With the honey made from rose pollen, Caleb Bloom, Quinn, and the others woke up soon after Shauna Wallace. They could only recall fainting and had no memory of being controlled by Isla Preston.
The base had been in turmoil ever since Morgan Sterlingâs death. Because Flora had withdrawn the plant roots from the basement of Morgan Sterlingâs villa, the fresh water had reverted to seawater, causing the people with superpowers outside to clash with Sepherdineâs team. Zane Locke also secretly sabotaged Sepherdineâs efforts, causing Sepherdine to lose two Level 3 superpower users within three days of arriving at the safe zone.
Although his losses werenât as devastating as Zane Lockeâs, it was enough to make him wary of making any moves that might stir up more conflict in the base.
Ever since helping Flora Bloom hunt a small bag of Level 3 zombie Crystal Cores that day, Lex Cross had taken Five, Saul Sterling, and a few others and moved out of the villa inside the isolation gate. However, he didnât move into any part of the safe zone proper. Instead, he and a few special forces soldiers cleared out a safe area in another high-end villa district outside Floraâs section and settled there with his subordinates. Furthermore, the next day, a man known as Leopard Cat and Nolan Jennings came to take Chelsea Todd from Flora and sent her back to Argent.
Flora Bloom had instructed everyone not to go outside the isolation wall. But the group didnât want to rely on her for everything, so Sherman Lynch, on their behalf, came to discuss arrangements for daily zombie hunts.
At that moment, Flora was distractedly watering the flowers and plants by the lawn with spiritual water. The roots of these flowers, plants, and trees crisscrossed underground, even extending deep into the earth.
Morhaven was an island connected to the mainland, with most of its area floating on the sea. Flora even found herself wondering, âIf these plant roots keep growing, will they eventually reach the seabed? Will they even cover the entire underground of Morhaven?â
The flowers and grass were growing vigorously, and new sprouts had even begun to pop up in other areas within the isolation wall. The air inside the isolation gate was fresh, Spiritual Energy was abundant, and it was a completely different world from the outside.
Caleb Bloom and Sherman Lynch, along with Mark Sterling, Fakyƫ, and Shauna Wallace, found Flora Bloom standing between two lawns.
"Dad, howâs Old Monroe doing?"
"Heâs awake, and his superpower has recovered, all thanks to Shauna Wallaceâs Healing System. I just donât know when your mother will wake up. By the way, what are you planning to do with that Chester Bell? Are you just going to let him keep farming in our yard?"
Flora couldnât help but smile at the thought of Chester Bell. "Just let him stay with Isla Preston." Ever since Isla had taken control of Chester Bell, Flora had given them some vegetable seeds and had Isla direct him to plant them in her yard. After being controlled by Isla, Chester Bell was ordinarily no different from a normal person. He could speak and interact, was perfectly aware of past and present events, and possessed normal reasoning and judgment.
The only exception was his absolute obedience to Isla Preston. It was similar to acknowledging a master. However, this "acknowledgment" was not a true bond, and the control could be released.
"Right, Flora, we came to talk to you about something. The safe zone only has one entrance and exit right now, but the inside of the base is a total mess. Itâs inconvenient for our people to go out to hunt zombies and look for supplies."
Flora nodded. She could indeed provide them with a permanent food supply. But if they didnât go out to hunt for a long time, everyone would gradually become complacent and lose their ability to fight against external threats.
"We saw Captain Cross and his team clearing out the villa district one street over. I was thinking, maybe we could also expand outward and clear out the nearby area. That way, we wouldnât have to use the main gate of the safe zone to get in and out. And secondly, Flora, your bee swarms are getting bigger and bigger, arenât they?"
Sherman Lynch looked at Flora with a grin, and Caleb Bloom added, "Old Lynch wants your swarms to expand and guard the compound."
Flora looked at Sherman Lynch. "What? You have an idea, Old Lynch?"
Sherman Lynch chuckled. The man, who should have been stern and serious, had become more like a cynical but playful old rascal ever since leaving Azuregard City with her, daring to dream up anything.
"Look, in the base now, the two teams brought by Zane Locke and Sepherdine are recruiting new members. The base is mostly made up of their people now. Sepherdine has taken over Morgan Sterlingâs old villa and seems poised to take over the whole base."
Flora frowned. "Iâm not interested in the base."
"I know, thatâs not what Iâm getting at. Look, theyâre expanding their teams and steadily growing in power. Those superpower users will eventually level up. If we stick with just our current numbers, when they get stronger and more numerous, thereâs no guarantee they wonât come looking for trouble, right? Weâre not looking for a fight, but we still need to build up our defenses to stop others from starting one, donât we?"
Hearing Sherman Lynch put it that way, Flora suddenly felt he had a point. "Old Lynch, I think your old habits are kicking in. Youâre getting an itch to lead some men again, arenât you?"
"Hah, what are you talking about? Iâm doing this for your own good!"
Mark Sterling and FakyĆ« snickered. "Old Lynch, we told you you couldnât hide it from Boss Flora. She saw right through you, huh?"
Flora looked at the two of them. "âBoss Flora?â That sounds awful."
Caleb Bloom said with a smile, "Weâve already discussed this among ourselves. With so many of us together, we need a clear division of labor. Old Lynch wants to recruit new people, and once Jim Porter and Cynthia are back, they can lead the training. Selina and Dr. Maeve Preston will be in charge of logistics, and theyâll also help take care of your mom. Neal Wallace, Shauna Wallace, Old Monroe, and I will handle the zombie-hunting expeditions."
"Dad, when did you all decide this?" Flora looked at Mark Sterling and Fakyƫ. The two of them had been following Sherman Lynch around recently, so she figured they had decided to join his training group.
Caleb Bloom smiled faintly and reached out to pat his daughterâs head. "My dear, we actually discussed this a long time ago. There are quite a few of us. We canât all rely on a young girl like you to get by. What would that make us?"
Flora sighed. "Itâs actually great that you all feel that way. But... with everyoneâs roles assigned, what about me? Whatâs my job?"
"You, of course, will be our leader, our boss!" FakyĆ« said with a grin. "It was a unanimous decision, so you canât shirk your responsibility!"
Flora shook her head and said with a laugh, "Youâve all decided already. This wasnât really a consultation, was it?"
"But thereâs one thing we absolutely need your help with, Flora. Weâve planned to expand our safe area first. The current safe zone is large, but itâs chaotic and filled with all sorts of people. Ultimately, we decided itâs better to organize our own people and expand on our own, independent of the main safe zone. But we have too few people right now. If anyone with ill intent notices what weâre doing, itâll be a huge problem. So we need your bee swarms to help guard our home."
Flora grinned and nodded. At this point, she could have as many bee swarms as she wanted. As long as she had enough spiritual water for the flowers and plants, and the swarms had plenty of honey, they could rapidly breed the next generation.
If Flora wasnât intentionally curbing their reproduction rate, the villa district inside the isolation gate would have long been overflowing with hives and swarms.
"Thatâs not a problem. But, as for the bee swarms, I have a better idea."