Establishing a base is indeed a way to acquire a large amount of supplies and Crystal Cores, not to mention Gold.

In her past life, Zachary Ziegler had indeed succeeded.

"If everything goes smoothly, can you leave Zachary Ziegler to me?" Nina Jacobs asked.

"You know him?"

Mordecai Quinn was a little surprised. Come to think of it, he knew almost nothing about the Nina Jacobs standing before him.

"I don’t. I just have a few questions for these Zieglers."

Nina Jacobs replied.

"Be careful. The Ziegler Family is an Ancient Martial Clan with deep and tangled roots. I heard they have a secret family art, a prophecy technique that can be used to find people."

"A prophecy technique?"

Nina Jacobs turned her head. ’Like the prophecy Magnus York mentioned?’

"I have an investigation report back at my place. I’ll get it for you later.

Anyway, if you want something done, leave it to me. After all, there are only two of you."

Mordecai Quinn didn’t have time to explain further, as his plans were already beginning to bear fruit.

Just then, a group of people, centered around one person, started walking toward him.

"Abbott, you’re here."

Mordecai Quinn went to greet the man sitting in the wheelchair at the center of the group.

The man looked to be in his fifties. Though extremely thin and frail, his spirits were high. However, one of his pant legs was empty.

"I’m here! You rascal, I knew you wouldn’t die so easily! HA HA HA."

The man called Abbott said, clapping Mordecai Quinn heartily on the shoulder.

"Is everything arranged for what’s next?"

A young man pushing the wheelchair asked.

Mordecai Quinn nodded, then said, "I was on the verge of death. These two saved my life."

With that, he walked over to Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner to make the introductions.

"My name is Blaise Abbott. On behalf of the old commander, I thank you both."

After hearing Mordecai Quinn’s words, Blaise Abbott’s expression filled with gratitude. He bowed deeply to the two of them from his wheelchair.

"You’re too kind. I’m Nina Jacobs, and this is my friend, Wayne Warner."

Nina Jacobs realized Mordecai Quinn wasn’t in such a miserable state after all. Including the group from just now, a considerable number of people were following Blaise Abbott.

’They all seem to be his supporters.’

"Abbott fought side-by-side with my father to get here. Meridia Base belongs as much to him as it did to my dad."

Mordecai Quinn explained.

He looked toward the people gathering in the nearby square and said, "There’s still a hard battle to fight today."

"Go on and get busy. Don’t worry about us,"

Nina Jacobs said.

She had no intention of getting involved in Meridia Base’s affairs.

However, worried that the Zieglers would come looking for trouble with Nina Jacobs, Mordecai Quinn still called over two people to stay near her.

One was a Speed Element Superpower User, so he could be contacted quickly if anything happened.

Nina Jacobs felt a bit exasperated but didn’t say anything.

She wanted to see if Mordecai Quinn could turn the tables.

"Did you hear? Commander Quinn said everyone gets three days’ worth of supplies today, Superpower Users and regular people alike."

"That’s not possible. I heard that both Daniel Lewis and the Commander came back empty-handed this time."

Nina Jacobs found a spot on the fringes and, along with Wayne Warner, listened with great interest to the surrounding chatter.

"Miss Jacobs, we found two suspicious individuals following you. We’ve brought them here."

Ronan Rowan, the Speed Element Superpower User, said as he walked up to Nina Jacobs’ side.

’Someone was following them?’

’Could the Zieglers be trying to take this opportunity to get revenge?’

Nina Jacobs quickly dismissed the idea. The Zieglers should be busy dealing with Mordecai Quinn right now.

Ronan Rowan led her to the back of a nearby building.

The two people were already tied up tightly with vines by Alice Gallagher, the Wood Element Ability User.

"It’s you?"

Nina Jacobs said, looking at the two on the ground in surprise.

It was none other than Atticus and Cyril Vance, the two men she had met on Mornfell.

"You were looking for me?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

On Mornfell, these men had repeatedly run into hordes of Mutated Animals, and she had used them as live bait to draw the creatures out.

"The Celestial Saint, it’s really you."

Atticus became excited the moment he saw Nina Jacobs.

"Speak clearly. Why were you following Miss Jacobs?"

Alice Gallagher kicked Atticus.

"We don’t mean any harm! We just wanted to ask The Celestial Saint for help. We have nowhere else to go."

Atticus explained hastily.

"Where are the others from your group?" Nina Jacobs asked.

"Dead."

Cyril Vance said, his expression somewhat dazed. "After we got back, we were supposed to..."

Before he could finish, Atticus cut him off.

"We were doing a job for someone and got double-crossed! They wanted to kill us to silence us. Mr. Coleman, Valen, and the others were all murdered!"

"Is that so?"

Nina Jacobs already understood what had happened.

"How do you want me to help you?"

’Is it because I killed all those Mutated Animals over and over that day? Did that make these two think I love meddling in other people’s business?’

Atticus glanced at Alice Gallagher and Ronan Rowan, then said, "If those people find out we’re still alive, they’ll definitely come to kill us.

We want to ask you for help. Just help us escape the base, that’s all."

The entrances and exits of Meridia Base were all guarded. The two of them were penniless and had no way to leave the base unnoticed.

"Miss Jacobs, don’t listen to them. These two are not good people."

Ronan Rowan said.

He didn’t know Cyril Vance, but he recognized Atticus as a completely unscrupulous, profit-driven opportunist.

"Good people, bad people, who cares? Are there any good people left in this world? Besides The Celestial Saint, of course."

Atticus said with a fawning smile directed at Nina Jacobs.

They had only realized she was also at Meridia Base when they saw Nina Jacobs teaching Eleanor Ziegler a lesson earlier.

In their eyes, Nina Jacobs was a fool who loved to play the hero. They were certain that if they just explained their predicament, she would definitely help them.

Nina Jacobs looked down at the two of them.

"You were hired to harm someone that day, weren’t you?

Let me guess... if the person you were supposed to harm was Mordecai Quinn, then the one who hired you must have been his rival, right?"

Hearing Nina Jacobs’ words, the expressions of everyone present changed.

That included Alice Gallagher and Ronan Rowan.

"What are you talking about? We don’t understand."

A flicker of panic crossed Atticus’s eyes. ’How could she possibly know that?’

"So now, you’re not just afraid of being found by his rival, you’re also afraid of being found by Mordecai Quinn.

In this base, there’s no room for you to survive. That’s why you want to escape, right?"

’In the photo that fell from the backpack they left behind that day, one of the people must have been a younger Mordecai Quinn.

The other person was someone she had seen on the memorial monument at the entrance to Meridia Base yesterday—that must have been the deceased former commander.

Combined with what Mordecai Quinn had said, he fell into a coma after drinking drugged water.

He woke up to find himself in the belly of a snake.

This must have been their handiwork.

They fed Mordecai Quinn to a snake.

Then they rushed down the mountain to claim their reward, only to find that not only would they not be paid, but they would be killed to be silenced.’

"You... you... you know Mordecai Quinn?

But aren’t you an outsider? Wait... Mordecai Quinn was as good as dead, but now he’s alive and well. Was it you?"

It finally dawned on Atticus.

That day, Nina Jacobs hadn’t just saved them—she had saved Mordecai Quinn, too?!

That was why she had come to Meridia Base.

They had walked right into a trap!!

"We were wrong! We never should have done something like that."

Atticus burst into tears, snot and all.

"Who hired you to do this?"

Nina Jacobs asked.