This reminded Nina Jacobs of Sherry Renner’s Compass.

It seemed this Magnus York might be like Sherry Renner—someone who possessed special items.

They had to be careful.

"So? After all that, are you going to cooperate or not?"

When Edric Holden saw that Nina Jacobs remained silent, he frowned.

"You’ve said your piece. Shouldn’t you be giving me the supplies you were ordered to hold?"

Nina Jacobs retorted.

’I heard Oceane Sutton didn’t leave many supplies with Edric Holden. Just as he didn’t trust her, she didn’t fully trust him either.’

’Edric Holden probably doesn’t have many supplies here.’

’But something is better than nothing.’

"You still haven’t told me if you’ll cooperate."

Edric Holden had no idea what to make of the woman before him, this Zephyra.

"Let’s handle one thing at a time. Give me the supplies first. I’m on a mission,"

Nina Jacobs pressed.

"Looks like you’re a Dual Element user, too."

Edric Holden waved his hand, pulling several crates of supplies from his spatial storage. Each crate was marked with a label.

To Nina Jacobs’s surprise, it was actually a sizable amount.

It looked like more than enough for Vance’s group of eight or nine.

"I heard there are over sixty of you heading to Keldorn. That place is a godforsaken wasteland, what’s so good about it? Why don’t you drop off the supplies and come with me to the Bishop Clan instead? What do you say?"

After pulling out all the supplies, Edric Holden looked at Nina Jacobs.

"You want me to follow you to my death?"

Nina Jacobs sneered.

"You said it yourself—you and Magnus York are mortal enemies. Once we get there, you’ll just push all the blame onto me. After all, you’re ’just’ a Space Superpower User, and I’ll be the one who looks like they’re trying to steal the credit. What do you think Magnus York will make of me then?"

Nina Jacobs’s words wiped the smile from Edric Holden’s face.

"Looks like you’re not stupid after all."

Realizing Nina Jacobs wasn’t so easy to fool, Edric Holden pulled something else from his spatial storage.

"Let’s just pretend I never said that. Zephyra, is it? I have your next location right here."

He approached Nina Jacobs, one step at a time.

In his hand was a map.

As Nina Jacobs reached for the map, a dagger glinting with cold light shot out from underneath it, aimed straight for her stomach!

CLANG.

The dagger struck something hard.

Nina Jacobs retracted the Diamond Shield she had placed in front of her and kicked Edric Holden squarely in the chest.

"Who would’ve thought? Infighting within The Aegis Conclave,"

Nina Jacobs said, shaking her head.

"Your Aegis Conclave?"

Edric Holden’s eyes widened in sudden realization. He asked:

"You’re not with the Conclave?!"

’But how could she know so much?’

’Unless...’

A sudden, sharp pain shot through his back. Edric Holden tried to roll over and get up, only to see a Zombie Rat perched on his shoulder.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the alley.

A moment later, only Nina Jacobs and a zombie were left in the alley.

Nina Jacobs had already stored away the nearby supplies.

Two of the crates contained Gold and Crystal Cores. The Gold allowed her to unlock two more Level Four Storage Spaces.

Adding in the small pouch of Diamond Sand from the system, Nina Jacobs stored everything away, satisfied.

Nina Jacobs looked at the zombified Edric Holden and tried to guide him into releasing the contents of his spatial storage, but she discovered he really didn’t have much left in there.

About ten minutes later, Nina Jacobs had returned to the stronghold.

A crowd of people stood in the clearing, seemingly waiting for something.

"Where are Shirley Lucas and the others?"

"They went to look for supplies,"

Holden Shaw replied.

Oceane Sutton refused to reveal her supply caches, so Adrian Shaw rounded up her people. Anyone who talked would be rewarded with not only supplies, but also Gold.

One man, Joshua Singer, revealed the most, infuriating Oceane Sutton to no end.

"I see. We’ll see how many supplies they manage to find."

