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Chapter 61: The Zombie Dungeon
In the end, Suyan still couldn't properly satisfy Saeko's craving for a reward.
They were pressed for time. If he really wanted to thoroughly satisfy Saeko, it would take at least an hour or two, and they still had to head back home by noon. Because of this, he could only indulge her in a few minor requests, like a quick cuddle.
After spending a negligible amount of time fulfilling her small desires, the two of them hopped back onto the motorcycle and hit the road once more.
On the road, Saeko suddenly asked, "Suyan, where are we heading next?"
Instead of answering directly, Suyan countered with a question for the girl behind him. "Saeko-senpai, where do you think the highest concentration of people in Tokonosu City is?"
Where were the most people? The real question wasn't about population density; it was actually asking: once the zombie outbreak erupted, where would the highest concentration of zombies be located?
"The commercial district?" Saeko replied without hesitation. She pondered it for a moment longer to ensure there were no major flaws in her logic, then added, "The shopping streets near the station?"
"Your logic makes sense, but…" Suyan didn't immediately dismiss her answer, though he used a conjunction to pivot his point. "You've overlooked one crucial detail, senpai."
"Under normal circumstances, the commercial streets near the station would indeed have the heaviest foot traffic," he explained. "However, in times of extreme danger, a spacious area like a commercial district has multiple entrances, exits, and safety routes."
"Once the threat of a zombie infection appeared, the crowds inside would have scattered and fled in every direction. The commotion caused by the fleeing masses would have easily drawn the zombies away with them. So, barring any special circumstances, the zombie density in places like commercial streets actually wouldn't be very high."
"Is that so?" Saeko rested her head against Suyan's back and thought about it carefully. It did make a lot of sense. She looked up again and asked, "Then where do you think the most zombies are right now?"
"Schools and office buildings!" Suyan answered.
"Office buildings?" Saeko asked, confused.
She understood schools. After all, she had witnessed it firsthand when the outbreak suddenly erupted yesterday. In just a few short hours, Fujimi Academy had completely fallen. Her former classmates had all turned into mindless monsters driven only by primal instinct. The sheer number of zombies last night had certainly allowed her to revel in the slaughter.
But office buildings?
For a girl who had grown up practicing swordsmanship in her family's dojo and had little exposure to corporate life, this was a bit hard to grasp. Why would office buildings be packed with zombies?
"It's simple, because yesterday was a weekday!" Suyan chuckled, providing her with the answer. "You might not know this, Saeko-senpai, but no matter what country you're in, office buildings rarely stand alone. They're usually clustered together to form massive corporate districts."
"Furthermore, when the zombie outbreak suddenly occurred yesterday, it was a weekday afternoon, and it wasn't even time to clock out yet. At that hour, the adults were all still stuck at work. And office buildings are exactly where most working adults are packed together."
"A single floor might house anywhere from a handful of companies to over a dozen. At a rough estimate, a fully operational office building houses at least a thousand people."
Suyan continued his explanation, "Most importantly, office buildings aren't like commercial streets with escape routes in every direction. Typically, there are only two stairwells acting as emergency exits at the far ends of the building. Not to mention the elevators, which are highly likely to break down during a crisis. Even if they worked perfectly, a standard office building rarely has more than eight elevators, and most usually only have two."
"This means that the moment zombies appeared inside or near an office building—if the threat wasn't neutralized immediately—the people inside would have absolutely nowhere to run."
Of course, everything he had just said was purely his own speculation. As for whether he was right or wrong, they would find out once they arrived on the scene. All he had to do was expand his En to sense the situation inside the building, and the answer would present itself.
For now, however, Suyan was genuinely treating the schools and office buildings of Tokonosu City like isolated dungeon instances just waiting to be farmed.
"I see." Saeko's eyes lit up with understanding as she quickly praised him. "You're truly amazing. I can't believe you analyzed the situation so clearly."
Truthfully, Saeko barely understood half of what Suyan had just said due to her lack of familiarity with the subject. But that didn't matter. To her, as long as Suyan was by her side, that was enough. Even the slaughter she had once craved so deeply had become something she no longer strictly needed.
Saeko spoke up again, returning to her original question. "So, are we heading to a school or an office building in the city next?"
"Neither," Suyan replied with a sigh of resignation. "We're going to a gas station."
"A gas station?" Saeko paused, bewildered. Did he think the zombie count at a gas station would be higher than at the schools and office buildings he had just hyped up?
Suyan pointed down at the vehicle beneath them with a helpless expression. "Because our motorcycle is almost out of gas. We desperately need to refuel it right now."
After a full night of riding, combined with the considerable distance they had covered this morning, the motorcycle was finally running on fumes. If they didn't find a gas station soon, he would have to use his Manipulation Type Nen to keep it moving. A short burst would be fine, but maintaining it over a long distance would drain too much aura. The cost simply wouldn't be worth the reward.
"Hehe," Saeko chuckled awkwardly. "So that's why?"
The girl felt a bit embarrassed by her own overactive imagination. Fortunately, Suyan recalled the map of Tokonosu City he had memorized and realized there was a gas station nearby. He wouldn't have to completely drain the tank and resort to using his aura as fuel.
However, just as Suyan steered the motorcycle into the gas station, an unexpected situation arose.
A group of delinquents in garish clothing with brightly dyed hair swarmed out from the corners of the station, surrounding Suyan and Saeko. They carried an assortment of steel pipes and knives, oozing with stereotypical gangland bravado.
"Man, we're really lucky today. I can't believe we ran into such a massive beauty."
The green-haired leader stared at Saeko with a look of absolute astonishment, muttering the words under his breath. He snatched a triad-style machete from one of his lackeys and swaggered over to Suyan.
Rolling his tongue in a textbook thug accent, he threatened, "You're a lucky punk, having a beauty like this with you. Leave the bike and the woman, and you can get lost. I won't kill you."
Seeing this, Saeko leaned close to Suyan's ear and whispered, "Do you want me to handle them?"
Neither of them viewed these petty street thugs as a legitimate threat.
"No, let me," Suyan shook his head, stopping Saeko from drawing her blade.
He then shifted his gaze to the green-haired leader blocking their path and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone. "You're absolutely right. I am very lucky. But inversely, you're about to have a terrible day."
Before this, Suyan had been agonizing over how to capture a few humans and zombies to experiment on and test the infection rate of the zombie virus. After all, the more he understood about it, the better he could avoid being infected in the future.
However, Suyan still had a bottom line, and he didn't want to casually lay hands on innocent civilians under normal circumstances.
But now? Things were perfect. The test subjects had delivered themselves right to his doorstep.
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