Chapter 263: The Price
The details of the deal with Nicholas were handed over to Fiona by Elijah.
After they fully occupied the mall's storage base, Elijah didn't follow the team to clear the old town; instead, he entrusted that task entirely to Quentin and his group.
Elijah himself took Yvonne, a plant ability user from the YLK Group, along with many spirit plants collected by the YLK Group, and returned to Azure Isle. Accompanying them was the young girl, Nora!
Before departure, Elijah asked Lillian if she would like to move to Azure Isle permanently.
Surprisingly, Lillian refused, saying she was quite comfortable living at the YLK Group and didn't want to move. However, the young girl Nora was eager to explore.
Since Elijah needed Nora to shield the spirit plants during the journey, he brought her along back to Azure Isle.
The women on the island were all very fond of Nora. The little girl, now healthy and chubby, had become quite adorable, igniting a strong maternal instinct among the women.
Because of this, Bella sought out Elijah one night, enthusiastically exercising in the hope of having a child herself.
Speaking of this matter, the women on the island found it odd. They had been with Elijah for quite some time, often engaging in intimate activities without any precaution, yet none of them had become pregnant!
If it had been just one woman, it might have been her problem, but with so many women without any sign of pregnancy, the only possible issue had to be with the man.
Jasmine delicately brought up the matter with Elijah, making him both amused and exasperated.
Who would've thought that the arrival of a young girl would make all the women suspicious of him?
As a result, Elijah had to "teach" each of them a lesson while providing an explanation.
Human awakening is not without its price!
One of the consequences is a reduced likelihood of reproduction!
Knowing this, Elijah had been generous in his "sowing," hoping someone would eventually get pregnant!
His explanation earned him a series of rolled eyes, with the women accusing him of using this as an excuse for his lustfulness.
Elijah protested his innocence, saying it wasn't just him—other awakened individuals also struggled with fertility. If they didn't believe him, they could investigate!
Daisy and Charlotte were assigned by Fiona to guard Azure Isle. Charlotte enjoyed the peace and quiet, spending her time teaching, meditating, and cultivating, without getting involved in this matter.
Daisy, though diligent in her cultivation, couldn't stay idle. She took it upon herself to investigate, teaming up with Quentin's partner, Ivy, to conduct research in various settlements.
Ivy, too, had such doubts. Despite her and Quentin's frequent nightly activities, there had been no sign of pregnancy, leading her to question if something was wrong with her.
After hearing Daisy's description, they quickly formed an agreement!
The two of them investigated dozens of people and found that, just as Elijah said, none of the awakened individuals had managed to conceive. Explore stories on M-V-L
The only pregnant woman among the survivors was a normal human, as was her partner.
This left the women of Azure Isle quite disappointed, but at night, they became even more relentless in "tormenting" Elijah, even teaming up to do so.
This left Elijah in a state of both pain and pleasure!
After spending several indulgent days, Elijah found it hard to endure any longer, so he used the excuse of sending Nora back to escape to the YLK Group.
Here, with only Lillian around, Elijah felt a sense of peace. Especially when he saw Lillian's shy yet teasing demeanor, it was a completely different kind of enjoyment compared to those who were eager to have children.
When Elijah arrived at the YLK Group hotel, Nicholas and the others had already left, taking with them the first batch of modified military communication radios that had been completed in their cooperation.
As for the batch of military communication radios intercepted by Azure Isle, Fiona had gradually distributed them across Neoville City's international port, mall storage bases, and various settlements.
This ensured seamless communication around Neoville City.
The YLK Group hotel had also undergone significant changes, with far fewer people inside.
Some of them had been dispersed by Fiona to Neoville City's international port and mall storage bases, while others were stationed at critical points, such as gas stations.
A portion of the group was also involved in clearing the old city district.
Currently, the progress toward the old city district was going smoothly, and along the way, they had rescued quite a few survivors and made contact with some small survivor settlements.
Under the protection of Quentin and others' formidable force, these people obediently decided to join the Neoville City Survivor Alliance, led by Azure Isle.
Initially, they might have had reservations about being coerced by force, but as soon as they traveled the cleared path to Azure Isle, their attitudes changed immediately.
When they saw the potion that could awaken abilities, anyone would reconsider their stance.
Over the past few days, something else happened—Elijah's batch of zombies gradually reached the third stage.
He selected a few zombies whose abilities were redundant and killed them to extract their corpse cores, which he then gave to Abigail and Kylie.
Elena, watching eagerly from the side, made Elijah feel that it wouldn't be appropriate not to give her any, but he also feared that if she accidentally advanced to the fourth stage, he wouldn't be able to control her.
So, he used the excuse that she was new and gave her half of Abigail's share.
This way, if Abigail and the others advanced, Elijah could then decide how much of the remaining corpse cores to give Elena.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a month had gone by!
The road from the southern suburbs to the old city district was successfully cleared, and the road from the old city district to the coastal area was also fully cleaned up.
The four outer areas of Neoville City were completely connected, forming a circle that surrounded the three central districts of Neoville City!
During this month, the number of mutated zombies had noticeably increased.
However, thanks to the gradual sale of the awakening potions, the number of awakened individuals under Neoville City's Azure Isle had grown significantly.
Moreover, after completing two more transactions with Nicholas and the others, they obtained a batch of firearms, so their overall losses were not substantial.
On the contrary, because more and more areas were cleared of zombies, the number of survivors had steadily increased.
Among these survivors, some had connections with Elijah.
For example, a small settlement that occupied a police station in the old city district was the same group that Elijah and Daisy had encountered and rescued on the road.
At that time, Elijah and Daisy had quietly left after taking out a few gangsters, who were led by someone named Daniel, if memory served right.
Among the remaining survivors, only a young woman, who had been selling herself but not her skills, was not trapped in a cell.
She had obtained the keys to the other cells, as well as the weapons and supplies in the police station.
From there, she turned her life around, thoroughly educating and managing the other petty thieves and gamblers, becoming the undisputed queen of the police station.
Later, by a stroke of luck, she awakened her abilities and gathered another group of survivors outside, eventually becoming the leader of a small settlement.
Another group had even deeper ties with Elijah—they were people from Elijah and Daisy's neighborhood.
When Elijah and the others left, it inspired some of the bolder residents to venture out.
Thanks to Elijah and his team clearing out most of the zombies in the neighborhood, these people managed to grab supplies from the convenience stores and were doing quite well.
After the road to the old city district was cleared, Elijah, Daisy, and Bella even went back to revisit the place, reminiscing about the early days of the zombie outbreak.
Another major event over the past month was that the Dancing Grass, constantly nourished by the corpse cores, finally matured, and Fiona advanced to the fourth stage as a result!
Not long after Fiona's advancement, Charlotte approached Elijah—she wanted to visit "Serenity Peak!"