《The Bastard In The Zombie Apocalypse》 1 The Beginning It was close to midnight. Nathan just got off of his online job 5 minutes ago and he was currently enjoying the view from his window while smoking a cigarette. He has been working online for almost 2 years now. His current work schedule is from 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM so he doesn''t have a "normal" schedule that most people have. But then again, what is normal? How does one define it? What are the necessary factors that should be considered? Perhaps for a kid and to most adults, being awake during the day and asleep at night is what they consider a normal schedule. He looked at his watch. It was already 11:47 PM. "I should probably workout now." He sucked his cigarette one last time before putting it down the ashtray. He went to the kitchen to get a pitcher of water. He went to one of the rooms of his apartment where he keeps his gym equipment. It wasn''t anything fancy though, just a bench press equipment, a piece of pull-up equipment, one barbell, and a few plates and dumbbells. He turned on the stereo and a Marilyn Manson song started blasting off. He began his stretching routine. Ever since he was a kid, he always preferred places with fewer people and hates to deal with social politics. So when he graduated college, he chose an online job. Basically, you say that he''s an introvert. Though he likes to think he''s a lone wolf, to most people, he''s just a socially awkward person which holds true. About 2 seconds before midnight, a male voice started talking to his head. "Listen up, you worthless humans! This is your god speaking! You breed like cockroaches and are the scum of the earth so today will be the start of the zombie apocalypse!" Nathan just finished one set of barbell bench press and was left dumbfounded. ''What the hell was that?'' He thought as he turned down the volume. The voice continued, "But because I''m a benevolent god that you little shits are unworthy of, I will be giving all of you a level up system and this wooden stick. Don''t die now. Bye!" A wooden stick was in front of him lying on the floor. Seeing the wooden stick, Nathan picked it up. Details about the wooden stick went to his brain. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Wooden Stick Damage: 2-3 Durability: 10/10 Description: A wooden stick created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ ''I must be going crazy,'' he thought. He shook his head and massaged his forehead. He put down the stick on the corner. He turned up the volume and went back to working out. As he was about to pick up a plate, a white silhouette suddenly appeared before him. "What the fuck?!" Nathan jerked and took two steps backward. "Nathan," the white silhouette said. It was a female''s voice that sounded sweet, seductive and divine. Anyone who would hear it couldn''t help but kneel down and listen. Of course, Nathan was no different. The confusion, fear and surprised he felt earlier was lost. The only thing in his mind was to listen, almost as if he was in a trance. "You are one of the chosen humans." It sounded so cheesy, but Nathan didn''t care and maintained his silence. "¡­" He was on his knees and listening attentively. He didn''t want to destroy this precious moment by hearing his own voice. With a flick of her hand, the music stopped playing. Seeing the state of the human in front of her, the white silhouette thought, ''These pitiful creatures. They can''t even resist such aura.'' The truth is, throughout history, divine beings like her appeared before humans to pass them a message. However, all of them at best only understood about half the message, causing them to sometimes deviate from the original purpose and even waged wars in the name of god. The only way for humans to resist the aura of divine beings is to increase their intelligence attribute to a certain number. "You will be one of the humans unable to earn any skills points and can''t learn other skills. However, in exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. Don''t worry, we will grant you one skill to lessen your burden and the things I''ve mentioned will be recorded in the system in case you forget." Basically, he will be one of the guinea pigs in god''s experiment. "To view the System, just say ''system''. Don''t worry, it won''t pop up if you say the word ''system'' during a conversation. The System will be able to differentiate when and when not to appear." "¡­" "Do you understand? Nod your head if you do." Nathan nodded. The white silhouette raised her hand and a 2.5 ft sword suddenly appeared. "Take this weapon. You will need it if you want to grow stronger." The sword dropped in front of Nathan and the white silhouette quickly disappeared. 2 The Beginning 2 Nathan was still on his knees staring blankly. It was only after a minute until he finally got a sense of what just happened. "This is crazy." He ran his fingers through his hair and his eyes darted down. He saw the 2.5 ft long sword on the floor. He tried to remember everything the white silhouette said, but his memory was still a little fuzzy. "I''m one of the chosen humans?" "System," he uttered. A status chart appeared in front of him. ************************************************************ Level: 1 Experience Points: 0% Strength: 14 Agility: 9 Vitally: 12 Intelligence: 9 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will increase by 1. ************************************************************ "Heh~ It''s just like a game!" He started waving his hands around, treating it like a tablet or something in case he could find other features. After failing to find other features, he said, "So how do I turn this off?" "Close. Shutdown. Turn off. System off." The status chart finally disappeared. "Oh, it worked." He then tried to activate his skill. "Coward''s Walk." He saw that his body turned transparent. "This is invisibility?" He looked for a mirror. He had no reflection. Wow. "Invisibility off." He saw his reflection. He was really excited. But after thinking about it, he slowly started to understand the severity of the situation and his expression darkened, especially the part where he can''t learn other skills. Being an introvert himself, of course, he spent a lot of hours playing video games and reading light novels. Unless one has a [Plot Armor] or [Plot Luck] tag, the probability of dying is very high. What if his enemy can fly? What if his enemy is immune to physical attacks? What if his enemy can also turn invisible? A one point increase on all stats each time you level up may sound pretty nice, but if you really think about it, you''re totally in a disadvantage against others who have more than one skill, especially in the later levels! "I remember that being who referred to himself as god mentioned about a zombie apocalypse." Nathan started to recall some of the light novels that he read. One of them was [God and Devil World]. "If I were to follow Yue Zhong''s route, I should level up, gathers supplies, travel with capable companions, and set/conquer a few bases. However, there were some factors that needed to be addressed. Firstly, although I like the novel [God and Devil], I refuse to follow Yue Zhong''s route because I''m a hardcore introvert. Gather people? No way, I rather work alone. Secondly, in a zombie apocalypse, zombies aren''t the only ones you have to look out for ¨C humans, wild beasts, sickness, lack of supplies, no proper shelter and accidents are also things that could threaten one''s safety. Thirdly, I have [Coward''s Walk] which grants me invisibility. I can always run away. As for the supplies, with my skill, I can easily gather supplies. Share my supplies with potential backstabbers? It''s not like resources will just drop from the sky, so fuck no. Moreover, what if I get an accident or be sick if I leave the city? Fourthly, given that there''s a level up system, the place with tons of experience points is in big cities. I have to get strong as soon as possible or I won''t be able to control my fate. I doubt if people still act civil. Only strength matters. And lastly, I''m one of the chosen humans. This means I have [Plot Armor], right? I''ll have some crazy [Plot Luck] like Meng Hao from [I Shall Seal the Heavens], right?" While Nathan was addressing the last factor, he was more or less just trying to convince himself. He wasn''t confident about his plan, but he needed something to justify his decision of staying in the city. However, there was something important he forgot to consider ¨C his family. "Hmm¡­ Why do I feel like I''m missing something?" Boom! There was a loud explosion not far away from the apartment building where Nathan was living in and the lights immediately went out which startled him. He took out his phone as a flashlight and went to the window to see what was happening. A gasoline station was on fire. He saw people running, screaming and crying on the streets. There were three skinless humanoids about 3 meters tall chasing humans. Nathan''s expression darkened. ''I really have to increase my level as fast as I could.'' He moved away from his window and went back to his workout room to pick up the sword. ''First, I need to prepare before heading out.'' After he said that, the thought about his family finally came to his mind. "Fuck! Amir!" He slapped his forehead. In the apartment he was living in, he lived with his cousin who works as a nurse and was currently on duty. Both of them are immigrants so their family is in another country. With the zombie apocalypse, forget about going to another country, even just leaving the city will be hard. He searched for his cousin''s phone number and contacted him¡­ 3 The Phone Call Nathan tried calling Amir 5 fives but not a single call went through. ''I guess he''s busy from treating all the patients,'' he thought. He put down his phone. Nathan was currently at his room with an emergency light and the windows shut tight. He was preparing his "magazine armor", an idea he got from the movie World War Z. After preparing the magazine armor, he picked up the sword that the white silhouette left him and went out of his room with his smartphone on his hand acting as his flashlight. "This¡­" He started contemplating. ''Do I really need to head out? It''s dark outside. Even if I use my skill, with my phone as a flashlight, I would still be attracting zombies. I didn''t think this through properly.'' He looked at his watch. It was 12:15 am. It was only a few minutes since the explosion. However, he could still hear people screaming down the street. Suddenly, there was someone knocking at the front door. Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! "Amir! Are you there?! It''s me! Please open the door! I''m afraid! Please help!" It was a female''s voice. "Fuck!" Nathan cursed under his breath. ''Who is this woman?! Doesn''t she know that being loud is no different from attracting those monsters?!'' He slowly approached the front door with the sword on his right hand. He totally forgot to use his invisibility skill or about its existence. The woman continued knocking, "Amir, are you there?! It''s me, Ashleigh! Please help!" ''Ashleigh?'' The name sounded familiar. He remembered his cousin mentioning about a woman named Ashleigh. However, Amir was a playboy who had many women so it''s not Nathan''s fault if he can''t remember all the women that his cousin dated. That would be weird and creepy if he did! ''Who cares? I just have to wait. I''m not obligated to help her or anything. She''ll definitely give up and leave soon, seeing that no one is answering the door.'' "Amir¡­ Please open if you''re there¡­ I don''t have anywhere else to go¡­" Behind the door, he could hear her starting to sob which made him felt a little bad. However, he doesn''t owe this woman anything. For all he knows, she could be infected by the zombie virus. Suddenly, his phone rang. Ring... Ring¡­ Ring¡­ "Amir?! Are you there?! Please open! Please!" Ashleigh called out behind the door and started knocking. Nathan''s face darkened. When he looked at the screen of his phone, it was his Amir calling. ''This bitch is going to kill the both of us if she doesn''t shut up!'' He went close to the door but didn''t open it because he didn''t trust her. "Keep quiet! You''re attracting the zombies with all the noise you''re making! Wait for a moment," he said before moving away from the door and answering Amir''s call. "Hello?" "Nathan! Thank god you''re okay!" ''Yeah, but I will be dead soon because of your woman,'' Nathan said to himself. "Yeah, I''m fine, Amir. Do you know what''s happening? Any news from the government?" "I assume you''ve heard what the being who called himself as god said, right?" "Yeah," Nathan replied. "As for the government, they''re advising the public to stay indoors and not go outside under any circumstances. Didn''t you watch the news?" "The power''s out. There was an explosion." "There was? Damn, there are so many people being rushed here in the hospital. Everything is such a mess." Hearing what Amir said, Nathan was surprised and warned, "Hey, you know about zombies and how they infect people, right?" Amir gave a light laugh and said, "Yeah, that''s why we handcuffed our patients that are suspected of being infected with the zombie virus before treating them. Don''t worry, everything will be fine. It''s just that we''ve been treating patients nonstop. In fact, I sneaked out just to take a quick 5-minute break." ''This guy¡­ I feel sorry for his patients. But hey, at least they''re well-aware about how zombie infects other people. I mean, come on, zombies are very common in movies and video games,'' Nathan thought. "Okay, that''s good to hear. By the way, do you know anyone called Ashleigh? There''s a woman named Ashleigh at my door looking for you." "Ashleigh?" Amir was wracking his brains who this Ashleigh was. It took him about 5 seconds to answer again. "Yeah, we have a neighbor called Ashleigh. I told you about her, right?" "Do you know what apartment she lives in?" "C-6." "Okay. Can you describe to me what she looks like?" "Listen, I gotta go. My 5-minute break is up. Don''t worry, this zombie apocalypse will soon be over. Just stay indoors, cuz." With that, Amir ended the call. Nathan went back to the front door and massaged his forehead. ''Note to self: When in a zombie apocalypse, keep your phone in silent mode¡­'' "Ashleigh?" he called out. "Here!" she replied. 4 The Female Gues The apartment building that Nathan lives in has 4 floors. Each floor has 6 apartments. The first floor features the A-1 to A-6 apartments. Nathan''s apartment is C-2 which is located on the 3rd floor. "You have to answer two questions before I will open the door and let you in," Nathan said. "Okay," Ashleigh replied. "What''s your apartment''s number?" "C-6." "Are you injured?" "Injured? I broke my nail while I was knocking your door," she said while sobbing. Nathan was speechless for a moment before continuing, "I mean, have you been attacked by a zombie or anything?" "No, but I''m afraid I will be so I decided to come to Amir''s place." "How do I know you''re not lying?" She started crying louder. "Boohoo¡­Why would I lie? Even if you asked me to strip naked and checked my body, I''ll do it." "This¡­" Nathan was again lost for a moment and said, "Amir is out. I don''t know when he will return. Do you still want to come in?" "Yes, I rather be with someone than be alone in the dark." He facepalmed himself. ''What the hell? This is too fishy. Who wants to be alone with a stranger during a zombie apocalypse? Unless she''s dumb, she''s probably acting!'' "Hey, I answered your question. Let me in," she was still crying. "This¡­" ''The more noises she does, the chances of her attracting zombies or those 3-meter tall skinless zombies gets higher!'' Finally, for some miracle, Nathan remembered his skill. However, another issue came to his mind. If he has a skill, wouldn''t she also have a skill as well? ''Fuck! I''m so paranoid!'' he cursed himself. Finally, he thought of an idea, though he wasn''t sure if it was a good idea¡­ "Hey, the doorknob is broken from my side so I can''t open it. I''ll pass you the keys under the door so you can open the door from your side, okay?" "Okay," she replied. He activated [Coward''s Walk] and slipped the keys under the door. After that, he quickly backed away from a corner, set his smartphone''s flashlight facing the door and held the sword in his hand. Kacha! The door slowly opened. He tightened his grip, ready to pounce any moment in case he finds anything wrong. When she finally came to view, he was surprised to see her. She was hot! She was probably around 20 years old, 4 years younger compared to him. She was tall, blonde hair, white skin and had a voluptuous body! She was wearing a tank top, mini-skirt and sandals. So far he couldn''t tell if there are any other bite marks. But with the low-light conditions, he wouldn''t dare put his guard down. Seeing nobody around, she asked, "Where are you?" "Close the door and lock it," he commanded. She closed and locked the door. "Now turn around slowly. I want to make sure you have no bite marks." She turned around slowly. ''I can''t find any bite marks. Why do I feel like I''m directing a porn video right now?'' he thought to himself. "What''s next? Do you want me to strip?" she asked. When she said that, Nathan''s jaw almost dropped but he quickly recovered. "No need. Just take a seat on the sofa." ''Now tell me when did you lose your virginity,'' Nathan jokingly thought as he recalled a Casting Couch video. For some reason, Nathan got the impression that this Ashleigh is what some people refer to as a "bimbo". Putting that aside, he was also thinking about something else -- his phone. ''I wonder how much battery life my smartphone has left. It''s not like I can use my smartphone as a flashlight the whole night. I should probably bring out the emergency light from my room.'' "Can you tell me your name?" she suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence. "Nathan." "Nathan? I''m Ashleigh by the way." After she said that, she gave a bright and beautiful smile. She was really beautiful, though her IQ might be a little low. But hey, who knows, she''s probably just pretending. "Where are you? It feels weird talking like this." Right, he was currently invisible. Seeing that she seems harmless for now, he deactivated his skill. 5 The Female Guest 2 After Nathan deactivated his skill, he went to where he placed his smartphone and picked it up. "Wait here. Don''t try anything funny," he commanded. "Okay." He went to his room to get the emergency light. With the emergency light now in front of him, he started to contemplate. ''Should I bring this emergency light in the living room? There''s a reason why I placed it here and shut my windows tight because I didn''t want to attract zombies or anyone. Should I bring her to my room instead? No. What if she really has bad intentions? With the limited space in my room, I might get fucked up. What? I''m a man and she''s a woman so it''s okay because I can overpower her easily? I won''t take that chance.'' He had a point. If this was before the apocalypse, he wouldn''t fear her because he was 6ft tall and works out so he was confident in his physical prowess, especially against a woman. However, since the apocalypse, knowing that he was given a skill by the system, why not other people as well? He doesn''t believe he''s the only chosen one at this apartment building. What''s worse, their skill could even be more deadly compared to his. ''Damn. I wish I had a skill that could read the status of other people.'' After thinking less than a minute, he finally decided to bring the emergency light in the living room. If that woman really has bad intentions, with the available space in the living room and his skill, his chances of escaping are higher. *************************** In the living room. Ashleigh was sitting on the sofa and playing with her phone while patiently waiting for Nathan. She was also wishing that Amir will come home as well. Nathan finally came back. There was a coffee table in the middle. He placed the emergency light there. With the light illuminating the surrounding, they finally get to see each other''s features. Ashleigh was indeed beautiful, probably at least an 8. She had the face of a runway model and had a voluptuous body. Combined with her outfit, Nathan couldn''t help but have an erection. ''My cousin really has game.'' However, after remembering that this was his cousin''s woman, the erection he had immediately disappeared. In terms of looks, Nathan, on the other hand, had a very average face with shoulder-length black hair and a goatee. Yes, he has a man bun. Compared to his cousin, who was at least a 7, he was at best a 4. "How are you related to Amir?" she asked. "I''m his cousin. You?" Nathan answered. "Oh, I see. Yeah, there''s a bit of a resemblance between you two. I''m his girlfriend," she said with a bright smile as if she was very proud of it. ''Girlfriend? Well, Amir is quite a catch, but he has too many women.'' Nathan thought and felt bad for the bimbo. "I see," Nathan replied. "Do you know when is Amir coming home?" she asked. "I don''t know. Probably in the morning." "Did you hear the explosion? When is the electricity coming back? I can hear people screaming outside." "I don''t care about that. As long as we stay inside, everything will be fine." "Really? What if it doesn''t?" ''This¡­'' He was starting to have a headache so he tried to get rid of her. "Don''t you want to rest? You can use Amir''s room." "But¡­ I''m afraid. Can we just stay together until Amir comes back?" she begged and was about to cry. ''Fuck you! I''m already being kind by letting a stranger like you in. You still have the audacity to demand more things?! I don''t owe you anything, lady!'' Nathan cursed inside his heart, but he didn''t know what to do. After thinking for a moment, he said, "As you mentioned earlier: What if things don''t work out fine? In the morning, if things aren''t looking that great, we will have to escape so I need you to be in your best condition." "Can''t we just sleep together in one bed? I''m really afraid. Plus, wouldn''t that be safer?" she started sobbing. At that moment, Nathan had a strong urge to strangle the bitch, but he quickly suppressed it. ''My god, where are the batshit crazy feminists when you need them?!'' "Listen. Just be a good girl and do what I tell you, okay?" he tried his best to give his warmest smile. "But¡­" He didn''t let her continue and said, "Come on, I''ll lead you to Amir''s room." He grabbed her arm and brought her to Amir''s room. 6 The Female Guest 3 After dropping the bimbo at his cousin''s room, he went back to his room immediately and sat on his bed. He had no plans of sleeping. Plus, even if he was sleepy, who could sleep in a situation like this? He was re-evaluating his plans. ''Going outside is a no-no. Unless I have a night vision skill or equipment, going outside is suicide. Tomorrow, if things¡­'' Boom! He heard another explosion. He didn''t care about it. ''Things are getting out of hand. Where''s the police or military?'' Knock! Knock! Knock! "Nathan?! I heard an explosion! Let me in!" It was Ashleigh knocking at his door. ''Dammit. Can''t this bimbo just leave me alone?'' "Nathan?! Are you there?!" Sigh. He got up from his bed and opened the door. When he opened the door, she threw herself to him and started sobbing. "I''m really scared. Please let me stay with you. I don''t want to be alone. Please..." He closed the door and brought her to his bed to sit down. "Just stay there and relax," he pulled a chair and sat there. "Do you¡­" "Keep quiet. Being noisy won''t help. Whatever is outside might come here if we''re noisy." She immediately kept her mouth shut. After a minute, she decided to lie down. Nathan was thinking about the situation and what to do. ''In the morning, I should immediately start killing zombies. After that, I should also gather some supplies that will last me 2 weeks by the very least.'' He looked at Ashleigh who was at the bed. ''When Amir comes back, I will immediately leave this woman to him. I don''t have time to babysit other people unless they''re family or someone who is necessary.'' He checked the time. It was 12:35 am. ''Damn. Time really moves slowly.'' He was staring at Ashleigh''s voluptuous body and started to have an erection for a moment before remembering that this was his cousin''s woman. ''Where should I rest?'' It would be a very awkward situation if his cousin comes home and finds them sleeping in one bed. He stood up and went to the door. As he was about to open the door, Ashleigh asked worriedly, "Where are you going?" "I''m getting something at Amir''s room. Be right back." He went to Amir''s room and took a few blankets and two pillows. When he came back to his room, he dropped the blankets and pillows on the floor beside his bed. "This is where you''ll be sleeping. Move out of the way. I want to sleep on my bed." Ashleigh was left dumbfounded for a moment. To her, she didn''t mind if Nathan and her slept on the same bed. He was her boyfriend''s cousin so to her he was like a family member. You could say that she doesn''t discriminate other people. Kind heart? Yes. Na?ve? Also yes. "Did you hear what I said?" Nathan asked. Ashleigh thought Nathan was just shy so she decided to follow what he said. Anyways, the fact that he let her inside the apartment and in his room was already more than enough. Nathan was already at his bed when he warned, "If you do anything funny, don''t blame me." "Okay," she replied. They were now lying silently on their own respective beds. He also took off his magazine armor. Outside, noises could be heard: screams and gunshots. Occasionally, there would be loud explosions as well. Whatever it was, only god knows. A few minutes later, Nathan heard someone snoring. It was Ashleigh. ''She must''ve been really tired, huh?'' Beside him was the sword. He gripped the handled and checked its status. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Training Sword Damage: 6-8 Durability: 10/10 Description: A training sword created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ ''They have the same grade as the Wooden Stick. However, in terms of damage, the wooden stick only had 2-3 damage, while this one has 6-8. Part of the system? So it''s like in the novel [God and Devil World] where you need to use the weapons or magic skills from the system to earn experience points. That seems fair because if other weapons can be used, it will be unfair to the civilians whereas the government or military will have a very high advantage. But the problem lies with the durability. I don''t know shit about fixing weapons. Sigh¡­ I''ll deal with that later. I still have the wooden stick anyways. When the sun rises, I will definitely hunt some zombies.'' His eyes shined, knowing that he has the chance to become powerful just like in the light novels he read. However, he was also fearful of the future once he reaches the later levels because he will only have a single skill which puts him in a disadvantage against other high-level non-chosen ones. 7 A New Morning When Nathan opened his eyes, the sun was already up. Panicked, he immediately checked his watch. It was 7:30 am. Next, he checked his surroundings. Ashleigh was on the floor sleeping like a baby. He got up and started preparing breakfast. It was a very simple breakfast ¨C a couple of eggs, bread and a cup of coffee. After eating breakfast, he peeked outside of the window. What he saw was a few zombies walking around, a few burning buildings and flipped cars. ''What the hell happened last night? It''s only been a few hours and there''s so much damage already.'' He went to look for his phone. It was inside his room so he went back to get it. His plan was to call his cousin. Checking his phone, it was dead. ''Fuck!'' He looked at Ashleigh. He wanted to borrow her phone. He bent down and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, wake up." A few seconds later, she finally opened her eyes. Seeing someone she was unfamiliar with, she was surprised and let out a scream. Nathan got a little annoyed. ''I really have to get rid of this woman as soon as possible,'' he thought. "Kept quiet or we''ll both be dead!" he said in a harsh tone. After realizing who the man was in front of her, she finally remembered what happened last night. "I''m sorry," she meekly said. "Where''s your phone?" "My phone?" She quickly started to look for her phone. After she found it, she passed it to him. It still had 33% battery life. ''Thank god.'' "Where''s Amir''s phone number here? I need to call him." He passed the phone back to her. She received the phone and immediately went to look for Amir''s number. After finding it, she passed the phone to him once again. "Here." He pressed the call button. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Ring¡­ He ended the call and tried to call once again. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Still, there was no answer. ''Amir...'' He had no choice left but to send Amir a text message in the end. ''I guess I only have two choices: Wait for Amir or go to the hospital where he works at. But before I do that, I must level up first for some assurance.'' "You," he said. Ashleigh looked at him. "We''ll wait here for Amir. However, in the meantime, I have to go outside to find some supplies. I''ll be back right away." In a zombie apocalypse, what''s the most important thing? Food! "Can''t we just wait here together?" "No. Listen up. What if Amir doesn''t come? How long do you think our supplies will last?" "Can''t I come with you outside?" "No, one of us should be left here to wait for Amir. Plus, it''s dangerous outside. Will you be able to defend yourself?" "I¡­" "Don''t worry. I''ll be right back," Nathan gave her a reassuring smile. He stood up, picked up the sword and went to the door. "I prepared some food on the table. If you find it lacking, cook more." "You''re going already?" "Yes. Remember, lock the doors and windows, and don''t let anyone in unless it''s me or Amir. Also, don''t go outside. If something happens to you because you didn''t follow my instructions, you only have yourself to blame." He started to prepare his magazine armor. "When will you be back?" "A couple of hours." After preparing the things he needed, he opened the front door wearing a slim-fit black shirt, grey colored jeans, black shoes, a backpack and the Training Sword on his right hand. Before leaving he turned back and said, "Remember what I told you." "Okay," she replied and closed the door. To be honest, he didn''t really care whether this woman listens to him or not. If she dies because she didn''t follow his advice, it won''t be his fault and that would mean he wasn''t responsible for her death. Moreover, with her death, he would be free from the burden of taking care of her. ''I just hope that Amir will return soon so that I won''t have to deal with this woman anymore. If I keep this up I''ll no different from the tsundere white knight Hajime.'' He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and started walking. 8 Level Up! He was walking in the hallway and it was eerily quiet. He didn''t go the elevator because there was no electricity so he decided to take the stairs instead. He didn''t encounter anyone. When he finally reached the first floor, he saw that the entrance was locked. A chain was wrapped around the handles and was linked together with a large padlock. ''It was most likely locked by the security guard,'' he thought. He started to look around or find a way to go outside. He went at the back of the building, remembering that there''s a backdoor. On his way to the back, he saw blood on the floor. There was a security guard sitting on a chair, staring on the ground and holding a wooden stick ¨C it had blood on it. ''Looks like he had a rough night, huh?'' Nathan went on a corner and deactivated [Coward''s Way]. Who knows what kind of reaction the security guard will have if he suddenly appeared before him. "Hello? Anybody here?" Nathan called out. The security guard jerked the moment he heard Nathan''s voice. When Nathan came to his vision, he quickly got into a fighting position. "Stay where you are!" "Yo, chief. It''s me, Nathan. I''m from apartment C-2. Don''t you remember me?" "Nathan?" The security guard seems to be mentally unstable as his eyes were darting elsewhere. ''This is bad. I will be lucky if I can even convince him immediately without using force.'' "Chief. What''s going on? Can I go out? I want to go out and find my cousin but the entrance is locked. He works at Saint Holy Child Hospital. I''m worried about him." "No!!!" the security guard screamed. "You can''t go out! There are monsters outside! Even my friend Brad was attacked! Brad¡­ Brad¡­ Buddy, I''m sorry¡­" he started sobbing. ''This is really bad. I can''t stay here forever and not hunt for zombies.'' "Chief, let me go out. My brother has many friends in the government. He will be able to help us out." "No! I''m in charge of the security here! You will have to do what I say!" Nathan quickly activated his skill. When he disappeared, the security guard was dumbfounded. Nathan immediately rushed toward the security guard and punched him in the jaw which immediately deactivated his invisibility. The security guard was knocked out cold. Nathan immediately took the handcuffs from the security guard and checked his pockets. He found a set of keys on the right pocket of the security guard. "Got it. Now, which key is for the back door?" Before leaving, he took one last look at the security guard. ''Should I handcuff him? He seems rather unstable. Should I tie him up instead? Where will I even find a rope?'' He pondered for a moment before finally saying, ''I''ll just leave him. Who knows, I might have some use for this handcuffs later.'' He went to the backdoor and started trying the keys. Kacha! Finally, the backdoor opened. He activated [Coward''s Way] and headed out. *************************** Outside the apartment building. He found himself in an alley. Up ahead was the main road where he saw zombies loitering around. He moved towards the closest zombie. Details about the zombie immediately went to his brain. [Level 1 Zombie]. ''Level 1, huh?'' He gripped the Training Sword tighter with his right hand. When he was finally near the zombie, he slashed towards the neck which immediately deactivated his invisibility. Whoosh! The zombie''s head fell down. The other zombies nearby immediately rushed towards him. But what he didn''t consider was that the zombies were not slow, they were in fact running! ''The fuck?!'' He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and ran away. He stopped at a corner and was currently out of breath. He checked his status. ''Damn zombies. System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 1 Experience Points: 50% Strength: 14 Agility: 9 Vitally: 12 Intelligence: 9 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will increase by 1. ************************************************************ ''One zombie gives 50% percent experience points? I see. Wait, were there any drops after I killed the zombie? There''s got to be some drops. Or else, how could humans survive from the zombie apocalypse if the zombies don''t drop weapons?'' He went back to the area where he killed his first zombie. There wasn''t any. ''I just need to continue killing.'' He moved towards another zombie nearby. It was also a Level 1 Zombie. He slashed and decapitated it. Ding! A voice popped up inside his head and said, "Congratulations on reaching Level 2. All stats increased by 1. No available skill points." He quickly checked his status chart. ''System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 2 Experience Points: 0% Strength: 15 Agility: 10 Vitally: 13 Intelligence: 10 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will increase by 1. ************************************************************ ''System off.'' Although he couldn''t get skill points and learn other skills, he was still excited nonetheless. He continued to farm. 9 First Drop He killed his third zombie. This time around, a level 1 zombie only gave him 25% exp. He hunted for more until he reached level 3. Ding! "Congratulations on reaching Level 3. All stats increased by 1. No available skill points." ''System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 3 Experience Points: 0% Strength: 16 Agility: 11 Vitally: 14 Intelligence: 11 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will increase by 1. ************************************************************ ''System off.'' He looked at the zombie''s corpse. ''I have killed already more than 5 zombies but I have yet to receive a single loot.'' He checked the Training Sword''s status. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Training Sword Damage: 6-8 Durability: 9/10 Description: A training sword created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ ''Although it''s still 9/10, I have already killed more than 5 zombies. What happens when I''m at level 10? Heck, forget about level 10, I would be lucky if this weapon could last until level 5.'' With that, he was depressed. ''I shouldn''t have left the wooden stick at the apartment. What a dumb move.'' He looked around to find other zombies. *************************** Whoosh! A zombie''s head separated from its body and rolled on the floor. This was Nathan''s fourth kill. One level 1 zombie gave him 12.5% experience points. ''Four more and I''ll be level 4. Kekeke~'' He was really happy. With [Coward''s Way], he could kill zombies without any worries. His road to power was smooth sailing. He checked his watch. It''s been one hour since he left his apartment building. ''I still have time to kill.'' As he said that, another realization came to mind. ''Dammit. If only I don''t need to return back to that apartment I could just farm until late in the afternoon.'' He checked the status of his Training Sword. It was 8/10. Irritated, he started to hunt for more zombies to wash away the unpleasant feeling. *************************** A few minutes later, he found himself in front of a coffee shop. He looked around and spotted 3 zombies. The zombies appeared to be teenagers: two males and one female. The female zombie was wearing a low-cut black summer dress. Despite a huge chunk of flesh bitten off from the right side of her neck, she was still very pretty. An idea popped inside Nathan''s mind. ''I remember watching this zombie flick where the men toyed with beautiful zombies. If a guy wears a condom and fucks a zombie, will he get infected? I mean, they say that condoms have a 98% theoretical effectiveness rate to prevent pregnancy. How will it fair against the zombie''s virus?'' He immediately slapped him himself. ''What the hell are you thinking, Nathan? That was sick!'' After the little pep talk to himself, he moved towards the zombies and decapitated the male zombies first. "Your turn, sweetie," he said to the female zombie. Whoosh! After killing the female zombie, a treasure chest appeared. He looked at the chest and the system told him it''s a [White Treasure Chest]. ''Oooh¡­ Finally, a drop!'' He looked at the zombie girl and said, "You''re my lucky star, sweetie." He turned his attention back to the treasure chest and opened it. A message popped up inside his head. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Short Sword Damage: 7-9 Durability: 11/11 Description: A short sword created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ When he picked up the Short Sword, the treasure chest vanished. ''So once you take the item, the treasure chest disappears?'' He examined the weapon. ''Although it''s also a [Grade D] item, it''s better than the Training Sword I have. The Training Sword only has 6-8 damage and a durability of 10. The only issue is that it''s shorter than the Training Sword.'' The Training Sword is 2.5ft long, while the Short Sword was only 2ft long. ''Anyways, at least I don''t have to worry anymore about losing my weapon.'' However, there was another problem. He didn''t have a sheath for his short sword nor does he know how to create one. For now, all he could do is carry the Training Sword on his right hand while the Short Sword on his left. ''What if I get another weapon? How will I carry it? Put it inside my backpack? I would be lucky if it won''t tear a hole! Don''t MCs in light novels get some sort of spatial bag or ring to carry their items? Where''s my spatial bag?! But¡­ am I even the MC?'' 10 Convenience Store Whoosh! A zombie head fell and rolled on the floor. Ding! "Congratulations on reaching Level 4. All stats increased by 1. No available skill points." Nathan didn''t check his status chart immediately because there were other zombies nearby. Whoosh! Another head fell. He was currently trying to familiarize himself in using two weapons ¨C the Training Sword on his right hand and the Short Sword on his left. But of course, every time he attacks, he immediately activates [Coward''s Way]. Whoosh! Whoosh! A few minutes later he killed all 13 zombies nearby. ''System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 4 Experience Points: 75% Strength: 17 Agility: 12 Vitally: 15 Intelligence: 12 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will increase by 1. ************************************************************ ''Finally, I''m level 4! This time around, each level 1 zombie gives me 6.25% exp. I wonder when I will encounter higher level zombies.'' He immediately thought about the three 3-meter tall skinless zombies he saw last night. ''I don''t think I''m ready to face them. Anyways, four more zombies to go before level 5. System off.'' He was already getting tired after running around hunting for almost 3 hours. But since he only needed to kill 4 more zombies to reach level 5, he couldn''t wait and decided to continue hunting. *************************** He arrived at a parking lot of a convenience store and there were 8 zombies outside. Aside from exhaustion, he was also thirsty and hungry. In his mind, given that he only needed 4 more zombies to kill, it would be a perfect place to celebrate. ''The convenience store is closed. Perhaps there''s someone inside? '' The convenience store in front of him had its aluminum shutters down. Normally, the convenience stores in the city he lives in are open 24/7. And given that there''s a zombie apocalypse, it wouldn''t be surprising if people would choose to hide in a convenience store, albeit extremely dangerous because it''s a primary target of humans looking for a quick loot. It''s basically a ticking timebomb. For someone to choose to hide inside a convenience store during a zombie apocalypse, there are only two things Nathan can think of: Either they''re confident with their strength or they''re clueless about the dangers. He decided to rest for 15 minutes before killing the zombies just to make sure. *************************** Nathan was resting on a nearby bus stop. After the allotted time he gave to himself to recover, he stood up and headed to the convenience store. He dashed towards a nearby zombie and aimed for the neck as usual. Whoosh! ''One!'' he was counting. Whoosh! ''Double kill!'' Whoosh! ''Triple kill!'' Whoosh! ''Quadruple kill!'' Ding! "Congratulations on reaching Level 5. All stats increased by 1. No available skill points." He didn''t mind the notification and continued killing. On his fifth kill, he didn''t continue counting because he had no idea what came next to quadruple except for Monster Kill. Out of the 8 zombies he killed, one dropped a [White Treasure Chest]. ''Lucky~'' he said to himself. He opened the chest and a message popped into his head. