If Caroline guessed right, this so-called holy water had to be an ability. And in this great heat, it would be unbelievably useful. A good ability. She wanted it. Plus, this leader operated in the same region where all the jewelry had mysteriously disappeared. Was that a coincidence? Probably not. Caroline felt she had already run around enough and still needed a large amount of energy to upgrade her storage space. Instead of scavenging endlessly, making a deal directly with this leader might be faster. Just then, two men walked toward the abandoned building where she was hiding. Caroline watched them, tapping her chin. Perfect. She could ask these two. As they came up the stairs, Caroline flicked her wrist and sent a row of ice blades crashing down at their feet. That was a little warning shot to make it clear Caroline wasn't someone they could mess with, and to kill any thought of picking a fight. In the apocalypse, Caroline's baby-faced looks made people think she was easy to push around. So she always had to show strength first and shut them down before trouble started. Otherwise, killing them would just waste her time. Both men jumped back in shock, instantly falling into defensive stances. "Who's there?" When they saw it was a young woman with a mutated wolfdog beside her, their expressions twisted. Then they spotted Jet, trembling on Raven's back. The two men froze, then started babbling excuses. "We—we thought the fat bird didn't have an owner! If we knew it was yours, we wouldn't have chased it!" "Yeah, yeah, please forgive us. We don't dare offend someone like you with an attack ability." "We'll tell the others not to chase it either. Promise!"Caroline narrowed her eyes. These two were obvious apocalypse veterans—quick to surrender the moment they saw they couldn't win. Jet proudly puffed up his chest as if saying, "See? Having a strong human is great." For most ability users, Caroline knew that showing even a little of her attack ability plus having a mutated dog like Raven beside her was more than enough to keep them scared and quiet. She wasn't someone who bullied others, but she also refused to let anyone think she was easy to push around. Caroline stood next to Raven, idly spinning an ice blade between her fingers as she looked at the two men. "Hope you mean what you said. But my bird was chased by you and got scared." The two men started shaking. One of them gritted his teeth. "We don't have supplies. Anyone with supplies wouldn't be out here. It's too hot and too dangerous. If you want our stuff, you might as well kill us." Realizing they misunderstood, Caroline said, "I don't want your supplies. I just want information. But if you want trouble, I don't mind fighting back." She flicked her wrist, and several more ice blades formed. They hit the ground like darts, each one so sharp and dense that even the concrete cracked as they sank in. Caroline then managed to pull a bit of information out of the two men about this so-called leader. But it was obvious they were afraid of her. Everything they said stayed on the surface, nothing detailed. They were clearly still hiding something. Caroline frowned slightly. "If you can tell me something useful, I can give you something in return. Especially anything about holy water. I came here for holy water." She reached into her backpack and pulled out two cans of military rations, setting them on the ground. Everyone knew canned meat from the military was valuable. Some shelters used it like currency. The meaning was clear. Give her useful information and each man would get a can of meat. Refuse to cooperate and they would be dealing with her ice blades instead. Caroline even acted like she desperately wanted holy water, making it look like she had traveled here just to trade for it. That way, offering meat cans made sense. "I have a friend who needs holy water. I need it before daylight. Otherwise, you wouldn't be this lucky."She tapped one of the cans in front of her. The two men exchanged a long look, hesitating. "S-some things ... you can only hear if you join our group..." the tall, skinny one muttered. The dark-skinned man's eyes darted around as he said, "If we tell you, will you keep quiet? Will you promise not to tell anyone it was us?" Caroline nodded. "Yeah. It's so dark I can't even see your faces clearly. Once we're done, we'll pretend we never met."