Chapter 171 Devil's Gamble (Part 2)
William and Michelle strolled down leisurely.
They were in the granary's basement, a secret spot known only to a few of Stuart's closest allies, only a handful knew the details. Hardly anyone knew Cecil was locked up here.
When the guards saw two strangers, they knew something was up.
These guards were also Evolving persons. They quickly drew their daggers and charged, while alerting the nurse, Dakota Gray, in the cell.
William bypassed the guards and stood at the cell door, leaving them to Michelle, who wielded the Edge of the Moon.
"Who dares cause trouble here?!" Dakota yelled.
Used to being bossy in Redwood County, she didn't take the warning seriously. She put down Cecil's battered arm and frowned, ready to scold whoever was outside.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw a young man staring at her with a deadly gaze. Behind him, blood sprayed, and the head of the guard who had just greeted her flew by with a terrified expression.
Dakota opened her mouth to scream, but a hand gripped her throat, stifling it.
William's gaze shifted past her to a bloodied figure on the filthy ground. Even with dirty, blood-stained hair covering the face, he recognized Cecil.
It was Cecil, his old buddy!
Though he knew Cecil would be tortured, seeing him in such a state ignited uncontrollable rage in William.
With a tight grip, he crushed the throat of the one-star Evolving woman like a chick.
At this moment, William could easily overpower even those at his level. This one-star Evolving person, with no combat experience, stood no chance.
Hearing the commotion, Cecil struggled to open his eyes and vaguely saw a man walking up to him, squatting down, and holding him.
"Cecil, sorry I'm a bit late," William said.
Cecil, hearing this in a daze, fell unconscious again.
William carried Cecil out of the cell. Michelle was outside, wiping blood off the Edge of the Moon. The two guards lay dead, and the basement reeked of blood.
"Is this the guy you're looking for?" Michelle asked, glancing at the nearly 6 feet 6 inches tall man, thinking, 'He's really ugly.'
"Yeah, a guy who can shield us from any harm," William said, with praise in his voice.
Dean stood on the steps, looking at the three corpses in the basement, trembling slightly.
In the pool of blood stood a middle-aged man with his hands behind his back and head lowered, making it hard to see his expression.
It was Stuart, a builder from Redwood County and now the leader of Wooland Base.
"Dean, it must be those damn friends of Cecil coming to rescue..." a woman started to say in a pretentious voice.
Before she could finish, Stuart slapped her hard, sending her flying. If she weren't also an Evolving person, that slap could have shattered half her face.
"This is all your fault!" Stuart yelled, his face twisted with rage, muscles twitching on his purple-black face.
In just a moment, he had lost six Evolving subordinates, ruthlessly slaughtered, and the intruders broke out as if no one was there!
He wasn't heartbroken over the loss of his people but over the six bottles of Evolution Elixir used on them.
Since the apocalypse began, he had only managed to get about twenty bottles. Now, nearly a third was gone.
"If you hadn't killed Cecil's woman over a trivial matter, would this have happened today? Bitch! It's all because I spoiled you!" Stuart cursed and kicked the woman again, making her scream in pain.
The dozen or so Evolving persons in the basement watched, not daring to speak.
Stuart was their boss and a powerful professional. Although they were all one-star Evolving persons, Stuart's strength was far superior than any of them.
Stuart's gloomy gaze fell on his son. He questioned,"You said it was a man and a woman? The man was a two-star Evolving person? And the woman didn't make a move?"
Dean replied, "...Yes."
"Mr. Stuart Evans," a man squatting beside Dakota said as he stood up. "Based on the marks on her neck, she was strangled by a man's hand, clean and swift. Even if he isn't a two-star Evolving person, he is a strength-focused professional."
He continued, "Based on the body temperature and the coagulation of the blood, the time of death of the two outside killed by a sharp weapon should be about the same as Dakota's."
"You mean..." Stuart paused, his pupils contracting.
Barry Moore nodded in acknowledgment. He confirmed, "Both of them made a move, and..."
He glanced at Dean before continuing, "And both of them should have similar strength, with a crushing advantage over ordinary one-star Evolving persons."
"Thank you, Barry." Stuart was very polite to Barry.
"No need." Barry smiled and continued, "I'll be leaving now. Mr. Evans, don't forget our agreement."
