?"Have you all made your preparations?" Nick asked the four people in front of him.
Right now, Nick stood in front of Dark Dream's entrance, looking at four of his employees.
The four nodded.
A couple of days ago, Nick had called the four of them to his office one by one to tell them about his plan.
They would leave Crimson City and search for Specters.
Nick had long thought about whether he should go on his own or in a group.
In the end, he had decided to go with a small group.
Even though three of the four people in front of him were far weaker than Nick, their combined strength was still scary due to their abilities.
Fighting a Specter wasn't always straightforward, and sometimes, it was almost impossible to beat one with a conventional method.
The Crimson Sea was the best example.
It was far weaker than the governor, but the governor was essentially helpless against it.
The goal of this excursion was not to kill powerful Extractors but to capture Specters.
And for that, Nick needed more people with diverse abilities.
However, there was another use of traveling with a group.
Nick did not like this at all, but he had to accept that the chances of attracting a Specter were higher if there were a couple of weaker people in a group.
Essentially, weaker people also acted as bait.
Nick had been transparent with his employees and had told them that this was one of the reasons why he wanted them to come with him.
They obviously could refuse.
And, sure enough, the first group Nick had asked to come with him had refused.
The first group had been the three Early Johns with the Distortion's ability.
Sadly, the three of them hadn't felt comfortable going outside with Nick.
So, Nick had gone to his second choice, a group of three Initial Johns with variations of the Money Sink's ability.
Luckily, those three had accepted.
The first of these three was Jason, a black-haired man of average size and average stature.
He had two holsters on his belt with two revolvers, loaded with projectiles that could absorb his ability and Zephyx.
Jason had the ability of the Money Sink and had evolved it with the Dreamer.
By using his ability, he could suck Zephyx from an enemy from a distance while also causing tiredness in the target, making it harder for them to focus.
If he used his weapon and hit an enemy, they would lose a lot more of their Zephyx than normal while also getting tired.
The second person in the group was Petra, and just like her two colleagues, she was also an Initial John.
Petra was a taller woman with red and black hair, making her seem rather rebellious. Luckily, she was easy to get along with.
Petra also had the Money Sink's ability, but she had evolved it via the Bleeding Lady.
Just like Jason, she could absorb the Zephyx of a distant enemy, with the difference being that she injured the enemy as well.
She also had a firearm, but hers was an automatic rifle that could make use of the bleeding effect of her ability.
The last person was Clayton, a huge and muscular man with a face shaped like a boulder. He was over 190 centimeters tall, and he was the only employee of Dark Dream who seemed even more muscular than Nick.
However, that was mostly due to Clayton focusing on raw power instead of a mix of power and agility.
In the small group of three, Clayton was responsible for being the frontrunner.
His Barrier was vastly more expensive than normal, and it could also be activated and deactivated very easily.
The reason for that was that Clayton's weapons of choice were two huge gauntlets that also acted as big shields.
Clayton also had the ability of the Money Sink, but he had evolved it via the Puppy.
The evolution increased the potency of the absorption with proximity to the target.
In essence, the closer Clayton was to his enemy, the stronger the absorption was.
The three of them had been hired by Dark Dream at the same time about three years ago.
They were supposed to be a team from the very beginning, but they were also supposed to test how the Money Sink's ability could evolve with different Specters.
Nick had asked these three to accompany him since their abilities were extremely powerful when used on the same enemy.
While they couldn't capture some Force Specters, they could probably kill them by consuming all their Zephyx.
The last person in the group was Jenny.
By now, Jenny had become a Peak John, and she was someone who could even threaten Nick if she got the drop on him.
Jenny carried a rifle on her back that was over a meter long.
The rifle used Jenny's Zephyx to produce a projectile and fire it.
The rifle was extremely expensive due to one specific property.
It constantly consumed 50% of Jenny's Zephyx to keep a bullet ready to be fired.
If Jenny were to hit Nick's Barrier with such a bullet, he would lose about 50% of his Zephyx, even though he was two levels stronger than her while also using a very expensive Barrier.
Sadly, after firing the rifle, Jenny would need about five seconds to condense another bullet, and since she had already used 50% of her Zephyx on the first round, the second one would be weaker and would also lower her Zephyx to dangerous levels.
Jenny had the Dreamer's ability, which sadly wasn't a combat ability.
She had evolved her ability via the Dung Heap, which made it at least a bit useful in combat since she could now release tranquilizing gas around her.
This was Nick's team.
Jenny, a Peak John.
Jason, an Initial John.
Petra, an Initial John.
Clayton, an Initial John.
And Nick, an Early Veteran.
"Good," Nick said after seeing that everyone was ready.
"Then, we go to the bridge."
Nick walked forward, and his team walked after him.