Confusion was apparent on everyone’s faces, and they stared at the man with impatience as he deliberately teased them, dragging on his last word. Zerra waited for the man to utter his next word. Someone they were familiar with? Who was it? Dıscover more novels at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽 The man had a gleeful look on his face, seemingly happy he elicited reactions from them. He repeated his words a few times, only stopping when he was about to mention the name. It made them impatient, and Nyra couldn’t help but step forward, pulling his collar. She demanded roughly, "Say it." "Alright." He had a mocking look on his face. "Since you asked for it..." Seeing the man’s relieved expression, Zerra’s pupils constricted. She had a bad feeling about this. And her premonition was truly on point. "His name is–" The man uttered some intelligible words. They couldn’t make out because he had exploded into bits of flesh and splashes of blood. The red color splashed onto the people nearest to him, who were Cassias and Nyra. Their expressions weren’t good. Everyone was stunned. "What did he say before he exploded? I didn’t catch it." Zerra’s face was twisted. Now, she was more than fifty percent sure there was someone from the celestial realm in this round of reincarnation! The person had cast a master-slave contract with the man too. Just as he was about to betray and utter the person’s name, he suddenly exploded. As if the other party’s name was forbidden or the man had rebellious intentions. Either way, the man was dead now, and their only source of information was gone. Unfortunately, with such control the person behind the man had over him, it was unknown whether the information he provided was accurate or not. With the lead gone, they had no choice but to drop the matter for now. The group went back to the forest, helping the wounded people to get out of the place. "How is it? Did you find the scientist the person was talking about?" Lieutenant Colonel Dalton asked. But when he saw their gloomy aura permeating the group, he had already found the answer. "The man exploded just like the monster before. It’s unknown what kind of witchcraft they had cast on him," Laziel explained. Lieutenant Colonel Dalton wasn’t surprised. "Let’s just go back. There might be more chances to deal with them in the future." The scientist they were talking about seemed to have a massive ambition in his heart, so he would surely cause more ruckus in the future. "He said we should know who the scientist is." Nyra added, revealing a thoughtful expression. Lieutenant Colonel Dalton’s eyebrows knitted together when he heard that. "All of you, or did he say to one of you in particular?" "He should be referring to all of us," Cassias boldly claimed. "Then, the person behind him should be someone with a prominent position in the Research Institute." When he said this, Lieutenant Colonel Dalton’s gaze swept over Derek, who had been quietly listening to their conversation. "Do you have someone in mind, Mr. Ashford?" Derek pursed his lips. "Lieutenant Colonel, there are a lot of scientists in our Research Institute. It could be anyone. I don’t dare make a claim and falsely accuse anyone." There were too many researchers who secretly supported using any kind of experimental subjects, even involving humans. They just didn’t make a lot of noise about it, and whether they had truly conducted the human experiment still remained unknown. He couldn’t just sell out these people’s names, or else it would lead to more chaos and estrangement in the organization if someone pointed fingers at one another. They might even miss the real culprit, who manipulated everyone behind the scenes. "I’ll be sure to inform you if we catch the culprit," Derek added. "Our chief also does not agree with such inhuman experiments." Amorric was a little more sober after almost a day, but his body was still burning up. They put him on a stretcher and brought him out of the forest. As they encountered more ability users, they also helped others to evacuate. They didn’t stay in the residential area for long. After giving treatment to some injured people, they brought their people back. Soon, everyone received the news that Zerra had come back alive. They secretly apologized in their hearts for scolding their lieutenant general as delusional and crazy before. In the car, Zerra helped Amora to apply the medicinal paste on Amorric bruised skin. She secretly used her wood power of vitality on him, and when he was about to drink the medicinal concoction, she made sure to add the spring water from Cassias and some vitality power. They would enhance the effect of the medicine. "Thank you, Zizi," Amora muttered, a little weary. Her face was still full of anxiety. When her eyes landed on Amorric, she always looked like she was about to cry, but desperately she was holding it back. When they arrived at the base, Derek came to her with William’s help. The latter had discontent all over his face. "Zerra," Derek called out awkwardly. She blinked, waiting for him to speak. "I-I hope you wouldn’t misunderstand. It wasn’t me who had set the whole thing up," he paused. "If only I had known the person would send so many of his people and ended up betraying us, I wouldn’t have brought so many people." The usually calm and collected Derek had shame painted all over his face. He fixed his glasses, a little nervous as he waited for Zerra’s answer. She exhaled. Derek had done to the best of his capability. The fact that the person could send a lot of ability users from various research departments showed how deep the person’s mind was. "No, it’s not your fault. The person is too cunning." She shook her head. "No one could have predicted that the ability users would stab us in the back." They conversed a little more before Zerra went back to her car. Her parents were waiting for her. They almost stuck to her all the time ever since they reunited at the residential area. She even had to make excuses to deal with Amorric’s injury or just to have a little talk with Derek. Especially when they heard the latter had come from the Research Institute. They didn’t have a good impression of them, especially when they heard about secretive human experiments. "Zee," Nerith pulled her daughter into a hug again the moment Zerra stepped inside. "Why are you still running around so much? You must be tired." "Let’s go back home." Alaric immediately decided. Seeing their expressions, she couldn’t refute them anymore. Because unlike Cassias, their fatigue didn’t recover quickly. The signs of exhaustion were clear on their faces, as if they had aged a few years in just a few months. They must have been worried sick waiting for her news for the past few days. She was feeling a little guilty because of this. "Let’s go home." She smiled and nodded. Alaric called over his other two children. Nyra didn’t want to go home yet. She stayed at the base, discussing something with Sean. Laziel entered the car, watching the sleeping Zerra with a face full of emotion. She was leaning against Nerith’s shoulder. He still remembered that he had wronged her and still hadn’t completely earned her forgiveness yet, but then she disappeared. The moment he had misunderstood her was still fresh in his mind. He suppressed his emotions, nodding at his dad, who gestured to him to stay quiet. Cassias has given him a small space bracelet, only 5 x 5 meters wide, but it was better than nothing. Inside it, he had the crystal cores he had promised her. He knew she would return, so he made a lot of effort to make sure he gathered enough for her. He didn’t know where Cassias had gotten the space bracelet from, but even his parents had a pair. Well, even though they had handed out one as a reward for finding Zerra now. In his mind, Cassias had become more mysterious. He had changed a lot since the apocalypse started. Cassias could easily breeze through any danger. Laziel had sensed a massive change in his friend. He just didn’t know what kind of change it was. Zerra woke up the moment she arrived home. Her eyes were full of bewilderment when she found Cassias entering the house. He must have followed them home when she fell asleep. "It’s already too late," he smiled innocently. "Your parents say it’s not safe for me to travel alone." Her mouth twitched. As if she’d believe that! Laziel, who passed by, looked at him with a strange gaze. Cassias, however, wasn’t affected. Laziel ignored them and went to the kitchen to check whether he needed to wash the dishes. There wasn’t any in the kitchen. Then, he suddenly remembered he hadn’t given his little sister the crystal cores he promised her. Now that he had the space bracelet, he wasn’t that poor anymore. But when he arrived in the living room, he flinched and nearly wet himself. There was an uninvited guest. A tiger was roaring loudly at him.