Heartbeat Accelerates!

These past few days, they had been spending the nights outdoors, and although Maxwell was accustomed to this lifestyle with Eva and Carline's company, it still couldn't compare to the comfort of living in a human city.

The moment he saw the city, he longed for the feeling of a hot bath, that deep, bone-soothing comfort, which Maxwell greatly missed.

Moreover, hearing the hustle and bustle of the city and interacting with other humans of this era was also much needed.

As they approached the base city, Maxwell stored Eva and Carline back into his space.

Right now, all he wanted was to find a place to comfortably take a hot shower and then lie down on a soft, large bed for a long sleep.

At the main entrance of the base city, several guards armed with machine guns saw Maxwell approaching and promptly stepped forward to stop him, while another went to the opposite side and said, "Do you have an identity card? Without one, as per tradition, entering the base city requires a payment of 2000g of food as an entry fee."

A fee of 2000g of food just to enter? Wasn't this typical extortion?

Maxwell couldn't be bothered with these people. He simply raised his hand, and his fingertips crackled with bursts of electric sparks and thunderous sounds.

"An Awakener?"

The guards were visibly shaken.

If he could manifest abilities, he was at least an Awakener, perhaps even an Evolver. No wonder this man didn't seem the least bit flustered when they stopped him.

"Hahaha, alright then, since you're an Awakener, the 2000g of food won't be necessary. This is Tampa, welcome to our city."

The guard who had first stopped him quickly changed his expression and demeanor.

Maxwell didn't say much, just nodded and walked through the city gates.

"That guy has a terrifying presence."

After Maxwell had walked a considerable distance, another guard commented.

"Lucky we didn't do anything more. Charging an entry fee is an unspoken rule in every base city, otherwise where would we get all that extra profit! Just last time, we stopped an Evolver who immediately showed his abilities, and even though we knelt and apologized, he was relentless. Lucky this guy has a good temper and didn't seem angry. Probably doesn't even consider us little ants worth his attention. These kinds of people are the scariest, they must be very high-level, maybe even some big shot."

This was said by the guard who had welcomed Maxwell.

Their eyes followed Maxwell's retreating figure, and with each step he took, he seemed to grow taller, and they felt more and more that Maxwell's strength was unfathomable.

...

"Give me a suite with two hours of hot water."

Maxwell took out a box of food from his storage space and placed it on the front desk.

In the post-apocalyptic world, food had effectively taken on the role of currency.

The base city also had hotels, although not many; these were meant to accommodate passing Awakeners and Evolvers, and naturally offered a better environment.

Of course, the cost of these hotels was quite high, only affordable for Awakeners or Evolvers.

The hotel owner inspected the box on the desk, accepted it, and handed Maxwell a key.

Maxwell took the key and went straight up to the third floor, found his room, and opened the door.

It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room suite.

After entering the room, Maxwell didn't rush to let Eva and Carline out. Instead, he thoroughly checked the room. Once he was satisfied that there were no issues, he called the two women out.

"Eva, Carline, today we can take a hot shower!"

Maxwell pulled back the bathroom curtain, watching as hot water streamed from the showerhead, instantly filling the room with warm, steamy vapor.

This is truly a cosmic-level luxury in the post-apocalyptic world!

After all, in a huge base city with so many humans, very few get the chance to take a hot shower even once a year.

"Eva, come here, I'll help you bathe."

Maxwell waved Eva over.

He wasn't sure why he had decided to have Carline go after.

Eva was quickly bathed, and Maxwell carefully dressed her.

Next, it was Carline's turn.

"Eva, be good, go wait in the living room for a bit."

Maxwell asked Eva to go out and wait, then turned his attention to Carline.

Suddenly, he felt a dryness in his mouth, swallowing several times, his heartbeat uncontrollably speeding up.

...

After Maxwell entered the base city.

On the mountain where Red Castle was located, a group of people appeared.

They searched through the ruins of Red Castle for a long time before leaving.

In a large base city, within a thirty-story building.

In this era, thirty-story buildings are quite rare, most having turned into ruins, or the remaining ones having become hazardous. However, this building looked as if it had just been completed, appearing quite new.

In one of the rooms at the top of this building, a young man stood by the window, hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.

"There's news!"

Suddenly, someone entered the room and whispered into the young man's ear.

"Samuel is definitely dead."

The young man then turned around and spoke to a few people sitting nearby.

"But we haven't found any trace of the murderer. Even Barclay could only gather bits of information with his tracking ability, and these clues point towards the Supreme Hall."

The young man integrated the information he had just received and spoke slowly.

"Oh, my poor child!"

Hearing this, one of the elderly ladies suddenly burst into tears.

"Cry? What's the use of crying? In this era, who dies first and who dies later is uncertain; this time it was Samuel's turn! Reckless, not diligent, isn't it because he wasn't tough enough! Norris is already Tier 7, he was only a year younger than Norris, yet still at Tier 5, after all these years! It's all because you always spoiled him! If you ask me, he got what he deserved!"

An older man standing beside the elderly lady suddenly stood up, snorted coldly.

At that moment, the young man respectfully bowed to him and said, "Grandfather, in the league, although the Supreme Hall is at the lower end, their strength is not weak. Although we are the Thunderclap family, to completely eradicate them would still be somewhat challenging."

"Norris, they are giving us a chance!"

The elder stood in place, pondering for a moment, his face devoid of any grief over Samuel's death.

"The Supreme Hall has always been against our Thunderclap family; we should have dealt with them long ago, but we never found the right opportunity. Now, they dare to threaten my grandson's life; this vendetta must be avenged! However, we must carefully consider how to do so!"