Chapter 400: Chapter 400: Jared Crawford’s Clue

"Miss Abbott, are you suspicious of something?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

"I suspect... I suspect the current base commander might have gone mad..."

Chrysanthe Abbott lowered her voice. The dim light from above cast shadows on her gaunt, sunken-eyed face, making her words sound exceptionally eerie.

"Why do you say that?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

’The base commander, Evander Langdon, is insane?’

’That’s just unbelievable.’

"It’s what Mr. Crawford told me.

He saw him laughing one moment and crying the next on several occasions.

If that’s not a madman, then what is?"

Chrysanthe Abbott said with a completely serious expression.

"I heard he used to be the old base commander’s assistant? Someone like that shouldn’t have mental problems, right?"

Nina Jacobs was a little skeptical.

Chrysanthe Abbott seemed to calm down a bit.

"The old base commander’s people are either dead or have run off like Valerius Lucas. Who knows who this person in charge really is."

Her eyes were vacant as she spoke languidly.

"Did anything happen two months ago?"

Nina Jacobs asked again.

"Two months ago, two months ago..."

Chrysanthe Abbott tilted her head, trying to recall.

Ever since Jared Crawford died, she had stayed in this room without ever going out. The events Nina mentioned from two months ago felt like they happened in a past life.

"Back then, even though life was hard, we were at least scraping by, clinging to life.

That was when General Hughes brought back the wife and daughter he’d rescued from the ruins. Everyone hoped the general could change the base, but Mr. Crawford said he wasn’t his own man either. He had a wife and daughter to worry about..."

Chrysanthe Abbott said.

’General Hughes?’

Nina Jacobs thought of the two men who had tried to kill Zoraida during the day.

The person behind them was the newly appointed Grayson Garcia from the transportation center.

Logically, Grayson Garcia should have had nothing to do with Zoraida.

’The most likely reason he had someone try to kill Zoraida was to show loyalty to General Hughes after what happened today...’

’If General Hughes really isn’t his own man, why would others be so eager to align with him?’

Combined with the timing of Mrs. White’s appearance, Nina Jacobs was convinced the family of three was hiding a secret unknown to outsiders.

Just then, Chrysanthe Abbott, who had just gotten up, came out from the inner room.

She was holding some handwritten paper documents.

"These are Mr. Crawford’s old work reports. He always worked so diligently, even though no one read these things.

Take a look, see if you need them."

Chrysanthe Abbott placed them in front of Nina Jacobs.

Nina Jacobs quickly took them. She flipped through them and asked, "Can I take these with me for now?"

"Of course, of course.

If my Mr. Crawford knew what he wrote was useful, he would be happy too."

Chrysanthe Abbott replied.

Looking at the empty room, Nina Jacobs still left some food and a few bottles of water before she left.

"Miss Abbott, I’ll come see you again in a few days.

I think Mr. Crawford would want you to live on for him."

Nina Jacobs pretended not to see the rope tied to the roof beam, nor the reddish-purple ligature marks on Chrysanthe Abbott’s neck.

Looking at the items Nina Jacobs had left, Chrysanthe Abbott didn’t refuse this time.

She watched Nina Jacobs’s back as she prepared to open the door and asked:

"Are you investigating all this because of Valerius Lucas?

Will you... avenge Mr. Crawford?"

Nina Jacobs’s hand, resting on the door latch, paused slightly.

After a moment, she answered, "We will."

"That’s good. You... be careful too."

Chrysanthe Abbott watched the door close, then turned and walked to the table, stroking the wooden box on it.

Nina Jacobs, for her part, planned to head back first with the documents Chrysanthe Abbott had given her.

Jared Crawford’s home was on the fifth floor.

As she prepared to go downstairs, she saw a firework burst in the distant sky.

The firework was brilliant, yet fleeting in the silent night.

Immediately after, another beautiful firework exploded.

Nina Jacobs hadn’t seen something like a firework in a very long time.

For a moment, she too was captivated by the beautiful display.

’In this post-apocalyptic world, the only things that appear in the sky are signal flares and distress signals.’

’So who’s setting off fireworks?’

After focusing her "Five Senses Enhancement" on the location where the fireworks appeared, Nina Jacobs soon heard peals of laughter.

It was the laughter of a child.

’It’s that little girl from earlier today.’

Nina Jacobs remembered the family of three.

In a clean, spacious courtyard, the little girl was wheedling her father:

"One more, Daddy, please? I haven’t seen enough yet."

"No more. Didn’t Daddy tell you? It’s not like it is at your mother’s place. There are a lot of eyes watching us here."

"Then I don’t want to stay here anymore! The people here are all so smelly and dirty. I want to go back to Mom’s place."

"We can leave after a little while. Daddy has to work here for a bit, okay?"

The man’s voice was incredibly gentle, and the little girl seemed to finally give in, no longer pestering him to set off more fireworks.

’Mom’s place?’

’Weren’t they a wife and daughter rescued from the ruins?’

Nina Jacobs’s eyes filled with confusion.

Just then, Mrs. White finally spoke. "Evelina, be good. You can go play in the swimming pool again tomorrow. There’s no swimming pool at Mommy’s place, you know."

Another cheer erupted. The little girl, hearing she could play in the water, finally cheered up.

"That’s right, Evelina. Daddy had twenty Water Element Superpower Users fill it with the cleanest water just for you. Are you happy?"

the man asked.

"Yes! Then Daddy has to play with me tomorrow."

the little girl replied.

"You just advanced to Intermediate. You should rest for a few days and spend some time with our daughter."

Mrs. White said.

"I’ll wait until this busy period is over. You stay with Evelina tomorrow; I still have to deal with material transport."

"You know I’m not supposed to go near water."

"Just have people be careful. It’ll be fine..."

The sound of a sliding door was heard as the man led his wife and daughter into the room.

Their conversation no longer contained any useful information.

Nina Jacobs also melted into the night...

By the time she returned to her residence, the entire dormitory building was almost completely dark.

Occasionally, the sound of someone sighing could be heard.

Nina Jacobs returned to her room, hung a blackout curtain over the broken window, and then took out a bright floor lamp.

Lexy seemed to have just woken up from a nap and was now stretching with a lazy yawn.

Nina Jacobs noticed that the water bucket she had left out was full again.

"Our Lexy has been working hard, too."

She sat beside Lexy, grooming its fur for a moment, then remembered the items Chrysanthe Abbott had given her.

Jared Crawford’s work reports were very detailed, with dense script filling entire pages.

To Nina Jacobs’s surprise, she discovered a map of Lornwood Base tucked inside.

Although it was hand-drawn, it was incredibly detailed, even marking the location of the Aid Society.

"So Lornwood Base does acknowledge the existence of the Aid Society."

Nina Jacobs said aloud as she looked.

She had originally thought the Aid Society was just a privately formed organization.

Jared Crawford’s work logs clearly recorded the daily events in the Correction Pods during his tenure.

This included the participants and outcomes of every life-or-death fighting match.

At the same time, she also noticed that many dates were marked with an "L" circled by a square.

"L..."

Nina Jacobs muttered to herself.

’Evander Langdon?’

She immediately thought of his name.

’For a base commander to visit such a place every day is very strange.’

"Here..."

Nina Jacobs looked at the hand-drawn map.

There seemed to be something beneath the floor of the Correction Pods, but Jared Crawford had only marked it with a large question mark.

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