Chapter 306: Chapter 306: A Passerby’s Warning

"You shouldn’t go any further. Who knows what it’s like inside Mornfell now."

The men and women offered their sincere advice after receiving some supplies.

Mornfell stretched on for hundreds of miles.

Although they were still some distance from the edge of the mountain range, zombie animals had begun appearing frequently.

But even more terrifying than the zombie animals were the Mutated Animals, whose intelligence seemed to have been given a cheat code.

"Yes! Some of them even imitate human cries for help, know how to stay hidden, and will kill zombies. It’s absolutely terrifying!"

another woman said.

"Last time, when our companion was being chased by a zombie, that damned brown bear killed the zombie for her. I told her not to go over, but she insisted the bear was saving her. In the end... in the end..."

To this day, the woman would break down the moment she recalled the scene.

After killing the zombie, the brown bear had waved a paw at them in an incredibly friendly gesture.

Her companion took it as a sign of goodwill and, confident in her Superpower, walked toward it.

But the brown bear bit her head off in a single gulp...

"That’s right, some Mutated Animals even have Superpowers. You all have to be extremely careful!"

someone added.

"Got it. Here’s a route map of the way we came.

We also left some guide markers along the road. You can follow them to find the base."

Shirley Lucas had hand-drawn many maps over the past two days, and this was more than the tenth one he’d given away.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

The group of survivors was overjoyed to receive the map.

Traveling in the apocalypse was like fumbling in the dark; a map to a safe route was better than any other form of aid.

On top of that, these people had given them enough supplies to last half a month.

"Oh, right. On your way here, did you happen to see a group of people carrying a Compass?"

Nina Jacobs remembered to ask.

"A Compass?"

One of the men seemed to remember something and quickly said,

"Yes! If you’re talking about a Compass, then yes, we did see a strange group of people!"

"Where are they now?"

Adrian Shaw asked immediately.

"I don’t know. There were about fifty or sixty of them. But it seemed like, just like you, they were also looking for someone."

"Oh, right! They were also recruiting people, saying they were going into Mornfell to find someone. And there were people who actually accepted their terms and went with them,"

the man replied.

’Looks like it’s definitely them.’

After saying goodbye to the group, Nina Jacobs began to ponder.

She had asked many people along the way, but only this group had seen them.

"Why are they gathering more people?"

Leo Hale asked. ’Isn’t that organization supposed to be secretive?’

"Probably to use as bait,"

Nina Jacobs said with a cold laugh.

’Edric Holden wouldn’t lie about something like this.’

’They started with a full 100 people and were now down to fifty or sixty. They’ve likely already been into Mornfell and lost some of their number in the mountains.’

’As for the people they recruited later, they were most likely brought on to be used as cannon fodder.’

’After all, a normal person could hardly withstand a single swipe from a Mutated Animal.’

"This Golden Silk Armor can even protect against zombies. If we took it back, we could probably sell it for a good price."

The convoy continued on its way. Leo Hale had been in the car with Nina Jacobs the entire time, making Golden Silk Armor.

So far, they had already made more than thirty sets.

"There’s no need to sell it. I just hope we get to use it this time."

The Diamond Sand provided by the system was incredibly versatile; even just a few grains could provide a protective effect.

A single set of Golden Silk Armor only required one-seventh of a bag of Diamond Sand to be effective.

"Trouble ahead."

The three vehicles came to a stop after rounding a bend.

The road ahead was a scene of utter chaos, littered with zombie corpses and several vehicles that had been crushed or mangled from a collision.

Blood pooled all over the ground.

Everyone got out to investigate, but there seemed to be no one left alive.

The zombie corpses were torn to pieces, as if they had been violently ripped apart.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

A rhythmic knocking sound echoed from inside the cargo bay of a small truck.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

At first, Beaumont Wallace thought they had misheard, but then the sound came again.

And it was very rhythmic.

"Someone’s still alive?"

The group exchanged a look and prepared to move forward and investigate.

"Is anyone in there?"

Maxwell Ziegler called out tentatively.

However, no one answered. The knocking just continued.

In fact, it began to grow more frantic.

"Don’t open it!"

Nina Jacobs’s voice stopped them in their tracks. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Marcus Miller immediately pulled back his outstretched hand.

The small group was now some distance from the rest of the team. Seeing Nina Jacobs’s hand signal in the distance, Beckett Abbott realized something was wrong.

"Run!"

At Beckett Abbott’s command, the four of them turned and bolted back.

But at that moment, the truck’s cargo door was smashed open from the inside.

Beaumont Wallace glanced back as he ran, just in time to see a gigantic paw swiping at him!

BAM!

Beaumont Wallace felt a tremendous impact slam into his body.

The force of the blow sent him flying several yards!

"Beaumont!"

Adrian Shaw and the others cried out in alarm.

It was a gigantic black bear.

The fur on the black bear’s chest was matted and wet, and it reeked of blood.

Now on all fours, it was charging toward Beaumont Wallace, who lay collapsed on the ground!

SHINK!

Several Stone Spikes erupted from the ground just in time, and as a massive Fireball came roaring toward it, the black bear finally dodged back.

Nina Jacobs realized the black bear was far more agile than she’d imagined.

Beckett Abbott and the other two seized the opportunity to carry the unconscious Beaumont Wallace back to the convoy.

ROAR!

Seeing its prey escape its attack range, the black bear flew into a rage, beating its chest and stamping its feet.

Nina Jacobs’s Fireball made it hesitant to approach again.

It walked over to the truck, pulled a severed thigh from inside, and started stuffing it into its mouth.

"Beaumont, are you okay?"

Marcus Miller was so frightened he burst into tears.

Standing up, the black bear was taller than two of them put together; no one could have withstood a blow like that.

Maya Warner and Damian Kensington, a Healer from the rescue team, quickly began to treat him.

However, they found his back wasn’t the bloody mess they had expected.

Instead, a large patch was rapidly turning a deep, bruised purple.

"Cough, cough..."

Beaumont Wallace slowly opened his eyes and said, "I... had just... tried on... the Golden Silk... Armor."

The Golden Silk Armor?

Adrian Shaw and the others let out a collective sigh of relief. Before getting out of the car, Beaumont Wallace hadn’t had time to take off the Golden Silk Armor he’d put on.

"Get his clothes off first and get him in the car."

Damian Kensington was not only a Healer but also knew some medicine. He was worried Beaumont Wallace might have internal injuries; the priority was to use a healing technique on his entire body first.

"Looks like it’s about to leave?"

Leo Hale and the others kept their eyes glued on the distant black bear.

A hundred yards separated them, and the black bear, seeming to notice their numbers, now showed signs of wanting to retreat.

"It won’t leave. It’s more likely to hide somewhere and ambush us."

Nina Jacobs believed they had to kill the black bear now.

’The black bear isn’t likely to give up on prey it worked so hard to get.’

"That’s right. These black bears are clever. They used to get scared off by hunting rifles, but now rifles can’t even pierce their hides. They’re not afraid of anything."

Greg Unger said, preparing to move forward and try to lure the black bear closer.

His people had experience fighting black bears.

"Wait, don’t go yet. What if this is part of its plan?"

After Nina Jacobs spoke, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.

"There might be more than one of them around here,"

Nina Jacobs said.

’The people this morning mentioned a brown bear, but this one is black.’

’I can’t rule out the possibility that there’s another one.’