Chapter 288: Chapter 276: The Plan to Unify Morhaven
For seven straight days, Flora Bloom and her father’s team cleared out the nearby villa districts, and everything went incredibly smoothly. The reason was that in these villa districts, forget Middle Level zombies—there wasn’t even a single Level 3 zombie to be found!
In seven days, the team quickly cleared five villa districts and had several queen bees build their hives within them.
’At first, I thought we were just lucky that there were no high-level or Middle Level zombies in these villa districts. It certainly saved us a lot of trouble. If there had been even one Level 3 zombie, all the zombies in the area would have united under its command. Attacking them wouldn’t have been so easy then. And if it had been a Middle Level zombie, that would have been a whole different story.’
Early one morning, Irvin Holden, Mark Sterling, and Fakéyóu came over from the neighboring villa to Flora Bloom’s house to see Caleb Bloom, carrying a piece of paper that looked like a hand-drawn topographical map.
A short while later, once the members of the zombie-hunting team had all gathered, Sherman Lynch spread the paper out on the table and began to explain.
"Now that we’ve settled down in Morhaven, I’ve made a preliminary plan for our current situation. As you all know, the original safe zone is a chaotic mix of people, and its security is unstable. The four factions inside are constantly fighting and wearing each other down, which makes developing the base extremely difficult."
A corner of Flora Bloom’s mouth lifted into a smile. "Old Lynch, don’t tell me you’re planning to unify Morhaven, are you?"
Upon hearing this, Cynthia Grant grew instantly excited. "Uncle, if you want to unify Morhaven, I’ll be the first to support you! Flora will support you too!"
Sherman Lynch patted Cynthia Grant on the head. "What nonsense are you talking about!" Then he looked at Flora Bloom. "Flora, our numbers are just a drop in the ocean compared to everyone else out there. You should know that only with a stable environment and resources like food can we win people over and face the outside world together."
"Old Lynch, it sounds like you want to restore stability to Morhaven?"
Flora Bloom’s pointed question made Sherman Lynch’s brow twitch. "If I had the power, that is naturally the outcome I would want. But based on the current situation, we can only start by incorporating these three zones into our safe zone."
As Sherman Lynch spoke, he circled three areas on the paper. One was the area from the safe zone to the waterfront. The volcano that had risen from the sea off the waterfront now blotted out the sun, and Fire Element Energy had condensed into a mist that shrouded the volcano from its midpoint upwards, causing the temperature to rise gradually. It was precisely because of this sudden temperature increase in the waters around the volcano that the octopus monster, Ash, and the halfbeaks Flora Bloom had left in the sea had all relocated to the eastern waters.
The second zone was the area from the safe zone to Villa District 9. The villa district where Flora Bloom had first arrived was now designated as Villa District 1, located within the original safe zone. Villa Districts 2 and 3 were adjacent to a shopping mall. Villa Districts 4 through 9 extended outwards from Villa Districts 2 and 3 and the mall in a fan shape. And Zone 009, where the mall they’d rescued Caleb Bloom from was located, was right in the middle of this fan-shaped area.
’Back when we went to save Father, the Middle Level zombie in Zone 009 was taken care of by Isla Preston. But I remember that Saul Sterling used his superpower to detect two more Middle Level zombies on the road in Zone 007.’
At the time, when they rescued Caleb Bloom, Quinn, and the others from that zombie-infested shopping mall, the two Middle Level zombies hadn’t dared to come near them because of Rose’s vines and Isla Preston.
’Based on how things are now, we can quickly clear out villa districts that don’t have any high-level or Middle Level zombies. But the two Middle Level zombies in Zone 007, which is next to Zone 009, are not something Caleb Bloom and the others can handle right now.’
’I’ve had Isla Preston stationed at the airport to keep the zombie horde there under control. That way, if Lex Cross and his group return, I’ll get the news immediately. So I’m not planning on calling her back to help.’
’We’ll have to face Middle Level zombies one day. If we always rely on Isla Preston to deal with the powerful ones, the rest of the team will never get any real combat experience.’
She herself had already broken through to the Middle Superpower Level. Meanwhile, in the time they’d spent clearing zombies, her father Caleb Bloom, Cynthia Grant, Sherman Lynch, Shauna Wallace, and the others had all used Crystal Cores to raise their own Superpower Levels to Level 3.
’If I can get everyone’s Superpower Level to the Middle Level, then with my little pets providing backup, dealing with two Middle Level zombies shouldn’t be a problem!’
Flora Bloom voiced her concern about the second zone Sherman Lynch had marked out.
"Shauna, Mr. Wallace, you haven’t forgotten about the two Middle Level zombies in Zone 007 that Saul Sterling’s superpower detected when we went to Zone 009, have you?"
Flora Bloom’s words instantly made everyone present fall silent. Middle Level zombies? With their current overall strength, even dealing with Level 3 zombies required careful planning and strategy. ’To face Middle Level zombies, we’re still not strong enough!’
"Flora, I know clearing this area will be difficult, but if we want to consolidate all the surrounding territory and carve out a truly safe zone, we have to take Zones 007 through 009!"
Flora Bloom nodded. "I agree with that! It won’t be too late to clear that area once everyone has broken through to the Middle Level. Old Lynch, what’s the third zone you mentioned?"
Hearing Flora Bloom’s question, Sherman Lynch, Neal Wallace, and a few others exchanged glances, their expressions striking Flora as rather strange.
"Ahem, it’s this one here."
Flora Bloom watched the area Sherman Lynch’s finger traced and almost burst out laughing. Looking again at Cynthia Grant, Irvin Holden, and even the usually earnest Shauna Wallace, she saw they all wore expressions of knowing complicity. Flora knew then that they had been planning this for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to ask for her opinion.
The third zone Sherman Lynch had outlined was the original Morhaven safe zone itself, which included the civilian housing, low-rise apartment buildings, and villas, as well as all the streets and buildings within those three sectors.
"PFFT HAHAHAHA! Old Lynch, you’re a true master strategist! I’m impressed!"
Sherman Lynch nodded shrewdly. "This area is like our backyard. If we don’t clean it up, it’s easy for a fire to start back there. Those four factions are just wearing each other down with their daily infighting, like children playing house. If this continues, Morhaven will never be united!"
Flora Bloom nodded in agreement. "Old Lynch, you call the shots on this one. I’ll leave the detailed planning to you as well! As for what you need from me, just say the word. I guarantee you’ll have whatever you ask for!"
Sherman Lynch’s eyes glinted with cunning, and in that moment, Flora Bloom thought he looked no different from Mason Adler, all the way back in Azuregard City.
’But then again, how could a leader who once stood at the very top command the loyalty of so many subordinates without this level of shrewdness? In fact, I’m starting to think that not kicking Sherman Lynch off the boat back then was a very wise decision.’
Hearing Flora Bloom say this, not only Sherman Lynch but also Caleb Bloom, Ethan Monroe, and the other members of the hunting squad breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sherman Lynch immediately spoke up.
"Quinn has already been secretly contacting the superpower users in the base who haven’t joined any faction. He’ll send over a list once he’s done. I need a place to conduct special training for the newcomers."
