Leon returned to his room, lying on the comfortable king-sized bed that was at the center of the room.
He stared at the ceiling silently, a feeling of loneliness in his heart. Ever since his father had abandoned them, his mother had been his comfort. He remembered being very clingy until the age of fourteen.
However, she also left him when she died in an accident. Still, she left Clara behind for him—another person he could latch on and hold on to.
Ironically, the apocalypse separated him from her too, and it had been close to two months since he last heard her voice or saw her face.
It felt really unfair... like life was toying with him by separating him from his loved ones.
’And then, Thyra...’
Leon’s thought slowed, the image of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen appearing in his mind. Their first encounter had been a strange one, and he didn’t have the luxury to process it properly.
However, over time, they had slowly gotten closer, even to the extent of sleeping in the same bed.
’Ah, and I used to be paranoid about her draining my life force,’ Leon smiled wryly, chuckling at the old memory.
He didn’t know when, but he had gotten so used to her presence that now... he wanted to see her.
’Goddammit!’
A disgruntled expression appeared on his face, but quickly settled back into calm serenity. At least Thyra was not far from him. If his assumption was right, she was inside him.
’Weird...’
Leon shivered, but couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
"You should recover quickly," He mumbled to himself. Raising his right hand, he looked at his storage ring, then took out one of the items inside.
A small orb of light appeared in his hand—Henry’s memories. Although he wanted to check everything one after another, Henry’s memories took priority.
’How does this even work? Do I swallow it?’
He stared at the orb with a puzzled gaze that didn’t last for long. Squeezing his hand slightly, he crushed it, and the light lost its solid form.
It became ethereal and flowed into his forehead. Instantly, Leon’s eyes went blank as he relived the whole life of the man named Henry.
After half an hour, Leon’s eyes slowly regained focus, and he grunted in pain. A splitting headache assaulted him, but it was manageable.
He had seen everything about Henry right from the time of birth when his eyes opened, untill he was beheaded two days ago.
Leon certainly learned a lot about the man’s life, but most things he learned were irrelevant. He saw Henry’s childhood, his first love, his first murder after the apocalypse, and the fear that had slowly turned into cruelty. Countless memories flashed by like pages in a book, disappearing before Leon could linger on any of them.
’Ah, curse it. The process is awful,’ He complained, still massaging his temples.
Still, it wasn’t without rewards. Through the man’s memories of the apocalypse, Leon learnt about a camp of similar size located at Park Slope. It was surprising that another group had managed to build a camp there, and Leon was interested in the place.
However, going there wasn’t really worth it, so he dismissed the idea of visiting the place. Their priorities right now were Jersey City and Newark.
Sighing, Leon closed his eyes and relaxed. That was right. His goals still hadn’t changed. Find Clara, grow strong enough to protect her from any harm, survive the upcoming evolutions of the world, and help Thyra build a body.
With his thoughts settled and his heart determined, he soon fell asleep, his breathing even.
......
The next morning, the camp stirred to life again. By eight o’clock, Marie had already led the same group of evolvers back to the Mutated Forest east of the camp.
Selene tagged along as usual, with Richard bringing his tamed beasts. His goal of five Tier One mutated beasts still hadn’t been reached.
Leon woke up early too, and after a light breakfast, he set out with Cassie, Fel, and Nora, with Agnus joining the group.
The young man looked as cheerful as always, smiling brightly and looking around in wonder.
"You know where the crocodile is, right?" Leon asked, glancing to his side. Today, he was in the back seat of the car with Agnus while Cassie and Nora sat at the front.
"I should be able to pinpoint its location, so yeah," Agnus nodded, then asked. "Why? You want to go take a look?"
Leon nodded, his expression indifferent. "Yes. I want to kill the two of them."
Agnus’s smile froze, and he blinked. "Hm? Did I hear correctly?"
Leon didn’t answer, maintaining his silence.
A few seconds later, Agnus could no longer hide his shock and looked at him with wide eyes.
"Are you serious?! You want to go kill them?!"
Leon nodded faintly, glancing at the view outside. "It’s better to kill them now than to let one die and free the other. Besides, their soul crystals would be useful."
Agnus still didn’t look convinced. "Hey, those things are Tier Two, you know? They’re not your regular Tier One beasts."
Glancing at him, Leon sneered. "Aren’t you also Tier Two?"
Agnus hurriedly shook his head, his expression somewhere between bitterness and exasperation.
"You don’t understand. I’m not meant for combat. I definitely can’t help you in this fight. In fact, I might be dead weight. Please reconsider."
Leon shrugged, unbothered. "It’s fine. I wasn’t asking you to fight. I’ll handle it myself."
At this point, Agnus’s expression couldn’t have grown any more shocked, and he stared at Leon blankly. He slowly turned his head to the front, then said to Cassie.
"Is this... are you also in support?"
The young lady glanced at him through the rearview mirror with her cold blue eyes, then nodded. She didn’t say anything, but Agnus could sense the firmness in her gaze. It was just like Leon.
’Ah, I tagged along with crazy people. I’m finished.’
He gulped nervously, quietly wondering how he was going to convince Leon to give up the plan or run away if things went south.
’But... is he really that strong or he’s just arrogant? Lord Ymir paid special attention to him, after all.’
He didn’t know, but he was going to find out soon.