Megumi was the first to wake up between the two. She sleepily gnced at the voluptuous Saya with a pair of pillow-like breasts before seeing the sitting Eishi. Instantly, her face was filled with a deep blush.
‘I… I… actually…’
She hastily checked whether her talent was in effect—it is. This made her heave a sigh of relief.
She sent out an aggrieved look towards him. Megumi pursed her lips, only for her grievance to die out.
Unlike the others, she approached Eishi purely because she liked him. A man who can risk his life to save you is extremely rare. Not to mention he is the same age as her, is handsome, has a physique that can make girls drool, is powerful in bed, cares for her…
It isn’t an exaggeration that Megumi has a built-in filter for Eishi.
She stood up. Her weak legs and aching lower waist made her sit down on the bed.
Fortunately, Eishi ‘woke up’ before Saya did.
‘No effect. As expected, second grade fruits must be found.’
He didn’t just master this martial arts method in one try. He also attempted to ‘progress’ using it. The results are unsatisfactory. Eishi made zero progress at all.
Part of it is the ‘thin’ genetic energy on Earth’s atmosphere. It has only been nine days since the apocalypse. The meager concentration it has cannot penetrate deeper in his skin and muscles. It is why first grade fruits have no effects on the second-order Eishi. More concentration is needed to ‘penetrate’ deeper into his body, thereby improving in life level.
The evolution fruits hold these ‘essences’.
The other use of this technique y on that. Eishi can hold the evolution fruits and absorb them through the pores in his hand. The same goes for mutated zombie crystals. Evolution fruits can be absorbed in a second; crystals in a minute.
This is his greatest gain.
‘Saeko might be able to create a sword technique at this rate…’
Eishi turned his gnce to Megumi. The tter blushed.
“I’ll get Mahiru here.”
“Ah.. . Uhm… L-let me dress up first.”
He helped her pick up the pajamas on the floor. The scent of sexual fluids on her body could barely remain hidden.
“Eeep..?!”
Eishi scooped up her legs and carried her like a princess.
“You can’t walk.”
“U-um…”
Megumi was turned into a stuttering mess. Eishi first draped the quilt over Saya before moving out. It didn’t take long to find Mahiru in her bedroom on the second floor.
Seeing the blushing Megumi bury her face on his neck, Mahiru let out a straight face.
‘Well…’
He has no excuses. Bringing another girl to her room first thing in the morning is bound to earn her resentment. Unlike the others who did it out of circumstances, Mahiru is part of the girls who genuinely liked him. Airi and Saeko are also a part of them, and now, Megumi.
The white light on their favorability is almost maxed out. It accounted for 95% of the colors. Haruno, on the other hand, has around 75%. Saya sits at the st pce with 60%.
Such a high favorability indicated they won’t betray him. Eishi’s treatment towards them is that of a normal couple. He is determined to maintain the ‘superior’ treatment towards Haruno and Saya, though. Not until their favorabilities are 90% and above.
Mahiru got to work as soon as Eishi pced Megumi down.
The [Healing Light] is one of the most illogical powers. The faint golden glow healed Megumi.
“Tonight?”
His whisper broke down Mahiru’s cold face. She revealed her hidden feelings, making her look like an aggrieved hamster.
“Wait for me. That settles it.”
“Hm…”
Eishi began pampering her with a hug, followed by prolonged headpats. Seeing their flirtatious actions, Megumi blushed for the umpteenth time.
Even…
‘I want it too.’
*****
It was early in the morning. Haruno scanned the familiar snow-white ndscape. Snow continued falling up to now. The faint chills on her thin clothes is a testament of her strength. Anyone wearing a wool sweater and pants in this weather will turn into sculptures.
‘If it was me outside…’
She could not help but be grateful and fortunate at her choice.
Eishi took a gnce at her and saw favorability rapidly increasing. It is already beyond 80%.
Their destination was the rich district two blocks away. The frozen iron gates remained closed. He easily leapt over the gate while carrying Haruno.
Eishi pced her down. It was also then did he notice the drops of blood scattered on the snow. His eyes traced their origins.
Several corpses y frozen.
‘These are the single guys. There are also female corpses… the one with a family?’
The other survivors saw Eishi and rushed outside.
““S-sir!””
They all bowed to their waists.
“What happened?”
“S-some people wanted to escape during the night. They m-molested Kurono-san’s wife. Kurono-san killed them all…”
Some people feared Eishi too much. They wanted to take advantage of the night and move out. Ten people grouped up and ransacked others’ food supplies. As if it wasn’t enough, they took someone else’s wife.
