Tian’s voice cracked with desperation as he turned to Lucian. "Then, we don’t have ti to waste! How long will it take to reach X-12 by car?"
Lucian answered carefully. "Three days by car, but if we speed up we might be there in two days."
"Two days?! He’ll be dead by the ti we get there!" Tian paced back and forth, biting his nails until they bled. "Isn’t there a way to get there faster?"
"There is." deia’s words were like an oasis in the middle of the desert. "This compass can teleport us directly to his location, but we can’t co back the sa way."
The compass could only teleport 3 people to another place and required a cooldown of 48 hours, so they had to return on foot.
Lucian creased his forehead after hearing deia’s explanation. "Wait? You’re coming with us?"
"Of course I have to co with you. I’m the only one who can use this compass as a teleportation device."
Actually, the system didn’t tell deia that she was the only one who could activate the teleportation system.
deia wouldn’t let others use the mystical compass because she did not know how much mana they had, but she was sure Lucian had a lot of mana in his body.
Unfortunately, Lucian couldn’t regenerate his mana as fast as Naomi, so it would be safe not to let him use his mana energy to activate the compass.
After all, everyone would be dood if he didn’t have enough mana to fight in the X-12 Zone.
"But you’re not completely healed yet," Lucian said.
"Don’t worry about that. I have a way to heal faster." deia looked into his eyes. "Just trust ."
Besides, there was no way deia would waste the chance to farm points by killing mutants in the X-12 Zone. Her current strength was not enough to survive in this world alone, so deia had to level up quickly.
"There’s no ti to argue anymore." deia held Lucian’s hand when he didn’t respond to her for too long. "Ren’s life is in my hands now, so please, you have to trust ."
Lucian turned his eyes to Tian, who was visibly distraught. "I beg you. If deia can get us to Ren faster, please, let her help ."
Lucian sighed. "All right," he muttered, looking back at deia. "But this ti I need you to stay by my side and listen to carefully."
Usually Lucian would let deia do whatever she wanted, knowing that he could protect her from danger. But the sudden change in his attitude made her realize that Orlon had affected him greatly.
The feeling of being useless when soone was beating her up must have made Lucian felt frustation and mad. deia couldn’t read his mind, but she could see that he was carrying feelings of guilt with him.
deia wanted to use that feeling earlier, but after seeing his desperate eyes, she couldn’t bear to see it anymore.
"I understand." deia assured him, "I will never leave your side."
She didn’t like it when others told her what to do, except for Lucian.
She would definitely jump off a cliff if he wanted her to.
After packing their belongings into their backpacks, Lucian had locked the soldiers and doctors in the dungeon, then blocked all the exits so they couldn’t escape.
Lucian then spoke to Harry and Simon. "I don’t think we can co back in two days. That’s why, I want you and Simon to deliver the water to the Coalhaven as well as bring fuel from them."
Harry hesitated for a mont. "Just the two of us? Don’t you think it’s dangerous?"
Lucian handed a sack to Harry. "Take this with you and show it to their leader. They won’t dare refuse you after that."
Harry and Simon opened the sack and gasped in shock once they saw a head inside it, Colton’s head to be exact. "Are ... are you sure?" asked Harry.
"More than sure." Lucian continued, "Coalhaven and Warstock must also have worked together for so long and know that Colton is a very important person here."
If Harry brought the head of soone who was considered so powerful by them, then the Coalhaven would not dare to refuse their offer.
"Tell him, if they don’t want to cooperate with the Red Star Alliance, then they have to say goodbye to water and military supplies."
It was not just a bluff, but sothing he would actually do if Coalhaven refused to cooperate.
He and deia had agreed that they didn’t want to bother convincing people who had no respect for them.
Furthermore, Lucian didn’t want anything bad to happen to Harry and Simon while he was gone, so it was safer to just give up and leave imdiately.
"We’ll keep that in mind." Harry asked him one more question, "What if they ask who is the leader in the Red Star Alliance? Who should I answer?"