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Repair Kit Description: Fully restores durability of [Grade D] Equipment. Single use. ************************************************************ ''Oh, so there''s such an item. [Grade D] equipment, huh.'' The appearance of the item surprised him because it was a 2-inch vial with a grey colored liquid inside. Given that the item''s name was Repair Kit, he was expecting it to be like a toolbox or something. ''How do you use this? Just pour it on the equipment?'' After examining the vial, he checked the status of his Training Sword. It was 6/10. ''I''ll use it later when it becomes 2/10. Who knows, I might pick a better weapon along the way.'' He kept the Repair Kit in one of the pockets of his backpack. Seeing that there were no zombies left, he set his sights on the convenience store. *************************** At the front of the convenience store. The front entrance was covered with aluminum shutters. If he decides to ask them to open the shutters on the front entrance, it will be noisy as hell and attract unwanted attention. He decided to enter the back entrance instead. ''I hope it isn''t covered with aluminum shutters.'' He went to the back. There was indeed a door but no shutters. He tried to open the door but, of course, it was locked. But hey, who knows, it could be open. He knocked three times and said, "Anybody here? Please open." He waited for 10 seconds before trying again. "Anybody here? I''m part of the rescue team. Please open." Three seconds passed and there was the sound of the door being unlocked. Kacha! ''You only decided to open why I mentioned I''m part of the rescue team?'' he sneered inside his heart. In front of him was a skinny male teenager wearing what looks like a uniform of this convenience store and was holding a wooden stick, ready to attack at any moment. Behind him was a man wearing a business suit about 30 years old with a baseball bat. ''Wooden stick and a baseball bat?'' Seeing Nathan with dark clothes, shoulder-length black hair and a goatee carrying a weapon on each hand covered in blood and wearing a magazine armor, they stood there in silence, not sure if they should let him in. ''I really wish I had a sheath for my weapons,'' Nathan thought. "Sorry, I had to kill a few zombies along the way which explains why I look a bit of a mess," he explained. "What organization are you part of?" The man in a suit asked. "I''m part of the rescue team formed by the local government." "Sir, are you really here to rescue us?" The teenager warily asked but there was a subtle hint of excitement and hope in his voice. Noticing it, Nathan immediately gave his best smile as if he was in a toothpaste commercial and said, "Yes, I am. How many are you inside? I''m here to take you guys to a nearby shelter prepared by the government." 11 Convenience Store 2 Hearing what Nathan said, the teen''s face brightened for a moment but he immediately put on a serious face before looking at the man wearing a business suit as if he was waiting for instructions. They were making eye contact. ''So this guy in the business suit is the leader? The voice of reason?'' Nathan assessed. "Can we see your ID, badge or something to prove your identity as part of the rescue team?" the man in the business suit asked. ''Fuck!'' Nathan cursed inside his heart. Right now he was contemplating on whether he should continue lying or just storm in forcefully. He finally decided¡­ "Sure! Wait a moment. Let me get my ID." Nathan bent down and pretended to drop his weapons on the ground when he suddenly lunged forward and kicked the skinny teenager in front of him with the full force of his 18 points of strength, sending the kid flying and hitting the man behind him. Thud! Thud! They were both lying on the floor. "Clint!" A female voice could be heard from inside. Other screams followed as well. The teen he kicked was on the floor vomiting blood. ''My 18 points of strength caused this much damage?'' his expression darkened knowing that he should''ve controlled his strength a little bit. The man wearing a business suit, on the other hand, was struggling to get up. As he struggled, he warned his companions, "Don''t come any closer!" Nathan stepped in and knocked him out cold using the hilt of his Training Sword. Thud! He fell on the floor. After that, he pulled out the handcuffs he "borrowed" from the security guard and handcuffed him. He looked at the surroundings. There was electricity and the store had three aisles filled with goods on each side. At one of the corners, there were three female teenagers. One of them was wearing the same uniform that the male teen wore and was also carrying a wooden stick, while the other two were behind her wearing civilian clothes. On another side near the front entrance was the counter. Behind the counter was a woman about 30 years old hugging a little child. Fear was written on their faces. "This¡­" Nathan suddenly felt this gut-wrenching feeling, especially when he saw the kid''s expression. But what can he do? It was clear that they wouldn''t let him in unless he offers something in return. He was basically trying to justify his actions. "Don''t come any closer or we''ll kill you!" The female with the wooden stick threatened. Nathan tried to put on an apologetic face and said, "I had no choice. They wouldn''t let me in. I''m just here to pick up some supplies and I''ll leave right away. I promise." "Don''t trust anything he says! He''ll kill us!" One of the female teens shouted. True. She had a point. Seeing what he did to the two men, they would be a fool to trust Nathan''s word. Nathan looked annoyed and then coldly said, "Listen, you have two choices: You can let me take some supplies and I''ll leave, or we can fight it out to the death before I take some supplies and leave." Hearing the coldness of his voice, everyone was quiet. They knew for a fact that it was dangerous outside. They''ve seen the zombies and what they''re capable of. The zombies weren''t the slow-moving ones, but are instead agile and quick for the kill! But what if it''s already safe outside? This man in front of them was able to come here. So it must be safe, right? Even with the level up system, it was still dangerous because the zombies would immediately attack you -- one of their male companions even died trying to level up last night. But then again, who gives a fuck if it''s safe outside? Just looking at the swords on his hands and what happened to their male companions, who among them would dare to antagonize Nathan? In their mind, they hope he will immediately leave after getting the supplies. "I''ll take some supplies and leave right away," he announced. He picked up a large shopping basket and placed his swords in there. *************************** While he was picking up supplies, the survivors quickly helped the two injured men. He could hear one of the female teenagers saying, "Clint, let me clean you up." The 30-year old woman said to her husband, "Dear¡­" She was holding back her tears. The little child asked, "Mommy, is daddy gonna be okay? Why did that uncle hit him? Will he turn into a zombie?" Hearing them made him feel very guilty with each passing minute that he couldn''t wait to leave, especially when he heard the child''s question. But what was he expecting? He chose to invade this convenience store knowing the consequences. Was he expecting that the people hiding in here were killers or rapists that he could just bully around and not feel bad about it? It was too late for regrets. He quickly picked up a bottle of shampoo, 2 bars of soap, a box of toothpaste, 2 boxes of candles, a pack of bottled water, a bottle of mouthwash, 2 packs of rice, 5 packs of his favorite cigarette brand, eggs, cup noodles, canned foods, and only a pack of pork ribs because he didn''t have electricity at his apartment so he can''t keep them inside the refrigerator. He looked at his shopping basket and thought, ''This is heavy. How will I travel with this? If I activate [Coward''s Way] while carrying these items, will they also turn invisible?'' As he was thinking about it when suddenly one of the female teenagers approached him and asked, "Excuse me, sir. Is it safe outside?" Hearing her voice, he returned to his senses and looked at the direction where the voice came from. "What?" "Is it safe outside, sir?" she meekly asked. He noticed that everyone was quiet. They were waiting for his answer. Although they believe that the man in front of them was strong, given how he was able to go outside and come here, they also hoped that it wasn''t really the case and that it''s relatively safe to go outside. "No." When they heard his answer, they felt even more depressed about the current situation. 12 Heading Back Despite hearing his answer, there was one woman who refused to believe it. It was one who shouted earlier to not trust him. "If it''s not safe, how were you able to come here?" Nathan looked at her with disdain and said, "It doesn''t matter if you people choose to believe me or not. If you want to go outside, do it." He head to the backdoor, opened it and left. *************************** In the parking lot. Nathan looked at his watch. It was already 11:20 am. ''Better head home to drop this.'' Suddenly, he heard the sound of helicopters from a distance. He looked at the direction to where the sound came from. There were six helicopters. Four of them looked like assault helicopters with rocket launchers on each side, while the other two helicopters were those long ones that could carry quite a number of people or cargo. ''The government is finally taking it seriously, huh? That''s awfully late of them.'' He looked at the shopping basket he was carrying. It was full of supplies. ''Let''s try if I this will also turn invisible if I carry it with me.'' He activated [Coward''s Way]. It worked! ''Heh~ So this works, huh?'' Of course, it should work. If his clothes, magazine armor and weapons could turn invisible when he activates his skill, it should also work as well. ''If I ride a bike, will it also turn invisible?'' However, seeing the package he was carrying, it was impossible to carry it while biking. ''What about a car?'' Unfortunately, he doesn''t have a car nor does he know how to drive. Even if he does know how to drive, it will only attract unwanted attention from both humans and zombies. He quickly rushed back home. *************************** He was already at the backdoor of his apartment building when he suddenly remembered that he forgot to remove the handcuffs from the man at the convenience store. ''I''m sorry,'' he thought and quickly tossed it at the back of his mind. When he dropped his shopping basket and let go of it, it lost its invisibility. ''Huh?'' He was still invisible and he grabbed the handle. The shopping basket didn''t turn invisible. He deactivated [Coward''s Way] and activated it again while holding the shopping basket. It turned transparent just like his body. ''Interesting.'' He stopped his little experiment and deactivated his skill. He grabbed the keys on his pocket. Kacha! He opened the door, went inside and locked it. He immediately headed to the stairs. As he was nearing the hallway of the first floor, he heard voices. When he finally reached the hallway of the first floor, he was surprised to find people. ''Who are these people? Are these my neighbors?'' Many people noticed him right away and stopped talking. They looked at him. The items he was carrying were very eye-catching. Six people quickly approached him and bombarded him with questions. "How did you get out?" "Where did you get those?" "Is it safe outside?" "Where''s the police?" "What''s the government doing?" "When will the electricity come back?" "Huh? What? How should I know? Get the fuck away!" he said as he tried to push them away. A strong urge to beat the shit out of them started to formulate inside his heart. Seeing he was bombarded with questions, a man came forward. He was around the age of 30, tall, very handsome, dark hair and a perfect body. He''s the type where you can easily spot in a crowd due to his eye-catching looks. "Guys, please don''t bombard him with too many questions. He won''t be able to properly answer any of your questions," he explained. Nathan kept his eyes on him. ''He''s not a booty warrior, right? Why would he save me from this bunch of hyenas?'' Nathan felt his ass tighten. "Hi, how are you? I''m Derek. I live in apartment B-3. Sorry about that. Everyone is just so stressed out. They''re debating about what''s the best course of action to take." He offered his hand. Nathan took it and they shook hands. "Nathan. C-3. No problem. It''s understandable given the circumstance." One of the people who bombarded Nathan with questions earlier couldn''t stand it anymore and ask once again, "How did you get out?" It was a fat man about 25 years old. "I used the backdoor. It wasn''t locked." Indeed, one can use the backdoor. However, the problem lies when coming back. What if he went out, but then when he came back it was locked? This was the reason why Nathan had to get the keys from the security guard this morning. That''s unless he had an accomplice that was waiting for him inside. Hearing Nathan''s answer, the fat man wanted to say more but was cut off by another person. This time it was a 40-year old woman. "What is the government doing? How will they take care of this crisis?" "I don''t know." Even Nathan doesn''t know such details. Other people butted in as well. "Where did you get those supplies? It''s safe outside, right?" "When are you going out? Can you take me with you?" "Can I ask for some supplies? I will pay you cash." Nathan was starting to get annoyed again. Seeing Nathan''s expression, Derek immediately butted in, "Guys, let''s give Nathan some space. I''m sure he had a pretty rough time outside." They looked at Derek for a moment and then looked at Nathan. In the end, they decided to disperse and joined other groups to discuss some things. Derek scratched his nose and smiled before saying, "The situation is really getting out of hand. After seeing the helicopters a while ago and hearing that the government established a shelter 2kms away from here, they started debating what to do. One side is saying they should just stay inside their home and wait until the government eliminates the threat, while the other side is saying they should go to the shelter. Hopefully, they''ll reach a consensus soon." ''They? Why is this guy speaking like an outsider?'' Nathan thought that this guy must be planning something else. Perhaps he has the same plan ¨C to level up. "That doesn''t make sense. Why can''t they just go their own ways? I have to go. I''m busy," Nathan started walking away. He didn''t care about what they decided to do because he already had his own goal. "Sure, I understand. Please go ahead," Derek said with a smile. 13 Water He finally got to his apartment and also remembered that he forgot to bring his keys before leaving his morning. ''Damn¡­ Is this the sign of aging? I''m only 24 years old.'' He knocked. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Ashleigh? It''s me, Nathan. Open up. I left my keys." The door opened and it was Ashleigh. "Nathan," she said. Her face brightened. It was clear she was very worried. He stepped inside and put down the shopping basket and his backpack. "Any news from Amir?" he asked. "No." ''I should at least reach level 8 before dinner time. And tomorrow I should go to where Amir works at,'' Nathan thought. He sat down on the sofa and started removing his magazine armor. ''This armor was totally useless. I hope I can loot a set of armor on my next hunt.'' "I prepared lunch," she said. He looked at her and said, "Go ahead. I''ll shower first." As she was about to head to the kitchen, he said, "Wait up. How''s your phone? Does it still have juice?" "It died an hour ago." ''I need to charge the phones. I''ll just find a neighborhood that has electricity.'' He stood up and headed to the bathroom. As he was stripping down, a thought suddenly came to his mind, ''Wait, is the water even safe? What if it goes to my eyes or I accidentally drink it, will it turn me into a zombie?'' He panicked. ''I remember in the novel [God and Devil World] they needed to boil the water for 10 minutes before drinking it. Wait, was it 10 minutes or 20 minutes?'' Why Nathan is basing it from [God and Devil World]? Only god knows why. He should conduct his own experiments instead. To be specific, human experiments. He put on a towel to cover his lower body and rushed out. "Ashleigh!" She was currently eating. "How many minutes did you boil the water?!" "What?" she was confused. Boil water for what? Coffee? Tea? "Don''t drink the water from the faucet. In fact, don''t even wash with it. It could be contaminated." "What?" When she heard that, she dropped her spoon and fork. Clang! "I¡­ I¡­" she started crying. "You¡­ What did you do?" he asked her and was already thinking about finding his swords. "I¡­ I¡­" she continued stammering. He ignored her and looked for his weapons at the living room. When he found it, he picked up the Training Sword. When he came back to the kitchen, she was sitting on the floor and crying. "Tell me what did you do," he said. Seeing him with a sword on his hand, she started crying loudly. "Tell me," he coldly said. "I¡­ I washed my feet this morning." "Just that?" he didn''t believe her. "I boiled hot water to wash my face. I¡­ I like to use hot water when washing my face. It''s part of my beauty regimen." "What else? What about the food you cooked?" "I haven''t washed the dishes yet since this morning. As for the food I cooked, I¡­ I only know how to fry hotdogs ¨C they''re my favorite." "What about the water you drank?" "I only drink bottled water so¡­ I went to my apartment to get some." When she mentioned that she went to her apartment, she got more afraid remembering that Nathan instructed her not to go out. He almost vomited blood. ''What kind of [Plot Armor] is this?! It''s like she just does things and everything conveniently just works out fine for her! Wait, I remember I drank a cup of coffee this morning. What water did I use? Did I follow my usual routine?'' The truth is, Nathan always uses cold water from the refrigerator to boil whenever he makes coffee because he''s too lazy to get water from the faucet. This morning was no different. ''Dammit! I didn''t expect taking a bath and drinking water could this be this much of a hassle during a zombie apocalypse! Imagine not taking a bath for 2 days while constantly sweating. Your scalp is going to be itchy as fuck!'' Thinking about the situation, he calmed himself down and said to Ashleigh with a reassuring tone, "Don''t worry about it. You''ll be fine. Just avoid using the water from the faucet at any costs from now on, okay? For now, just eat the food that I brought with me." He was depressed. ''Wait! There''s a plothole! If the water is indeed contaminated, how come the apartment building isn''t infested with zombies yet? I don''t believe everyone could be that meticulous. There''s bound to be some people in the building who decided to use the water from the faucet. Or perhaps it really hasn''t yet been contaminated? I can''t make any wild guesses. I need to think this through.'' "Nathan, can you open this for me? I can''t find the can opener. I have one at my apartment, but you told me not to go out," she meekly said while holding a canned food. His mind was elsewhere. He just looked at her for a moment, took the canned food and went to the kitchen to find a knife and opened it. After opening it, he gave it to her and sat on the sofa. ''I need some test subjects,'' he thought. ''System.'' His status chart appeared right before him. ************************************************************ Level: 5 Experience Points: 12.5% Strength: 18 Agility: 13 Vitally: 16 Intelligence: 13 Skills: Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. ************************************************************ ''So this is my current status, huh?'' Bang! Bang! Bang! He suddenly heard a series of loud noises followed by people screaming. With each loud noise, the building shook. ''System off.'' He got up and went straight to the window. ''What the hell is happening now?'' 14 Attack! He went to the window to see where the noise was coming from. What he saw that a horde of zombies was entering the front entrance of the apartment building he was staying at. ''This¡­'' "What''s going on?" Ashleigh asked as she joined him by the window to see what he was looking at. When she saw the horde of zombies entering the building, she exclaimed and held onto his right shoulder, "Oh my god! Nathan, what are we going to do?!" Nathan ignored her and was still looking at the situation below. In his mind was only one thing ¨C experience points! His eyes shined. He stepped away from the window and went to get something from his backpack. It was the [Grade D] Repair Kit! When he got it, he examined it first. It was a 2-inch vial with a grey colored liquid inside. ''Should I just pour this on the Training Sword? There should at least be a guide on how to use this. Useless system.'' Thanks to the killing this morning, his [Grade D] Training Sword''s durability was 6/10 while his [Grade D] Short Sword was 9/11. With the number of zombies below, he needed his Training Sword to be at its best condition. Before deciding to open it, he went to his room to wear some clothes first. While he was at it, he also picked up a piece of cloth just in case he needed to wipe the grey liquid when he pours it over the Training Sword. Ashleigh, on the other hand, was following him around like a lost puppy. He went back to the living room where he left his backpack, swords and the [Grade D] Repair Kit. He opened the repair kit and poured the grey liquid on the Training Sword. The moment it touched the blade''s surface, it disappeared and the sword glowed for a moment. ''Oh, so I don''t need to wipe it with a cloth. Nice.'' He checked the status of the sword. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Training Sword Damage: 6-8 Durability: 10/10 Description: A training sword created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ ''Good as brand new! Now time to farm some zombies!'' he was happy. "Nathan, what are we going to do? There are so many zombies coming inside," Ashleigh''s voice entered his ear. Given that he was in a great mood, he looked at Ashleigh who looked very worried and said with a reassuring tone and big smile, "Don''t worry. Just wait here. I''m going down to hunt¡ª I mean check the situation." He didn''t bother to wear his magazine armor. He was confident and had only one thing in his mind ¨C kill all the zombies! *************************** Before the attack. Derek and a group of people were at the 1st-floor hallway talking when suddenly a 3m-tall skinless human with bulging muscles came crashing at the front entrance. Boom! The 3m-tall skinless human stopped at the entrance and roared. Behind it was a horde of zombies that immediately came rushing in. "Run!" one of the tenants shouted. Everyone started running towards the stairs leading to the second floor. Only Derek stood. In the midst of the chaos, he saw a woman holding a 3-year old child fell to the ground after being shoved by a tenant. A man, who he appeared to be the husband, immediately helped them to stand up. However, the husband was immediately pinned down to the ground when two zombies lunged towards him and started feasting on his flesh. The woman carrying her child cried out, "Ben!!!" The child was crying. "Ahhh!!!! Help!!!" the husband shouted. Derek stopped and whispered, "[Maximize]," transforming him into a 3m-giant, tearing away his shirt in the process while his jeans turned into long fitting shorts that ended just a few inches below his knee. Aside from that, he still had his shoes and a necklace which were dropped items so it automatically changes size whenever he transforms. The boots gave him +2 agility while the necklace gave him +1 strength. He immediately dashed towards the mother and child and tore the zombies apart that tried to approach them. "Go!" he shouted to the mother and child as he was ripping the zombies apart. The mother got up, carried her child and ran to the stairs. Derek was one of the chosen ones. His skill transforms him into a 2.5m giant with bulging muscles. It multiplies his base strength and vitality by 2 and gives him immunity to the zombie virus, but divides his base agility by 3. Right now his current stats are¡­ ************************************************************ Level: 8 Experience Points: 1% Strength: 38 (19) (+1) Agility: 6 (18) (+2) Vitally: 40 (20) Intelligence: (17) Skill(s): Level X [Maximize] ¨C Multiplies base strength and vitality by 2 and divides base agility by 3. Immune to zombie virus. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. ************************************************************ He was currently level 8 because he did a little hunting session himself last night which explains his level. However, he avoided the three 3m-tall zombies last night because he was afraid they might gang up on him and instead just preyed on the level 1 zombies on another area. As for the reason why he was able to come in and out of the apartment building despite both entrances locked by the guards, he did some "wall climbing" and went in and out through his apartment window with the use of his freakishly strong and thick fingers, thanks to [Maximize]. Moreover, he wasn''t a "Booty Warrior". When he saw Nathan carrying the [Grade D] Training Sword a while ago, he immediately suspected that Nathan was one of the chosen ones because he too met a white silhouette and received the same weapon. He even asked a few people about what weapons they received ¨C all of them said it was a [Grade D] Wooden Stick. His intention at that time when he "saved" Nathan from the crowd and explained things to him was to get into his good side. Who knows, he might get something good by helping a fellow chosen one. *************************** Derek was currently blocking the stairs that lead to the second floor as he killed each zombie that dared to rush to him. If Nathan was here, he would be furious and vomit blood because Derek was like an unstoppable killing machine taking all the exp! Aside from that, there were about 7 [White Treasure Chests] on the ground! 15 Attack! 2 Seeing how Derek was ripping apart its companions, the 3m-tall skinless human roared before charging forward in full speed. Derek noticed the skinless giant charging and charged as well. "You want some of this? I''ll bring it to ya!" He was very confident with his skill because he was a chosen one! About 5m from each other, the System informed Derek that the 3m-tall skinless humanoid with bulging muscles in front of him was a D1 zombie. When both giants finally collided, a large shockwave erupted. Boom! The building shook and the zombies close to them were blown away. They both started exchanging blows. "Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!" Boom! Boom! Boom! Derek felt that the D1 zombie was slightly stronger than him. However, he didn''t care because this was the first time since last night that he could go all out with his strength. All of the zombies he hunted so far were easily ripped apart until he met this guy. He was happy! Some of the zombies tried to join in, attacking Derek, while the other zombies climbed the stairs. *************************** Nathan was already on his way to the stairs and was currently invisible. The screams and the sound of footsteps were getting louder and louder as he got closer. When he finally got to the stairs, he was welcomed by a mob of humans who were rushing towards his direction. He kicked the ones who dared to block his way, losing his invisibility in the process and scaring the tenants when he suddenly appeared out of thin air. Pah! Pah! The tenants stopped for a moment, but fear quickly overcame their senses. "You! What are you doing?! Get out of the way!" one of the tenants shouted and continued running. "Move out of the way!" another one butted in and continued running also. The other tenants just didn''t mind him and just continued running as well. It was then that he realized something. ''If these were zombies, I would''ve been gangbanged already! Dumbass!'' He went back up to the third floor and hid on a corner where he was sure that he won''t bump into anyone. He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and waited. ''I should wait till the stampede stops. But the exp¡­'' he couldn''t wait to kill. Less than 5 seconds later, a group of zombies came and spread ¨C some continued climbing to the fourth floor as they could hear the footsteps of those climbing the stairs, while others remained on the 3rd floor. ''Is this awareness? Or are they just confused due to the sounds coming from below?'' He could hear the booming sounds coming from the 1st floor. ''Whoever is fighting below, it must be one hell of a fight.'' He continued to wait until the zombies relaxed. After a minute or so, the zombies that decided to stay at the 3rd floor calmed down. ''Time to kill,'' he sneered. He started killing the zombies one by one. *************************** It took him about 5 minutes to kill all the zombies on the 3rd floor. They were all level 1 zombies. After killing the 12 zombies, his exp was now 50%. Just 16 zombies more to go and he will be level 6. Out of the 12 zombies he killed, two dropped a [White Treasure Chest]. One dropped a [Grade D] Repair Kit which he immediately used on his Short Sword, while the other chest dropped a skill book which was as thick as a 9.7-inch iPad. He quickly checked the skill book. As you touched the book, details of the book went his head. ************************************************************ Name of skill: Fireball Description: Intelligence 10 required. Requires 1 skill point to learn. ************************************************************ "Do you wish to learn Fireball?" The System asked. "Yes," he replied. "Error! Not enough skill points! Failed to learn Fireball." ''So this is how one learns. They just have to touch it?'' He was intrigued but at the same time sad as well, knowing that he could never learn other skills aside from his own. He wishes that he could at least learn a night vision skill like most MCs. That way, he could hunt anytime he wants. He left the skill book because he didn''t carry a bag and quickly proceeded to the 2nd floor. *************************** When he finally got to the 2nd floor, he was surprised by the number of zombies. There were more than 30 of them, more than enough for him to reach level 6. He quickly began his killing spree and was looking forward to the exp waiting for him down below. He could still hear the loud booming sounds and some occasional shakes. However, it wasn''t as explosive earlier despite the first floor just below the floor he was standing in. ''Most likely whoever is fighting is already severely injured. I wonder if I could do a kill steal,'' he sneered. After killing 33 zombies, there was no prey left anymore. This time around, there were 5 [White Treasure Chests]. What he got were 2 pieces of [Grade D] Repair Kit which he immediately use just in case he encounters something unexpected below, 1 small healing potion which was a 3-inch test tube, 1 [Grade D] Gloves that gives +1 Strength which he immediately equipped, and 1 [Grade D] Short Dagger. ************************************************************ Name: [Grade D] Short Dagger Damage: 4-6 Durability: 11/11 Description: A short dagger created by the god of this world. It''s part of the system so it will grant experience points when the user uses it to kill monsters from the system. ************************************************************ Looking at the dagger, Nathan couldn''t help but curse, ''This cheap ass god, would it hurt him to at least provide a sheath?!'' He quickly wore the gloves. As for the Dagger, he hid it on a corner and covered it with a few corpses. What about the small healing potion? He took the shoelace from the cleanest-looking zombie he could find, wrapped it around the test tube while leaving a bit of an allowance so that he could tie the rest of the shoelace on the belt-loop of his jeans. Seeing his creation, he felt good about himself. ''System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 6 Experience Points: 26.5625% Strength: 19 (+1) Agility: 14 Vitally: 17 Intelligence: 14 Skill(s): Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. ************************************************************ As a level 6, level 1 zombies only gave him 1.5625% each. ''When will I get to meet level 3 or 4 zombies? This is just too slow and a waste of durability. System off.'' He looked at the stairs which lead to the first floor. ''Now for the big boss!'' 16 Kill Steal Nathan was slowly approaching the first floor. His heart pounding and he started to have butterflies in his stomach. When he finally got there, he was shocked to see two giants brawling. Their bodies were covered with wounds and blood. There were cracks, blood, and guts on the floor and walls. The zombies around them were either flattened or torn apart. He also noticed around 20 [White Treasure Chests] on the floor which were also covered in blood and guts. It was a total mess. Nathan dropped his Short Sword on his left hand which immediately lost its invisibility. He got down on his knees and grabbed his chest in pain as if he just lost someone very dear to him in an extremely horrific manner. ''Arghhhh! The exp!! My exp!!! Nooooooo!!!!!!'' he screamed inside his heart. The nervousness he felt earlier was thrown out of the window. Although dramatic, to him, zombies were limited resources. With people hunting them, it''s basically a race on who could kill the more, unless another source of exp is introduced. But what was he expecting? He should''ve realized that base from the sounds coming from the first floor, this should be expected. Was he expecting that no zombies or just a few would be caught in the battle between these two giants? Unfortunately, that understanding didn''t come to Nathan''s head. He looked at the two. His were eyes burning with hatred. While looking at them, he noticed something. ''Why is that skinless zombie so buff?'' He remembered the three 3m-tall zombies he saw last night. Although they were big, they weren''t this jacked up like this one before him. ''Is this perhaps a skill or something?'' After thinking for a minute, he quickly tossed it at the back of his head and picked up the Short Sword he dropped. All he cared about now is to kill steal! He swore to kill them both! After picking up his Sword Short, he stood up, went to a corner, deactivated his invisibility and activated it once again. He then slowly approached the two while carefully not stepping on the zombie corpses lying on the floor and stopped just a couple of meters away from them. This time around, he was surprised to see the face of one of the giants. Despite bruises, he could still recognize the face. ''Booty warrior Derek!'' he exclaimed. He didn''t expect this. Not one bit. ''Why does it have Derek''s face? Wait, is it really Derek? If yes, how the hell did he get so big? Is it a skill?'' The truth is, Nathan is a big fan of Lu Sheng from [Way of the Devil] and Garen from [Mystical Journey]. If he was given the choice on what kind of power he wanted, he would want either of the two, though he will most likely pick Lu Sheng''s power over the other simply because he loves [Way of the Devil] more. He looked at Derek and was extremely envious. *************************** Derek''s POV. At first, he was able to trade blow for blow with the D1 zombie. However, as time passed, he was only able to hit back every two hits from the monster. He was slowly losing. Of course, why wouldn''t he lose? The mob of zombies kept charging on him while he was fighting the D1. Although those level 1 zombies inflict little damage, after getting attacked over and over again, the damage they caused added up and now he was covered in wounds and lost a lot of blood which made his movement sluggish. Despite his 40 vitality and all, it meant nothing when you''ve lost a lot of blood. Add to the fact that his opponent is slightly stronger than him and is attacking him nonstop, Derek clearly overestimated his abilities. Why not run away then? He tried just a minute ago, but the D1 caught him right away. All he can do right now is fight it out until only one of them is left standing. But still, even with the seemingly hopeless situation, he was fired up and happy. The power that the system gave him was better than anything he has experienced in his entire life. It was way better than drugs, alcohol, love and sex. It was unexplainable, an out of this world experience. He felt like a god and was drunk with it. "You fucking piece of shit, I''m taking you down!" Derek decided to go all out. He didn''t care about defending anymore. It was now a full-offense strategy. *************************** Nathan''s POV. At first, he noticed that Derek was on the losing side. But after he heard Derek''s declaration, he was surprised to see that Derek decided to go full-offense with pure savagery and was, in fact, standing toe-to-toe with the skinless human. ''Heh~ He''s going for broke?'' After he said that, he thought about something. ''The zombies give exp when we kill them. If I kill a human, will it give me exp as well?'' He looked at the Derek and thought, ''Given he''s able to stand against the monster, I''m sure Derek is around level 10-15. No, make that 20. With that, I bet he''s worth tons of exp.'' Nathan doesn''t believe that he''s the only who thought about killing other people for exp. Killing Derek was not only worth doing because he needed to know the answer to his question, but also because Derek killed the zombies that were supposed to be his! For that, he should offer his life for the experiment! As he was justifying his reasons to kill Derek, he then thought, ''Wait, it doesn''t make sense. If he''s around level 20, how the hell did he level up that fast? Did he have a lucky encounter or something?'' Sadly, Nathan didn''t know that Derek was only level 8 nor expect that he was also a chosen one. Plus, it''s not like he''s an expert about the System or anything. He''s just as clueless as everybody else. With that, another issue came to his mind. ''If I do the last hit, will I get all the experience points or will it be distributed based on the contribution?'' he pondered. If it was the latter, what will be the point of last hitting then? For a solo hunter like him, it was basically useless. ''Derek, you really have to participate in this experiment of mine. Don''t let me down, both of you,'' he sneered. 