Thud!
Heavy objects fell to the ground.
These were all weapons scavenged by Reid and Rei from Minami Rika's unit.
For safety, they were temporarily kept by the Izdihar.
As for the surviving soldiers… because Minami Rika had already surrendered, they all gave up resisting and followed Chen Hai to the school building stronghold.
The survivors saw the soldiers' dishevelled appearance and quickly understood.
However, these people did not blame the Izdihar who had previously saved them and given them food; instead, they began to wonder why the soldiers had been taught a lesson.
"Did they just open fire?"
"This place is open to the public, so they must have known about this stronghold immediately, right?"
"Yes, if they had sent someone to investigate, Mr. Reid and the others wouldn't have attacked them."
"Sometimes soldiers aren't very bright either."
Hearing the comments, Minami Rika showed a very subtle expression.
The reason she led her team to lurk there was to observe the situation of the 'monster stronghold'.
After all, Minami Rika was worried that the monsters were another kind of 'virus carrier', and the protected survivors had all been brainwashed.
What was the result?
This caution, on the contrary, led to Minami Rika's unit being hit hard; one-third of the soldiers were killed, another third were injured, and the rest were still mobile.
However, in this situation, no one dared to act rashly.
At this moment, the bound Minami Rika looked at Chen Hai.
Before she could ask a question, she was led to an office somewhere in the school building.
This was originally a place where teachers prepared lessons and graded homework, but now it had become a simple interrogation room.
Chen Hai was about to speak when Minami Rika said directly,
"I don't know your question either… The Prime Minister of this country has been hiding since the virus outbreak, so the only people who know the exact location are those military officers with much higher status than me."
"So where is your superior?"
"What do you plan to do? Negotiate with them?"
"That's right, the world's structure needs to change a bit."
To invade this plane, the submission of various countries is naturally required.
The island nation where the little sun is located is the first.
"Even if I give you the contact information of the high-ranking military officers, they won't accept any of your demands. Or… are the survivors here 'hostages' that you specifically ordered to collect?"
"I won't use the hostage tactic; it's too inefficient."
"Too inefficient…"
Hearing the answer, Minami Rika was at a loss for words for a moment.
Then Chen Hai untied the ropes binding Minami Rika's hands.
"Your mistake was 'ordering soldiers to monitor this stronghold,' but you've already paid the price, so I can let bygones be bygones."
"Many of my subordinates were killed by those two monsters… This kind of thing cannot be easily overlooked."
"Oh? Is that so? Do you mean to seek revenge? You can, gather your subordinates, and I will give them a chance to fight."
As soon as Chen Hai said this, Minami Rika quickly denied it.
"I didn't mean that."
Having seen Reid and Rei's power, Minami Rika was not foolish enough to want revenge.
She then emphasized,
"If all of this stems from a misunderstanding, then… I hope to be able to explain all of this clearly, and also my friend… You told me before that Shizuka Marikawa is still alive and living in a safe place."
"If you want to see her, I can send you over, but not now."
"So…"
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock on the door sounded.
After Chen Hai let the person in, Reid walked between Chen Hai and Minami Rika with a communication device.
"The soldiers asked me to bring this over. They said it was 'a call from headquarters'."
"Headquarters?"
Minami Rika was a little surprised.
She took the communication device, and the voice of a high-ranking military officer immediately came through.
"Hello… Uh… What? You actually want to… I, I understand."
After the call ended, Minami Rika looked at Chen Hai.
"My superior hopes to meet with you."
"Oh?"
"The matters here were reported before, and I suppose the fact that 'monsters are saving humans' caught their attention, so… if you are the manager here, I think you can meet with the higher-ups."
"Is there a specific location?"
"It's at the city's council assembly hall. They have already sent representatives and believe they will arrive at the scene in ten minutes."
"No problem."
Chen Hai accepted the proposal and decided to meet with the military officer representative Minami Rika mentioned.
——
——
Speedrunning the apocalypse plane in thirty minutes.
It seems a bit difficult… mainly because the time is indeed a bit short.
Chen Hai thought this as he rushed to the 'council assembly hall' mentioned by Minami Rika via the map.
As soon as he arrived, he saw many active figures inside the surrounding wall.
Those were fully armed soldiers.
Because the military officer representative came by helicopter, the commotion attracted many Zombies.
However, this venue, specifically provided for council meetings, was relatively safe and had not been invaded by Zombies.
Under this premise, after all the internal staff were rescued, it became very quiet.
Of course, now it could be said to be bustling with activity.
Seeing this, Chen Hai descended directly from the air, appearing before the soldiers.
"Who goes there?!"
Seeing someone suddenly descend from the sky, two soldiers, stunned for half a second, immediately raised their weapons.
The surrounding patrol personnel also reacted and rushed to the scene immediately.
"Don't be so rude!"
As the soldiers surrounded Chen Hai and began to close in, a man in a suit ran out and shouted, making them stop their movements.
The man in the suit looked at Chen Hai, and while telling the soldiers to put down their weapons, he introduced himself,
"I am Kozou Jirou, the acting Minister of Defense of Neon. Nice to meet you for the first time."
"Surprising…"
He didn't expect it to be the acting Minister of Defense.
Perhaps it was because his own entry had an effect?
Chen Hai had previously obtained the 'Path of the Hero (Gold)' entry from Asuna, the effect of which was 'A chosen one embarking on a heroic journey, with infinite growth in luck and talent'.
Regarding this effect, Chen Hai felt that after it was fully strengthened, it might become a 'wishes come true' buff.
After all, the protagonists in all stories have incredible luck.
For example, falling off a cliff and meeting a benefactor… Chen Hai didn't think much, looked at the man in the suit in front of him, and replied,
"I am Chen Hai. I came here this time hoping to talk about your future."
"Our… future?"
"Yes."
Chen Hai added a sentence,
"This meeting will determine the future of this country."