Lucian and deia hadn’t formalized their alliance, so they hadn’t talked about it yet. However, they could not deny that they needed a leader figure imdiately.
deia was about to say his na, but Lucian spoke first. "deia Vega. Our leader is deia and I’m her vice leader."
They looked at Lucian in disbelief, especially deia. "Why ?"
Lucian turned to deia, he said firmly, "Because people will respect the leader more than the vice leader. Moreover, this position will ensure your safety."
People would only consider her as Lucian’s pet if her position was lower than his. It was because she was a woman, a second gender that was not really considered important in the apocalypse, other than being baby machines.
However, if everyone knew her as a leader of a strong alliance, people would respect her greatly and wouldn’t dare to harass her anymore.
Lucian truly thought about her safety above anything else, he even didn’t mind giving the higher position to her.
The last ti she sat on the throne was because she staged a coup against the demon king, locking him away so she could steal his position. Hence, this was the first ti for soone as strong as Lucian not to care about their title.
"But, if you are uncomfortable with this arrangent, you can refuse it." Lucian said, "Your opinion is more important after all."
deia would be lying if she said those words didn’t move her heart. Oh dear, his words could even make her want to give her body and soul to him.
"I’ll take that offer," deia said without hesitation.
[New Title Unlocked: The Leader of Red Star Alliance!]
[Reward: 1,200 XP, 5,000 Gold Coins, 3,500 C-points.]
deia gasped as she received that much reward. After spending 3,000 gold coins to find Ren, she got 5,000 gold coins in return.
Was this what was called good karma?
If she could get so much luck just by being kind, then deia must have done it long ago!
Not long after, the system announced a new achievent.
[Congratulations! You have completed a mission: Form A New Alliance]
[Reward:
C-Point: 950
750 XP
300 gold coins]
[Item Reward: Swampwalker Boots (Grade A)--Effect: 50% Movent Speed in swampy or muddy terrain.]
Boots? Why would the system give her sothing useless like that?
She was going to a dangerous place, but instead of giving her a weapon, it gave her freaking boots?!
[Congratulations! You have reached level 19!]
[Stat Increase: 1,900 MP (Total: 23,900), Health: 800 (Total: 7,200), Intelligence: 30 (Total: 240)]
[Upgraded Skill: Demonic Strength (Grade-SSS ) lvl. 1.5—Effect: Enhances physical strength by 230%, endurance by 170%, and agility by 120% for 18 minutes.]
deia wrinkled her forehead. ’Why lvl. 1.5? Shouldn’t it go up to level 2?’
[Don’t be greedy, Host! The demon skills will take longer to level up!]
"Are you done here? We can’t waste any more ti," Tian reminded.
"We’re ready now." deia took the compass out of her pocket. She had drunk two Grade-S healing potions before, so she had regained her energy and healed her wounds in no ti.
Tian and Lucian then held her shoulder before she said, "Bring us to Ren’s location."
[Activate Mystical Compass: Teleport to Ren Zhang’s location.]
[Everyone please hold on tight!]
The compass glowed brightly, its light swirling around them. In a flash, the world around them blurred, and a sense of weightlessness took over.
It felt as if they were flying at impossible speeds. Then, as the light faded, they felt the ground beneath them turn to mud, making them stumble slightly.
"Of all places, why would the compass send us into the mud?!" deia protested. She tried to wiggle her boot before she lifted her foot to walk.
[The system had already given you swamp boots, Host. But you underestimate them.]
Oh, deia really wanted to strangle the system to death now.
She lifted her head, eting with the scenery of a dark swamp. The dark swamp stretched endlessly in all directions, its surface covered with murky, stagnant water that was surrounded with huge towering trees.
The water gave off an unpleasant odor, similar to a disgusting wet sock. deia almost vomited if she didn’t cover her nose imdiately.
"This is worse than I imagined," Lucian muttered, his boots sinking slightly into the mud.
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