Just then, a man walked up to Nina Jacobs.

"Hello, my name is Timothy Spencer. I’m a Healing Element Superpower User."

Timothy Spencer extended his hand, introducing himself with a confident look on his face.

’Timothy Spencer?’

’Nina Jacobs had never heard the name, but she recognized the man.’

’He was Elara Thorne’s husband.’

"You need something?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"Yes, you must be in desperate need of a Healer. I can join you. As for my monthly salary, I assure you my price is very reasonable."

Timothy Spencer had expected them to welcome him with open arms. After all, he and Maya Warner were the only two Healers in the entire stronghold.

However, Nina Jacobs just gave him a cold look and said, "Beat it."

"What did you say?"

Timothy Spencer thought he must have misheard.

"Didn’t you hear her? She said to beat it."

Holden Shaw frowned. ’Where does this guy get his nerve?’

’Just a moment ago, he was helping Oceane Sutton try to talk Elara Thorne down.’

With a crowd of onlookers gathering to watch the spectacle, Timothy Spencer’s face flushed beet red.

’He was being scorned by a woman again.’

The thought that his lover and assistant was also in the crowd watching him made him immediately point at Nina Jacobs and start shouting angrily:

"You... you’re completely ungrateful! I did you a favor by even approaching you..."

Before Timothy Spencer could finish, his body went flying.

THUD!

Elara Thorne had just walked out with Adrian Shaw, only to see Timothy Spencer sprawled on the ground in front of her.

"Liana..."

Timothy Spencer coughed up a mouthful of blood and reached for her.

However, Elara Thorne merely gave him a detached glance and said, "Beat it."

Watching from a short distance away, Joshua Singer couldn’t help but laugh. "Serves him right. He had it good as Ms. Thorne’s man and still wasn’t satisfied."

"Seriously. I couldn’t stand the sight of him. Acting so high and mighty just because he’s a Healer. What’s he got to be so arrogant about?"

The surrounding crowd murmured in agreement.

"Shaw! You and your people from Falken Base have gone too far!"

Oceane Sutton, who was tied up, was also brought out.

’She’d originally thought she was the villain in this story.’

’But it turned out these people, who claimed to be from a proper base, were even more shameless.’

’Not only did they steal all her supplies and kill her men, but now they were even scattering the people she had worked so hard to gather!’

"Our Falken Base has always been this way. You could’ve picked a fight with anyone, but you just had to mess with people from Falken Base,"

Leo Hale replied smugly.

"Rest assured, your ill-gotten gains will be put to good use for the people of our base. Not a single bit will be wasted."

Adrian Shaw said consolingly, looking at Oceane Sutton’s hate-filled face.

His words, however, only made Oceane Sutton even more furious.

"Well, we’ll be on our way then. Everyone, I hope we meet again."

Elara Thorne announced to the crowd before her departure.

She planned to take the rest of her people to the nearest large settlement, Riventon Base.

As for Timothy Spencer, who couldn’t even manage to crawl to his feet, she didn’t bother to spare him another glance.

"Until we meet again."

Adrian Shaw said sincerely. Elara Thorne had helped them find a good number of Oceane Sutton’s private stashes.

Oceane Sutton didn’t even trust her own lover, so there was no way she would have left her supplies with other Space Superpower Users.

The Grain Administration Bureau already had plenty of warehouses for storing food, and Shirley Lucas was still inside, happily collecting it all.

Of course, they had also given Elara Thorne a portion of the supplies to help her group reach Riventon Base safely.

"What about Edric Holden?"

Adrian Shaw remembered that Nina Jacobs had gone after him.

"He’s dead. But before he died, he confessed he was from The Aegis Conclave,"

Nina Jacobs said.

"What did you say?!"

Adrian Shaw was shocked. He never expected to find members of The Aegis Conclave even out here.

"We need to hurry. According to what he said, a group has already headed over there."