Elric listened quietly as the bearded man continued his explanation, clearly eager to prove his usefulness.
"Yeah, all of this chaos is because of the Ability Tree that sprouted near Lakeview Lake."
"It's this huge golden maple tree. After the apocalypse started, it mutated into something... different."
Elsa raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite herself. "Mutated how exactly?"
"Not aggressively, thankfully," he replied quickly. "Actually, it's the complete opposite—the tree naturally produces ability fruits on its branches."
Elric's eyes instantly sharpened with interest. "How many are we talking about?"
The bearded man swallowed nervously before answering.
"Every single day—about a dozen fruits. They ripen throughout the day, then launch themselves into the sky like missiles, scattering across different parts of Chicago. Whoever manages to find one and eat it becomes an ability user."
He paused, then added: "And the next morning? The tree just grows a dozen more. It's been going on for weeks now."
Elric's expression brightened considerably—the first genuine positive emotion he'd shown since arriving in Chicago.
"A fruit tree that produces superpowers daily..." He exhaled slowly. "That's not just valuable. That's an absolute treasure."
Without hesitation, he turned to him. "Take me to Lakeview. Right now."
Elsa nodded immediately, already heading back toward the SUV. He, though still visibly shaken from witnessing Elric's brutal efficiency with Drake's gang, forced himself to stand on trembling legs.
Before leaving the Watson estate completely, Elric paused. He reached into his storage space and pulled out several bottles of purified water and about a dozen bags of rice, setting them carefully on the floor near the surviving Watson relatives.
They stared at the supplies in complete disbelief before immediately bowing repeatedly, some of them actually crying.
"Thank you... thank you so much..."
Elric didn't linger or wait for more gratitude. He simply turned and walked away.
They were Emily's family, after all. Even though Emily had already been evacuated to safety, leaving them some resources to survive was the absolute least he could do for her sake.
Within minutes, Elric, Elsa, and he was already in the SUV, heading toward Lakeview Lake at top speed.
As they drove through increasingly damaged sections of the city, he spoke up again from the backseat, nervousness making him talkative.
"Mr. Elric... there's something else you should probably know."
Elric glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Speak."
The man wiped nervous sweat from his forehead despite the cool air.
"Besides Drake, the other two major ability bosses controlling Chicago might also be near Lakeview right now."
Elric raised an eyebrow with mild interest. "Oh?"
He nodded rapidly, words tumbling out faster.
"Yeah, Lakeview is absolutely packed with dangerous people at the moment. You've got the Ability Tree itself, Olivia's suspected military group, and now both of the remaining major bosses in Chicago."
He swallowed hard before adding: "Honestly? It's like everyone's gathering there to play, except with guns and superpowers instead of balls."
Despite the tension, Elric actually snorted in amusement at that comparison.
"They're fighting over control of the tree?"
"Exactly," he confirmed vigorously. "Boss Nina from the west side and Boss Jack in the east—they both desperately want the Ability Tree under their control. They've fought countless times over it, sometimes daily. But neither side has ever managed to win decisively."
"Until yesterday, anyway."
Elric's eyes narrowed knowingly. "Because that's when the armed squad showed up, right?"
"Exactly!" he seemed pleased that Elric was following along. "When those professional soldiers arrived, both bosses completely panicked. See, when they're just fighting each other, the Ability Tree remains in Chicago and they can keep competing for it. But if Olivia's armed team destroys the tree or—worse—actually takes it somewhere else? Both factions lose everything."
Elric leaned back in his seat, processing this information thoughtfully.
So Lakeview Lake wasn't just a hotspot. It was a genuine powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
A treasure-bearing magical tree. Two rival superpowered gang bosses with armies. A mysterious paramilitary group led by the enigmatic Olivia.
And now—Elric himself had entered the picture.
This was going to be interesting.
"So today," he continued from the backseat, clearly unable to stop talking once he got started, "Boss Nina and Boss Jack actually did something unprecedented—they're cooperating. Both of them gathered their people and they're heading to Lakeview Park together to fight that armed squad."
"I only know all this because Boss summoned every single ability user in our faction through our group messaging app. She's calling in literally everyone."
Elric nodded thoughtfully, impressed despite himself.
