Actually, the Special Ability Squad didn't know that Huro had already made a move last night. But by mistake, he didn't find the information he was looking for. If he had found it, all the effort and setup by the Special Ability Squad would have been useless. But now, it was still not too late.
The next day, when Huro tried to get close to Tracy, he noticed that there were people secretly watching the area. It looked like the police were indeed keeping an eye on this girl. Luckily, he had been careful last night and didn't make any noise. If he had made any mistake, the police would have found out, and his location would have been exposed again.
Now that the police were guarding her, it wasn't safe for him to act directly. He had to come up with a different plan. Quietly, Huro left the area again.
Tracy slowly woke up and looked at the time. It was already 3 in the afternoon. She was shocked. What was wrong with her today? Why did she sleep so deeply? Her head even felt a bit dizzy.
After sleeping for so long, she felt very hungry. She quickly went to make something to eat. After eating, she felt much better.
Even though she thought it was strange to sleep that long, she didn't notice anything else wrong. She thought maybe it was because of the dimensional shop.
But according to the messages from the shop, she was completely safe inside it. Nothing from the outside world could affect her. This was also why she dared to go to the apocalypse world. If it was just because of the virus, she wouldn't dare to go.
Maybe she was just too tired. Tracy didn't think too much about it. But after sleeping so long, she wondered if any customers had come while she was gone.
Even though she had the dimensional shop, she was still just a normal person. A spy could easily be near her without her knowing. It was lucky that the spy didn't try to harm her this time. Otherwise, the result would have been terrible.
Luckily, Tracy didn't know what had happened. If she did, she would feel a strong sense of danger. The dimensional shop wasn't only for trading. But now, since the spirit of the shop had not awakened, only the basic functions could be used.
If the shop was fully working, then when Huro came last night, Tracy wouldn't have been so helpless.
While looking at the records of people in the café that day, Cris found Tracy's information. He told the others, "After checking the security cameras, these few people are most likely to have received Huro's data. The four of you go and watch them. If Huro shows up, the regular police won't be able to stop him."
"Yes, captain," the others replied.
When Cris saw Tracy's file, he felt a little worried. He remembered seeing her at the café. He should have paid more attention to her back then. If Huro really gave her the data, she was in danger.
Tracy had once helped his family. He couldn't let her face danger. Also, it was his job to catch Huro and keep people safe. If Huro showed up, Cris wouldn't go easy on him.
Cris went to Tracy's neighborhood and stayed hidden nearby to keep watch.
At that moment, Tracy didn't know she was being watched. Inside her home, she entered the dimensional shop. Luckily, none of the people watching her had cameras inside. Otherwise, her secret would have been exposed.
After entering the shop, she opened the door. Outside was still the same sad and quiet world. Today there was no sun, just a steady rain falling from the sky. But the rain wasn't normal. It had dark gray colors in it and looked dangerous.
The rain carried a lot of virus. As it fell on the apocalyptic world, the number of advanced zombies quickly increased.
Some people who already had antibodies and wouldn't turn into zombies unless bitten started turning into zombies just by getting wet in the rain. Many bases were thrown into chaos.
People inside the bases were scared. Patrol teams increased in number. Everyone now understood how dangerous this strange rain was. When it rained, no one dared go outside. That also meant no more supply teams went out. Tracy's shop had no customers at all.
At the same time, Kei's team had grown into a large group inside the base. They had collected many supplies before, and after training and working together, Kei and the others were now in full control of the new team members.
Even though they hadn't been in a real battle yet, their strength had clearly grown a lot. After getting strong, they planned to trade with Tracy again.
With more people in the team, food was being used faster. But now that they had power, they weren't afraid of being robbed. However, the virus rain blocked their plans.
They had no choice but to wait for the rain to stop. Kei and his team still had food saved, so they were fine. But many people in the base had no extra food.
This rain caused huge problems. Besides some people turning into zombies and creating fear, many others starved because they couldn't go out to find food.
Many people looked at the sky with worried faces. This rain made human survival even harder. The virus rain not only helped zombies grow stronger but also helped them spread faster.
Was the world really going to be destroyed like this?
In fact, the effects of this rain were even more serious than people thought. Before, the virus only affected humans and a few animals. But now, plants were being affected too.
At the moment, the effects on plants were small. But as time went on, these mutated plants would become stronger and step onto the world's stage.
Humans would not only have to fight with zombies. They would also have to compete with mutant animals and plants to survive. Life would become much harder.
