Chapter 346 The Major Forces of Starlight City
Steven and Lily agreed that Lily would move into the shelter. She could eat there like everyone else and enjoy the daily services. However, she was not allowed to bring anyone else in without Steven's permission.
Of course, Steven would only select useful people to enter his shelter. The core purpose was still to ensure he lived better in the apocalypse.
And as usual, Steven would provide Lily with food for ten people every day, so she could take it to her students to sustain their lives.
Hearing that Steven agreed to continue supplying food, Lily relaxed and patted her chest, feeling a sense of relief. This way, her conscience could be at ease.
But she didn't know that it was precisely because of this condition that Steven developed a dislike for those students—in plain terms, he had the intention to kill!
Cindy, who knew Steven well, could tell from his slightly upturned mouth that her classmates wouldn't last long. Steven never supported idle people. However, Cindy didn't like her classmates either, so not only would she not expose Steven, but she would also support him in his actions.
Steven called over Nora and Elinor and asked them to bring Emilia as well.
At noon today, everyone would hold a welcome party to celebrate Lily joining their group.
Elinor said with a smile, "Okay, I'll take care of tidying up the room!"
Nora laughed, "Then Emilia and I will prepare lunch! Ms. Evans, is there anything you particularly like to eat?"
Lily, feeling flattered, quickly replied, "I'm not picky; you can make anything."
Nora smiled and nodded. "Alright!"
The two women had strong smiles on their faces, but Lily felt something was off.
She always felt that they had some apprehension toward her, a kind of subtle hostility that she couldn't understand.
'What's going on? Is it just my imagination?' Lily thought about it but couldn't recall ever offending them, so she could only assume she was overthinking it.
After Elinor and Nora left the living room, they exchanged a glance and sighed in unison. "Another person has joined!"
"And she's a very capable woman," Elinor said.
"Not only is she capable, but she's also quite attractive." Nora rested her chin on her hand, looking worried. "I'm the only one in this house who's useless."
Seeing this, Elinor unusually comforted her, "That's not true; at least you can cook delicious meals! And in terms of figure, we still have an advantage!"
Elinor said, placing her hands on her S-shaped waist and puffing out her proud chest.
Nora looked down but couldn't see her own shoes. Indeed, she had maintained her figure quite well.
At least in terms of figure and beauty, they had the upper hand, which gave them more confidence.
However, with this sense of crisis, the two secretly resolved to work even harder to prove their value.
They absolutely couldn't let anyone take Steven away!
The house became lively. After arriving at the shelter, Emilia greeted Steven and the new arrival, Lily, with a smile, then went to help Elinor and Nora.
Steven slapped his thigh and said to Lily, "We happen to have a meeting; you should join us!"
"A meeting?" Lily asked curiously. "What kind of meeting?"
Steven smiled mysteriously and said, "A strategy meeting!"
Lily covered her mouth in surprise. "Are we going to war again? West Mountain Base has been wiped out; are there still enemies nearby?"
Steven smiled faintly. "If a place's river dries up, the water from other streams will naturally flow in."
Lily understood what Steven meant. "You mean, because West Mountain Base was destroyed, there's now a power vacuum in this area. So, someone wants to come and take over West Mountain Base's territory, right?" she asked.
"More or less. I feel it's like that. At the very least, people from other factions have already appeared nearby, but how things will develop, no one can predict." Steven shrugged. "But we must prepare for the worst! Life is not a game; as long as we are well-prepared, we won't fear any danger."
Lily agreed with Steven's cautious attitude. She nodded, her gaze becoming much more serious. "If there's anything you need me to do, just let me know!"
"Of course, I won't be polite with you," Steven said.
At this moment, Cindy tugged on Steven's sleeve and said with a smile, "Steven, I happened to get some interesting information from West Mountain Base's database. It's about other factions in Starlight City. Do you want to hear it?"
Steven smiled, "Of course, I do! I'll call Earl and Henry over, and we can all listen together!"
Cindy nodded. This information was important, and whether to disclose it to everyone was up to Steven.
Steven called the other two to the living room.
Elinor and the other two were preparing for the welcome party. Although they were busy in the kitchen, they could still hear the conversation in the living room.
However, their roles were more inclined towards logistics; they just needed to know the information and didn't need to participate in the discussion.
Once everyone was gathered, Steven first briefly recounted what had happened at West Mountain Base today.
"We encountered two groups of people at the base entrance, and there were some conflicts. This might lead to retaliation from the other factions, or other factions might come to seize the territory, leading to a war with us."
"So, everyone! We can't be too complacent now; we need to be aware of potential dangers and stay vigilant!" Steven added.
Everyone nodded. Although they were surprised by the appearance of other factions, they weren't too shocked.
After all, in the apocalypse, anything could happen.
Steven looked at Cindy and said, "Let's have Cindy tell us about the other factions' intelligence first. So we can have a clear idea of who the potential enemies are."
Everyone turned their attention to Cindy, listening intently to her words.
Cindy had already placed her laptop on her lap, with the intelligence information she had prepared on it.
She began to speak slowly and steadily, "According to the intelligence from West Mountain Base, there are four factions in Starlight City that could threaten West Mountain Base. Among them, three factions are like West Mountain Base, located in shelters. I'll start with these three shelter factions."
"The first is Emberwick Base, which controls the largest refinery in Starlight City, has energy as its biggest advantage. The current leader, Megan Grayson, is a Psychic with suspected fire-related abilities, though specifics are unknown. Her deputy, Byron Peterson, possesses wind-related abilities, but the details are also unclear."
