Chapter 418 - 299: Chance Encounter
Following the direction of the compass, they advanced quickly to the southeast, traversing the Serpent-Spine Mountains.
But just as they reached the foot of a mountain, before they had even found the source causing the compass to spin, they heard the sound of numerous footsteps and faint, ragged breaths...
Marcus Monroe surveyed his surroundings, and a sudden memory brought a smile to his face.
Rhonda Rhodes and the others halted, concealing themselves behind a hill while he set up a simple sound insulation array.
"What a coincidence! That must be Leo Joyce and his group over there! I knew I was right—their objective really is the military base."
At Marcus Monroe’s words, Paige Summers remembered as well.
’That’s right. She’d seen the map—there was a military base nearby. Cross one more mountain from here and cut diagonally, and you’d be at Bloodfall Base.’
’The two locations weren’t too far from each other.’
’Claire Chapman had once suggested exploring this place, but Mason Hayes had vetoed the idea.’
’The base was said to be cursed.’
’It wasn’t like the current Bloodfall Base—the former Foundry—where the Zombies and whatnot were all out in the open. With their group’s strength, it had been difficult, but as long as they could carve a bloody path, they could still get in and out.’
’This military base, on the other hand, was a one-way trip.’
’Countless Superpower Users had entered over the years, but no one had ever been heard from coming out.’
’In the end, Claire Chapman had abandoned the idea.’
’It wasn’t out of fear; their own base had just been established, and they simply couldn’t spare the personnel.’
Paige Summers found it a little strange.
"Leo Joyce has been watching over this place for so many years. He’s only trying to get in now?"
Marcus Monroe’s lips curved into a smirk. "What makes you think he hasn’t sent people in before?"
Paige Summers’s eyes widened in realization. "They all died in there!"
Marcus Monroe nodded.
"He’s probably getting desperate this time, spurred on by the events at Norgate. Besides, weapons and ammunition are consumables; Southreach’s reserves must be running low."
"I see."
Rhonda Rhodes wasn’t interested in any of that. He was busy studying the Compass and suddenly interjected, "Looks like we’re fated to go in this time. The Compass is pointing unequivocally in that direction!"
Paige Summers and Marcus Monroe exchanged a look. They were both thinking the same thing.
’It would be a waste not to hitch a ride on Leo Joyce’s expedition.’
However, their appearances were too conspicuous, which would be inconvenient. Paige Summers had planned to disguise everyone with some makeup, but Rhonda Rhodes scoffed at the idea.
He cast a simple Spell, easily concealing the true appearances of all four of them.
Marcus Monroe became a burly giant. His height remained the same, but his width nearly doubled—his arms were definitely thicker than Paige Summers’s thighs! And on his face, like Felix Lowell, were four eyebrows. He didn’t seem to mind, but it made Paige Summers incredibly uncomfortable.
’She had a strange pet peeve: she hated it when men had beards. She was convinced they could never be washed completely clean and were just... dirty...’
Under her vehement protests, Rhonda Rhodes had no choice but to make a small adjustment and get rid of Marcus Monroe’s beard.
Paige Summers instantly felt at ease.
In truth, her appearance had also changed drastically.
In contrast to Marcus Monroe’s burly frame, she was now much more gaunt and looked sickly.
Ben, meanwhile, was made to look utterly unremarkable—so plain that she was easy to overlook, which was just how she liked it.
As for Rhonda Rhodes himself, he was much kinder to his own appearance. Even for an illusion, he refused to make himself look completely different.
In Paige Summers’s words, no matter how you looked at him, he was just a clean-cut, suave pretty boy!
All in all, however, the image of their group of four was a perfect fit for the occasion.
There was an extraordinariness to their ordinariness.
On the surface, they certainly looked ordinary.
But in this day and age, for a group of four to make it this deep into the mountains was, by any measure, not ordinary at all.
If Leo Joyce was smart, he would surely accept them. Regardless of whether their meeting was a coincidence or intentional, it was always safer to keep them under his nose.
As it turned out, Rhonda Rhodes’s strategy was quite effective.
The moment they appeared, they drew a great deal of attention.
Before long, Leo Joyce sent someone to approach them. Upon learning that they had come from a distant base and were hoping to settle down in Southreach, the man immediately convinced them to join this elite squad.
Marcus Monroe, playing the part of their captain, agreed in a booming voice.
Rhonda Rhodes had been very meticulous, altering their voices along with their appearances to better match their new personas.
Paige Summers’s voice, for instance, was weak and listless.
Marcus Monroe had been carrying her ever since, letting her sit on his arm. He insisted on playing the role of Paige Summers’s older brother, not her father as Rhonda Rhodes had suggested.
Between Leo Joyce’s group and the people from various other bases, there were nearly a hundred people in total.
With so many people, there were bound to be dissenting voices.
Although Rhonda Rhodes’s interference prevented Leo Joyce from determining the foursome’s ranks, he could still sense that they were very powerful.
But not everyone could see that.
So, even though Leo Joyce assigned the four of them to the team from Southreach, it still sparked some discussion.
"Think this is a picnic? They actually brought a kid along!"
"Yeah, and that pretty boy—I don’t think he’s even a Superpower User."
"..."
"All of you, shut up. City Lord Joyce must have his reasons for this arrangement. Even if they don’t have combat superpowers, they can always be useful in... other ways..."
Everyone seemed to understand, exchanging suggestive glances and saying no more.
Paige Summers glanced at the person who had just spoken.
’Of course. The guy looked as shifty as he sounded, with a severe underbite to boot. Even when his mouth was shut, it didn’t seem to close all the way, and his two massive front teeth looked like a rabbit’s... It’s true what they say: the ugliest ones cause the most trouble. The first few people were just worried we’d be too weak and drag down the team. This jerk, on the other hand, went straight to labeling us as cannon fodder.’
Seeing she was annoyed, Marcus Monroe made a swift chopping motion with his hand in the man’s direction.
And just like that, the man got even uglier.
A patch of hair on the side of his head was instantly sheared off, the attack barely grazing the top of his ear. His previously squarish head was now a pentagon. The look was beyond bizarre!
The incident quickly caused a small commotion.
The result was that both Marcus Monroe and the man were reprimanded by their captain.
One for attacking a teammate, the other for spreading baseless rumors.
Marcus Monroe "cooperated" readily. "Tell him to keep that filthy mouth of his shut and stop spewing bullshit!"
At that, the newly-minted pentagon didn’t dare make another peep. The few people beside him who had been gossiping cheerfully just moments before also snapped their mouths shut.
’That hand-chop had been silent and invisible. If they hadn’t been close enough to see him move his hand, they might not have even known who was responsible. This time it was his hair. What if next time, without so many witnesses, it was his neck?’
’Whether he was simply stronger than them or his superpower was just that deadly, it didn’t matter. They were no match for him, which meant they had better watch their mouths!’
The crowd didn’t stand around for long before Leo Joyce began to speak.
It was nothing new, just the usual platitudes about banding together and working as one. But everyone knew that while it was fine if they found nothing, the moment any real rewards were on the table, every person would be looking out for themselves. Of course, until then, cooperation was a necessity.
The military base was not far from their current position.
The Compass pointed steadily in that direction.
Leo Joyce quickly gave the order—"Move out!"—and the large group set off toward the target in their assigned formation.