17 Kill Steal 2 Nathan was patiently waiting until the two giants become extremely weak. The ideal scenario for him was to kill the skinless human first and then the thief, Derek. The D1 zombie threw a punch, aiming at Derek''s face. Derek didn''t care and threw a fist as well, also aiming at the D1''s face. Boom! Stunned for a moment, the D1 then grabbed Derek by the neck and head-butted him. Crack! The sound of bones cracking could be heard. Derek fell on the floor. Thud! His face was a mess and covered in blood. He lost all of his front teeth, his nose broken and his face was swollen. Even his own mother would have a hard time recognizing him. The D1 zombie''s face was also a mess. Given that it was skinless, it was even more disgusting. However, it was still standing but not moving. Nathan immediately viewed it as a chance. He dropped his Training Sword and held the Short Sword with two hands. Aside from the fact that the Short Sword has higher damage compared to the Training Sword, the former has 7-9 while the latter only has 6-8, he knew for a fact that holding his weapon with one hand would not generate enough strength to cut off the head of these two giants in one stroke, especially after having witness their fight. He needed two hands to do it. He dashed full-speed towards the skinless humanoid. As he was about 5 meters away from the giant, the System informed Nathan that the 3m-tall skinless humanoid was a D1 zombie. ''D1, huh.'' He leaped and aimed for the neck. Whoosh! His blade only penetrated 30% of the D1 zombie''s neck and was stuck! ''Eh?'' Dumbfounded on what just happened, Nathan immediately let go of the sword but was immediately slapped away by the D1 zombie. Pah! The slap alone broke at least 3 of his ribs and he slammed against the wall. Bang! He fell on the floor and coughed out blood. ''What the¡­?'' He tried to move, but he couldn''t. The D1 zombie pulled out the Short Sword from its neck and threw it on the ground. Roar! Nathan stared at it in horror because he couldn''t believe what just happened. In his mind, the plan he concocted was flawless. And even if there was a chance of failure, it shouldn''t be this bad. However, what Nathan didn''t know was that he was lucky to just experience a few broken bones. If the D1 zombie was still in perfect condition, he would''ve suffered far worse and perhaps even die right away. If Derek with 40 vitality can get hurt from the D1''s attack if he''s not careful, how much more for Nathan who only has 17 vitality? The D1 zombie turned to Nathan and started heading towards him. Invisibility? Even if he activates it, he can''t move away from the spot so it''s useless! But still, he prayed for a miracle and activated it nonetheless. ''Fuck! Hail Mary full of grace the lord is¡­'' Nathan isn''t religious, but in the face of death, he started to pray. He didn''t want to die. It was too early for him to die, way too early. Suddenly, machine guns started firing. Tatatatatatatatatatatatatata! They were aiming at the D1 zombie from outside the front entrance. The monster immediately stopped and rushed towards the gunners. Someone fired two grenade launchers. Toof! Toof! The D1 raised its arms to block the attack. Boom! Boom! After the dust settled, the monster was lying on the floor and unconscious. Both of its arms were gone and its entire upper body was burnt. Nathan was currently still invisible as he saw what happened. ''I''m safe? Haha~'' Tears started flowing from his eyes. About 10 tough-looking men wearing combat attire and carrying machine guns quickly entered the building and sweep the area. Nathan was confident to say that these men were not part of the military because some of them had tattoos on their faces. He concluded that they must be a part of a mercenary group or something so he chose to remain invisible. It was then a beautiful woman about 25 years old entered. Behind her were 5 armed men. Two of them were carrying grenade launchers. But what was really eye-catching about her was that she was wearing an outfit similar to Ada Wong from the Resident Evil 6 game. The only difference is that she wasn''t carrying a crossbow nor any weapon and she had long black hair tied in a ponytail. As a fan of the RE series, he noticed it right away. To him, Ada was one of his waifus, though no one knows except for his cousin Amir. "Sword," the woman said as she held out her right hand. One of the armed men behind her pulled out a sword and presented it to her. "Boss, the sword," the man said. The sword was a [Grade D] Training Sword. She took it and ordered, "Raise that thing up." Three men took out a chain, wrapped it around the D1 zombie and made it kneel. One was pulling from the left, the second one from the right, and the last one from the back. They wouldn''t dare go against their boss because she was one of the chosen ones and had a skill called [Crystal Body] which turns her body into an extremely hard crystal and allows her arms and legs to transform into any shape. They''ve seen what she did to those people who refused to follow her orders. As for why she asked for a sword? She just didn''t want to dirty her hands. The creature in front of her looked and smelled disgusting. The D1 already regained its consciousness but it was extremely weak due to the damage it received earlier. The woman stabbed the Training Sword on the D1''s forehead, but it didn''t die. She stabbed again, but it still didn''t die. She then decided to chop off its head. It took her 2 slashes before she was able to separate it from its body. ''Congratulations on reaching Level 9. All stats increased by 1. No available skill points.'' A message popped inside her head. The D1 also dropped a [Green Treasure Chest]. "Bring me the other one," she ordered. They brought Derek in front of her. He was also in chains and two men were pulling him. Although Derek could break the chains, he wouldn''t dare because he was severely injured. With his agility divided by 3 in [Maximize] mode, he''d be lucky if he could even evade the grenade launchers. Another thing, if he deactivates [Maximize], he will surely die. The only thing keeping him alive right now is his 40 vitality, thanks to [Maximize]. "I''m human. Please don''t kill me. This is a skill and I can''t deactivate or I will die," Derek pleaded. "Are you a chosen one?" she asked. Unlike Nathan, this woman did a lot of "interviews" and "tests" regarding the system so she knew more than the average person. Based on her understanding, the more peculiar and powerful the skill is, the more likely it is a chosen one''s skill. In this case, the male in front of her is able to be a 2.5m giant and maintain it. It''s a body transformation skill just like hers. "Yes," he replied. She smiled which made Derek''s heart flutter. She was indeed a beauty and had that femme fatale vibe. However, to the armed men who came with her, they shivered when they saw her smile. They knew what kind of person their boss was. Just because she''s smiling at you, that doesn''t always mean you''re safe. In fact, they would feel safer if she ignores them! 18 Recuperate As she was looking at Derek, one of the armed men approached her. "Boss, we''ve found survivors." She turned and saw the survivors brought by her men. They were 11 people. One of them was Ashleigh. The woman referred to as "Boss" was born and raised in a mafia family. Her father was the head of the organization and she had 5 siblings. However, ever since the zombie apocalypse began, things in the organization became chaotic. Seeing what happened, she immediately took in charge of the family, replaced her father, and killed whoever was against her. She even killed some of her family members. "Take them all to the truck and collect all the treasure chests," she headed outside of the apartment building. In a zombie apocalypse, what are the four most important things? Food, shelter, power, and people. Her goal was to become a powerful being and have a powerful group under her control, which is why she was going around the city gathering people and resources. As a woman, she was well aware of what kind of fate was waiting for her if she doesn''t become a powerhouse. Wait for some prince charming to come along and protect her? She might as well shoot herself in the head right away than bet on that. She will no doubt become a plaything for those in power to vent out their sexual desires. How many days, weeks, or months should she wait before prince charming arrives and saves her? She would be lucky if she still had some sanity and dignity left by that time. Under her leadership, those who are loyal and useful to her will be taken care of, including their family or anyone they hold dear. But for those aren''t, they will either be slaves or be killed. As for how they got here, they couldn''t help but hear the loud noises caused by the fight between Derek and the D1 zombie. They immediately headed here while they were traveling around the city with their trucks and Humvee. *************************** It took around 15 minutes before they all left. Nathan who was lying on a corner and currently invisible, witnessed the whole thing. His heart ached because not only was his prey stolen, even the treasure chests, especially that [Green Treasure Chest], and the swords that he dropped during the fight were taken away as well! Moreover, he was injured! He was screaming injustice inside his heart. ''That bitch! That fucking bitch! She took everything! I swear that I''ll fucking kill that bitch one day! Arghh!!!'' When he finally started to calm down a little bit, he untied the Small Healing Potion on his belt-loop. Luckily, the bottle didn''t break when he slammed against the wall and fell on the ground. ************************************************************ Name: Small Healing Potion Description: Restores health by 20%. Single use. ************************************************************ He opened the lid and drank the red liquid inside. Immediately, he started to feel a little bit better and stood up. However, his body still ached and his ribs were still broken. ''Don''t MCs in novels just recover from this? What''s the use of my 17 points of vitality and the healing potion I just drank?! How many days or weeks must I wait until my bones recover?! Useless system!'' He was really in a bad mood so he was being somewhat unreasonable. But can anyone blame him? Some random stranger was the one who benefitted from everything in the end. He promised to himself that he will be extremely careful next time and won''t randomly join in unless he''s 100% sure he could kill the opponents or escape unscathed. *************************** At the 2nd floor. Nathan was still invisible when he went to the place where he hid the [Grade D] Short Dagger and covered it with a few zombie corpses. He found the dagger and picked it up. Luckily, the armed men from earlier didn''t find it. ''Good thing I hid this. At least I won''t have to worry about killing zombies after I take some rest,'' he consoled himself. Right now, despite the effect of the Small Healing Potion, he was still injured. Although he could move, he wasn''t in any condition where he could fight unless needed so he definitely had to rest. He went to the 3rd floor and saw the door of his apartment open. He stepped inside his apartment and closed the door. The shopping basket he brought from the convenience store was taken away. Ashleigh was also gone. Well, he did witness her being taken away along with the other tenants by those armed men. He thought about the zombie apocalypse¡­ He thought about Amir¡­ He thought about his family at another country¡­ He thought about Ashleigh¡­ He thought about the people he met at the convenience store¡­ He thought about Booty Warrior Derek¡­ He thought about the D1 zombie that almost killed him¡­ He thought about how that wannabe Ada Wong bitch who took everything away¡­ "The strong prey on the weak¡­ The strong make the rules¡­ The strong take everything..." he murmured. "Save Ashleigh? Go find Amir? Go to another country and find my family? Give me a fucking break! I can''t even fucking protect myself! What a joke! I might as well kill myself right now if I were to do that!" he spat. He was really angry, depressed and tired. Well, after what he had been through, who wouldn''t be? He was not some trained assassin, soldier or fighter. He was just a regular guy trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse. At best, the things he knew on how to survive a zombie apocalypse came from movies, video games and novels that he read. "I don''t have the luxury to care about other people. I should just focus on myself and increases my level like crazy. To those who stole what is mine or anyone who will try to screw me over, they will pay with their lives. I swear on that." He went to the kitchen to find something to drink. He opened the fridge and found a jug of water. He took it out and immediately started drinking. After a few gulps, he started coughing due to the pain on his broken ribs, causing him to vomit on the floor. Blood, spit and water were mixed together on the floor. He placed the jug of water on the table, wiped away the saliva from his mouth and took off his shirt. He headed to his room, locked the door, put down the [Grade D] Short Dagger on the nightstand and lied down on his bed. He didn''t even bother removing his shoes due to the pain on his ribs. It was just too painful. He looked at his watch. It was still around 3:00 PM in the afternoon but he was already so tired, both physically and mentally. So many things just happened. He was still invisible when he slept. 19 Recuperate 2 Nathan woke up at around 9:00 am in the morning. He was thirsty so he immediately got up from bed. When he got up, he also noticed that he was feeling better, although not 100%. Based on his estimation, it was probably only around 60% because his ribs still hurt. ''Heh~ My 17 vitality is this effective? Perhaps if I could find another healing potion or rest 2-4 days I will be fine.'' He went to the kitchen. He found the jug of water he left on the table yesterday and drank from it. This time around, the pain on his ribs was bearable that he didn''t cough out the water he drank. He started to feel hungry and he wanted to smoke. He opened the fridge to find some food. Inside were a few vegetables and eggs. There was also some meat but it already had a funny smell. Well, after being kept on the fridge for more than a day with no electricity to power the fridge, of course, it will start to smell. He took 3 eggs and ate them raw. He felt lazy to cook and believe that he would have a hard time swallowing solid foods as his ribs still hurt a bit. He sat on the kitchen and was thinking about what to do. He wanted to smoke, like so bad. He also thought about the possibility of the water being contaminated. Although he feels fine now, he''s sure that he will only hurt himself if he did any strenuous activities. ''Why don''t I check the apartments of the other tenants? I might find something interesting,'' he thought. As far as he knows, the building had 4 floors and 6 apartments on each floor. After picking a shirt from his room to wear and the Short Dagger, he went out of his apartment to check out the other apartments. *************************** First apartment. The door was left opened so he entered right away. Of course, he was currently invisible. Although he believes that those armed men from yesterday killed the zombies when they swept the area, he still wouldn''t take chances. In his mind, what if there was a zombie rat, cat, dog or whatever creature is it? Sure, he hasn''t encountered one yet, but what if? It would be too late for regrets. And especially considering his injury, he would be a fool not to be cautious about it. The overall space was identical to his apartment. The only difference is the furniture. He started to check the area: living room, kitchen, the 3 bedrooms, all parts of the apartment. Unfortunately, he didn''t find anything useful except for some batteries and a flashlight. *************************** It''s been a while now since he started checking apartments and gathering things. Right now, he was on his way to the last apartment. So far he found some junk foods, eggs, canned foods and bottled waters from the other apartments. In addition to that, he also found a knife shoulder holster for his Short Dagger (Finally!), a large leather fanny pack (He needs it for potions¡­), mini binoculars, 3 laptops, 2 tablets and an iPod that still had juice along with its chargers, a first aid kit, flashlights (different sizes), rope, batteries, a few packs of cigarettes, some DVDs. The large bag he was carrying was already full as fuck. Although he found some alcohol, given his current health and the situation he was in, he dared not to touch it and just ignored it. He needed his mind to be sharp. He even found some candles and emergency lights but decided that those things will only serve as a beacon if he uses them at night. Only god knows what kind of humans it will attract. Hell, they could be killers, cannibals or booty warriors. As for the other items that he found but didn''t bother taking, these were things like an ax, knives, headgears, etc. These things were basically useless in his eyes, especially the weapons because they were not part of the system. Thinking about not being able to candles and the emergency light at night, he started to wonder if it''s really worth it being a solo hunter. It seems rather inconvenient. The way he sees it, having a group has its advantages. One of those advantages is not worrying about making noise and having light during the night. Of course, that is if your group has set up a nice camp/base and has capable members to defend it anytime. However, the downside of being part of the group is that you have to share resources and there''s always a chance that they might betray you due to whatever reasons. Furthermore, escaping alone during a group crisis isn''t really an option unless you''re a cold and selfish bastard that has no intention of returning to the group. On the other hand, being a solo hunter also has its advantages. You own all the loots, you don''t have to care about anyone, and you can travel anywhere and anytime at a moment''s notice. However, you must be powerful, knowledgeable, smart and lucky to take on the life of a solo hunter. Yes, luck plays a big part too. *************************** When he entered the last apartment, he was surprised because it really looked comfy and had an awesome entertainment system ¨C too bad there was no electricity though. Moreover, there was also a collection of comics and light novels. Whoever lived here must''ve really spent a lot. Nevertheless, he decided to stay here because it looked really comfy and there were things to keep him entertained in the meantime while he waited for his full recovery. He decided to eat lunch (raw eggs again) because it was already 2:30 PM and smoked a few cigarettes. After that, he took a laptop and some tissues with him to watch a movie inside one of the bedrooms... Nathan spent 2 days on the apartment. 20 Level Up! After recuperating for two days, Nathan finally decided to go out. Of course, his body hasn''t completely recovered yet. It was only about 80-90%. However, he wanted to level up like crazy. Well, aside from that, he also wanted to take a bath. The thing is, his scalp was itchy as fuck. Although he had water, the bottled waters he had were only enough to drink so he had no choice but to venture out. *************************** He was outside of the apartment building and was currently invisible. His long hair was tied in a ponytail and he still had his goatee. He was wearing a black shirt, a knife shoulder holster for his [Grade D] Short Dagger, grey jeans, [Grade D] Gloves, a watch on his left wrist, boots, and a couple of meters of rope coiled together on his left side. He also had a large leather fanny pack on his waist. Inside it was mini binoculars, a small flashlight, a lighter, and an iPod. He checked his watch. It was 8:00 am. "System," he said. His status chart appeared before him. ************************************************************ Level: 6 Experience Points: 26.5625% Strength: 19 (+1) Agility: 14 Vitally: 17 Intelligence: 14 Equipment: [Grade D] Short Dagger 4-6 (11/11) [Grade D] Gloves: Gives +1 to strength (15/15) Skill(s): Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. ************************************************************ He sighed and said, "Such cute stats. System off." He pulled out his dagger and headed to the group of zombies across the street. He approached one zombie that was far away from the group. When he was 5 meters away from the zombie, the system informed him that it was a level 5 zombie, giving him quite a pleasant surprise. ''Level 5? Lucky~'' His eyes shined. He went behind the zombie. The zombie was around 2 meters (6''5") tall. However, with Nathan''s height at 6ft, he was still able to wrap his left arm around the tall zombie''s neck, immediately losing his invisibility. He then quickly started stabbing the side of the zombie''s head with his Short Dagger on his right hand. Given that he was level 6 and the zombie was level 5, it gave him 25% experience points. He went to another zombie that was far away from the group. Again, it was another level 5 zombie and was around 2 meters tall as well. ''Am I really this lucky? Hehe~'' Although he found it a little strange to find another level 5 zombie, he didn''t bother about it at all and just thought that he was just extremely lucky to encounter another one. He did the same killing technique: go behind, warp neck and then stab like crazy. ''I''m now 76.5625%. I hope I would be lucky to find another level 5. Hehe~'' he scratched his nose when he said that. ''But damn¡­ This killing method is way too disgusting,'' he thought. But does he have any choice given his weapon? It was the safest and quickest method he could only think of. Up ahead, there were two zombies. When he was 5 meters away from them, he was surprised because they were all level 5 and tall as well! ''Wait¡­ What''s going on? Don''t tell me all the zombies are now level 5? This¡­'' He looked at the zombies and started to think about the situation. He also noticed another thing ¨C their height. Nathan was 6ft tall and most of the people in the city he lives in were not tall, especially the women. It''s not that he was looking down on short people or anything, but it''s not common to see people around 2 meters tall unless you''re in a sporting event or whatever event it is that requires tall people. However, right now, the zombies he had encountered so far have been tall, featuring a height of around 2 meters. ''Where are the short people?!'' he shouted inside his heart. He immediately tried to look for other zombies to check their heights and levels. After looking a few minutes of running around checking on zombies, he found out they were all level 5 and around 2 meters tall. Even the children who turned into zombies were tall. How did he know they were children? Well, based on the clothes that they were wearing which were way too small for their body, it was easy to tell ¨C some were even naked. He was standing in the middle of the street and thought, ''Is this perhaps evolution? Will they eventually become like those 3m-tall skinless zombies?'' his expression darkened. Just thinking about the D1 zombie he fought a few days ago made his knees go weak. He was very aware of how strong they were. He saw how Derek fought it. He himself even experienced first-hand the strength of the D1. He also remembered that even though it took two shells of a grenade launcher while injured, it still didn''t die. If he ever gets to meet one right now, all he can do is escape and never look back. ''Time to level up like crazy,'' he said to himself as he looked at the level 5 zombies around him and then started killing them one by one. *************************** A man was running towards two zombies. He had a [Grade D] Scimitar on one right hand and a [Grade D] Short Dagger on the left. Whoosh! Whoosh! Two zombie heads fell off and rolled on the floor. One of the zombies dropped a [White Treasure chest]. The man with a scimitar on his right hand and short dagger on his left looked at the [White Treasure Chest] and prayed, ''Please don''t be a skill book, please don''t be a skill book, please don''t be a skill book¡­'' Of course, this man was Nathan. After hunting like crazy for more than 4 hours, he killed 60 level 5 zombies and was now level 10. Also, with the rise of his vitality, his recovery seemed to speed up as well, making him feel rather good. ''System.'' ************************************************************ Level: 10 Experience Points: 3.125% Strength: 23 (+1) Agility: 18 (+3) Vitally: 21 Intelligence: 18 Equipment: [Grade D] Scimitar 8-9 (4/12) [Grade D] Short Dagger 4-6 (9/11) [Grade D] Gloves: Gives +1 to strength (13/15) [Grade D] Boots: Gives +3 Agility (13/15) Skill(s): Level X [Coward''s Walk] ¨C Grants the user complete invisibility. Once the user attacks, the invisibility status will lose its effect. No mana required and has no cooldown. Chosen One Status: You are unable to earn skill points and learn other skills. In exchange, every time you level up, all your attributes will be increased by 1. ************************************************************ ''System off.'' He bent down and opened the chest. It was a [Grade D] Repair Kit. This was his third Repair Kit. He already used the two earlier for his weapons. As for the other items he found, there was one [Small Healing Potion], a [Waterball] skill book, a [Grade D] Boots that gives +3 to agility, and the [Grade D] Scimitar which he was holding on his right hand. He didn''t use the Repair Kit right away. He decided to only use it once his Scimitar reaches 2/12. Regarding the [Waterball] skill book, he didn''t bother to pick it up because he had no extra space and wasn''t interested in it. Well, he could collect and sell them, right? Unfortunately, he was too lazy. The reason why he chose to bring a fanny pack instead of a backpack was because he wanted to focus on leveling up like crazy today. He needed to be light as fuck. And even if he does find an interesting item that''s too heavy to carry around, he would hide it in a corner and come back to pick it once he''s done. With the zombies around, who would have the time to search for hidden treasures? Unless that person has a skill to locate treasures or has crazy [Plot Luck], the probability of anyone finding it was very, very low. ''Time to grab lunch,'' he thought. After running around and killing for more than 4 hours, he was really hungry and thirsty. As for taking a bath, he decided to deal with it afterward. It was still 12:30 pm. 21 Encounter Whoosh! A zombie head fell and rolled on the ground. Nathan was making on his way to a convenience store just a few meters away. Of course, it wasn''t the same convenience store a few days ago. There were quite a few zombies along the way so he was also killing them. To him, it was a waste not to kill them. And of course, the [Grade D] Repair Kit he picked up earlier was already used. With every step, he was killing a zombie. When he finally got to the convenience store, the road before him was littered with headless corpses. His exp was now 35.9375% after killing 21 zombies along the way. His [Grade D] Short Dagger durability is 8/11 and his [Grade D] Scimitar was 10/12. He stepped inside the convenience store. Inside the store, it still had electricity. He noticed that the food and beverages left were only around 20%, while things like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and other inedible items were around 60%. He did a quick check to make sure there was no one inside. After confirming he was alone, he deactivated his invisibility, and then kept his Short Dagger on his shoulder holster and placed his Scimitar on a corner. The 20% food and beverages were enough for him so he didn''t really mind and he was only here to eat lunch. But sadly, more than 10% had to be cooked so his options were very limited. ''I really need to do that water experiment very soon. Wait for the rain? What if it doesn''t rain for weeks? What if the rain is contaminated as well?'' he thought. He opened a can of coke and took a few sips while deciding what to have for lunch. Suddenly, a group of four people came inside. They looked at Nathan, and he looked back at them. They looked like college students around 20 years old and were carrying weapons. Of the two men, one was carrying a sword while the other was carrying a short spear, both had a [Grade D] Wooden Stick on their back. As for the two women, one was carrying a dagger, while the other was carrying a staff. Nathan smiled and dropped the can of coke before disappearing right in front of them. "Shit! Where did he go?!" they exclaimed. *************************** A few minutes earlier inside a boutique. "Babe, I''m really hungry. Isn''t it already safe outside?" Sarah asked. Josh remained silent as he heard what Sarah said. He too was hungry. He then turned to another member of the group and said, "Rick, it''s been quiet outside. Let''s check it out." "Yeah, sure," Rick replied and turned to his girlfriend, "Erica, you and Sarah stay here. Make sure you don''t make any noise." "Okay," Erica replied. Josh and Rick were hiding behind a car and checking the surroundings. Last night, the place they were hiding at got attacked by a horde of zombies. At first, they thought it was only around 15-20 zombies so they decided to defend their camp. Plus, being gamers themselves, they also wanted to level up and were confident of their knowledge on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. However, what they didn''t expect was that instead of 20 zombies, there were around 100 zombies so they had no choice but to escape through the window. During their escape, they found this boutique shop and decided to hide here. Knowing that there was a horde of zombies outside, they immediately locked the doors and windows and even covered them with sheets or whatever item they could find. It was only now that they decided to go out because they were really hungry as they haven''t eaten anything for more than 12 hours now. "Josh, look over there," Rick whispered and pointed. Josh looked over at the direction where Rick was pointing. Just a couple of buildings ahead, there was a convenience store. However, what was very eye-catching is that there were at least more than 10 headless corpses on the ground. As for the horde of 100 zombies last night, it was nowhere to be seen. ''Perhaps they left?'' Josh thought and then said, "Hey, you think it''s safe to go there?" "It''s hard to say. Seeing the headless bodies on the ground, I bet it''s a strong group that killed them and they''re most likely at the convenience store right now," Rick said. Josh thought about Rick''s answer and then confidently said, "You and I are level 7. Also, the girls are level 5. We could even beat 20 zombies if we want to. Plus, I bet the ones on the convenience store are now tired from taking out the zombies." "What if they''ve been there for hours already and have already rested?" Rick asked. "Who the hell do you think would choose to stay in a convenience store for hours? It''s basically a trap because it attracts many people. The way I see it, the ones who took out the zombies quickly left after taking some supplies." "Makes sense," Rick said and then continued, "But what¡­" However, Josh quickly cut him off and said, "Come on, man. Stop being a pussy. We''ve survived this zombie apocalypse for days now. Let''s just call the girls and we''ll go together. Be confident about our team''s strength," Josh said. However, in truth, Josh''s decision was heavily influenced by his hunger. But can anyone blame him? They''ve not eaten anything for more than 12 hours now. Rick thought about it for a minute and finally said yes. *************************** Back to the present. "Shit! Where did he go?!" they exclaimed. "Calm down!" Rick shouted. After hearing Rick''s voice, Josh quickly calmed his nerves and said, "Guys, watch your back, it''s ¨C" Before he could even finish his sentence, he was punched in the face by Nathan who suddenly appeared right in front of them. Pah! Josh was sent flying and was knocked out cold. Thud! Seeing what happened, Rick immediately dashed forward and swung his sword at Nathan. Whoosh! However, Nathan was already gone the moment he dashed forward. "Sarah, cast [Fireball]!" Rick shouted. "Where?!" she asked. "Anywhere! Just anywhere!" "Oka¡ª" Just like Josh, before Sarah could even finish what she was about to say, she was punched in the jaw and was sent flying. She too was knocked out cold. However, this time around, Rick was prepared. The moment he saw Nathan appeared, he immediately cast [Sword Stab] which is an offensive skill that requires the user to thrust his sword forward and multiples a normal strike''s damage by 1.75. Seeing what Rick did, Nathan was impressed. ''Heh~ You used her as bait?'' However, Nathan was level 10 and as a chosen one, his overall stats were higher with 18 (+3) agility. How could Rick, a normal level 7, match Nathan''s speed? Nathan easily evaded Rick''s attack and disappeared again. Now it was only Rick and Erica left. They were both together, their backs against each other. "Rick, I don''t wanna die!" Erica cried out as she tried her best to hold back her tears. "You won''t! Trust me. We''ll get out of here alive," Rick said as he was wracking his brains on how they could survive this situation. ''The enemy is strong and he can disappear. Should we run? I can take Erica with me before it''s too late,'' Rick thought. "Don''t even think about running. I can catch you easily. This pretty girl looks really delicious. Surrender now¡­" Nathan''s voice came out of nowhere. He could tell that Rick was thinking about running away so he was trying to scare the shit out of them. "Please, oh please, oh please don''t kill us!" Erica was begging as tears started rolling down her cheeks. She got terrified when she heard the word "delicious". Was he going to eat her? Cannibals are a common bunch in a zombie apocalypse. Rick was silent. He was still trying to think of a plan. "Don''t test my patience or else this woman here will... Hehe¡­" Nathan''s voice came out again. "Rick!" Erica dropped her dagger and grabbed Rick''s arms. "We surrender. Please, we meant no harm. We''re just here for food," Rick said. "Drop your weapons and kick them away from you," Nathan said as he suddenly appeared with his left arm wrapped around Erica''s shoulder and held a dagger on her neck with his right hand. 22 Experimen "Drop your weapons and kick them away from you." Rick was looking at Nathan who was holding a dagger against his girlfriend''s neck. He was filled with regrets that they decided to come to this convenience store. Before these group came to the convenience store, while Nathan was deciding what to have for lunch, he was also thinking about the water being contaminated and doing a water experiment that he had in mind. So when he saw this group of people appear before him and were hostile (in his opinion), it made him smile before disappearing in front of them, because he found potential test subjects. Wasn''t he afraid that they might be powerful? Yes, that thought did cross his mind which is why he didn''t just charge in like a maniac and instead took them out one by one. Moreover, he was still pissed about what happened a few days ago when that wannabe Ada Wong bitch stole "his" things so he wasn''t letting these people go unless they prove to be extremely powerful or offer something extremely useful. Seeing how he was able to knock out one of the men with one punch, he started to feel confident but was still a little wary. When he knocked out the second member of the group, he was now fully aware that this group was no match against him. However, he still maintained a cautious attitude after remembering how the D1 slapped him ¨C he didn''t want any surprises. Rick dropped his sword and the [Grade D] Wooden Stick on the floor and kicked them away. "Where are your other companions? Answer me!" Nathan pressed the Short Dagger against Erica''s neck, causing it to bleed a little. Erica started crying and held unto Nathan''s left arm that was wrapped around her, "Please no, please don''t hurt me! It''s just us! It''s just us!!!" Rick also joined in as well, "She''s telling the truth. It''s just us four. Please don''t hurt her. We''ve already surrendered." The moment he heard what they said, Nathan knocked Erica out and then immediately charged towards Rick. "You¡­!" Rick said as he tried to evade Nathan. But with Nathan''s speed, he immediately got in front of Rick and punched him on the gut, causing Rick to fall on the floor as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Nathan sent another fist. This time it was on Rick''s face, making him dizzy for a moment and then shouted back at Nathan, "You bastard! We''ve already surren¡ª" Nathan kicked him on the jaw and was finally knocked out. Luckily, he didn''t bite his tongue. Nathan was having a hard time controlling his strength. He didn''t want to accidentally kill his potential test subjects. ''Damn, this is really annoying. What if my strength reaches 50 points? Will I have to be careful in holding items like spoons, glasses, and doorknobs by then?'' he complained. He grabbed the rope from the side of his waist and started cutting 8 pieces. Each piece was 5ft long. After doing so, he then proceeded to tie their hands and feet. He also took Rick and Josh''s shirt, tore them, and used them to gag the 4 of them. Nathan didn''t want them to be noisy while he was conducting the experiment. What if they decided to shout and therefore attract any unwanted attention? As for the chances of them breaking the rope with their own physical strength, he wasn''t worried about it all unless they have some skill that could do it. In fact, he even tried it with his own strength which is 23 (+1) and he couldn''t break it. So how much strength is needed to break away from it? He doesn''t know, but he concluded that it should probably be around 40. ''I wish I had Lelylin''s A.I. chip,'' he thought. *************************** Rick''s POV. An unknown amount of time passed and Rick opened his eyes. He noticed that he was lying on the floor. He also noticed that he was wearing nothing except his underwear and his mouth was gagged. In addition to that, his hands were tied behind his back and his feet were also tied as well. He looked at his surroundings, trying to remember what happened and how he got here. He was inside a room, there was light, and there were no windows and furniture except for a single steel chair which was near the door. ''A basement?'' He also saw his companions: Josh, Sarah, and Erica. They too were bound, gagged, and wore nothing except their underwear. They noticed him waking up so they looked at him, trying to make eye contact. There was a weird stench in the room because one or two of them wet themselves due to fear. After a few minutes of trying to recall how they got here, he finally remembered what happened at the convenience store. It was then they started hearing footsteps. Kacha! The door opened. "Oh, you guys are finally awake. Just in time," it was a man''s voice as he dropped 2 jugs of water. They all looked at where the voice came from and it was the man they fought earlier at the convenience store. The three of them except for Rick started crying and making muffled noises. *************************** Nathan''s POV. Nathan was looking at the four young adults. After knocking them out and tying them, he quickly looked for a nearby place that still had electricity. When he found the perfect place, he killed about 15 the zombies nearby so that he can safely transfer them one by one to that place, making his exp points now at 59.375%, while his Short Dagger was 7/11 and his Scimitar 8/12. He also picked up two [Grade D] Repair Kits. After transferring all of them to this place, he removed their clothes except for the underwear. He wanted to make sure that they weren''t hiding anything. As for a cavity search, that thought didn''t cross his mind. Seeing them crying and making muffled noises as if begging him not to kill them, he said with a very friendly smile, "Don''t worry, I won''t hurt you. I just need you to help me with a little experiment." They still didn''t stop making noise and were now thrashing around. He approached one of them, it was Josh, and kicked his stomach. Pah! "Shut up." Seeing what happened to Josh, they stopped moving and making noise. "Good. That''s more I like it." He pulled out the only chair in the room and sat. "Like I said, I need you to help me with a little experiment. In fact, this experiment will also help you." No one made any sound. They just stared at him in horror. "What I''m offering you is a chance to redeem yourselves for trying to kill me earlier at the convenience store," he shamelessly said. But who could deny that? They went to the convenience store with their weapons on their hands. And with the zombie apocalypse, wouldn''t it be understandable and safer to assume that everyone is out to take advantage of you? "If you try to make any unnecessary actions that will disrupt the experiment, I will immediately kill all of you and leave. You guys are fully aware of my little magic trick, right?" he sneered. "Nod if you agree to participate in this experiment." Everyone nodded. What choice did they have? If they disagree, they will without any doubt die, eliminating all chances of survival. But if they cooperated, at least they have a chance to survive. Nathan had two jugs of water to which he labeled as J1 and J2. J1 was taken directly from the faucet while J2 was also taken from the faucet but was mixed with zombie blood. He let them kneel and said, "Wait here. I forgot to bring a glass." When he came back with a glass, he grabbed the J1 and poured a glass of water. He ungagged Sarah and said, "Drink this," before shoving it to her face. Sarah was holding back her tears as she started to drink. He did the same to the other three as well. After having them drink the water from the J1, he sat on the chair and said, "Now we wait. In the meantime, let''s talk about something else. Tell me everything you know about the System." 23 Experiment 2 Nathan was sitting on a chair and lit a cigarette. "Okay, you first," he pointed at Rick. Rick forced himself to calm down, bracing himself to what was about to come. "Do you have the System?" Nathan asked. When the four heard Nathan''s question, they were surprised and confused. Doesn''t everyone have the System? The three looked at Rick, wondering what he was going to say. Rick thought long and hard, wondering if it was a trick question or not. "Do you have the System or not?" Nathan asked again. "Yes," Rick finally answered. Whatever comes, he will endure it. Nathan''s face didn''t give any emotion at all. The four couldn''t tell whether he was satisfied by the answer Rick gave him or not, which led them to worry even more. "How many stat points do you get each time you level up?" This time, the question was pointed at Erica. Erica flinched. She looked at Nathan and then to her boyfriend, Rick, seeking guidance. Rick looked back at her and nodded. When she saw Rick nod, she turned to Nathan and said, "Two points." ''Only two points?'' Nathan thought and then turned to Sarah. He remembered that this woman had a [Fireball] skill. "What about the skill points?" "We get 1 free skill point at level one. The next skill point is at level 5. I don''t know when the next skill point is because I''m only level 5 but I think it''s at level 10," Sarah said. "Tell me about magic spells and their mana consumption." "Um...To learn a skill from the System, you need a Skill Book. Take for example my [Fireball] skill. To learn it, it requires 10 intelligence. Currently, my [Fireball]''s skill level is 1, and to upgrade to level 2 requires 2 skills points. Regarding mana consumption, it takes requires 20 mana points to cast a Level 1 [Fireball]." "How do you know it takes 20 mana points?" Nathan was confused. How many times has he checked his status chart? Not once did he see any MP. Is it exclusive only to non-Chosen ones? Or perhaps there''s a feature on his status chart that he wasn''t aware of? "Mana points only appear when you learn a skill that requires mana." "How many mana points do you have? How do you recover mana? Is there a mana potion?" "My intelligence points is 18 so I have 36 mana points. I don''t know if there''s a mana potion, but to recover mana naturally, it takes 4 minutes to recover 1 mana point." Hearing the questions of Nathan, the test subjects started to believe that Nathan''s questions were no doubt trick questions. So far, they''ve answered every question truthfully. What really made them believe to believe so was Nathan''s question about mana consumption. They''ve seen how Nathan could disappear. They refused to believe it''s a tech developed by the government or an item loot from the System. To them, it must be a magic skill from the System that requires mana points so he should be well-aware about mana. But the truth of the matter, they didn''t know about the existence of Chosen Ones. *************************** Two hours later. There were already a number of cigarette butts lying on the floor. Nathan was observing his test subjects. Until now, they haven''t turned into zombies. ''How long does it fucking take for a person to turn into a zombie?!'' "Hey, does anyone of you know how long it takes to turn into a zombie?" Nathan asked. Hearing what Nathan said, they started to panic in horror. They''ve always wondered what Nathan forced them to drink earlier. Now, they realized that Nathan''s plan was to turn them into zombies. In their mind, the water was contaminated or something. The two women broke down in tears and tried to force themselves to vomit. Josh just stared on the cold in horror. Rick was shouting curses. "You fucking bastard! Fuck your experiment! So you were planning to turn us into zombies all along!" Nathan got up and started beating the loud one, Rick. Bam! Bam! Bam! "Please stop it!" Sarah shouted. "Baby! Please stop! You''re hurting him!" Erica cried out. Josh just stared in horror and was murmuring to himself like a madman. Seeing the bloody Rick finally silent and semi-conscious, Nathan then turned to the three and said, "What gave you the idea that I wanted to turn you into a zombie? The experiment we''re doing right now isn''t related to that." The three just remained silent. He approached Erica and held her chin, forcing her to face him. "Miss, can you please just tell me how long does it take to for someone to turn into a zombie?" Nathan said in a very calm and friendly manner. "A... About an hour," Erica said. Nathan stared at Erica''s eyes, trying to determine if she was lying or not. ''Young and beautiful. What a waste,'' Nathan thought. Erica stared at him with pure hatred. If looks could kill, Nathan would''ve died already. After reaching to a conclusion that she wasn''t lying, he let go of Erica''s chin and sat on the chair. ''I need to do more tests just to be 100% sure,'' he stroked his goatee. If he turned into a zombie just because of his desire to take a bath, wouldn''t that be a pathetic reason to die? ''But first, I need to find a proper place to keep them.'' 24 Police Station Nathan wanted to perform more test regarding the zombie virus. But to do that, he needed a better place. This basement was too unfitting to conduct experiments. What he needed was something like a prison of some sort where he can keep them separate. However, he was well-aware that prisons are a go-to place in zombie shows because of how the place is set up. Take for example the TV show The Walking Dead. But does he have any choice? What about pet shops? Nathan quickly dismissed the thought. The cages in pet shops are usually too small and can be easily destroyed. What about a zoo then? There were no zoos nearby. It would be a hassle to travel a long distance to transfer them to the location. What about hospitals? Nope, too many looters. People would most likely go there to look for medical supplies. Nathan finally decided to pick a local police station. He remembered seeing one a couple of blocks away. He got up from his seat and walked towards Josh and grabbed him by the neck with one hand. "What are you doing?! Let me go!" Josh asked with a panicked voice. "Josh! Josh! Please no!" Sarah cried out. "Please! Please stop it!" Erica begged. "Let go of him, you bastard!" It was Rick''s voice. ''Heh~ You''re still awake?'' Nathan was surprised to see Rick up and shouting once again. He punched Josh on the jaw. Pah! Josh fell on the floor and was unconscious. "Josh! Josh! Babe! Answer me!" Sarah called out to Josh. "Josh!" Rick called out as well. Erica was crying as she said, "Mama, help! Help me, please! I don''t want to die!" Nathan looked at the unconscious Josh. ''He''s not dead, right?'' When he beat Rick earlier, he only used 30% of his strength. