Chapter 206 - 132: Dilemma

Paige Summers didn’t plan on a group operation for this trip out of the city to hunt Zombies and Zombie Beasts.

After thinking it over, she decided to go with just Marcus Monroe and Claire Chapman.

A smaller group wasn’t necessarily weaker, but a larger one would definitely slow them down. Besides, with more people came more prying eyes and loose talk, making it far too easy to expose the existence of her space.

If her spatial ability were a superpower she had awakened on her own, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

Central City was brimming with talent. While Space Ability Users were rare, they certainly weren’t unheard of. Moreover, spatial storage artifacts existed as well. Even if people found out she was a Space Ability User, it wouldn’t cause any major issues.

The problem was, her space came from an earring.

There were bound to be differences in how an innate spatial superpower operated compared to an external storage device.

The differences might be subtle, but that didn’t mean no one would notice.

It was a risk she couldn’t afford to take.

As for Marcus Monroe and Claire Chapman, she hadn’t told them about her space yet, but she felt she could trust them with the secret.

Her decision made, she went to find Marcus Monroe first.

He was easygoing; the moment she asked, he agreed. And not only did he agree, but he also seemed to be in a very good mood.

Paige Summers didn’t think much of it. She just said she was going to find Claire Chapman and left his room.

This left Marcus Monroe to celebrate in private.

’Leaving the city is a great idea!’

’Once we’re out, she won’t have to go to the Mercer Family, and she won’t have to see that punk, Zephyr Mercer!’

Although Marcus knew Paige always gave Zephyr the cold shoulder, he was also acutely aware that the other man hadn’t given up.

The problem was, Paige was working with the Mercer Family, and he had absolutely no grounds to stop the two of them from meeting...

Whenever he thought about it, Marcus Monroe’s expression would harden from serious to severe.

Usually, this meant that any subordinates reporting to him had to state their business as quickly as possible before scrambling for an excuse to flee, lest his indiscriminate glare completely obliterate their self-confidence.

’Our imposing boss is really someone you don’t want to mess with!’

Paige Summers, of course, hadn’t thought about any of this. To her, Zephyr Mercer was only slightly better than a stranger. ’Hmm, a familiar face.’ And with Zephyr Mercer’s proud and reserved personality, he would never say anything like a confession, let alone admit to deliberately seeking her out.

With Paige Summers completely engrossed in Artifact Making, how could she possibly pick up on his feelings?

Right now, all she wanted was to get into the right mindset and leave the city as soon as possible.

With Marcus Monroe on board, it was now up to Claire Chapman.

Unfortunately, the man had left early in the morning and still hadn’t returned by evening.

Paige Summers knew he was extremely busy, so she could only wait patiently.

Bloodfall was no longer the small, sub-ten-person team it had been at its founding.

Forged by their recent missions outside the city, Claire Chapman’s strength had grown immensely. He’d also become more composed and decisive with each passing day, developing a considerable charisma. With Paige Summers, the owner of Summers Armaments, serving as the team’s vice-captain and walking advertisement, the weapons alone wielded by Bloodfall’s members were enough to make many people drool with envy.

Under these circumstances, Superpower Users were constantly seeking to join, and the Hunting Party had already expanded to over thirty members. This was only because Claire Chapman was highly selective; otherwise, their numbers would likely be approaching one hundred.

A Hunting Party of this size and strength was considered firmly in the upper echelon of the Fourth District. After all, High-level Superpower Users tended to reside in the earlier districts.

Managing a team of this size was a painstaking task.

When they weren’t on missions outside the city, Claire Chapman would organize training sessions. He personally mentored potential leaders he’d selected, who would then in turn train their own squad members.

Furthermore, the team had Natural, Original, and Spiritual Ability Users. Besides their unified training in Body Techniques, they also needed to collaborate on the superpower Cultivation specific to each system.

Although he and Paige Summers had developed these training regimens together, he was the one implementing them, which was naturally more taxing.

But he enjoyed the work.

Paige Summers didn’t see Claire Chapman until the next day.

The moment they met, before she could even speak, Claire Chapman excitedly grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Good news!"

"What?"

Claire Chapman guided her to a seat on the sofa and sat down across from her. He said with a solemn tone, "This time, you absolutely have to drop what you’re doing and come out of the city with us!"

’Leave the city?’ Paige Summers blinked. "Why don’t you tell me what’s going on first."

"Right."

Claire Chapman quickly explained the whole story.

It turned out The Government had nearly finished constructing the roads and communication outposts leading to Norgate.

However, "nearly finished" didn’t mean the way was clear. They still needed people to scout the route and eliminate any remaining obstacles.