Chapter 50: Interrogation

"Captain Sloan... he... he..."

Holt Tate and the others stammered, not daring to say anything.

Keaton Sloan was dead.

And he was the man who had just been assigned here from above.

"I killed him."

Nina Jacobs had already steeled herself for this when she killed Keaton Sloan.

She never planned on hiding it in the first place.

"What did you say?!"

They all spoke at once. Even Renee Strong couldn’t believe it.

Liam Grant was even more shocked. "You killed Keaton Sloan?!"

’He was one of my trump cards!’

"That’s what I want to know. Why did you kill him?"

Compared to the others’ shock, Chester Pearson was more curious.

Nina Jacobs glanced at him and answered calmly,

"For the greater good, sometimes sacrifices are unavoidable."

"..."

Those were the exact words he had just said. He hadn’t expected her to throw them back at him so quickly.

A moment later, Chester Pearson actually burst out laughing.

"She did it to protect me."

Ian Chandler stepped in front of Nina Jacobs.

"Looks like we need to have a proper talk."

Chester Pearson just waved his hand, and the group behind him immediately moved forward to clear a path.

Nina Jacobs and her group were "invited" into a relatively clean room.

"Long time no see."

Liam Grant looked at Nina Jacobs, a new hint of vigilance in his eyes.

’Why on earth is Shannon Renner with Nina Jacobs?’

"Can’t seem to get rid of you," Leo Hale muttered.

"You know each other?"

Dawn Donovan was surprised, but it wasn’t hard to connect the dots. After all, Liam Grant was the one who said Ian Chandler might be in the area.

"We were university classmates."

As if afraid of what Nina Jacobs might say, Renee Strong quickly answered.

But Nina Jacobs didn’t even glance at them. She sat off to the side, took out a wet wipe, and began cleaning her hands.

She even gave some to Leo Hale and the others.

"Ah, that feels better."

Chelsea Walsh was feeling great right now.

Nina Jacobs’s words had been instantly satisfying, but she was also a little worried that Nina might get into trouble for killing that man.

"Captain Pearson, this is what happened... She... she killed Keaton Sloan in self-defense. We believe what Captain Sloan did at the time was completely inappropriate!" Holt Tate said in a loud rush.

"Self-defense is no excuse for killing. The higher-ups gave a directive to preserve lives to the greatest extent possible; it’s part of the strategy to conserve our fighting strength. Besides, your Captain Sloan was assigned here by the organization..." Dawn Donovan said to Holt Tate, but her preachy tone made it sound like she was speaking for everyone else’s benefit.

"That’s right, Nina. How could you kill someone? We can barely save people as it is."

Renee Strong looked at Nina Jacobs with undisguised schadenfreude.

’Nina is done for this time. She killed Keaton Sloan, a guy with connections. And she got caught by Chester Pearson, of all people.’

"My apologies. If there’s going to be an investigation, I can discuss this with you privately. Those two over there—one’s a cheater, and the other is an expert at stealing people’s partners. They’re seriously affecting my mood."

Nina Jacobs showed them no courtesy whatsoever.

Everyone present looked like they were watching a drama unfold. Even Chelsea Walsh’s eyes went wide.

"Nina, there’s no need to be so harsh. We just had a normal breakup," Liam Grant explained.

"Alright, all of you, get out. I’ll handle the questioning."

Chester Pearson had actually agreed.

After everyone had left, Chester Pearson continued,

"I examined Keaton Sloan’s body. You’re a Fire Element Superpower User, too."

"That’s right. As you can see, I used my Superpower to kill him."

A Fireball materialized in Nina Jacobs’s right hand.

The Fireball didn’t seem to be burning so much as devouring. Its power was clearly immense; even the surrounding air shimmered and distorted from the intense heat.

Chester Pearson’s pupils dilated instantly, and he even found himself slowly rising to his feet.

Nina Jacobs wasn’t surprised. Her Fireball was enhanced by the Heart of Strange Fire, and it was unlikely any Superpower User at this stage could reach such a level.

She only revealed her strength because she knew Chester Pearson was also a Fire Element Superpower User.

In her past life, they hadn’t met Chester Pearson until the second year of the apocalypse.

Back then, it was Liam Grant’s combined Thunder and Fire Element techniques that had attracted Chester’s attention.

Chester Pearson was a complete and utter Superpower fanatic.

Now, he stared intently at Nina Jacobs’s Fire Element Superpower, his face a mask of earnest curiosity.

"How did you do that?" Chester Pearson asked.

He had thought Liam Grant’s Fire Element Superpower was already impressive.

"You want to learn? Why don’t you become my disciple?" Nina Jacobs teased.

’Either way, I know Chester Pearson won’t pursue this matter any further today.’

"Okay. I’ll be your disciple. You teach me," Chester Pearson replied earnestly.

Now it was Nina Jacobs’s turn to be embarrassed.

She dispelled the Fireball in her hand. "I was just joking. There’s nothing to teach."

She knew Chester Pearson often acted without any sense of shame.

But she didn’t know he was *this* shameless.

Unexpectedly, Chester Pearson wouldn’t let it go.

"I’m not joking. Even if I surpass you in the future, I promise I won’t treat you unfairly."

’Surpass me? If he doesn’t die so soon, it’s certainly possible.’

Nina Jacobs looked at the supremely confident Chester Pearson but ultimately didn’t agree.

"I’m not interested in taking on any disciples. I really did do it in self-defense, and I had already warned him. If you still want to pursue this, have the relevant department issue a formal writ and bring it to me."

Nina Jacobs stood up.

She was tired.

The appearance of these people was unexpected, including Liam Grant and Renee Strong.

After Nina Jacobs returned to the old house, she found that Liam Grant and Renee Strong had indeed gone to find Shannon Renner.

Nina Jacobs took out a bag of sunflower seeds and started snacking as she listened in.

’I wonder if these three will reveal any key information.’

"So you came back too, just as I thought."

In the room with just the three of them, Renee Strong was desperate to know what was going on.

"Is Nina Jacobs the same as you?"

Liam Grant’s biggest concern was whether Nina Jacobs had also been reborn.

Shannon Renner looked at the two eager faces before her and couldn’t help but start laughing.

She laughed until tears streamed down her face.

"Are you two idiots? This is hilarious. If she had really been reborn, she would have killed me long ago. Don’t you get it? She saved me today, just like before. She saved me!"

Shannon Renner’s expression was rapturous, as if she were still savoring the memory.

"What do you mean? You’re not planning to come with us?"

Renee Strong couldn’t quite figure Shannon Renner out anymore.

The old Shannon Renner had been the quietest one in the group. She rarely spoke, and because she was older than the others, she always handled all the logistics for the team by herself.

Renee had also discovered by chance that Shannon had always hated Nina Jacobs.

Because of Nina, she hadn’t been able to save her own daughter.

But the current Shannon Renner was acting very strangely.

’Is it because she was reborn?’

"Go with you?"

Shannon Renner’s voice rose.

"Can you two even compare to Nina Jacobs? As long as I can stay by her side, with her status, I won’t have to suffer so much anymore!"

In her past life, Shannon Renner had blamed all the pain of losing her daughter on Nina Jacobs.

Perhaps it was due to her obsession that she had been reborn into this life, back to that very moment.

But the outcome was still the same.

She realized that her own survival instinct had made her abandon her daughter and husband.

It had nothing to do with Nina Jacobs.