In the end, the husband took action. He killed all ten before succumbing to his injuries.
‘I am not fit for this.’
Eishi gestured to Haruno before the tter nodded.
They talked about it before. She will be freed of her surveilnce duties. She will be transferred to manage the group of survivors Eishi encountered.
Prior to this encounter, Haruno was slightly regretful. The surveilnce duty is the safest. But when she saw the state outside as well as the tragic survivors, she changed her mind.
‘I need to increase my worth.’
The clean and sharp temperament from her pre-apocalypse self returned.
“Call everyone and have them tally themselves.” She took out a small notebook in her sling bag. “List your names, age, previous profession, and retives. Only list the one present here.”
Eishi quietly slipped to the corner. He watched over Haruno as she managed this thirty-something group.
The first thing she did was a census. She sorted out the survivors in three groups—one with families, single males, and single females.
The first two took up the majority of the proportion. Only five single females existed here. They are either widowed wives, highschoolers, or workers.
“You wanted a fully functional combat team. We can choose the ones with families. They don’t tend to switch sides easily. The bnk evolution fruits you mentioned can be given for starters. Their contribution can be rewarded by those that can awaken physical or spiritual talents…”
He surrendered any lofty ambitions of managing these people himself.
Haruno struck what Eishi wanted. The familymen—fathers and brothers—can be used as the main combat force. The chances of betrayal is lower with their family in this complex. They are hostages, per se.
Haruno will also screen them with her innate talent to avoid further complications.
The ability to see one’s favorability allows her to pinpoint who has good character. She tried using it on Eishi and saw a lukewarm result—another reason why she wanted to prove her worth more.
As for the other ‘normal’ humans, they can be used to set up blockades, list down information, and so on.
In short, Haruno’s strategy is to reward the ones with contribution and kick out the ones who ze around.
After she finished speaking, Eishi pulled her in his embrace. She was startled before having her lips shut with a kiss.
A few seconds ter, he let go of her.
“You are the best secretary. I will reward you ter.”
“I-in broad daylight…”
“Haven’t we done it already?”
*****
Eishi’s schedule during the day is tight.
He first rewarded Haruno in the bathroom before heading to the basement.
With a thought, the [Weapon Synthesizer] appeared on the empty spot. It is a huge silver table with a futuristic feel. A huge gss enclosed the pitch bck surface of the table. A touchscreen is attached to its center.
He fiddled with its controls for a while before opening the gss.
Click.
‘Two modes of synthesis…’
One was the identical synthesis. It requires identical copies of a certain weapon to strengthen one of them. The other is the combined synthesis. It needs different weapons and aspects to form a brand new weapon.
‘Elemental… needs a crystal core. What the heck is an elemental crystal core..? Nevermind. I can test it out first.’
Eishi used one of the rebate chances to farm the M9A3 today. He did not hesitate to pce the M9A3 on top of the pitch bck surface.
To his surprise, it sank onto it. The screen dispyed it as [M9A3 x1].
With the intention of testing its limits, he began pouring out one M9A3 after another. He only stopped after seeing [M9A3 x5000]. There are still a few hundred M9A3s inside the system space, though he chose not to use them.
‘Let me see what you will give…’
Eishi clicked on the [Identical Synthesis] option.
Click.
The gss capsule enclosed the table. The next second, an “M9A3” emerged from the pitch bck darkness.
[M9A3 (Second Rank)]
Details: A transcendent weapon modified from the blueprints of an older weapon. It requires second rank bullets matching its caliber to unleash its full potential.
The gss capsule opened. He took out the pistol and examined it closely. From its added weight, he felt a degree of difference.
‘Nothing much changed. The actual test will reveal it.’
Eishi looked at the battery-like icon on the table. One bar out of the three went out. The remaining two are used to synthesize the M9A3’s bullets and the metal baseball bat.
The former received no apparent changes aside from its description. It was the tter that changed a lot.
From its previous silver color, it has turned bck.
[Baseball Bat (Second Rank)]
Details: A baseball bat made from a special steel that stores forces. It can be released by turning the end of the bat’s handle.
‘Vibranium bat???’
Seeing the lights on the table turn dim, Eishi left it alone. The next pce he headed was the fourth floor surveilnce room. The room remained wide and clean, with the set of monitors taking up a small portion of the room.
The [Quantum Computer] was taken out. Shelves akin to “servers” appeared out of thin air. The entire thing took up half of the avaible space in the room.
On its center are silver monitors, keyboard, and a mouse.
Eishi booted it up. He operated with it for a bit and was a bit dismayed.
