Chapter 287: Chapter 287: A Distress Letter

"It’s a reflex," Nina Jacobs explained from the doorway as she watched the scene unfold.

Ever since he suffered that massive, full-body trauma, whenever Wayne Warner’s body is struck by an external force, his Strength Element Superpower automatically forms a protective barrier. This barrier not only protects him but is also capable of inflicting damage.

The stronger the external force, the greater the damage.

"Oh, I see."

Shirley Lucas understood now. It seemed Dylan Quinn had really done a number on Wayne Warner back then.

After dinner, Joanne Page sought out Nina Jacobs alone.

Nina Jacobs was currently organizing her system’s storage grid. After upgrading to the Level Four System, her storage capacity had doubled.

Factoring in the supplies she had sold before leaving the base, she had now freed up several dozen Level Four storage slots.

"Help? Why don’t you go to Adrian Shaw?"

Nina Jacobs asked after hearing what Joanne Page had to say.

It turned out that some days ago, Joanne Page had rescued a few survivors on the road. One of them had passed her a distress letter, saying they had found it while passing through Aethelgard.

By sheer coincidence, the letter was signed by a friend of Joanne Page’s from before the apocalypse.

The base’s Superpower User tournament was happening at the time, so she gave up her spot and planned to apply to her superiors to investigate Aethelgard.

The base did indeed send a helicopter to search once, but they found nothing.

Joanne Page believed that finding nothing didn’t mean anything, which was why she had requested to join when she heard the base was selecting people to go to the Bishop Tribe.

The route to the Bishop Tribe would definitely pass through Aethelgard.

So she wanted to ask for Nina Jacobs’s help to investigate Aethelgard along the way.

"Supervisor Shaw already turned me down."

Joanne Page looked dejected. Adrian Shaw believed the main objective of their trip was to safely escort Trevor and the others.

If she wanted to go to Aethelgard, she could do so after they completed their mission.

But Joanne Page didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity.

Although Nina Jacobs held no official position, she was the primary person in charge of this operation. If she were to speak with Adrian Shaw, there might be a chance to change his mind.

"My thoughts are the same as Supervisor Shaw’s."

Nina Jacobs replied.

Escorting Trevor and retrieving the Mystic Ice Core for the base—these two tasks were more important.

Joanne Page should understand which was more important compared to searching for a single survivor in a city as large as Aethelgard.

"Are there any other reasons?"

Nina Jacobs asked again, seeing Joanne Page hesitate as if she had more to say.

Joanne Page was already about to leave. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, there’s another reason I came to you."

"What reason?"

"My friend’s younger brother is named Kyle Keaton."

Joanne Page replied.

She hadn’t mentioned it earlier because she felt using it to pressure Nina Jacobs was akin to emotional blackmail.

She had only discovered that Kyle Keaton was in Stella after their team distinguished itself in the Superpower User tournament.

She had considered telling Kyle Keaton about it, but she knew he would recklessly rush to Aethelgard, and she worried that would only get him killed.

"Kyle Keaton?"

Nina Jacobs hadn’t expected that. She thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you still have the distress letter?"

Joanne Page’s eyes lit up, and she quickly pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket.

Although the paper was a bit worn, it was clear she had taken good care of it.

"Your friend’s name is Aidan Keaton?"

Nina Jacobs saw the signature at the bottom first.

She was inwardly shaken. In her past life, an Aidan Keaton had briefly joined their team. The Aidan Keaton she knew was an outstanding Gold Element Superpower User.

But he later died after being infected with the zombie virus during a mission.

In this life, Nina Jacobs had suspected that Wyatt Jacobs was responsible for Aidan Keaton’s infection, since Wyatt and Aidan didn’t get along and often argued back then.

Moreover, the last thing Aidan Keaton said to her before he died was to be careful of Wyatt Jacobs.

’Could the person who wrote this distress letter be the same Aidan Keaton from my past life?’

Regardless, Nina Jacobs felt she no longer had any reason to refuse.

"I promise. When we get to Aethelgard, I’ll do my best to find him."

Nina Jacobs said.

’If they’re the same person, then Aidan Keaton should still be alive.’

"Really?"

Joanne Page was overjoyed.

"Yes. As Kyle Keaton’s captain, I don’t want to let him down either."

Nina Jacobs said.

Kyle Keaton, Aidan Keaton... She hadn’t made that connection.

That night, a large number of zombies did indeed show up outside the abandoned hotel, including quite a few Mutated Zombies.

Fortunately, Nina Jacobs had immediately detected the anomaly with her Little Zombie Rat. That, combined with the protective wall outside, meant there were no casualties.

Adrian Shaw also knew this was all thanks to Nina Jacobs.

So when she proposed searching for someone in Aethelgard the next day, he agreed.

"Don’t worry, I won’t let this slow down the team’s progress."

Nina Jacobs said.

"I’m not that cold-hearted. Besides, you’re the one in charge of this mission. I’ll follow your lead."

Adrian Shaw had only rejected Joanne Page’s request to prioritize the bigger picture, especially since they had brought so few people.

"Aethelgard is a shipping hub. I wonder if the supplies there have already been taken."

Shirley Lucas’s mind started racing when she heard Nina Jacobs was going to enter Aethelgard.

Aethelgard was the railway hub for all the surrounding cities, and a lot of freight had to be transferred there.

"Scavenging for supplies is not your primary mission."

Adrian Shaw reminded her. They had only brought one Space Superpower User, Shirley Lucas, on this trip.

"You don’t need to remind me. I know my limits."

Shirley Lucas was intently studying a map of Aethelgard, pondering the possibility of entry.

Trevor also came out, leading Eve by the hand. Hearing them mention Aethelgard, he said:

"I’m afraid you can’t get into Aethelgard anymore. We passed by on our way here and heard the city has been sealed off."

"Sealed off?"

Surprise flickered in Joanne Page’s eyes when she heard this.

’Why would they seal the city?’

"We heard there are no survivors left inside Aethelgard, but there are quite a few people outside the city."

Trevor answered earnestly.

"That’s unlikely. This distress letter was found after you passed through Aethelgard."

Nina Jacobs knew very little about Aethelgard, even from her past life.

"We don’t know the details, only that it’s not safe either inside or outside the city."

At the time, Trevor and his group were only focused on traveling and escaping, so they never even considered entering Aethelgard.

"Since you ran into people outside the city, you should know their location. Can you take us there?"

Nina Jacobs asked, having thought of something.

Trevor nodded. "No problem."

The team set off again soon after. Nina Jacobs didn’t take down the wall around the abandoned hotel; if the rescue team passed by here on their return trip, they might be able to rest here again.

"We’re officially leaving the vicinity of City D now."

Chase Gallagher said after they got onto a provincial highway.

Ahead of them lay an unknown region, and the dangers would only increase.

"From here to Aethelgard... we probably won’t get there until noon tomorrow."

Shirley Lucas had calculated their speed and the remaining distance.

"Who’s in charge of rescue operations for Aethelgard?"

Nina Jacobs wasn’t sure if Chase Gallagher would know.

Chase Gallagher clearly didn’t disappoint her. "Rivenport," he answered.

"Rivenport... as in, Riventon Base?"