Tears suddenly streamed down her face. She quickly lowered her head, the drops splashing onto her combat suit. Her voice trembled, "I want to live in the peaceful era my mom used to talk about. An era with no fighting, no need for weapons. Where you could just have a busy day at work, then come home to the people you love and enjoy dinner together. Where you could sleep soundly when night fell... I... I just..."

Paige Summers raised a hand to wipe her face, only then realizing her palm was soaked.

She froze for a moment and took a breath. Just as she was about to speak, Levi Young said in an exceptionally low voice, "Let’s research it together. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do, but I’ll give it my all. If we succeed, my parents will be proud of me, even in death. And the people I... care about... will be able to live a good life! So, let’s do it together."

Paige Summers froze again.

At that moment, Levi Young added stiffly, "But Paige Summers doesn’t need to be involved. She’s just a beginner with medicine, no help at all." He looked around. "I think we shouldn’t go back. Let’s just use this place as a lab. It’s big enough, quiet, and we won’t be disturbed. What do you think?"

Nadia frantically wiped away her tears. "Huh? You’re willing? Th-that’s great, of course, but... but..."

Levi Young frowned, opened the car door, and pulled her out. "Enough with the ’buts.’ Get out and let Paige Summers work. She’ll go back when she’s done!"

Paige Summers rolled her eyes and slowly got out of the car.

’And here I was, feeling all sentimental.’

’When it came to life in the peaceful era, who knew it better than she did!’

’Life was so good back then.’

’Forget worrying about food, clothing, and shelter—she used to be so picky about her food that she couldn’t swallow a single bite if it wasn’t to her liking!’

’Getting attacked at the drop of a hat, your life always on the line? That was the stuff of fantasy, okay!’

’Someone like her, getting murdered, was a total exception—like a tragic extra Chapter tacked onto a heartwarming story!’

’Okay, so she was pretty unlucky.’

’But no matter how unlucky, at least she was still alive...’ "I’m still alive, so it’s not your place to tell me what to do, you two kids."

Tossing out the line lazily, she ignored the other two, took out her tools, and started to modify the car.

Because she had already run through the process in her mind countless times, and with her current immense strength, her movements were incredibly fast. Before the two onlookers could even get a clear look, she had already disassembled part of the car into pieces... From start to finish, it only took her three hours to complete the entire modification.

She crooked a finger at Levi Young. "Come on, your turn."

"Got it."

He walked over, carefully took out the bottle, and poured all the medicine inside into the groove. He watched it flow into a small box, then took out the Crystal Core and placed it inside.

About thirty seconds later, he signaled to Paige Summers that it was ready.

Slipping nimbly into the driver’s seat, Paige Summers took a deep breath and started the engine!

Aside from the engine being a bit loud, it felt mostly normal. Reassured, Paige Summers stepped on the gas, drove to the other end of the warehouse, and then reversed back.

Everything went smoothly!

She could clearly feel the difference in how it drove compared to before.

Whether starting up or accelerating, the car was now clearly more powerful, more robust!

’I’ll have to really enjoy this on the way back!’ she thought, waving to the other two. "Get in!"

Nadia didn’t ask or say anything; she just looked at Levi Young.

After a moment of thought, he got in the car. "I need to go back and pack my lab equipment, then come back here. Nadia, do you have a car?"

Nadia shook her head.

Levi Young wasn’t disappointed. He just said, "Okay, it’s fine if you don’t. Go back and get your things. Once you have everything, come find me, and then we’ll come here together. Sound good?"

"Oh, no problem."

The car drove out of the warehouse and was soon on the road. Paige Summers let out a small sigh of relief. "You can use this place as a lab, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. It’s definitely not livable right now; it needs a good cleaning. I’ll bring some tools tomorrow and try to make it more comfortable. Andy was right. This place is quiet and most people won’t find it, so it’s relatively safe. You two just focus on your research. I’ll take care of food and drink. As for materials, just tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best."

Seeing Levi Young about to argue in the rearview mirror, Paige Summers cut in, "You should know full well that the two of you can’t do this alone. So, don’t say anything else. This is how it’s going to be. Like you said, I won’t participate in the research. I’ll just handle logistics. That’s good enough, right?"

Levi Young fell silent for a long moment, then finally just nodded.

’If she was going to abandon him, she would have done it back in The Dead City.’

’She didn’t then, and she’s even less likely to now.’

Nadia nodded in agreement.

But before she could completely relax, Paige Summers called her out by name. "You can have our help, but on one condition: you cannot tell Evan Pierce about this! Don’t let a single word slip. Make up whatever excuse you want for leaving your residence, but he absolutely cannot know who you’re with or where you’re going. Understand?"

Nadia looked extremely confused. "Why? You don’t trust Evan? No, no, he’s my only family! He would never betray me! We’ve been through so much hardship together to get where we are. I can’t possibly hide this from him!"

Paige Summers’s face darkened. ’There’s no such thing as an absolute in this world. Of course she didn’t trust Evan Pierce. There was absolutely nothing about that guy that inspired her trust!’

She suddenly yanked the steering wheel, and the car screeched to a halt at the side of the road.

Turning to look Nadia in the eye, she said, word by word, "If you don’t agree, get out of the car. We’ll act like we never met you!"