Chapter 396: To Show Loyalty
Chapter 396: Chapter 396: To Show Loyalty
’The person Tobin is looking for is Isabella Ramsey?’
Nina Jacobs froze for a moment.
She had indeed seen Tobin’s name in Isabella Ramsey’s diary.
That was why she had helped him back in Veridia Town when she heard the injured man’s name was Tobin.
"After you all left, about two months ago, even the aid society stopped distributing water. Life got even harder for everyone."
"At that time, some people said you could always find water if you went far enough, so many teams were formed to go out and search."
"Isabella Ramsey didn’t want Zoraida to just wait here to die, so she signed up. Who knew that after she left... Sigh!"
Jenna’s voice grew increasingly hoarse. Her body was so dehydrated that no tears could fall from her face, and she could barely speak anymore.
Cordelia looked at Nina Jacobs, and only after Nina nodded did she pull Jenna into her room.
Then, she took a bottle of water and two small bread rolls from her dimensional space.
"This..."
Jenna pointed at the water and food, her eyes filled with shock as she looked at Cordelia and Nina Jacobs.
"Go on, drink."
Cordelia felt a pang of sadness. She had been gone for so long, yet Jenna had kept her room looking just as it did when she left.
Jenna’s hands trembled as she took the water bottle. Seeing she didn’t have much strength left, Cordelia twisted the cap open for her.
The moment the mouth of the bottle touched her lips, she first took a cautious sip, as if to confirm it wasn’t empty.
But when the first drop of water slid onto her cracked tongue, Jenna’s pupils contracted. She threw all decorum aside and began to gulp it down.
Cordelia didn’t stop her.
She remembered having almost the exact same reaction when they had first gotten water from Nina Jacobs.
However, Jenna stopped after just a few large gulps.
She screwed the cap back on, licked her lips, and said,
"Sorry, I was just so thirsty."
"Where is the child named Zoraida now?" Nina Jacobs asked.
’If possible, I hope she’s still alive.’
"She’s usually by the base entrance. That kid’s very clever, but most children in the base don’t live long."
"Even if we wanted to help, we can hardly save ourselves."
Jenna wolfed down a few bites of the bread roll and then decided to take the two of them to find Zoraida.
But just as they were about to go downstairs, they saw a small figure dash into the incredibly dim hallway.
Two men were in hot pursuit.
"You little brat, stop right there!"
the two men shouted, cursing.
Nina Jacobs glanced at the disheveled, grimy child—it was the same one she had seen at the base entrance that morning.
"It’s Zoraida! They’re chasing Zoraida!"
Jenna cried out anxiously.
Quillan Spencer was just about to grab the child when someone passing by tripped him.
Immediately after, his companion was kicked to the ground.
"Picking on a child?"
Nina Jacobs said coldly.
"You busybody, what’s it to you?"
Quillan Spencer dusted himself off and was about to fight back when he was instantly hit with another kick.
"Watch out, he’s about to use his Superpower!"
Cordelia shouted hurriedly.
The other man, a Wood Element Superpower User, was lifted into the air with one hand by a towering figure before he could even use his power.
Wayne Warner stared expressionlessly at the man he was holding up, seemingly debating whether to just throw him out.
"A Str-Strength Element Superpower User!"
the man shouted in panic.
The two were quickly subdued.
Cordelia found Zoraida hiding in a corner amidst a pile of trash.
"I didn’t even recognize you... To think you’re Zoraida."
In Cordelia’s memory, Zoraida had always been an adorable little girl with a clean, fair face and two neat little pigtails.
It was hard to connect that image with the beggar-like child before her.
’So this is Zoraida.’
Nina Jacobs shifted her gaze back to the two men who were still begging incessantly.
"Who sent you?"
Nina Jacobs asked.
Silas Crowley and Reginald Sutton also heard the commotion and ran over.
"Could it just be a simple robbery?" Cordelia asked.
"No. They have no reason to target her."
Nina Jacobs said with certainty.
Zoraida was smart. She knew no one would help her on the open road, so she ran back to a place with cover.
It was a long way from the base entrance to here. She didn’t believe a child with nothing on her was worth chasing.
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll talk..."
Wayne Warner had only to apply a little pressure, and the Wood Element Superpower User felt as if his bones were about to shatter.
He quickly answered, "It was, it was Grayson Garcia’s men! They told us to kill this kid, and we’d, we’d get two people’s worth of supplies and water."
"Who is Grayson Garcia?" Nina Jacobs asked.
"A manager at the base’s transportation center. He probably just took the position two months ago."
Jenna still remembered the name.
Cordelia hadn’t expected Nina Jacobs to actually get an answer out of them, but she didn’t understand why they would do such a thing.
"Why did they want you to kill this child?"
After learning what had happened, Silas Crowley also stepped forward and kicked the man a couple of times.
"We don’t know either!"
Quillan Spencer and his accomplice were pinned by the towering Strength Element man, completely unable to move.
"Is it because of that General Hughes?"
Nina Jacobs asked.
The two men stared at her in astonishment.
"Looks like she hit the nail on the head?"
Seeing their expressions, Silas Crowley knew Nina Jacobs was right.
"Since he was just recently appointed, did this Grayson Garcia have you attack a harmless child to show his loyalty to this Hughes?"
She didn’t know anyone here.
But she could still make a good guess.
In the face of power, some people would do anything to be an obedient dog.
To show their loyalty, they would stop at nothing.
She looked at Quillan Spencer and his partner, her eyes ice-cold.
"Don’t, don’t kill us..."
For some reason, Quillan Spencer felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze.
Cordelia glanced at Nina Jacobs, then covered Zoraida’s eyes.
Two flames, the size of fingertips, flashed past. Jenna watched in shock as Nina Jacobs killed without shedding a drop of blood.
The two men, Quillan Spencer and his accomplice, were no longer breathing.
When Zoraida opened her eyes again, the two men were gone.
The towering Strength Element Superpower User from before was also gone.
"Are you hungry? I’ll take you to get something to eat."
Nina Jacobs extended a hand to Zoraida.
Cordelia had thought Zoraida would be afraid of Nina Jacobs, but unexpectedly, the girl quietly took her hand.
"She reminds me of a child I used to know."
Nina Jacobs thought of Melanie Lawson, who was still on a solitary quest for revenge. ’I wonder how she’s doing at Arisdale Base...’
Jenna was initially very worried.
After all, Nina Jacobs hadn’t even blinked when she killed those men.
But seeing Zoraida wolfing down canned meat and bread, she swallowed her words.
’Maybe they really are different from the others...’
"What’s your name?"
Nina Jacobs asked.
Zoraida stared at her while eating, then replied, "Zoraida Summers."
"You have a sister?"
Hearing Nina Jacobs mention her sister, Zoraida nodded emphatically.
"Eat slowly. I’m going out for a bit."
Nina Jacobs glanced at the time.
"Where are you going?"
Silas Crowley followed her out and asked.
"To your place. Want to come along?"
Nina Jacobs asked, turning back with a slight smile on her lips.
’His place?’
Silas Crowley paused for a moment, then immediately understood.
He quickly followed.
Wayne Warner was already waiting for Nina Jacobs downstairs.
Silas Crowley knew that Wayne Warner had gone to dispose of the bodies.
Nina Jacobs had said it before: since Lornwood Base allowed fighting and killing, they didn’t need to hold back.