When Chuck Willow saw Nina Jacobs again, Nina was standing by the piles of sand and cement, lost in thought.
The silent Strength Element Superpower User beside her sat off to one side, gnawing on a piece of sweet corn and still clutching its wrapper.
"Miss Jacobs, you were just over there. Is there any news of Flynn?"
Chuck Willow’s arrival broke Nina Jacobs out of her thoughts.
"No."
Nina Jacobs replied.
Chuck Willow looked disappointed. She pressed on, "It’s getting dark soon. Can you help me look for him?"
Her request was genuine, for Flynn White himself had told her just last night that aside from him, Nina Jacobs was the strongest person there.
Before Nina Jacobs could answer, Arcadia White approached, her tone sharp.
"Well, Sister-in-law, for someone so capable, why are you ordering my people around?"
Chuck Willow smiled.
"I just happened to run into Nina here. Just yesterday, Flynn was going on and on about how beautiful and capable she is. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the two of them to get to know each other better."
"Sister-in-law, you’re overstepping your bounds. Be careful, or you might face the consequences," Arcadia White drawled.
"Arcadia White! What do you mean? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. You just want to turn Nina Jacobs into one of your puppets, don’t you?"
For Arcadia White to say something like that at this critical juncture, coupled with the fact that Flynn White still hadn’t returned, was too much. The usually composed Chuck Willow couldn’t help but flare up in anger.
"Shut your mouth! You’re the one with ill intentions! Don’t you know what kind of man your son is? How many women has he ruined? Mark my words, he’ll be brought down by a woman sooner or later!"
Watching the two of them argue, Nina Jacobs began to wonder if she should just leave.
Just then, a voice cut in, rebuking them both.
Nina Jacobs raised an eyebrow. To her surprise, Lincoln White had emerged.
Wendell Lynch, Brock’s father, was supporting him at his side.
"Enough. No more arguing. Flynn still hasn’t returned. He must have run into trouble. Chuck, you need to send people to find him at once."
When Lincoln White spoke, no one dared to object.
"I understand. I’ll send people to look for him right away."
Chuck Willow was in no mood to argue with Arcadia White any longer. She immediately began gathering a search party.
However, with some of Whittaker Town’s Superpower Users taken by Anselm Hughes and others replacing the Puppet Guards on the walls, the number of people she could dispatch was extremely limited.
"You must be Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner. You’ll go with Wendell to watch over the unruly guards," Lincoln White said.
’So he doesn’t want us to join the search party?’
Nina Jacobs was more than happy to take the easier job, so she agreed at once.
"Do you not trust those two?"
After Wendell Lynch had led Nina Jacobs away, Chuck Willow asked.
She had already dispatched three parties to search for Flynn White.
Lincoln White nodded.
"I’m doing this to ensure Flynn’s safety. If he returns injured and runs into those two, anything could happen."
Chuck Willow understood at once.
But this only made her more worried...
Meanwhile, Wendell Lynch had led Nina Jacobs to a cellar.
"The guards who were watching them have been reassigned to the search party, so I’ll have to leave this to you two," Wendell Lynch said.
"Are all the buildings in Whittaker Town made of wood?" Nina Jacobs asked.
She had noticed over the past few days that all the buildings in Whittaker Town were made of wood.
Yet there were five abandoned construction sites.
Those sites still contained leftover building materials like sand and cement.
The sites were quite large, suggesting they might have once held even greater quantities of building materials. There was also a pile of construction tools.
And now, they were even using a cellar as a prison.
’If that’s the case, where did all that sand and cement go?’
Wendell Lynch, unaware of what Nina Jacobs was thinking, replied, "Of course. The White family comes from a long line of master carpenters. Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I was just wondering if this cellar is secure," Nina Jacobs offered a casual excuse.
Wendell Lynch chuckled.
"Don’t worry. There are no Earth or Gold Element Superpower Users among them. They definitely can’t get out."
Before locking the Puppets up, he’d had all the Earth and Gold Element Superpower Users among them killed.
’So that’s how it is.’
Nina Jacobs said nothing.
"I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll leave things here in your hands."
"You were waiting for me?" Nina Jacobs asked.

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