The woman seemed to sneer at Shirley Lucas and her teamâs status as hired hands.
"Hmph. Ms. Sutton hired more than just our team. Who knows which one you are."
Leo Hale fanned the flames.
"Stone, so youâre telling me you were hired too? Then why did you turn around and hire us?"
A man on the team asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, and here we thought you were the big bosses. Turns out youâre working for someone too. That stone must be pretty valuable."
Another person was still laughing heartily when a cold glint of light appeared. The expression on his face instantly froze, and he fell backward, his eyes wide open.
His forehead had been pierced through. Blood gushed from the back of his head, staining the grayish-white ground a deep crimson, like a blooming flower.
"If youâre hired, you follow the rules. Those who donât, die."
A cold voice emerged from behind the group, and some of their faces instantly turned pale.
Nina Jacobs finally got a clear look at the man.
He was a somewhat lanky man with slightly long hair. He wore a gray windbreaker, and his eyes were sinister.
Even Adrian Shaw hadnât been able to see what Superpower he had just used.
"Gold Element and Speed Element."
Nina Jacobs tilted her head and said in a low voice.
âWhat just pierced that manâs brow must have been a Gold Spike.â
âCombined with the Speed Element, it just seemed uncanny to onlookers.â
âCould this man be Magnus York?â
"Alistair White, what should we do with these two Bishop Clan members and these people?"
The woman from before walked over and asked.
Listening to their conversation, Nina Jacobs realized there didnât seem to be anyone named Magnus York among them.
âAre these not all of them?â
"If it comes to it, just kill them all. These two arenât talking anyway."
The group stood at a distance, discussing in low voices.
The man named Alistair White shook his head.
"They wonât talk now, but Magnus York has his ways of making them. Have you forgotten how we found this path?"
"What about those people? Arenât you curious how they got here?"
The man in camouflage fatigues fixed his gaze on Adrian Shawâs group.
"Those people are indeed suspicious, but... what are you afraid of?
The more people there are to set off traps, the safer weâll be, right?"
After saying this, Alistair White sneered and walked toward the group.
"Since weâre all here looking for something, why donât we team up?"
Alistair Whiteâs words were unexpected.
But Nina Jacobs replied:
"We can, but we have more people in another location. There are just as many of them as there are of you."
Alistair White just smiled when he heard this.
If the woman before him hadnât said that, he might have had other suspicions. But the more she insisted, the more certain he was that she was bluffing.
After all, they hadnât seen any sign of anyone else on their way here.
"Alright. We know about your employer, Oceane Sutton. So, have you found any clues?"
Alistair White asked probingly.
Nina Jacobs shook her head. "Not yet, but we found a passageway."
A passageway?
"Summer, how could you tell them something like that?"
Shirley Lucas said, feigning blame.
Nina Jacobs must have been talking about the sealed passageway Naji had mentioned earlier.
"Everyone, donât listen to her nonsense. Thereâs no passageway."
Adrian Shaw added.
The woman from before became interested. She walked up to Nina Jacobs and asked, "Whatâs your name? How come Iâve never seen you with Oceane Sutton before?"
"My name is Summer Warner,
Iâve been with Ms. Sutton at the stronghold this whole time. Since you say you know Ms. Sutton, why havenât I ever seen you?"
Nina Jacobs retorted, certain that these people would never have appeared before Oceane Sutton.
"Weâre friends of a friend. Of course you havenât seen us.
But about that passageway you just mentioned, can you take us to see it?
Oh, right, my name is Winslow."
the woman explained.
âThis girl, Summer Warner, seems pretty gullible.â
âNot only that, but besides the two men who just spoke, the others behind them also look clueless and dazed.â
"Letâs just forget it. I think itâs too dangerous in there.
You should find another way."
Nina Jacobs said.
"How do we know if itâs dangerous without taking a look? Donât tell me you found some clues in there?"
The man in camouflage, Calix Stone, asked suspiciously.
"No way! We didnât find anything, right, Kyle?"
Beckett Abbott nudged Marcus Miller.
Marcus Miller immediately snapped back to reality and nodded quickly. "Right, right, we didnât find anything at all."
But their exchange only made them seem more suspicious.
"Take us to see it."
Alistair White materialized a silver Gold Spike at his fingertip, toying with it in a way that was also a threat.
In the end, the group led them back to the entrance of the cave.
While the others were busy examining the sealed cave entrance, Nina Jacobs gave Greg Unger a meaningful look.
She had noticed that Greg Unger and Aaron Axtonâs ankles were bound with a special kind of rope.
The rope was extremely strong. In her past life, she had heard that although it was made of an alloy, it couldnât be controlled by Gold Element Superpowers. Of course, Fire and Wind Element Superpowers couldnât easily sever it either.
Looking at the grayish-white earth beneath their feet, Nina Jacobs wanted to try out her Diamond Sand.
At the same time, she sized up the team.
Among the crowd gathered before the cave entrance, at least half of them looked like ordinary survivors.
She guessed they were all people that this Alistair White and his crew had hired temporarily from nearby.
âI just wonder what they were promised.â
"You two, this place belongs to your clan, right? Whatâs inside?"
A middle-aged man walked up to Greg Unger and the other captive, asking the question.
"Why should we tell you outsiders anything?"
Greg Ungerâs tone was extremely hostile.
No one noticed a stone blade emerging from the ground, silently cutting at the ropes hidden beneath their pant legs.
"Wonât talk, huh? Iâll teach you to keep quiet.
Iâll teach you!"
The middle-aged man kicked at Greg Unger. So as not to reveal anything unusual, Greg Unger gritted his teeth and didnât move an inch.
"Iâll make you bleed right now. Just wait until our boss gets here, he has plenty of ways to make you tell us everything..."
Seeing both Greg Unger and Aaron Axton glaring at him with rage, the middle-aged man materialized a wood thorn.
However, his action was interrupted by a sharp blade hovering in front of his face.
Alistair White looked at him with an icy gaze.
"Soren, no one gave you permission to speak."
Remembering the poor bastard who had been killed in a single blow just moments ago, Soren Sullivan gulped.
"I-I know. It was my fault for speaking out of turn."
Alistair Whiteâs gaze swept over the crowd. "According to our earlier scouting, there are a lot of Mutated Animals here, especially snakes and bears.
If any of you cause any trouble, you can go feed them yourselves."
"Easy for him to say. Wasnât he the one who drew first blood?"
Leo Hale muttered under his breath. âThis guyâs a real hypocrite.â
Seeing Alistair White order his people to use their Superpowers to open the sealed entrance, Nina Jacobs and her group discreetly took a few steps back.
Meanwhile, the ropes around Greg Unger and Aaron Axtonâs ankles had already been cut by the Diamond Sand blade.
Now, they just had to wait for an opportunity.
Adrian Shaw could also see that this Alistair White and his people were completely suspicious of them.
The more they tried to stop them, the more convinced this group became that there were clues inside.
âBut this is good too,â Adrian thought. âThe mountain on the other side is exactly where I wanted to explore.â
âHaving them lead the way is better than us risking it ourselves.â
Nina Jacobs had the very same idea.
By now, everyone could feel the dampness emanating from the cracks in the cave entrance.