"Huh? What happened to them?" Elijah wondered aloud, but he imdiately went to greet them.
"Quentin, what's going on..." Elijah started, but when Quentin saw it was Elijah and his group, his face lit up with surprise and relief.
"Elijah... Ah, we've co seeking help!" Quentin said with a bitter expression.
"What happened?" Fiona and the others had gathered around, curious to hear.
Except for Sophia, Quentin had t Lily, Fiona, and Hannah before. He nodded to them before continuing, "Since we learned that your group was on Azure Isle and considering this area might beco your collection zone, we started exploring southwest to avoid conflict."
"Well, thank you for being so considerate," Elijah nodded, approving of Quentin's decision.
"Today, we found a large supermarket in the southwest..." Quentin continued.
Elijah wasn't familiar with the supermarkets around here since he didn't reside in this area, but Quentin and his group, being locals, knew well.
So, they headed purposefully towards that large supermarket.
Everything was going smoothly; they cleared zombies along the way and reached the supermarket after overcoming so obstacles.
However, their joy was short-lived. During the process of clearing zombies inside the supermarket, a mutant zombie suddenly erged.
Quentin and his group had encountered mutant zombies before and had managed to kill them, so initially, they weren't too panicked.
But this mutant zombie exhibited abilities identical to Quentin's, yet far superior in strength, completely outclassing them.
They were unable to inflict any aningful damage on this heavily-defended zombie and were scattered and nearly killed.
Quentin could only flee with the surviving few. However, this mutant zombie seed relentless in its pursuit. Fortunately, being a defensive type, it wasn't very fast, allowing them to escape to a gathering place. They didn't dare return once they saw the mutant zombie still following from a distance.
In their dilemma, Quentin thought of Elijah.
The impressive zombie puppets controlled by Elijah had left a deep impression on them, and they were confident Elijah could deal with this mutant zombie.
Moreover, Elijah wasn't far away, so they headed straight towards Azure Isle, unexpectedly eting Elijah's group halfway.
"So... where is this mutant zombie now?" Elijah asked after Quentin finished recounting their ordeal, glancing around but seeing no sign of it.
Sophia also strained her senses but didn't detect anything, shaking her head at Elijah.
"Well... it was chasing us just now. When did it disappear?" Quentin muttered, perplexed.
"Boss, it seed to stop pursuing us not long after we passed the gathering place," one of Quentin's n behind him spoke up.
"Uh oh, could it have found our gathering place? But we didn't head into the residential area!" Quentin's face showed concern.
"Elijah, could you please help us? Don't worry, we will surely repay your kindness afterwards!" Quentin pleaded.
Elijah didn't answer imdiately. He pondered silently, seeing this as a good opportunity to legitimately bring Quentin's group under his wing.
He hesitated for a mont before saying, "Quentin, it's not that I'm unwilling to help you, but dealing with a mutant zombie is too dangerous. I can't risk the lives of my own people for outsiders."
Quentin smiled bitterly upon hearing this. He understood Elijah's decision.
Putting himself in Elijah's shoes, he wouldn't rashly offer help either, regardless of how generous the promised reward might be.
If sothing went wrong and he lost people as a result, it wouldn't be worth it.
Despite this, Quentin had co with a glimr of hope, primarily because they were desperate when fleeing from the zombie and hadn't thought it through thoroughly.
Now, while they weren't in imdiate danger of losing their lives, if the mutant zombie continued lurking near their gathering place or even breached it, all their efforts of these days would be in vain.
"Elijah, if we were to beco your people, would you then consider helping us?" Suddenly, one of Quentin's companions behind him interjected, pointing out a crucial loophole.
Quentin was taken aback by this question, feeling as if a sudden fog had lifted and clarity had dawned.
Quentin imdiately looked at Elijah and said, "Yes, Elijah, or rather, Elijah boss, if we join you, can you help us?"
Though reluctant to abandon the gathering place he had worked so hard to establish, Quentin realized that if they couldn't resolve the current crisis, the gathering place might beco obsolete.
It wasn't just about the place itself but the people inside.
Despite their short ti together, many people trusted, respected, and relied on him, making it difficult for him to turn a blind eye.
Elijah had also interacted with them a few tis.
Aside from the fact that he seed to have many won around him, he demonstrated considerable integrity in other aspects, unlike so individuals Quentin had encountered recently who had beco slaves to their desires, behaving like humanoid beasts without the constraints of law or morality.
What was more critical was Elijah's formidable strength, his control over a group of powerful awakened beings, and the potent awakening elixirs he possessed.
Quentin believed Elijah also had thods to further enhance their abilities, just like the zombie they encountered today—having similar abilities but vastly superior effects.
Joining Elijah could potentially elevate Quentin's own strength and that of his brothers.
At this point, Elijah was inwardly delighted, ntally applauding the brother behind Quentin.
Elijah vaguely rembered this individual, who had been with Quentin since their first eting.
Although Elijah was pleased internally, he wore a skeptical expression on his face, causing a mont of anxiety among Quentin and his companions who were eagerly watching him.
"Quentin, if you were part of our group, naturally, I wouldn't stand idly by. Regardless of the dangers ahead, we would give it our all. However... I must be honest; while we do accept people on the island, our standards are quite high. You all might not quite et them," Elijah explained.
"What standards?" Quentin asked defiantly.
"To join us, you need to be at least an awakened being..."
Quentin and his group were stunned at this revelation.
"Awakened beings..."
The younger brother who spoke earlier couldn't believe it.
Considering that they had over fifty people in their settlent, there were only two awakened beings - Quentin, and another who wasn't fit for battle and was still in the settlent.
But now Elijah was saying that to join them, they needed to be awakened beings. That ant only two of them t the requirent.
However, they soon realized that if what Elijah was saying was true, then the entire population of their settlent would consist of awakened beings. Just how powerful would their collective strength be?
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