Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

Before anyone could answer Dr. Hayes’s question, his eyes landed on Candice Tate.

A smile that could almost be called gentle appeared on his usually expressionless face.

"Candice, would you like to try?"

Candice wasn’t wary of Dr. Hayes; in fact, she had a very good impression of him.

Upon hearing his question, she subconsciously smiled and nodded. "I—"

"Candice!"

Sierra Sullivan cut her off.

When Candice looked up at her, her big eyes filled with confusion, Sierra smiled gently. "Candice, have you ever learned about being humble and letting others go first? In a situation like this, we should be modest. Let the people older than you try, and you can wait at the back, right?"

Candice was a smart child. Although she didn’t understand why Sierra had suddenly said such a thing, in her heart, whatever Sierra said was right.

Compared to Dr. Hayes, Candice would, of course, listen to Sierra.

Therefore, Candice nodded without hesitation. "You’re right! I’ll do whatever you say!"

Sierra then smiled and looked at Dr. Hayes. "Dr. Hayes, please let someone else go first. Candice is still so young. I’m worried that awakening too many Superpowers might be bad for her health."

The gentle smile vanished from Dr. Hayes’s face.

As Sierra spoke, a dark glint flashed across Dr. Hayes’s eyes, gone in an instant.

It was quick, but Sierra had been watching Dr. Hayes closely and saw it with perfect clarity.

Seeing this, Sierra finally confirmed it: her intuition hadn’t been wrong.

’There really is something strange about Dr. Hayes.’

’Admittedly, Dr. Hayes had helped them a lot before.’

’But that’s no reason for him to be targeting Candice.’

Dr. Hayes stared at Sierra for a long moment before finally speaking slowly. "In that case, let’s have someone else. Who wants to be the first to try?"

"I will!"

A strongly-built man stepped out from the crowd, a look of eagerness on his face.

He was a Gold Ability User. Although his offensive power was formidable and he lived a decent life, he had earned it all by clawing his way back from the brink of death time and time again.

Most of the Contribution Points he earned went toward food and rent, leaving him with almost no savings.

He had always wanted to awaken a Water Ability or a Wood Element Ability.

That way, he could at least save some Contribution Points on either food or water.

He’d never had a chance like this before. Now, one was right in front of him—and he didn’t even have to pay for it. Of course, he had to seize this opportunity.

Dr. Hayes gave the man an indifferent look. Without saying a word, he just grunted in acknowledgement through his nose, then turned and led the way inside.

The man didn’t mind Dr. Hayes’s attitude.

Dr. Hayes was a man of great ability, holding an extremely high status in Subterra.

Even the high and mighty had to treat Dr. Hayes with respect.

’Who was he in the grand scheme of things?’

’How could he dare to have a problem with Dr. Hayes?’

’The fact that Dr. Hayes hadn’t rejected him was enough to make him secretly rejoice.’

The man followed Dr. Hayes through a large metal door.

The large door quickly closed from the inside, sealing off what lay within.

Sierra and the others, standing not far from the door, couldn’t hear the slightest sound.

Clearly, the door was soundproofed.

Sierra watched the closed door, a bad feeling creeping into her heart, though she couldn’t say exactly what it was.

For now, all they could do was wait.

’Let’s just see what happens when that man comes out.’

Pretty much everyone present felt the same way as Sierra.

They were all waiting to see the result.

If it was a success, they could give it a try too.

If it wasn’t, then they hadn’t lost anything.

But Sierra soon noticed that one person’s mood was different from everyone else’s.

That person was none other than Nathan Thorne.

Nathan kept glancing at the closed door, his eyes filled not only with anticipation but, more so, with anxiety.

It was as if he knew what was happening inside.

Sierra walked over to Nathan’s side and asked in a low voice, "Nathan, do you know something?"

"I don’t know," Nathan immediately replied, shaking his head.

But before Sierra could press him further, Nathan spoke again, hesitating.

"It’s just a guess..."

Sierra was growing impatient. "Then just tell us your guess. Why are you agonizing over it? Is there something you can’t tell us?"

Jayce also spoke up softly. "Yeah, we’ve known each other for so long. Given our relationship, what could be so hard to say? Don’t tell me you’re afraid we’ll laugh at you."

"That’s not what I meant..." Nathan scratched his head. "It’s just... I’m not sure, and Dr. Hayes has helped us so much. I’m worried it wouldn’t be right for me to speculate wildly..."

"There’s nothing wrong with it," Sierra said. "It’s just a reasonable guess, and you’re not telling anyone else. If you really feel bad, and it turns out you’ve misunderstood Dr. Hayes, then the worst that happens is we all apologize to him together."

Sierra’s words seemed to be the reassurance Nathan needed.

Nathan took a deep breath. "Okay, I’ll tell you. A moment ago, when we were outside, remember how I was peeking inside? I saw a lot of tall pillars, and there were people... floating in them. It’s not like I’ve never seen a corpse, but seeing that... it just made my skin crawl. But then when we came in, there was nothing. It was like everything I saw was just a hallucination. I’ve been looking around this whole time, trying to find some trace of what I saw, but I’ve searched and searched and found nothing. So I figured, maybe I was just hallucinating from being so exhausted lately.

"But then Dr. Hayes suddenly came out, said all that, and specifically invited Candice... that strange feeling came back. I can’t really explain it...."

Hearing Nathan’s words, Sierra’s expression turned grim.

"Why didn’t you say something so important before?"

’If I had known, I wouldn’t have even brought Candice in here. I would have just left the group, rushed back to Subterra, and gotten my friends and family out.’

’But now, it was too late.’

’If Dr. Hayes has really targeted Candice, he’ll never let them leave this easily.’

Nathan looked guilty. "I just wasn’t sure, that’s why I didn’t say anything... I was wrong!"

Seeing Nathan lower his head to admit his fault, Sierra sighed helplessly. "I’m not blaming you, so don’t beat yourself up over it. But now that we know something is wrong, we need to be more careful going forward."

"Why don’t we just make a run for it?" Nathan suggested, looking up. "Dr. Hayes is already inside, anyway—"

"Gone inside?"

Hector Grant walked over, having just caught the last few words of Nathan’s sentence, and asked curiously.

Looking at Hector Grant, Nathan quickly shook his head. "It’s nothing..."