"They really don’t give up!" Paige Summers muttered under her breath.

Erin Quinn smiled sweetly and leaned close to her ear. "That woman thinks we have powerful backers. She just wants to get on our good side. For now, she doesn’t seem to have any bad intentions."

Paige Summers nodded.

Rachel Forrest and her brother followed them just like that, relentlessly. She was also quite cunning.

Whenever they encountered Mutant Beasts, she would have their car move closer to Paige Summers’s group, shamelessly asking for help in a fawning manner. And when Paige’s group faced enemies, she and her brother would swiftly rush over to help. After discovering Erin Quinn was the weakest in combat, she would invariably raise a defensive shield and protect her flawlessly. In time, whether Paige Summers and the others agreed or not, they had essentially been "forced" into becoming partners...

As they interacted more, they slowly discovered that the siblings weren’t so bad after all.

The older brother, Leo Forrest, had only two goals in life: to become stronger and to protect his sister. And becoming stronger was just a means to better protect his sister. In short, he followed his sister’s commands without question, a textbook case of a doting brother with a serious sister complex.

As for the younger sister, Rachel Forrest... she had a certain cunning, was quick-witted in a pinch, greedy but not excessively so, and knew how to read a room. For now, although they couldn’t fully trust her, there wasn’t a major problem with having them as temporary travel companions.

Paige Summers discussed it with the others and finally, officially accepted the brother and sister into their group.

Of course, she didn’t forget to have Erin Quinn keep a part of her mental focus on the pair, watching to see if they developed any disloyal thoughts.

Even with two extra people, their travel speed didn’t increase by much.

Sean Raines was anxious about this, but Paige Summers was unmoved, insisting that they should use the journey to hone their skills.

’What kind of place is Central City?’

’It’s the heart of all Astoria, for crying out loud! Does he think it’ll be easy to get by there? If we don’t use this time to increase our strength, who knows what we’ll run into when we actually arrive? Every bit of extra strength will give us a bit more confidence!’

And so, they traveled for nearly two more months before finally reaching the outskirts of Central City.

According to Sean Raines, Central City was divided into a residential zone and a factory zone.

The factory zone, as its name suggested, was where various manufacturing plants were located. It was now under the complete control of The Government’s military. Entry and exit were subject to strict inspection, and the area was under tight surveillance.

The residential zone was much better by comparison. You could enter and exit as long as you registered. Of course, this registration wasn’t as simple as them just asking for your name and writing it down. Especially for first-timers, all of your information would be determined after a series of examinations. Aside from your name, which you could decide for yourself, everything else was based on the examination results—for example, your age was determined by bone age, and your superpower was determined by a test...

In fact, you couldn’t just say any name you pleased, either. After all the procedures were complete, The Government would issue each person an Identity Card. It was similar to the ID cards from before the apocalypse, but it served a much greater purpose. This card was extremely important, and in principle, the information on it could not be changed. If you had a brain fart and gave a name so ridiculous it would make people laugh their heads off, then as long as you didn’t leave Central City, you were pretty much stuck with it for life!

Although Paige Summers and the others didn’t yet fully grasp the importance of the Identity Card, none of them thought they were absent-minded enough to make such a mistake. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were some "important figures" who needed to hide their identities. Using their real names was only natural, wasn’t it?

While Sean Raines was explaining, the car drew closer to Central City.

However, while the city walls were still just a distant sight, they were stopped by a massive, sturdy, high-wire fence. A checkpoint, overseen by a watchtower, was set up at the entrance in the fence.

Two rows of uniformed guards holding rifles motioned for them to open their vehicle. Only after a preliminary inspection confirmed they weren’t carrying any dangerous items were they allowed to pass.

As the car got back on the road, Paige Summers whispered in confusion, "That’s it?" ’That wasn’t nearly as complicated as he made it sound!’

Sean Raines chuckled. "We’re nowhere near done. We haven’t even entered the city yet! This place is nominally called the Outer District, and while it’s considered part of Central City, it’s really just a temporary waiting area outside the main walls. If you want to enter the actual city, you have to get in line first. I hear it’s not unheard of to wait a month or two!"

Erin Quinn let out a small gasp. "That long..."

Sean Raines immediately added, "Don’t worry. With me here, we won’t have to wait. We’ll be able to get in by tomorrow at the latest!"

Paige Summers glanced at him, a little surprised. ’Actually, a one or two-month wait wouldn’t have seemed strange to me. After all, with inspections as strict as he described, they probably can’t process very many people in a single day, and there must be far more people wanting to get into Central City than that. Sean Raines’s words, on the other hand... It seems the Taoist Association he belongs to holds a higher status than I imagined.’