At Flora Bloom’s words, the way everyone looked at Mervin Warren began to change. Even Mervin himself suddenly felt that the future held promise, his once-dejected spirit instantly lifted.
’Once the side effects of the potion are gone and I’ve leveled up my superpower,’ he vowed silently, ’getting revenge on that woman, Leigh Atwood, will be a piece of cake.’
Seeing the fighting spirit in Mervin Warren’s eyes, Flora Bloom turned to Luna Thorne. Although Luna’s body had also suffered great harm, Leigh Atwood ultimately hadn’t injected her with the potion.
Furthermore, Flora Bloom had observed faint fluctuations of Water Ability energy coming from Luna Thorne. When the time was right, awakening her power wouldn’t be a problem.
Flora Bloom had told her this on the way over, but Luna Thorne seemed to have sealed herself off in her own world, unwilling to communicate with anyone.
While she appeared to have opened up to Flora Bloom, everyone could see what she was really thinking and what frustrations she was bottling up. For someone with such a fragile heart, that was more than enough to make them shut themselves away from the world.
Micah was getting on in years, but he didn’t need Flora Bloom to introduce him; he was already actively engaging with everyone.
The entire journey, he had been thinking about what he could do for Flora Bloom and her companions.
He was the kind of person who believed in repaying his debts, and Flora Bloom had saved him twice now. He felt a constant sense of guilt for not doing something to repay her.
The avian air raids they had encountered along the way suddenly gave him a flash of inspiration.
After making his initial introductions, he began to excitedly share his idea with the group.
"I think I can build a device that generates something like an energy wave to keep nearby animals or zombies from getting close."
Hearing Micah’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up. It made Flora Bloom think of some kind of sonic dispersal device.
"Professor Lawson, are you talking about a sonic dispersal device?"
Micah shook his head. "Those devices on the market are mostly fakes and knockoffs, and their quality is terrible. I’m talking about a machine I was researching before the apocalypse that can use an energy magnetic field to repel large, ferocious beasts. This machine isn’t on the market yet because the cost to build one is too high."
As Micah spoke, he looked at the giant wolf by Flora Bloom’s side, his eyes shining brightly.
Flora Bloom knew the research professor was trying to prove his worth for his future life in Morhaven. So she said cheerfully,
"Old Lynch, Dad, Professor Lawson, let’s not stand around talking outside the base. Come on, we’re just a few steps away. I have something good for Old Monroe to cook up for us."
Hearing the words "something good," Ethan Monroe’s eyes lit up mischievously. "Flora, what kind of good thing has Old Monroe not seen before? Let me tell you, Morhaven isn’t like it used to be. There isn’t a single zombie, but ferocious beasts are everywhere. The amount of wild game we’ve eaten lately is countless!"
Flora Bloom gave a mysterious smile. "Ever eaten bear paw?"
At this, Ethan Monroe shot a resentful glare at the giant wolf beside Flora Bloom. "We’ve seen bears, but they never leave any meat behind for us. Last time, Old Lynch and I set up a huge trap to catch a bear, but this wolf cub of yours suddenly jumped out and startled it."
"And just when we thought we might get a share after it killed the bear, the little brat went and ate the whole thing!"
"AWOO!"
The little wolf let out a dissatisfied howl at Ethan Monroe, which earned it a fierce glare. "Howl, howl, howl all you want! Now that your master’s back, this old man isn’t afraid of you!"
The group entered the base in a lively, boisterous mood. You would never guess they were living through an apocalypse.
Annelise Locke’s snake tail quickly attracted pointing fingers and onlookers from others in the base. But a fair number of people didn’t seem to care.
Too many incredible things had happened in Morhaven. What was one more oddity with a snake tail? They had zombies; they had seen and personally hunted ferocious beasts from the mountains and jungles. Their psychological resilience had grown much stronger.
"Annelise, your brother, Jack Locke, is here too. Do you... want to see him?" Flora Bloom had used her bee swarm to check on Jack Locke’s condition in the villa and found that he was fine, other than being weak.
"My—my brother is really here?" Annelise Locke looked at Flora Bloom, her face full of excitement. "Is—is he okay?"
"He might not be doing too well right now, but he’ll get better over time. Come on, I’m sure he’s dying to see you."
Annelise Locke nodded excitedly, then slithered ahead of the group with a flick of her snake tail, her pace quickening.