Chapter 262 Family
"Everything is in place," Darryl reported.
He met William at the Seed Company on the outskirts of Accraville City. Although he didn't know why William chose the location, he didn't ask and helped William clear out the Seed Company's warehouse.
Darryl recalled the strange vines that appeared around William during the battle against the zombie horde, vaguely guessing that William might have a profession related to plants.
William squatted behind an abandoned car, observing the situation ahead while asking Darryl in a low voice, "Did you tell them not to alert the target?"
"I told them. The binoculars you provided are good enough for us to keep an eye on the Lowe Family from a few hundred feet away. Once the suspicious person you mentioned appears, we'll initiate chain surveillance to locate the suspect," Darryl answered.
William nodded in understanding.
All signs indicated that the Lowe Family and the Zero Commerce Guild had close ties. In William's previous life, the Zero Commerce Guild was a top-tier force that people looked up to, but it was also notorious. If possible, William didn't want to provoke them until he was fully prepared.
However, things didn't go as he wished. Even though he didn't want trouble, they came looking for him. It now seemed that their influence had already encompassed the area around Cloud Peak Mountain.
Since peaceful coexistence with them was impossible, William naturally had to prepare early. The Hungry Tiger Knights, driven by profit, were ideal pawns.
William was too cautious to use his people. Using the Hungry Tiger Knights as a shield, if the Zero Commerce Guild discovered them, they could cause trouble and keep him from being exposed quickly. Only Darryl knew they had already pledged allegiance to Cloud Peak Manor.
Besides, William was indeed short-handed at the moment. Future development would definitely be limited by this. Cultivating a force he could control now would undoubtedly bring many benefits in the future. The most significant advantage would be controlling another base with a roulette, expanding his influence.
This time, William brought Darryl to Accraville City for the exchange meeting for two reasons. Firstly, Darryl's local knowledge was invaluable in a city vastly different from William's pre-apocalypse memories. Secondly, it allowed William to assess Darryl's potential and determine his future investment in the young man's training.
"Are you a Swamp Wizard?" William asked.
Darryl exclaimed in surprise and nodded. "Yes, how did you know?"
"I saw you use a profession skill that day," William responded.
During the battle with the zombie horde, Darryl had used a Swamp Wizard profession skill—Deadly Quagmire, sending a level-three zombie into the quagmire. William had seen it.
"Where did you get the Career Scroll?" William asked.
Darryl replied, "It came from a Colorful Roulette at the cement factory. Several of our Career Scrolls in the Hungry Tiger Knights warband came from there. We used all our Magic Crystals on it; otherwise, we would have two-star Evolving persons. But later, the roulette exploded for some reason."
Darryl shuddered at the memory. If he hadn't been out on a mission that day, he might have died.
"Colorful Roulettes are indeed dangerous. The black areas are not to be touched," William said casually.
"This profession is good, but it consumes too much mental energy. Every time I use a profession skill, it takes a week to recover my mental energy. Just thinking about it gives me a headache," Darryl remarked, frustrated.
William knew that the Swamp Wizard was a flawed profession. The skills demanded too much mental energy, and due to its wizard nature, it caused the practitioner's physical health to deteriorate and their overall mental energy to remain low. Darryl was new to the profession and not very advanced. As he leveled up, his body would weaken, eventually becoming skeletal, and his mental energy would never increase, limiting him to just one skill.
Later, survivors found some related skills or equipment to support this profession. For example, the passive skill Spiritual Spring boosts mental energy by raising its limit. Some bloodlines could neutralize the physical side effects of being a Swamp Wizard, and so on.
But no matter what, this profession was powerful. Each of its skills had great power. Darryl was quite lucky to have it.
As they moved forward, Darryl once again witnessed William's formidable strength.
The density of zombies and monsters in Accraville City was terrifying. Those mutated creatures were almost everywhere, and one could encounter them at any corner.
