Nearly half a day had passed since they left Central City. Fortunately, the journey was smooth and without incident.

As noon approached, Claire Chapman, who was riding in the lead vehicle, gave the order. The convoy found a clean spot to pull over, ready to rest and eat lunch.

In a vehicle farther back, Paige Summers scowled at Zephyr Mercer as he silently offered her some food. When he acted as if he hadn’t noticed, the corner of her mouth twitched. She accepted it with a resigned sigh, sparing a moment to shoot a fierce glare at Sean Raines, who sat across from her, smiling as if he were enjoying the show.

’What the hell? One after another, they were all latching onto her. Seriously, she was going to risk her life, not on a vacation!’

Paige Summers sighed to herself. She had no appetite, so she simply ignored them and went to find Claire Chapman.

The moment Claire Chapman saw her, she broke into a knowing grin. "Hehe. So, is it true what they say? The favor of a handsome man is the hardest to accept?"

"Piss off!"

Paige Summers was simmering with frustration.

’Sean Raines was one thing. The man always claimed to be reluctant, but in reality, he was itching to run all over Astoria. It was understandable that he’d want to tag along for the ride. Besides, not only was he Erin Quinn’s senior brother, but he also possessed unique skills, and they had been through thick and thin together. If he wanted to follow, so be it.’

’But Zephyr Mercer?’

’God knows she had sent word of her departure to Blake Morrison, but for some reason, this kid had shown up instead. If that was all, it might have been fine. But he’d used the excuse that his uncle was worried and had ordered him to personally escort her out of the city, stubbornly forcing his way into her vehicle.’

’Fine. Now that they were out of the city, he should be heading back, right?’

But when she’d asked, the kid had been shamelessly blunt and laid it all out.

"I can’t go back. To come see you off in my uncle’s place, I knocked him out. If I go back now, my dad will break my legs."

Hearing this, Paige Summers was speechless. Her first instinct was to snap, "What’s that got to do with me?" in the hopes of crushing his spirits enough to make him turn around and go straight back to the city.

But before she could get the words out, the kid cut her off. "I know it’s got nothing to do with you, but I’m not just here for a free ride. I saw your crew here is too weak, so I’m going to help you train them. Once they’re at least one-tenth as good as me, I promise I’ll leave!"

At this, Paige Summers and her companions were utterly flabbergasted.

’The nerve of this guy! Just how strong did he think he was, spouting such arrogant nonsense!’

The Bloodfall members, at least, were disciplined. Although every one of them was bristling with fighting spirit, cracking their knuckles and dying to drag him out of the vehicle for a beating, they knew he was an acquaintance of Vice-Captain Sterling. They couldn’t make a move without her permission, so they had to settle for trying to kill him with their stares. The three men from Marcus Monroe’s group, who were also in the vehicle, were calmer, but the looks they exchanged still betrayed their indignation.

But Zephyr Mercer, the one who’d made the arrogant claim, was completely unfazed. He glanced around at them with disdain. "Not convinced? Hmm, that’s fine. I know your type—you won’t give up until you’re faced with the undeniable truth..."

As soon as he said that, the animosity in the vehicle shot up several more notches.

Paige Summers put a hand to her forehead.

’She’d always known he had a fiery temper, but now he’d added ’venomous tongue’ to his list of traits. It had taken him less than a minute to offend nearly everyone in the vehicle. What a ’talent’ that was!’

Her brow furrowed, and she was about to interrupt his provocation. But Zephyr Mercer only paused for a few seconds before continuing, "You’re in the middle of a mission, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to get into a real fight and have someone get hurt. How about this? We’ll run a little test, and you’ll understand. First: if you got out of the car with me right now, which one of you is confident you could catch up to it while it’s still moving at full speed?"

The men who had been glaring daggers at him just a moment ago were suddenly stumped.

After a moment, one of the team members grumbled, "Are you kidding? None of us have a Speed Superpower. How could we possibly catch up?"

"Neither do I," Zephyr Mercer replied calmly. "But I can."

"Talk is cheap!"

Faced with their skepticism, Zephyr Mercer didn’t say another word. He just glanced outside before smoothly opening the door and leaping from the moving vehicle!

Everyone was once again dumbfounded.

Except for Paige Summers and Sean Raines.

The former looked thoughtful, while the latter was clearly amused.

As it turned out, Zephyr Mercer had been telling the truth.

He stood there as the vehicle left him fifty or sixty meters behind in the blink of an eye. And then, he moved.

He started with a sudden sprint, his speed somehow even faster than the vehicle’s. After closing some of the distance, he flicked his wrist and threw a rope he’d produced.

With Paige’s sharp eyesight, she could clearly see that the end of the rope was attached to a weapon resembling a sleeve arrow.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was Zephyr Mercer’s incredible strength. The sleeve arrow, trailing its thin rope, shot through the air and plunged straight into an outer panel at the vehicle’s rear. Though the sound of the arrow piercing the metal was faint from inside, the entire chassis shuddered from the impact, a testament to how deeply it had been embedded!