38 Strategy Meeting

"It's called Ethereal Butterfly Wings…" The little girl's eyes flashed with joy after she read the description on her status screen.

She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, a pair of transparent wings sprouted on her back.

"Woah! Goldie, you have wings! Cool!" Sherry pointed at her wings with an envious look.

Goldie turned her head and was pleasantly surprised to see her beautiful wings. "I have wings! Mom, Dad, look! I have wings! Hehe!"

The little girl giggled joyfully.

"That's good, baby. Can you tell us what your Gift says?" Ralph smiled when he saw the joyful look of his daughter.

Hearing this, Goldie nodded. She then stared at her status screen and read the description out loud. "Ethereal Butterfly Wings… Epic… You can summon the wings of the magical creature, Ethereal Butterfly."

The description ended there and there were no additional details. This made everyone curious about the potential of her Gift. Having an Epic rating means that her Gift was special.

"Now that we know everyone's Gifts, we should start planning on how to deal with the rat colony," Kent muttered with a stern voice.

Everyone's faces turned serious. This was a matter of life and death. The results of this mission will determine their fate.

"Do you guys have any ideas?" Kent scanned them one by one, but no one spoke. It seemed like no one could come up with a plan. Given their situation, it was indeed impossible to formulate a suitable strategy that would help them destroy the rat colony.

Kent put on his broken glasses and said. "There is only one way for us to win against the colony…"

Everyone expectantly looked at him.

"We have to get rid of those rats in small batches. To do that, we need to lure them using a bait." Kent knew the behavior of rats. The only thing that made him uncertain was if there were any changes in their behaviors after they had evolved. This would make things more complicated and difficult for them.

"Bait? How do we bait them?" James felt that Kent was planning something dangerous.

"We'll send one of us to attract their attention," Kent replied with a calm voice, but his words made everyone frown.

"Huh? You want to send someone to be a live bait?" James stared at him in disbelief.

Kent nodded while pushing up his glasses. "Rat colonies are usually controlled by the alpha. They are the most dominant rats in the colony. Most of the time, they are the most powerful hunter in the group. The alpha divides the colony's tasks so each rat has a different role. If the alpha senses the bait, it will send a team of rats to pursue the bait, while the others will stay to protect their nest. The bait will lure the rats to a trap and we will kill them one by one. We will do this until all the rats are eliminated." He sounded confident, but he didn't tell them that he wasn't a hundred percent certain about what would happen. After all, with the changes brought upon by their evolution, there should be some traits that are no longer the same. He only hoped that they would display the same behavior.

"And who will be our bait?" James stared deeply at him.

Everyone excluding Rendell felt their hearts tighten upon hearing this. No one wants to become the bait and expose themselves to danger.

"There are only two candidates who are capable of doing this." Kent glanced at James and then turned his gaze to Celine. "Only the two of you are in great condition, but the most suitable person for the task is Celine since her level is higher."

James clenched his fists. He didn't want her to do this dangerous task. "Leave it to me. Although her level is higher than mine, my fire is more lethal against those rats. I am confident enough to survive their pursuit."

"Are you sure about this?" Kent asked while looking at him. He could tell that James held some feelings towards Celine, but he didn't expose him.

James nodded with a serious look.

"Alright. You guys listen carefully. This is the next part of the plan…" Kent told them about the strategy he came up with. It had some loopholes, but there was no certainty in this mission so they could only make do with this.

After the strategy meeting, the group began to prepare to execute the plan.

They spent an entire day to set up the traps.

When night arrived, everyone found it hard to sleep.

At this moment, Aurora was sitting next to Rendell. "Can't sleep?" She asked while looking at his side profile.

This man wasn't even that handsome, but there was this strange attraction that made her more curious about him. She wanted to know who he was before the apocalypse and learn more about his identity, but she didn't dare to speak her mind.

"Aren't you the same?" Rendell responded without looking at her.

Aurora chuckled at his words. She then hugged her knees and lowered her head as she spoke. "I hope that everything will go smoothly tomorrow."

"I hope so…" Rendell muttered. Truthfully, he was also uncertain about how things would turn out. He wanted to think that he didn't mind anyone dying, but this thought made him feel uncomfortable. At first, he only wanted to use them for his own benefit, but he had grown attached to the group. They made him feel something that he never felt before. The feeling of being accepted.

The two became silent after that short conversation.

Not long later, Rendell heard Aurora's even breathing. He lifted his head and looked at her. She had already fallen asleep.

Her position looked uncomfortable. He hesitated for a moment before helping her sleep in a more comfortable position. He was careful not to wake her up.

After making her lie down comfortably on the bedding made of folded boxes, he took a glance at her face.

It was beautiful.