Moreover, they were clearly highly evolved. There were many level-two zombies, often seen in groups of dozens or even hundreds. They didn't have many people today, so Darryl thought it best to avoid provoking them.
However, William charged straight ahead, wielding a Warblade with incredible speed. Few level-two zombies could keep up with him, and most of their innate skills missed their mark. William was extremely cautious, disappearing after a bout of slashing only to reappear on the other side. In less than ten minutes, he had wiped out a small horde of about thirty level-two mutated zombies, leaving Darryl watching in astonishment.
After evolving into a three-star Evolving person, William's strength had increased significantly. As long as he employed some strategy, he could handle such small hordes without much risk.
Of course, he couldn't do such things very often. If a level-three zombie heard the commotion and appeared, it could entangle William just long enough for the other level-two zombies to overwhelm him.
By evening, they still had a quarter of the city to cross to reach the rendezvous point. They were confident they could arrive before the final deadline at noon the day after tomorrow.
The city's night belonged to zombies and mutated creatures. Even William didn't dare to be reckless. After some observation, he and Darryl chose a building as their camp for the night. The building wasn't tall and was close to others, allowing them to use their evolved abilities to escape via the rooftops if necessary. The spacing between buildings also served as a barrier against zombies.
However, as soon as they reached the rooftop, another group climbed up from the other side, and tensions immediately rose.
Killing and looting were all too common in the apocalypse.
A voice suddenly shouted, "Wait, don't fight!"
A middle-aged man rushed out from the other group, telling his people not to act rashly and signaling William and Darryl to lower their weapons.
"Daz, is that you?" the man called out as he walked over quickly.
Darryl was stunned. It had been a long time since anyone called him by that nickname, which only his family used to call him.
As the man got closer in the dim light, Darryl's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Uncle Nicholas!"
The middle-aged man, Nicholas Carter, rushed over and hugged Darryl, laughing with joy. "It's really you, Darryl! I thought it was you. You're alive. That's wonderful!"
Nicholas was Darryl's mother's brother. He had been doing business with Darryl's family since Darryl was a child, and they had always been close. Darryl had thought they were separated forever by the apocalypse, but they reunited here.
"Where's my dad? How is he?" Darryl hurriedly asked.
After the apocalypse began, he had once risked returning home, only to find the villa covered in blood and flesh. He had assumed that his relatives who were supposed to be there had been killed by zombies and left Accraville City in sorrow.
But now, he had found Nicholas, who had been in the villa at the time.
Could his father also be alive?
Darryl suddenly felt extremely anxious, fearing more bad news.
"He's fine. He's at our camp right now!" Nicholas replied excitedly.
Tears streamed down Darryl's face. The old adage, "you don't know what you've got until it's gone," had never rung truer.
The dozen or so people who had come with Nicholas walked over. Leading them was a burly man about 6 feet tall. He squinted at William, who looked unarmed and like a gigolo, then ignored him and focused on Darryl, who was holding a silenced rifle and was bald.
"Nicholas, is this your family?" the man asked.
Hearing the man behind him, Nicholas quickly wiped his tears and turned around, "Yes, Mr. Roberts, he's my nephew. I thought he was dead, but we found each other here. So, can I..."
As he spoke, he reluctantly took out a level-one Magic Crystal and handed it to Avery Roberts.
Avery snorted and accepted the Magic Crystal. "Fine, but you need to explain the rules to them. If they cause trouble, you'll regret it!"
Nicholas nodded quickly. "Of course, Mr. Roberts. I'll make sure they understand."
"And we're camping here tonight. Have them find us some food," Avery commanded, then joined his group, laughing and chatting, oblivious to the others' opinions.
Nicholas, looking helpless, patted Darryl on the shoulder, only to find Darryl looking at his young companion with a mix of fear and respect.
Nicholas was puzzled. Darryl had always been rebellious, not even fearing his parents. Why did he seem so respectful and afraid of this person?
William squinted and thought for a moment, then nodded to Darryl.
