Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Worried About Attracting Disaster
After the two carried the bucket of water away, Nina Jacobs patted Lexyâs head and opened two cans of cat food, placing them on the table.
This was Lexyâs reward.
Hearing Lexyâs contented purrs as it ate, Nina Jacobs decided to head out alone for a while.
"Wait here with Lexy. Iâll be back soon."
She planned to complete the mission at the food factory as soon as possible.
That way, she could leave sooner.
Veridia Town wasnât large.
And the Veridia Food Factory wasnât hard to find.
Nina Jacobs reached the factory gates in less than half an hour.
âStrange. Not a single zombie in sight.â
âIs this another trap?â
Nina Jacobs recalled what Cordelia had said about a Thunder and Water Dual Element zombie.
âLogically, if there really was a Mutated Zombie here, it should have attacked me on sight.â
She released her Little Zombie Rats. Through their eyes, Nina Jacobs observed the situation inside the factory.
There were no zombiesâat least, not inside the factory.
She decided to enter the factory and complete her mission first.
The Veridia Food Factory produced all sorts of pastries, cookies, and candy.
The supplies inside were surprisingly well-preserved.
Just as Nina Jacobs finished gathering supplies in the warehouse and was preparing to leave, she sensed that something was wrong.
Footsteps.
And the roars of zombies.
The sounds werenât coming from one direction, but from all around her.
âIâm surrounded by zombies?!â
Nina Jacobs stepped out of the warehouse and saw that it was true.
There were at least four or five hundred zombies before her, with a good number of Mutated Zombies among them.
âSo thatâs it. Luring people in for the kill.â
âNo wonder the supplies here were still intact.â
âAnd no wonder the ground inside the factory was covered in dried bloodstains.â
âThis place is a trap, and the supplies are the bait.â
âAnd many people have died here before...â
âItâs a Spiritual Element Mutated Zombie.â
âZombies couldnât possibly hide in such an organized fashion and then appear all at once, especially not with ordinary zombies in the mix.â
âIn my past life, there were definitely Spiritual Element Mutated Zombies that could control other zombies.â
âBut that wasnât until two years into the apocalypse. After all, controlling so many zombies requires immense spiritual power and a powerful Superpower.â
âI just donât know if that Spiritual Element zombie is among this horde.â
Nina Jacobs stared at the zombies before her.
Two of the Mutated Zombies were already attacking, one launching a Thunder Ball and the other a Water Needle at her.
At the same time, the remaining zombies, which had been standing still, swarmed toward her as if a restraining order had been lifted.
BOOM!
Several Fire Serpents shot out in all directions as Nina Jacobs drew her Fire Roaring Blade. She swept the tip horizontally before her, raising waves of rolling fire.
Nina Jacobs realized the Thunder Element zombie and the Water Element zombie were coordinating their attacks.
âIn other words, theyâre following some kind of command.â
The other zombies, however, were just acting on their instinctual hunger.
âIt can only control two at once?â
Nina Jacobs understood.
âMy opponent can control a maximum of two Mutated Zombies to attack simultaneously.â
âAs for the rest, it can only restrain their movements.â
âSo the "Thunder and Water Dual System" zombie Cordelia mentioned must have been these two Mutated Zombies working in tandem.â
âThen Iâll take care of you two first!â
In just two strikes, both the Thunder and Water Element Mutated Zombies collapsed.
But with hundreds of zombies still remaining, Nina Jacobs quickly vaulted off a nearby abandoned forklift and onto a second-floor platform.
From her high vantage point, Nina Jacobs observed the zombies below.
Ultimately, she concluded, âThat main zombie isnât among them.â
By coordinating her Fire Element and Earth Element Superpowers, she quickly eliminated more than half of the hundreds of zombies below.
In the midst of her slaughter, some of the zombies stopped attacking and began to retreat.
Nina Jacobs pretended not to notice, instead releasing a Little Zombie Rat that scurried into the pocket of one of the retreating zombies.