‘Spping quantum on it is quite misleading. I wonder what it can do…’
“Structural and content analysis of the Internet has been completed. Please tell me your instructions.”
A neutral robotic voice came from the server. He almost jumped out of shock.
‘Ultron..?!’
Fortunately, the artificial intelligence embedded in this computer did not turn to ultron. The atrocities of this world are not comparable to Eishi’s authority as its master.
“What can you do?” He asked.
“I can access remote networks connected to all the satellites currently in orbit.”
“Then connect me with the Yokohama City Hall’s surveilnce units.”
“Affirmative.”
One-by-one, the silver monitors reflected the feed of hundreds of surveilnce cameras in the city. When its monitors did not suffice, the monitors of his original surveilnce set-up were used. About half of the city’s cameras remained operational.
Eishi fell silent.
‘...This is the thing!’
“Are you aware of the presence of mutated zombies?”
“Yes. Both indirect statements and live footage from the Internet are present on its database.”
“Can’t you access the government records?”
“I can access the networks connected to the Internet. The bases with isoted networks cannot be reached.”
“How can you reach it?”
“Upgrade my hardware modules.”
The question-and-answer portion became reminiscent of a student asking for ChatGPT’s help in their assignment.
“Please indicate the capabilities of first, second, and third-order mutated zombies.”
Eishi felt somewhat annoyed when this prompt popped up. The quantum computer’s artificial intelligence came in a bnk state. Everything it knows is based on the Internet.
He had to expin the capabilities and limitations of first to third-orders. His experiences and the newly-acquired [Origin Swallowing Method] contributed a lot.
Especially the tter. It detailed the feats and capabilities up to the fourth-order.
The following results chilled Eishi.
“There are currently ten suspected mutated zombies at the fourth-order worldwide.”
“...Fuck.” He cursed for a moment. “Continue.”
“About one to two suspected third-order zombies are present in every major city worldwide. There are confirmed movements of second-order zombies, numbering in the dozens. First-order zombies are confirmed, with a general spread of five to ten thousand per one million popution.”
His mind ran fast. He could not imagine how these zombies can evolve so fast. His prior estimates pced a third-order zombie at the world’s pinnacle. Turns out, he underestimated these zombies’ growth.
‘The zerg mist? No. Zombies, popution… cannibalism? Mutated zombie crystals!’
He took note to test it with Airi’s zombies ter.
This discovery doubled down on the suspected mutated zombie popution. It exists after these second, third, and fourth-order zombies had their fill.
Out of billions, less than half survived. The numbers are still rapidly decreasing up to now.
‘My greatest worries came true. Zombies outpace the rate of humanity’s growth.’
“Take real-life cases as well as simutions. Check the effectiveness of gunfire against first to fourth-order zombies.”
“Affirmative.”
Eishi waited for a while before the results came.
First-order zombies can be taken down by small-caliber pistols.
Second-order zombies can survive calibers used by rifles.
Third-order zombies can only be taken down by anti-material sniper rifles.
As for the fourth-order zombies, the results are theoretical. They are immune to every form of gunfire. Tank shells, RPGs, mortar shells, and missiles might work.
Theoretical, because it hasn’t been tested yet.
Originally, there were twelve of them. Two countries bombed their own city with modern nuclear bombs. The numbers of fourth-grade zombies were reduced to ten, but the zombies around the bst zone mutated. They grew stronger. By calcutions, these two explosions indirectly helped in the birth of more fourth-order zombies.
“Give me the location of Yokohama’s third-order zombies.”
“Affirmative. They are st seen on the Yokohama Subway Station.”
Several images and videos popped up on the screen. The City Hall was captured perfectly from a high angle. Gunfires, molotovs, and explosions could be seen on it.
The cameras are connected to an isoted electric grid, sparing them from the bckout caused by electric grids used to supply the city with power.
“The city hall has a huge armory. Maybe those two got scared into hiding? Either way, it’s a narrow escape. Had I decided to save Saeko and Megumi on the fifth day, we might have coincided with those two monsters…’
The third-order monsters went through the city pza on the fifth day. Then the attack on the city hall happened.
The trip to fetch Saeko, Megumi, and Yukino took pce on the third day. His decisive actions turned out right.
“...That’s it for now. Take care of the surveilnce. Call my phone if a deadly threat approaches the vil.”
“Affirmative.”
Eishi left the surveilnce room. His overturned worldview emboldened the sense of crisis, and at the same time, increased his urgency on the remaining “confidantes”.
‘Should I target Shizuka-sensei first? Or fool the busty Shizuka? Maybe I can get Yukino through her sister…’
