After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret

Chapter 339: Fabrication

Of course, what these people were saying was most likely a lie.

"What’s your base leader’s name?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"Mordecai Quinn, but not for much longer."

Atticus chuckled.

"Mordecai Quinn?"

This was the first time Nina Jacobs had heard the name.

’In other words, the current leader of Meridia Base isn’t Zachary Ziegler yet.’

"He’s just a nepotism case. His dad, Orson Quinn, died a while back, so he inherited the position.

But he’s completely useless. The people in the base can barely eat under his leadership. Everyone’s suggesting we replace him."

Atticus explained.

"So the base leader you were just talking about is this Mordecai Quinn person?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"That’s right, that’s right! That’s him!"

Valen Young nodded and replied hurriedly.

"Where is he now?"

Nina Jacobs’s gaze fell on the backpack in the hands of the man called Mr. Coleman. A photo in a clear plastic sleeve had fallen out of it, and the person in the picture was clearly not one of them.

"Dead, of course. He insisted on coming to this place to show off. If he wasn’t going to die, who would?"

Atticus’s tone was filled with contempt, as if he was extremely dissatisfied with the base leader.

"Go down that slope over there, that’s the way down the mountain. You don’t need to follow me."

Nina Jacobs said, pointing.

’These people weren’t telling the truth at all.’

Of course, she wasn’t telling the truth either. She had just pointed in a random direction; she simply didn’t want them following her anymore.

"Really? Thank you, thank you! We were just looking for the way down the mountain."

Atticus was overjoyed.

"Heheheh, time to go down the mountain and collect our reward."

Mr. Coleman stood up and tossed the backpack off his shoulders with a look of disgust.

"Keep it down, you."

Atticus kicked Mr. Coleman, then shot Nina Jacobs an apologetic smile before leaving.

After they left, Nina Jacobs picked up the backpack from the ground.

Inside the backpack, besides the usual daily necessities, there was a blood-soaked sponge tucked into a hidden compartment.

’No wonder they were being targeted by Mutated Animals.’

Nina Jacobs stared at the backpack in her hands, lost in thought.

’It seems the owner of this backpack was set up from the very beginning.’

’His death was likely caused by it too.’

Nina Jacobs shook her head and walked in the opposite direction from where Atticus and his group had gone.

That evening, after Nina Jacobs completed her week-long mission, she and Wayne Warner rested in a cave.

Wayne Warner stayed in the adjacent part of the cave, so he wouldn’t disturb her at all.

Inside the safe house, Nina Jacobs continued to study the book, *A Biography of Drakonia’s Ancient Martial Clans*.

Alistair White’s last words had been bothering her.

However, she also discovered that the surname ’Jacobs’ was nowhere to be found in the registry of Ancient Martial Clans, which put her at ease.

She did, however, find the Ziegler family in the book.

’The Zieglers... Besides Veronica Ziegler, could Zachary Ziegler be one of them too?’

Nina Jacobs recalled a doubt from her past life.

In her past life, the only reason she knew Zachary Ziegler was because of Liam Grant.

Zachary Ziegler and Liam Grant had been good friends who knew each other well before the apocalypse.

Back then, she and Liam Grant had already established their own small base when Zachary Ziegler sought out Liam, wanting to borrow a batch of supplies.

Nina Jacobs had refused him on the spot without a second’s hesitation.

This made Liam Grant feel like he had lost a lot of face, and the incident became one of the reasons a rift formed between them.

At the time, Nina Jacobs felt that his reasoning was completely illogical—Zachary Ziegler was clearly the leader of Meridia Base, yet he had traveled thousands of miles just to borrow supplies from Liam Grant.

Even when Zachary Ziegler claimed Meridia Base was short on resources and desperately needed supplies to save the base, Nina Jacobs didn’t believe him.

Although the matter was dropped and never mentioned again, thinking back on it now, Nina Jacobs still suspected his true motives.

’If this Zachary Ziegler is also one of the Mystic Sect, could it be he had an ulterior motive back then?’

Nina Jacobs decided it was time for her to pay a visit to Meridia Base and investigate.

After all, Veridia was on the way to Keldorn.

「The next morning」

After feeding Wayne Warner, the two of them headed down the mountain to set off.

However, at the foot of the mountain, she ran into someone unexpected.

It was Ian Nash.

"You’re still alive? That’s great!"

Ian Nash was with a group of people, and his eyes lit up the moment he saw Nina Jacobs and her companion.

Nina Jacobs was also a little surprised to see Ian Nash again.

"Where are the other two?"

She noticed that Lily Dalton and Sebastian Lynch were not with Ian Nash.

"Don’t worry, they’re at our safe point."

Ian Nash wanted to invite Nina Jacobs to stay and chat for a bit, but she refused.

"What on earth happened after that day?"

Ian Nash couldn’t help but ask.

That day, after listening to Nina Jacobs’s advice, they had fled down the mountain without looking back.

They did indeed find the Gloomfang cave Nina had mentioned before nightfall. The three of them hid inside for a night and made it down the mountain relatively smoothly the next day.

In a way, Nina Jacobs was their savior.

Nina Jacobs sighed. "Don’t ask. Everyone died."

"Everyone died?!"

Ian Nash and the group behind him stared at her and exclaimed in unison.

"Ian Nash said there were over a hundred people there. Surely they couldn’t all be dead?"

A young man sized up the two of them, his eyes full of suspicion.

Nina Jacobs guessed that the people behind Ian Nash probably suspected she had something valuable, since it looked like only she and Wayne Warner had survived.

"After you left that day, we took the opportunity to escape too. Later, it seemed like Magnus York’s group did find some kind of Energy Stone."

As Nina Jacobs spoke, she observed everyone’s expressions.

Sure enough, at the mention of the Energy Stone, several of them revealed greedy looks.

"But then another group showed up. Their leader was a Space Superpower User, and he killed both Magnus York and Alistair White.

Luckily, we were hidden."

Nina Jacobs said with a relieved expression.

"Where could you possibly hide in a place like that?"

the young man from before asked skeptically.

"Ah, that’s what you don’t know. There’s a nature reserve observation station there. It’s very well hidden. The two of us hid inside, and we had a clear view of everything that was happening."

Nina Jacobs fabricated the story on the spot.

"So that’s how it was. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Good thing we escaped quickly. It’s better not to get involved with things like that."

Ian Nash, however, looked pleased.

But then the young man asked again, "What were the names of the people in the third group? Did you hear them?"

"I think one was called Edric Holden? And a Trey Windslow?

All I know is that Magnus York was furious at the time, yelling something like ’that bastard Trey Windslow’?"

Nina Jacobs replied.

"So Trey Windslow took everything?"

the young man asked quickly.

Nina Jacobs put on an uncertain expression. "I suppose so. Then again, I might have misheard. I mean, what kind of name is ’Trey Windslow’?"

"I can’t believe it..."

the young man muttered, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Nina Jacobs sneered inwardly. ’Looks like someone else was lying in wait here, hoping for an easy prize.’

But if someone was going to spread this false information for her, she couldn’t be happier.

"What are you two planning to do now? If you have no other options, you can come with us."

Ian Nash said with concern.

But Nina Jacobs shook her head. "No thanks, we’re planning to go to Meridia Base."

After the two had left, Ian Nash still wore a regretful expression.

’If those two had been willing to stay, their safety would have been much more secure in the future.’

"Ian Nash, what’s her name?" the young man from before asked, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

"Summer Warner."

Ian Nash was still watching the pair’s retreating figures and didn’t notice his companion’s strange demeanor.