Althea Coleman was a Fire Element Superpower User.

Nina Jacobs had nothing against her personally.

But while using the system’s teammate function over the past few days, she discovered that Althea Coleman’s affection level was -21.

This was the first time she had seen a negative affection level.

The system even displayed a warning with a red exclamation mark.

Althea Coleman had been acting perfectly normal these past few days.

But because of the system’s alert, Nina still had to be on guard.

As for the others’ affection levels, while some were in the single digits, the system had marked them as safe.

There was no need to worry about them for now.

That night, Nina Jacobs continued practicing her Control over the Little Zombie Rat in her room.

She had absorbed the third Mystic Ice Core a few days ago.

It contained the power of the Earth Element Superpower.

She had also taken some time over the past two days to try out her Earth Element Superpower. After absorbing the Ice Core, her control over it was indeed much more fluid.

Moreover, her Superpower Value increased every time she absorbed an Ice Core.

After advancing to the Intermediate level in City J, her Superpower Value was already 50.

Now, less than two months later, her Superpower Value had already reached 62.

Most of this growth was thanks to the Mystic Ice Cores.

If her Superpower Value reached 80, it would be time to become an Advanced Superpower User!

For this reason, Nina Jacobs was actually working hard every day.

Even when she didn’t go out, she would practice controlling the Little Zombie Rat in her room, consuming her Superpower Energy.

A few times, she even practiced until the early hours of the morning.

It was just that since she advanced to the Intermediate level, her Superpower Energy had increased so much that she rarely managed to deplete it...

The Little Zombie Rat before her had already grown sharp claws and fangs. Running swiftly and pouncing were no problem for it.

The nurturing from her Wood Element Superpower had even restored the fur that had originally fallen off its body.

New, light gray fur was growing from under its belly.

It actually made it look somewhat endearingly clumsy and cute.

’This must be a fancy rat,’ Nina Jacobs thought, recalling having seen one while scrolling on her phone before.

"If it can regrow its fur, what about its eyes?"

Looking at the rat’s empty eye sockets, Nina Jacobs thought it was worth a try.

In the dead of night, just as she was continuing her attempt at repairs, Treasure seemed to let out a low growl in the yard.

"Go take a look for me."

Nina Jacobs opened a crack in the window.

The nimble Little Zombie Rat scurried through the opening, climbing down the house’s wall and heading toward the front gate.

Treasure, in the yard, also noticed the Little Zombie Rat.

The stench of a zombie put it on high alert.

"Treasure, no barking."

A suppressive pulse of her Wood Element Superpower silenced Treasure, who had been about to bark loudly.

However, it remained in the yard, standing guard and staring warily toward the gate.

Like a loyal sentinel.

Nina Jacobs processed the information coming from the Little Zombie Rat.

She frowned.

There was someone not far from their gate—and it was a corpse.

No wonder Treasure had let out that low growl just now.

Just as Nina Jacobs was about to go outside to check, a blurry image entered her mind.

’This is...’

’The Little Zombie Rat’s perspective?!’

’My rat can see now?’

Pushing aside her surprise, Nina Jacobs noticed two blurry figures in the distance.

Probably because the rat’s eyes were only partially restored, she couldn’t make out who the two people were at all.

Besides, the two were far away, standing in the shadows as if waiting for something.

Half an hour later, Nina Jacobs gave up.

Forget the distant figures; the rat couldn’t even get a clear look at the face of the nearby corpse.

She could only vaguely make out that it seemed to be a woman.

"Come back."

She recalled the Little Zombie Rat.

She had originally intended to go out and see what was going on, but now, Nina Jacobs had changed her mind.

’A corpse, and people waiting in the distance.’

’Is this aimed at me?’

If a random passerby saw a body, they would either call the security patrol or run away to avoid trouble.

But those two just kept waiting in the dark.

’It must be a trap.’

Although she could use an Invisibility Potion to go check, it wouldn’t be worth the risk if there were other traps.

Having made up her mind, Nina Jacobs decided to ignore the situation outside.

「The next day.」

Daniel Hale had a habit of waking up early.

He had always been diligent about his work, always the first to arrive at his post each day.

But this morning, it seemed Nina Jacobs was up even earlier than he was.

"Why are you up so early?"

Daniel Hale was startled when he saw her in the living room.

After all, the sky hadn’t fully brightened yet.

"I heard Treasure, so I came down to check on him.

He’s probably hungry."

Nina Jacobs gave a perfectly normal-sounding excuse.

"No wonder. I think I woke up a couple of times last night too.

It was probably the heat."

Daniel Hale thought he really needed to push for faster construction of the base’s power grid.

In this heat, the only reason they had fans at night was because of the portable power stations Nina Jacobs had found earlier.

But it wasn’t long before...

...gasps of shock were heard from outside the gate.

"What’s wrong?"

Daniel Hale sensed a growing crowd outside, so he quickly opened the main gate.

A woman’s body lay sprawled in front of their home.

The gasps had come from a few passersby.

Nina Jacobs finally got a clear look at the person on the ground.

It was Nerissa Sutton.

"What happened? Why is it her?"

Sherry Renner was still in her pajamas. Nerissa Sutton was as dead as could be.

There was a fist-sized black hole in her chest; she had been pierced completely through.

It was obviously the work of a Fire Element Superpower.

"Yeah, why is it her," Nina Jacobs said.

’It seems this incident really was aimed at me.’

"Nerissa! Nerissa!"

A figure rushed forward.

It was Crystal Young, the woman who had been with Nerissa Sutton the other day.

She seemed to be trembling, right up until she saw Nina Jacobs.

"You killed Nerissa!

Why did you kill her?!"

Crystal Young pointed an accusing finger at Nina Jacobs.

In an instant, Nina Jacobs became the focus of the crowd.

"Don’t make baseless accusations.

We all just opened the gate and discovered the situation.

How can you be so sure this has anything to do with us?"

Daniel Hale asked.

His calm demeanor helped the surrounding crowd come to their senses a bit.

"Because she’s a Fire Element Superpower User!

Just a few days ago, she beat Nerissa up like that, and then last night she killed her! 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Who else could it be?"

Crystal Young shouted emotionally.

Instead of getting angry, Nina Jacobs laughed. "We all just found out, yet you know she was killed last night.

It seems you know more than we do, don’t you?"

’Those two people last night must have been waiting for me to be the first to discover Nerissa Sutton’s body.’

’If I had really gone outside to check then, I probably wouldn’t have been able to defend myself.’

But now, the body had been discovered by passersby.

"Isn’t that right? Who would kill someone right on their own doorstep and then just leave the body there?

This looks like a deliberate frame-up to me."

Sherry Renner had also figured it out.

"Everyone, please rest assured. Senseless killing of the innocent is not allowed in the base.

This matter will be thoroughly investigated."

Sherry Renner said.

"Easy for you to say! You’re all on her side!

I think you’re just trying to protect the real culprit!"

Crystal Young continued to shout emotionally.

"Whether or not she’s the culprit, someone will find out the truth."

Just then, a man stepped out from the crowd.

"It’s Zephyr Lucas, from the security patrol."

Sherry Renner recognized him and whispered to Nina Jacobs.

"Clear this area. Take everyone back."

"You there... Miss Jacobs. Since you had a grudge against the deceased,

why don’t you come along with us?"

Zephyr Lucas looked at Nina Jacobs.