Even though the people in the apocalypse don't know everything yet, anyone with a brain can tell that after this virus, human survival will face another huge challenge.
Sadly, they have no way to stop it. Are they really supposed to just watch as humanity gets wiped out in this post-apocalyptic world? No, they won't give up that easily. As long as there's even a tiny bit of hope, they'll fight to survive.
Of course, the virus mostly brings despair, but not all of it is hopeless. Because of the virus rain, many healthy people turned into zombies. But a small group of survivors managed to fight off the virus. They awakened supernatural abilities and became what people call "ability users."
The appearance of these ability users gave people a little bit of hope. It gave them some chance of surviving in this harsh world. Even though the abilities of these new users were still weak at first, not even stronger than guns, there was potential.
Their abilities could grow over time. Just like the zombies and mutant animals, they had the potential to evolve. Hot weapons like guns might help for now to keep zombies and mutant animals away.
But in the long run, as zombies and animals keep evolving, these weapons will stop working. Then, people won't be able to protect themselves anymore.
With ability users, it's different. They can grow stronger. Once they reach a certain level, they can protect the survivors and help ensure the human race keeps going.
At this moment, Kei was feeling anxious. Because of the virus rain, he couldn't trade with Tracy. He stood in the villa every day, looking out the window, waiting for the rain to stop.
But somehow, maybe because he caught a cold, he started feeling hot all over. His head felt fuzzy.
He remembered that some people who got caught in the rain turned into zombies. He had a bad feeling. Could it be that he was infected? But he didn't even go outside or get wet from the rain. How could he get infected?
No, that couldn't be. He was probably just sick. There's no way he'd turn into a zombie.
Even though he told himself this, his body kept feeling worse. He felt more and more dizzy. He knew he had to prepare, just in case.
He couldn't risk the lives of his team just because of him. If he really did turn into a zombie, he would lose control and might hurt his teammates.
Kei forced himself to stay alert and called in his team. He hoped it was all just in his head. Maybe he was only sick. But as the leader, he had to take responsibility.
"Captain, why did you call us over so late?" asked Gelmer.
Isa, being more observant as a girl, noticed his face looked red and he seemed to be struggling. She asked worriedly, "Captain, are you sick? What are we going to do now? We should've traded with Tracy for medicine earlier. Now medicine is really rare in the base. We don't even know if we can find any. Captain, please wait here. We'll go try to get some medicine."
"Don't move yet. Let me talk first," Kei said. "I feel really off. It might not be just a normal illness. I have a really bad feeling. You know the rain outside is full of virus. You've seen what happens to people who get caught in it. Some of them turned into zombies almost instantly.
I don't remember getting wet, but the rain has been falling for days. The air must be full of the virus now. Maybe I just couldn't fight it off anymore, and this is how it starts. Maybe I'm about to turn into a zombie."
"Captain, no way! You're in such good health. So many people didn't turn into zombies—how could you? You're just sick. Don't worry too much. We'll get medicine right away. Please rest," Isa said quickly.
"I know you're worried and don't want anything to happen to me. But I have to take care of your safety too," Kei said. "No matter what, we can't take any chances. If someone else falls sick like me, we'll do the same thing. Tie me up. If I do become a zombie, I won't be able to hurt anyone right away.
I hope it's just a false alarm. But if I really change into a zombie, don't hesitate. Cut off my head. I don't want to become one of those monsters."
Isa was already in tears. The five of them had been through everything together since the beginning of the apocalypse. They were like family. They had risked their lives together many times. Seeing Kei like this made all of them feel heartbroken.
Even though they lived in a world where death was everywhere, their tears wouldn't stop.
"Enough, stop crying. Be strong. We've made it through so much already," Kei said. "If I die, you all still need to lead the team and survive. Send someone to check on the rest of the team. We can't afford any more trouble."
Being tied up was uncomfortable, but at least it was safe. If he wasn't really turning into a zombie, being tied up wouldn't hurt anything.
The others followed his orders and tied him to the bed. Isa stayed behind to watch over him, while the rest went to check the other team members.
If someone as strong as their captain could fall ill, maybe others had too. Kei's warning was serious, so they had to take it seriously.
After checking, they found that four out of the hundred team members were showing the same symptoms as Kei.
Their hearts sank. Was the captain really going to turn into a zombie?
They couldn't accept it. From the beginning of the apocalypse, he had taken care of them. Without him, they would've died a long time ago.