Nina Jacobs had already raised her fist.

She remembered how ruthless Sherry Renner had been with Cole Dempsey.

But this man, Dariel Young, only took two kicks from her before the effects seemed to kick in.

But Nina Jacobs quickly figured it out.

Before drinking the Talismanic Water, Dariel Young’s body had already endured the torment of the Stone Spikes.

She also found a bottle of yellow liquid on Dariel Young.

It must be the poison from his Ice Spikes.

Nina Jacobs put the poison away and asked directly:

"Tell me everything. Why you came here, and why you killed Sheila Rhodes."

A dozen or so Little Zombie Rats were scattered in a circle around them.

If anyone approached, she would know immediately.

"Tasker No. 3...

Mission failed. Must be eliminated."

Tasker No. 3 must have been the late Paige Ziegler.

Nina Jacobs continued to listen.

"Someone will save Sheila Rhodes. The target is hidden among these people.

Everyone connected to Sheila Rhodes must be investigated one by one."

Dariel Young said, his eyes vacant. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"And who is this target you’re looking for?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"The target... the target is the person the Conclave is looking for.

Once a suspected target is found, they must be brought back.

Chase Gallagher is not the target. He saved Sheila Rhodes because he had prior intelligence..."

"Mr. Lennox said that failed taskers like this should just be executed directly..."

"We have to find the ’forerunner.’ Whoever can complete the mission will receive a huge reward."

"With the reward, we can earn the right to live on Tranquilor. There’s no zombie virus on Tranquilor, and there are enough supplies there to last a lifetime. I can even marry a new wife and have lots of children..."

At the mention of Tranquilor, Dariel Young’s face flushed with excitement.

It was clear he was truly full of hope for Tranquilor.

"So the target you’re talking about is the ’forerunner’."

Nina Jacobs muttered to herself.

As for what a ’forerunner’ was, she had no idea.

"Are you from The Aegis Conclave?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

This wasn’t entirely a guess. After all, she had heard of Tranquilor in her past life.

It was said that the island was a paradise created by The Aegis Conclave, and only those who made significant contributions to the organization were qualified to live there.

At that moment, however, a Little Zombie Rat from one direction sent Nina Jacobs a message.

Someone was coming.

And more than one person.

Without further hesitation, Nina Jacobs silenced the rambling Dariel Young with a single slash of her knife and burned his body to ash with a burst of flame.

Her Earth Element Superpower quickly covered the pile of black charcoal.

It made the patch of ground blend in seamlessly with the surrounding withered forest.

After finishing, Nina Jacobs immediately left the scene.

However, she left one Little Zombie Rat hidden under the rotten leaves in a corner.

A few minutes later, several figures quickly appeared.

"You think Mr. Young could have gotten lost in here?"

one of the men said.

This dense patch of withered forest was quite large; it would be easy to get lost.

"Even if he got lost, we’ve come this far. It makes no sense that we haven’t seen him."

Another person observed their surroundings.

"The main thing is, we’re the only ones left this time. If we can’t find Mr. Young, will the higher-ups blame us?"

"That Speed Element Superpower User is already dead. Logically, nothing else should happen to Mr. Young. Let’s keep looking..."

"If you ask me, the new recruits we’ve gotten lately are just useless. A single Speed Element Superpower User took out three of them."

"And here I thought we might actually find the ’forerunner.’ I didn’t expect to run into Chase Gallagher. That guy must be trying to curry favor with Warren Rhodes..."

Nina Jacobs had been hiding on the path they were bound to take.

She recalled the circle of Little Zombie Rats.

Originally, she had planned to eliminate these four as well.

But now, she had changed her mind.

Chase Gallagher had saved Sheila Rhodes because he had prior intelligence; it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Therefore, she should let these four men bring back what they believed to be the correct findings.

However, she didn’t leave immediately.

"Anyway, No. 3 was a complete waste. But where do you guys think the real Sheila Rhodes is?"

"Where else? She’s definitely dead."

"The higher-ups... who knows what they’re trying to do. This whole ’forerunner’ thing... I think they just want to go against the Drakonia command."

Hearing this, Nina Jacobs was now certain.

Just as she thought, these men, including Dariel Young, had no idea what ’forerunner’ meant.

However, she believed the real Sheila Rhodes must still be alive.

Otherwise, the person behind this wouldn’t be using such a troublesome method to find the one who would save Sheila Rhodes.

Only after the men left empty-handed did Nina Jacobs return to the car.

Wayne Warner and Holden Shaw were already in the vehicle.

Although Holden Shaw was still unconscious, he looked much better.

When Holden Shaw awoke, he found himself lying in a bed in the base’s hospital.

Beside him were a worried-looking Wendy Marshall, Pascal Paige, and the others.

"You’re one lucky guy. Good thing Nina Jacobs reacted so quickly."

Seeing Holden Shaw awake, Pascal Paige immediately called a nurse to come check on his condition.

"So why on earth did those people do that?"

Holden Shaw asked with a look of disbelief after he understood what had happened.

’The Sheila Rhodes who was with us for so long was an impostor?’

"We don’t know. Nina Jacobs has already reported the incident to the base.

She should be back soon."

Pascal Paige really had to admire Nina Jacobs’s quick thinking.

At least, she hadn’t noticed a thing while she was gossiping.

"Will the base hold her responsible?"

Holden Shaw asked.

In their eyes, City D Base had well-established procedures for everything, and any action that harmed the base’s interests would be held accountable.

At the end of the day, Nina Jacobs was still under the base’s jurisdiction.

"They won’t. Samson Thorne only suffered minor injuries.

And looking at the whole incident, aside from Sheila Rhodes, there were no other casualties.

At most, a helicopter was destroyed."

Wendy Marshall analyzed.

"That’s good."

Only then did Holden Shaw relax.

But he still felt ashamed. Nina Jacobs had even given him that precious "Mystic Ice Core" to absorb, yet he still failed to protect Sheila Rhodes.

’It doesn’t matter if that Sheila Rhodes was real or fake. If I could have just brought her back, maybe this whole thing would be cleared up by now... ’

"Don’t say that. You already did a great job."

Nina Jacobs said, walking in from the doorway.

Seeing that Holden Shaw was alright, she could finally rest easy.

’Thank goodness I made it in time.’

"Her name was Paige Ziegler. Actually, she was already trying to warn me in her own way."

Nina Jacobs had already turned over the note from the poetry book to the base for research.

Perhaps the base’s resources could help investigate the things she couldn’t figure out on her own.

And because the matter was so important, they also planned for Samson Thorne to secretly report it to the command headquarters after he returned.

"She probably wasn’t a bad person.

She was always quietly doing so much for us these past few days."

Wendy Marshall and the others still felt a bit sad.

Although "Sheila Rhodes" rarely spoke, she was always considerate of them.

Whenever they came back from a trip outside, the house would be spotlessly clean.

The yard would be full of drying laundry, and the tables and stairs would be wiped down without a speck of dust...

"So her name was Paige Ziegler... She was so foolish.

Why didn’t she tell us? Maybe we could have found a way to help her."

Yvonne Willow started crying too.

Every time she woke up from a nightmare, she would always see Paige Ziegler quietly reading in the living room.

She would ask what was wrong, talk with her, and offer comfort and encouragement.

’To think that goodbye would be forever... ’