"What? No!"
Rei grasped the hem of his sleeves. Both her body and mind objected to Takashi's near-suicidal tendencies.
"E-even if you are an esper…"
"Takashi, Miyamoto-chan is right. You don't need to risk your life elsewhere…"
The dissuasion of his two companions held little effect.
"...I can't just stand here. Also…" He thought of his 'superpower' before his decision became firm. "I won't get stronger without taking risks."
The duo fell silent.
From their escape from the school to arriving in the city hall, 70% of the contribution went to Takashi. His superpower allowed for his operations—an SSS rated talent.
Of course, Takashi didn't know things about superpowers and the likes. He only discovered that achieving certain kills, zombies and humans alike, can make him stronger.
His strength grew because of it. Takashi was deeply 'traumatized' by their 'wrong decision' back in the school. Being passive in the apocalypse will make them one step closer to death!
Seeing Takashi leaving, Kouta gritted his teeth.
"Damn it! Wait for me!"
Seeing this, Rei was forced to make a choice…
"Takashi…"
*****
Everyone in the rich district stared at the four-person team with awe. Piles of insect corpses littered the streets along with the scent of blood and gunpowder. Several people plopped to their knees, heaving their chests for more air.
Out of the two dozen people, Haruno initially formed an eight-person security team. All of them became espers. Haruno's [Spirit Eyes], upon its level up, can clearly perceive people with potential as espers from people who are not.
The ones without superpowers—innate talents—are destined to remain as mortal humans until their deaths. She saw it first-hand when someone talentless ate a fruit. His body bled from all seven orifices before dying. The roughest but best way to check one's talent is the fruit's attraction.
If someone senses the fruit's attraction, they have talents; otherwise, they do not.
The eight people Haruno selected are the elites out of this ragtag survivor group. Now, only four remain. Five other people died in the bugs' assault.
'This should be enough.'
She glanced at the remaining survivors. Their spirits are completely unlike themselves from a day ago.
Tap.
Rustle-!
Saeko's figure arrived. She easily crossed a distance of almost two hundred meters, albeit at the cost of her breasts' swaying. That was with Saeko using two layers of makeshift sarashi—bras did not work.
'I should have added another layer…'
"There are no more insects, at least in our radius." She then added, "I saw several buildings being swarmed by them."
Her words made the three other girls silent.
"They do seem to prioritize living beings."
"It is safe to assume that more survivors meant more attraction. Their most likely target now is the city hall."
Haruno's analysis brought a wave of calmness amongst them.
"Those people…"
"I'm unsure whether they can survive." She answered Mahiru's impending question. "These people too."
Everyone fell silent.
"I will give them weapons and distribute more of those grapes as a reward. They need to hold off on their own. It's not in his wishes that we raise a charity."
"I second this." Saeko stepped up. "That is the best we can do."
Shizuka-sensei and Mahiru made no objections. Their hearts made it difficult to outright abandon this group of survivors, but reason tells them they indeed could not babysit others.
Once Eishi knows they risked their lives for these people, he would definitely get angry. It was this treatment that made them feel warm, yet at the same time, abandon their kindness born out of the pre-apocalypse society.
In the end, Haruno did as she was told. She distributed five M4A1s to the esper squad. She also chose five of the most loyal 'mortal humans' to grant an M9A3. Her [Spirit Eyes] could see 'loyalties', making it easier for her to choose people.
As it stood, everyone in this camp did not have a shred of 'malice' towards them. Those people had long died in the 'purge' a few days back.
The distribution of the golden grapes came next. The five espers leveled up one after another. Their progresses varied due to the rank of their innate talents. Saeko estimated the strongest one as having five times the average human—50 attribute points in Eishi's panel. The rest wandered around 30 to 40 points.
Mahiru glanced at these eager-looking people one last time before departing.
'How many will survive tonight..?'
*****
Eishi held a small prismatic crystal in his hand. His body lay down on the sofa, pinning the crystals against the villa's light.
"I didn't expect…"
[Zerg Crystal (Second Rank)]
Details: The culmination of genetic power belonging to a second-order zerg. Its quality and quantity is inferior compared to other lifeforms due to its focused and artificial growth.
He cleaned up the mountains of black beetles through his spatial backpack. Eishi didn't expect for a 'zerg crystal' to appear. He also could not recall when he killed a second-order zerg.
Everyone was blasted to pieces with his enhanced M4A1s. Every shot has the power of a cannon. Two shots can shatter a concrete wall. The zergs he encountered are also weaker than he expected.
However, they cannot be neglected.
The attack on his villa's walls never ceased. Their numbers dropped from thousands to hundreds, but it is still ongoing.
'The city hall… What a sleepless night.'
Part of the credit came from the city hall's area-of-effect taunt. The majority of the zergs swarmed the city hall. Using guns, grenades, and other hot weapons, they barely held the zergs back.
'This can't continue.'
Eishi's main consideration in taking survivors, aside from his own convenience, is to have meat shields. As long as there are survivor groups and shelters constantly eliminating zombies, his villa's surroundings would be safer.
"What would you do next?"
Saeko sat down on the sofa. Her back pressed onto his lower torso. The residual warmth from her hot bath seeped through his t-shirt.
He suppressed the urge to pin her down here and then.
"I don't want to see the city hall fall. I will give them a chance."
"A chance?"
"I will trade my golden grapes with them."
Eishi wasn't the type to give something for free, hence he decided to trade the thousands of golden grapes in his possession for hot weapons and new evolution fruits. Not only can he resolve the city hall's crisis, he can also gain new supplies he can farm using the rebate function.
