Chapter 618: South Riven Base
Chapter 618: Chapter 618: South Riven Base
However, this was just her guess. After all, the book recording the Puppetry Technique didn’t mention how to refine it. But she had been using a large amount of Divine Wood these past few days. Having to whittle down a bit every time still made her heart ache. Therefore, in her free time, she would convert her Superpower into the Wood Element Superpower to accelerate the growth of the Divine Wood. She probably wouldn’t need to go out today, so she could use the Wood Element Superpower more for this.
Noises drifted in from outside the door; Holly Morgan and Sylvia Shawn had likely woken up.
Seeing Nina Jacobs walk out of her room, Sylvia said, "Breakfast is ready. Let’s go eat together."
"Okay."
After washing up, Nina went to the common area with the two of them. Portioned breakfasts were already set out on the table for everyone.
"Captain, I plan to go out for a stroll," Ethan Young said as he walked over. His purpose for coming along this time was to find someone—the enemy who had killed his family for the Cloud Concealing Silk.
Even though she knew the person Ethan was looking for probably wasn’t in the South Riven Base, Nina still said, "Let’s go together in a bit."
Upon hearing that Nina was going out, the others also grew interested. As a result, Nina had quite a few tails following behind her when she went downstairs.
"Nina, where are we going first?" Shirley Lucas asked.
"To wherever there are the most people." Nina didn’t actually know where to go either; they were completely clueless about the South Riven Base.
"Where are the most people?" Sylvia asked.
Ethan also looked at Nina. He was quite touched that she was willing to go with him, but he was just as clueless about this place.
"The trading market," Nina replied.
"That sounds good, we can treat it like window shopping. If I had known, I would have brought my team members. They’d definitely be interested in shopping." Julian Wells had tagged along at some point.
"Give it a rest, Mr. Winslow. Who brings maids when they go out?" Sylvia remembered that Julian’s Rainy Rose was full of his fanatic fans. Usually, whenever they appeared together, those female members were either massaging his shoulders or rubbing his back.
"They aren’t maids. They’re just poor souls with hard lives," Julian replied, not the least bit angry.
The zombie horde at the South Riven Base had completely ended last night. There were quite a few people around the perimeter of the base right now, though they seemed to be base soldiers focused on repairing the walls.
Shirley looked around and said, "No wonder they say the defensive power here is weak. These walls really are easy to knock down."
"I heard they’re going to patch them up first, and then slowly reinforce them later," Holden Shaw said. Adrian Paige had gone out early in the morning; the person who came to pick him up had said so.
Although the group had never been to the South Riven Base, the directional signs inside were relatively clear, and they quickly found the trading market. The reason they came here was that Nina had heard Aaron Lynch and the others mention that the South Riven Base’s trading market was the most crowded place in the entire settlement. Not only did they trade supplies here, but some individuals and teams would also post tasks with rewards of supplies or Crystal Cores. Capable people could all accept tasks at the trading market, including tasks like finding people or asking for information.
The trading market’s roof was made of metal. It looked like it had been temporarily added later using the Gold Element Superpower. The metal roof connected the two rows of buildings beside it, but since those buildings varied in height, the connection looked a bit forced.
"I heard that the South Riven Base places a lot of importance on the development of the Gold Element Superpower. Seeing it now, it’s indeed true," Caleb Carter said.
Walking from the dormitories to the trading market, many public facilities within the South Riven Base—including roadside directional signs, pavilions, fences, and even public toilets—were made of metal. Now, even the roof of the trading market was no exception.
The trading market mostly consisted of personal stalls, but the majority of them were empty, with no supplies on display. Meanwhile, stalls that actually had goods were crowded with people who refused to disperse for a long time.
"Clearance sale, clearance sale! Roommate went to heaven, his stuff goes to me! Don’t miss out if you’re passing by!" Seeing people approaching, a man running a stall immediately began hawking enthusiastically.
"Roommate went to heaven... does that mean what I think it means?" Sylvia squatted down, looking at the supplies on the stall.
"What else could it mean? My roommate kicked the bucket. Naturally, his things are first come, first served. That’s the rule. Beauties and handsome gents, take a look, see if there’s anything you need?" The stall owner glanced at Sylvia and the others. Although these people looked like unfamiliar faces, they seemed like wealthy folks. Maybe he could actually sell some of his stuff.
"No wonder nobody’s at your stall." Sylvia took one look and shook her head. The items on the man’s stall were all personal belongings, like old quilts, pillows, backpacks, shoes, and socks.
"Beauty, don’t be so harsh with your words. There are still many people who can’t afford these things, like those over at the Lyrenne Institute." The man didn’t get angry, because these people looked like they weren’t to be messed with.
"I’ll take this. How much?" Nina picked up a black camcorder, flipped it over, and asked.
There was no mistake. This was the very camcorder she had given Orion Thorne and Declan back at the City D Base. They had used it to capture evidence of the Soul-Attracting Butterfly. Except, the photos and videos inside had already been wiped clean.
The man’s eyes lit up, and he held up a number. "Twenty Ordinary Crystal Cores, or two Mutated Crystal Cores will do."
However, Nina directly pulled out a small tin of canned food from her pocket. "Here. Keep the change."
It was actually canned meat. The man took it with an excited expression, then immediately hid the can in his pocket. "Thank you, thank you! You can take your pick from these things, miss. Take as much as you want."
Nina took a glance, then asked, "May I know this roommate’s name?"
Orion and the others had said that as long as they brought back the evidence and completed the mission, they would get the antidote and wouldn’t have to die. So why was this camcorder here?
"I had quite a few roommates, and they all died one after another. I don’t know which one you’re talking about," the man replied.
"The owner of this camera," Nina clarified, waving the camcorder in her hand.
"Oh, this. This belonged to Declan. He was even a Space Superpower User. Who knows if he still had any good stuff in his space when he died..." the man answered with a regretful expression.
"How did he die?" Nina asked.
"I don’t know about that. He came back from a long trip a few days ago, and I thought he was about to strike it rich. He was quite happy when he got back, saying he completed a mission he took from the market. Then, a couple of days later, we found him dead in his bed. His face was all dark and bruised..." Seeing Nina frown, the man continued, "It’s normal for people to die in this damn weather. Where we live doesn’t have heating, so people often freeze or starve to death. You don’t happen to know Declan, do you? Oh man, then he died too early..."
"I don’t know him, I’m just curious."
After saying this, Nina left. But a moment later, she came back alone and asked, "What about the people who took the mission with him? Do you know them?"
Declan and his team had safely returned to the South Riven Base, and the photos and videos in the camcorder were gone. This meant they had probably already delivered the news and evidence. Her goal had also been achieved. However, she suspected that Declan’s death was no accident.