After exchanging the intelligence they had gathered, the three of them sat around in the simple room, conducting a final summary and analysis.
As Elara listened to Kane's report, she observed Cassian out of the corner of her eye.
She felt that Cassian seemed… a little different today.
"You seem… to be in a good mood?" she finally couldn't help but ask, looking at him.
She could clearly sense that since they had regrouped, the curve of Cassian's lips had been higher than usual, and his deep blue eyes seemed to hold a… contented and satisfied smile.
"Mm-hmm," Cassian didn't deny it. He just turned his head and gave Elara a smile so gentle it could melt glaciers. "This afternoon, I happened to… see an 'acquaintance,' and by the way… said hello."
If Seraph had been there to hear Cassian's words, she would have undoubtedly been screaming internally: What kind of monster is my boss?! How can his mood be so stable even after the apocalypse has started, so stable that… he's even in the mood to say hello to 'acquaintances'?
Cassian didn't elaborate on any details about that "acquaintance."
And Elara, being smart, didn't press the matter further. After all, in this world, everyone had their own past, and… privacy they didn't want touched.
She steered the conversation back on track.
Kane began to recount his findings from the afternoon.
Using his familiarity with the military's internal environment and the convenience of his wind ability, he had secretly infiltrated the area near the office of the former leader of the temporary base, who was also the captain of their squad.
"The situation… is even worse than we imagined," Kane's voice was low and heavy. "The people I used to know, the guards stationed around the command center, almost… all of them have been replaced. The ones guarding there now are all new faces I've never seen before."
"And the whole atmosphere of the command center is completely different," he continued. "Before, although it was heavily guarded, it at least… had the orderly feeling of a military unit. But now… the feeling it gives me is more like… a bandit's lair that's been taken over by a mountain king."
Kane's brow was tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with anger and… an undisguised contempt.
"I saw a few of the ones who looked like leaders. They were wearing our uniforms, but… they couldn't even manage the most basic military bearing and discipline!"
"The armbands they were wearing were all crooked!"
"Couldn't it just be… new recruits?" Elara couldn't help but suggest a possibility, looking at Kane's grave expression. "After all, it's the apocalypse now, and many people have awakened abilities. To expand their strength, temporarily recruiting some capable survivors seems… pretty normal, right?"
"Impossible," Kane shook his head, his tone firm as he rejected Elara's guess. "Even for new recruits, according to military regulations, they must be led and trained by experienced veterans or officers. A situation like this, where the entire guard detail is composed of a group of undisciplined 'rogues' who can't even manage basic military bearing, is impossible."
He paused, his tone growing heavier. "And most importantly… the entire afternoon I was there, I didn't see a single person I knew."
Perhaps… that last sentence is the most real, and most chilling, reason of all.
Elara and Cassian exchanged a look, and both saw a hint of gravity in the other's eyes.
"So… what about the 'newly appointed,' so-called supreme leader?" Elara pressed on. "Did you see him? Do you know who he is?"
"No," Kane shook his head. "The core area of the command center is guarded even more tightly than I imagined, and there are people constantly patrolling, calling out to each other with secret codes. I was worried about alerting them, so I didn't go any deeper."
Just then, Cassian, who had been silent, seemingly organizing the intelligence he had gathered, spoke up.
"I also gathered some information this afternoon in the ordinary survivor residential area," his voice was low and steady. "Although most of the ordinary survivors know very little about what's going on with the base's high command, and are unwilling to say much, from their scattered, veiled complaints, you can piece together some information."
"Ever since the base's leadership suddenly 'changed hands' more than half a month ago, the originally sufficient supply of resources has been drastically reduced. Many people say that even basic sustenance is becoming a problem now."
Cassian continued, "And they all seem to have a vague premonition about something. Many are privately speculating whether… the 'cooperative partner' above them, the one providing them with supplies and protection, has been replaced."
That's right.
Elara added silently in her mind.
In reality, the vast majority of ordinary survivors in this temporary base had never known that the base's direct leadership was actually the military.
In their eyes, they were just attached to a powerful "survivor faction" with armed forces. The military, to them, was just a distant "cooperative partner" that provided material support to this faction.
So, in their view, this "change of hands" was perhaps just… an ordinary power shift within the faction.
But only those like Elara, who knew the inside story, understood what a shocking, world-subverting truth was hidden behind it all.