Nonsensical rambling.
So many hours of nonsensical rambling!
The first hour, Ferris noted some new information that he deemed important.
Obviously, the first thing he figured out was that the man he made "friends" with was named Judas, a first-time hero exam taker.
Foolishly, when Ferris asked what his blessing was, Judas told him without hesitation.
A blessing that allows him to temporarily take control of people in certain conditions.
But before Judas could say anything more, Ferris immediately shoved his hand on Judas's mouth, causing him to shut up.
After that ordeal, Ferris learned some tips after passing the hero exams, such as what was the most popular style of costumes, how to do hero livestreaming, and even how to manage SNS accounts and marketing.
Who knew that being a hero would be so business-oriented...
Ferris had it with the topic, not letting himself get carried away with hero economics.
So, he asked about the mysterious kidnapping of blessing users to change the flow of the one sided conversation.
Fortunately, Judas had some surface-level information he got from many anonymous board websites he used to visit.
Apparently, there have been more cases that were exactly or very similar to the one Ferris encountered. However, there wasn't any mention of sudden plants growing out of carcasses.
Even after asking some questions related to plant-related blessings, Judas could only name a few low-ranking heroes and some no-name villains that appeared years ago who only caused minor destruction.
For example, there was a case where a neighbor's cat kept bothering the person next door by digging into the boxes of tuna they regularly ordered.
Apparently, it was the victim's favorite brand.
The next day, the person next door decided to become a villain by using his blessing to mysteriously sprout an overgrown Venus flytrap inside the neighbor's home, which then ate the poor cat... live.
He was asked to pay 5,000 dollars in court to settle the case.
Despite the unique stories Judas told him, nothing seemed to serve him better other than mere entertainment.
Then, Ferris asked him about the situation they were in, hoping that Judas's vast library of random hero information also equated to intelligence gathering.
Surprisingly, that was indeed the case.
Before meeting Ferris, Judas had heard rumors about where the villains' base might be.
The water park.
And the museum!
So that cartoonish map held some important information!
Who would've guessed...
That was the moment Judas began his nonsensical rambling, a couple hours of sharing facts and trivia.
Does he ever stop... Ferris wondered if Judas's gift was actually the ability to talk endlessly without the need to catch a breath.
His mind drifted into someplace else.
Where did Miss Evening go... Ferris was steadily growing weary of her.
Then Ferris snapped.
"And that's why, the theory states that Firefly actually has more than one form!—
"I see, that's amazing!" Ferris clapped. "It's already night, maybe we should find something to eat first..."
Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten lunch. Ferris's stomach churned in agony.
By this time, this small hero faction might've done a makeshift cafeteria.
"Ah, sorry about that. If I start talking nonstop, you should probably stop me." Judas awkwardly laughed his nervousness away.
Seeing the sight, Ferris made a certain expression that caused Judas to suddenly become quiet.
"...lead the way, Ferris."
Since it was nighttime, all they had to do was follow where most people were going.
Moving deeper inside the mall, the crowd began to become denser and denser.
"This way leads to the supermarket!" Judas pointed in a particular direction beyond the sea of bodies.
I could see that... Ferris lampooned as he saw the obviously placed big sign that was titled "Supermarket," but it was hard to read because it lacked its LED lighting.
In fact, everything was hard to see, as other than a few generators that they were able to get up and running, most areas were practically pitch black.
But then again, why would Ferris complain? He gets to have food, lights, and shelter in this dire situation without lifting a finger.
Such was the great thing known as collective effort, aka teamwork!
"Darn, that's a huge line..." Judas exclaimed. His face seemed to bum itself out just from the mere sight.
As for Ferris, he wasn't all that concerned about the wait even if it took them till midnight. It couldn't be worse than having to sit through hours and hours of Judas speaking.
Then, after nearly an hour of waiting, the two had finally arrived at the front of the line.
From here, they could see the makeshift kitchen that blocked the entrance of the supermarket, though calling it a kitchen would've been an overstatement, judging by the lack of essential appliances.
As such, everything was canned food, and maybe some bits of fresh meat that they managed to get.
It was practically a food-rationing public kitchen. Ferris wasn't hopeful about the quality of the food, but it being free was the salt and pepper that made it taste good.
One of the people running the kitchen approached the two and said the most damning words that Ferris had ever heard.
"I'm sorry, we just ran out."
Curse Jörmungandr! Ferris silently screamed but held back his emotions. "It's alright, you're doing a great job helping everyone," he praised the overworked hero.
After that, he promptly left the scene in such a manner that it astonished the kitchen workers and even Judas.
"Wow, what was that just now?" he said, clearly impressed. After seeing Ferris's cold-blooded brutality during the villain skirmish, a heroic way of dealing with an issue was something Judas did not expect from Ferris.
Trust me, Judas, I'm just as mad as you are.
I just have a creed to abide by. Ferris acted as if hunger wasn't affecting him as much as it should.
Too tired to even walk back to the courtyard, Ferris decided on sleeping in a decently secluded fashion store that was close to them.
"Are you sure we want to sleep here? It's a little too dusty."
We? Ferris wondered. "You can go sleep somewhere else then."
"Nope, I'm sleeping with you!" Judas remarked.
Ferris found a nice, dusty, and moldy set of cushions to sleep on, then turned his face away from Judas before winching a little.
At that point, it was all up to Judas as Ferris decided not to speak any further and simply sleep.
He had a hunch that the villain attack from before was simply a pat on their shoulders, and their real force was probably at either the water park or the museum.
Their plan was to let the heroes get comfortable and grow in strength, so that they could have an even battle.
It was a twisted sense of honor that was very much like the villains.
Knowing that they were safe for now, Ferris quickly dozed off to sleep.
He half expected the flaming bush to appear, but he suddenly got woken up by a pat on the shoulder.
What the hell... Ferris's entire body was sore for some reason.
He barely opened his eyes and turned his body around to see the outside hallway, finding that it was still dark.
A large figure—although it was dark, Ferris could see that it was one of the bodyguards that were with Elizabeth back then. "You two are coming with me."
"Queen Elizabeth wants your presence," he informed.