Chapter 427: Watch Your Words
Chapter 427: Chapter 427: Watch Your Words
Nina Jacobs took a couple of seconds to react after seeing Rhonda Rowan.
Rhonda Rowan had cut her hair short and looked a little different from when she was with Cordelia, Tobin, and the others.
She remembered that when Tobin went to Pyralia to bring back Thaddeus Wren and the others, Rhonda Rowan had chosen to return to Lornwood Base.
Tobin never told her about Tomorrow Base, so all she knew was that Nina Jacobs and her group had found a place to stay.
A few other people got out of the car behind Rhonda Rowan.
One of them immediately paled when he saw the insignia on Nina Jacobs’s uniform.
The green badge on her chest signified that she was someone handpicked by the base and held certain privileges.
They could come and go from most places and even had the right to dispose of any survivor in the base as they saw fit.
He tugged on Rhonda Rowan’s sleeve and said in a low voice,
"Ms. Rowan, her status must be something special. Did you see those prisoners? She might be the one who caught them. We should get going."
Rhonda Rowan’s expression changed as well upon hearing this.
’Nina Jacobs was clearly an outsider with no one to rely on. How is she working for the base?’
"I know her. Wait here for me."
After saying this, Rhonda Rowan walked over to Nina Jacobs’s side.
"Where’s that cat of yours?"
Rhonda Rowan noticed that only Wayne Warner was with Nina Jacobs.
Nina Jacobs ignored her and instead pressed the buzzer in her hand.
Just a few seconds later, a side door opened, and a squad of guards ran out.
"Captain Jacobs."
Rhonda Rowan was even more astonished when she heard what the guards called Nina Jacobs.
Nina Jacobs nodded and pointed to the vehicle containing the "bait." The guards understood immediately.
"Understood. We’ll take them for an inspection first," said Tristan Paxton, the one in the lead.
"Nina Jacobs, I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?"
Seeing her companions looking at her doubtfully, Rhonda Rowan persisted, unwilling to let it go.
Only then did Nina Jacobs turn around.
"As I recall, unauthorized personnel are not allowed near the base’s west gate."
Rhonda Rowan and her group were clearly just passing by. The others shivered when they heard Nina’s words.
"Captain Jacobs, should we make them leave?" Tristan Paxton asked as he walked over.
Most of the base guards had been part of the force since the founding of Lornwood Base, tasked with the duty of protecting it.
They took their orders from General Hughes, as he was the only one in the base they could trust anymore.
They didn’t kill indiscriminately. Even with the rule that unauthorized personnel were forbidden from approaching the west gate fortress, they would usually just drive people away.
Hearing the guard’s words, Rhonda Rowan’s face turned deathly pale.
With her companions tugging at her from behind, she had no choice but to get back in the car.
And from beginning to end, Nina Jacobs never once gave her a direct look.
"Ms. Rowan, even if you knew them before, you shouldn’t just go up and greet people like that now. You could get yourself killed," one of her companions said inside the car, still shaken.
"Yeah, thankfully those guards were reasonable. I think she probably let us off because of your past connection."
"What do you all know?" Rhonda Rowan cut off their discussion.
Her companions frowned at her, seemingly confused as to why she would say that.
"She shouldn’t be here. Do you have any idea who she is?"
Rhonda Rowan stared straight at them and said,
"She’s the one who killed Corin. I saw it with my own eyes."
"How is that possible? Didn’t you say before that Corin was bitten by a zombie while protecting everyone?" one of her companions asked.
"Yeah, you can’t just say things like that. If Director Palmer found out, he would definitely question you about it."
Rhonda Rowan’s eyes flickered. Recalling Nina Jacobs’s arrogant expression just now, she clenched her fists. "All I can say is that I saw it with my own eyes. You just saw how miserable those people she brought back looked. She can’t be a good person."
Her companions glanced at each other, then shrank back and said no more.
Nina Jacobs’s sudden return caught Wyatt Holden somewhat off guard.
After bringing the "bait" back into the tunnel, Nina Jacobs found that the door connecting the tunnel to the warehouse was open.
"Nina Jacobs, why are you back? Where’s General Hughes?"
Wyatt Holden seemed to be supervising work there.
When he saw Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner approaching, he thought for a moment his eyes were playing tricks on him.
’Shouldn’t Nina Jacobs be with General Hughes right now?’
"Something came up on the way."
Nina Jacobs glanced at the massive warehouse ahead.
Inside, there weren’t just goods, but also various packaging machines.
They were even in the process of portioning out the supplies.
’No wonder the supplies she’d collected last night all had clean, uniform packaging.’
"What did you say?!"
Wyatt Holden had a look of disbelief on his face.
With General Hughes on this mission, they had all thought it would be foolproof...
"...And that’s what happened. General Hughes has other matters to attend to."
After Nina explained the general situation, Wyatt Holden sighed deeply.
"I heard there was indeed another survivor outpost in the valley at the time. But I also believe the pros of this outweigh the cons. After all, there are far fewer zombies outside the base now."
"I heard that zombies have already started to emerge in the valley," Nina Jacobs said.
Blocking the zombies was effective, but if they were only contained and not thinned out, the valley would just be a ticking time bomb for Lornwood.
"We’ll find a way," Wyatt Holden said, changing the subject. "Since General Hughes was willing to let you bring people back to the base alone, it shows he trusts you enough. This place will be the main focus of your tasks for the foreseeable future."
Wyatt Holden then gave Nina Jacobs a tour of the packaging warehouse.
Nina Jacobs watched the workers portioning out supplies with confusion. It was only when she got closer that she realized these so-called "workers" were actually wooden puppets?!
"They’re..."
’No wonder their movements looked so strangely uniform from a distance.’
"They’re basically robots. The higher-ups just thought metal lacked aesthetic appeal, so they had them made of wood instead," Wyatt Holden explained casually, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
’Robots?’
Nina Jacobs looked closer and saw that there were indeed wires inside the bodies of the Wood Carvings.
"Humans are greedy, but these are not. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain Jacobs?"
Wyatt Holden looked at Nina Jacobs, his eyes carrying a hint of a warning.
"Indeed," Nina Jacobs said. "It’s rare for Supervisor Holden to remain so principled."
There were more supplies left here than she had imagined.
But just as Wyatt Holden had said, the place used a dual-verification system of facial recognition and a mechanical lock. If anyone tried to force their way in, they would immediately trigger an alarm.
’It looks like I’ll have to find another way.’
After leaving the underground tunnel, Nina Jacobs didn’t go back right away. Instead, she exited the base again.
"Miss Jacobs? Is that really you?!"
Wolfgang Stone, the guard at the base’s main gate, stared at Nina Jacobs in shock.
He had just sent her to a correction pod a few days ago. ’Could she have escaped?’
"Don’t worry, I’ve been released," Nina Jacobs explained, realizing he had the wrong idea.
"That’s great!"
Wolfgang Stone didn’t know why he felt so happy, but seeing Nina Jacobs walking away unharmed and safe, he truly felt a sense of relief.
The reason Nina Jacobs left the base was that she had her eye on a place nearby. She planned to have Claire Warner get back to business.
It was because her Level Four System was about to be upgraded to Level Five.