The Morhaven Safety Base was established in the southeastern part of Morhaven, over an hour’s drive from the waterfront where Flora Bloom and her group were.
Since their yacht was moored in the northeastern part of Morhaven, they had to leave it there to avoid being discovered. With Ash and the school of horse mackerel guarding it, she believed a repeat of yesterday’s car theft at the hospital was unlikely.
First thing in the morning, Flora Bloom recalled all of her little pets into her space, except for Juggernaut and Snowy. Having been outside for so long, Snowy’s fur had beco dirty and matted. Flora couldn’t bear the thought of putting it back and polluting her Spatial Spirit River, so even though she knew the space had a self-purifying function, she kept Snowy with her.
She secretly took out so compressed biscuits from her space and distributed them to everyone, giving Selina and Lucia each an egg for extra nutrition.
After breakfast, the group freshened up a bit and prepared to leave. Flora Bloom’s car had been stolen from the hospital, but even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have fit so many people.
Fortunately, Juggernaut was strong and robust. Aside from Flora Bloom’s original nine-person team, their numbers had now swelled with the addition of Joel Bloom, Shauna Wallace, and the young girl, Lisa. There were also the people Flora had brought back from the hospital: the obstetrician Maeve Preston, the nurse Shelly, the pregnant Selina, the sniper Mark Sterling, a mixed-race man nad Falk, and another man, Ethan Warren. Lastly, there was Lucia, whose status remained awkward.
All nineteen people climbed onto Juggernaut’s back, along with a large white goose and a little white tiger that rested quietly and obediently beside Caleb and Flora Bloom, respectively. Then, Flora commanded Juggernaut to advance toward the safety base.
What would have been over an hour’s drive took them only about half an hour as Juggernaut moved at full speed. They stopped at the edge of a thicket of bushes, less than two hundred ters from the safety base.
The reason was simple: it was best for Juggernaut not to be seen by the people of the safety base. Flora wanted to avoid causing unnecessary panic, and if they got too close and were discovered, it could lead to a misunderstanding.
And so, the party of nineteen, accompanied by a large white goose and a little white tiger, finally arrived at the Morhaven Safety Base.
A group of nineteen was by no ans the largest to have arrived at the Morhaven Safety Base, but it was certainly bigger than average. The guards at the gate saw the large party approaching and imdiately shouted for them to halt.
"Wait! This is the Morhaven Safety Base. Are you looking to enter?"
After scanning everyone in the group, the two guards addressed Mark Sterling and Falk, who were carrying guns. They didn’t know who the leader was, but they knew that in any group, the ones with guns usually had a say.
Flora Bloom gave Sherman Lynch a look, signaling for him to go and deal with them. Sherman’s eyes widened. ’Making , the forr leader of Azuregard City, deal with these two small-fry? What a waste of my talents!’
Flora’s gaze was chillingly clear. The sight of Sherman’s raised eyebrow made him feel a shiver run down his spine. Before he could think of a response, Flora suddenly adopted the voice of a sweet young girl and said to the two guards, "Sirs, he’s our leader. If you have any questions, you can just ask him."
As Sherman Lynch walked past Flora Bloom, his face was grim. He heard her whisper to him, "Don’t be too polite. Show them a little of your superpower."
When the guards saw a gaunt, bony old man step out from the group, they realized this must be the leader the little girl had ntioned. Looks of contempt imdiately surfaced in their eyes.
"You’re their leader?"
Seeing the two guards dare to speak to him so condescendingly, Sherman Lynch let out a cold snort and said bluntly, "We want to enter the safety base."
"Of course you want to enter the safety base, you’re here, aren’t you? You don’t look like you’re from Morhaven. First ti at the base, right? We stopped you for your own good, to explain the rules for entry."
"Rules for entry?" Sherman Lynch’s brow furrowed. He glanced back at Flora Bloom, only to see her give Ethan Monroe a kick that sent him stumbling forward.
Kicked forward by Flora Bloom, Ethan Monroe yelped, "Hey!" He then planted himself in front of the two guards and glared at them fiercely. "There are rules to get in? What rules? Why don’t you tell Lord Monroe here all about them!"
The two guards couldn’t figure out Ethan Monroe’s angle, but as guards, they knew how to project authority. "Our safety base is the only place in Morhaven with survivors. It’s also the safest place. It’s not like just anyone can waltz in."
"So, how do we get in?" Sherman Lynch asked.
"To enter, each person must hand over one Level 1 Crystal Core."
As soon as the guard finished speaking, Ethan Monroe couldn’t hold back. "Are you fucking kidding ? One Crystal Core per person? Why don’t you just rob us?!" As Ethan spoke, Sherman Lynch stepped forward. A golden light flashed, and his entire arm turned to tal.
Ethan Monroe grabbed the guard by the collar. "So? Does your Lord Monroe look like he needs to hand over Crystal Cores?"
The two guards hadn’t expected the white-bearded old man to be a superpower user, let alone one with the Gold Ability, sa as the base’s administrator. They imdiately panicked.
"Y-You... you’re a superpower user! N-No need to pay, sir."
"That’s more like it! Old Lynch, your little trick really works!"
Ethan Monroe waved for the rest of the group to follow him into the base, but the two guards stopped them again.
"What now? Is there sothing else?"
The guard looked at Ethan Monroe’s nacing glare, his eyes full of malice, but he knew he had no choice but to stop them.
"Superpower users can enter without paying Crystal Cores, but ordinary people have to pay! Also, for the safety of the residents, no one, whether a superpower user or not, can bring weapons into the base. And non-superpower users must spend a full day in quarantine before they can enter."
The guard’s heart pounded with anxiety as he spoke. Superpower users in the base had special privileges; they could kill a person or two without facing any consequences. But the higher-ups had ordered that all first-ti entrants must be strictly vetted, otherwise the guards would be held accountable. ’If the bosses get angry, we’re dead n anyway,’ he thought. ’Might as well die enforcing the rules.’
Although Ethan Monroe looked fierce, he wasn’t a complete fool. He understood the situation and asked impatiently, "Anything else? Spit it all out at once."
"Also... also, first-ti entrants must surrender half of their supplies."
Just then, a nearby patrol team marched in neat formation past the main gate from the side. Seeing the crowd at the entrance, the patrol leader jogged over and asked the guard, "What’s going on? Why is there such a crowd?"
"Mr. Lawson, this group is here for the first ti and wants to enter the base. I... I was just explaining our rules to them."
Flora Bloom looked at the man called Mr. Lawson, and when her spiritual power touched him, her expression tightened. ’Fire Elent, Level 2.’ A re patrolman had the sa Superpower Level as Milton Adler, and it even felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
’Looks like we can’t cause any more trouble,’ Flora thought. She stepped forward and called Old Monroe and Sherman Lynch back, and they began to confer.
’Superpower users don’t need Crystal Cores, and it’s one core per ordinary person. That’s not a problem. The main issue is that I originally assud that even though bases are starting to pop up, the Superpower Levels of their users wouldn’t be very high. But this patrolman is already Level 2. That’s far beyond my expectations.’
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