She’d noticed it earlier when she’d gotten out to kill zombies. The ones that had been incredibly stiff just a few days ago were now gradually adapting to the extreme cold.
"It’s true. They’re more fearless than humans."
Nia said, pulling her neck into her collar.