After they had divided up the tasks and returned to the highway, they noticed a ten-person team up ahead.

Leading the way was a burly man who projected an air of security. Following close behind was a cute little girl with mischievous eyes, who looked even younger than Flora Bloom.

These two walked at the very front. Among the people behind them was another little girl, who looked to be only eight or nine years old. A man and a woman flanked her, guarding her closely as they scanned their surroundings.

Even from a distance, Flora Bloom could sense the strong Fire Element swirling around this little girl.

To be able to manifest the Fire Element externally, one’s Superpower Level had to be at least that of a Second-level Superpower User.

For such a young child to have raised her superpower to the Second Level in such a short time, even Flora Bloom couldn’t help but be surprised.

And it was this little girl who spotted them first.

"Who. Is. Following. Us."

Before the words had even left her mouth, the little girl waved her hand, sending a brilliant, orange-red flame shooting toward Flora Bloom’s group. Flora Bloom easily deflected it with a water shield. This sudden attack made the entire ten-person team spin around nervously to face them.

Flora Bloom saw that all ten of them were filthy. Their hair, faces, and clothes were stained with zombie brains and human blood.

’Looks like this team has been through a baptism by zombies.’

Flora Bloom listened to the girl’s halting, heavily accented Chinese. The accent was unmistakable—it belonged to someone from the neighboring nation they derisively called the ’Stick Country’.

There was only one main road, so Flora Bloom and her group continued walking forward openly, not trying to hide.

’Attacking on sight. This group is clearly on high alert.’

As they drew closer, Flora Bloom realized that in addition to the girl who had just shot fire at them, the man and woman at the head of the other group were surrounded by faint auras of the Earth and Wood Elements, respectively. There was also another girl in their ranks, an even weaker Water Element user.

’So the man has an Earth Element ability, and the little girl with the bright smile is a Wood type,’ Flora Bloom deduced.

However, Flora Bloom had no intention of engaging with them and simply led her group onward.

But as they were passing the group of ten, one of the girls at the front called out to stop them.

"Uh, wait a minute. You shouldn’t go that way."

"Cynthia Grant, can’t you see they’re ignoring you? Stop yelling and just let them go. If they go get themselves killed, maybe we’ll be able to pass through safely."

The speaker was the girl with the very faint Water Element aura.

So the Wood Ability User was named Cynthia Grant. Ignoring her teammate, she saw Flora Bloom’s group was still walking away and shouted again, "We just came from there! There’s a Second Level zombie, it’s really strong! And the woods next to the guardrail attack people!"

At this, Flora Bloom finally stopped. She telepathically contacted Vert and the golden cicada, sending them ahead to scout the path. Then, she turned to carefully size up the other team.

Vert and the golden cicada quickly relayed what they found. Less than a hundred meters ahead, a small horde of twenty to thirty zombies led by a Second Level zombie was blocking Highway 320. Anyone trying to pass would inevitably run into them.

It was possible to detour through the small forest next to the guardrail, but at that moment, the golden cicada sent back a more serious warning.

Something in that patch of woods was making both the golden cicada and Vert uneasy.

Flora Bloom scoffed and turned her gaze to the man leading the other team.

"An Earth Element user, a Wood Element user, a Water Element user, and a Second-level Fire Ability User. Don’t tell me you can’t take down a single Second Level zombie?"

As Flora Bloom spoke, her gaze was fixed on the little girl from the ’Stick Country.’ Intuition told her this child was not nearly as innocent as she looked.

Hearing Flora Bloom’s words, the others also turned to stare at the little girl. Cynthia Grant’s eyes were red as she glared at the child and said furiously, "You’re a Second-level Superpower User? You could have saved Cole! Why did you abandon him?!"

The little girl from the ’Stick Country’ let out a derisive snort and looked at Cynthia Grant with contempt.

"I, the grand, young miss, of the Lixia Conglomerate, why, should I save, you, Veridians? How, laughable."

Flora Bloom had been about to ignore them and lead her group away to meet up with Vert and the golden cicada, but she stopped in her tracks when the little girl spoke those words.

’So this girl really is from the ’Stick Country.’ A foreigner, acting so arrogantly in our homeland.’

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she stared at the little girl from the ’Stick Country’.

Sienna Kensington watched as the girl, who didn’t look much older than her, approached. The girl’s smile was harmless, but Sienna saw a flicker of cold, murderous intent in her eyes.

"You seem to look down on us Veridians, do you?"

Before Flora Bloom could get close to Sienna Kensington, a man and a woman moved to block her path.

"Insolence. Who allowed, you, to get, so, close, to our, young miss."

"If you can’t even speak properly, don’t come to our country and make a fool of yourself. You’re so tough? Then go home. Have your country send someone to come get you."

"You... you... Who are you? What gives you the right to talk to us like that?"

Flora Bloom gave a massive eye-roll, ignoring the trio and turning her attention to Cynthia Grant instead.

Seeing that Flora Bloom had shut the trio up, Cynthia Grant immediately ran to her side and whispered.

"Shh, don’t provoke them too much. That girl, Sienna Kensington, is the daughter of a very powerful conglomerate from the ’Stick Country’. The other two are her bodyguards, the man’s name is Freddy Dnovoan, and the woman is Mindy Quincy. Sienna’s father used high-level diplomatic channels to have our military protect his daughter."

Flora Bloom followed Cynthia Grant’s gaze to the man in the lead. He was powerfully built but had an exceptionally cold and detached demeanor. It was an air that reminded Flora Bloom of Lex Cross and his special forces team.

"Him? He’s Evan, a colonel from the Azuregard City Naval Base. He accepted the mission to escort those three. I’m Cynthia Grant, a medic with the army garrison in Azuregard City—a doctor, really. Ugh, I was assigned to Azuregard City not long after graduating and never expected to run into this mess."

Flora Bloom gave Cynthia Grant a long, thoughtful look as an idea suddenly sparked in her mind.

’A medic, huh? Perfect! A doctor is exactly what I need!’

’In my last life, medical care was scarce. There was no doctor around when I gave birth, and I almost died bringing Polly into the world. If I hadn’t been a superpower user—with a constitution far stronger and more resistant to infection than a normal person’s—we both would have died.’

’And in this life, if I want to have Polly safely, what I need most is a doctor, right? Besides, Cynthia Grant’s manner is open and genuine, and she’s easy to talk to.’

’And while a military medic isn’t a specialized obstetrician, her skills can’t be that bad.’

’I have to poach her.’

’I absolutely have to poach her!’

With this thought in mind, Flora Bloom’s expression softened as she looked at Cynthia Grant. Even though she wanted nothing to do with this group, she had to stop for Cynthia’s sake.

"I’m Flora Bloom. These are my parents, and those two are friends traveling with me. This little brat is someone I picked up on the road."

"By the way, where are you all headed?" Cynthia asked. "I’m not kidding, it’s really dangerous up ahead. We were just trying to figure out how to get back to Azuregard City."

Flora Bloom understood. ’They must have come out to rescue the three from the ’Stick Country,’ only to be blocked from returning to Azuregard City by the zombies and that weird forest.’

’Azuregard City... Isn’t that the city where the naval base we’re heading to is located?’

"We’re headed to Azuregard City, too," Flora said. "How about this: you follow us. I have a way to get us through."