Chapter 593: He Really Dares to Think That
Chapter 593: Chapter 593: He Really Dares to Think That
Declan repeatedly assured her, "If they find out we leaked this information to an outsider, we won’t survive even if we complete our mission. So, Miss Jacobs, you can rest completely assured."
The matters concerning the Ainsworth family could not be disclosed to the public. He and Orion Thorne had already prepared a cover story in advance. There was absolutely no way they would drag Nina Jacobs into it.
"Mhm, that’s good. Here, I’m returning this to you." Nina took out the document bag from earlier.
She had already read all of Justin Stone’s letters inside and made a new set of copies. It was time to hand this matter over to Adrian Shaw.
As the former Base Commander of Riventon Base, Justin Stone had maintained contact with people from multiple bases. Those letters were all written to him by others, though for some unknown reason, they had ended up with Chloe Ainsworth. Of course, perhaps it was because Justin Stone had trusted Chloe enough at the time to let her handle the letters.
Among them were letters written by Liam Grant to Justin Stone. The two were so close they even called each other brothers. Even though Liam had repeatedly emphasized at the end of the letters that they must be destroyed immediately after reading, it was obvious that Justin Stone hadn’t followed suit.
Nina had previously promised Adrian Shaw that, in exchange for releasing Orion and Declan, she would hand over the contents of these letters.
"This is just fantastic." After roughly reading through the letters, Adrian Shaw was left momentarily speechless. "I think the Base Commander should see these for himself," he added.
Nina seemed to have anticipated this. "You can decide what to do."
In his letters, Liam mentioned that the extreme cold weather would last for about eight months. He also informed Justin Stone that Riventon Base would face a devastating internal and external blow after the extreme cold ended.
He wrote that he had "dreamed" that once the extreme cold passed, Riventon Base would first suffer from severe internal conflicts. Then, they would face the threat of zombies growing stronger outside. Eight months of extreme cold would leave human Superpower Users with almost no progress in their abilities, while the Mutated Zombies’ powers would reach a whole new level.
Riventon Base was already weak to begin with. The Superpower Users who thought they could finally venture out to seek survival opportunities were instead slaughtered and devoured one after another by the zombies outside. The base was plunged into despair and panic.
Liam advised Justin Stone to find an alternative way out in advance to save his own life, because Justin Stone was destined to be personally beheaded by someone during a base riot eight months later.
"No wonder Justin Stone reacted so quickly. So this is why," Myra Lawson immediately understood after reading the letter.
Long before the Command Center moved to strip him of his position, he must have already been prepared to flee. After all, any transfer orders from the Command Center were strictly confidential.
Justin Lawson nodded. "Justin Stone must have had another ace up his sleeve."
However, it remained unknown where the man was now.
It seemed that to show his sincerity, Liam had mentioned matters concerning City D Base more than once in his letters. This included the impending zombie horde that City D Base would face. The letters were written several months ago, before the zombies had even surged into the rivers of City D.
Initially, Myra hadn’t completely believed these words, but the letter went on to say that Justin Lawson would fall ill with an incurable disease. At that time, Justin Lawson was still in relatively good health. It was impossible for anyone to know he would get sick.
What angered her the most was that if Liam had just known and not reported it, that would have been fine, since no one was forcing him to reveal his secrets. But he had planned to use the zombie horde battle to make a name for himself. Furthermore, Liam had hoped Justin Stone would come to City D Base at that time to publicly support him, propelling him directly into a high position within the base—perhaps even replacing Justin Lawson.
"He certainly dreams big," Adrian said, his eyes darkening a fraction.
Liam had wanted to quietly eliminate him outside the base. Adrian truly didn’t know how he had managed to get in Liam’s way. No wonder Liam had been so earnest about commanding the troops during the zombie horde warning.
"The zombie horde was indeed a good opportunity," Nina said. "Using the horde as a stepping stone, he could have claimed to be the savior of City D Base and quickly secured a firm foothold."
Unfortunately for him, she had accidentally ruined his plans.
"We must keep our guard up against this man!" Justin Lawson stated.
They had originally thought Liam had made valuable contributions. But now it seemed he just had an ulterior motive, waiting for an opportunity to seize the upper hand.
"It seems there’s no need for us to feel guilty about certain things regarding him anymore." Myra sighed. She had initially thought he was merely selfish, not a treacherous beast ready to bite them at any moment.
"Jacobs, these letters hold a massive amount of information. You’ve found us another treasure," Justin Lawson said. After his anger subsided, he felt extremely fortunate that none of the predicted disasters seemed to have come to pass.
Moreover, the contents of these letters served as a wake-up call. They had to prepare for the zombies’ counterattack after the extreme cold. The extreme cold was not a time for humanity to stagnate. Furthermore, the several bases surrounding City D could directly or indirectly impact City D Base.
"They are indeed good finds. Even I didn’t anticipate some of the things mentioned," Nina replied.
Perhaps to gain Justin Stone’s absolute trust, Liam had told him a great deal. However, it was obvious that Justin Stone only cared about saving his own skin first, which inadvertently served as a warning for City D Base.
No, perhaps for the entirety of Drakonia.
After the group discussed the matter, Justin Lawson also invited Adrian Paige over. After reading the letters, Adrian Paige fell into deep thought.
A moment later, he spoke up, "I plan to take him back to the Arisdale Command Center ahead of schedule."
Liam knew far too much; perhaps he knew even more than what was written here. They couldn’t afford to keep delaying it using the extreme cold as an excuse.
"Taking him back to the Command Center is for the best. Too many people here have already noticed him," Justin Lawson said.
Nina’s gaze shifted as she wondered if the base had known about the people tailing Liam Grant all along.
Justin Lawson thought for a moment before suggesting, "In that case, why don’t we consolidate all the trips to Arisdale Base into a single itinerary? That way, everyone can look out for one another on the road."
The few individuals who stood out in the base’s Superpower competition could all go together.
"Alright, I’ll poll everyone for their willingness first before finalizing the plan," Myra said.
Back at City D Base, Orion Thorne and Declan hadn’t waited in vain. Their companions, who had previously been locked up in the Enforcement Bureau, were inexplicably released. The stated reason was that they were not suspected of murder or instigating riots, so their sentences were deemed complete.
To them, this was incredibly wonderful news. However, they didn’t dare make a scene, quietly slipping out of City D Base instead.
As an insider to the matter, Sherry Renner expressed her admiration for Nina’s plan.
"But I’m really curious, how did you control that Spiritwing?" Sherry asked.
"Just a clever little trick using my Wind Element Superpower," Nina replied with a smile.
"I see. It’s a good thing you didn’t destroy the Spiritwing back then," Sherry said, not overthinking it. She hadn’t been present at the time, and a Wind Element Superpower could indeed make certain things levitate.
Over the next few days, Nina took Stella and Fern Spencer’s squad to hunt zombies in the South District. This also included the Soul Slayer members, with the exception of Caleb Carter.
Fern Squad, which had been struggling to make ends meet for months, finally saw an increase in their income. Every day, Fern would have the Space Superpower User in her squad take the zombie corpses back to the base for incineration. These corpses could be converted into heating fuel for the base, earning them some Crystal Cores in exchange.
However, on this particular day, just as they were preparing to return, they encountered a group of people from South Riven Base.