Chapter 157: Have You Seen Her?

"We found it."

"And I have to thank you."

Hearing this, Holden Shaw seemed very happy. "See? I told you I saw it, but they just wouldn’t believe me."

The mention of this reminded Holden Shaw of the camp that had been annihilated overnight.

"I saw it all. Almost no one escaped."

To keep Nina Jacobs and her group safe, Holden Shaw had tried to lure the zombies away in the opposite direction.

And so, he had witnessed countless zombies swarming into the camp with his own eyes.

If Nina Jacobs hadn’t escaped early to save Pascal Paige and the others, they would have undoubtedly died last night.

’So Holden Shaw thinks I did it to save Pascal Paige?’

Nina Jacobs heard him but didn’t plan to explain.

"Let’s eat first. We can just consider this a blessing in disguise for all of us."

Nina Jacobs said, her mood cheerful.

She hadn’t had a chance to check her status after absorbing the Mystic Ice Core.

It was only after she went outside the scenic area to kill those zombies that she discovered she was now at the Basic Level Late Stage.

According to the system’s info panel, her Superpower Value had increased from 35 to 45.

In other words, she could advance to an Intermediate Superpower User at any moment.

’This trip to Rexton Mountain was totally worth it!’

...

Under the scorching sun.

In front of a shopping mall, the heavy gunfire finally ceased.

In its place were the sounds of battle between Superpower Users and zombies.

By the time Finn Hart and his group arrived, a large number of zombie corpses had already piled up in front of the mall.

"They have weapons. Who on earth are they?"

Shiloh stared in shock at the uniform armored vehicles, each marked with a serial number.

Not far off, there were even several set-up artillery emplacements.

"There’s a sniper in that direction, too."

Finn Hart said, pointing.

Even the people using the rocket launchers looked professionally trained.

"They look like military, but I thought City J didn’t have a military presence?"

Jordan Vaughn’s voice crackled over the radio.

They had their eyes on this mall before, but the sheer number of zombies in the area was overwhelming.

On top of that, the number of mutated zombies had been increasing over the past few days.

Now, even among a random handful of zombies on the street, forty percent of them would be mutated.

In the days since their visit to the Tiger-Lion Squad’s camp, they had already lost many people.

Finn Hart didn’t dare to advance recklessly anymore.

Even as a Spiritual Element Superpower User, he couldn’t cope with every sudden development.

What pained him even more was the loss of a Space Superpower User whose inventory had been packed with supplies...

Now, seeing this team before him, he finally understood how inadequate his own preparations were.

’If only we had this kind of weaponry and equipment...’

"They’re coming out."

Phoebe Vance watched the group of people walking out.

She glanced at the time. From the moment her group had started watching, it seemed to have taken these people only an hour to emerge.

And this mall, with its own supermarket, should have been full of supplies.

"Maybe their Space Superpower User couldn’t carry everything?"

Jane Dixon said.

’If that’s the case, does that mean we can go in and scavenge what’s left after they leave?’

However, those people had clearly noticed them as well.

Finn Hart straightened his cuffs, put on a pair of gloves, and walked down.

"Hello. Excuse me, are you survivors from City J?"

A middle-aged man’s eyes lit up when he saw them.

"No, we’re from City A."

Phoebe Vance noticed the middle-aged man’s face fall with disappointment the moment she spoke.

"From City A? What brings you all the way out here?"

another man with dark stubble asked.

"Are you from the City J military?"

Finn Hart voiced his suspicion.

But he remembered that City J didn’t have government troops.

The other group seemed to hesitate.

"We’re from the City D shelter. The City D Rescue Team is indeed formed from the city’s original military garrison."

It was then that a handsome young man emerged from the mall.

’The City D Rescue Team?’

A flicker of shock appeared in Finn Hart’s eyes.

He had never imagined that an official party from City D would enter City J.

"Are you here to rescue survivors?"

Finn Hart asked.

"You still haven’t answered what you’re doing here. Don’t tell me you’re here to... snatch supplies?"

The man with the stubble sized them up, asking with a smirk.

"If that’s the case, then sorry to disappoint you, but we’ve already cleared out all the supplies in the mall."

"We are indeed in City J to find supplies. Since you’ve already claimed this location, we won’t disturb you any further."

Finn Hart’s expression was grim.

’If it really came to a fight, we’d be no match for them.’

’It seems we’ll have to speed up our own supply runs.’

"Wait a moment."

Just as he turned to leave, he was stopped again by the young man.

"Have you seen a Fire Element Superpower User? Her name... is Nina Jacobs."

Ian Chandler asked, though he didn’t hold out much hope.

Finn Hart stopped in his tracks, but he did not turn around.

"No."

Hearing the reply, Ian Chandler couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

When Myra Lawson had first proposed the idea of collecting supplies from surrounding regions, he had immediately volunteered for the mission to City J.

Because he knew Nina Jacobs had come here.

But after many days on the road, they still hadn’t found any sign of Nina Jacobs.

"Don’t be discouraged. She’ll be fine."

Chester Pearson patted him on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Daniel Hale watched the other group leave.

"Those people... if we run into them again, we’d better be on our guard."

Daniel Hale said.

While they were collecting supplies inside, he had sensed their approach.

For this past hour, they had been waiting outside.

They were probably after the supplies.

Besides, he had a feeling they were hiding something.

Especially when Ian Chandler mentioned Nina Jacobs’s name.

"I’d heard before we left that some of the old-timers from City A were getting restless. I didn’t expect we’d actually run into them."

Chester Pearson watched the direction the cars had left in.

He had asked that question deliberately. The people from City A were most likely members of those families Myra Lawson had mentioned.

"Where’s the next big supply point?"

Ian Chandler asked.

Just as Chester Pearson’s theory had predicted, his Space Superpower had improved noticeably during this time, and its capacity had expanded once again.

Fitting the contents of this entire mall was not a problem.

Since others were also scrambling for supplies, they had to pick up the pace.

"In Valeray District. It’s a bit far, but there are plenty of smaller supply points nearby we can hit on the way."

Daniel Hale replied.

When he heard Chester Pearson and Ian Chandler were coming to City J, he’d guessed their ulterior motive. To find out about Nina Jacobs’s situation as quickly as possible, he had also volunteered to come along.

"No supply is too small to be wasted. While we have plenty of ammo, we should grab everything we can."

That was something Nina Jacobs had once told him.

Leaving supplies behind is a waste; having supplies is what really matters.

On this journey, Ian Chandler hadn’t even spared the gasoline in the cars by the roadside...

"You’re right. Everyone’s back in position, and all the Crystal Cores have been harvested. Let’s move out."

Influenced by Ian Chandler, Chester Pearson was also getting a bit addicted to collecting supplies.

Meanwhile, on an asphalt road practically melting in the heat,

a bus was speeding along.

A huge horde of zombies trailed behind the bus.

Pascal Paige didn’t dare to let up on the accelerator in the slightest.

"Just stop if you have to."

Nina Jacobs leaned back lazily in her seat.

’Why is it so easy to get drowsy in a car when you’re not the one driving?’