Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

Nathan Thorne had just recovered from his lingering fear when he heard the two of them talking, and his eyes instantly went wide.

"Wait... what are you talking about? You want to see if there are Crystal Cores in their heads? Doesn’t that mean you have to split their heads open...? These are people!"

Jayce glanced coolly at Nathan Thorne. "You think they’re people?"

"They..."

Nathan Thorne hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

After struggling with himself for a moment, he finally said, "They were people before, at least!"

"You said it yourself—’before.’ They’re not completely human anymore. Since a case like this has occurred, we have to figure out what exactly they are now. That’s the only way we’ll know how to handle it if something similar happens again."

Jayce’s words were logical and well-reasoned, and Nathan Thorne could no longer find any reason to refute them.

Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he did object.

Neither Jayce nor Sierra Sullivan would have listened to him.

Once Nathan Thorne understood this, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Although he desperately wanted to run, after a moment’s hesitation, he gritted his teeth and stayed put.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he had to: he also wanted to know if there were really Crystal Cores inside these people’s heads.

If there were Crystal Cores, did that mean they had truly turned into zombies?

If they had really turned into zombies, would the number of zombies increase in the future?

Only by knowing all this could they figure out how to respond.

The way to solve problems was to face them, not to blindly run away.

Jayce didn’t hesitate for long.

He wasn’t one to agonize over decisions; once he decided to do something, he did it immediately.

It was the same now.

A head was split open, then carefully washed out with water by Jayce.

A moment later, a sparkling, translucent Crystal Core appeared before the three of them.

The moment she saw the Crystal Core, Sierra Sullivan wasn’t surprised; she even felt it was just as she had expected.

It was simply that her suspicions had been confirmed.

Nathan Thorne swallowed hard. "Are you... going to take out the other Crystal Cores too?"

Jayce raised an eyebrow at him. "You want to do it yourself?"

"Huh?"

Nathan Thorne instinctively looked at Jayce and, before Jayce could say another word, quickly shook his head. "No! That’s not what I was thinking!"

Even knowing these were zombies and no longer people, he still couldn’t bring himself to personally split open their heads and take out the Crystal Cores.

Jayce had only been speaking casually; he hadn’t actually expected Nathan Thorne to dare to do anything.

Hearing Nathan Thorne’s refusal, Jayce wasted no more words and extracted all the remaining Crystal Cores.

With the danger in the house completely gone, Sierra Sullivan decided to go inside to see the situation for herself.

Nathan Thorne was much braver this time.

Seeing Sierra Sullivan about to enter, he hesitated only slightly before following her into the house.

After the three of them looked around the house, Sierra Sullivan had a good idea of what had happened.

’After these people brought the stones back, they must have thought they were something good and tried to absorb them, just like they absorb energy from Crystal Cores.’

’But before they could finish absorbing them, Nathan Thorne came knocking. It was that woman who opened the door.’

’Because they were interrupted, the woman hadn’t completely turned into a zombie, but her state was clearly not right.’

’As for the others in the house, they were probably afraid Nathan Thorne would barge in, so they sped up their absorption and quickly turned into zombies.’

’In the end, that woman couldn’t escape either, and she died a horrible death right there.’

Having pieced it all together, Sierra Sullivan sighed softly. "To recklessly absorb something without even knowing what it is, and to end up losing their lives over it... I wonder if they would regret it, given another chance."

Hearing this, Nathan Thorne subconsciously averted his gaze.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that her words had a hidden meaning, that they were somehow pointed at him.

Although he thought this, Nathan Thorne wasn’t angry in the slightest. In fact, he just felt fortunate.

Fortunate that Sierra Sullivan and the others had followed him, fortunate that Sierra Sullivan and Jayce had reacted so quickly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Fortunate that when he found these people, they had already absorbed the stones...

’Otherwise, he probably would have ended up just like them—turned into a zombie, maybe even had his head split open.’

Just the thought of it made Nathan Thorne’s body tremble uncontrollably.

’No!’

’He hadn’t lived enough yet, he absolutely couldn’t die!’

’He had to survive, no matter what!’

"Alright," Jayce said. "We’ve pretty much handled things here. Let’s go. Lock this door, post a guard, and don’t let anyone in. As for the bodies inside, we’ll see how your father decides to deal with them later."

Nathan Thorne nodded repeatedly at his words. "Right, right, right! I’ll arrange it! Let’s hurry back!"

After making the arrangements, the three of them quickly headed back.

Trevor Thorne saw the three return so quickly and assumed they had come back empty-handed.

"It’s alright if you didn’t find anything. There are still others..."

"Commander Thorne," Sierra Sullivan interrupted Trevor Thorne. "We found them."

"You found them?" Trevor Thorne shot to his feet in excitement. "You really found them? Someone was actually hiding this stuff? Where are the people? Where are the items?"

"Commander Thorne, I know you’re anxious, but please calm down. The situation is a bit complicated."

Sierra Sullivan didn’t keep him in suspense.

After giving him a look that told him to be patient, she recounted everything that had just happened in the most concise way possible.

Jayce also took out the nine Crystal Cores they had just obtained and placed them on the table.

Even after hearing the whole story and seeing the Crystal Cores, Trevor Thorne still couldn’t process it.

Even General Aldridge, who was standing to the side, had a grim expression.

Everyone else around them held their breath, their focus absolute.

They all knew what this meant.

There were definitely more people in the base who had gotten these stones.

Right now, at this very moment, others might be secretly absorbing the energy from the stones. They could be in the process of turning into zombies, or they might have already turned.

If they weren’t all found quickly, and if they hurt someone, there was no telling if it would cause more people to be infected...

Once things got out of control, the entire Dawnlight Base would be finished!

Being besieged by Aberrant Beasts was already a threat from the outside; now, with this new internal threat, no one could feel at ease.

Trevor Thorne finally found his voice, which was now filled with urgency.

"Quick! Get more people, expand the search! Explain the stakes! We absolutely cannot let this situation develop any further!"

Trevor Thorne rushed off in a panic to make the arrangements, taking all the Dawnlight Base personnel with him.

In an instant, only Sierra Sullivan’s group was left.