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"Oh, right. You probably don't know this…"
"That meal you had tonight? It was actually zombie meat."
"Boss Chiaki had them cook it medium-rare for you so you could get used to it."
"Everyone else only gets it half-raw."
"But hey, you've got guts. You actually awakened."
"When Boss Chiaki comes out later, she'll definitely be happy for you."
"Alright, alright, enough wasting time. Let's get down to business."
Liza tugged at her top and spread her arms open.
Shinji's whole body trembled slightly.
It was obvious he still hadn't recovered from the shock.
His wife… was actually the leader of this camp…
And she liked pretending to be a newbie, messing around with awakened people…
His forehead veins bulged.
"It was you! You must've led her astray!"
"I'll kill you!"
He couldn't hold it in anymore. He swung a punch at Liza.
Liza frowned faintly, sidestepped, and in the same instant grabbed his wrist.
Crack!
With a sharp twist, his wrist dislocated.
"Don't think I won't touch you just because you're Boss Chiaki's husband!"
"There are plenty of men she's taken a liking to here. You're nothing special!"
Liza's voice turned cold.
What a mood killer.
She'd finally gotten worked up thanks to Kento, and now this guy ruined it.
"I… I'm going to ask her face to face!"
Clutching his wrist, Shinji rushed out of the exhibition hall.
Deep down, he still held onto a sliver of hope.
Maybe Liza was just messing with him.
His wife, Chiaki, worked at a hotel. He didn't even know what exactly she did, but she had to be a decent person, right?
There was no way she'd do something like this…
"…Sigh."
Julian couldn't help letting out a sigh.
He actually felt a bit sorry for the guy.
"Alright, Kento~"
"Let's not let him ruin the mood. Let's continue."
Liza said sweetly.
"I'll go lock the door first."
"I don't want to be interrupted either."
Julian smiled faintly and walked toward the main entrance.
Liza felt a warmth stir in her body.
This Kento… just one look from him was enough to get her going.
If he could awaken too, that'd be perfect.
Julian locked the door and gave it a test push.
Solid. As expected of a museum door.
That put him at ease.
He walked over and sat down by the bed.
"Come on. Lie face down first."
Julian said.
"Heh, Kento, you sure know how to play."
Liza smiled and obediently lay on the bed.
She was actually curious what he had in mind.
Julian placed his hand on her back and slowly traced up along her spine, vertebra by vertebra.
When his fingers reached the back of her neck, they stopped.
"Kento… don't stop…"
Liza murmured softly.
She was already getting into it.
Julian smiled.
Then suddenly, his fingers pressed in hard, piercing straight into her skin.
A quick pinch.
A faint sound followed, and instantly everything below Liza's neck went numb.
"W-what's happening?!"
She cried out.
There had been a sharp stab of pain, and then… nothing. Her body completely stopped responding.
"Alright, alright. Time for Kento's interrogation."
"From now on, I ask, you answer."
Julian said calmly.
"You—!"
"You're an awakened!"
"No normal awakened could be this strong…"
"Who the hell are you?!"
Fear surged in Liza's chest.
She wanted to scream, but even breathing felt difficult now.
There wasn't enough air in her lungs to raise her voice.
"Come on. Tell me about your camp."
"Who are the strongest? Any stockpiles? Where are they?"
Julian asked casually.
He'd already, by sheer luck, learned who the leader was.
Honestly, the whole "pretending to be a newbie" thing was seriously annoying.
If he hadn't stumbled onto that information, who knows if he could've gotten it out of them.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Liza started crying.
The fact that she couldn't move made her fear grow stronger by the second.
Ever since she awakened and then grew stronger, she'd never felt this kind of terror.
"There are 43 awakened in our camp—ah…"
"With the five Ryusei Shidou's group lost this time, that leaves 38."
"Among them, me, Madman, and Boss Chiaki have all advanced further."
"I'm the weakest out of the three."
"As for who's stronger between the other two… I don't know."
"Oh, right!"
"You probably want to know how we got stronger, don't you?"
"We captured two mutated zombies and extract pus from them every day to drink."
"Of course, not everyone can handle it. A few pretty strong awakened died that way."
Liza spilled everything.
"…Damn."
"Zombie pus?"
"You people really have no limits."
Julian felt his stomach churn.
That method was not just disgusting, it had to be dangerous too.
Otherwise, there'd be more than just three strong ones in the camp.
Just getting people to eat zombie meat would already filter out a lot of them.
And going further than that…
Yeah, his own method was definitely safer.
Of course, someone like Nanami Kento, who activated his body with gold and improved through fighting, that was the proper path.
"As for supplies…"
"The entire basement level of the museum is filled with them."
"Mostly daily necessities, tools, cigarettes, alcohol, stuff like that."
"Not much food. We mostly eat zombie meat and a small amount of vegetables."
"I've told you everything… please let me go, Kento…"
Liza begged.
"Everything?"
"…Alright then."
Julian didn't hesitate. He grabbed her head and twisted.
Half a turn.
Liza's eyes widened, staring straight at the ceiling.
Gone.
Julian picked up the piece of clothing beside him and wiped the blood off his hands.
"Next… time to wipe out all the awakened in this camp."
"But how to get them all in one go…"
He stroked his chin, thinking.
If he went in head-on, with dozens of them, some would definitely escape in the chaos.
And anyone who escaped would be trouble.
Most of these awakened knew how they'd gained their powers.
If he didn't clean them out completely, they'd spread like a cult. Impossible to fully stamp out.
After thinking it through, Julian decided to start with the top.
Madman. Chiaki.
Shouldn't be too hard.
Finally…
Time to make his move.
"....."