Chapter 578: Going to Demand Someone

Myra Lawson had been harboring a lot of pent-up anger regarding Falken Base’s recent actions. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have immediately dispatched Chester Pearson to demand their people back the moment she heard the news.

When she saw a certain person walking through the door, she couldn’t hide her surprise. "Nina Jacobs? You’re finally back!"

"Yes, I went on a long trip," Nina replied.

"It’s good to have you back. You must have heard by now?" Myra said, somehow feeling that Nina looked a bit different.

Nina nodded. "I heard about Chester. Wayne Warner and I are planning to make a trip to Falken Base right now, but..."

City D Base had granted her the highest privileges. They even responded to the sudden appearance of her friend with the utmost efficiency. However, since this involved relations between the two bases, Nina felt she still needed to report her intentions to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Just do whatever you need to do. Kael Dolan is simply a lost cause!" Myra said.

Even before the extreme cold hit, they had noticed people from Falken Base frequently encroaching on City D’s territory to snatch supplies. After the base ratings were established, they had outright escalated to poaching people. They offered lavish rewards to any Intermediate Superpower User willing to relocate and develop at Falken Base.

However, many of the Superpower Users who managed to advance to the intermediate level at City D Base had benefited directly from the base’s resources—such as the Mystic Ice Cores. On top of that, the base had made it clear: anyone who left to join another base would permanently sever all ties with City D Base. Most of those Superpower Users knew better than to bite the hand that fed them, so very few were lured away.

Nevertheless, these incidents caused a complete fallout between the two bases. Kael continued to do as he pleased, stationing people along all the routes leading to City D Base to ambush Superpower Users. Whenever they spotted an Intermediate Superpower User, they would invite them over under the guise of being guests. Still, wary of truly angering City D Base, they had refrained from using outright force.

"In that case, I won’t hold back." Having received Myra’s approval, Nina had nothing left to worry about.

Watching Nina leave, Myra sighed. "If I weren’t so busy, I’d really want to go with her." She was actually looking forward to seeing what Nina might do to knock Kael down a peg.

The journey from City D Base to Falken Base wasn’t particularly far. Since the roads had already been cleared, the system map estimated a travel time of just half a day. However, the ride was anything but quiet.

Knowing she was heading to Falken Base to demand their people back, Leo Hale followed her everywhere. Under Leo’s persistent badgering, Nina had no choice but to bring him along.

"To be honest, the Intermediate Superpower Users at the base have been quite restless over the past few months," Leo babbled. "The terms Kael is offering are incredibly tempting. With rewards that generous, anyone would be swayed.

"If our base hadn’t been rewarding Superpower Users with Mystic Ice Cores, a whole batch of them probably would have left already.

"Oh, right! Do you feel any different now that you’ve advanced to an Advanced Superpower? Like, do you feel as if you have all energies surging through your body?

"Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone outside about your advancement. It’s just the three of us here. But how are you planning to conceal your true strength?

"Maybe we’ll even run into Mr. Pearson and the others later..."

Nina didn’t find his non-stop chatter annoying, simply replying, "Knowing Chester’s personality, he’s probably already causing a scene at their base."

A scene?

"You mean they’re refusing to let our people go?" Leo paused, his expression turning indignant. "They’re just a measly Level One Base! Aren’t they afraid City D Base will swallow them whole?"

City D Base was a Tier Three Base. In addition to having protective jurisdiction over Falken Base, it also possessed administrative authority and could even formally apply to absorb it—essentially, a hostile takeover.

Where did Kael get the nerve? Or perhaps, City D Base had simply been too lenient with them.

Nina shook her head. "Under the extreme cold, everything has ground to a halt. They know this full well, which is why they want to seize the opportunity to quickly elevate their base’s strength and level."

Kael was definitely worried about whether City D Base would let them off the hook once the extreme cold passed.

"That makes sense. Our Drakonia has always advocated that harmony is paramount, and there’s no precedent for such a takeover anyway..."

Meanwhile, inside Falken Base, a tense standoff was unfolding just past the main gate.

It was only after Chester arrived that he discovered two of City D Base’s few Intermediate Superpower Users had already defected to Falken Base. To make matters worse, Kael had deliberately sent people to parade those two traitors right in front of him to show off.

"Vincent Stone, do you have any idea how much manpower the base wasted trying to find you?!" Chester barked, glaring at the perfectly intact Vincent Stone.

Vincent was an Intermediate Gold Element Superpower User from City D Base. Previously, City D Base had selected a group of talented Superpower Users and granted them the privilege to apply for Mystic Ice Cores. Vincent had been one of those applicants.

The base had subsequently invested significant resources to carefully cultivate this select group, asking for nothing more than for them to contribute to the base in return. Yet, Vincent had vanished a month ago. Believing he had met with an accident, the people at the base had dispatched numerous search parties to find him.

And here he was, living it up at Falken Base?!

Vincent’s face flashed with guilt.

"Captain Pearson, a wise man knows to seek greener pastures," Irene Palmer said loudly and deliberately. "Our base provided him with years’ worth of supplies and Crystal Cores upfront, along with substantial monthly rewards. Since Mr. Stone came to us, he’s been feasting like a king at every meal. Just look how much stronger he’s gotten!"

Chase Gallagher glanced around. He knew Irene was only saying this to gloat in front of the people from City D Base, but her words caused the onlookers in the nearby shantytown to visibly pale.

Over the past two days, Chester’s group had learned about the situation here. Falken Base did not have heating like City D Base. Following the extreme cold, most people had lost any means of making a living, forcing many to reside in the shantytowns. Recently, the free porridge rations had been cut off for several consecutive days, and an increasing number of corpses were being hauled out of the shanties.

Seeing Chester and his team remain silent, Irene continued, "Our Falken Base isn’t short on supplies. No matter how many Superpower Strongmen come to us, we can afford to feed them all. We can provide them with lavish feasts every day. Rest assured, Captain Pearson, we would never allow the talents you trained to suffer the slightest grievance."

Chester let out a cold laugh. "Whether they live well or not is none of our business. But you, Vincent, had someone report a fake death notice for yourself. Our base doesn’t give a damn about people like you, who are either hopelessly stupid or purely malicious."

"There’s no need to be so harsh, Captain Pearson. I just realized later on that I was a better fit here," Vincent muttered, severely lacking in confidence.

"Stay wherever the hell you want. We’re here to demand our people back, and it has nothing to do with you two ungrateful wretches. Tell Kael to come out and hand over the people we came for!" Chester snapped impatiently.

They had arrived at Falken Base the evening before last. However, an entire day had passed yesterday, and Kael had continuously avoided meeting them. That was why Chester had simply decided to make a scene today.

"Captain Pearson, we’ve already explained this. They killed our people. It’s only reasonable that we refuse to release them, right?" a man standing next to Irene said.

Godfrey Thatcher retorted, "You were clearly the ones who attacked first! Were we supposed to just sit there and let you kill us without fighting back?"

If Holly Morgan hadn’t reacted quickly, they would have been the ones dead!