Barry picked up a silver medical case and left without a word.
Stuart wanted to stop him but changed his mind and stayed silent.
"Dad!" Dean walked over, avoiding the bodies on the ground. He asked, "Why didn't you keep him here? We could use his help if something happens."
Stuart glared at his son and ordered, "Lock down the county. Everyone on high alert, ready for combat at any moment."
He then looked in the direction Barry had left, sighing inwardly, 'Keep him? We can't afford the price.'
When Cecil woke up, he found himself in a tent. He sat up cautiously and noticed most of his injuries had healed.
He knew his injuries well. Even with an Evolving person's physique, it would take at least ten days to half a month to recover. Had he been out that long?
"Awake?" a voice sounded.
Cecil was startled; he hadn't noticed anyone behind him.
Turning, he saw the young man he had seen before he lost consciousness.
"You saved me?" Cecil asked.
William nodded.
"Why?" Cecil asked, puzzled.
Looking at the familiar yet slightly younger face of the big guy, William said slowly, "I need to go to a dangerous place and need someone to take the hits for me."
The wariness in Cecil's eyes lessened a bit.
Now that made sense!
Although the apocalypse had only begun less than a month ago, its brutality had already seeped into the bones of the survivors. There was no such thing as unconditional love, only increasingly bare self-interest.
Although Cecil was William's good friend in a past life, in this life, they were still strangers. William couldn't be sure if this Cecil was still the big guy from his past life, still willing to be his human shield. So he needed to observe and determine how to treat him.
Given this, starting with a mutual exchange of interests was the best approach.
"Why me?" Cecil asked again.
"Because of your profession," William replied.
"Will I die?" Cecil asked.
"Without me, you definitely will," William declared.
Cecil was silent for a long time before saying, "Deal."
William smiled and pointed to the other side, saying, "Here's a bonus for you. A Shield Bearer can't be without a good shield."
As they moved through the forest on Redwood Mountain, Cecil was still fondly stroking the giant shield in his hand.
It was a silver-black curved giant shield, almost as tall as Cecil and around 5 feet wide, with ancient patterns on it. Cecil held it in his hand, and with a light swing, he knocked down a small tree, clearing the path ahead.
"He's not human," Natalie muttered from behind, deciding not to look at this gorilla-like man who wielded a several-hundred-pound shield as if it were a toy.
That was the nickname she had given Cecil.
It was now the third day since Cecil had woken up. His injuries had healed in a day under Lucy's treatment, and the team had immediately left the Redwood County area, entering the nearby Redwood Mountain.
The shield in Cecil's hand was specially made for him by William.
Its raw material came from an abandoned infantry vehicle. Many people didn't understand why William had cut off an entire steel plate to take with him, but now they had the answer.
Using this steel plate as the base, William had infused it with the Metal Osmium Person and Devil's Gold for Enchantment, transforming it into the current giant shield.
As for its attributes, they were astonishing.
"Durability +40, Toughness +40, Attribute: Self-repair, damage received will recover over time."
An ordinary steel plate had leaped to become a white-grade giant shield. With the addition of Metal osmium person and Devil's Gold, the shield was not only heavy but also boasted a high durability and toughness of forty points each.
More amazingly, this shield, not crafted from any blueprint, had a self-repair ability, clearly a benefit from the Devil's Gold.
In his past life, Cecil had used a green-grade shield, which was overall better than this one. However, the self-repair attribute made this shield's value no less than that of the green shield.
All equipment, regardless of grade, had a durability limit that decreased with use. Once this limit was exceeded, the equipment was destroyed.
For example, the Warblade that revealed the use of Essence Stone was discarded on the battlefield because it was broken!
But this shield, with its self-repair ability, would slowly recover from damage, making it nearly indestructible.
The more William looked at the shield, the more he felt that the risk he took to obtain Devil's Gold from the Chain Prisoner was the right choice.
He believed that Devil's Gold would bring even greater surprises in the future.
"William." Cecil, still not used to interacting with the team, scratched his head and pointed ahead. He asked, "Is this the place you mentioned?"
William moved past the others and saw, deep in the forest, a 9 feet wide golden wheel standing quietly. Unlike ordinary wheels, this one had a horizontal rectangular surface!
William took a deep breath, saying, "Found you, Devil's Gamble!"
