Free Web NovelChapter 250: Chapter 238: Expansion Plan
With the honey made from rose pollen, Caleb Bloom, Quinn, and the others woke up soon after Shauna Wallace. They could only recall fainting and had no memory of being controlled by Isla Preston.
The base had been in turmoil ever since Morgan Sterling’s death. Because Flora had withdrawn the plant roots from the basement of Morgan Sterling’s villa, the fresh water had reverted to seawater, causing the people with superpowers outside to clash with Sepherdine’s team. Zane Locke also secretly sabotaged Sepherdine’s efforts, causing Sepherdine to lose two Level 3 superpower users within three days of arriving at the safe zone.
Although his losses weren’t as devastating as Zane Locke’s, it was enough to make him wary of making any moves that might stir up more conflict in the base.
Ever since helping Flora Bloom hunt a small bag of Level 3 zombie Crystal Cores that day, Lex Cross had taken Five, Saul Sterling, and a few others and moved out of the villa inside the isolation gate. However, he didn’t move into any part of the safe zone proper. Instead, he and a few special forces soldiers cleared out a safe area in another high-end villa district outside Flora’s section and settled there with his subordinates. Furthermore, the next day, a man known as Leopard Cat and Nolan Jennings came to take Chelsea Todd from Flora and sent her back to Argent.
Flora Bloom had instructed everyone not to go outside the isolation wall. But the group didn’t want to rely on her for everything, so Sherman Lynch, on their behalf, came to discuss arrangements for daily zombie hunts.
At that moment, Flora was distractedly watering the flowers and plants by the lawn with spiritual water. The roots of these flowers, plants, and trees crisscrossed underground, even extending deep into the earth.
Morhaven was an island connected to the mainland, with most of its area floating on the sea. Flora even found herself wondering, ’If these plant roots keep growing, will they eventually reach the seabed? Will they even cover the entire underground of Morhaven?’
The flowers and grass were growing vigorously, and new sprouts had even begun to pop up in other areas within the isolation wall. The air inside the isolation gate was fresh, Spiritual Energy was abundant, and it was a completely different world from the outside. fгeewebnovёl.com
Caleb Bloom and Sherman Lynch, along with Mark Sterling, Fakyū, and Shauna Wallace, found Flora Bloom standing between two lawns.
"Dad, how’s Old Monroe doing?"
"He’s awake, and his superpower has recovered, all thanks to Shauna Wallace’s Healing System. I just don’t know when your mother will wake up. By the way, what are you planning to do with that Chester Bell? Are you just going to let him keep farming in our yard?"
Flora couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Chester Bell. "Just let him stay with Isla Preston." Ever since Isla had taken control of Chester Bell, Flora had given them some vegetable seeds and had Isla direct him to plant them in her yard. After being controlled by Isla, Chester Bell was ordinarily no different from a normal person. He could speak and interact, was perfectly aware of past and present events, and possessed normal reasoning and judgment.
The only exception was his absolute obedience to Isla Preston. It was similar to acknowledging a master. However, this "acknowledgment" was not a true bond, and the control could be released.
"Right, Flora, we came to talk to you about something. The safe zone only has one entrance and exit right now, but the inside of the base is a total mess. It’s inconvenient for our people to go out to hunt zombies and look for supplies."
Flora nodded. She could indeed provide them with a permanent food supply. But if they didn’t go out to hunt for a long time, everyone would gradually become complacent and lose their ability to fight against external threats.
"We saw Captain Cross and his team clearing out the villa district one street over. I was thinking, maybe we could also expand outward and clear out the nearby area. That way, we wouldn’t have to use the main gate of the safe zone to get in and out. And secondly, Flora, your bee swarms are getting bigger and bigger, aren’t they?"
Sherman Lynch looked at Flora with a grin, and Caleb Bloom added, "Old Lynch wants your swarms to expand and guard the compound."
Flora looked at Sherman Lynch. "What? You have an idea, Old Lynch?"
Sherman Lynch chuckled. The man, who should have been stern and serious, had become more like a cynical but playful old rascal ever since leaving Azuregard City with her, daring to dream up anything.
"Look, in the base now, the two teams brought by Zane Locke and Sepherdine are recruiting new members. The base is mostly made up of their people now. Sepherdine has taken over Morgan Sterling’s old villa and seems poised to take over the whole base."
Flora frowned. "I’m not interested in the base."
"I know, that’s not what I’m getting at. Look, they’re expanding their teams and steadily growing in power. Those superpower users will eventually level up. If we stick with just our current numbers, when they get stronger and more numerous, there’s no guarantee they won’t come looking for trouble, right? We’re not looking for a fight, but we still need to build up our defenses to stop others from starting one, don’t we?"
Hearing Sherman Lynch put it that way, Flora suddenly felt he had a point. "Old Lynch, I think your old habits are kicking in. You’re getting an itch to lead some men again, aren’t you?"
"Hah, what are you talking about? I’m doing this for your own good!"
Mark Sterling and Fakyū snickered. "Old Lynch, we told you you couldn’t hide it from Boss Flora. She saw right through you, huh?"
Flora looked at the two of them. "’Boss Flora?’ That sounds awful."
Caleb Bloom said with a smile, "We’ve already discussed this among ourselves. With so many of us together, we need a clear division of labor. Old Lynch wants to recruit new people, and once Jim Porter and Cynthia are back, they can lead the training. Selina and Dr. Maeve Preston will be in charge of logistics, and they’ll also help take care of your mom. Neal Wallace, Shauna Wallace, Old Monroe, and I will handle the zombie-hunting expeditions."
"Dad, when did you all decide this?" Flora looked at Mark Sterling and Fakyū. The two of them had been following Sherman Lynch around recently, so she figured they had decided to join his training group.
Caleb Bloom smiled faintly and reached out to pat his daughter’s head. "My dear, we actually discussed this a long time ago. There are quite a few of us. We can’t all rely on a young girl like you to get by. What would that make us?"
Flora sighed. "It’s actually great that you all feel that way. But... with everyone’s roles assigned, what about me? What’s my job?"
"You, of course, will be our leader, our boss!" Fakyū said with a grin. "It was a unanimous decision, so you can’t shirk your responsibility!"
Flora shook her head and said with a laugh, "You’ve all decided already. This wasn’t really a consultation, was it?"
"But there’s one thing we absolutely need your help with, Flora. We’ve planned to expand our safe area first. The current safe zone is large, but it’s chaotic and filled with all sorts of people. Ultimately, we decided it’s better to organize our own people and expand on our own, independent of the main safe zone. But we have too few people right now. If anyone with ill intent notices what we’re doing, it’ll be a huge problem. So we need your bee swarms to help guard our home."
Flora grinned and nodded. At this point, she could have as many bee swarms as she wanted. As long as she had enough spiritual water for the flowers and plants, and the swarms had plenty of honey, they could rapidly breed the next generation.
If Flora wasn’t intentionally curbing their reproduction rate, the villa district inside the isolation gate would have long been overflowing with hives and swarms.
"That’s not a problem. But, as for the bee swarms, I have a better idea."