Cindy continued, "The second is Silverlake Base, located near the bay, controlling all the shipping companies' vessels in Starlight City. According to West Mountain Base's intelligence, they can even use large ships to go out to sea."
Hearing this, Steven couldn't help but call for a pause. "Wait a minute, Cindy. Is it possible to go out to sea in times like these?"
'It's February, the coldest time of the year, and the entire Mississippi River is frozen solid. Can ships set sail at this time?' Steven wondered.
Others had the same question and looked at Cindy in confusion.
Cindy's lips curled into a smug smile, showcasing her advantage as the most knowledgeable person in the room.
She spoke up. "That's right, some coastal areas will indeed freeze. But the deep sea won't freeze at such low temperatures, especially the closer you get to the equator, the warmer it gets. Ocean currents will bring warm water from around the equator, and there are also underwater volcanoes. So, freezing the entire ocean is impossible. Even if the temperature drops another 210 degrees Fahrenheit, and the global surface is frozen, there will still be water beneath the thick ice."
Aubrey added, "Seawater has a high salt content, making it hard to freeze. Plus, they have icebreakers. As long as they keep their ships in deep waters, they can avoid being trapped in the ice."
Everyone finally understood.
Steven stroked his chin, pondering for a moment, then had a sudden realization. "If that's the case, can't they go out to sea to fish? Or move to warmer areas near the equator?"
Cindy nodded and continued, "Based on the current temperatures, the equator is around minus seventy to eighty degrees Fahrenheit. While it's a disaster for the locals, it's just like winter in the north, and humans can still survive."
She flipped through her laptop. "According to West Mountain Base's records, they have the most abundant food supply, likely because they rely on fishing. However, since ships require a lot of energy, they have dealings with Emberwick Base. These two are the closest among the major factions in Starlight City."
Steven leaned over to look at the laptop, and just one glance made his pupils contract slightly.
Because in the introduction to Silverlake Base, he saw a familiar symbol—a blue wave.
"Is this their base's symbol?" Steven confirmed with Cindy.
Cindy nodded. "Yes, all four major shelters have their own symbols. After all, they were originally official shelters."
No wonder! Steven recalled when he met Austin and the others, Austin's combat uniform was identical to those from West Mountain Base.
The only difference was that Austin's chest emblem wasn't a golden sword but a blue wave.
In other words, Austin was from Silverlake Base.
Steven said, "Let's continue."
Cindy nodded and continued her introduction. "The current leader of Silverlake Base is Leonard Henderson. There's very little information about him, and it's unclear if he's a Psychic. His deputy, Oliver Martin, also has no detailed information."
"It seems their main battlefield is the sea, so they have less contact with other bases. Since they can obtain food from the ocean and their ships have good cold resistance, they have fewer conflicts with other factions," Cindy added.
Steven thought to himself, 'But now they have a conflict with me!'
Cindy continued. "The last of the four major shelters is located in Frostwood District. It is near the Frostwood Steel Plant in Starlight City. It's now controlled by the steel plant workers' organization. The leader is named Sebastian Nelson."
"There are some records about his abilities. It seems he can enhance the strength of those around him, making them stronger. But there's no detailed information." Cindy shrugged helplessly.
Steven nodded, understanding this very well. "The apocalypse came suddenly, and the major factions didn't dare to engage in conflicts rashly. Moreover, they wouldn't easily reveal their supernatural abilities. So, the intelligence they have on each other is very limited," he said.
Psychic abilities were very complex and varied.
If you compare supernatural abilities to weapons, it's like a gun hidden somewhere, with unknown power and timing.
Without knowing the opponent's supernatural abilities, you must be cautious and prepared.
Otherwise, the next moment, that gun might fire directly into your mouth.
Cindy continued, "One more thing. Like West Mountain Base, the other three bases' leaders also seized power through force, eliminating the original top officials. However, they don't have armies, only armed groups. So, in terms of combat training, they are somewhat inferior to West Mountain Base."
This made perfect sense. In the apocalypse, order collapsed, and strength was the only truth.
But among the four major bases, Peter was an exception. He didn't have supernatural abilities and he became the leader solely because his subordinate, Charles, was loyal.
Steven analyzed, "Among the three bases, if you include West Mountain Base, each base controls a very important strategic resource. West Mountain Base controls the army, Emberwick Base controls energy, Silverlake Base controls shipping, and Frostwood Base controls the steel plant."
Once Steven figured this out, he suddenly felt much more relaxed.
"If that's the case, West Mountain Base actually has the strongest combat capability among the four bases!" he said.
After all, West Mountain Base had the most weapons and controlled elite troops.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Earl patted his chest and said, "I feel much more relieved. No matter how strong the other three bases are, they can't be stronger than West Mountain Base, which controls the army. And if we can take down West Mountain Base, why should we fear them?"
Steven laughed and said, "Although they might have some armed forces, they can't compare to well-trained soldiers."
He added, "The biggest unknown now is the Psychics. But due to the lack of intelligence, we might not know how many Psychics they have or how strong they are until we face them directly. In any case, if we can avoid conflict, we should try to avoid it!"
Steven could only hope that those people wouldn't come, which would be the best outcome.
"Of course, if it comes to a fight, we won't be afraid of them," Steven said.
If they could take down a force as powerful as West Mountain Base, they wouldn't fear other factions.
In the midst of the excitement, Lily asked, "Cindy, didn't you say there are four major factions? Besides these three bases, what other faction is there?"
Everyone then remembered that Cindy hadn't mentioned one faction yet.
Earl's face suddenly showed a hint of fear. She asked, "Could the last one be the strongest? Miss Yoder, are you hiding a major faction from us?"
Everyone's hearts tightened at his words, and they all looked at Cindy.
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