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally kill his test subjects. Nathan then set his eyes on Sarah and walked towards her. Seeing Nathan heading towards her, she wet herself and squirmed on the floor as she tried her best to get away from Nathan. "Don''t you fucking touch her! I swear to god I''ll fucking kill you! You hear me?! I''ll fucking kill you!" Rick shouted as he tried to stand up. But because his hands were tied behind his back and his feet were also tied, he tripped and fell on the floor, hitting his face first. When Rick looked at Sarah, she was already lifted by Nathan by the neck with one hand. Pah! Sarah fell on the floor and was unconscious. "Sarah!!! Mama! Mama, where are you?! Please help! Anyone! Help!" Erica cried out. Nathan looked at Rick and Erica and said, "Two left." Rick tried to forcefully break the rope on his wrist with brute force. His face was so red and veins started to appear on his forehead and neck. But it was all useless. Realizing he couldn''t break it, his heart was devoid of hope and he could only curse at the current situation they''re in, "Damn it! Fuck! Fuck..." Looking at their miserable face, Nathan couldn''t help but roll his eyes and thought, ''My god, these people are so over dramatic! I''m just knocking them out before I head outside to check on the police station. It''s not like I''m going to kill them.'' ''And plus,'' he looked at Rick, ''didn''t this guy used that woman named Sarah as bait earlier at the convenience store? What a self-righteous hypocrite!'' He proceeded to knock out the remaining two before heading outside. *************************** Nathan was currently invisible and was standing in front of a police station which was a one-story building. It took him about 20 minutes to get here because he was clearing out the zombies along the way. After killing 18 Level 5 zombies, his experience points was now 87.5% and still Level 10. Meanwhile, his [Grade D] Scimitar was 4/12 and [Grade D] Short Dagger was 7/11. Regarding the test subjects, before leaving, he found an extra rope and tied the four test subjects together. He also found some duct tape to cover their mouth. ''Gotta make this quick.'' He stepped inside the police station. The lights were on. In front of him was the reception area with a row of chairs on the right side, while on the left was a bulletin board posted with pictures of wanted criminals. At the back of the reception area was a spacious corridor. On each side was a row of desks with glass walls. At the end of the corridor, there were three ways. In the middle was for the comfort rooms, the left led to the holding cells, and the right to the armory and locker rooms. Nathan chose to go to the armory first. When he got there, he was surprised that there were still a few items left. He picked up two hand grenades and four handcuffs before leaving the armory. He kept them on his fanny pack. He headed towards the holding cells. When he got there, there was a corpse of a policeman with a hole on his head lying on the corner just outside the holding cells. His brains were splattered all over the walls and was holding a Revolver on his right hand. Nathan went over to check the corpse. ''Suicide?'' There was a bite mark on the corpse''s left forearm. He took the Revolver and found some bullets from the corpse. Although weapons not part of the System won''t give any exp, and shooting a gun will only attract noise, he still took it just in case. Who knows, he might need it. He checked the holding cells. All five holding cells were open. The one in the middle was a large cell enough to hold up to 15-20 people and had a single open toilet. Meanwhile, the other remaining four were enough to hold 4 people each and also had its own open toilet. Despite checking the cells, he still couldn''t find the keys. He even checked the policeman''s body. ''Fucking hell. Where is it? Do I REALLY have to check the entire building?'' He facepalmed himself. He was pissed. It was already 5:45 PM.He needed to find the keys as soon as possible. The last thing he wanted to do is to move at night. If only he had a night vision skill or gadget. Couldn''t he wait for tomorrow? No, he wanted to continue doing the experiment and finish it as soon as possible. He wanted to take a bath so bad because his scalp was already itchy as fuck. 25 Desperate Measures After some unknown time passed. Josh slowly opened his eyes. His left jaw hurt like a bitch and he was sitting on the floor. ''Where am I?'' He noticed that he was somewhere like a basement and the light was on. There was a steel chair near the door and nothing else. His memory was still a little fuzzy. When he looked at his sides, he saw Sarah and Rick who were unconscious. He noticed they were wearing nothing but their underwear. But most importantly, just like them, his hand and feet were tied, his mouth covered with duct tape, and the four of them were tied together -- he finally noticed that Erica was behind him. That''s when he finally remembered everything. Panicked, he checked his surrounding to see if their captor, Nathan, was around. Seeing that their captor wasn''t around, he decided to wiggle around and make muffled sounds to wake up his companions. *************************** After 10 minutes, the first to wake up was Rick. Just like Josh, it also took him a couple of seconds before remembering what happened. After that, they both tried to wake up Sarah and Erica. Another 10 minutes passed, all four subjects were awake. There were now trying to break free. At first, they tried using brute strength but that didn''t work. After that, Sarah decided to user her [Fireball] skill. But before doing so, she tried to tell them. Despite their mouth covered with duct tape, they could still make muffled sounds. However, it took her about 20 minutes before all of her companions understood was she was going to do. Don''t all four of them have magic spells? Unfortunately, only two of them have magic spells: Sarah who has [Fireball] and Rick who has [Sword Stab]. The reason why Erica and Josh don''t have any magic spells is because they were saving their skill points for a useful skill to make themselves a well-balanced team that could adapt to any situation -- Sarah as the mage, Rick as the vanguard, Erica as the healer or support, and Josh, well, it was still undecided but he wanted to be a hitter. They also considered the possibility that they may not be able to reset their skills. If they just randomly learn magic spells and found out later that they couldn''t reset their skills, wouldn''t they be in a disadvantage when they reach higher levels? But thinking about their current situation, they started to wonder if it was worth saving their skills points. The four of them stood up, their backs against each other. Sarah invoked [Fireball] and aimed it to the floor at the center. The [Fireball] exploded when it hit the floor. Boom! Its explosion was like a firecracker, making it sound weak. But the true power of the [Fireball] lies with its burning effect which spreads and lasts about 2 seconds. The flames of the [Fireball] spread and attached to all four of them. In Josh, Rick and Erica''s case, it burned the lower half of their body up to the chest. The ropes were burned as well. ''"Ahh!" The three screamed in agony as they were burned alive. Only Sarah stood there unharmed. Sarah stood there with a horrified expression as she looked at her companions lying on the floor motionlessly. They looked like they were barbecued starting from their feet up to their chest area. She checked her body. The only thing that was burned away on her were the ropes. She realized two things: One, attack type magic spells of the System doesn''t hurt the caster. Two, she clearly underestimated that power of her [Fireball] spell. Her hands were trembling as she slowly removed the duct tape plastered on her mouth. She looked again at the three burnt bodies in front of her. "Josh? Babe? Can you hear me?" she called out her boyfriend. There was no answer. She then called out to the other two. "Erica? Rick? Can you guys hear me?" her voice was quivering. When no answer came from them as well, she dropped down to her knees and wrapped her arms around her chest. "I''m sorry... I didn''t know... I didn''t mean to do it... I... I..." she said as tears started flowing from her eyes. It was then the door of the basement opened and a male voice asked, "What the hell happened in here?" *************************** Nathan was dumbfounded by the sight before him. There were three burnt bodies lying on the floor motionlessly and Sarah on her knees mumbling to herself like a crazy person. ''Fucking hell! Seriously?! I just left you guys for a couple of minutes and you guys are already here killing yourselves? Even if you guys have a death wish, at least wait till the experiment is done. Do you guys know how hard I tried to look for the keys to the holding cells and rush back to this place as fast as I could? Try putting yourselves in my shoes. Geez!'' He was already in a bad mood that it took him more than 30 minutes to find the keys. He found them outside of the police station building a few meters away from the entrance. It was a miracle that he even found them. He closed his eyes as he massaged his forehead. Although he knew these test subjects had magic spells which is why he knocked them out before leaving, he wasn''t expecting them to be this suicidal. ''Note to self: If the test subject has magic spells, be sure to cut off their arms if you plan to keep them alive for a long time.'' He activated [Coward''s Way], got behind Sarah and hit the back of her head with the pommel of his [Grade D] Scimitar, knocking her out. ''Hmm... I think I''m gonna need chloroform as well. If I keep knocking my test subjects like this, who knows what damages I could cause to their brain. I need healthy subjects.'' But he was going to cut off their arms? What? He duct taped her mouth and handcuffed her wrists and ankles. But before leaving, he stabbed the three burnt bodies on the head just in case. He didn''t want any potential revenge plot stories. The three didn''t give him any exp. ''Interesting,'' he thought. But what he found more interesting was that these three were his first human kills and he didn''t feel anything. Perhaps because in his mind what he did was euthanasia? 26 Experiment Resume It was already dark outside and the lights inside the police station were off, giving it a dark, empty and gloomy ambiance. In this dark, empty and gloomy ambiance, footsteps and a zombie''s roar echoed throughout the entire building. The footsteps came from Nathan who carrying a limbless Level 5 zombie by the neck -- its arms and legs were chopped off. He left Sarah at one of the holding cells and was headed there. *************************** Nathan was standing in front of Sarah. She was hanged in a crucified position and was still unconscious. Her wrists were handcuffed to the bars. Initially, he thought of chopping off her arms in case she decides to cast [Fireball] but decided not to because he needed a healthy test subject. Plus, the fact that she''s still a low level human and wasn''t a Chosen One, he concluded that her vitality is still no different from an average human being. But just in case she casts [Fireball], he had two fire extinguishers nearby. ''Now let''s begin. Be sure to show me some good data, sweetie.'' He pressed the zombie''s face near Sarah''s right thigh. The zombie immediately bit off a chunk of flesh from Sarah''s thigh, causing her to immediately wake up and jerk from the pain. She still had duct tape on her mouth so she was only able to moan in pain. Mhhhhmmm! Nathan pulled the zombie away and immediately killed it with his [Grade D] Scimitar by cutting off its head. Sarah looked at Nathan and the zombie. She looked at the bite mark on her right thigh and then look again at Nathan. Only this time it was full of hatred. She was about to cast [Fireball] but Nathan immediately threw a punch at her jaw, causing her to faint once again. After that, he grabbed a chair nearby and sat in front of her. He activated [Coward''s Way] as he smoked a cigarette. *************************** Sarah''s POV It''s been 59 minutes since she was bitten. Although she woke up about 15 minutes ago, she didn''t do anything. She already accepted her fate. She was going to die. Her body was so hot that it felt like she was being boiled alive. Aside from that, she was getting weaker and weaker every second, her face was pale as a ghost, and she was starting to lose consciousness. Of course, Nathan noticed this as he was seated in front of her and was invisible. Seeing her do nothing, he did nothing as well and just continued to observe. She closed her eyes and thought about her family, her friends, her dreams, the zombie apocalypse. ''Mom, dad, big brother, wherever you guys are I hope you''re doing fine. Rick, Erica, I''m very sorry. Josh, I''m coming. I can feel it. You won''t have to wait any longer. You''re waiting for me, right?'' Tears started flowing from her eyes. She took her last breath and finally died. Three seconds later, her body suddenly started to shake. *************************** Nathan''s POV. He just stared at Sarah who looked like she was having a seizure. After 5 seconds, she finally stopped shaking and returned to a motionless corpse. She suddenly raised her head and her eyes were that of a zombie -- no sign of intelligence, just pure bloodlust. Nathan checked his watch and smiled, ''Exactly 1 hour. Thank you, sweetie.'' *************************** Over the next three days, Nathan captured 10 more "volunteers" and a few animals to conduct more tests. Regarding the volunteers, none of them were Chosen Ones and their age ranges from 18 - 40 years old. He also did some killings as well in choosing the right subjects. It was tough because not only he needed healthy ones (so arm chopping wasn''t an option), he also needed the ones who didn''t have skills or spells to escape or disrupt the experiment. Regarding how one can get infected by the zombie virus, there was only one way. It was through a zombie''s bite. In fact, he even tried a few things like taking a zombie''s saliva and mixing it with water and had the volunteers drink it, directly putting a zombie''s saliva inside the mouth of the volunteers, and feeding the volunteers zombie meat (such as the tongue) and blood. None of these turned the volunteers into zombies. As for the animals, there were a few things he discovered. One, zombies ignores them. Two, they were immune to the zombie virus. And three, they didn''t undergo any evolution. Was it because they don''t have the System or will their evolution come in a later date? Speaking of evolution, the low-level humans that recently turned into zombies will immediately catch up with the current overall level of the zombies within a couple of hours. And if it''s a high-level human that turns into a zombie, there won''t be any changes in their level. Nathan concluded that once the overall level of the zombies catches up with that human''s level, it will then undergo evolution. As for the humans wearing System items that turned into zombies, the System loots will disappear from their body. What about the 3m-tall skinless zombies? Well, he didn''t have the proper equipment and facility to capture and conduct experiments on them so he just ignored them. Just imagining trying to capture a D1 zombie already gave him a headache. 27 Loots & Goals Wooh! It was 1:30 PM and Nathan was currently practicing his knife throwing techniques. His targets were the heads of the zombies. Out of 10 throws, he would miss 4 -- his aim was only average. He was now Level 18 and the overall level of the zombies was Level 9. As for his stats and equipment: ************************************************************ Level: 18 Experience Points: 2.24609375% Strength: 31 Agility: 26 (+14) Vitally: 29 Intelligence: 26 Equipment: [Grade D] Sword 8-10 (12/12) [Grade D] Dagger 5-7 (6/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger 6-8 (5/12) [Grade D] Leather Cap (15/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Armor (15/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Gloves (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Boots (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Amulet: +2 Agi Skill(s): Level X [Coward''s Walk] ************************************************************ The Level 9 zombies were barely giving him exp already. Even after killing 23 zombies, it only raised his exp to 2.24609375% as each of them only gives him 0.09765625%. It was a waste of durability and [Grade D] Repair Kit. But because of the many killings he did, mostly zombies and a "few" humans, his loots became abundant that he already had problems on where to keep them, some he even had to discard. This in return led him to establish secret bases around the area that he usually hunts. Those secret bases are stashed with food, a carton of cigarettes, basic supplies, and System items. Of course, he separated the items. For the System items such as weapons, armor, rings, and spellbooks, he would just hide them in corners. But for the food, cigarettes, basic supplies and System potions, he would place them inside a box or a bag and then wrap it with plastic or just put it inside a large plastic bag and then bury it under the ground. In Nathan''s mind, food and cigarettes are more important because it''s not like they just drop when killing zombies. He also considers the potions from the System important. As for why he decided to bury them under the ground, this is because in all the zombie movies, anime, manga, and novels, that he has seen, not one of the characters specifically decided to look for treasure chests buried under the ground stocked with food and drinks. Usually, they just loot buildings or steal from others. If someone could find the resources that he buried underground, then that person has mega [Plot Luck]. Now for the equipment that Nathan is wearing. Putting aside the System items that he''s wearing, he was now wearing a backpack. But of course, he hasn''t ditched his fanny pack. He keeps it inside his backpack whenever he''s wearing his backpack. Remember the police station''s armory? There were still a few items left there which were useful to him. For starters, there were two combat knife straps which he is currently using for his daggers. The [Grade D] Dagger on his right thigh and the [Grade D] Long Dagger on his left thigh. He also found a police vest. On the top right of the vest were three handgun clip holsters. Each holster had its own System potions: [Grade D] Repair Kit, [Grade D] Antidote, and Small Healing Potion. Regarding the [Grade D] Antidote, he only had two even after killing so many, making him believe that this was very rare. Below the handgun clip holster was a gun holster. He used it for the Revolver he looted a few days ago. On the top left of the vest, it had two magazine holster. He used it for System potions as well. Below the two magazine holsters was for the first aid kit. This he filled with bullets for his Revolver. On the sides of the police vest was for the grenades -- two for each side. Right now, he only had three grenades. It was originally four, but he wanted to test one out. Furthermore, he also looted a sword sheath and night vision goggles from the humans he killed. Regarding the sword sheath, he had no choice but to discard his [Grade D] Scimitar and use the [Grade D] Sword instead because the [Grade D] Scimitar just couldn''t fit inside the sheath he looted. He attached the sheath on the side of his backpack so that he can easily pull it out. But putting it back was a different story. *************************** Nathan had two goals right now. The first goal was to find as many food resources and stash them at his secret bases all over the city. Nathan was still at the city where his apartment building was located. The city that Nathan is currently at is Cram City. It''s one of the largest cities in the country of Womania. The second goal of Nathan was to reach level 20 before going to Amir''s workplace, Saint Holy Child Hospital, at Saint Town which is outside of Cram City on the East side. Saint Town is one of the four towns between Cram City and Burrow City, and is the first town outside of Cram City. He couldn''t take the subway because it was flooded. Riding a car also wasn''t an option because not only he doesn''t know how to drive, it will attract unwanted attention from both the zombies and humans. His only choice was to walk his way there. He was currently at the Southwestern part of Cram City where his apartment building is nearby and walking to Saint Town will take him about 10 hours. But why hasn''t he gon to Amir''s workplace already? After almost being killed by the D1 zombie a few days ago, it really affected his psyche so he decided to increase his level first. In his mind, it would be suicidal and laughable if he goes around playing hero if he couldn''t even kill a 3m-tall zombie. If he encounters one, would he just run away? What if he was with Amir, what then? Would he choose to abandon Amir or sacrifice himself? Also, what if he encounters a powerful group or Chosen One that could threaten his life? Basically, he was putting his safety first. He strongly believes that being Level 20 would ease his fears and worries. But of course, despite all those "logical" reasons he pointe out, his heart was slowly being eaten away by guilt with each passing day, which eventually led him to switch off his smartphone. He was afraid to see what messages Amir sent him ever since the zombie apocalypse began. *************************** Level 1-10: -Grade D -(+1) or (+2) -White treasure chest Level 11-20: -Grade D -(+3) or (+4) -Green treasure chest Level 21-30: -Grade C -(+5) or (+6) -Blue treasure chest Level 31-40: -Grade C -(+7) or (+8) -Blue treasure chest Level 41-50: -Grade B -(+9) or (+10) -Violet treasure chest Level 51-60: -Grade B -(+11) or (+12) -Violet treasure chest Level 61-70: -Grade A -(+13) or (+14) -Orange treasure chest Level 71-80: -Grade A -(+15) or (+16) -Orange treasure chest Level 81-90: -Grade S -(+17) or (+18) -Red treasure chest Level 91-99: -Grade S -(+19) or (+20) -Red treasure chest Level ¡Þ: -Artifact -(+20) depending on what kind of item -Gold treasure chest 28 Mall Nathan was currently on a rooftop of a 4-story building. In front of him was a mall. He was observing it through his binoculars which he looted from one of the apartments at the apartment building that he used to live. The mall had a spacious parking lot with hundreds of tents and trailers camped outside the mall. The mall, tents and trailers were surrounded by many buses and trucks, forming a circular wall to prevent zombies from entering. Inside and on top of those buses and trucks, there were armed people armed with guns and system items. In this wall made up of buses and trucks, there was only one entrance which was an 8ft-tall and 15ft-wide movable gate and had six people guarding it. The reason why Nathan was checking out this mall because it was too eye-catching and most of the convenience stores nearby where he usually hunts were looted by him and the human groups. He was amazed by the setup. Truly, any group, be it humans and zombies, will have a hard time entering, except if the opposing side had aerial units. ''But how long will this camp last?'' In his mind, the fact that malls were a common go-to place to set camp in zombie apocalypse-themed movies or shows, they will be constantly attacked or harassed by other human groups. And if the human groups won''t get them, the zombies will -- there''s always that dumb moment where someone in the base tries to hide or shelter an infected loved one which will eventually end up infecting everyone in the base. And for Nathan, who has [Coward''s Way], entering and exiting this camp would be a piece of cake for him, unless they''ve set up traps or have something that could detect his presence. After observing the camp for a couple of minutes, he put away his binoculars. He removed the sword sheath attached on the backpack''s side as and placed it on his back, and took out his fanny pack from his backpack as well. He left his backpack and hid it in a corner. He wanted to be light as fuck. His goal was to investigate the area first before deciding how he could take their resources for himself. He headed towards the mall. *************************** Nathan was already inside the circular wall made up of buses and trucks, and passed through the sea of tents and trailers at the parking lot. He could see all kinds of people: children, teenagers, adults, and old people. Except for the children who were running around and playing, the rest had haggard faces. He was careful not to bump into anyone because it will deactivate his invisibility. When he got to one of the entrances of the mall, there were two armed men guarding it. They were talking about why this zombie apocalypse was happening and were giving it our religious reasons. He wasn''t interested so he just ignored them and continued walking. He headed to the area where the shelves for the food were located. When he got there, it was empty, not a single food was found. ''Did they move the food to a storage room or something?'' With that, he decided to look around the other areas inside the mall. There were still a number of appliances and items of clothing left inside the mall. There were also tents camped inside the mall and people walking around and talking. ''Perhaps this is where the leader and the high-ranking members of this group stay?'' he thought as he looked at the tents camped inside the mall and slowly approached it. When he got close to one of the tents, he could hear moans. Nathan wasn''t interested in watching or listening to people having sex so he decided to look for the storage room instead. *************************** Nathan finally found the storage room. What he found was that its entrances were tightly guarded. There were even people patrolling in and out. Seeing how it was tightly guarded, he decided to go outside of the mall to find a place to sit and assess the details that he found. *************************** Nathan was sitting outside the mall thinking about what to do. In his field of vision, the mall was on his left, while the sea of tents and trailers camped at the parking lot were on his right. He was torn between killing all the guards or not. It''s not like he could just storm in and ask these people to give him their supplies, even if it was just 20%. Plus, there''s a limit to the number of supplies he could carry. Ask them to carry it for him? Good luck with that. Although he has blood on his hands, in his mind, those he had killed were people who "threatened" his life while the others were needed for his experiments so it was "reasonable". He hasn''t yet reached the point where he would kill children, directly or indirectly. If he killed all the guards and the adults or just about half of them, who would protect the children when zombies attack? Who would they send out to search for supplies? With the rate of how zombies are evolving and those 3m-tall zombies, their defenses will fall sooner or later. There''s also the threat of other human groups. Why not join or form an alliance with another group then? Well, with the zombie apocalypse, good luck in finding a group that still treats people "humane". Okay, what about the government shelter then? This is what Nathan was confused about. Why didn''t they? But after thinking about zombie-themed movies, shows and light novels, it won''t be a surprise if those officials would violate human rights. In Nathan''s mind, even without the apocalypse, government officials are no strangers in bending laws to their favor. But wait... What about those people Nathan killed? Don''t they have children or nephews and nieces depending on them? Well, this is the beauty of Nathan''s twisted logic when it comes to his morals. He never considered those things or just ignored it. His way of thinking is like this: When something he is going to do fits with his morals, he will do it without a shred of guilt. But when it''s something with the proof or evidence right in front of him to showcase the cause and effect of what he is about to do, if he could not justify his actions, he will not do it. But they''re currently in a zombie apocalypse where food is very important, right? It''s not like food will just drop from the sky. Yes, but in this case, he couldn''t deny the fact that there are still other places in the city where he can find food. Why not take over as the leader of this group then? Nope. Not a chance in hell. He wasn''t interested in playing leader. 29 Mall 2 Nathan was still sitting on a corner and thinking when suddenly he heard gunshots, honking sounds, and the roar of zombies from far away. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Open the gate! Open the gate! Men, get into position!" One of the guards assigned to defend the 8ft-tall and 15ft-wide movable gate shouted. The guard who shouted recognized the truck. It was one of the trucks that their leader left with this morning to search for supplies outside. Many guards were rushing towards the location near the 8ft-tall and 15ft-wide movable gate. Nathan got on top up of one of the buses used to form a circular wall. He was curious about what was happening. In his field of vision, he saw a truck headed towards the gate. Behind the truck was a horde of zombies chasing it. Inside at the back of the truck, there were people with guns shooting any zombie that got too close to the truck. Tata! Tatata! Ta! Tatatata! The scene made Nathan laugh. This is the reason why riding vehicles in a zombie apocalypse is dangerous. The 8ft-tall and 15ft-wide movable gate was open and the truck finally got inside. Two guards quickly closed the gate. Meanwhile, many guards bombarded the horde of zombies with magic spells and bullets. Tatatatatatatatata! Boom! When the guards ran out of mana to cast magic spells or bullets to shoot, they quickly rushed towards the zombies with melee weapons from the System. Seeing the slaughter in front of him, Nathan''s laughter vanished and his heart ached a little. These were precious exp. Due to his high level, Level 18, he specifically stopped killing the zombies unless needed because Level 9 zombies only gave him 0.09765625% each. Not only the exp was so low, but it was also a waste of [Grade D] Repair Kits. His plan was to let the zombies continue to evolve. He looked away, not wanting to see anymore the precious exp wasted on such unimportant characters. In fact, a desire to make everyone in this camp zombies started to form inside his head. ''Should I set a farm instead?'' He remembered a story arc of the novel [Reincarnator] where one of the antagonists built a farm called a "nursery" which is a place or set up to groom monsters for exp or runes -- he can''t exactly remember the exact details anymore because the updates on that novel were slow and riding it with Google Translate will only give you a nosebleed. He headed towards the truck that entered the camp and stopped about 15m away. *************************** The driver of the truck got out and shouted, "Where are the fucking medics?! We have so many injured! Hurry!" His hair was disheveled. There were fresh cuts on his right cheek, left forearm and left leg. The white sweatshirt he was wearing under his [Grade D] Leather Armor had bloodstains on it. Many of the people, especially the children and the elderly, didn''t go out and chose to hide inside the tents and trailers. They were afraid that these people might be infected. From one of the entrances of the wall, a group of people carrying stretchers were headed towards the truck that entered. One of them was a beautiful female doctor with short brown hair and was about 35 years old. When the group finally reached the truck, the driver cried out, "Doctor, please save them!" Before she could even say anything, the driver grabbed her arm and led her to the back of the truck. There were 6 severely injured people. Two were unconscious, one of them was the leader. The leader was a male Chosen One. "Doctor, they could be infected," one of the medics said. The driver looked at the medic who said it and punched him in the face. Pah! "You little punk! You don''t know what happened! The leader did everything he could to save us!" "Calm down. Joseph, calm down. Tell me what happened. I need to know what happened," the female doctor said to the driver. Joseph forcefully calmed himself down. He understood why the medics were wary of approaching the injured people. He told the doctor the gist of what happened. While they were searching for supplies outside, they encountered another group of humans and a fight broke out between the two groups. While they were fighting, a horde of zombies led by a D1 and N1 got attracted to the noise their fight was making and joined in the fight as well. Their leader decided to face the D1 alone while the other group''s leader faced the N1. It was a tough and bloody battle. Joseph also assured that no one was infected. After listening to the story, the doctor said, "Take them to the Green Room. Joseph, you should get treated as well." The Green Room was a small clinic on the East side of the mall. Nathan was still there and heard the story. But his eyes were locked on the truck and had a smile on his face. ''I know now what to do...'' 30 Bridge It was 4:30 PM. Nathan was currently invisible and inside a bus which was parked in the middle of the road at the end of a bridge. Despite having 31 points of strength, he doesn''t know how to drive so it took quite the effort to set this up. Below the bridge was a river which he believed was a perfect spot. Although he has yet to encounter a water-type zombie (if there is even one) or if zombies could even swim, he wasn''t interested in finding out. Nevertheless, he was confident that people would think twice in jumping into the river. Who knows what monsters lurk there. Right now, he was waiting for a convoy to cross the bridge and rob them. As for how he will move the loots, he will keep at least one who knows how to drive and then kill that person afterward. Regarding the zombies nearby, he cleared them, making his exp 8.10546875%. As for his equipment, he hid his backpack inside one of the buildings nearby. He had his [Grade D] Sword, [Grade D] Long Dagger, [Grade D] Dagger, Revolver, 3 grenades, fanny pack, and police vest. He had been waiting here for almost two hours now, but so far no one came. He promised himself that once it reaches 5:00 PM he will leave and find someplace to rest for the night. *************************** After 5 minutes, finally, a convoy came and was about to cross the bridge. At the front was a black SUV with two trucks behind it. There were also a couple of zombies chasing the convoy from behind which were being shot by the people at the back of the second truck. Nathan quickly got off the bus, stood on top of it. He deactivated his invisibility as he lit a cigarette and rested his [Grade D] Sword on his shoulders. He was confident that they won''t shoot him right away without any warning. He believes that this convoy would stop and try to negotiate with him, believing that Nathan''s companions are hiding nearby and the bridge is planted with explosives. *************************** Inside the black SUV. There were three people inside the black SUV. One was the driver, another was Derek who was sitting on the front passenger''s seat, and the person was a man with black hair at the backseat. "We have company," the driver said as he saw a man standing on top of a bus blocking the road at the other end of the bridge. Derek looked at the rearview mirror and asked the person sitting on the backseat, "Captain, what are your orders?" This man''s face was similar to that wannabe Ada Wong woman. His name was Lester and his relationship with her is that they were first cousins. "Tell the men to quickly kill the zombies. As for that issue up ahead, stop 15 meters away from the bus and ask that person to surrender and join us. If that person refuses, kill him," Lester said. "Lester, there may be some explosives planted on the bridge and enemies hiding nearby. I suggest we turn back or try to negotiate with them," Derek advised. "Derek''s right. It''s not too late to turn back," the driver added. Lester had an annoyed expression written on his face and said, "Don''t question my orders. Just follow them!" "Let''s at least inform the teams nearby --" the driver said but was immediately cut off by Lester. "No need!" Derek could only let out a sigh. He pulled out a radio which had a 15km range and said, "This is Vice Captain Derek. Truck 2, quickly kill the Zs. We''ve got company. Over." "Truck 2 to Vice Captain Derek. Roger that. Over," a voice replied on the radio. When the black SUV finally reach about 15 meters away from the bus, the vehicle stopped and the three got out. The two trucks stopped and people got out as well. Everyone was carrying a gun on their hands except for Derek and Lester. Derek looked at the face of the man standing on top of the bus and was surprised. "Nathan?" When Nathan heard his name, he immediately looked at the person who said it. ''Booty warrior Derek?'' he was surprised to see him. With his eyes still locked on Derek, he thought, ''Heh~ It looks like he has his teeth back. Or are those fake?'' He remembered Derek losing a few teeth during his fight with the D1 zombie. Lester looked at Derek and asked, "You know him?" Derek nodded and said, "Yeah, we used to live in the same apartment building. I also suspect he''s a Chosen One." Lester''s eyes shined. If he could recruit Nathan and have him part of his team, not only will his team be more powerful because he will have two Chosen Ones on his team, but his standing within their organization will be higher as well. He even started fantasizing their organization conquering Cram city with him playing a major role and holding a very high position. Even though he wasn''t a Chosen One, he was ambitious and thought brightly of the future, especially his future. In his mind, although Chosen Ones get +1 to all stats each time they level up, they only have one skill. They may be powerful now, but in the later stages, non-Chosen Ones like him will have many skills, making his attacks more versatile. Lester had a smug look on his face as he looked at Nathan and said, "Come join our organization, Red Dust. We have three Chosen Ones. In no time, we will conquer Cram city and be its leaders. Decide now before I change my mind. Don''t waste your time with petty actions like this!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. 31 Bridge 2 Nathan, who was standing on top of the bus, just ignored Lester. His eyes were still locked on Derek. He was thinking about the situation and what he should do. ''Back when that wannabe Ada Wong bitch stole all the loots, this booty warrior told her he was a Chosen One. If I kill one, will I absorb their skill? Hmm... And what''s this booty warrior even wearing?'' Derek was wearing a black full bodysuit that covered his arms and legs, and had a utility belt around his waist. He was also equipped with System items. The bodysuit wasn''t a System item but instead just a normal bodysuit that stretches whenever he uses his skill [Maximize] so he won''t have worry about getting naked. As for the System items, they automatically change shape to perfectly fit the wearer. Seeing that Nathan wasn''t even acknowledging his presence, Lester got pissed. He was about to order to kill Nathan but Derek quickly stopped him and said, "Nathan, come join us. Ashleigh is also there. She''s treated well." Hearing what Derek said, many were surprised. Even Lester raised an eyebrow. Ashleigh told Derek about her relationship with Nathan''s cousin, Amir, so he mentioned her, hoping that it would convince Nathan and his group to join them. Right now, he was worried that things may go out of hand because of Lester''s attitude. Who knows what sort of traps Nathan and his companions prepared for them. If this could be settled peacefully, it will be a win-win situation for both parties, especially theirs. The last thing he wanted is to attract zombies nearby while they fight. ''Ashleigh? Heh~ That bimbo is still alive and even treated well? God, that bimbo really has [Plot Armor]. Well, I guess it really pays to be beautiful. There''s always some white knight to save her. I wonder if that bimbo already slept with that white knight,'' Nathan thought and continued, ''Wait a minute... If Derek and Ashleigh are in the same group, does this mean this is the same group of that bitch?'' "Boot-- I mean, Derek, answer me this. Are you guys part of the same group that killed that D1 zombie back at the apartment building?" "Yes," Derek replied. Nathan flicked his cigarette away and started tapping the blade of his [Grade D] Sword against his right leg. He looked at Lester and the others. Including Derek, they were a total of 12 people. Seeing Nathan''s reaction, Lester looked at Nathan with contempt. He was sure that Nathan was thinking about his offer and it will definitely agree. ''I guess I can get my revenge earlier than expected,'' Nathan thought and a smile formed on his face. He quickly pulled out his Revolver and aimed it at Lester''s head. Derek''s eyes widened. He pulled the trigger. Bang! Lester fell to the ground but was still obviously alive because he was groaning in pain as he tried to get up. "Argh!" Unfortunately, Nathan only managed to hit Lester on the right side of his collar bone. Everyone was caught in surprise and wasn''t able to process what just happened. With what Derek had said, they thought it was a done deal. "Tch!" Nathan made a clicking sound with his tongue because he wasn''t able to headshot Lester. The reason why he targeted Lester first was not because he was the leader. It was simply because he didn''t like how he talked and looked at him. Moreover, he also noticed one thing: his face was similar to that bitch! As he was on top of the bus, he jumped back and hid behind the bus. He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] before going to the side. Lester got up with his left hand palming his wound and roared, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU RETARDS DOING?! SHOOT HIM!!! SHOOT!!!!!" "Wait! Hold on for a moment!" Derek tried to stop them but the members already started shooting the bus, silencing the sound of his voice. Tatatatatatatatatatatata!!! Seeing the situation, Derek decided to bring Lester behind the black SUV. The driver followed as well. Nathan, who was currently invisible, was already on the side, far away from the bus. He was waiting for the gunners to reload. Once they reload, that''s when he will cut them one by one. Of course, he planned to leave 2 - 3 survivors for questioning. He wanted to know the location of their base. As for Derek, he must absolutely die. Given that he was a Chosen One, keeping him alive for interrogation would only be a headache. Plus, he was also curious what would happen if he kills a Chosen One. But wait... What if Derek isn''t the only Chosen One in this group that Nathan is facing right now? Didn''t Lester mention that they had three Chosen Ones? Unfortunately, that thought didn''t register in Nathan''s mind. He was currently blinded by bloodlust. In fact, he was even shivering from excitement and had a big smile plastered on his face. *************************** At the back of the black SUV. Gunshots could still be heard. Derek was behind Lester, holding him. Meanwhile, the driver was inserting his fingers inside Lester''s wound to remove the bullet. "Argh! Quickly take it out!" Lester cried out. After finally removing the bullet, the driver/medic poured a Small Healing Potion on the wound and let Lester drink another one to heal him completely. The shooting finally stopped and the members were already reloading. However, it was quickly followed by a scream of agony. