She was planning to go back to people’s residences to see if she could find someone. "I’ll go back to find my teammates," she muttered. Currently, it was unknown where they were. She suspected that they might have gotten out on the other side of the forest, opposite from where the residence was. "We can accompany you," Derek trailed off. "No," she shook her head. "You should go back quickly to report. Those people must have noticed the ability users from the base entering lately, so they might move soon." "But..." his forehead was filled with wrinkles. It was already dark, and leaving a girl alone was... "Miss Zerra is powerful, Mr. Ashford. She will be fine." An ability user helped to persuade Derek. With others helping to convince him, Derek finally agreed with some reluctance. He would leave first to report to his organization to capture these people. Why didn’t she capture them herself or use zombie animals to deal with them? Because her remaining power wasn’t sufficient for that. The distance and duration where she could control them was also limited. She needed some time to replenish her energy. "I might still be around here when you come back." She bid them farewell. When Derek listened to that, he knew she was making up reasons. She didn’t want to go with them, but they also couldn’t force her. As soon as they were gone, she took her time to sleep, accompanied by the tiger, who had appeared from the bushes. It has secretly followed them. "If there’s anything, wake me up." She sat on its back, hugging the tiger and the baby, and then closed her eyes. She believed the tiger would find a safe space for them to take a rest. The tiger was very careful. Its movement was smooth as it leaped into the woods, trying not to disturb Zerra’s rest. Not long after, it found a cave and went inside. Zerra sensed the tiger stopping and opened her eyes. She prepared herself for sleep; some pillows and a blanket. As she hugged the baby tiger and its mother, she drifted off. The night flew by so fast, and by the time she woke up, she felt as if she hadn’t slept enough. She wanted to curl up further, immersing herself in the tiger’s warmth, yet the commotion outside stopped her from doing so. Her sharp senses caught the presence of some people, all ability users. She washed up and prepared herself to go outside. They weren’t familiar, meaning they weren’t the same ability users as the ones in the wooden hut. Skillfully, she mingled among them to find their purpose. "Don’t wander alone, or else you might be besieged by mutated animals." "Lieutenant General Virethorn told us to get rid of all the mutated animals here, so he should have a purpose for it." They kept on talking, and she instantly understood she had met the ability users from the base. If she continued to stick with them, she might be able to meet Laziel and others soon. She just felt bad she wouldn’t be able to meet Derek again here. However, she could still ask him how his mission of getting rid of all the audacious researchers using his name was going... Before she fell asleep, Daniel’s odd face stuck in her mind. His bloated face seemed so strange. His skin darkened, and fur grew on his face. He no longer resembled a human. She still held a suspicion that he was the one who had let the zombies into her observation room. "Eh!?" Someone let out a surprised yelp. She held her hand to her chest and chided, "You nearly scared me." Zerra sent her a puzzled look. "Oh gosh! Don’t appear so suddenly beside me like that." She breathed out. "Sorry..." Zerra touched her nose, a little embarrassed. "But, I haven’t seen you around..." the female ability user had a confused look on her face. Zerra’s eyes flashed, and she thought of a reason quickly. "Sister... I saw a cute rabbit and wandered off from my group, but luckily I found your group." The tall girl blinked, and after she processed Zerra’s words, she had a look of pity. Still, she scolded her a little. "You... Your group leader must have repeatedly reminded you that you should always stick to your group. This forest is too dangerous to be alone. A lot of people have gone missing." Zerra lowered her head. "Yes, I was wrong." The tall girl let out a sigh. She couldn’t scold Zerra any longer upon seeing her admitting her mistakes so readily. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovelfire.net "Then stay close to me and don’t wander again." She decided. Then, she asked, "What’s your name?" Zerra answered, "You can call me... Zizi." The girl sent her a strange look. It sounded like a nickname, but she didn’t pressure Zerra to reveal her real name either. Nonetheless, she nodded and introduced herself. "You can call me Amora." "Let’s move. There are no more mutated animals here." A burly man who seemed to be this group leader called out. They all followed him, and soon, they noticed Zerra too after she no longer tried to mask her presence with the illusion. Unexpectedly, the back mushroom’s illusion was more potent than she expected. The black liquid hurt her hand a bit. There were some burn marks when she woke up, but the power was worth it. She was most curious about the power of time and space hidden within. If she could study it, maybe she could get her inner space to improve soon. Amora brought her to the group leader. "You were missing from your group?" He scrutinized her. Zerra nodded. "I got separated from my group when I saw a mutated rabbit..." She didn’t care that they regarded her as stupid for such a reason. It would even lessen their initial vigilance of her. She was just a silly girl stranded in a forest... " then. Don’t get separated from the group again." The burly, red-headed man warned. Amora, who didn’t seem to trust her sense of direction, walked beside her to keep an eye on her. "Sister Amora, how long should we be in this forest?" Zerra asked, pretending to be oblivious. The woman knitted her eyebrows. "For our group, we should stay here until we find the missing person." "Eh, someone is missing?" Zerra raised her eyebrows. "Yes." Amora nodded. "Did you come with the previous batch? Their task was only for exterminating mutated animals, but for our group, we need to find someone too." They were quite strict regarding keeping their people together, not allowing anyone to fall behind. Were they looking for someone who was lost in the previous batch, like they said? So, Zerra obediently followed the group. She didn’t make any useless moves, like when they met a group of mutated animals. She wouldn’t attack unless the mutated animal attacked her first. If they were within the range she could control, she would control them too. "If you meet any opponent you can’t handle, just shout for help," Amora reminded her. Zerra’s soft appearance was truly deceiving. Amora didn’t even think the reason Zerra could survive alone previously in the forest. Of course, she didn’t know about the tiger. When she exited the cave, Zerra had told it to stay put and not follow her. However, the tiger was unwilling, so it ended up following them from a distance. Zerra nodded obediently at Amora’s kind words and gave her a soft smile. "Of course, Sister Amora." They continued walking through the forest until nighttime came again. Zerra suddenly thought of Derek. Had he come to crash the wooden hut for their experiment yet? She suddenly regretted that she didn’t wait for him. Now, she couldn’t go that easily anymore, or it might increase their burden to search for her. "We have been here for two days." The red head leader set up a tent at night. He announced, "If our search yields no result again tomorrow, we should go back first." "Everyone should take a rest tonight. We will set off early tomorrow." After they had a meal at night, everyone entered their tents. Amora let Zerra stick with her. Everyone looked extremely exhausted after a day of searching. They did that without rest, walking for hours. She noticed that although they were exterminating a lot of mutated animals, their primary mission seemed to be searching for the missing person. It made her grow more curious. Who was this missing person? "Sister Amora." She opened her mouth. Her eyes brimmed with curiosity, like a cat. "Actually, who are we searching for? Is it a mission from the base?" Amora turned to her. The fire from the outside had long died down, and it was dark all around. The scarlet moon shone from above. And even as the sole light, it was blocked by the tent. "Hmm, yes, it’s a mission from Lieutenant General Virethorn himself." Zerra scrunched her face, getting more suspicious as Amora continued her words. In the darkness, she couldn’t see Amora’s face. "We are looking for his cousin’s fiancée. Her name is Zerra Sylvaris." Holy crap! Zerra choked.