thenovelthief Chapter 324: A Gift from the Great Mountain
Chapter 324: A Gift from the Great Mountain
The two looked very wary as well.
The tall man stood protectively in front of the woman behind him, his eyes fixed on them.
"You were right."
Ben Lawson got out of the car.
So there really were people hiding behind the hillside.
He had the other people from the car circle the area, but they didn’t find anyone else.
"Did you kill this Mutant Tiger?"
Ben Lawson looked at the Mutant Tiger’s corpse. The skull looked as if it had been crushed by some kind of blunt object.
The fatal wound, however, was the Stone Spike still lodged in it.
"A Strength Element Superpower User and an Earth Element Superpower User,"
Magnus York assessed.
Nina Jacobs materialized a Stone Spike in her hand and replied:
"This is my brother, a Strength Element Superpower User. We got separated from our companions and came here to look for any sign of them."
"Looking for your companions?"
Magnus York sneered.
"You’ve made it this far. There’s no point in hiding things anymore, is there?"
"Hiding things?"
’How much has she discovered?’ Nina Jacobs wasn’t sure.
"Planning to watch from the sidelines and pick up the scraps?"
"I don’t know why it’s just the two of you, but I’m afraid your little scheme is about to fail."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Nina Jacobs knew the more she denied it, the more convinced they would become.
’But clearly, they haven’t discovered the secret of this rocky hillside yet.’
"She doesn’t seem like the honest type.
Still, looks like our luck is good today. A gift from the mountains."
Ben Lawson spread his arms, as if basking in the sun.
Several of the men closed in on Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Nina Jacobs asked.
Magnus York looked at Wayne Warner, who was standing protectively in front of Nina Jacobs, and smiled.
"Oh, nothing. We’re just a little short-handed. We’ll be borrowing you two for a while."
She glanced at the recently killed Mutant Tiger.
’So that’s why the Compass showed readings for both life and death earlier.’
"Take them."
Magnus York said, her face devoid of expression.
「Inside the observation station.」
Adrian Shaw grabbed Holden Shaw, who was about to rush out.
"Don’t be impulsive! You’ll ruin her plan."
Before she left, Nina Jacobs had specifically instructed them not to make any rash moves and to wait for her signal.
"Her gamble paid off."
Nathan Moreau said, watching Nina’s calm, retreating figure.
Magnus York is terrifyingly shrewd.
But Nina Jacobs managed to fool her.
"Isn’t that to be expected? Our Summer was born to be an undercover agent."
Shirley Lucas remembered the first time she met Nina Jacobs.
She always seemed to be able to fool everyone so easily.
"Good thing we can see what’s happening to them. Let’s stay alert,"
Adrian Shaw said.
Meanwhile, Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner had been brought before the other group.
"You found them?"
A man with upturned eyes walked over and asked.
As soon as Nina Jacobs got out of the vehicle, she saw two bound zombies.
They looked like they had just recently turned; their bodies were completely unmarked by wounds.
The other people standing nearby had looks of terror on their faces.
A woman sat on the ground, staring blankly at one of the zombies.
Nina Jacobs recognized them as the man and woman who had tried to quit earlier.
Neither of them had been injured a moment ago, yet the man had become a zombie.
Her eyes darkened. ’These two men were forcibly infected with the zombie virus.’
"We still haven’t caught the Bishop Clan Member who escaped the day before yesterday, but I doubt she’ll survive long out here."
Ben Lawson replied.
"I’d rather she were alive. That way, whenever she thinks about her dead boyfriend, she’ll be absolutely devastated."
A sick smile twisted Magnus York’s lips.
She walked over to the bound woman. "If you hadn’t tried so hard to convince him to quit, he wouldn’t have ended up like this," she said.
"Especially after he went to such lengths to protect you."
The woman looked at her, tears instantly welling up. She was clearly on the verge of a breakdown.
"We made the terms perfectly clear when we hired you: no quitting mid-mission, and you’re responsible for your own life or death. You accepted the down payment, so where’s your sense of professional commitment?"
Magnus York finished, then turned with a cold expression to face the crowd.
"This is what happens when you try to back out. In the upcoming operation, as long as you participate and survive,"
"the mission will be considered complete, regardless of whether we find the stone or not."
Magnus York’s words had a significant effect. Surprise appeared on many faces.
"Just surviving is enough?"
"It doesn’t matter if we run away from a Mawdrake?"
someone asked.
"Of course. As long as you’re skilled enough to stay alive, you’ll get the final mission reward."
"Kill one of the local animals, and the reward doubles."
Eryx Rhodes, the man with the upturned eyes, spoke as he waved a hand, producing a full pallet of supplies.
Seeing this, the group’s earlier despair vanished, replaced by eager anticipation.
"These two are a Strength Element Superpower User and an Earth Element Superpower User. We found them to help you out."
Ben Lawson said, pointing to Wayne Warner and Nina Jacobs.
Upon seeing Wayne Warner, several people’s faces twisted into malicious smiles.
A man stepped forward. "Hey, brother, name’s Ian Logan. Let’s work together. You’re a Strength Element Superpower User, so you just hold the front line. We’ll handle the killing."
But Wayne Warner didn’t even give him a glance.
"So he’s a mute,"
Ian Logan scoffed.
"Hey, lady. You’re the Earth Element Superpower User, so you’d better focus on defense. If you only look out for number one, don’t blame us for what happens next."
A man summoned a bolt of Thunder Element Superpower, striking the ground in front of them.
Nina Jacobs grabbed Wayne Warner, who was about to retaliate. She merely gave the man a cool glance without saying a word.
’Looks like this bunch is trouble, too,’ she thought. ’They’d do anything for supplies.’
Just then, a drone flew in from a short distance away.
Magnus York put away her Compass, retrieved the drone, and reviewed the footage it had captured.
"Still no footage of their lair. How strange."
Eryx Rhodes said, frowning as he watched.
"It’s normal we couldn’t get it on film. The more concealed they are, the greater our chance of finding what we’re looking for."
The words had barely left Magnus York’s mouth when a distinct roar echoed from the distance.
The color drained from everyone’s faces.
"There’s one coming!"
a woman with binoculars shouted.
"No, wait, there’s another one behind it!"
Her voice was filled with shock.
"They must have followed the drone!"
the woman said.
"Don’t panic. To the trucks,"
Magnus York commanded.
Nina Jacobs didn’t understand their plan but followed them onto a truck reinforced with rebar.
Nina Jacobs finally understood their intentions when the truck started moving and the two zombies were set loose.
’They want to turn the Mutant Tigers into zombie tigers.’
"Fighting zombified animals is way easier than fighting regular Mutated Animals. We might be able to head down the mountain after today,"
one man in the truck said, his voice full of hope.
"Yeah, and it’s a good thing only two are coming."
But when they looked out the back of the truck and saw the two Mutant Tigers charging toward them, the color drained from their faces.
"How is that possible..."
one of them despaired, staring at the two colossal figures in the distance.
"They’re that big?!"
Even in the distance, the charging Mutant Tigers were huge and rangy.
Each stood nearly ten feet tall, their bodies immense in length.
But just then, the truck screeched to a halt.
A voice crackled from the walkie-talkie mounted inside the cab:
"Time for you to get out."