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Gaaaah!" Derek looked at what was happening. A man, one of his team members, was sliced in half. His upper and lower body were separated from the waist. "Ahhh!" another team member screamed in agony. The person was also sliced in half. But this time around, he finally saw the culprit, Nathan, who quickly disappeared after cutting down his team member. Every time Nathan appeared, it was followed a scream of agony with the victim sliced in two. His team members were panicking and losing morale. Some couldn''t even properly reload anymore, while the others started to run. Derek had a dark expression on his face as he thought, ''He really was a Chosen One.'' As a Chosen One himself, he knew how powerful they can be and the unique skills that each of them has. Sure, it had limitations to counter it just like his skill [Maximize] which multiplies his base strength and vitality by 2 but divides base agility by 3. However, his skill costs no MP and his body is immune to the zombie virus. He looked at Lester and the driver who had worried faces and said, "You two get in the car and drive away. But sure to contact the nearby teams or the base for reinforcements. I''ll cover you both." "Okay," Lester immediately replied. In Derek''s mind, waiting and defending here was extremely dangerous and suicidal. Not only were they trapped here like sitting ducks, but they also don''t know how many of Nathan''s companions are lying in wait and the other traps they have prepared. For all he knows, there could be more than one Chosen One on the enemy''s side. As for the other team members, he was going to order them to jump off the bridge and escape while he keeps Nathan busy. 32 Bridge 3 Whoosh! "Ahhh!" a woman screamed in agony as she was sliced in half by Nathan who immediately disappeared. Out of the 12 people in this team, there were only 6 people left. Nathan, who was currently invisible, looked at the remaining members. Derek, Lester and the driver were behind the black SUV, while the other three were running away. "Tch!" he made a clicking sound with his tongue. He pulled out his Revolver and aimed at one of the people who were running away. Bang! The moment he fired the gun, he immediately lost his invisibility. However, he missed the target. He fired again. Bang! This time, he finally hit the target. The person was shot in the back and immediately fell to the ground. ''Three bullets left in the chamber. My shooting skills are really bad,'' Nathan thought as he activated [Coward''s Way]. His revolver was the type that could only carry 6 rounds on its chamber. He was about to shoot at another target when suddenly he heard Derek''s voice. "NATHAN!!!" He looked at Derek who transformed into a 2.5m tall giant and was charging to his direction, while Lester and the driver were getting inside the black SUV. ''Heh~ Trying to get away?'' He ignored Derek and headed to the black SUV. ''No one''s getting away!'' *************************** Derek''s POV. He saw how Nathan fired his second shot and he quickly disappeared after killing one of his teammates. With that, he had no choice but to charge to where he last saw Nathan. His goal was to have Nathan fight him while his teammates escapes. As for his status chart... ************************************************************ Level: 14 Experience Points: 0% ? Strength: 48 (24) ? Vitally: 52 (26) ? Agility: 8 (24) (+12) ? Intelligence: 23 Equipment: ? [Grade D] Leather Cap (13/15): +1 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Armor (10/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Gloves (7/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Boots (9/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Ring: +1 Agi ? [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Necklace: +2 Agi Skill(s): ? Level X [Maximize] ************************************************************ When he finally got to the area where he last saw Nathan, nothing happened to him so he picked up a rifle from one of his slain team members and reloaded it. "Everyone! Jump off the bridge!" he said as he began firing randomly, but was careful not to hit any of his teammates, be it dead or alive, and the black SUV. Tata! Tata! Tata! Out of the two members who were running, one heard Derek and quickly jumped off the bridge without any hesitation, while the other one just continued running. *************************** Nathan''s POV. He was already just 3 meters away from the black SUV where Lester and the driver were already inside trying to start the engine. Suddenly, he heard gunshots behind him. Tata! Tata Tata! He immediately dived to the ground and lie on his stomach. The black SUV roared to life. Vroom! ''Fuck!'' he cursed and looked behind him who was firing, ''This damn booty warrior!'' He flipped over, lying on his back, and placed his [Grade D] Sword on top of his chest because it will lose its invisibility once an object is no longer touching him which will in return give out his location. He took out two hand grenades from the sides of his police vest and pulled the pins. He waited for 2 seconds before throwing them. During the past few days while he was doing his experiments, he also tested the non-System items weapons that he looted. One of them was the hand grenade. And in his findings, it took about 4 seconds before a hand grenade explodes once its pin is pulled out. As for why he decided to use two hand grenades for Derek, he remembered that it took 2 grenade rounds to severely injure that D1 zombie. Once he uses these 2 hand grenades, he will only have 1 left in his possession. Two seconds passed. He tossed the 2 hand grenades at Derek. The moment the grenades left his hand, he immediately lost his invisibility, because his skill considered the action that he did as an attack. Derek who was still randomly shooting immediately saw Nathan appear so he quickly aimed his gun at him. However, he didn''t notice the 2 hand grenades. Boom! Boom! The 2 hand grenades exploded right in front of him, blasting him away, leaving him injured and unconscious. Nathan quickly got up and looked at the black SUV which was already moving away. It hit the tail-end of the bus blocking the road that Nathan set up earlier, pushing it out of its way. ''Fucking hell!'' He looked at Derek, who was lying on the floor injured and unconscious, and the other remaining members. He saw one running away towards the end of the bridge and was already a distance away so he pulled out his Revolver and fired. Bang! He hit the target. As for the other one, he saw the person swimming in the river and was headed to the river bank. ''Where do you think you''re going?'' He dropped his [Grade D] Sword, picked up a rifle from one of the enemies, reloaded it, and started shooting at the swimmer. Tata! Tata! Tata! After a couple of shots, the swimmer stopped moving and blood started spreading out. He threw away the rifle, picked up his [Grade D] Sword and activated [Coward''s Way]. He was headed to finish off Derek. As he turned to look at Derek, he was surprised to see him trying to get up. Derek was injured and struggling to get up. When he finally got up, he couldn''t stand straight with his two feet and could only slouch while he breathlessly roared, "Na... than! Come... face me!" Seeing Derek, he couldn''t help but smirk as he pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger from his left thigh. With his [Grade D] Long Dagger on his left hand and [Grade D] Sword on his right, he charged towards Derek. ''This dumbass booty warrior can''t even think straight. Why isn''t he drinking a healing potion? Doesn''t he have one? What''s the use of that utility belt around his waist?'' When he finally got close to Derek, he stabbed his blades on him. Suuup! Suuup! His [Grade D] Long Dagger on the throat and the [Grade D] Sword on the left chest. He then started pushing Derek to the corner of the bridge with all his strength as he shouted, "Graaaah!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "O... oh..." With the [Grade D] Long Dagger on his throat and being pushed, Derek was making choking sounds and was about to bear hug Nathan. Nathan''s eyes shined. He was expecting something like this was going to happen so he twisted his blades, causing Derek to cry out in pain, and then delivered a front kick with his right leg, kicking him away from him, out of the bridge and into the river. Splash! He looked over at the bridge, overlooking Derek''s body as it lifelessly submerged into the depths of the river. ''Not bad, booty warrior. You purposely didn''t heal so you can lure me to attack you and give your teammates time to escape. And with your strong body, you planned to bear hug me and then crush me to death. However... like hell I''d fall for that!'' After what he experienced with the D1 zombie, where he almost died, he was expecting a follow-up attack from Derek. And plus... he has seen episode 9 of Overlord S1. ''But to think that he would sacrifice himself for the sake of others... What a waste of power...'' he shook his head and then thought about the exp and skill, ''Even after killing him, there was no exp and I didn''t absorb his skill...'' Although he wasn''t expecting any exp, he was hoping to at least absorb a skill or something. Unfortunately, such a convenient thing didn''t happen. He turned away and look at the direction where the black SUV ran off to. 33 Pursui Nathan was currently chasing the black SUV that escaped earlier. With his agility at 26 (+14) points which gives him 4 times the speed of an average human partnered with his vitality at 29 points, giving him about 3 times the endurance, it only took him 2 minutes to find this runaway vehicle. Although Derek was able to buy time for Lester and the driver to escape in this black SUV, it wasn''t able to quickly drive away that far and leave Nathan in the dust because there were too many obstacles along the way. Some the vehicle could just push out of its way or ran over, while others it had no choice but to evade. But what made it very easy for Nathan to track down this vehicle was the group of zombies chasing it with frenzy. There were about 15 zombies and counting. Thanks to these factors, he didn''t have to constantly run at full speed. He just had to maintain a level of speed and increase it whenever necessary. He was praying that the duo inside the vehicle will be stupid enough to head back to their base, revealing to him the location. ''Don''t give up on me now. Just continue to show me the way,'' he thought and let out a sinister and sly smile. *************************** Inside the black SUV. The driver was pouring 101% of his attention in driving. On the other hand, Lester was constantly sending out a message through the radio/walkie-talkie every 5 seconds. "This is Captain Lester of Team 8. Requesting for immediate backup. Does anyone copy? Over." He waited for 5 seconds. He was met with no response, just dead silence. Right now, it was 4:50 PM. Usually, the other teams from their organization head back to the base around 5:00 PM. His goal wasn''t to contact the base. This is because their base was located outside of Cram city to the West about 10 km away. Moreover, the range of the radio was only 15 km and they were currently in the Southwest part of the city, closer to the South. And considering the size of Cram city, a 15km range was just too small, even just for within the city. As for the use of smartphones, the cell towers have been dead for 2 days now so they were useless. So his goal right now was to contact the nearby teams to request for backup and to have someone from the other teams to relay the message to the base about the existence of Nathan and his companions and the threat they pose. Unfortunately, their luck must''ve run out because there was no one from the other end answering his call for help. "Why is no one answering?! Goddammit!" he could only curse out of frustration and desperation. He looked at the rearview mirror and saw the zombies chasing. Seeing the situation, he was starting to consider the idea of heading straight back to the base. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. In his mind, they can''t just drive around the city forever. Eventually, they will run out of gas. Once that happens, they will have no choice but to either fight the zombies or run like hell. Moreover, the longer they drive around, the number of zombies chasing them will increase as well. And God forbid a 3m tall type zombie will join in the chase. ''I''m not supposed to die here! Not like this! I refuse to accept this!'' He was supposed to have a bright future. A future where their organization, Red Dust, conquers Cram City and perhaps even the entire country of Womania. And him, a high-level powerful human holding a very high and important position. He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. Many thoughts flooded his mind as he carefully thinks what could be the best course of action to escape this predicament. He also thought about the motives behind Nathan''s actions. ''What did Nathan and his companions want? Why did Nathan attack even after Derek mentioned about Ashleigh?'' In their organization, Ashleigh was an important figure treasured by their leader which is why they were surprised when Derek mentioned her, revealing to them that Nathan had some sort of connection with her. As for the motives of Nathan and his companions, if they only wanted the resources inside the 2 trucks in exchange for their lives, he would''ve surrendered it immediately. Hell, if they also wanted their equipment, he too would''ve given it. It''s not like they can''t find other resources anyway. However, Nathan didn''t even offer them a chance to surrender or voice out what he wanted. He just simply... attacked. ''Are they perhaps just a group of bloodthirsty perverts that get turned on from killing people?'' he pondered. ''Wait! Why was it that it was only Nathan who attacked? Why didn''t his companions help? If his companions had helped, we couldn''t have escaped.'' It was then a crazy conclusion came to his mind which was followed by a hint of envy. ''Perhaps he was alone? A solo hunter?'' Thinking about Nathan''s disappearing act that he displayed at the bridge, Lester concluded that it was possible. In fact, if he had such powers, even he would probably go solo. He finally made a decision. "Head back to the base." "Captain, what about --" the driver said by was immediately cut off by Lester. "Just head back to the base!" The driver didn''t say anything after that and continued to focus on driving. ''If what I suspect is true, then going back to the base is my greatest chance of survival. With our numbers, even that bloodthirsty pervert won''t be able to do anything!'' Suddenly, something slammed itself against the left side of the SUV. Bam! The impact caused the SUV to flip over a few times to the right before finally crashing into a small barber shop, blocking the shop''s front entrance and window. The SUV was toppled to the side. Its left side was on top, while the right side at the bottom. Fortunately, Lester and the driver had their seatbelts on so they were still alive, but unconscious. As for the "thing" that slammed itself against the SUV, it was an N1 zombie. It suffered injuries due to the impact. It dislocated its left shoulder and had other broken bones. Due to the injuries it sustained, it was currently kneeling with one knee in the middle of the street, trying to recover for a minute before rushing to the toppled SUV. Meanwhile, the group of zombies chasing the SUV rushed in as well like a pack of bloodthirsty, hungry wolves excited at the meal that was in front of them. Nathan stopped on his tracks a couple of meters away from the crash site and stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Eh?" 34 N1 Nathan just stood there, admiring what just happened. A 3m-tall zombie just came out of nowhere and slammed its body against the black SUV, causing it to flip over a few times before finally crashing into a small barber shop, blocking the shop''s entrance and window. "Hahaha~" Clap! Clap! Clap! He couldn''t help but laugh and clap his hands. What happened earlier was just too amazing that it looked like something one would see from a monster-action movie. After having a good laugh and wiping the tears from his eyes, he immediately snapped himself back to reality and focus on the objective. He looked at the 3m-tall zombie and examined its features. It was still in the middle of the street kneeling in one knee, trying to recover from the injuries it sustained. ''This one seems thinner compared to the D1 zombie. However, it looks a lot like the ones I saw at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.'' He then turned his sights to the toppled SUV. There were already zombies gathered at the SUV. On top of it were 4 zombies ripping out someone''s gut from the driver''s seat, while the other zombies, about 15 of them, were pushing each other out of the way to get close to the toppled SUV and rip it apart. ''I need at least one of them alive or else all my efforts will be for nothing. As for the trucks back at the bridge, I just hope they''re still there.'' He pulled out his Revolver and aimed it at the zombies. His goal was to lure them to him. Bang! He lost his invisibility and continued firing. Bang! With his agility at 26(+14) points and his skill [Coward''s Way], he wasn''t afraid of these bloodthirsty zombies. In his eyes, aside from the fact that these zombies only know how to charge mindlessly, there were also so slow that they looked like they were just walking once he begins to focus. However, this also made him wonder about something. Let''s say he reaches 99 agility points, how will his eyes be able to keep up? What''s allowing him to see things in slow motion once he focuses? With him moving so fast, wouldn''t everything become blurry? Is this all thanks to his 29 points in vitality? Unfortunately, with his status as a Chosen One which gives him +1 to all stats whenever he levels up and the bonus stats that the System items give are still too low, he couldn''t find the answers to his question, not at the moment. Of course, there''s a way aside from waiting for the bonus stats from the System items. He could boost someone. ''Why don''t you use Amir as a test subject?'' the idea came to his mind like a soft and sweet whisper, very tempting. He immediately shook his head and cursed. ''Fuck! Get out of my head! He''s family!'' He quickly tossed the thought at the back of his head and focused on killing the zombies in front of him. Bang! In reality, the reason as to why the Level 9 zombies were too slow for him was because their stats were: ? Strength: 19 ? Vitality: 19 ? Agility: 19 ? Int: 19 Hearing the gunshots and seeing Nathan a couple of meters away, more than half of the zombies rushed towards him. Only 7 paid him no attention and continued attacking the SUV. As for the 3m-tall zombie, it turned its head towards Nathan and tried to get up, but fell on its knees and started slowly crawling instead. It was too injured that it still needed some time to recover. Bang! Bang! Bang! Click! He ran out of ammo. Out of the 6 shots he fired, he was able to kill 2 zombies and injure 2. He quickly put away his Revolver and switched to melee mode. His right hand holding the [Grade D] Sword and the [Grade D] Long Dagger on the left. He activated [Coward''s Way] and charged at the nearest zombie. Whoosh! His [Grade D] Sword sliced through a zombie''s neck, decapitating it. He was using a hit and run tactic while constantly activating [Coward''s Way] whenever he loses his invisibility. He was also careful not to get close to the 3m-tall zombie. 15 seconds later... Whoosh! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. A zombie head fell to the ground and rolled over. There were now only 3 zombies left, aside from the crawling 3m-tall skinless zombie. It was then the 3m-tall skinless zombie finally got up and roared before charging towards Nathan. The 3m-tall skinless zombie''s speed startled him for a moment because it was faster than the Level 9 zombies. He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and sidestep to the left to avoid the 3m-tall zombie and the 3 remaining zombies charging at him before running to a corner. When the 3m-tall skinless zombie was 5 meters away from Nathan, the System informed him that it was an N1 zombie. ''Heh~ So this is the N1 zombie that I heard about back in the mall.'' During the past few days he was experimenting to learn about the zombie virus and doing other things, he just ignored and stayed away from these 3m-tall zombies. Aside from being too busy, he was greatly affected by his near-death experience in the hands of the D1 zombie. As to what made him decide to fight this N1 zombie right now, there were a couple of reasons. One, he couldn''t let the duo inside the SUV to die. He needed one alive for interrogation and have that person drive the truck. Two, after killing Derek back at the bridge, his confidence started to rise... including his bloodlust. He couldn''t just keep evading these 3m-tall type zombies. Sooner or later, he would need to face them. Three, he wanted to know how much exp does this N1 give. The exp that a single Level 9 zombie gives him as a Level 18 human was only 0.09765625%. Too little! And lastly, he was curious as to what items do the 3m-tall type zombies drop. He remembered when that wannabe Ada Wong bitch killed the D1 zombie, it dropped a green-colored treasure chest. The N1 and 3 zombies were already at the spot they last saw Nathan. They just stood there confused because their prey was nowhere to be seen. Nathan was currently in a corner observing them, thinking about how will deal with them, especially the N1 zombie. ''It''s also faster compared to the D1.'' What Nathan said were true about the N1 being faster than the Level 9 zombies and the D1 zombie. As a matter of fact, the stats of an N1 zombie''s were: ? Strength: 31 ? Vitality: 31 ? Agility: 31 ? Intelligence: 31 However, given that the N1 zombie that he was observing was currently injured, it couldn''t use its full potential, only about 75%. Meanwhile, the actual stats of a D1 zombie were: ? Strength: 42 ? Vitality: 42 ? Agility: 11 ? Intelligence: 11 This is why back when the D1 zombie slapped Nathan away who was only Level 6 at that time with 17 points in vitality, he immediately sustained grave injuries. If the D1 zombie at that time wasn''t injured from its fight with Derek, Nathan would''ve died immediately. Nathan, who was still in a corner and invisible, placed the blade of his [Grade D] Long Dagger between his teeth and took out his last hand grenade from his police vest. He pulled the pin and waited for 2 seconds before tossing it to the N1 zombie. The moment the hand grenade left his hand, he immediately lost his invisibility. However, the N1 and the 3 zombies didn''t notice him and the grenade that landed in front of the N1 zombie. Four seconds passed and the hand grenade exploded. Boom! 35 Surprise Boom! The hand grenade that Nathan tossed exploded. The zombies and the N1 zombie got caught by its explosion, blasting them away. Out of the 3, it was the N1 zombie that suffered the most because it was the one closes to the hand grenade when it exploded. Nathan immediately killed the only zombie that wasn''t caught by the explosion. After that, he proceeded in killing the two zombies. Only the N1 zombie now remained. With his invisibility on and his [Grade D] Sword on his right hand, Nathan approached the N1 zombie that was lying on the ground. He didn''t kill it right away because he was curious as to what it actually looks like up close. Due to the explosion, the N1 zombie lost one of its legs and the muscle tissues starting from its legs up to its chest were torn to shreds. Given that it was skinless to begin with, it looked even more disgusting. But there was one thing about the N1 zombie that caught Nathan''s eye. It wasn''t as muscular as the D1 zombie so it was easy to tell its gender. Based on the structure of its body, it had a male''s body. However, there was one thing that was missing: it had no reproductive organ. And no, Nathan wasn''t interested to check if it had a butthole. He raised his [Grade D] Sword and struck down, separating the N1 zombie''s head from its body. The N1 zombie only gave him 0.390625%, making his current total exp 9.47265625%. This caused his expression to darken. If an N1 zombie only gives him 0.390625% as a Level 18 human, then that means that this type of zombie was only Level 11. ''What the fuck?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Seriously?! I wasted my last grenade to kill this fucking thing and this is the amount of exp I get?! This is a fucking scam! This is robbery! Who is the retard that designed this exp drop?!'' Fortunately, the N1 zombie dropped a [Green] Treasure Chest so his bad mood lessened a bit. Although there were also 3 [White] Treasure Chests dropped by the Level 9 zombies, but he didn''t care about those. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He knelt down in front of the [Green] Treasure Chest to open it. ''Please don''t be a spellbook, please don''t be a spellbook, please don''t be a spellbook...'' When he opened the [Green] Treasure Chest, inside was a [Grade D] Ring which gives +2 strength and +1 intelligence. He quickly grabbed the ring and threw it away with all his strength. "Fuck me sideways!" he finally lost his patience and let out his voice. He then forced himself to calm down by taking deep and slow breaths while telling himself, ''Chill... Nathan, chill... Just fucking chill...'' When he finally calmed down, he set his eyes on the toppled SUV that crashed into a small barber shop, blocking the shop''s front entrance and window. There were 7 zombies gathered around SUV. Out of the 7 zombies, 4 were on top attacking the driver''s seat, while the other 3 were trying to rip it out the sides. ''This better be worth it...'' *************************** Inside the black SUV. Lester regained consciousness from the explosion earlier, but his mind was still a little groggy and his neck hurt. He could hear zombie roars and metal being ripped apart. He also felt that his surroundings were shaking. Given that the SUV was toppled to the side, the left side was on top while the right side at the bottom, he was hanging from the front passenger''s seat with his seatbelt on. There was a wet feeling on the left side of his face and neck, and a rich smell of iron. He wiped away the wet feeling on his face with his left hand and looked at it. Seeing it was blood, his eyes widened in horror. "This--!" He quickly began touching his face and neck, and also checked his body. After finding out that there was nothing wrong with his body, aside from the neck pain, he let out a sigh of relief and turned to his left. There he saw the driver being eaten alive. The insides of the driver were exposed that he could even see the ribs. The sight made him want to vomit, but he forcefully stopped himself from doing so and swallowed hard. He immediately unbuckled his seatbelt, causing him to fall to the floor. Splash! The floor was filled with blood and guts of the driver. He adjusted his position and started kicking the cracked windshield. After finally kicking the windshield away, he quickly crawled out of the SUV and didn''t dare to look back. The only thing on his mind right now was to distance himself from the vehicle as far as possible. When he finally got to the mall, he turned over, leaned against it, and locked his eyes at the SUV while he searched for weapons on his body. He found a handgun and two extra clips. Lester was Level 14. However, he didn''t have a range type attack skill. His only skill was [Double Slash] which was a melee skill that required a sword or dagger. He could hear the sound of a sword swinging and the roar of zombies outside. He pointed his handgun at the SUV. His hands shaking and his heart beating like crazy. Moments later, it was pure silence. Suddenly, the SUV was being moved to the side. Graaaang... When the SUV was finally out of the way, all Lester could see were zombie corpses with their heads separated from the body. "Who''s there?! Show yourself! I have a gun! I''m warning you!" From Lester''s voice, one could sense the fear it carried. Pah! The handgun from his hand was slapped away and a person appeared right in front of him. "Who--" Lester wasn''t able to finish his sentence when he saw Nathan''s smiling face. "Surprise motherfucker," Nathan said and immediately punched him on the face. Pah! His world went black. ************************************************************ 36 Gone Nathan was stripping the unconscious Lester, leaving only his pants. He planned on carrying Lester back to the bridge to have him drive one of the trucks. He had no intention of carrying an unconscious man wearing nothing but underwear on his shoulder because that would be so awkward and wrong in so many levels. The last thing he wanted was someone seeing him and thinking that he was a booty warrior carrying his prey to somewhere secluded. He separated Lester''s System items and non-System items and was checking them one by one. Unfortunately, none of the non-System items that Lester wore caught his interest. As for the System items, except for the potions, the rest also didn''t interest him because they only gave +2 bonus stats and were a mixture of Str, Agi, and Vit. What Nathan wanted was a piece of System equipment that gives +3 Agi or hand grenades He also checked the SUV, the driver and the [White] Treasure Chest that the zombies dropped. Aside from the radio, which he didn''t take, none of the things there caught his attention as well. As for the [Grade D] Ring that the N1 zombie dropped, only God knows where it is. ''Sigh... These loots are too depressing.'' He took out two handcuffs from his fanny pack and placed them on Lester''s wrists and ankles. He tore Lester''s shirt and used the pieces of clothing to blindfold and gag Lester because he didn''t want Lester to attract any unwanted attention by making noises while he carried him. And lastly, he grabbed some wires from the barber shop and used them to wrap it around Lester because he had no idea what skills Lester had. He facepalmed. ''Ugh... I almost forgot to repair my items.'' He took out some [Grade D] Repair Kits from his police vest and poured them on his System items. With the unconscious Lester on his shoulder, he decided that it was now time return to the bridge. He didn''t activate [Coward''s Way] because although it would turn him invisible, it won''t make the person he is holding invisible too -- the same applies to animals. For his skill to turn others invisible, there are conditions that should be met. First of all, the person, zombie or animal should be dead. For animals, the maximum size is that of a fully grown German Sheperd dog. Larger than that, his skill couldn''t make it invisible. For humans, he hasn''t yet tried it on a kid, but the largest size that his skill could turn invisible is a torso of a fully grown adult. However, he hasn''t yet tried it on a morbidly obese human torso, because he has yet to encounter one. *************************** Nathan was currently running with the unconscious Lester on his shoulder. He could already see the bridge from afar. However, he noticed something strange about it. One of the trucks was missing! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He was immediately filled with murderous intent. He decided to head first to the building where he hid his backpack before going to the bridge. The last thing he wanted was to fight or be chased around while carrying Lester. And although he didn''t want to risk having Lester killed before he could even obtain the information he wanted, there was one thing that he hates the most -- people stealing his loots! Those two trucks and whatever was inside of them were his, no questions asked. He earned them fair and square. He even had to use his only 3 hand grenades today. Never again is he going to let someone take his loots. He could never forget how that wannabe Ada Wong bitch just came out of nowhere and took everything. *************************** Nathan was currently on top of a two-story building observing the bridge through his binoculars. From his vision, he could see the truck and a couple of zombies feasting on the flesh of the people he killed earlier. After finally concluding that there were traps or whatsoever, he slowly approached the bridge. When he got to the bridge, he killed all the zombies first, making his current total exp 10.9375%. From the 15 zombie he killed, 4 dropped [White] Treasure Chests but he just ignored them because he was more interested at the truck that was left behind. The truck was a 6-wheeler truck with a large container attached to its back. Its driver''s and passenger''s seat were empty so he decided to check the back. Inside the container, the inner end, there were 10 zombies on the sides, 5 on each side. The rings that were locked onto the necks and ankles of the zombies were linked to the chains. Their arms were chopped off and their teeth pulled out. ''Heh~ Collecting zombies for their weaker comrades back in their camp? Well, I guess that makes sense for a group to do.'' On the outer end inside of the container, there were two benches on each side. ''Based on this setup, this most likely the truck that was positioned at the end of the convoy.'' When he first saw this convoy, it consisted of 3 vehicles. The one leading was the black SUV, while the trucks were behind following it. And in the 2nd truck, there were people at the back of the container killing the zombies that were chasing the convoy. He got up inside the container and immediately killed the 10 zombies, making his exp 11.9140625%. Only one of the zombies dropped a [White] Treasure Chest. ''This truck is where the captive zombies are held and is also positioned at the end of the convoy. Meanwhile, the SUV didn''t have any loots except for the ones carried by Lester and that driver. This means that the other truck positioned in the middle has the loots that I''m looking for. But who took it?'' Thinking about their battle earlier, too many bullets were fired. It wouldn''t be surprising if someone nearby heard the gunshots and decided to take advantage of the situation when he left to chase the SUV. With that, he could never guess who the culprit is. It could be anyone. He doesn''t even have a general idea where the truck escaped to. If he knew, he could easily track it down like the SUV because there will be zombies chasing it. If only he was able to prevent the SUV from running away from the first place, he wouldn''t be in this situation. Perhaps if he had a GPS tracker or something, this issue could''ve been solved right away. But it''s too late now. What happened has already happened. And plus, where could he get one? At an electronics shop? Order online? ''Well, this is what I get for being a solo hunter without the proper knowledge and skills,'' Nathan could only smile bitterly and scratch his head. He decided to forget about it for now because he was powerless to do anything about it and instead focus on finding a nice and quiet place where he could "interview" Lester. Before leaving, he opened the [White] Treasure Chest and checked the items of the slain members. And just like from earlier, none of the items caught his interest. He also decided to leave the truck and just carry Lester instead. ************************************************************ Author''s thoughts: Wew... I had a hard time explaining the trucks. I hope you guys understood it. This is the 2nd chapter for June 16 - 22. Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you also for voting this novel. I really appreciate it. And lastly, I would like to give my special thanks to the immortal donators for June 2019: ? None... T_T To those who want to donate to this lowly immortal, you can donate via PayPal at immortalshades123@gmail.com. Donators will have their name and the amount they donated mentioned on each chapter until the end of the month. See you guys at the next chapter. ^_^ 37 Interview Somewhere Southwest in Cram city. Pah! Lester, who was unconscious, was slapped on his cheek, causing him to wake up. "Wakey, wakey," a man''s voice echoed through his ears. "Ugh..." Eyes closed and dazed, Lester was still feeling the sting caused by the slap he just received and could feel the cool breeze blowing on his face. When he tried to open his eyes, he was blinded by lights so he closed his eyes and waited for them to adapt. He finally opened his eyes once again. He could see the night sky and two emergency lights on the floor on each side pointed at him. In the middle of the two lights, there was a person -- It was Nathan. Seeing Nathan, a sense of dread crept into his heart so he immediately tried to move his body but found out that he couldn''t. When he looked at his body, he saw the steel wires wrapped around his arms, torso and legs, locking him in place on a steel chair that had handles on the sides. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Release me!" "Feeling comfy? You know, it took me quite the effort to find that steel chair you''re sitting. Normally, I would''ve chopped off your arms but I was feeling a little creative today." Nathan took a step forward, spread his arms and closed his eyes. "Come, throw me your magic spell. This is your only chance to escape." Unfortunately, Lester only had [Double Slash] which was a melee skill that required a sword or dagger. With that, he could only try his best to break free with the use of his brute strength. "GRAAAAH!" Veins started to bulge on his forearms, neck and forehead as he violently jerk around. Bang! The chair lost its balance and fell to the side. Lester was still tied on the steel chair. The noise made Nathan opened his eyes. Seeing the state of Lester, he returned the chair to its original position while he said, "Careful now. You might hurt yourself." Lester just sat there with deadpan eyes. A series of thoughts entered his mind. Finally, he said, "What do you want?" "Heh~ You''re not going to cast a magic spell? This is your only chance to escape, you know. Or perhaps you''re waiting to strike at the right moment?" Nathan shook his head and continued, "You won''t have that chance." "Tell me what you want? Food? Guns? System items? Women? Men?" While Lester said that, he was also checking his surrounding. Based on what he is seeing, he was on top of a skyscraper so no amount of shouting will help. "What''s the location of your camp?" As Lester was about to give his answer, Nathan added, "Oh, by the way, think carefully of what information you''re going to give me. I have captured two of your companions. If the information you shared me doesn''t match with what your companions told me, I promise you that you''re going to regret it." This caused Lester to be silent. He had no way of knowing if Nathan was lying or not. He wasn''t willing to betray Red Dust. He had to find a way to resolve this issue. As for his suspicion of Nathan being a solo hunter, he chose to ignore it. "Nathan, right? Look, the organization I''m part of is a powerful one. We have Chosen One members and our leader is also a Chosen One. We don''t have to fight. What do you guys want? Just name it. We can give it to you." "Wrong answer." Nathan pulled out a pair of pliers (the slip-joint type) from the back pocket of his pants and grabbed one of the fingers of Lester. "What -- Hey! Hey! What are you -- Gyaaaaaah!" Lester shrieked in pain. Nathan crushed the left index finger of Lester using the pliers, twisted it, and then ripped it away from the hand. "MOTHERFUCKER! Motherfucker! Mother..." Lester was cursing while his head down. He was breathing heavily and his left hand was trembling from pain. When he raised his head to look at Nathan, he shouted, " Did you fucking understand what I just said?! I''m from a powerful organization! Whatever you guys want, we can give it to you! We can be allies! Partners!" Nathan let out a sigh and shook his head. "Wrong answer again." Nathan proceeded to pull out another finger. This time it was the right thumb. Lester''s eyes widened in horror while he begged, "Wait! Wai-- Gyaaaaaah!!!" Compared to earlier when he first lost one finger, he looked even more miserable when he lost a second finger. His head down, both of his hands were trembling from pain, and snot, tears, and saliva were falling from his face. "You won''t... You won''t get away with this... I''ll fucking kill you, you fucking bastard..." ''Hmm... I need something more dramatic.'' Nathan put away the pliers. He grabbed Lester''s hair with his left hand, raised the head, and then grabbed the left ear with his right hand. "Since you''re not giving me the answer I want, I''m assuming that you didn''t hear my question properly. So what''s the use of these ears of yours?" "Wa-wait! Wait! I''ll talk! I''ll talk! It''s at Haven town. West. Outside of Cram city." Nathan smiled and let go of Lester''s hair and ear. ''West? No wonder that bitch came by that day.'' Nathan''s apartment building was located at the West side of Cram city. Meanwhile, Haven town is the first town outside of Cram city going to the West. He took out his pliers and pulled out another finger. "Gyaaaaaah!" After screaming from pain, Lester started violently thrashing around on the chair for a few moments. When he finally stopped, he looked at Nathan with crazy eyes. "Why?! WHY?! I told you the fucking location! I told you, you fucking bastard! I told you, man... Come on, man... I already told you... Let me go..." He started crying. "Your answer doesn''t match what your companions said." Hearing what Nathan just said cause Lester to immediately raise his head and viciously at Nathan with bloodshot eyes. "HAAAAAAA!!! FUUUCCCKKK!!! WHERE ARE THOSE FUCKING COMPANIONS OF MINE?! BRING THEM TO ME! I''LL BITE OFF THEIR FINGERS FOR LYING! I''LL FUCKING BITE THEM OFF AND CHEW THEM! HAAAAAAAAA!!!" Lester once again began violently thrashing around. Seeing Lester''s reaction,Nathan awkwardly scratched his nose and thought, ''So the bitch is at Haven town.'' In truth, there were no companions of Lester that were captured by Nathan. He only had Lester. The fact that Lester might provide him false information, he had no choice but to say and do those things. If Lester was lying even after that, then he was one hell of an actor. "Okay, let''s put that aside for now. Let''s move to the next question." *************************** Nathan was currently smoking a cigarette while staring at Lester''s lifeless corpse. After he got the information he wanted, he immediately broke Lester''s neck. ''Have I always been carrying this evil inside of me? It''s only been about a week since the zombie apocalypse began and I''ve already killed and tortured people. But the thing that disturbs me the most is that I don''t feel any remorse. Even when I did my first human kill, I felt no guilt when I stabbed those college students on the head.'' Before the zombie apocalypse, although Nathan wasn''t a saint or anything, he has never killed or tortured anyone. He was just an average guy working on a dead-end job with no sense of fulfillment and just slowly rotting away. Sure, he fought people before and wished he could kill and torture them. But to actually do those things? He was expecting that he would at least feel some guilt. As for the information he collected from Lester, aside from the location of the enemy camp, he found out the bitch''s name -- Rose. She was the leader of Red Dust and was also a Chosen One. She could change her body into crystal and could also alter the shape of her arms and legs. Regarding the Chosen One members, there were two. One is Derek who could transform into a 2.5m human. During this form, his Str and Vit are multiplied by 2 while Agi is divided by 3. He''s also immune to the zombie virus. The other Chosen One was Ashleigh which Nathan was surprised to learn about. She had the power to cure anything -- even restoring lost limbs and the zombie virus. However, it requires mana so she could only use it for a number of times a day. But the fact she could cure even the zombie virus made her very important. Some people in Red Dust even started worshipping her. Learning about Ashleigh was a Chosen One, he was confused. Why didn''t she tell him about his powers? Was she just acting back then? But her actions when she was with him looked genuine. It''s also important to point out that he too didn''t tell her about his power so why would she even chose to stay with him if she had such powers. But although Nathan''s head was in a mess right now because he couldn''t understand the reasons behind Ashleigh''s actions, there was one thing he was clear about that he needed to do -- Tonight is the night he will have Rose''s head. ************************************************************ Author''s thoughts: This is the 3rd chapter for June 16 - 22. Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you also for voting this novel. I really appreciate it. And lastly, I would like to give my special thanks to the immortal donators for June 2019: ? None... T_T To those who want to donate to this lowly immortal, you can donate via PayPal at immortalshades123@gmail.com. Donators will have their name and the amount they donated mentioned in each chapter until the end of the month. See you guys in the next chapter. ^_^ 38 Haven Town Nathan was running through the woods and invisible, like a phantom in the night. The cool night summer breeze brushed against his cheeks. His vision painted in green as he searched for a tree. He stopped in front of a tree and raised his head. ''This will do.'' He dropped his backpack to the ground, reached out his hand, and climbed it. On top of the tree, he raised his night-vision goggles and gazed upon the brightly lit small town in front of him, studying its layout. The night-vision goggles he had wasn''t part of the System. It was one of the loots from the people he killed during his experiment days. It had straps that allow the user to wear it directly or attach it to a headgear. While gazing at the small town in front of him, his lips curled up and revealed a smile as he thought about a legendary soldier who specializes in top-secret sneaking missions, a man who combines the quality of a soldier and an agent. ''Kept you waiting, huh?'' The small town in front of him was called Haven Town. The place where the organization, Red Dust, supposedly resided, its headquarters so to say. It was located at the foot of the mountains. From Cram city, one would have to drive 10 km to the West outside of the city on the main highway and then turn right, driving another 10km, before finally reaching Haven Town. To get an overview of the town and study its layout before rushing in, Nathan decided to climb the mountain and look for a tree. The small town was brightly light mostly thanks to the lampposts. It was barricaded with a combination of concrete walls and pointy logs about 10ft high and had three entrances/gates: West, South, and East. There were also a couple of wooden watchtowers positioned around the town. From the looks of it, the barricades and some of the watchtowers weren''t yet finished, only about 70%. Despite already 11:00 pm, there were still people up and working on it. Inside the barricade, the town''s layout was pretty simple. In the middle was a three-story mansion, which he suspects is where Rose resides. Meanwhile, the other parts of the town were filled with numerous houses and buildings except for the Northwestern part which looked like a small farm. In regards to light, Nathan was impressed with human technology. With the zombie apocalypse, he was expecting the electricity along with water and gas to go down after 3 days which led him to set up secret bases at Cram city to store his resources. But to his surprise, it''s already been a week yet such luxuries still exist ¨C though there are some parts of Cram city that no longer have them due to the damages. After getting a quick understanding of Haven Town''s layout, Nathan climbed down the tree and started to prepare for his mission. While preparing his gear, his heart was racing, his palms sweaty, and he had butterflies in his stomach. It wasn''t fear though that triggered such reactions, it was excitement. He wrapped his backpack inside a large plastic bag before burying it under the ground. His fighting gear tonight was: [Grade D] Sword (on his back), [Grade D] Long Dagger (left thigh), [Grade D] Dagger (right thigh), police vest, Revolver, night-vision goggles, and his fanny pack. As for his potions, he had 15 healing packets that he personally created. Basically, he took out the liquid inside the [Small] Healing Potions and sealed them inside small plastic packets. His purpose in doing so was for speed and efficiency. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. During a fight, in case he gets injured, it''s not like he can just call a timeout in the middle of the fight and expect his enemy to graciously wait for him as he takes his sweet time opening a [Small] Healing Potion and drink it. Plus, although miraculous, a [Small] Healing Potion only heals 20%. With the healing packets, he can just put them inside his mouth in a short amount of time and tear them inside his mouth with his teeth. After that, he can just spit out the empty packets. He also carried a few [Grade D] Repair Kits and his only two Antidote Potions just in case. ''Time to go now.'' Nathan took the long way around the mountains and headed for the road leading to the South Gate of Haven Town. He purposely didn''t take a shortcut or just straight up rushed to the town because although he could turn invisible, he was still susceptible to physical traps such as tripwires, landmines, bear traps, etc. ¨C who knows what kind of traps were laid there outside of the barricade. And even with his night-vision goggles or if the sun was up, he still would struggle to spot them. Moreover, by taking the road leading up to the South Gate, he was also confident that there won''t be any traps. If there were, supposing there was an emergency and considering the speed of the monsters, no one would be able to pass there, leaving only the West and East gates available which are longer routes from the main highway. *** Haven Town, South Gate. 12:30 am. Nathan was invisible and headed towards the 3-story mansion located at the heart of the town. Aside from the people who were still working on the barricade and the guards patrolling the area, there was no one else. It felt like the town was under martial law. He had his night-vision goggles off and was depending on the light cast by the lampposts. His night-vision goggles had limited battery life, about 4 hours, and requires charging so he would only use it when necessary. Moreover, extremely bright lights make it hard to see (or perhaps he just wasn''t used to it as he doesn''t hunt at night). Up ahead, he saw a guard walking alone and was headed to a dark alley. He quickens his pace as he followed the unsuspecting guard. His plan was to ask the guard where exactly Rose was. Although he suspects she''s at the mansion, he wasn''t 100% sure and wanted more details, like her room or something. As a matter of fact, he even felt a little annoyed that he didn''t ask Lester about it back when he interrogated him. During his heart-to-heart interview session with Lester, he only asked questions that came to his mind. ''Note to self: When interrogating someone, be sure to ask about specific details of their base and where their leader and high ranking officers reside. Oh, also what they''re like.'' The guard entered the dark alley. Nathan immediately put his night vision goggles on and pulled out his [Grade D] Dagger as he slowly approached the guard. The guard went to a corner and was whistling as he unzipped his pants. Soon, the sound of flowing water hitting the wall was heard. "Ahhh¡­ That feels good. God, I can''t wait for it to be morning already. Guard duty really ¨C" A hand covered his mouth and he felt a cold steel pressed against his neck, catching him in surprise and causing him to sprinkle fluids on his pants and shoes. As he was about to curse and move, a cold voice entered his ears. "Move and I''ll slit your throat." The guard didn''t move and was trying to figure out whether this was a prank or not. However, the cold steel pressed against his neck which gave him a prickly feeling and the leathered hand covering his mouth which smelled like dried blood and sweat suggested that it wasn''t. Finally accepting that this wasn''t a prank, his eyes widen in horror. And out of fear, his shaft forcefully stopped producing fluids that it made him twitch in pain but he dared not to move and silently endured it. "Listen closely. I''m going to ask you a few simple questions. If your answers don''t match with what others told me or you do something I don''t like, I will immediately slit your throat. All I want is information and I promise to let you go if you cooperate. Nod once if you agree." The guard nodded. Nathan slowly released his hand from the guard''s mouth but still kept the cold steel pressed against the man''s neck serving as a cold reminder that his life was at stake. "Tell me where is the leader of Red Dust." "At ¨C At Haven Manor. It''s the large mansion located in the middle of the town." "Which room?" "I ¨C I don''t know exactly." Nathan pressed the cold steel deeper, causing the guard''s neck to bleed. "Wa ¨C Wait! All I know it''s on the third floor but I''m not sure! That''s all I know, man. I ¨C I promise! Please! I just joined this organization. I have a family. I have a daugh-" The hand that covered the guard''s mouth earlier returned once more, silencing from whatever excuses he had to say to sway the decision of his executioner. To Nathan, he didn''t care to listen. From the beginning, he already had an ending in mind for their fateful encounter. Before the guard could even fight back, the blade already penetrated his neck and sunk deeper and deeper into his flesh until he was finally decapitated and his headless corpse fell to the ground. Blood splattered on Nathan''s face and armor. ''Third floor, huh?'' He dropped the guard''s severed head to the ground and returned his [Grade D] Dagger to its sheath. He wiped the blood on his face with his left hand as he stared down at the headless corpse and severed head. ''There seems to be no radio for communication on his ear or body. This guard was probably just a low-ranking member of the group. But still¡­'' He looked away and surveyed his surroundings. ''Now that I have killed one of them, I probably only have about 10 minutes left before the others will start to suspect that one of them is missing or someone will notice this body. As for getting the exact details of the room, I will have to ask another one inside.'' After having said those things, he began to ponder if killing Rose tonight was worth it. Before he even got here, there have been too many mistakes already starting with the battle at the bridge. He couldn''t help but question if he was rushing things or running a fool''s errand driven by petty reasons. ''No¡­ This has to happen tonight.'' Filled with determination and resolved, as if a hero carrying out a holy and just mission, he bravely continued his journey to fetch Rose''s head. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hi, guys. I know it''s been a while. Same as usual, I''ve been so busy so I wasn''t able to post any new chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 39 Haven Town 2 12:33 AM. Nathan was invisible and running. He was still headed to the center of town where Haven Manor was located at. On his way there, he passed by a group of two-story buildings that had a large ball field. ''Haven School,'' he read the sign plastered on the wall. Realizing that it was a school, he recalled his high school life. *** 8 years ago. Nathan, 16 years old. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Country of Muwin ¨C Latif High School, Latif City. "Burger and apple juice, please." The old lady accepted the money and gave Nathan a burger and one bottle of apple juice. "Here you go." The old lady passed Nathan his change and turned towards another customer. "What can I get you?" "Thanks," said Nathan as he turned away and began his great escape from the sea of students. When Nathan finally escaped, he let out a sigh of relief. ''This really sucks. Men, women, I almost got knocked out from their smelly armpits!'' Right now was recess time. And given that this was a public high school, although there were other cafeterias and stalls, due to the number of students, recess time was always chaotic. Nathan looked around. There were no extra tables and chairs inside and outside the cafeteria he was at. Fortunately, the sky was cloudy so he decided to head to the ball field. He sat at one of the bleachers and pulled out his phone to watch a video from a website as he ate. The video he was watching was about a training program for lifting weights. Unfortunately, just after 3 minutes of watching the video with 12 minutes left, he decided to close it. ''What a worthless video. The intro is 1 minute long and the content provides nothing new.'' All of a sudden, an arm wrapped around his neck and was followed by a female voice ringing on his right ear. "You''re so cold, Nathan! Why did you leave us?! We were looking all over for you!" Nathan felt the little, soft pillows pressing against his back and smelled a familiar sweet apple scent of cheap shampoo. His heart started to race but he quickly suppressed it. "It''s not my fault. You guys were too slow," Nathan said with a bored expression. The woman uncoiled her arm around Nathan''s neck and sat beside him. "It''s not my fault. The girl that Vincent is courting moves so slow. What did you get?" asked the woman and smiled sweetly. Nathan looked at the woman and realized that his emotions were still in disarray from the sensation he just felt but he didn''t show any expression as his mind worked double time in suppressing it. Her name was Karen. She was one his childhood friends and currently his classmate. She had long black hair and white skin. In terms of looks, she was slightly above average, making her a 6. As for her body, it was only average at best, but she was slim and was 5''4" in height. Nathan didn''t answer. He continued searching for other fitness videos on his phone as he took a bite from his burger and drank juice. "They should be coming here any minute now," said the woman as she sent a text from her phone and put it inside her pocket. She opened the bottle of juice that she bought and took a sip. "Elk! It doesn''t taste good¡­" Nathan didn''t react and continued looking for videos as he ate. "Nathan¡­" the woman said with a voice that sounded like she was about to cry. "No, I''m not going to swap." "I wanted to try this new flavor and I wasn''t expecting it to taste this bad." "Then throw it away." "But it would be a waste." "Then finish it." "But it doesn''t taste good¡­" "Then throw it away." She coiled her arm around Nathan''s arm, leaned her head against his shoulder and said, "Come on, what are childhood friends and neighbors are for? I promise this would be the last time." Karen began shaking his arm. Nathan could feel his right arm bumping on her left breast. "Who told you to buy that drink anyway?" "I never tried this flavor before so I was curious." He stopped looking at his phone and looked at her with a helpless expression. Karen was adventurous, outgoing, friendly and always liked to try new things. This also made her one of the popular kids in school. However, due to her attitude, this also led her to a number of uncomfortable situations. Luckily for her, she had Nathan and Vincent, her childhood friends and neighbors, to bail her out when in need. "This better be the last time." "Yay~~!" Karen immediately switched her drink with Nathan''s. "Hey, Karen!" a female voice called out from afar. "What''s up, Therese?" Karen replied and waved. Therese was one of their classmates. She was one of the honor students in their class and was also beautiful. She was also a former member of the student council. Beside her was a thin guy with glasses who was only 5''3" in height and was also an honor student. Unlike Therese, Karen and Nathan who were graduating students, he was a junior. However, he was part of the student council. "I just talked to Mrs. Suarez. She wants to know if the budget we have for the graduation after-party next week is enough." "Everything is fine. Yesterday I went downtown to check the price of the materials that we need." Karen was the former treasurer of the student council. As for the graduation after-party, the current student council members were in charge of it, but she volunteered to help simply because she wanted to. "Great, I''ll tell her right away." "Okay. Just find me or send me a text if there''s an emergency." "Sure." Therese and the thin guy turned away. However, they accidentally bumped into a group of three male students. "Watch where you''re going, nerd!" One of the male students shoved the thin guy that Therese was with. The thin guy fell to the ground and immediately apologized, "I''m sorry. I wasn''t watching." The male students looked at the thin guy with disdain and laughed. "He fell from that little shove? God, that''s pathetic." The group of males were members of the basketball team. Their height ranges from 5''9 to 6''1" In this country, the average height of a male was 5''7" while the female was 5''5". In the case of Nathan who was fast approaching 6ft at the age of 16, he was one of the few tall guys in the school. Added with his muscular physique and his connection with Vincent and Karen, not many would dare to mess with him despite his so-called lone wolf attitude. "You! I can have you suspended for bullying!" Therese said as she glared at the bullies. The three bullies sneered. Therese was no longer part of the student council and will be graduating next week. Karen immediately rushed up and shouted, "You guys are the pathetic ones! Don''t you have any other thing better to do?!" Having two women, Therese and Karen, confront them, the bullies immediately lost interest and wanted to leave. In this school, if a man will fight or bully a woman, that man would immediately have a bad reputation and face the wrath of many white knights, regardless of whatever the reason was. "Let''s go," said one of the bullies. As they tried to leave, Karen grabbed one of them by their uniform and shouted, "Where are you going?! You haven''t yet apologized!" Seeing the commotion, students started to gather around to see what''s going on. Nathan, who was at the bleachers sitting, was quietly observing. As a graduating student, he knew very well about the politics of high school and the drama that comes with it. And he was, quite frankly, very sick of it. But despite him not wanting to dabble with such nonsense and invite the madness and stress that comes along with, he had no choice but to play along even just a little if he wanted to live a peaceful school life, especially when considering the fact that 80% of a student''s life is spent at school. ''Karen¡­ Can''t you just mind your own business? Why do you have to poke your nose in other people''s business¡­'' Nathan scolded inside his heart. Although he was well aware that a man hitting a woman will lead to big problems and not many are brave enough to risk it because they will be facing a lot of white knights, there''s always that chance that a person can''t take it anymore and decides to break the rule. ''If that happens...'' Nathan''s eyes gleamed as he put his phone inside his pocket and prepared himself to take Karen away just in case. "Yousef, I suggest you do what she says," a male voice suddenly said. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 40 Haven Town 3 "Yousef, I suggest you do what she says," a male voice said. Everyone looked at the person who said it. It was Vincent. Vincent was only 5''7". However, he was friendly, smart, the captain of the football team, handsome, and he came from a rich family. With all these qualities, he was one of the popular kids in school. In regards to why he chose to go to a public school instead of a private school despite coming from a rich family, it was because he wanted to spend his student life with his childhood friends, Nathan and Karen. Seeing Vincent come to the rescue, the eyes of many girls shined, including Karen''s. "Mind your own business, Vincent," Yousef, one of the bullies, said. "Or else what?" asked Vincent as he immediately approached Yousef who was 3 inches taller than him. Yousef found himself tongue-tied because he also noticed that a couple of Vincent''s friends more than seven were nearby, waiting. "How does it feel being bullied? If you don''t like it, then don''t do it to others!" Karen said on the side. Yousef''s companions glared at Karen. However, Karen wasn''t afraid. To her, she and the others were on the good side. "So, what''s your decision?" Vincent coldly asked the bullies. Yousef stared into Vincent''s eyes. He clenched his fists and unclenched them before finally calming down. "It''s our fault. Sorry," Yousef said nonchalantly and turned around to leave. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He was well aware that if a fight broke between his group and Vincent''s group, with so many witnesses around, they will surely be painted as the villains and would face punishment from the school and from their coach. "Wait, say sorry to Jessie, not us! And make sure you mean it!" Karen said. Hearing what Karen said, Jessie, the nerd pushed by the bullies earlier, had mixed feelings. One part of him was grateful seeing people stand up for him, while another part of him felt fearful for the future. Vincent, Karen, and Therese were graduating students and will graduate next week. On the other hand, Yousef and his companions were in the same year as he was, juniors. Despite him being part of the student council, it held little effect to prevent bullies from targeting him. Thanks to this moment, although Yousef and his buddies won''t bother him for the time being, the bullying he will experience once they decided to target him again will be harsher. Naturally, this was also one of Nathan''s concerns. In Nathan''s mind, a school without bullying is nothing but a fantasy. There will always be hierarchies. If one doesn''t want to become a victim, one needs to learn how to protect oneself. Fortunately for him, his childhood friends were among the popular kids in school. However, with his so-called lone wolf attitude, he disliked the idea of relying on them so he still chose to build up his muscles and play along even just a little bit with the politics of high school. "No, it''s fine. It''s my fault after all. My vision has always been blurry so I always bumped into people," Jessie meekly said on the side. "No, that''s unacceptable! Bullying is something that must never be tolerated!" Therese said. Vincent crossed his arms and said, "You heard them. So what is it gonna be, Yousef?" Yousef turned to Jessie and said, "Sorry, Jessie. We didn''t mean to do it." "It''s fine. Really," Jessie replied. Yousef and his companions immediately left. Vincent looked at Jessie for a moment to see if he was hurt before turning to Therese and Karen. "You girls okay? Did they hit you?" "No, thank you, Vincent," Therese replied and smiled. Karen, on the other hand, slapped Vincent''s back. Pah! "You really know how to make an entrance!" Vincent shook his head and smiled. "I''m just doing what any person must do." "Oh yeah, where''s that woman you''re courting?" Vincent looked at the direction where the woman he was courting was and waved at her to come over. The woman came over. She placed a hand on her chest and said, "That was so scary. I thought you guys were going to have a fight. You know that I hate violence." This woman was a junior and her name was Nikki. She was 5''5", slim, elegant, and had white and flawless skin. In their school, she was crowned as the most beautiful woman and many people, both from this school and other schools, had a crush on her and were trying to court her. Karen snorted at the side and said, "How can you say that? Vincent was only trying to protect us." Vincent smiled and said, "I think we only have about 15 minutes left before our recess ends. So where''s Nathan?" "Nathan? He''s there," said Karen as she pointed at the bleachers. They saw Nathan sitting alone at the bleachers with a bored expression. He was looking at his phone and eating, acting like what happened earlier didn''t happen. They approached him. Karen punched Nathan''s shoulder. "You''re really obsessed with workout. Don''t get too big or girls won''t like you." Nathan raised his head and looked at Karen. "Yo!" said Vincent. "Hello," said Nikki. Nathan looked at Vincent and Nikkia for a moment and nodded before returning his attention to his phone. Seeing Nathan''s actions, Vincent felt helpless. As Nathan''s childhood friend, Vincent was aware that Nathan hates small talk and would rather be left in peace. But although he may appear to be cold to people, he is actually the most loyal and dependable person you can depend on if things go south. You may be the shittiest or the most evil person in the world, but if he considers you his friend, he will take your side even if it means going against the whole world. But despite knowing Nathan''s attitude, he was still hoping to introduce Nikki to his childhood friends and have them form a good friendship. However, it looks like it would take a lot of effort for that to happen. Putting aside Nathan''s loner attitude, in the case of Karen, he noticed that she and Nikki never see eye-to-eye. They started eating their snacks. *** Lunch break. Nathan and Karen were walking together, while Vincent and Nikki were behind them. "Come on, let''s have lunch at Vincent''s place," Karen said. "Next time," Nathan replied. Nathan, Vincent, and Karen are neighbors and they sometimes have lunch together. Vincent invited them to have lunch his place, but this time around, Nikki was coming along. It wasn''t that Nathan didn''t like to eat with Nikki. Unfortunately, he already planned to skip school in the afternoon because he wanted to watch the premiere of this new sci-fi movie. If he were to have lunch with them, he wouldn''t be able to cut classes. His original plan was to watch it in the morning, but he needed his second allowance of the day which will be given to him before he goes to school in the afternoon which is why he decided to watch in the afternoon. As for watching it after school, that was out of the question because the cinema will be crowded and he hates it. "Bye," said Nathan as he opened the gate to his house. "Nathan, come on," Karen begged and made the Disney face. Her lips started to quiver and her eyes fluttered but didn''t actually close. "Sorry, I can''t today. I promise, next time," Nathan said with an apologetic expression. He opened the door to his house and entered. Karen let out an exasperated sigh and turned towards Vincent and Nikki who were happily chatting together. Seeing Vincent''s happy expression, Karen snorted. "Come on, I''m hungry." Vincent looked at Karen. "Nathan''s not coming?" "You didn''t notice?" Karen replied. "Did he say why?" Vincent asked Karen. However, Karen ignored him and just continued walking. "It''s okay. There''s always next time anyway," said Nikki. Vincent looked at Nikki and smiled. "Yeah, you''re right. Why don''t we all go out this weekend?" "Um¡­ About that¡­ I''d love to, but¡­" replied Nikki. "You already have plans this weekend?" "Yes, I promised my friends that we''re going to watch this new sci-fi movie." "How about we all watch it this weekend then?" "That''s a great idea." "What''s the movie about?" "Um¡­ I think it''s about a group of humans going to some planet to meet a bald, pale-looking humanoid alien who is supposed to be the creator of humankind." "Sounds interesting." "They say it''s a prequel to another alien film that was created 10, 20 years ago. I''m not sure of the exact details." Karen was listening to their conversation and would roll her eyes from time to time. However, when she heard about the movie, an idea immediately came inside her head. She knew that Nathan liked sci-fi movies that''s mixed with mystery, psychology, religion or anything that''s thought-provoking. ''Nathan¡­ If what I suspect is correct¡­'' Her eyes gleamed. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 41 Haven Town 4 Entering the house, Nathan immediately removed his shoes and socks. Nathan comes from an average-income household. His mother was a housewife and his father was a policeman. In the country of Muwin, religion plays a major role in society, making it a conservative country. There are two religions that dominate this country, Trinity and Iklas. In the northern part of the country, Trinity is the most popular religion. Meanwhile, at the South is Iklas. Between the two religions, Trinity is the lenient one when it comes to traditional gender roles. The place where Nathan''s place is at is a small city called Latif city which is located in the center of Muwin. His parents'' religion is Iklas. Although neither of them takes religion seriously, just the right amount, when it comes to attitude and practices, they more or less lean more on the Iklasian side and the culture of South Muwinians. "Nathan, is that you?" a female voice called out from the living room. It was his mother. "Yeah." "The food is already cooked. Just serve yourself." Nathan''s mother was busy watching TV. He went to the kitchen to have lunch. Nathan doesn''t mind serving himself and eating alone. He prefers it and is used to doing things his own way anyway. However, when his father is at home, his mother presents herself as a perfect housewife and they eat together as a family. As for his father, he rarely comes home. On the rare occasions that he does come home, aside from eating together, the only time he interacts with Nathan is when he''s disciplining him which can be very physical at times. The reason why his family is like this, Nathan isn''t exactly sure why, but he could speculate the cause. One time, one of his relatives "accidentally" told him that his father and mother were forced into an arranged marriage by their parents which is a common practice in the religion of Iklas. After washing the dishes, he immediately brushed his teeth and head to his room to change into civilian clothing. He then went to the living room. "Mother, I''m going now." His mother, who was watching TV, looked at Nathan. "Where''s your uniform?" "We''re just going to practice for graduation this afternoon and my teacher said we could wear civilian clothes if we want," Nathan said with a straight face and no hint of nervousness could be seen on him. His mother pulled out some cash in her pocket. "Be sure to come home before 6:00 pm. Your uncle and aunt along with your cousins just arrived yesterday from Womania and are staying at a hotel. They want to have dinner with us tonight." ''From Womania? If it''s my uncle and aunt from Womania, that would be Amir and Asha''s parents.'' "Yes, mother." Nathan took the money from his mother''s hands and immediately headed to the front door to wear shoes and head out. *** Nathan closed the gate when suddenly someone tackled him from the side. "Gotcha!" Nathan was closed to 6ft and was muscular, while the person who just tackled him was smaller and thinner. Because of that, the person wasn''t able to push him down. It was Karen. She had her long black hair tied into a ponytail and was dressed in civilian clothes: white shirt, blue jeans, and rubber shoes. Nathan, on the other hand, who had short hair, was wearing a slim-fit black shirt, gray jeans, and black shoes. Seeing her trying to push him to the ground, Nathan was about to grab her shoulders but stopped when his hands were only just a few centimeters away. He dropped his hands. "What are you doing?" Karen let go and backed away. "There question here is: Where are YOU going?" Nathan raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I''m going to school." With a smug look on her face, Karen said, "If there''s anything I know about you, you hate being rushed and told what to do. And plus, you like to do things at your own pace." "What does that have to do with me going to school?" "We still have 35 minutes left before we have to go to school and you''re not the type who likes to go to school early, especially if it''s just for something like graduation practice. So will you tell me where you''re going?" Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "People can change, you know." He turned and started walking away. "Let''s wait for Vincent and Nikki then. We still have 35 minutes anyway." "I''ll pass on that." "Oh well, you leave me no choice," said Karen and she took a deep breath. "MRS. MAKHAD, NATHAN IS GOING TO CUT CLASSES. HE''S --" Nathan immediately turned back, rushed to Karen and covered her mouth. He leaned over and harshly whispered, "What are you doing?!" Karen removed Nathan''s hand that was covering her mouth and leaned closer to him as well. "You''re going downtown to watch that new sci-fi movie, aren''t you?" Smelling the minty scent coming from her breath, it was only then Nathan realized that their faces were so close that their lips were only an inch away from locking together, causing him to blush. He immediately distanced himself and looked away. "No, I''m not." "MRS. MAK--" Nathan closed her mouth once again. "Okay, okay, okay. You win. What do you want?" "Take me with you." "What?" "Come on. It''s been a while since you and I went out alone anyway." Hearing that, Nathan''s heart started to flutter madly and soared into the sky. "And plus, I get irritated whenever I see Vincent chasing that woman around like a puppy. I''m going to watch that movie and spoil every detail to Vincent. Wahahaha~!" Hearing this, Nathan felt like his heart was ripped apart and was quickly falling from the sky. However, he didn''t show any negative emotions on his face. He maintained his every day bored expression that Karen and Vincent were familiar with. "Just so you know, I won''t have any extra money to buy for snacks if I''m going to pay for you ticket," Nathan said. Karen immediately grabbed onto his arm. "No problem. I have enough money here to buy us snacks and even ride a taxi around the city. Let''s go!" She dragged him. Karen came from an average-income household as well. But compared to Nathan''s family, both of her parents had jobs and were working for the government. *** Nathan and Karen were already inside the cinema and watching the movie. When they were already half-way of the movie, Karen got bored and fell asleep. But before sleeping, she told him to make sure to watch the movie carefully and so that he can tell her what happened on the way home. Nathan already expected this to happen which is why he didn''t invite her in the first place. He knew that she preferred to watch movies about love or comedy. As for Vincent, lately, he was busy courting Nikki so he didn''t invite him. *** "Karen, wake up." Nathan was nudging her shoulder. The movie already ended and the lights were on. As for his opinion about the movie, it was mixed. He liked it, but at the same time it also felt lacking ¨C one of the reasons would be that he wanted more scenes of the alien speaking and talking about the truth of the universe and its lifeforms. "Hey, wake up." Karen opened her eyes and looked around. "It''s done?" She stretched before standing up. "Yeah, come on." Nathan started heading out and she followed suit. "Where are we going to do next?" Nathan checked his phone. 3:00 pm. Their class usually ends up at 4:30 pm and he arrives at home by around 4:45 pm to 5:00 pm before going out again at 6:00 pm to go to the gym. "Go home," Nathan answered. "We can''t!" "Well, I can because my uncle and aunt from Womania along with their children are coming to visit. I''m just going to tell my mother that we were dismissed early." "Which cousins?" "Amir and Asha." "Oh, it''s been a while since I''ve seen them. Is Amir still dating that woman who won the title of Ms. Latif two years ago?" "How should I know?" "You guys are cousins, right? I heard that boys like to talk about women when they''re together so you should know." "You know that Amir and I barely speak with each other. Plus, who told you that?" Nathan always felt weird hanging out with Amir. Aside from the fact that Amir was 2 years old than him, the people that he hangs out with are too classy for him that he couldn''t relate with them. One time, he played outdoor basketball with Amir and his friends, they put on lotion before playing.Sure, they were concerned about getting a sunburn, but at least do that in private. "I read it in a magazine and on the internet. Oh, I forgot, you don''t care about getting a girlfriend. In fact, I''ve never seen you flirting with a woman before." Nathan didn''t answer and wanted to face-palm. Karen wrapped her arm around Nathan''s arm and they continued walking. "Hey, I can''t go home right now." "You can go to school and join in the practice. There''s still so much time left." "Are you crazy?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Karen punched his arm. Nathan laughed. "I didn''t force you to come with me, remember?" "Let me stay are your place for the moment." "Nope, you talk too much." "Don''t worry, I won''t touch your porn collection inside your laptop." "..." "If you''re going to leave me here, I''m going to tell on you." "Sometimes I can''t tell whether you''re smart or just dumb. You do realize that that would also burn you, right?" "Nathan, come on, don''t go home and accompany me. Oh, tell me about the movie." "The movie that I just paid for us to watch?" "I bought snacks, right? I''ll buy you snacks again." Nathan let out a sigh. "Okay, but I''m going to order a lot." "Fine." Karen, who was still holding onto Nathan''s arm, suddenly stopped walking, causing him to stop as well. "What''s wrong?" Karen had her head down and her gaze cast on the floor. "Nathan¡­ does Vincent know that I have feelings for him?" Nathan''s expression jumped from shock to dark and then to concern. But in his eyes remained a hint of jealousy. ''I guess this smokescreen game that we''ve been playing for years will come to an end very soon¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 42 Haven Manor Present time. Nathan was currently invisible and was already on the grounds of Haven Manor. The manor was a 3-story building. In front of the building was a large circular fountain with an angelic statue in the middle. Just with the manor''s exterior alone, one could say that it was an architectural beauty, a far cry from his apartment back at Cram city. After doing a quick check of the area, he found out that there were only about 15 guards patrolling outside, and all the doors and windows were closed except for one large double door located at the front which serves as the main entrance of the manor and guarded by two guards. Given that this was only part of the manor that was left open, naturally, it was the path Nathan decided to go through. He didn''t choose to go through the other entrances or windows in fear that they might trigger an alarm or something if he forcefully opened them. He approached the two guards standing at the door, trying to see if there were any traps laid there. While he was inspecting, the two were talking about the zombie apocalypse. "Hey man. I finally found it." "Found what?" "The reason why this zombie apocalypse is happening." "Here we go again¡­" The other guard let out a sigh and had an annoyed look on his face. "I read the Holy Book again this morning to check out a few things and I finally found it ¨C the scripture which mentions God will return one day and deliver judgment," said the religious guard. The annoyed guard massaged his forehead. "The scripture says ¨C" "Come on, man. If you''re going to talk, could you at least talk about something else?" "What¡­? Hello? God spoke to everyone at the start of this zombie apocalypse. Aren''t you a bit curious as to why God decided this? And plus, the fact that mankind has always been trying to find evidence that God really exists and now we have the undeniable truth that He truly does exist, I don''t know about you, but that is just mind-blowing! I bet the atheists are shitting their pants now!" "Look, yeah, sure, I grew up and in a Trinitian household, but just like I''ve been telling you these past few nights ¨C I''m not religious. Truth be told, right now, all I care about is getting through this zombie crisis and hope that everything will just go back to the way it used to be. That''s it." The religious guard looked at the annoyed guard with pity. "You really need God, man. You wanna know why? You see, there''s¨C" The annoyed guard rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming next and it''s gonna be a very, very long sermon so he decided to stop it before it comes. "Hold on! Let''s make a deal. This will be the last time I will talk about anything about this topic. If you bring it up again, I''ll just ignore you even if you talk about it the whole night. The way I see it, this zombie apocalypse, it''s probably like this: When a kid loses interest with his favorite toy, what does he do? There are two things: either he tears it apart or abandons it to replace it with another toy." "So you''re saying God has grown tired of us and now wants another toy to play with? That''s blasphemy. Think about it: If that''s the case, why did God create us in the first place? The fact that we were created in the image and likeness of God, that alone shows just how much he loves us." The annoyed guard didn''t reply. He was going to honor what he said earlier. This will be the last time he will talk anything about it ¨C Well, at least with this religious guard. Nathan who just finished inspecting the entrance for any traps decided to leave the two behind. But before leaving, he looked at them. ''What''s up with these guards? Back at the mall, even the guards there were also talking about it.'' But thinking about the conversation between the two, he realized that he never thought about it. All this time he was busy powering up in preparation to go to where Amir was at. ''Hmm... If God really loves us, why does he allow unjust suffering? To make people know the value of life?'' ''If one was born with an incurable disease or disability that leaves him utterly useless in the society, can that person value the life he was given and not commit suicide?'' ''If a newborn baby was killed, can that baby know the value of life? Or was it to teach others?'' ''If having someone undergo such unjust suffering so that that person or other people will know the value of life, then that is just pure madness. I would''ve understood it if the sufferers volunteered to undergo such thing or if they committed grave sins in their past lives. But if not, then I see no love there, only sacrificial lambs, toys to be played with.'' ''As for the zombie apocalypse, millions or perhaps billions have already died. To me, only a sadist will let someone go through such things.'' ''But I must say, this power I have right now, I really like it.'' Nathan''s lips curled up into a smile of pure satisfaction. After expressing his thoughts, Nathan left the two guards to continue what he came for. Inside the manor, he found himself in a spacious hallway and was welcomed by a grand marble staircase covered in carpet. The floor was also made of marble and there were expensive-looking furniture perfectly positioned to complement the paintings and photographs plastered on the walls. Meanwhile, the ceiling was painted with angelic beings dancing on top of clouds. The place simply breathes luxury and extravagance that it made Nathan who came from a humble household a little self-conscious that he might tarnish the beauty of this place with his soiled gloves and boots. ''The rich really live in a different world.'' He stood at the center and marveled at its beauty for a moment. ''But what''s the point of all of these? With the zombies evolving and their leader dying tonight, sooner or later, this place will either be destroyed or abandoned.'