Chapter 239 Armory
Standing atop a field of corpses, Gemma spread her hands, watching as her wounds rapidly healed. Even her usually stoic face showed a hint of surprise.
'Why would this happen? I just changed my shoes.' Gemma thought in disbelief.
William sat nearby, watching with a smile in his eyes.
Gemma was gravely injured and on the brink of death. If it weren't for her strong will, she might not have lasted this long and would have succumbed to her injuries.
Even after William rescued her, her chances of survival were slim due to the severe damage to her body.
Without Lucy around, William had only one viable option: the Bloodstride Boots and their unique ability to absorb life energy.
If it were just ordinary injuries, Gemma could have healed by standing in the Bloodstride Boots for a few hours in the dense forests.
But her injuries were too severe. She was first heavily bombarded by the shadows of the twin brothers, then beaten by Brody, and finally whipped hundreds of times on Central Island, teetering on the edge of death.
Such injuries couldn't be healed just by absorbing life energy from plants.
Fortunately, William had extensive experience. He used her blood scent to attract mutated creatures in the forest and laid out a bed of flesh for Gemma.
This allowed her to rapidly absorb energy.
At first, Gemma couldn't even stand. It was only after William put the shoes on her and helped her stand that she could stand on her own within an hour.
William didn't explain anything, and Gemma didn't ask. But from the occasional grateful and fawning glances she gave him, William could see her gratitude.
William knew his wording might not be appropriate, but it was the truth. Her gaze was the same as Pill's when it was seeking affection and food.
How could Gemma, a human, have such a look? William had occasionally noticed something special in her gaze before, but he didn't think much of it. After all, he had saved her from dire straits and turned her from an ordinary person into a two-star Evolving person. Her gratitude and loyalty were normal.
But after saving her this time, she gazed at him like a pet looks at its master.
William smiled and, after the initial surprise, accepted it.
It didn't matter; it wasn't a bad thing. He just needed someone who could live and die for him.
As Footsteps approached, William saw Gemma walk over.
He frowned. It had only been two hours, and the bed of flesh didn't have many high-level mutated creatures. This short time wasn't enough to heal her injuries. William had estimated that it would take until dawn for Gemma to regain most of her combat strength.
"I'm ready," Gemma said, squatting beside William, as if having her head higher than the seated William was a form of disrespect.
"I know you have things to do. I'm ready," Gemma repeated.
William looked at Gemma for a moment and nodded.
"Ride this motorcycle back to the base and have them send a convoy to the armory. Fewer people are fine, but we need enough vehicles," William ordered.
Gemma nodded. She never asked why; she just did what was needed.
She bent down to take off the shoes and return them to William, but he stopped her.
"Keep them on. Return them when you're fully healed," he said.
He might have made a lighthearted remark about his feet not needing the extra company if it were Michelle, but such banter felt out of place with Gemma.
She remained silent. Since William didn't want her to take them off, she didn't. She turned and mounted the motorcycle.
"Brody, I'm going to cut off his hand and feed it to the dogs," Gemma suddenly announced.
William was taken aback, then smiled. "We'll feed them all people from Zero Commerce Guild to the dogs."
Gemma revved the engine and sped off.
Watching Gemma's departing figure, William thought, 'It's good to have such a subordinate.' Then he headed towards the armory.
By now, William had resolved one of the two hostage crises, and he had confidence in Michelle handling the situation at East Hill Village. Besides, he had told her something that was at least currently a secret in East Hill Village, so Spencer wouldn't dare to make a move.
As for the Accraville City prison, he had temporarily quashed their ambitions towards the manor. The retaliation wouldn't come quickly, so the immediate threat was the zombie horde.
Zombie hordes and beast hordes were the most terrifying crises in the apocalypse. Even William was deeply afraid of them. Those who hadn't experienced it couldn't imagine their horror.
Even if these zombies and mutated creatures were of the lowest level, their power was immense.
It was like a stampede. A 6-foot-tall man surrounded by a group of 5-foot-tall people could easily knock out one with a punch and handle dozens alone. But in a stampede, height and weight meant nothing. He'd be trampled by waves of smaller people and crushed to death.
A zombie horde was like that. Even if William were a three-star or four-star Evolving person, facing tens of thousands of zombies, he would have to run.
Moreover, there was never a horde of just ordinary zombies; they were always mixed with higher-level ones, making the horde even more terrifying.
The intelligence reported over twenty thousand zombies. It might not be accurate, but the rough number was likely correct. With Cloud Peak Manor's current strength, they couldn't possibly hold out.
But William couldn't bear to abandon the naturally excellent base.
So he had to fight.
He decided to target the armory that the three factions had previously failed to capture.
With enough firearms and firepower, and some defensive structures, it wasn't impossible to defend the base.
So, William's task was to achieve what the three factions couldn't.
It was difficult. He hadn't agreed to Yves' invitation for joint action, and now he was alone.
But William believed he could do it, though the cost would be high. At this point, there was no avoiding it, so he came here.
As dawn broke, William, relying on the Wellspring of Endurance from the Essence Stone, reached the armory after running all night. In the early light, he could see the remnants of the recent battle.
Some small shadows occasionally moved in and out of the armory, sometimes making strange noises.
William took a deep breath, then leaped from his hiding spot and whistled loudly at a nearby Demonic Monster!
