Chapter 288: Disguised Identity

Speaking of Riventon Base, Nina Jacobs recalled that the Aidan Keaton from her past life had indeed mentioned she was from there.

As the two of them grew closer, Aidan Keaton eventually told her that she had come to City D because she couldn’t stay at Riventon Base any longer.

She had wanted to avenge a friend, but was discovered and had to flee.

As for the details of the grudge, Aidan Keaton had seemed too grief-stricken to speak of it, so Nina Jacobs hadn’t pressed the issue.

"The leader of Riventon Base is Justin Stone. He even came to the Superpower User tournament."

"What an annoying, arrogant guy," Shirley Lucas said, as if remembering something.

"In that case, I have a proposal."

"What is it?" Shirley Lucas asked.

"We’ll use fake identities."

’Since we’re not in City D anymore, we’re no longer the City D rescue team,’ Nina Jacobs thought.

"I’m an expert at this! Summer, don’t you know me by now?"

Shirley Lucas said, switching completely to a female voice.

The others in the car were instantly petrified. Jessica Vance stared at him in astonishment. ’How is his voice more feminine than mine?’

"You don’t have to dress up as a woman," Nina Jacobs said helplessly.

Worried about losing time in Aethelgard, Nina Jacobs gave it her all on the journey.

She didn’t even need anyone else to get out of the car when they ran into small zombie hordes; she would handle them all herself.

Combined with the system map guiding them, the group arrived near Aethelgard before evening.

"Everyone, remember: we’re not from City D, and we’re definitely not from City D Base."

Adrian Shaw told everyone after they got out and assembled.

He agreed with Nina Jacobs’s idea; it was best to avoid causing trouble for their own base.

"So, where are we from then?"

A team member named Beaumont Wallace asked. They had to get their story straight, right?

"..."

Adrian Shaw actually hadn’t considered that.

’Based on the direction we came from...’

"City F. We’re from Falken Base."

Nina Jacobs answered, her expression unchanging.

"Right! We’re from Falken Base," Adrian Shaw said at once.

It wasn’t just because of Nina Jacobs; he also recalled some things his subordinates had reported recently.

During their few days in City D, the people from Falken Base had secretly made off with some of City D’s supplies.

It had infuriated him, but he hadn’t wanted to cause a scene and ruin the peaceful relationship, so he’d held his tongue.

"Understood. We’ll cooperate," Beaumont Wallace replied.

After the past two days, they weren’t impressed by anyone except Nina Jacobs.

Because no one else had managed to keep every single one of them alive like she had.

Aethelgard was a long, narrow city on the map. To get inside, you had to take an intercity highway.

But right now, that highway was blocked.

Following Trevor’s group’s directions, the three vehicles reached an intersection, only for several silver chains to suddenly shoot out and block their path.

If the drivers hadn’t reacted so quickly, the chains would have wrapped around their wheels.

A group of people appeared in front of the chains.

The group wore matching uniforms, and their eyes were all hostile.

"Who are you people?"

The man leading them was stocky. Behind them stood four large armored vehicles.

"They’re the ones who stopped us before," Trevor whispered to Nina Jacobs. He didn’t remember their faces, but he definitely remembered the vehicles.

"Why block the road? Can we not pass through here?" Adrian Shaw stepped forward, feigning confusion.

"You can’t take this road. It’s crawling with zombies up ahead. You’ll have to take the beltway," the man answered.

"If we run into zombies, we’ll just kill them. So why are you blocking the road?" Adrian Shaw asked.

"You can’t pass means you can’t pass. Cut the crap."

The man was clearly losing his patience.

"Hey, man, it’s about to get dark. We’re just looking for a place to crash for the night. We have to get back on the road first thing tomorrow."

Shirley Lucas held back Adrian Shaw, who looked about to lose his temper, and pulled two cartons of cigarettes from his space, pressing them into the man’s hands.

The man took the cigarettes, and his expression softened slightly. "You’re a Space Superpower User?" he asked.

When Shirley Lucas nodded, the man’s eyes swept over the rest of the group who had gotten out of their vehicles.

"Where are you headed?" the man asked.

"We’re going to Riventon Base," Shirley Lucas replied. He had studied the map; this was the most direct route to Riventon Base.

"Why leave a perfectly good place like Falken Base to come all the way to our Riventon Base?" another man from behind him asked.

The question left Shirley Lucas speechless, but then Nina Jacobs stepped forward. "We’re here on business," she said. "We’re a trade caravan."

"A trade caravan?"

The man looked as if he’d never heard the term before.

Nina Jacobs nodded. "Our base recently acquired a shipment of solar power equipment. We heard there might be a market for it at Riventon Base, so we thought we’d come take a look."

After hearing what Nina Jacobs said, the men stepped aside to confer with each other.

Shirley Lucas discreetly gave Nina Jacobs a thumbs-up.

’Looks like this might work.’

As the sky grew darker, the men seemed to have reached a decision. One of them glanced at Nina Jacobs before walking back over:

"My name’s David Rowan. We just talked it over. Why don’t you all stay at our camp tonight?"

"You have a camp here?" Shirley Lucas cut in, feigning curiosity.

"Of course we do."

David Rowan used his Superpower to retract the chains blocking the road. He pointed down the intercity highway and said,

"Our temporary camp is just five hundred meters ahead."

’A camp on the highway?’

Adrian Shaw and the others exchanged glances. He then asked,

"How many people are in your camp?"

"Not many. About three hundred, including us. What, afraid we’re going to eat you?"

As David Rowan spoke, the men behind him all started to laugh.

"No, thank you. We’ll just find another route," Nina Jacobs said.

"I agree."

Adrian Shaw turned to leave as soon as he heard her.

David Rowan clearly hadn’t expected them to refuse. He quickly called out,

"If you really don’t want to, you can stay just outside our camp. There happen to be some empty buildings nearby, as long as you’re not afraid of zombies at night."

Seeing Nina Jacobs, who had already turned away, pause, another man tried to persuade them:

"Yeah, Aethelgard is sealed off, but there are hundreds of thousands of zombies in there. Are you really not scared?"

Jessica Vance gasped from the side. "That many?"

"Of course! We’re guarding this place to stop those zombies from breaking out. It’s so late, we just couldn’t bear to watch you go to your deaths."

Conrad Hawthorne introduced himself to the group as well.

Seeing this, Jessica Vance said, "Maybe... we should just stay near these guys’ camp for tonight?"

She only said this because she had just received a meaningful look from Nina Jacobs.

Clearly, their little act had dispelled the men’s suspicions.

After hearing her words, Nina Jacobs nodded. "We will leave tomorrow. We appreciate your help."

"No problem at all. Say, pretty ladies, how about we become friends?"

Conrad Hawthorne had just started to sidle over when a mountain of a man blocked his path.

Wayne Warner was staring at him, his face completely devoid of expression.

Only after the group had left, following one of his men, did David Rowan let out a cold laugh:

"Pretty cautious, aren’t they."

"Could they have made it all the way from City F if they weren’t? The real question is how many good things we can squeeze out of them," Conrad Hawthorne said.