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He climbed the stairs and headed to the third floor. *** The entire third floor was quiet, not a single soul could be seen. There were about 15 doors in total and a camera at each end of the hallway. Nathan wasn''t sure if these were just normal cameras or special cameras that feature motion detection or thermal vision. But so far, nothing out of the ordinary happened when he passed them. As for whether motion-detecting sensors and thermal vision could see through his invisibility, he also doesn''t know and has yet to test it out. However, he was confident they couldn''t because his skill [Coward''s Way] mentioned "complete invisibility" on its description. He approached one of the doors. His plan was to find someone there and "ask" the person where Rose was and her room. ''Please don''t be locked, please don''t be locked, please don''t be locked¡­'' He placed his hands on the doorknob and twisted it. Kacha! He let out a sigh of relief. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. The light was on. The room was spacious. It featured two large windows, a living room, and a kitchen area with a dining table enough for four people to dine in. There were also three other doors within the room. ''The setup looks like an apartment, huh. But unlike my shabby apartment, the things used to decorate this room were of high quality.'' He checked the first door, it led him to a study room. He checked the second door, it was the bathroom. He checked the third door. When he opened the door, the first thing he noticed was its dim lighting. Next was the sweet scent that assaulted his nose, giving him the impression that it was a woman''s room. Inside this dimly lit large room were two windows with their curtains down and two more doors. ''My god! How many rooms within a room must a room have?!'' At the center of the room, there was a large bed with a person sleeping covered in blankets. Nathan entered and gently close the door behind him. He pulled out his [Grade D] Dagger and silently approached the bed. He stared down at the person who was sleeping on the bed. It was a Caucasian woman sleeping on her side wearing a nightgown. Her chest down to her legs covered by blankets and her face was exposed. However, he couldn''t clearly see her face as it was covered by her long black hair. ''Wait¡­! Could this be the bitch? Am I that lucky? Haha~'' After laughing inside his heart, he quickly frowned. ''Wait¡­ Does she have a sister? What about a cousin or someone that looks like her? Haaa¡­ My poor, piss interrogation skills!'' He put on his night-vision goggles. But even with it on, he still couldn''t clearly see her face due to the hair so he decided to put the goggles away. Nathan pondered. It''s been close to 15 minutes already since he killed that guard outside. If he stayed any longer, they might realize an intruder is inside the base. And right now, he couldn''t tell whether this woman was Rose or not. If touches her, he will lose his invisibility. If this isn''t Rose and he touches her for questioning, he was confident in subduing her. However, if it was Rose, given that she was a Chosen One that could turn herself into crystal and alter the shape of her arms and feet, then it will be a problem. ''The best and safest way is just to kill this woman immediately and check the next room.'' With his [Grade D] Dagger on his right hand, he stabbed the sleeping woman''s neck and lost his invisibility. The woman''s eyes opened widely as she looked at him with shock written all over her face. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 43 The Room The woman stared at Nathan wide-eyed with the blade thrusted into her neck. Looking at her with cold eyes, Nathan twisted the blade and then whisked it away, causing blood to spurt out of the woman''s neck and paint the sheets in red. The woman helplessly covered the wound on her neck with her hands while she desperately gasped for air and made choking sounds as her lifeforce slowly abandons her. Tak! Someone under the bed shot a taser gun on Nathan''s leg. Titititititititi¡­ Nathan immediately lost control of his body, stiffened and dropped to the floor. "Arghhhh!" He gritted his teeth and arched his back due to the overwhelming and excruciating pain he was experiencing which felt like his muscles were being ripped apart. "Got him! Quickly come out!" The person under the bed shouted. While Nathan was being electrocuted, two men came out from one of the doors inside the bedroom and turned on the light. Seeing Nathan immobilized, one of them shouted in excitement, "We got the motherfucker! Chosen One my ass! This is too easy!" "Don''t celebrate just yet. Once the taser stops, quickly remove his equipment and tie him up. You guys got the ropes and handcuffs?" "Yeah, ready." "I couldn''t see him even with my thermal goggles on." The person under the bed muttered under his breath. After what seems to be an eternity of overwhelming and excruciating pain, which was actually only 5 seconds, the electrocution finally stopped. "Did we kill him?" One of the men asked. "Nah¡­ Tasers don''t kill. I''ve yet to hear someone die from being tasered." "Well, you know that the boss wants this motherfucker alive. We''d be screwed if we accidentally killed him." "That would just mean he''s weak. He could only blame himself for messing with our group." "What the fuck are you two doing? Don''t waste time! Remove his items and tie him up now!" The man who was under the bed said as he stood up and then pulled out a radio. "Mission successful. We got the target here at Room 304." The two immediately approached Nathan to remove the items from his body. But as the two were about to touch Nathan, he suddenly disappeared. "What the¡­ ?!" The overwhelming pain from being tasered immediately vanished right after the electrocution stopped but was left Nathan with his body feeling jellow. However, with his Vit at 29 points combined with his strong desire to live and the adrenaline rush kicking in, he activated [Coward''s Way] and somehow managed to pull out his Revolver with his left hand. Bang! Nathan shot one of them on the chest and he lost his invisibility. Seeing Nathan appear, the one under the bed earlier shouted, "Quick! Grab him!" They both jumped in. Bang! Another one was blasted away, while the one who tasered Nathan managed to get on top of him. Still suffering the aftereffects of being tasered, Nathan was overpowered and the gun was taken away from his hands. The enemy then started pummeling Nathan. "Stay down, you motherfucker!" Pah! Pah! Pah! The door which led outside of the bedroom suddenly swung opened and a group of people rushed in. "Stop him!" a male voice ordered. It was a voice that Nathan was very familiar with ¨C Derek. He was wearing a full black bodysuit, utility belt, thermal goggles, and was fully geared with System items, but carried no System weapon. The only weapon on his side which was a Glock 18. "Freddie, that''s enough!" "Calm down, Freddie!" Three men grabbed Freddie away. Derek and the people who came in with him looked at the surrounding. Nathan was lying on the floor motionless along with three other people: the woman on the bed and the two men shot by Nathan. "Check their bodies," Derek ordered. One of the people that came in with Derek went to check Nathan, while another one checked their fellow members. Nathan''s face was bruised and bloodied. His night vision goggles destroyed. "He''s still alive," said the person who checked Nathan''s condition. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Their leader wanted Nathan alive. "They''re dead," the other one said who checked their fellow members. Everyone had a dark expression on their faces. These people were their companions, who had family and friends that cared for them. "Clean this place up and inform their family members," Derek said and then looked at Nathan. "Quickly tie him up." Two people went over to Nathan to remove his items. Derek looked at Freddie who had his head down and was looking at his fallen companions. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "I know how devastating it feels, but at least you guys were able to catch him. If you guys failed, many more would''ve died. Everyone here in this town is indebted to you guys. Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that all of you will get the reward you guys deserve. I promise you that." Freddie raised his head to look at Derek in the eye and then turned away to look again at his fallen companions. "I don''t want anything for myself. Just make sure their family is taken care of, especially Danny''s wife and his 3-month old daughter." Thud! "Aw~ How sweet. Why don''t you two faggots get a room already?" Everyone looked at the direction to where the voice was coming from. It was Nathan who had taken a hostage and was holding a dagger against the victim''s neck. There was also another person right next to them lying on the floor drowning in a pool of blood. The beating that Nathan received from Freddie earlier was actually not that damaging despite him ending up with a bruised and bloodied face. Although he felt physical pain, at that moment, he was more focused on recovering his body from the aftereffects of being tasered so he decided not to fight back and waited until he could at least move more than 50% of his body. With his 29 points in vitality, he was confident that it would only be a matter of time before he recovered. If there was any part of Nathan that sustained grave injuries, it was his ego. During these past few days of him conducting experiments, he started getting used to being the one in power. He was supposed to the predator that preyed on humans, not the other way around! Nathan spat blood on the floor and his eyes flashed with anger. "Booty Warrior¡­ I should''ve known." "He used the ''f'' word," someone whispered. "Yeah, such a disgusting person," someone whispered back. "Wait¡­ what?" Nathan was dumbfounded. Despite the zombie apocalypse, there are still some people concerned about the word faggot. "Nathan, put down your weapon. The leader of Red Dust wants to meet you," Derek said. Nathan didn''t care and ignored him. "If anyone moves, I''ll slit this guy''s throat!" He disappeared. Activating [Coward''s Way] while holding a person won''t disable his invisibility but he can''t make the person invisible. However, if he kills the person he''s holding or inflicts grave injuries, he will lose his invisibility. "Nathan, we have Amir." Nathan was startled for a moment and quickly regained his composure. "Lies!" "Nathan, think about it. If we wanted to kill you, you would''ve been dead already. Let that person go and surrender now." Nathan''s eyes twitched and then look at him with disdain. "Surrender? To who? You? These ants?" "Nathan, don''t make things ¨C" while Derek was talking, Nathan''s head was already elsewhere and was looking around. ''Where''s my gun and my other dagger? Dammit... This isn''t looking good. I got to heal fast.'' With the [Grade D] Long Dagger still held against his captive''s neck, he quickly pulled out 5 healing packets from his fanny pack with his left hand and popped them inside his mouth and tore them with his teeth. The fluid inside the healing packets went down his throat which was immediately followed with this refreshing feeling that ran all over his whole body and healed his wounds. He spat the empty packets and then surveyed his surroundings once again. "Rose is on her way now and wants to offer you a deal," Derek said. There were still 5 people alive including Derek. Among the 5 people currently here in this room, there was one he wanted to kill the most ¨C Freddie. Just thinking about this person still alive and breathing after the humiliation he received made his blood boil that he wanted to skin him alive. There was no way he''s going to let this person named Freddie and the people he cared about to live any longer. "Your boss wants to talk to me, right?" "Yes, she''s heading here right now." "Okay. But before I agree with that, I want you to break that person''s leg and give me all the people he cares about." Hearing what Nathan said, almost everyone in the room scoffed and sneered. They never expected Nathan would be this vengeful and stupid. In their mind, wasn''t Nathan the one who attacked first and killed their fellow members back in the bridge? He even killed Lester, Rose''s cousin. So could how could he have the audacity to demand something so absurd? Moreover, what makes him even think he can escape here? This room alone was wired with explosives. And with their numbers and Chosen Ones along with the other traps planted around the area, they could easily take care of him. Among those who scoff and were sneering, it was only Derek who didn''t. He knew what Nathan was capable of ¨C he had firsthand experience what it was like. But despite that, he wasn''t someone who would back away from fear or threats either. "Nathan, don''t be unreasonable. I suggest you think carefully," Derek coldly said and didn''t hide his killing intent. Meanwhile, the rest of the members held a mocking smile on their faces and also didn''t hide their killing intent. "Heh~ Is that so? Then let me give you guys something to think about." He returned his [Grade D] Long Dagger to its sheath, shoved his captive towards Derek and ran through one of the windows, shattering it. Ca-clak! Nathan''s descent to the ground was far from safe and graceful. He landed in an awkward position, dislocating his left wrist, spraining his left ankle and rolled a few times before finally stopping on a corner. Thud! Fortunately, he was still invisible so no one was able to see his miserable Superhero landing. He got up. ''I need to practice some parkour shit¡­'' He quickly pulled out 5 healing packets from his fanny pack and tore them inside his mouth. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He spat the empty packets and quickly got up and because many people were coming his way. ''Five healing packets left, and I lost my Revolver and [Grade D] Dagger.'' "He''s around here somewhere! Search the area!" one of the guards shouted from afar. Nathan pulled out his [Grade D] Sword from his back and stared at the blade with a very warm smile and loving eyes as if he was looking at a loved one that he hasn''t seen in years. He licked his lips. ''I wanna see you guys smiling after this.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. 44 Terrorize A group of armed guards was running towards Nathan''s last known location. "Attention all units. Target is a 6ft male, brown skin, wearing a police vest, and is a Chosen One capable of disappearing. Once you encounter him, inform him immediately the boss has his cousin and wants to talk. Out," a radio from one of the guards said. "So the enemy is a police officer and is a Chosen One? The world has gone nuts," one guard said. "The police have been always been corrupt even before the zombie apocalypse. Police brutality isn''t a new thing," another one said matter-of-factly. "Stay focus, guys. Remember, the orders ¨C " Whoosh! The third guard wasn''t able to finish his sentence as his body ran a few steps before finally crashing to the ground, while his head fell to the ground and rolled over. The scene caused all the guards present to abruptly stop running, some even almost tripped over. There they saw a man 6ft tall, wearing a police vest, and holding a sword. The man was looking at them and his mouth curled up, revealing a smile. And before they could even process what just happened and decide what to do, the man already disappeared. Whoosh! Another head was sliced off and they saw the man again. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Finally realizing that the man was the target that they were instructed to look for and was extremely hostile, some quickly aimed their guns while others started shouting. "Stand down!" "Requesting to talk! The boss has your cousin and wants to talk!" "Freeze!" But the target just ignored them and disappeared. The next time he appeared, it was followed by a scream of agony from a guard who was cut in half. "Aaaaahhhh!" The man quickly disappeared. The firing of bullets and spells began. "[Fireball]!" Tatatata! Boom! Tatata! Unfortunately, none of them were able to hit the target. Some of them even ended up engaging in friendly fire. When the firing finally stopped, only 3 people were left standing. However, the target didn''t appear, leaving them in total despair. "Where is the target?" A male voice suddenly entered their ears. The 3 looked at where the voice was coming from. It saw Derek who was currently in [Maximize] mode and just arrived with six other people. And among the people that Derek came with was Freddie. Seeing the massacre, many were filled with anger and sadness. They wanted to beat the living hell out of Nathan. Some even wanted him dead. "Answer me. Where is the target?" Derek asked. "W-we don''t know. He disappeared," said one of the surviving guards. Tatata! They suddenly heard gunshots from far away and looked at its direction. "Inform Rose about this!" Derek told one of the people he came with. Tatata! "Yes, sir! I will contact her now," said a guard and pulled out a radio. "No! Go to her and tell her to drag her ass out!" "But¡­ sir. You know the Boss. She ¨C" Derek grabbed the guard by the collar. "Go to her and ask her what her plan is! Is she planning to abandon everyone?! Does she have an admiral-level purple hair disease?! Tell her to act now if she doesn''t want to end up with a base nothing but corpses!" Derek released him. "Ye-Yes, sir!" the guard clumsily put away his radio and ran towards the manor. Derek looked at the remaining guards. "Follow me!" He ran towards the direction where they last heard the gunfire. **** When Derek and his companions arrived at the area where they last heard the gunshots, Nathan was already long gone. All that was left were corpses ¨C some sliced in half, while the others had their heads separated from the body. Derek gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Memories of the fight back at the bridge flashed through his head. In truth, he was against the idea of Rose wanting to talk to Nathan, but she insisted and so he had no choice but to follow. ''People like Nathan should''ve never been given such power! There''s already the threat of the zombies, yet there are people who do things like this!'' As for the people who came with Derek, aside from anger and sadness, some were now starting to feel a little fear. Truth be told, when they first heard what happened to Derek and his team, they thought Derek was just exaggerating. Sure, Derek was strong and all, but they still believed that they could take down a Chosen One with their numbers. However, now, upon seeing what a Chosen One is capable of and especially facing one that isn''t bound by morality, their view started to change a bit. Some were even secretly glancing at Freddie. Among those who were starting to feel fear was Freddie. However, he wasn''t afraid for his life but instead for the people he cared about. He clearly remembered what Nathan demanded. Looking at the corpses around him, a sense of guilt weighed heavy on him. He also noticed the quick and silent glances that the other members were giving him. A strong urge to offer his life to Nathan and ask him to spare his loved ones and stop killing tightly gripped his heart and soul. He looked at Derek and swallowed hard. "Sir ¨C" But Derek cut him off immediately. "Don''t you even think about it!" "But sir ¨C" Derek stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar. "Everyone here that''s been killed by that murderer had family and friends! They deserved to be avenged! That''s the least honorable thing we can do for them¡­" He let go of Freddie. "Derek! I don''t mind dying. I just¡­ I just can''t carry any more of this guilt knowing that these people died because of me and many more people will die! All I ask is for you to take care of my family. Please, sir!" Freddie knelt down in front of Derek. Derek understood where Freddie was coming from and could somehow relate to it because he too was carrying a heavy burden which he acquired years before the zombie apocalypse and it took him years just to let go some of the guilt. He grabbed Freddie by his shoulders and raised him up. "Don''t you ever kneel to anyone else ever again, especially to a murderer! If we tolerate his actions now, what makes you think he won''t do the same thing next time? What about the people you care about? Did you consider their feelings? And most importantly, do you honestly think that a murderer like him will even listen to your requests?" Freddie was silent and looked at the corpses. He opened his mouth but no words came out. Ever since the zombie apocalypse began, human morals quickly started to deteriorate, though there are still some people who chose to remain civil. Derek took a deep breath and looked at everyone. "Take a look at our fallen comrades! If we don''t stop him as soon as possible, many more will die!" Everyone remained silent. Tatatata! The sound of gunshots was heard from another area. "I''m going to put a stop at that murderer once and for all. Who''s with me?!" Derek ran. **** "Stay close together and keep your eyes open! Fire immediately the moment that bastard appears!" said a man who was carrying a [Grade D] Sword and [Grade D] Shield. Beside him were two people: a female on his left and a male on his right. They were also carrying a [Grade D] Shield but had a pistol on their other hand instead of a [Grade D] weapon. They formed a triangle defense with their backs against each other. Around them were the corpses of their companions lying on the street. Sweat poured down from their faces. Their hearts beating so fast and loud that they could barely hear any external noise. But their eyes were as sharp as ever. Each of them was like a wolf ready to pounce at any minute the moment their prey appears. Unfortunately, what they were facing right now wasn''t an ordinary prey. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that in the current situation they were in, they were the prey surrounded by a ferocious predator that''s capable of vanishing. Tata! One of the male guards was shot by a rifle in the head and immediately dropped to the floor. Thud! "Gary!" shouted a female guard as she gave a quick glance to her fallen comrade who was no longer breathing. "Leah, stay focus! Don''t drop your guard!" said the other remaining guard. She turned to the remaining guard and lashed out, "THE ENEMY IS SHOOTING US FROM AFAR!!!" "Pull yourself together! The leader and the others have heard the gunshots and are already on their way so stay fo ¨C" Tata! He was shot in the head. "LARRY!!!" Leah screamed as she saw Larry fell to the pavement. She quickly dropped her [Grade D] Shield and held her pistol with two hands. With her only remaining, her arms and legs began to shake uncontrollably while she aimlessly pointed the gun on her hand. "SHOW YOURSELF YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!! IF YOU LIKE KILLING SO MUCH, COME AT ME!!! I DARE YOU!!!" Tap! A cold steel laid on her left shoulder and close to her neck from behind. "You know, back in my country, it''s considered poor manners when a woman curses. Now, I¡ª" "THEN GO BACK TO YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY!!!" shouted the woman as she tried to move away from Nathan''s blade. However, she was immediately kicked from behind. Pah! She fell to the ground on her stomach and dropped the pistol. Thud! Nathan moved closer and kicked the pistol away before pressing his knee against her back. "GET OFF OF ME, YOU PIG!" "Relax, sweetie. I just want to talk~" She thrashed around. Nathan pulled her hair and slammed her face to the pavement. Bam! "Ahhh!" She lost of few of her front teeth and broke her nose. He raised her head close to him and saw that her face was bleeding because of what he did. "I''m so sorry about that, sweetie. But I had no choice but to do that to calm you down. Now, do you know a guy named Freddie? I''m looking for his family." She spat on his face. "GOF FO HELL, YOW DISCUSFING FIG!" Nathan closed his eyes and took a quick, deep breath before opening his eyes once again. He let go of her hair and wiped off her blood and saliva on his face. He grabbed her neck and twisted it. Snap! He activated [Coward''s Way] and surveyed his surroundings, trying to decide where to go next. The idea of staying near the manor, let alone going inside was out of the question. He also thought about Amir. ''Does that bitch really have Amir? If yes, then what about that bimbo? Wasn''t she considered an important member? What''s she doing about it? ¡­That fucking traitorous whore.'' A memory of someone he used to care about appeared inside his head. ''Wait¡­ I need to think this through first.'' With that, he decided to kill a few more people just to blow up some steam and also think before deciding whether to meet Rose or not. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones. Thank you for your support. And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. Thank you. 45 Terrorize 2 Derek and his group arrived at the location where Nathan was last seen. Just like the previous scenes, this was also littered with corpses. There were other groups as well. A man was talking to the radio while the others were waiting for orders. "How many people must die before the boss will act?!" "Orders remain the same. Continue to search for the target and inform him that we have his cousin and the leader wants to speak to him. Out," the radio replied. The man gripped the radio so hard before finally calming down and putting it away. He looked at his teammates. Although some of them held a stoic expression, their eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and fear. He looked over to his shoulder and saw Derek heading towards him. "Isaac," Derek nodded. "Derek," Isaac replied with the same greeting. Isaac was the captain of Team 5 out of the 10 Scavenger Teams. People part of Scavenger Teams are different from the guards in charge of patrolling Haven Town. They are in charge of heading out to search for food, supplies, survivors and other things. They will only assist in patrolling or defending the town if there''s an emergency. As a Chosen One, Derek was also a member of one of the Scavenger Teams. He was part of Team 8 with the late Lester as the captain and him as the lieutenant. "Any good news?" Derek asked. Isaac shook his head. "I believe you heard my conversation earlier. The higher-ups are sticking with their orders. I really don''t know what they''re actually planning or what they''re waiting for. All we can do is follow this trail of dead bodies," Isaac said while looking at the corpses. The leader of Red Dust ruled Haven Town with an iron fist. The rules she set in the camp must be followed. Those who disobeyed will either be killed or turned to a slave. Although such acts were atrocious, it was a necessary evil to keep everyone in check under the zombie threat and the power that the System brought. ''But what''s happening right now is¡­'' Isaac thought as he cast his eyes on the corpses. But of course, Isaac was also aware that there were some people within the organization that the leader of Red Dust gives some special privileges and treatment due to how loyal and vital they are in the group. As a captain of one of the Scavenger Teams, he, himself, was treated quite well. "Forget about the orders. I got a plan. Let''s set an ambush and kill the motherfucker once and for all," said Derek. Isaac turned to Derek and raised an eyebrow. Derek continued, "We don''t have time much time. I have a few guesses where the target is headed. Based on the trail of corpses, he''s moving away from the manor and is likely headed either Northeast or to the East gate." "Northeast?" Isaac''s expression darkened. The Northeastern part of Haven Town was where most of the people living in Haven Town resided. "What''s your decision?" Derek asked. Isaac pondered. He had to follow the orders. But on the other hand¡­ "I agree," Isaac replied and then looked at everyone around him before returning his gaze back at Derek, "I believe all of us here agree." Everyone on Isaac''s side nodded, but the same can''t be said with the people on Derek''s side. "What''s your plan?" Derek then told them his plan. *** On the streets of Haven Town ¨C Northeast. ''Please God! Please save me! Don''t let him get me!'' prayed a teenager who was running away for his life as if he was being chased by the Devil himself. "Where are you going? I just wanted to talk to you~" A voice called him out from behind with a teasing tone but he chose to ignore it and continued to run as fast as he good. His heart was racing and his thoughts were in disarray. His body solely driven by his desire to live. The teenager was among the guards who were patrolling the streets and also heard about orders given by the higher-ups. He wasn''t aware of Derek and the others'' plans about the ambush. He was just another guard following orders given by the higher-ups. Just a couple of minutes before getting chased, he and his fellow guards were patrolling the street in search for the target. When they heard gunshots from afar, they started to worry. However, since there were no new orders given, they had no choice but continue to perform the task they were assigned with. It was then he heard one of his fellow guards near him cry out like a squealing pig. "Ahhhhhhh!" When he turned to look, he saw his fellow guard cut into two from the waist. They also saw the person responsible who immediately disappeared into thin air. A chill ran down his spine and his mind blanked out. He was only 15 years old and wasn''t a violent person to begin with. But because of the zombie apocalypse and after witnessing firsthand the horrors it brought, he knew that if he wanted to have any solid chance of surviving this hell with dignity and also protect his loved ones, he had no choice but to apply as a guard. He was also currently in training to become a member of one of the Scavenger Teams one day. The other guards tried to talk to the assailant but they were met with a cold, hard steel. After three more guards were killed, the teenager somehow returned to his senses and found himself running away with no weapon on his hands and his pants soiled. *** Nathan was chasing a guard who had a baby face and was quite tall, close to his own height. He wasn''t using his full speed and decided to play with his prey for a little bit because out of all the people he killed tonight, this was the only one who had the guts to ran away (excluding the ones he killed in surprise). Moreover, based on his experience these past few days, those who run away from a fight right from the get-go are usually the ones who are quick to cooperate once they''re caught. Whether he would spare this guard or not, that depends on what information the guard can give him. Up ahead, there was a row of houses. Nathan could see the guard running towards the direction of one of the houses. He squinted his eyes. ''Is he leading me to a trap?'' Nathan increased his speed to stop the guard. The guard was already just a few feet away from the front door when Nathan was finally able to grab the back of the guard''s collar with his left hand, causing him to lose his invisibility. He pulled the guard back and shoved him to the ground. "Ahhhhh!" The guard shrieked. Thud! "Didn''t you hear me? I wanted to talk to you~" Nathan stepped on the guard''s chest and pointed his sword at his face. "Meemaw!" the guard cried out with a high-pitched voice and tears welled up in his eyes. Nathan looked at the guard with disgust and slapped his cheek with the blade of his sword. Pah! Although Nathan tried his best not to cut the guard''s cheek, there was a small cut about an inch on his cheek. "Quit crying out like a bitch or I''ll drive this sword down to your throat!" The guard forced himself to stop crying and calmed down. "Okay, that''s good. Do you ¨C" All of a sudden, the front door was opened by an elderly woman. "Carl!" shouted the elderly woman as she ran towards Nathan''s leg that was stepping on the guard''s chest and embraced it. "Please, sir! Please don''t hurt my grandson! I beg you, sir! He and his little sister are the only family I have left!" ''Grandson?'' He looked at the elderly woman and then turned to the guard named Carl. ''This guy seriously ran to his own house?'' Nathan laughed and shook his head in disbelief. However, he then remembered some of the stories that his family members used to tell him so he stopped laughing. Back in his home country, Nathan has an uncle who used to be in the military and lived in the countryside in the mountains. He joined the army when he was only a teenager in the mid-80s and served for almost two decades before finally retiring. His uncle wasn''t the type who likes to share war stories. It was only on the rare occasions where he drinks and gets drunk, which are both once in a blue moon, that he would share some of his war stories. One time while drinking with his uncle and both of them getting drunk, his uncle told him that it wasn''t rare to see injured or terrified soldiers calling out for their mothers in the frontlines. Was his uncle telling the truth or was it the alcohol just talking? Nathan couldn''t tell. Nevertheless, he didn''t dare to laugh or rebuke his uncle. He just sat there and listened out of fear and respect. His uncle was known to be one of the toughest motherfuckers in town even before he joined the military. He often used to joke that his left fist could send a man to the hospital, while his right fist could send a man to the cemetery. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. One time he saw his uncle confront a guy and asked while holding out his fists, "I''m going to let you choose. Hospital or cemetery?" Nathan found the scene so hilarious and cool because the guy had a heart attack right after his uncle asked the question. He squinted his eyes as he looked at the grandmother and grandson duo. ''I guess this is what my uncle was talking about or something close to it¡­'' Nathan kicked his leg away from the elderly woman''s embrace. "Annoying old wrinkly shit!" "Ahhhh!" The elderly woman groaned and fell to the ground. "Meemaw! No!" He never killed an elderly person before and doesn''t have any plan to. But at this moment, for the first time in his life, partnered with the bloodlust from all the killing he did tonight, the desire to do so overwhelmed him. He raised his sword. As he was about to strike down the elderly woman who crawled over to cover her grandson with her wrinkled body, he suddenly heard the cries of an infant coming from inside the house. "Uwaaa! Uwaaaah!" Hearing the cries of the infant, some sense of clarity appeared on Nathan''s eyes, causing him to hesitate. The cries of the infant was like an alarm clock that awoken his sleeping morals. He looked at the grandmother and grandson pair lying on the ground, sobbing with their eyes closed and hugging each other while crying out, "Please... Please don''t, sir. Please have mercy on us." A sense of disgust, not towards the two, but to himself crept into his heart. ''This¡­'' There were too many things swirling inside his head. One of them was ¨C Bang! A bullet shot right through Nathan''s chest and out of his back. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. Thanks! 46 Terrorize 3 The bullet that shot through Nathan''s chest caused him to stagger a few steps back. He felt this intense burn coming from his gunshot wound which was quickly followed by this buzzing feeling and then a severe aching pain. He palmed his wound and looked at his hand. Blood. This was his first time getting shot. To his surprise, he didn''t die or fall to the ground. However, he felt his movements became a little sluggish. Based on his estimation, it dropped by at least 10%. ''So this is the power of 29 vitality points?'' He couldn''t help but smile while a drip of blood flow from his lips. Bang! This time around, he was shot on his right cheek, destroying the flesh and some teeth. The impact of the bullet forced him to violently turn to the right and fall to the ground, releasing the [Grade D] Sword on his hand. He was still alive though and felt the same feeling when he was shot earlier. But this time around, he didn''t choose to marvel from the experience of being superhuman. He could hear the sound of boots rushing towards him followed by gunshots. Bang! Bang! Panicked and in pain, he quickly activated [Coward''s Way]. He grabbed his [Grade D] Sword, leaped over the picket fence and ran to the backyard of the next house. He didn''t stop and continued running as he opened 5 [Small] Healing Potions one by one from one of the pockets of his police vest. He poured 3 potions on his right cheek and drank two. When his gunshot wound on his right cheek and chest were finally healed, no new teeth grew back from the ones that were destroyed. It was a weird sensation to him. He used two bottles of [Grade D] Repair Kit for his [Grade D] Sword and Long Dagger as well. "Those fucking ants!" Hearing his voice, it sounded a bit weird due to the loss of his right teeth. However, he didn''t care. At the moment, although it felt weird having no teeth on the right side of his mouth, he had only one goal in his mind. He turned back. *** Derek, who was in [Maximize] mode which makes him 2.5 meters tall with bulging muscles, was currently standing outside of Carl''s house with Isaac and a group of people. As for his stats: *** Level: 16 Exp: % ? Str - 52 (26) ? Vit - 56 (28) ? Agi - 8.66 (26) (+12) Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. ? Int - 25 Equipment: ? [Grade D] Leather Cap (13/15): +1 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Armor (11/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Gloves (10/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Leather Boots (11/15): +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Ring: +1 Agi ? [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi ? [Grade D] Necklace: +2 Agi Skill(s): ? Level X [Maximize] - Multiplies base strength and vitality by 2 and divides base agility by 3. Immune to the zombie virus. No mana required and no cooldown. *** There were also other people (aka the civilians) inside the other houses peeking through windows, not daring to step outside. Carl and his grandmother were outside. He was hugging his sobbing grandmother and the cries of his baby sister could be heard from inside the house. "We checked the house. He isn''t here," said one person who just stepped outside of Carl''s house. "Goddammit! We almost had him! We were this close! This close!" Isaac made a gesture with his two fingers. "Why didn''t that dumbass of a sniper aimed for the head in the first shot?! Where is that fucking sniper?! And will someone please make that baby shut up?!" Isaac roared and kicked the picket fence. Carl''s grandmother released herself from her grandson''s embrace and quickly rushed to the house to pick up the baby and soothe her. Everyone was silent. When Isaac finally calmed down, Derek opened his mouth, "We have no choice but to spread out and search for him." Isaac looked at Derek and raised one eyebrow, "And do what?" Everyone felt lost. The enemy was not only strong but could also disappear and is a mass murderer, and they just blew their only chance. And to make matters worse, the leader of their organization wasn''t doing anything at all. Freddie was about to step forward and open his mouth when suddenly¡­ Tatatatatatatatata! They were being bombarded with a hail of bullets. As they were all caught in surprise, many of them got caught and died, including Isaac. Only Derek and 3 other people were lucky enough to survive from the hail of bullets. *** Tatatatatatatatata! Derek was standing in the middle blocking the bullets with his body while covering his face with his massive forearms. "Get behind me!" he roared. Tatatatatatatatata! With his vitality at 56 points and large physique in [Maximize] mode, although high-powered guns (shotgun, magnum, rifles, etc.) can still penetrate his skin and hurts just like any other wound, taking a couple of shots wouldn''t greatly affect his movements, allowing him to perform at his peak. But if the wounds he received were far too severe or he lost too much blood, it will affect his movements, just like what happened back in the bridge when two grenades were thrown at him. Moreover, if he gets shot in the head, specifically on the brain, he would die after 30 seconds if he can''t heal himself with a healing potion. Meanwhile, in the heart is after 60 seconds. And if his head gets blown away or if he gets decapitated, he would die immediately. The hail of bullets finally stopped. Derek dropped his arms to search for the shooter. He saw a completely healed Nathan on the other end of the street threw the two rifles to the ground and pulled out a sword from his back before disappearing. "You guys run! I''ll take care of him!" He quickly pulled out his Glock. He started firing while running towards where he last saw Nathan. