Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

Nathan Thorne sighed. "If that’s really how it is, that would be for the best. I’m just afraid they’re still relying on sheer luck. If that’s really the case..."

’I don’t even want to think about how many people might die.’

"The only thing I can do now is arrange for more patrols to prevent the worst from happening."

"That’s all you can do," Sierra Sullivan said, nodding in agreement. "Just do what you can. The rest is out of your hands, so don’t be too hard on yourself."

"You don’t have to console me." Nathan Thorne shook his head. "I don’t feel like this is all my fault, either. If they don’t want to listen to me and want to gamble with their own lives, I can’t stop them, and I don’t want to. I just hope... that the truly innocent survivors don’t get caught up in this."

Though he said as much, Nathan Thorne knew in his heart that ordinary survivors getting dragged into it was unavoidable.

"Anyway, let’s not talk about this anymore." Nathan Thorne smiled, changing the subject. "When are you guys planning on leaving?"

"What’s this?" Jayce raised an eyebrow. "We come all this way, help you out big time, and not only do you not thank us, but now you’re trying to rush us out the door? Getting rid of us now that we’ve served our purpose, are you?"

Nathan Thorne’s eyes went wide. "Jayce, I’m warning you, don’t spout nonsense! I never thought that at all."

Jayce had only been teasing Nathan Thorne, so seeing his eyes go wide was rather amusing. "You’re a grown man. How can you still be so easy to tease?"

Before Nathan Thorne could say anything, Jayce added, "Do you remember what we talked about this morning? Are you coming back with us?"

Nathan Thorne didn’t hesitate for a second. "Of course!"

He was already eager to awaken his Second Superpower.

’The Space System would be best, but the Water Element or Wood Element seem pretty good too.’

Nathan Thorne started counting on his fingers. "Can I only awaken one more? Can’t I have them all?"

Sierra Sullivan was baffled.

’And here she thought she was the greedy one.’

’Who would have thought? Compared to Nathan Thorne, her own greed was nothing.’

’This wasn’t just greed anymore.’

’He wanted everything!’

"If you try to have everything, you’ll end up with nothing," Sierra Sullivan said. "Surely you understand the saying ’don’t bite off more than you can chew’?"

Jayce chimed in, "If you have multiple Superpowers at once, it becomes much harder to level them up. You don’t want to be stuck at the Second Level forever, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Nathan Thorne asked, confused. "I don’t quite follow."

"I’m still not sure if my intuition is right," Jayce said, "but I can tell you my current theory. From what I can tell, I have two Superpowers right now—one at a higher level, and one at a lower level. If I want to level up my stronger Superpower, I first have to get my other Superpower to the same level.

"And I’m sure you have a sense of just how difficult it is to level up a Superpower, even without me saying it.

"If you had three or four Superpowers—or all of them—and you wanted to level them up, you’d have to get them all to the same level. Do you have any idea how many Crystal Cores that would take? And Crystal Cores aside, how much time would you need to train? Does training even guarantee a level up? Have you thought about any of this?"

Nathan Thorne was completely lost. He shook his head subconsciously. "No..."

But now that he thought about it, it really did seem like it would require a ton of Crystal Cores, and a ton of time.

"Okay, okay..." Nathan Thorne calmed down. "Just awakening one more Superpower is fine. I won’t get greedy."

"Then go talk to your father. Find out how many people you’re bringing to our base. We’ll be leaving shortly," General Aldridge said.

"In such a hurry?" Nathan Thorne was surprised. "Can’t we wait? Leaving tomorrow would be fine, right?"

"Things here are pretty much resolved anyway. There’s no point in staying another day. The sooner we get back, the better."

Even though they’d been in contact via walkie-talkie and knew everything at Red Sun Base was fine, General Aldridge was still uneasy.

He wouldn’t be able to relax until he went back and saw it with his own eyes.

Seeing General Aldridge’s insistence, Sierra Sullivan and Jayce didn’t argue. Nathan Thorne quickly stood up.

"Alright, I’ll go find my dad right now. Wait for me!"

Nathan Thorne rushed off, then came running back in a flurry a little over ten minutes later.

"My dad said I can bring fifty people." Nathan Thorne scratched his head. "But don’t worry, we won’t be freeloaders. We can pay with Crystal Cores."

General Aldridge gave Nathan Thorne an approving look. "You’ve got the right idea. That works."

With everything settled, the group wasted no time.

Half an hour later, several vehicles departed from Dawnlight Base, heading for Red Sun Base.

Perhaps because they had killed so many Aberrant Beasts the day before, they only encountered a few scattered ones along the road today, which they dealt with easily.

When Red Sun Base came into view in the distance, the corners of Sierra Sullivan’s mouth lifted uncontrollably.

She had only been gone for two days, but seeing the familiar base gave her the feeling of a long-awaited reunion, and her heart gradually calmed.

’There’s truly no place like home.’

The vehicles entered the base unimpeded.

The others were settled elsewhere to rest, while Sierra Sullivan’s group took Nathan Thorne to see Kevin Everett.

They had already radioed ahead to let Kevin Everett know they were coming back.

Kevin Everett was waiting for them.

The moment they returned, he stared at them intently for a long moment.

After confirming that they were all safe and sound, Kevin Everett finally let out a sigh of relief. He turned to Nathan Thorne. "I’m already aware of why you’re here. I’ll have General Aldridge take you to Dr. Hayes in a bit."

General Aldridge was more familiar with Dr. Hayes, so it made sense to put him in charge of this.

Nathan Thorne put on a polite smile. "Thank you, Mr. Everett, but we’re not in that much of a hurry."

"Oh?" General Aldridge’s tone lifted. "Not in a hurry, you say? Then why don’t you stay here for a few days? I imagine Dr. Hayes is quite busy. If you’re not in a hurry, that’s even better..."

"Huh?" Nathan Thorne was dumbstruck.

’He was just being polite!’

’Why did General Aldridge have to take him seriously?’

Just as he was standing there, stunned, he saw the corner of General Aldridge’s mouth twitch upwards as a hearty laugh escaped.

Seeing this, Nathan Thorne instantly understood.

’General Aldridge was doing it on purpose!’

’He was deliberately teasing him, just to see his stunned reaction.’

’This was just...’

Nathan Thorne felt both amused and helpless.

’One after another, why did they all love teasing him so much?’

’He wasn’t some kind of clown for their entertainment!’

He grumbled internally but didn’t dare say any of it out loud.

He was afraid that if he did, General Aldridge really would make him wait for a few days.

’That would be unacceptable!’