Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 262: Frozen Prey

"That must be where they’re keeping their supplies," someone whispered from the shadows.

"Would they really keep their supplies out in the open space like that, right in the middle of the formation?" another person hissed, glaring at their companion. "I think those giant white things that look like snowballs are suspicious. What even are they?"

"That’s why I said it’s supplies! They probably wrapped the supplies in something to make them look like snow. If something goes wrong, they can bury the supplies in the snow or disguise them quickly to confuse their enemies. Once the danger passes, they can come back and retrieve them," the first man retorted, clearly proud of his hypothesis.

"But why do I feel like those white things are moving?" someone else said, pointing with a puzzled expression.

"Could they have hidden people inside? Are they really being that cautious? Hiding people among their supplies sounds like they’re just waiting for an enemy to steal them and discover the trick."

"And what if we’re the enemies they’re worried about?" someone said dryly, flicking the first man on the forehead.

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Rubbing his head, the man scowled. "Whose fault is that? Your lousy Aerial Vision skill is to blame. It’s so unclear—it’s like I’m watching some poorly rendered footage."

The group around him sighed.

Sometimes they wondered why their leader had decided to save this oddball instead of letting him fend for himself.

Rescuing him had cost them dearly—enough to make anyone think twice about the decision.

"Be grateful we can observe anything at all. Who has a skill powerful enough to see through half a city clearly? It’s enough to know how many people they have and what equipment they’re carrying. Why do you need such detail? Planning to count their hairs?"

"Not their hairs, but I wouldn’t mind checking if there are any good-looking people among them," the man quipped.

"Enough!" The wandering conversation was pulled back on track by a woman in the group. "Let’s focus. What intel do you have on them?"

The person using the Aerial Vision skill spoke first, "Boss, there are twenty people in total. They’re not wearing much clothing, and their movements show they don’t seem to feel the cold. They must be ability users, and I suspect they’re wearing items made from mutated silk."

The mention of mutated silk immediately lit up the eyes of those people nearby.

The girl who had just been flicked on the forehead forgot to rub her head and stretched her neck eagerly toward the water surface that was created by the Aerial Vision skill.

Her urgent expression made it look like she wanted to dive straight through the water surface and snatch the mutated silk from the other side.

"This time, we’ve hit the jackpot! I can’t believe they have mutated silk. Every winter, I’m bundled up like a ball. But if I had mutated silk, I could maintain my perfect figure even in winter!"

Thump.

The girl was flicked again.

"Soeon, all you think about is looking good. Can’t you think of something practical? Has your brain frozen for too long? Did we accidentally knock off a piece of it when we saved you?"

"Alright, enough playing around. Let’s talk business," said a bespectacled man, stopping Yoon Soeon from preparing a retort. "Boss, they seem to have a clear goal. It doesn’t look like they stumbled in or are just passing by. It seems they’re looking for something."

"No, they’re not looking for something," the woman addressed as the boss curled her lips into a smile. "They’re looking for someone."

Looking for someone?

The group was stunned for a moment before realization dawned on them.

"So they’re the ones sent by the Pyeongseong Safe Zone to rescue people? Oh wow, we’ve hit the motherlode this time!" Yoon Soeon exclaimed, jumping up in excitement. "Yesterday, when we dug up that group from the snow, I thought it was bad luck. But not only did they have so many supplies, now they’ve lured in another group. These newcomers are bound to have lots of resources too!"

Just imagining herself surrounded by various supplies made Yoon Soeon beam with joy.

The others also couldn’t hide their delight at the guess.

However, the woman boss didn’t seem as openly joyful and instead reminded them, "Don’t let your guard down. The people we dug out of the snow were severely injured by the ice storm, making them easy to deal with and giving us a big advantage. But twenty people are different. If they’re here for a rescue mission, they’ll be fully equipped. Whether in physical or ability strength, they won’t be easy to handle."

The group nodded their heads repeatedly.

"Don’t worry, Boss. We won’t mess this up."

Although they hadn’t made a move yet, or even seen their enemies clearly, the group already exuded confidence.

They behaved as if their prey were already on a platter, unable to escape.

Either they were overly naive, or they had the ability to back up their arrogance.

No one looking at them would assume they were brainless.

Even if one or two among them were less sharp, it was unlikely that the whole group was.

That left only the second possibility.

Meanwhile, Kim Haru’s group, far off in another part of the city, had no idea they were already being targeted like prey.

At that moment, they were carefully checking for any signs left by the resource searching team.

They all understood that every second they delayed here increased the danger for those buried in the snow.

But no matter how they searched, no traces could be found.

It had been days since the ice storm passed, and no one in the abandoned city had cleared away the accumulated snow and ice.

Now, the streets were covered by a thick layer of frost, raising the ground level by half a meter.

Buildings along the road had become even more dilapidated under the storm’s ravages.

Debris that had already fallen lay scattered, while some that hadn’t completely fallen had frozen in midair.

Ignoring the ice, the entire street—no, the whole city—looked like a place frozen in time.