"I will leave the villa to you tomorrow. I'm bringing Haruno and Hiratsuka-sensei with me. Make decisions as you see fit."
"Understood."
Saeko's formal reply came to an end. Her expression grew more teasing. She wanted to see Eishi erupt… and so she did.
He stood up from the sofa and pushed Saeko to the sofa's back.
"Ah..?"
The thought of doing it here right in the living room made her flustered.
"Everyone… Most of them are sleeping. Make sure not to make a loud noise or else…"
Saeko's stimulating punishment soon began.
*****
'Should I bring her this time..?'
Eishi crossed his arms in thought.
A night has passed since the zerg attack. Their attacks never stopped, though their numbers grew less. The corpse stack outside his walls grew by two meters.
He could imagine it was a different story for the rest. This night is a sleepless night—for all the bad reasons.
Eishi paced back and forth in front of Saya's door before coming to an ultimatum.
Knock.
A girl with messy and untied pink hair poked her head out of the door. Seeing it was Eishi, her tired looks disappeared.
"W-what do you want?"
Saya's defiant personality never disappeared. She was merely forced to tone it down. Her repression slightly loosened after having sex with Eishi. Coupled with her initial impression of this 'pervert', he liked it more when she did not repress herself.
[Saya Takagi]
Innate Talent: Genetic Analysis (SS, Second-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Spirit Boost (B, First-order), Constitution Boost (B, Second-order), Lightning Arrow (A, First-order)
Life Level: Second-order, One-star
Strength: 12 > 217
Agility: 13 > 218
Constitution: 10 > 290
Spirit: 18 > 448
Seeing her improvements, Eishi knew she stayed up all day long eating those fruits. Saya did not care about flavor fatigue at all!
"I'm coming to see your parents. Wanna come with me?"
"..!"
Saya went still for a while.
"Okay."
She had countless questions but chose not to ask them.
After half an hour, the four left the villa. The snow outside reached two meters. If it weren't for his land rover being specially-modified for this exact occasion, they wouldn't have been able to drive through the snow at all.
Its thick and wide tires were able to float across the snow surface. Soon, Eishi felt the vehicle run as usual. The thin red mist couldn't affect his enhanced vision at all.
The deafening silence inside the car was stifling. The three women eyed each other. A sense of embarrassment arose in each one of them—a byproduct of Eishi's wanton moves.
Haruno, Shizuka-sensei, and Saya all had sex with him. This exclusive experience allowed them to share their experiences, even with eye contact.
Haruno glanced at Saya who wore a new pair of glasses.
"How long did you last?"
"..!"
"Cough..!"
Shizuka-sensei, who was in the front seat, choked on her saliva. Saya's face was full of shame. Her defiant trait exploded.
"W-what? I bet you only lasted one round."
"That's right. So?"
She did not expect Haruno to be an impenetrable fortress. Her following words dampened Saya's offensive.
"Everyone would have lasted only one round… except for those who cheat using superpowers."
"Cough..!"
Shizuka-sensei choked for the second time. She could not help but look at Haruno with a vigilant look.
The trio's fuss continued. Eishi has his ears peeled at this fun while scanning the surroundings.
Every five buildings, there is one who crumbled down. The streets' metal poles had long gone. It showed the devastating destruction caused by those beetles from yesterday.
The road itself was peaceful. The zombies have been presumably eaten by those beetles. Those insects had long scurried off to the densely populated areas, leaving the national road untouched.
Several isolated beetles remained on the road, only for the land rover's wheels to crush them.
'They're weak. But it doesn't mean there aren't any stronger ones.'
Eishi has a feeling. Those zerg meteors are far from simple. There are stronger zergs that haven't appeared yet. Only, they needed more time to hatch.
'That's how it is from the novels…'
As they progressed to the city hall, mutated zombies are present inside a building every now and then. Some jumped out to chase their land rover and failed. The others remained unmoved.
Along with them are the growing number of the insects. Eishi's insane reaction speed came into play.
The three women with him stopped their idle chatter. Shizuka-sensei and Haruno took out the M4A1s he gave. A simple instruction from the Internet, along with their improved physical body, are enough to let them handle the high-caliber rifles.
Once they got out of the national road, they saw the thick circle of darkness surrounding the city hall. Corpses of these black beetles were piled into a mountain, hastily burnt to create an impromptu blockade.
Sounds of gunfire penetrated the car's insides.
Eishi looked at the three before stopping on Haruno.
[Haruno Yukinoshita]
Innate Talent: Spirit Eye (SS, Second-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Strength Boost (B, Second-order), Spirit Boost (B, Second-order), Lightning Field (A, Second-order)
Life Level: Second-order, One-star
Strength: 18 > 298
Agility: 17 > 222
Constitution: 15 > 220
Spirit: 18 > 448
Her improvements were huge. Most importantly, the lightning-based talent she received is suitable for their situation now.
"We can't drive any further. Those bugs will eat this land rover whole." He then called out. "I am leaving them to you, Haruno."
"Mhm."
Except for Saya, everyone got out with calmness. The mixed scent of gunpowder, burnt insect flesh, and the annoying clicking sound from the insects has a very obnoxious effect.
Eishi did not need to say anything else. Lightning crackled from thin air. The insects within their thirty meter radius froze momentarily before falling down.
Bzzt-!
"Let's go."
With the car stored into the spatial backpack, the group of four moved.