Chapter 400 - 283: Discovery
Though Paige Summers’s group only had four people this time, their roster was absolutely top-notch.
Marcus Monroe went without saying—a Ninth Rank Superpower User, almost as rare as a giant panda.
Sean Raines was a true heir to the Taoist Order. Beyond his impressive combat skills, his use of various talisman papers was utterly inscrutable.
As for Levi Young, while his superpower was a bit weaker, he never neglected the Body Techniques he’d learned under Claire Chapman’s tutelage. He wielded the Metal Whip that Paige Summers had crafted for him as if it were an extension of his own arm.
It was safe to say that as long as they didn’t face a large-scale, targeted Mutant Beast ambush, reaching Southreach would be no problem. Of course, Marcus Monroe and Sean Raines were both battle-hardened veterans who would never let that happen.
Paige Summers, on the other hand, had become a purely protected party for the first time.
Honestly, she wasn’t used to it at all.
The nature of her superpower made her better suited for surprise attacks or leading the charge, so she was almost always the first one into a fight. Even when she occasionally hung back to let her teammates get experience, she still had to watch the battlefield constantly, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice to prevent any mishaps.
’And now?’
Now she was sitting in a car in pretty clothes, and the moment they ran into Mutant Beasts, the other three would dispatch them at top speed. It was as if they were afraid she’d get an itchy trigger finger!
Paige Summers found the situation both awkward and a little funny.
’Did they really see me as that much of a warmonger?’
’Thinking back, maybe... just a little.’
’But that was just to train myself... right? Probably...’
Anyway, her current condition didn’t permit it, so she certainly wasn’t going to push things.
’They were just overthinking it!’
If Marcus Monroe knew what she was thinking, however, he’d surely protest.
It wasn’t that he was overthinking; on the contrary, he didn’t dare think about it at all. He *couldn’t*.
Just looking at her slender arms and legs made him anxious. He really couldn’t bring himself to do anything more this time. At most, he would hug her and kiss her cheek. Heaving a long sigh, he could only lament that he was, after all, a man with a strong moral baseline.
It was really almost like raising a daughter now.
Sean Raines and Levi Young, however, adapted rather quickly.
No matter how her outward appearance changed, Paige Summers’s personality remained the same. After a while, they simply got used to it.
Although they were supposedly in a hurry, they weren’t traveling day and night. They ate and slept well, making the journey quite comfortable.
They would occasionally stop and enter bases they came across.
This was mainly because every base had a Jovitas contact point.
If Sean Raines or Levi Young suddenly needed any hard-to-find medicines or herbs, they could pass a message through the Jovitas agents stationed at each base, and someone would deliver the items before long.
They had stopped twice. After they entered a third base and settled in, Marcus Monroe returned from sending a contact signal. Sean Raines couldn’t help but remark, "Jovitas is incredible. They’re literally everywhere!"
Marcus Monroe shot him a look. "It’s called planning ahead. Get it?"
Sean Raines’s ears perked up. He immediately leaned in, full of gossip. "From the sound of it, does Central City have designs on Southreach?"
Marcus Monroe scoffed without answering.
’As if that even needed to be asked.’
’They always have!’
Now that Norgate has been reconquered, even the small bases along the route are being brought under Central City’s jurisdiction one by one. Without a doubt, Southreach is next!
Sean Raines rubbed his chin. "Southreach won’t be such an easy target. And Leo Joyce is nothing like Gryphon Lowell."
Marcus Monroe said languidly, "Don’t worry, a war won’t break out anytime soon. They have to build the roads first."
At this, before Sean Raines could even respond, Paige Summers chuckled, her expression tinged with mockery.
People used to say, "To get rich, first build a road."
’And now?’
’It’s become, ’To conquer a city, first build a road...’’
Then again, from her perspective, this war was completely unnecessary. It just went to show that human greed knows no bounds!
Marcus Monroe seemed to guess her thoughts and explained, "It’s not actually a given that they’ll fight. The push against Norgate was mostly driven by the Reid Family. Owen Reid pushed for it hard when he was alive, and Sheldon Reid was even more aggressive about it after he took over. But now that Kiera Walsh is in charge, her style is more conservative. Besides, The Power Corps suffered heavy losses in the Norgate war, and The Government has always favored peaceful negotiations... So, how things unfold will depend on Leo Joyce’s camp."
Paige Summers nodded.
"It would be best if they didn’t fight. But opening up a road for travel between the two regions would be a good thing."
Marcus Monroe smiled.
’Couldn’t agree more, but it’s not that simple.’
How long had Sheldon Reid schemed just to open the road to Norgate and establish outposts? Southreach was even farther away. The required manpower and resources... It would be no small sum.
’However, Jovitas could probably find a business opportunity in all this.’
As he was thinking this, a knock came at the door of his room.
Knowing the person from Jovitas had arrived, he nodded to Paige Summers, opened the door, and went out.
Sean Raines, lounging bored on the sofa, asked, "Where’s Andy?"
Paige Summers pursed her lips. "Do you even need to ask?"
Every time they took a break, Levi Young would start poring over the handwritten manuscript Sean Raines had brought. It contained all the information on age regression, supplemented with some notes on pharmacopoeia and pharmacology. After all, his knowledge of traditional medicine was still severely lacking, so he had to use every spare moment to cram.
Sean Raines let out a breath. "That kid really is... something else."
When it came to anything related to Paige Summers, it was no exaggeration to say the kid was completely obsessed. ’This can’t be a good thing in the long run!’ He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words.
’Whatever. It’s not my problem. Let Marcus Monroe deal with the headache!’
The two of them chatted a while longer before Marcus Monroe returned, a thoughtful look on his face.
"What’s wrong?" Paige Summers asked, puzzled.
Marcus Monroe sat down beside her. "My contacts said that a few days ago, they spotted a group acting suspiciously. They seemed to be transporting a live Mutant Beast in their vehicle and got into a conflict with a local Hunting Squad that got too curious. They were vicious and left no survivors. After the slaughter, they disappeared. Their counter-surveillance skills are top-notch."
Paige Summers’s interest was piqued. "Any distinguishing features?"
Marcus Monroe gave her an approving look. "My people weren’t skilled enough to get close, but they said the squad had more than a dozen members. Only two of them showed their faces; the rest were all masked and wore identical black combat suits."
Black combat suits weren’t unusual, but the fact that they were all masked... Combining those two details, Paige Summers could only think of one other group she’d seen like that: the black-clad figures near Norgate connected to Nora Lowell...
"Could it be them?"
"It’s very likely."
Superpower Users who went out hunting from the bases would never cover their faces—it’s too much of a hindrance in a fight. The only exception would be if their identities were so sensitive they feared being recognized.
"But... to wear masks even when encountering an ordinary Hunting Squad... Are they really so famous that everyone would recognize them on sight?"
Marcus Monroe shook his head.
No one had that kind of "distinction."
This wasn’t like before the apocalypse, where you could become a household name just by appearing on TV or posting photos online all day. No one could achieve that kind of fame now—and no one would want to.
Sean Raines chimed in, his imagination running wild. "Maybe they belong to some secret organization and have words carved on their faces, so they can’t let anyone see!"
The first half of his theory was plausible enough, but the second half was just ridiculous.
Marcus Monroe looked at them and suddenly said, "There’s one other possibility!"