For someone who acted so afraid and submissive, this bearded man actually possessed a remarkable amount of useful intelligence. If not for him, Elric wouldn't have learned even half of what was currently happening in Chicago.
But then again... the guy also talked way too much, way too fast, and seemed willing to give away every secret he knew at the slightest pressure.
Elric gave him a calculating sideways glance through the rearview mirror.
He immediately started trembling, waving his hands frantically in denial.
"Mr. Elric, please don't misunderstand! I—I just think you're clearly not an ordinary person at all. Those three bosses—Drake, Nina, Jack—even if you put all of them together, they're absolutely nothing compared to you!"
He swallowed hard and continued desperately:
"With your power, you'll survive this apocalypse easily. You'll probably thrive, honestly. So I... I was wondering... maybe I could follow you? Join your group?"
His voice became almost pleading. "I'll be absolutely loyal. I swear it on my life. I can provide intelligence, I know Chicago inside and out, I—"
Elric inwardly smiled, understanding the man's angle now.
Ah, so that's your game plan.
He wasn't stupid at all. Actually, he was pretty clever in a survival-oriented way. He'd watched Elric casually crush Drake—one of Chicago's three strongest ability users—like it was nothing. He'd seen Elric summon supplies from thin air. He'd witnessed someone who fought like a walking natural disaster.
The bearded man knew exactly which side offered the best chance of survival.
Elric almost respected the pure pragmatic instinct.
But adding a random male stranger to his close-knit group of women? That could create complications and trust issues he didn't need right now. Maybe later, after Natasha, Elsa, Grace, Lily, and the others had grown stronger and more secure in their positions.
"We'll talk about that possibility later," Elric said neutrally.
He didn't refuse outright—no need to. They were almost at Lakeview Park anyway, and having him cooperative was more useful than having him resentful.
The SUV rolled to a stop near the park entrance.
The moment Elric stepped out of the vehicle—
The place was absolutely lively.
At the edge of Lakeview Lake rose a massive golden maple tree that looked like something straight out of a fantasy painting. Easily thirty meters tall, maybe more, its golden leaves shimmered with an otherworldly glow even under the gray, oppressive apocalypse sky.
Hanging from its branches were over a dozen glowing fruits—not quite ripe yet, but radiating faint pulses of light that seemed almost alive.
They really did look exactly like ability fruits. The resemblance was unmistakable.
Beneath the massive tree, more than thirty heavily armed operatives had created a tight defensive perimeter. Professional spacing, overlapping fields of fire, proper tactical positioning.
These people carried rifles with proper optics, wore tactical armor with plate carriers, and moved in coordinated military formations.
They definitely weren't gangsters or desperate survivors. They weren't even police or local militia.
They looked like a private military contractor unit—disciplined, professional, and extremely well-funded.
And within that heavily guarded circle stood seven or eight people in pristine white research suits, busily scanning the tree's branches, roots, and trunk with various scientific instruments that Elric couldn't even identify.
But among all those scientists and soldiers—
One figure stood out dramatically.
A woman.
Tall—maybe 5'8" or so. Sleek black hair pulled back in a simple, elegant braid. Delicate oval glasses perched lightly on her nose that somehow made her look both intellectual and fashionable. Features so refined they seemed almost unreal, like a porcelain doll come to life. A small tear-shaped beauty mark near her eye that made her gaze strikingly expressive and memorable.
Even though she wore nothing more than a plain white research coat—no jewelry, no makeup, no fancy accessories—she completely outshone everyone around her. Her presence alone felt surreal, as if a movie star had accidentally wandered into a battlefield full of soldiers and scientists.
She was, without any exaggeration, the closest in raw beauty to Olivia that Elric had encountered so far.
Elsa leaned closer and whispered beside him, her tone slightly awed:
"Is that... another member of Olivia's organization?"
Elric narrowed his eyes, studying the woman carefully.
His instincts—honed through countless life-or-death situations—were practically screaming at him.
Yes.
This stunning scientist wasn't just some random researcher they'd recruited. She was definitely part of Olivia's core group. One of the inner circle.
And judging from how the heavily armed soldiers kept glancing her way for approval, how they positioned themselves to protect her specifically—
She might actually outrank many of those professional operators standing guard.
This woman was important. Very important.
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