Chapter 439:

At the Lakeside County survivor base.

After returning from the "diplomatic mission" at Hope Town, Richard, accompanied by Yosef Leyton, Valiant Odessa, Zoran Rollins, and the bored Starla, made their way to meet the base council.

As for the others, they were busy being processed, with basic information being collected and initial arrangements made.

The base council consisted of 36 seats, a much larger assembly than the smaller private meeting from before—this was a general session. More than 20 people were already gathered in the meeting room, the majority of whom were former military and government personnel from before the apocalypse. Only a small handful, four or five people, were "newcomers” highly powerful individuals with extraordinary abilities.

The leader of the council was the mayor of Lakeside County, Murphy Reyes. A middle-aged man in his 50s with silver hair and deep-set eyes, he visibly relaxed upon seeing that Zoran had returned safely. He stood up and said: “Zoran, it’s