Chapter 607: Waiting for Someone
Chapter 607: Chapter 607: Waiting for Someone
"It is exactly what you think it is, but the situation was urgent. Don’t worry about drinking it," Nina Jacobs replied.
Shirley Lucas’s eyes widened. He had actually drunk an entire bottle of the incredibly precious Holy Water?!
"Damn it, I should have just taken one sip..." Shirley felt he had recklessly wasted a divine treasure. It was said that a single drop of Holy Water could save a life. The pollen clearly only had a paralyzing effect, and he could have easily endured it without any issues.
Seeing Shirley trapped in endless regret, Nina couldn’t help but tease him. "It’s just a few bottles of Holy Water. Next time there’s a chance, I’ll just rob some more for you."
"Do you know how much this stuff is worth on the black market?" Still, after hearing that Nina had robbed the Holy Water from someone else, Shirley did feel a little better.
"By the way, use those supplies to make a hearty breakfast for everyone tomorrow morning," Nina said before Shirley left. From here to South Riven Base, it would only take less than half a day’s journey. They were in no rush to travel tomorrow.
Shirley didn’t overthink it. Early the next morning, he brought out plenty of food and drinks for everyone to heat up themselves.
"Captain Jacobs said we need to eat our fill today. We’re in no rush to hit the road," Shirley said, lazily nestling into a plush sofa he had pulled out from his spatial storage.
"Are we really waiting for someone?" Julian Wells was also very curious about what Nina was waiting for.
Meanwhile, on a road approaching Peldon, Adrian Paige looked in confusion at Kevin Nash, who had just signaled everyone to stop.
"Mr. Paige, Peldon is right up ahead. That’s the village I mentioned to you," Kevin explained with a smile. "Why don’t you all come with me to say hello? We can also ask if they’d be willing to return to the base with us."
"Peldon... Are you sure it’s in this location?" Adrian asked, skepticism flickering in his eyes. Currently, no one other than Nina Jacobs and Heath Chandler knew he was a Spiritual Element Superpower User. In the direction Kevin pointed, Adrian didn’t sense anyone. However, in another direction, he could detect the presence of just under a hundred people.
"Of course I’m sure." Kevin tried his hardest to persuade Adrian to bring his men and accompany him to Peldon. After a brief moment of thought, Adrian agreed.
"It will be inconvenient for the convoy to enter the village road, so the rest of you just wait here for now," Kevin told the more than four hundred people in the several vehicles behind them.
"General Nash, we can go with you," a short-haired female squad member with chilblains on her face stepped forward and volunteered.
"Alright, Garner. We’ll be back in a flash. If Mr. Paige and the others are willing to rest here, I’ll send someone to bring you over," Kevin said.
Regina Garner stared intently at Kevin, but ultimately got back into her vehicle without another word.
"Peldon... I didn’t expect there to be survivors here," Ivan Young remarked as they walked. They had all tagged along when Kevin went to fetch the remaining soldiers from the base.
To their profound sorrow, the six hundred people Kevin had mentioned were now reduced to just over four hundred. When they arrived, the survivors had been trapped on an elevated slope surrounded by collapsed terrain. Before the apocalypse, the site had been an abandoned temple, flanked by a steep mountain cliff on one side and a vast expanse of frozen farmland on the other. Normally, several hundred people wouldn’t have been stranded there, but facing thousands of acres of permafrost without vehicles, it was nearly impossible for them to move an inch. It was only a few days ago that Kevin had managed to find a few cars outside. Word was that they had also wanted to return to the base for help, but many of the roads leading there had been destroyed, or completely blocked by massive hordes of zombies.
"Our brothers only survived these past few days thanks to the rescue efforts from Peldon, so I have to go and say thank you no matter what," Kevin said.
Adrian said nothing. He had harbored numerous suspicions along the way, but considering there were still over four hundred people waiting to be brought back safely, both he and Heath suppressed their doubts.
"Be careful in a bit. Something isn’t right," Adrian muttered to the men beside him.
"How many people are in the village right now?" Heath asked in a low voice. Since Adrian was a Spiritual Element Superpower User, he should be able to sense them.
"No one," Adrian replied. It was precisely because there was no one that he had agreed to follow Kevin and take a look. As for the gathering of about a hundred people his Spiritual Element Superpower had detected elsewhere, Adrian intended to feign ignorance for the time being.
"Actually, it’s very safe around this village. I had originally planned to discuss it with the locals and bring all the brothers over first..." Kevin chattered excitedly as he led the way. However, the further he walked, the more he felt something was off.
If this were before, the villagers guarding the entrance would have come to welcome them by now. But right now, all he felt was a deathly, silent aura. According to their previous contingency plan, Leo Langley was supposed to lure the backup group from City D here and dispose of them. Had the group from City D not arrived yet? It didn’t matter which group arrived first anyway. Once they set foot in Peldon, they could forget about ever leaving.
Adrian and his men couldn’t see Kevin’s expression, but they could plainly read his impatience.
"It really isn’t right. People obviously lived here," Heath noted. There were signposts by the roadside and rows of fresh tire tracks. But since Adrian said there was no one inside, could they have been attacked by zombies and fled?
After passing several low walls, a taller perimeter wall appeared ahead, seeming to enclose the entire village. The village gates were made of thick wooden planks. When Kevin and the others pushed the gates open, the sight before them left everyone in shock.
The entire village before their eyes appeared to have been completely razed by a massive fire. The ground was blanketed in a thick layer of dark gray ash, and melted, deformed vehicle frames were scattered everywhere. Even the farmhouses that should have been standing had been reduced to ruined walls overnight.
"Not only did they burn it, but they destroyed the whole village. How thorough," Tyson Hughes commented, gazing at the scene. Aside from the perimeter walls, Peldon had been utterly decimated.
"This ash... it’s bone ash," Adrian stated after a closer look.
At that moment, Kevin sprinted toward a broken wall, but there was absolutely nothing behind it.
"Someone massacred the village, and they cleared out all the supplies here... The supplies in the warehouse are completely gone!" Kevin simply couldn’t believe his eyes. "Leo Langley! Come out!" he yelled hysterically at the ruined village.
"Stop yelling. He’s already dead."
At that moment, a familiar voice drifted over. Heath and the others looked toward the source in pleasant surprise. It was Nina Jacobs.
Adrian’s expression brightened as well. Was the group his Spiritual Element Superpower detected actually Nina and her team? Among the more than five hundred people on this expedition, there were indeed around a hundred who hadn’t absorbed Mystic Ice Cores. Then the situation here...
"When did you get here? Who massacred this place? Who did this?!" Kevin hurriedly demanded.
Nina walked in with Wayne Warner, Holly Morgan, and a few others. "It was me," she answered in a flat tone.
"What did you just say?!" Kevin looked even more incredulous.
"I am the one who massacred the village, and I am the one who destroyed this place," Nina replied.
As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone present froze.
Kevin’s expression drastically shifted before he snapped angrily, "That was over four hundred lives! Over four hundred lives! How could you do such a thing?!"
"What’s going on?" Adrian, however, cast a suspicious glare at Kevin. For Nina to go to such extremes, something major must have happened.