âLetâs see just where these zombies are hiding.â
âMost importantly, I need to get rid of that Spiritual Element Mutated Zombie as soon as possible.â
âI have to pass through here on my way back, and Mutated Zombies tend to evolve quickly.â
When Nina Jacobs returned, she found the room filled with containers brimming with water.
They had even used pots, pans, and basins.
Seeing Nina Jacobs return, Cordelia quickly explained, "We didnât make Lexy do it! It started releasing water on its own, and I figured it would be a waste not to collect it, so..."
She was worried Nina Jacobs would think they were mistreating Lexy.
Just then, Lexy trotted over with an empty cat food can in its mouth and dropped it at Nina Jacobsâs feet.
MEOWâ
Lexy looked up at Nina Jacobs with its azure eyes.
Nina Jacobs didnât know whether to laugh or cry.
Lexy probably thought producing water would earn it another can of cat food.
That was why it had made so much water after she left.
"Itâs fine. Take the water and use it as you wish."
Nina Jacobs replied, picking up Lexy.
Lexy was a Chinese desert cat. Although its frame was larger than a domestic catâs, the harsh conditions of the past few months had left it with barely any meat on its bones.
It felt surprisingly light in her arms.
"Really? Thank you!
Thank you, Master Cat!"
Cordelia said, overjoyed.
Her greatest wish right now was to take a bath.
Having not bathed in months, she felt she probably smelled no different from a zombie.
Nina Jacobs nodded and returned to her room with Lexy.
She didnât give Lexy another can of wet food, just its usual kibble.
"From now on, you canât just go making water whenever you feel like it when weâre outside, understand?"
âCordelia and her group are one thing.â
âBut if we were inside Lornwood Base, it would surely bring disaster.â
âWait a minute.â
An idea suddenly struck Nina Jacobs.
âWhy do I have to go to Lornwood Base?â
âLornwood Base is already a dictatorâs territory.â
âTo fight a dictator, or even to try and usurp them... the best way is to become an even stronger opponent.â
âInstead of being tied down in Lornwood Base, I could grow unchecked somewhere else. It would be best to build my own power base.â
With this in mind, Nina Jacobs knocked on the door across from hers.
"Youâre here!"
A young woman with delicate features opened the door. If it werenât for her voice, Nina Jacobs wouldnât have recognized the formerly dirt-caked Cordelia.
"Yes. I came to ask..."
Cordelia had just pulled Nina Jacobs inside when she saw a shirtless man leaning on a table, practicing how to walk.
The man looked very familiar.
Nina Jacobs tried to recall if she had ever seen him before.
"You couldnât tell yesterday, could you? Heâs *the* Silas Crowley."
Cordelia said.
"Silas Crowley?"
When Reginald Sutton had called out the name yesterday, it had indeed sounded vaguely familiar to her.
"You donât even know who Silas Crowley is?
Heâs a huge celebrity! You know, the one from *Have you ever loved me*? He was super famous last year!"
Cordelia explained eagerly.
"..."
Nina Jacobs finally understood.
No wonder he looked and sounded familiar. Silas Crowleyâs face and name had been all over the big-screen ads in the malls.
But celebrities and the like felt like a lifetime ago to her now.
"Hello. Your medicine worked wonders. Thank you for saving my life."
Silas Crowley walked over to Nina Jacobs.
He had been injured in the thigh. Heâd thought he was going to die, or at the very least, have his leg amputated.
But to his surprise, heâd regained some feeling in his leg that morning.
Nina Jacobs nodded, her expression calm. She glanced over at Rhonda Rowan and saw her sitting up, her complexion much improved.
"And we are, too. Weâre so grateful to you,"
Tobin said, slowly getting to his feet. With medicine and water, it was as if they had been given a new lease on life.
"Youâre welcome," Nina Jacobs said. "I came to ask you all a few questions."