To be honest, Quentin was not pleased that the news of the awakening potions had spread far and wide.


    Originally, only they knew about the potions, allowing them to slowly collect corpse cores in exchange for awakening potions to enhance their strength.


    However, this situation onlysted a few days.


    After Fiona decided to expand into the southern suburbs, the information spread rapidly among the survivors venturing outside, leading to significant chaos in the initial days and cing considerable pressure on Quentin and his team, who were responsible for defending the perimeter of the Azure Isle shore service area.


    As for the security of Azure Isle, Quentin had heard that some people wanted to approach the ind by sea, but those attempts had all failed, as if the individuals had vanished into the sea.


    It was only when Quentin came to trade seafood that he learned from Xavier that there was a massive shark patrolling the waters around Azure Isle.


    Anyone who tried to approach the ind without permission ended up as food for the shark.


    Fortunately, the turmoil ended quickly after Fiona''s decisive action.


    This allowed Quentin to witness the ruthless nature and immense strength of the Azure Isle''s acting leader.


    Fiona''s two bone spikes, akin to flying swords, were deadly within a hundred meters, making it nearly impossible to defend against them.


    Despite the widespread knowledge of the awakening potions, which led to their high demand and limited daily avability, Quentin and his team still benefited.


    Fiona promised them unrestricted purchasing rights and rmended some unaffiliated individuals to them.


    As a result, Quentin recruited several talents and strengthened their settlement.


    "Indeed, there have been many changes around here recently. Like today, so many new faces I don''t recognize!" Elijah said to Quentin.


    Then, turning to the crowd, he smiled and introduced himself, "Hello everyone, nice to meet you. My name is Elijah. I am the owner of this ce. I was away for a while, and Ms. Fiona helped manage things. I have heard about some recent events…"


    The crowd looked at the man speaking confidently in front of them and felt he was quite ordinary, not seeing anything particrly special about him.


    Some people wondered how such a man couldmand the respect of someone as exceptional as Fiona.


    However, as Elijah continued speaking, they began to feel an increasing sense of pressure, as if an invisible force was pressing down on their shoulders,pelling them to kneel and submit.


    The pressure intensified when Elijah spoke about the recent unrest, making him appear as an ancient, fearsome beast capable of killing with a mere breath.


    Those with weaker nerves even copsed to the ground.


    "…Anyone who dares to offend us, even if we have to chase them to the ends of the earth, will find no ce to be buried!" Elijah dered, pausing to nce at those who had fallen under the mental strain.


    He had not even fully exerted one-tenth of his third-tier mental intimidation, yet the crowd''s reaction varied.


    The awakened individuals looked rtively calm, but others, even if they didn''t fall, appeared pale and on the verge of copsing.


    Seeing the effect, Elijah decided to ease the pressure. He was concerned that if he continued, someone might have an ident.


    "Of course, I know that everyone here todayes with the intention of peaceful coexistence. I appreciate your understanding these past few days and hope that you will continue to support Ms. Fiona''s arrangements in the future!"


    As Elijah lifted the mental pressure, the crowd suddenly felt lighter, and his words seemed as refreshing as a spring breeze.


    The man had managed to achieve this level of impact simply through his presence.


    With rumors of his awakening abilities being even more mysterious, it was no wonder he had earned Fiona''s favor.


    After the mental pressure subsided, everyone in the room rxed and sighed inwardly. This man was truly formidable!


    Elijah''s so-called mysterious and unpredictable abilities are actually rumors spread by Quentin''s subordinates.


    Only the core group of subordinates who initially traded with Elijah at the mall knew about his ability to control zombies.


    The others, whoter joined Quentin and helped clear the mall with Elijah and Charlotte, only saw Elijah''s straightforward actions and realized that he had strengthparable to a powerful awakened individual, as well as defenses akin to Quentin''s and speed simr to Gabriel''s.


    They were unaware of Elijah''s specific abilities, and like blind men touching an elephant, they each described only part of what they knew when asking survivors from the southern suburbs.


    As a result, many people perceived Elijah as extremely powerful and his abilities as enigmatic and unpredictable.


    Now, witnessing Elijah''s presence firsthand, the crowd was struck by his sheer aura, which was so overwhelming that it left them immobile and some even on the verge of being scared to the point of losing control.


    For a moment, everyone was terrified of Elijah and dared not entertain any improper thoughts!


    After Elijah finished speaking, he nced at the leaders of other allied settlements who had been imnted with the "Seed of Consciousness" by Fiona.


    He reinforced their hypnotic suggestions and then had a brief chat with Quentin, offering encouragement to a few familiar subordinates behind him before heading to find Vincent, leaving the scene for Fiona to manage.


    Recently, Fiona has managed Azure Isle very well, and the attendees also highly recognized Fiona.


    Therefore, Elijah did not n to intervene in the management.


    As a symbol of deterrence, his presence was enough; maintaining an air of mystery actually made him more intimidating.


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    On the other hand, Fiona''s strength was evident to everyone, and as a woman, she could both intimidate with her prowess and soothe with her warm demeanor and ttering words.


    This made her capable of bothmanding respect and providingfort to those under her influence.


    Of course, Fiona''s methods for controlling these "allied" settlements extended beyond just Elijah''s "Seed of Consciousness" and the limited sale of awakening potions.


    Various resources and knowledge exchanges were also used as supplementary means, with Fiona excelling in these.


    For example, body refinement andbat skills training!


    These were only avable to the subordinates of allied settlements with Azure Isle.


    Charlotte was the instructor, and Emily was the assistant.


    The first batch of training had already been conducted, including new awakened individuals from Quentin''s team and the five newly allied teams.


    Although the number of trainees was small, the results were significant.


    The awakened individuals experienced the benefits and thus were very obedient. However, this training was not free.


    Since the knowledge from these training sessions could be taught privatelyter, it was impossible to restrict, so a tuition fee was charged.


    Learning body refinement required 50 corpse cores, and learningbat skills required another 50 corpse cores.


    Together, it was equivalent to purchasing an additional awakening potion.


    Even so, Charlotte did not teach just anyone. Currently, only awakened individuals were epted.


    Ordinary people who wanted to learn needed to first buy an awakening potion and be awakened themselves.


    Those who were not from Azure Isle but wanted to learn could also do so, as the second-tier advancement potions were waiting for them, making them potential clients.


    The key was that these wild awakened individuals were mostly leaders of these settlements.


    Fiona was waiting for them to experience the benefits and then buy second-tier awakening potions, at which point she would imnt the Seed of Consciousness in them.


    To facilitate this, Fiona offered installment payments for those who couldn''t gather enough corpse cores immediately.


    The goal was to control these leaders and, through them, fully control the settlements.