University Dorm Complex, Building C – Top Floor
Elric didn't have time to think about Natasha's worried look, didn't notice or care about the concern etched into her features. His focus was razor sharp, his mind already calculating possibilities and strategies.
"So you're saying this… 'Henrry ' has powers?"
The question was direct, cutting through any potential evasion.
The two terrified female teachers nodded frantically—or rather, their severed heads did, the motion disturbing and surreal as they bobbed on the floor. Their eyes were wide with fear, pupils dilated, desperate to cooperate.
"Y-yeah! We swear, we're not lying," one of them stammered, words tumbling out in a rush. "Please believe us!"
"He used to be this skinny old maintenance guy, you know? Always limping around, fixing broken toilets and stuff. But after the mist rolled in, after everything changed, he transformed. He got— stronger. Huge."
"He can lift three hundred pounds without breaking a sweat," the other added quickly, eager to provide useful information that might spare her further suffering. "We saw him pick up a vending machine by himself. Just lifted it like it was nothing."
The Interest
"Three hundred pounds?" Elric murmured, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he processed the implications.
That definitely caught his interest. Genuine, focused interest.
A second awakened ability user inside the campus? Someone else who'd gained powers through the apocalypse?
And by their description, it sounded a lot like the Physical Enhancement Fruit—exactly the kind of power Elric had been searching for, the one that could address his stamina limitations.
If this "Henrry" had indeed eaten such a fruit, if he'd gained that particular ability, Elric was going to find out—one way or another.
The System had mentioned Beast-Type mutations before. This might be his chance to acquire one.
"Where is he?" Elric asked flatly, his tone brooking no evasion. "I want to meet him. Now."
"He's on the top floor, in the recreation room," one of the heads answered quickly, almost tripping over the words. "That's where he keeps all the supplies—food, water, everything we scavenge. He makes us bring it all to him."
"Good."
That simple word carried weight, finality.
The Companions
Jenna—formerly known as Zhang Jing before she'd adopted a Western name—immediately stepped closer, her eyes full of pleading desperation.
"Elric, I'm coming with you."
After seeing how easily he'd dealt with those teachers, how casually he'd dismembered four people without apparent effort, she no longer wanted to leave his side for even a second. His presence meant safety. Distance meant vulnerability.
Natasha joined in immediately, her tone calm but insistent, competitive even.
"Me too. I know where the rec room is. The layout of the building, the stairways. I'll guide you."
She wasn't about to let Jenna go alone with Elric, wasn't about to give the younger woman any advantage.
Elric shook his head, faint red light flickering in his eyes as he activated his abilities.
"No need."
The Vision
Through his Thousand Eyes—that omniscient vision granted by the Staring Fruit—he could already see the layout of the top floor with perfect clarity.
The converted recreation room that had once hosted faculty parties and student game nights. The barricaded windows, reinforced with furniture and metal sheeting. The stacks of crates filled with scavenged supplies, organized with surprising efficiency.
He could see it all as if he were standing there, every detail crystal clear despite the distance and walls between them.
He'd seen enough to navigate without help.
A small smirk tugged at his lips as he snapped his fingers with casual confidence.
Blink.
The Teleportation
In an instant, space folded in on itself.
Elric, Natasha, Jenna—and the two severed heads he carried tucked under his arms like grotesque trophies—vanished from the apartment.
The air popped softly as it rushed to fill the vacuum they'd left behind.
Behind them, only silence remained in the apartment, save for the faint dripping sound from the bodies left behind, still leaking fluids despite the surgical precision of their separation.
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