They almost didn’t recognize his figure. He looked worse than the homeless people before the apocalypse! "Yes, it’s me, Jake." He shivered. Others approached the two. These people who weren’t familiar with Jake sent him curious gazes. Although there were some people who rarely cleaned themselves and looked dirty, they were no match for him. His face was smeared with a kind of mud. They had dried up, and perhaps that was what was making it hard for him to get rid of them. The dirt was sticking to his skin. In fact, his clothes were the same. He looked like he had fallen into some kind of ditch. "What happened to you?" Laziel’s eyes widened. He almost couldn’t recognize him either! Jake sent him a wry smile. His mouth opened, yet no words came out. He didn’t know where to begin. "Let’s find somewhere else to talk," Cassias interrupted. They all immediately came to their senses. Sean, others, and the Sylvaris’ siblings’ parents were still curious about this person. "Let’s go to the hospital," Jake sighed. He led them away, heading toward the hospital without making any explanation. However, they met another familiar person on the way there. Daisy, someone they had saved from the village residential area when she was trapped in a house full of zombies. Unlike her previous personality, it was as if she were completely a different person as she faced Jake. In fact, she went straight for him while disregarding everyone else. "Jake, have you considered it?" Perhaps it was the fact that the closer they were to the hospital, the fewer people they saw. Daisy didn’t lower her voice, even when she mentioned certain things. "Let’s join the Brown family. Out of all of us who have come here, you are the only one who has a different opinion." Her face was full of frowns. "If this drags on, it will be dangerous for you. You know very well why they are still tolerating you right now." "If not for the fact that you approached this city’s base leaders and gave us a chance to have a better life here, they wouldn’t have tolerated you at all." Jake’s attention turned to Daisy, his face became extremely complex. "Look at you now." Daisy shook her head. "They even kicked you out. How do you even get food to eat?" He didn’t respond, but his eyes flitted to the surrounding people. Daisy still had a displeased look on her face. However, her gaze also followed the direction he was staring at, and... she froze for a moment. Obviously, she recognized these people. "W-what are you all doing here?" She instinctively took a step back. Zerra recalled Daisy’s power when they brought her out of that room. She had one of the lowest powers, but looking at her now... compared to Jake, she had become more powerful than him. There was no need to guess what kind of method she was using since she had come here to coax Jake to join the Brown family’s side. Daisy’s face held a look of struggle, which only lasted for a moment. Then, her countenance hardened and frosted over. "We will talk later since you are busy right now." She turned around, walking away without looking back. "I have let you all watch a joke." Jake sighed and gave them a self-deprecating smile. It was unknown whether he regretted his decision half a year ago or not. His face flashed with pain, then he sighed again before motioning for them to continue. As they walked, he began to tell bits of the situation at the base. "As you had heard her earlier. All the people from my place have joined the Brown family." His expression became strange when he said this. He hesitated, pondering whether to say something, but ultimately refrained from saying it. "They all persuaded me to join them. The people whom I could trust..." he trailed off. His voice held a kind of indescribable pain and loneliness. There was also guilt. When Jake requested Darren to bring them into a safer place, he never expected things would turn out this way. The people who were once his neighbours would betray him and turn the base upside down. Look at what these people had become, deliberately stepping on the corpses of the innocent. Zerra looked at him with pity. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but being too trusting was his disadvantage. He was just being used by the scientist behind him. It was also kind of sad how the man who used to smile a lot had been reduced to such a gloomy and depressed person. "Oh, right? You are looking for the Valez family, right? When I heard you entered the base, I have been trying to find you all," Jake asked. Nyra’s gaze shot to him solemnly. "Where is he now?" "Don’t worry, he should be fine." A look of hesitation crossed his face. "But their side had suffered a lot indeed." "Why can’t we find his people at the dorm?" Nyra asked, with a layer of confusion in her tone. "Oh, about that..." Jake scrunched his face. There were less and less people as they headed to the hospital. "Actually, ever since Major General Valez got injured and barely alive, the Brown family had taken over the dorm. It was mostly occupied by their people." He paused. "The Valez family has fewer people, and most of them stayed at the hospital." When Jake said this, his face was a little twisted. Although they were close to the medical facility, judging from his face, it was nothing good. "There are only a few of them who are still loyal to the Valez family now. Most soldiers have defected, and also the majority of ability users." Nyra’s expression cracked when she heard that. Others also had unpleasant looks on their faces. Weren’t the Brown family essentially pushing the Valez family to death? "Can you lead us to Darren?" She clenched her jaw. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩 "Of course." Jake’s answer was immediate. The more they walked, the deeper their frowns became. Zerra was also surprised. She remembered this place deeply because it was where she had found her first minion, which had defected and now was six feet under. The Valez family’s condition was truly bad. Perhaps the one calling Darren to return from the capital was someone who had betrayed him too. It should have been Henry who wanted to take down the whole Valez family members in one fell swoop, leaving no one alive for a chance to take revenge. "Darren!" Nyra shouted the moment they saw a man in a black jacket. His figure had gotten noticeably thinner since the last time they saw him. Darren turned around.