Two hours later, Martin Warren and Howard Everett returned one after another with their people.

Only Isaac Langley was still nowhere to be seen.

The group wasn’t too worried, figuring that Shawn Monroe and his party simply hadn’t arrived yet.

All bases had a strict rule against killing. Even in the worst-case scenario, the most that would happen was that Isaac would be discovered by Shawn Monroe. But at a time like this, Shawn’s group would have no desire to cause trouble, so there was no way they would make a move on him!

Martin Warren was the first to report on what his group had found.

According to him, Glimmerlake Base only appeared calm. In reality, a good number of people already knew about the Beast Tide. Dawnbringer Base, their closest "neighbor," was now a ghost town, so it was impossible for people here to be completely clueless. Furthermore, starting a few days ago, Superpower Users from Dawnbringer Base had been trickling in to stay temporarily. Most of them left just as quickly, but in their conversations, they let slip that if the Beast Tide arrived, Glimmerlake would surely be unable to escape.

At the time, this caused a panic, and many considered leaving. However, they were soon placated by an official announcement. Samuel Hughes, the Base Chief of Glimmerlake, claimed it was all baseless nonsense. He stated that Dawnbringer Base had been abandoned for other reasons, not due to some unproven speculation about an impending Beast Tide.

The vast majority of people believed him.

After all, people longed for a stable life. No one wanted to undertake another long trek and risk their lives just to relocate.

Howard Everett nodded.

His group had learned much the same thing—not from the general populace, of course, but from the base’s own staff.

He had even met with the official in charge of the base’s Superpower User teams.

A small display of power, a bribe of Crystal Cores, and a convincing story about wanting to defect were all it took. The official could barely contain his excitement and spent a good while bragging to him. After Howard applied a bit of mental suggestion, the man readily divulged the Base Chief’s daily whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Marcus Monroe, after checking out the supply depot with Paige Summers and her companions, had gone out again while they were freshening up. He had managed to buy specific information about the Flying Eagle Hunters, the party guarding those supplies.

Just as he had expected, the Flying Eagle Hunters only had a minor reputation here.

Their members were said to be quite strong, but not to the point of being truly formidable. At least, they hadn’t drawn any significant attention from the prominent Hunting Parties in the Inner City. They kept a low profile and rarely got into conflicts, so they had a comfortable existence in the outer city.

As for the warehouses they were using, they were all officially registered with the base. The area was remote, so it didn’t attract any attention.

"It’s a good cover-up, which shows how much Samuel Hughes values these supplies," Martin Warren said, stroking his chin. "If someone makes a move, he won’t just take the loss in silence. He could use the excuse of an ’attack on the base’ to mobilize a large number of Superpower Users to round us up. So, the risk is considerable. We need to plan this carefully."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

That was true. While they were confident in their own strength and didn’t fear their opponents, they knew that even an army of ants could take down an elephant. A direct confrontation was out of the question.

Marcus Monroe raised an eyebrow slightly. "So, what are your thoughts?"

The room wasn’t large. Marcus Monroe and Howard Everett occupied the only two seats at the table, while most of the others sat on the beds. Paige Summers, not wanting to crowd in with the men, leaned against the wall by the door.

As Marcus Monroe’s gaze swept the room and landed on her, the others were either lost in thought or staring blankly. She straightened her back, thinking, ’This is the perfect opportunity!’

"How about we give them something to do?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Oh? Go on."

Seeing everyone turn to her at once, Paige Summers blinked. "If Samuel Hughes publicly announces that the Beast Tide is coming, things will get chaotic. Then we can fish in troubled waters."

"Samuel Hughes doesn’t even believe a Beast Tide is coming. Why would he ever release news like that?" Grant Yardley frowned, perplexed. He thought the idea was completely unrealistic.

A couple of others quickly voiced their agreement.

Paige Summers smiled. "What he thinks doesn’t matter. He just needs to say what we want him to say."

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon Howard Everett.

Everyone instantly understood. Right—suggestion, hypnosis, things like that... with an expert in their midst, it would be no problem at all!

Martin Warren asked, "But how are we supposed to get close to Samuel Hughes on such short notice?"

Paige Summers remained silent, looking straight at Howard Everett and Marcus Monroe.

It was only when Howard Everett had been detailing Samuel Hughes’s daily routine that she had understood. ’So that’s why,’ she realized. ’Marcus must have sent him to get that information from the very beginning with this intention in mind!’