Chapter 104 - 68: Retreat

Erin Quinn nestled in Paige Summers’s arms, carefully rubbing her chest.

"Are you okay?"

Paige Summers’s face was deathly pale, but she held her back straight. She wore a strange expression that the seven-year-old couldn’t decipher.

Among Marcus Monroe’s group, there was one other person besides Marcus whose thoughts she could never hear, no matter how she used her superpower—Paige Summers! ’So,’ she could only guess, ’is something wrong with her body?’

Things were even worse than she imagined.

Paige Summers felt absolutely terrible.

Her body felt completely empty. Forget her superpower; she barely had any physical strength left. She felt like a sieve, so porous that a cool breeze sent a chill straight to her bones. She could clearly feel that all the energy within her Jade Pendant Mark had vanished. This was more than mere malice; it felt like the explosive, intense resentment of the dead.

’Was it... Caleb Yorke and his people? Or was this the Mark’s punishment?’

But all she could do was give a wry smile.

’How ironic,’ she thought. ’Just what you’d expect from an old monk’s gift, brimming with Buddhist compassion. I didn’t kill those people with my own two hands, yet it still counts this "sin" against me!’

’Was it really my fault?’

Paige Summers pressed her lips together, her gaze defiant.

’Too bad. If I had to do it over, I’m afraid I’d do the exact same thing.’

’I can’t predict the future. The most I can do is nip any danger in the bud. If I can’t take precautions, death is probably what’s waiting for me...’

’I want to live!’

’And I don’t need anyone, or anything, dictating my life!’

That was what she told herself, but right now, she couldn’t even take a single step, let alone go kill Leanne Walsh.

Marcus Monroe and Howard Everett finished talking and returned.

Howard Everett looked at her and said in a low voice, "Can we keep this woman for a little longer? In one month, I will hand her over to you."

’A month?’ she scoffed internally. ’A month from now, who knows where she’ll be? Or where I’ll be?’

Paige Summers gave Marcus Monroe a humorless smile. For the first time, he wore an expression of guilt in front of her. "I’m sorry."

’I can tell he’s sincere,’ she thought, ’but what good is that?’

Whatever the reason, it was obvious that Marcus Monroe had broken his promise to her for his team members.

Paige Summers opened her mouth, a sarcastic retort on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back down.

’It was pointless...’

An indescribable feeling churned inside her. ’Maybe I can only blame myself for not being strong enough. Otherwise, I could have just killed the woman first and talked later.’

After a long silence, two faint words escaped her lips.

"Forget it."

Howard Everett gave her a long look before turning away without another word to make arrangements for the group. Although their lives would be spared, his team was in a hurry to get back to The Dead City, so taking everyone along was unrealistic. The best solution was to find a place to imprison them first.

Marcus Monroe remained where he was. He subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to say something—to ask if she was angry with him, if that was why she looked so unwell. But before he could speak, Paige Summers had already looked away and, leaning on Erin Quinn for support, began walking out of the warehouse.

He didn’t close his eyes in weary resignation until their two figures, one large and one small, had disappeared from sight.

’Sometimes, I hate my own rational mind.’

’You should do everything in your power to help the woman you like achieve her goals.’

’But reality told me I couldn’t.’

Howard Everett planned to use the woman with the prophetic ability for an experiment, hoping to get more information. He’d sworn that he would hand her over in a month, regardless of the outcome. He wasn’t doing it for himself, but for the entire team. Faced with his proud and most loyal brother-in-arms, who so rarely asked for anything, he just couldn’t refuse...

In any case, the matter was settled.

Paige Summers had no time to sort through her complicated emotions. Her priority right now was to recover her strength.

As soon as they left the warehouse, she had Erin Quinn help her to a corner, far from the others, where she took out a Crystal Core to begin her Cultivation.

Meanwhile, Howard Everett also worked quickly to get things sorted out.

With Claire Chapman’s help, a decision was quickly made.

The small Hunting Party that had come to help Flying Eagle didn’t plan to leave right away; they were preparing to retreat with the main group organized by the base. For a fee of some Crystal Cores, they were willing to take a few extra people with them. At the same time, Howard Everett, with Marcus Monroe’s approval, left two members of his own team behind to guard Ace, Nora Lowell, and Leanne Walsh. There was no need to keep the others.

Once the arrangements were finalized, the small Hunting Party quickly left with the designated people.

Not everyone in Flying Eagle’s group wanted to leave. In the end, nearly twenty people decided to follow their captain, and they were all packed and ready to depart at a moment’s notice.