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The 3 survivors; Freddie, Carl and someone named Gina, exchanged a quick glance at each other before deciding what to do. Carl went inside the house to get his grandmother and baby sister. Meanwhile, Freddie was about to tell Nathan that he''s going to offer his life and ask for Nathan to spare his loved ones but was beaten to the punch by Gina. "I know where Freddie''s family are! I can take you to them! Please, I don''t want to ¨C" Whoosh! A blade was swung through her neck, decapitating her. Nathan didn''t waste any time and immediately disappeared. Derek noticed what just happened and fired. Bang! Bang! Bang! Freddie, who just thought about giving himself up, just stood there, not knowing what to say. "FREDDIE, RUN!!!" Derek shouted. Images of his loved ones flashed through his head and¡­ Whoosh! Just like Gina, he too was decapitated. Nathan disappeared. "NAAAATTTTHHHHAAAANNNN!!!" Bang! Bang! Bang! Derek ran to Freddie''s corpse. "FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME!!!" Derek screamed at the top of his lungs and beat his chest. Seeing no sign of Nathan, he slammed his fist to the pavement, causing a web of cracks to appear. Bam! Crack! Still no sign of Nathan. He decided to reload. Whoosh! A blade sliced off his right hand and three fingers on his left hand. "Aarrgggh!" Derek groaned in pain and delivered a kick to Nathan who was right in front of him but missed. With Nathan''s agility at 26 (+14) points and Derek''s agility only at 8.66 (+12) during [Maximize] mode, he was able to evade it despite the close range. Nathan had a frown on his face before disappearing. Ignoring the fingers, when his sword cut off Derek''s right hand, he had to exert a great amount of force. It was like chopping off a tree that was as fat as a child''s arm using a dull blade. ''Stabbing would be easier, but¡­'' Nathan thought. Despite Derek losing his right hand and three fingers on his left, he didn''t run away and was waiting for Nathan to attack him once more. "COME OUT, YOU FUCKING MURDERER! COME AT ME AGAIN!" Seeing no sign of Nathan, he tried to lure him. He ripped his utility belt from his waist using his left hand and tore the pouch that had his Small Healing Potions using his teeth. He placed the potions on his mouth and crushed them. Crack¡­ Crack¡­ Crack¡­ He threw away his utility belt and waited. His wounds healed, but his right hand and the three fingers on his left didn''t grow back. Whoosh! Nathan swung his blade behind Derek''s right thigh. It penetrated deep in the flesh but got stuck on the bone. "Aaaahhh!" Derek roared in pain and sent a backhand punch to Nathan who was on his right side but missed because Nathan immediately let go of the [Grade D] Sword and backed away before disappearing. Derek raised his right knee and slapped the [Grade D] Sword that was stuck at the back of his right leg with what was left on his right arm. Pah! He waited for Nathan to attack. There was no sign of Nathan once again. "COME ON, FIGHT ME!" Still no sign of Nathan. "YOU''RE JUST A PITIFUL COWARD WHO LIKES TO BULLY PEOPLE WEAKER THAN YOU! COME FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? COME AT ME!" Time continued to pass. With each passing moment, a sense of helplessness and frustration grew and grew inside of him until he couldn''t bear it anymore. "HAAAAAAAAAA!" After letting out his frustration, he dropped down to his knees and stared at the corpses of his companions He heard someone humming from Carl''s house so he turned his head there. There he saw Nathan slowly walking out of the front door. He was carrying a baby on his arms. Nathan stopped and looked at Derek. Their gaze locked with each other. Nathan smiled. "You know, I read a book once. If a baby starts crying, you just need to gently shake them in your arms. However, other books also say that shaking is harmful to the baby and it could even lead to death. Wanna know what I think? I think science is really confusing, just as confusing as religion sometimes. They release some new discovery but then a few years down the road a new discovery will appear that contradicts the previous one. And then you''re left there wondering which discovery to believe in." Derek just stared at the baby with a blank expression, not saying a word. "Oh, so you finally calmed down, huh? Great! Now we can talk like civilized people." Derek still remained silent and expressionless. "You mentioned that you guys have my cousin and your leader wants to talk to me. Well, I thought about it and want to meet her now." Derek stood up and walked away, ignoring Nathan. To Derek, everything tonight felt like a very bad joke. Even after all the mess that Nathan did, the lives that were destroyed, Rose still didn''t appear. And for some reason, he couldn''t shake the feeling that she wanted him and Nathan to fight. ''Was this part of her interest in knowing more about the System? Or was it something else?'' Derek asked himself. He knew Rose was ambitious, which can either be labeled as something good or bad, depending on one''s opinion. And although she may seem cruel due to the rules she set in the town, he believes that deep down she''s a good person who had no choice but to do so to maintain order in this town against the threat of the zombies and humans like Nathan. But thinking about tonight''s events, he started to doubt if it was really a good idea to team up with Rose. But he decided to put it aside for now. At the moment, there was something he must do: secure the safety of Freddie''s family. As for whether Carl and his grandmother were alive or not, he suspects the former. His gut told him that they were still alive ¨C he witnessed Nathan hesitating earlier. *** Nathan didn''t move from where he was standing and just looked at Derek''s depressing figure, walking away to God knows where. As for killing Derek, he decided to postpone it for now. Based on what he saw and experienced, without any high-powered weaponry, it would be quite difficult to kill him. He now understood how Derek was able to survive the battle from the bridge. Moreover, there were also other factors to consider. One was whether they really have Amir or not. He had to clarify this. Seeing that the Rose hasn''t shown up yet, she must be planning something. Two was the possibility of a third party joining the fight between him and Derek. Third was thirst and hunger. Being a one-man army without an AOE skill was a strenuous task. And lastly was his easy to provoke ego partnered with his blinding bloodlust. What happened to playing smart? So far most of his decisions were based on emotions. He already made too many mistakes tonight yet still survived, making him even start to believe that Lady Luck was his lover. However, he knew that it was absurd to depend on such thing as luck and shouldn''t push any more of it or else this lover of his would leave him. He looked at the baby with a smile and brushed her rosy cheeks with his gloved finger covered with the stench of death. "Sweetie, do you think I broke that big bad man?" The baby stared at Nathan with her big blue eyes and stretched out her tiny hands. "Yeah, I guess I have no choice to ask your big brother to take me to Rose, huh?" As he was about to turn and go back inside the house to wake up Carl and his grandmother, he heard a woman''s voice. "That won''t be necessary!" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! And to those who want to donate, you can send it here at immortalshades123@gmail.com via PayPal. Thank you very much! 47 Contac Nathan turned to the direction where the female voice was coming from. There he saw the leader of Red Dust, Rose, who was about 20ft away and walking towards him. She had her long, black hair down and was wearing civilian clothes: a white long-sleeve lace silk-trim blouse, high waist black pants, and a pair of 3-inch white heels. Nathan squinted his eyes and sized her up. ''This woman¡­ I can''t tell if she''s wearing any System items. Perhaps it has something to do with her powers as a Chosen One?'' All he knew about her powers was that she could turn her body into crystal and change the shape of her arms and legs. Rose stopped about 10ft away from Nathan. "I never expected you to be fond of babies. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rose Haven, the leader of Red Dust. I''m glad we could finally meet, Nathan." Seeing her closer, this time around, Nathan studied more of her features. She was actually mixed raced (half Asian and half Caucasian) which came as a surprise to him. He had always thought she was Caucasian. Womania was a country that was very open to immigrants and its natives were Caucasian people with black hair so his initial impression of her was that she was a pure native. She was around 25 years old, about 6 ft (with the 3-inch heels), piercing blue eyes, red kissable lips, and she wore less makeup, showcasing her flawless skin and natural beauty. And compared to Ashleigh who was a voluptuous 5''10" blonde, although both of them are drop-dead gorgeous, Rose''s physique was thinner and she had this cool and mysterious air about her. But the thing that made her really attractive was this air confidence that she exuded as if nothing can hurt or put her down. After studying her features, Nathan''s eyes wandered around to see if there were other people in the area, like a sniper or something, before returning his gaze at her. "Where''s Amir?" "He''s perfectly safe ¨C that I can assure you. As a matter of fact, I''m proud to inform you that he''s a treasured member of our organization." "You don''t say." Rose smiled. "I have been meaning to meet you because I have a proposition to offer. I''m looking for powerful and capable individuals such as yourself to join Red Dust in helping us fight for the future of mankind. Our organization has many resources and we can provide you and your loved ones food and shelter." Nathan frowned. "And if I refuse?" "Zombies aren''t the only threat. There''s also ¨C" "Yeah, yeah¡­ I get it. Humans, right? If that''s the reason you''re going with, don''t bother. Just return my cousin to me." "The government is ¨C" "I already told you I don''t give a fuck about that." Seeing Nathan''s attitude, she tried a different approach. She stepped forward and pointed at one of the corpses lying on the ground. "This man here is Isaac and is one of the longtime members of Red Dust. He has many friends and family who are also members." She pointed at another corpse. "This one here is Gary and is also a longtime member ¨C" Nathan spat on the ground. "Names of dead people I will never care about." Rose maintained a cool and confident expression. She let out a bewitching smile as she slowly approached Nathan and stopped until they were only at an arm''s length. He could smell her perfume. It was a floral scent and wasn''t aggressive on the nose. Just right enough that leaves one would with a strong compulsion to lean over and smell more. "A lot of people aren''t happy about what you did. But I can help you to make things right. Let me help you fix it." Nathan smiled that wasn''t exactly a smile. "Is that so? Well, it''s kinda funny you say that. You see, in these past few days, many have cursed and hated me down to the marrow of their bones. But in the end ¨C" He suddenly grabbed her by the neck with his right hand and slowly squeezed. "¡ªWell, I guess you can figure it out with that pretty head of yours. So, would you please be so kind as to give me what I''m asking for right now? I''m really in a hurry." Nathan increased the pressure of his grip, but Rose wasn''t fazed at all. She looked at him straight in the eyes and held an expression that read: Go ahead. When Rose''s face turned red yet still remained unfazed, he let go of her neck. "Fine. I will agree to join your little group. But I have a few conditions." Rose massaged her neck. "I''m very pleased to hear that. What are your conditions?" "But first, let''s go inside the house. I''m tired and I want to sit down," Nathan said while pointing Carl''s house behind him. "No problem." He turned and picked up his [Grade D] Sword before heading to the house. Rose followed suit. Standing at the front door was Carl and his grandmother which was a surprise to him. He remembered knocking them out earlier before taking away the baby. Both of them looked at him with pure hatred, but he didn''t mind it at all and approached the two. "Heh~ You two are already awake? I must''ve done a very sloppy job." The two didn''t say anything and took a quick glance at Rose who was acting as a spectator. "Take your baby sister." Nathan passed the baby to Carl and then went inside the house. He headed straight to the kitchen to drink a few glasses of water. After drinking, he removed his sword strap and inserted his [Grade D] Sword back on its sheath and wore his sword strap again before sitting at the dining table. He preferred pulling his sword behind his back but returning it was troublesome. He could faintly hear Rose outside offering a few consoling words to Carl''s grandmother who was sobbing and cursing Nathan. After Rose was done, she headed to where Nathan was and sat opposite of him. "My first condition: Give me Amir." "Your cousin is with one of my associates at Saint Town and I assure you he''s safe." "Take me to him." Rose pulled out a satellite phone from her pocket and contacted a number. She placed it on top of the table and set it in loudspeaker. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Ring... Finally, someone picked up. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Hello?" Nathan recognized the voice. "Hi, Amir. It''s me, Rose. I''ve got great news for you. Nathan''s here with me and wants to talk to you. You''re on speakerphone." "Really? Thank you so much. Cuz, are you there?" Amir said. Nathan looked straight in Rose''s eyes and was thinking of something before finally replying, "Yeah, Amir, I''m here. How are you?" He was honestly happy to hear Amir''s voice. As a matter of fact, it caused some of the guilt and worries he was carrying these past few days since the start of the zombie apocalypse to be washed away from his heart. "I''m fine, cuz. What about you?" "I''m doing well. By the way, I''m sorry I wasn''t able to return any of your calls and messages, I lost my phone." "It''s okay. The signal has been dead for days now so they''re basically useless. Only satellite phones work nowadays or whatever the government uses these days. But enough of that. What''s really important is that you''re alive and well. I''m really glad to know you''re okay. I''m so glad ¨C" Amir sounded like he was about to cry or perhaps he was already crying. Nathan couldn''t help but be touched, but he didn''t show it on his face. Amir was an extremely good-looking guy with brown skin, short hair and was about 5''11". He was also what people would refer to as a "metrosexual". Although he was a playboy, he was a very friendly and caring person. Yes, it was a weird combination ¨C being both a playboy and a caring person, but that''s just how he is. And for some reason, despite his promiscuous nature, the people in this very progressive country doesn''t mind it at all and still finds him as a desirable partner. Perhaps Amir was just too handsome and charming which is why they tend to overlook his promiscuous nature? Nathan could only wonder about the mysteries of human nature. Back to the situation at hand. Although Nathan was happy to know Amir is alive and he even got the chance to speak with him, he couldn''t help but find this setup a bit odd. ''Why is Amir working with Rose and even joined her organization? Is he being threatened or something? What role did that bimbo play on this?'' Nathan doesn''t know if whether Ashleigh and Rose were acquaintances before the zombie apocalypse or not. But he''s assuming that after Rose learned that Ashleigh was a Chosen One, she must''ve offered her something, like to rescue the people Ashleigh cares about to gain her trust and cooperation, which is why she learned about Amir. However, there are two issues here he could think of: Firstly, why didn''t Derek mention about Amir and only mentioned Ashleigh to him when they met at the bridge? Derek was even surprise to see him. Derek only started mentioning about Amir to him when they met here at Haven Town. Secondly, assuming that Rose did promise Ashleigh to rescue the people she cares about, why didn''t anyone search for him back at the apartment while he was recuperating there for three days before leaving? Perhaps Ashleigh just didn''t give a damn about him and Amir? However, he wasn''t sure if Ashleigh knew that Amir was known to be a playboy. Or was she assuming that he was already dead? He glanced at Rose. ''This¡­ What to do? Well, I guess I can try to talk to Amir using our native language, but I don''t know if this bitch understands it or if there''s a translator beside Amir right now. I can''t risk it. Let''s try something else.'' The national language of Womania is Regisian which is the national language of another country called Regis that also happens to be one of the most powerful countries in this world. "Cuz, where are you right now?" "At Saint Town." "Where exactly in Saint Town?" "Um... At the Saint Holy Child Hospital." "I see. Have you talked to Ashleigh lately?" "Ashleigh? Yeah, we''ve talked¡­ Cuz, sorry, but I gotta go. There''s an emergency." Amir ended the call. Nathan stared at the satellite phone for a moment before looking at Rose. He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "My first condition remains the same." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. Special thanks for to the Immortal Voters: ?HulkingDemon ?meeeeeeeeeeee And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you very much! 48 Contact 2 Rose grabbed the satellite phone from the table and kept it inside her pocket. "I''m afraid that''s not possible. There''s a war going on between the government and private groups on the East side of Cram city. Anyone passing there would get caught by the crossfire." Nathan squinted his eyes, trying to figure whether this woman is lying or not. Back at Cram city, his apartment building was located on the West side and he hunted on the West and Southwest. "Then just send me to where Amir is at. I can manage that easily." Rose titled her head to the side and smiled. "Then what will happen once you have Amir?" "I will continue to honor our agreement, of course." Rose chuckled and shook her head. Nathan frowned. "If you want me to join your little group, Red Dick or whatever, return Amir to me first, woman," Nathan coldly said and then leaned back. His right hand remained on top of the table, while his left was now under. He slowly reached for the [Grade D] Long Dagger on his left thigh and held its hilt. "Why don''t you try thinking about it from my perspective for a second?" Rose said. "Your perspective?" Nathan was about to pull out his [Grade D] Long Dagger, but then decided not to and released his hold from its hilt. He laughed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He returned his left hand on the table, leaned forward and clasped his hands together. He shook his head in disbelief. "You know, they say that women aren''t funny and I really did agree with that notion ¨C That''s until I met you. I tell you what, stop fooling around and make it fair so we can move to my next condition." Rose raised an eyebrow. "Fair? Have you forgotten about my cousin Lester? What about my men you killed?" Nathan was caught off guard and immediately answered, "Lester? I didn''t kill him. The zombies did." "If that''s how you like to put it." A playful smile spread across Rose''s cheeks as she crossed her legs and folded her arms. Nathan''s eye twitched. "The point here¡­" he cleared his throat, "The main point here is that I don''t have anything that could stop you from killing Amir and me. I need something like an insurance." "There''s Ashleigh." "Ashleigh?" This time it was Nathan who raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about that bimbo?" Rose had a weird expression on her face for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, Ashleigh. She''s a Chosen One and also a very important member of our organization. The fact that she cares very much for the both of you and I want to maintain a healthy relationship with her certainly serves as a great insurance. Don''t you agree?" He slammed his right fist on the table. Bam! "You want me to entrust Amir''s life and mine in the hands of that dumb bimbo?! For all I know, you two could be working together!" Nathan stood up and activated [Coward''s Way]. Meanwhile, Rose, who was still sitting, quickly activated her skill [Crystal Body]. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Let''s drop the facade, shall we? We both know that you and I are the same," Rose coldly said. Nathan already moved away from Rose and was currently inspecting his surroundings while also glancing at her from time-to-time. Aside from her clothes, her entire body including her hair turned into white crystal. "I monitored your performance tonight. And I must admit, your skill makes even me a little envious. But tell me, Nathan, with such power, why haven''t you gone to Amir after all this time and instead went to me?" Her words were like poison that it left him petrified. Some of the guilt that left him earlier while talking to Amir came back rushing to him tenfold. "I know the feeling, Nathan. Others are struggling desperately, yet we, Chosen Ones, are thriving." Nathan was conflicted. Part of him doesn''t want to bow down to this woman or even agree with her ¨C he already had enough of bowing down to people before the zombie apocalypse. Meanwhile, the other part of him didn''t want to abandon Amir. "As for your reasons in attacking my men, my base, it doesn''t matter to me. With my family''s background and the number of enemies we have, it''s pretty much expected. And if I were to worry and deal with every transgression inflected to my family, my group, not only will I go insane but it also requires a lot of time and effort." She leaned forward to the table and said with an alluring voice, "I strongly believe in the saying there are no eternal enemies or allies, only eternal benefits. My group can provide anything you need, Nathan. All I ask from you is to help me conquer the side West of Cram city. In return, not only I will return Amir to you but I also won''t hold any grudges as well. You have my word." Rose waited for Nathan''s response. It took almost a minute before he reappeared and went back to his seat. "You said that we''re the same. If that''s the case, what makes you think I will even fucking agree then? But okay, sure, since you brought up the ''eternal benefits'' bullshit, tell me then, what can you and your little group give me that''s for MY benefit alone other than materialistic gains that I can loot by MYSELF?" Rose deactivated her skill and leaned back to her seat. "Protection, Nathan. I can offer you protection." Nathan scoffed. "Protection? From who? You? Your men? The zombies? Don''t make me laugh." "There''s more to that. Have you ever thought about the reason why countries, weak or powerful, form alliances?" "That''s your basis?" Nathan never felt so stupid in his entire life. To him, it was the nature of weaklings to band together. With his power at hand, no longer was he going to bow down to society. Society must bow down to him! "Don''t you find it strange that until now the government hasn''t been able to neutralize the zombie threat in Cram city? This is because many are trying to take advantage of the System. I even heard rumors that the government is even conducting human experiments." "Rumors, huh? That''s what you''re going with." "You are powerful, Nathan. Powerful enough that you''ve even decided to go solo, right?" Nathan frowned but didn''t say anything. "Well, it was pretty obvious once you start to piece together the dots. Anyway, what will you do once the government and their allies decide to hunt you down? With technology and the combined efforts of humanity, how long do you think you will last? I doubt you plan to have a premature death when you have so much potential. That''s why I want you, Nathan. I see so much potential in you and I''m even willing to forget the pain you caused me, even the death of Lester." Nathan snorted. Rose didn''t say a word and flicked her hair. Nathan pondered. What she said really made sense. He then thought about his favorite novels: Way of the Devil, Mystical Journey, Reverend Insanity, Renegade Immortal, and Warlock of the Magus World. ''What would Lu Sheng do? What would Fang Yuan do? What would Leylin do¡­?'' After thinking about their characteristics, he finally decided. "How long?" "The sooner the better," Rose replied. ''Hmm¡­ Too vague.'' Nathan thought. "Okay. Now for my second condition: I can choose whether to accept or ignore tasks." "Of course. As a matter of fact, your position in the organization will be second only to me, just like Derek and Ashleigh. I will also be assigning you your own Scavenger Team." ''Second only to you?'' Nathan snorted inwardly. "For my third condition¡­" He was about to ask her to give him Freddie''s loved ones but thought about Carl''s baby sister. To him, despite the evil things he has done since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, somewhere deep in his heart, there were a still a few lines he wasn''t willing to cross. ''Do I have the heart to kill children? Anyway, I''ve already killed Freddie. But if they choose to take revenge¡­'' "¡­I want my [Grade D] Dagger and revolver returned. I also want hand grenades, both night vision and thermal goggles, someone to teach me parkour or an expert in fighting, and I want a satellite phone." "I have no problem fulfilling the things you''ve mentioned except for the satellite phone. Unfortunately, this is the only one I have." Nathan scoffed inwardly. "I see, too bad. And for my last condition, I want Ashleigh to cure me. I heard she can repair lost limbs and even cure the zombie infection." Nathan lost some of his teeth on the right side due to the bullet earlier and it also affected the sound of his voice. To him, although he may not have the best teeth due to being a smoker, not having a complete set of teeth just felt so uncomfortable. Plus, his voice sounds a bit strange ever since he got his right cheek destroyed. "That''s not a problem. But you may have to wait until tomorrow morning though." "Why?" "There''s been a bit of complication." ''This bitch¡­'' "Okay, I understand. I will wait till morning." "It''s settled then." Rose stood up and offered her hand. "Welcome to Red Dust. I look forward to working with you." Nathan got up as well. He grabbed her hand and they shook. "Yeah, sure." As he was about to let go, Rose gripped tightly and pulled him over. Their faces was only a couple of inches away. She spoke in an eerily calm voice, "Don''t ever touch me again without my permission. Also, quit with the ''woman'' thing. It''s old and makes you sound pathetic." She smiled and let go of Nathan''s hand. She turned around and headed outside. Nathan just stood there, gazing upon her departing figure as he thought about the time he grabbed her neck. The corners of his mouth curled up to reveal a smile. ''Interesting¡­'' After a while, he finally decided to head out as well. When he got outside, he saw Rose and a group of people. Rose was talking with a man. Beside them was a limousine with its backseat door opened. After talking, the man ordered the people around to clean up the mess. Rose turned to Nathan. "Get in." She got inside the limousine. "Where are we going?" "To the manor." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? thanh_pham_cong ? ather_shad And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 49 Luxury Nathan and Rose were inside a limousine heading to Haven Manor. Both of them were looking out the window. There were people walking around and cleaning up the mess Nathan did. "Some of these people have this notion that they will eventually surpass us Chosen Ones..." Rose casually said. Nathan stared at her but he didn''t answer. Rose continued, "...which is why a little reminder is needed once in a while." Nathan smiled, looked away and continued looking out the window. The two didn''t say a word after that. When the limousine arrived at the manor, an old butler and two women were waiting at the main entrance. The butler opened the car door and greeted Rose. "Welcome back, Boss. The things you''ve asked for have already been prepared." Rose got out of the car. "Thank you, Lucian." When Nathan got out, Rose introduced the both of them. "This is Nathan, our new resident and a very important ally. Treat him as you would treat me. Nathan, this is the head butler, Lucian." "Rest assured, Boss," Lucian replied and turned to Nathan and offered a slight bow. "Good evening, Sir Nathan. It''s a pleasure to meet you. I am Lucian and I am at your service." Rose turned to Nathan and planted a small kiss on his cheek. "I had a very lovely evening thanks to you. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast. Goodnight." ''This bitch¡­ After what she said back at the house¡­'' "Lucian, please show him his quarters." Rose walked away and one of the women followed her. "Yes, Boss." Lucian said to Rose and then turned to Nathan. "Sir, please follow me." Lucian turned and started walking, while the remaining woman waited for Nathan to move. Nathan stood there and felt a bit suffocated. He understood that this old butler was only doing his job, but he still felt a little annoyed. It was he was being treated like a pet or something. As a self-proclaimed lone wolf, he unconsciously shuddered when he thought about what his life will be here. Noticing that Nathan wasn''t moving, Lucian asked, "Is there a problem, sir?" "It''s nothing. Lead the way." *** Haven Manor, third floor. Kacha! A door was opened. "This will be your room, sir." The setup of the room was the same as the one he entered earlier tonight. "The items you requested have already been prepared. It''s over there at the table." Lucian pointed at a coffee table in the living room. On top of the coffee table was his [Grade D] Dagger and Revolver. There were also 5 hand grenades, a dozen bullets, and goggles that feature both night and thermal vision. "If you find anything lacking, just say the word and we''ll grant it." ''How about my cousin or Rose''s head?'' Nathan thought before saying, "Nothing at the moment." "Here are your keys, sir." Nathan took a set of keys from Lucian''s hand. "The large one is for the main door, the medium-sized key is for the bedroom, and the small one is for the safe." "Okay." "Sir, may I introduce you to Flica, one of our best chefs. She will be in charge of your daily meals, your personal cook. She can prepare you a sumptuous meal right away if you want." "No need. Just leave me alone now." Although Nathan was hungry, he didn''t trust them. For safety reasons, he preferred to cook his own meals. "Certainly, sir. And one last thing, sir. In case you''re in need of service, just press ''1'' on the landline phone. It will connect you to the reception desk." "Seriously? You have something like that here?" "We do. Please enjoy the ''gifts''. Goodnight, sir." Nathan didn''t notice Lucian emphasized the word ''gifts''. He was so hungry and tired that all he wanted was to be left alone. Lucian offered a slight bow and the two left. With Nathan finally alone, he immediately went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was filled with food and drinks. "Hmm¡­ I want something light¡­ What to eat¡­ What to eat¡­" He grabbed 2 eggs, 4 strips of bacon and a bottle of fresh milk, and started cooking. Even if the eggs and bacon were poisoned, in his mind, cooking it will probably kill it. As for the milk, he was relying on his 29 Vit and his System potions the Antidote. After eating, he went to check everything inside his room to search for things such as bombs, cameras, etc. When he got to the bathroom, he was surprised to see two extremely good-looking people inside: a man and a woman wearing pieces of clothing that barely covered their private areas. The two immediately greeted Nathan in a seductive manner. "Good evening, sir." Nathan''s expression darkened and asked in an icy tone, "What''s the meaning of this?" The woman immediately answered in a seductive voice, "Sir, my name is ¨C" "Answer the question!" This time, it was the man who answered, "Sir, we''re here to provide you special services ¨C anything that you desire. Don''t worry, everything will be kept a secret." Nathan felt a chill ran down his spine and a strong urge to beat the man into a bloody pulp surfaced in his heart. Although it hasn''t been a year since he moved here to Womania, he understood that this country''s views regarding gender and relationships were very progressive. In fact, you can identify as gay today and then switch back to straight the next day and no one will judge you. As for why Nathan moved to this country, it''s a story to be told in the future. For now, let''s just say at that time he was desperate to start somewhere fresh and this country''s immigration rules happened to be not too strict and Amir was already long here so it was the easiest choice. Nathan suppressed his bloodlust. "Leave, the both of you." Despite how beautiful the woman was, he wasn''t in the mood right now. There were still many things to sort out. The two left. Nathan facepalmed out of annoyance. He started to miss the days before the zombie apocalypse. Amir was rarely home, either working, chasing women or out in a party, so most of the time he had the entire apartment all for himself. "I hope there won''t be any more surprises after this¡­" He massaged his forehead. He decided to continue inspecting the entire room. A couple of minutes later¡­ It was now 3:00 am. Aside from the two people he found inside the bathroom, he didn''t find anything else suspicious. "Did I miss anything?" He thought about it for a moment and then decided to take a bath and didn''t check the mirror to see his face. After taking a bath, he grabbed some clothes inside the cabinets. At the bed, he thought about the woman from earlier in the bathroom. ''I shouldn''t have sent her away¡­ But it''s not like they''re going to send me a person with STD or something, right? No¡­ Wait¡­ What if the woman does something like in that movie Naked Weapon?'' In the annals of history, how many men have fallen because of a woman? He was worried he would one of those simps. Before the zombie apocalypse, Nathan was just an average person in terms of looks, status and money. With that, when it comes to dating, the most beautiful woman he slept with was only a 6. He was a realist, defeatist or whatever you want to call it. Basically, he didn''t want to put a lot of effort in chasing women, especially after his experiences in the past. To him, all cats are black in the dark anyway. As long as he could get some action, that''s good enough ¨C though not from a woman that''s a 3 and below. So he created a dating formula for himself ¨C not for a romantic relationship, just for a one night stand to release his lustful desires. How he dates is like this: Being a 4 himself (based on his estimation), once a month he would message 10 women with average looks that''s between a 4 and 6 on a dating app. Out of the 10 women, around 6 women will reply. Out of the 6 women, 3 would agree to go out with him. And out of the 3 women, 1 or 2 will sleep with him. But thinking about the woman earlier at the bath who was willing¡­ Well¡­ Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. There was a telephone on top of a nightstand next to his bed. ''I''m not eligible to be a Sage anymore anyway.'' He picked up the phone and pressed 1. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ "Good evening, this is the reception area. How may I help you, Sir Nathan?" "Oh!" Nathan was taken back. He didn''t expect they knew he would be the one calling. ''Do they have something like a caller ID reader or something for landline phones?'' He could only guess. "Well¡­ There was a woman earlier inside my bathroom. Can you send her back?" "Certainly, sir. We''ll inform her that you called for her and send her back to your room." "Okay." "Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?" "Um¡­ Is it possible to send someone else? I mean, like an Asian or something?" "Certainly, sir. Do you have any specific features that you want?" ''What the hell? Is this manor a brothel or something?'' Nathan thought. "Uh... Yeah, someone skinny with brown skin. And colored hair if possible." "Certainly, sir." "Wow¡­ You really have someone like that?" "Yes, sir. We do our best providing everything possible." "Oh¡­ Great. That will be all then. Thanks." "You''re¡ª" "Oh wait! Bring me a pack of Marlboro Red also." "Certainly, sir. Will that be all, sir?" "I guess that''s about it. Thanks." "You''re welcome, Sir Nathan. Thank you for your call and if there''s anything else you need, don''t hesitate to ask." "Yeah, sure. Thanks again. Bye." Nathan put down the phone. His hands were cold and sweating so he rubbed them together. He felt like a kid and had butterflies inside his stomach. ''I just hope she doesn''t look like a prostitute¡­'' Nathan has never slept with a prostitute. It wasn''t that he finds the idea repulsive or whatsoever, he just never had the chance. In his mind, there are so many potential and willing partners on dating apps so there wasn''t any need. Plus, high-end escorts are crazy expensive. Great looks and skills, but very expensive ¨C at least to his income. He went back to the bathroom to mouthwash and checked himself in the mirror. "Oh fuck me sideways!" The right side of his face was sunken due to the loss of teeth. Aside from that, his beard was uneven. If his complexion was deathly pale, he would''ve looked like a deformed ghoul with a mismatched beard. He slammed his fists against the sink. Bam! "Should I just cancel? But¡­ But¡­" He thought about Ashleigh. It made him clenched his fists and his muscles tensed. He closed his eyes. ''Calm down¡­ Calm down¡­'' When he finally calmed down, he opened his eyes and stared at the mirror with cold eyes. "You''re a fucking Chosen One¡­ You''re a fucking Chosen One¡­ You''re a fucking Chosen One. You hear me, Nathan? You''re a fucking Chosen One! You''re better off compared to those rich and fat bastards ¨C a million times! So quit acting like a little bitch and man the fuck up!" Pah! Pah! He slapped both of his cheeks so hard that he could see the handprints on his face. Nathan shaved his beard. He went to the living room and sat at one of the sofas. He was wearing a long-sleeve black silk robe and boxers underneath. On top of the coffee table, he removed the items and replaced them with two glasses and a bottle of wine. 5 minutes later, someone knocked at the door. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Room service." It was a cute female voice. He leaned back, placed one arm on top of the sofa, and spread his legs. And with a deep voice, he said, "Come in~" Kacha! The door opened and a strikingly beautiful Asian woman walked in. She was wearing a white kimono robe. She was around 5''5", skinny, tanned skin, and had short blonde hair. She reminded him of a JAV actress called Aika. The only thing that Nathan didn''t like was that she was wearing too much makeup. But still¡­ She closed the door behind her. She bowed once and said in a sultry voice, "Good evening. My name is Akane." She untied the ribbon on her waist. The two fabrics locked together by the ribbon parted from each other, revealing more of her tanned skin and her black underwear. Nathan gulped. With a bewitching smile, she held out the pack of cigarettes on one hand and walked towards him. "I brought the pack of cigarettes you asked for and myself." "Uh-huh." She got on top of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. With their lips only an inch away, she whispered, "So which do you want first?" At the moment, there was only one thing in Nathan''s mind. He locked his arms around her and kissed her. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? thanh_pham_cong And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 50 Luxury 2 Chapter 47 (2nd draft) ¨C Luxury 2 7:29 am. Nathan was lying on his bed, wide awake. He didn''t sleep the whole night. Beside him was Akane, naked, tired and asleep with her arm resting on Nathan''s chest. Their evening workout ran up to four rounds and finished at around 6:30 am. Nathan''s mind was swirling with thoughts. One of the things plaguing his thoughts was that he didn''t use any condoms. Last night, everything just happened so fast ¨C Well, not the kind of "fast" you''re thinking about. The moment he pressed his lips against hers, his mind blanked out and was overtaken by lust. Some sense of clarity only returned to him when he was on the verge of pouring the first seed. That''s when he realized he wasn''t wearing a condom so he withdrew outside. However, instead of asking for a condom or if she was on the pill after that, he just continued and continued until they were both spent. As for the cause of why his mind got overtaken by lust, he concluded that it was probably due to all the pent-up stress he accumulated so far since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse ¨C all that violence, killing, death, and other dark and wonderful feelings bottled inside of him just came out rushing. Regarding the deed itself, Nathan wouldn''t deny that it was indeed more arousing doing it with someone attractive ¨C well, at least on his side. However, once everything was done, the same familiar feeling of emptiness that''s been plaguing him since he left his country resurfaced. But that''s another topic for the future. For now, there''s a crippling question that he kept asking himself¡­ ''Is she pregnant?'' Just thinking about such question inside his head made him shiver. Nathan came from a country called Muwin where it was mainly ruled by two religions, Trinity and Iklas. Both religions were constantly on odds so you could say that killing each other was only just a step away. With religion playing a major role in Muwin''s society, it was mainly a conservative country. Although both Trinity and Iklas placed great importance in traditional gender roles and things such as abortion was considered taboo, it was Iklas that held onto it tightly which also happens to be the religion that Nathan grew up with. Nathan himself wasn''t religious. However, years of influence from his household and society shaped him into the man he is today. Right now, he was thinking about what to do with Akane ¨C to kill or not kill. ''Could I father a child? What about my freedom? What about my enemies?'' Accusing a man that he is the father isn''t something new. However, given that Akane was, in Nathan''s mind, a prostitute and also considering that they were in a zombie apocalypse and he was a Chosen One, well¡­ 7:30 am. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Ring¡­ The telephone which was on top of a nightstand next to the bed rang. He rolled over, freeing himself from Akane''s arm. He sat on the bed and picked up the phone. "What?" "Good morning, sir Nathan. This is your scheduled wake-up call." Nathan frowned. "When did I scheduled a fucking wake up call?" "I''m sorry, sir, but all Captains have their own scheduled wake-up calls on specific days of the week. You also have a scheduled appointment today: Breakfast with the Boss at 8:00 am. Your personal assistant will be sent to your room by 7:50 am to lead you to the location, sir." "I don''t care about that. Where''s Ashleigh?" "Ms. Ashleigh will also be attending, sir." "¡­" "Will you be attending, sir? I can deliver a message for you to the Boss in case ¨C." "I will be attending." "Okay, sir. Have a great ¨C" Nathan put down the phone. ''Fucking annoying.'' Someone hugged him from behind. He could also feel a pair of breasts pressed against his back. "Good morning, baby," Akane said and planted a small kiss on his cheek. ''Oh yeah¡­ There''s also this issue.'' Another reason why he didn''t sleep was because he didn''t trust this woman. Who knows if she decides to slit his throat during his sleep. He held her hand and kissed it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Good morning, too." "I had so much fun last night," she softly whispered in his ear and lightly bit it. "Yeah, me too." Akane let go and searched for her clothes. Nathan grabbed his boxers and followed her to the living room. He leaned over the wall and crossed his arms. "I don''t know how to say this, but¡­" He scratched the back of his head. "Are you on the pill?" Akane found her black underwear and white kimono robe when she looked at Nathan. She had a confused expression on her face but it only lasted a moment. "Of course." She started putting on her clothes. There was an awkward silence in the room. Nathan didn''t know what to say. This was his first time sleeping with a prostitute and she was also the most beautiful woman he has ever slept with. Assuming that she was indeed a prostitute, to Nathan, this was probably supposed to be the part where he pays her and she leaves. But at this moment, he didn''t have any money so he was lost in what to do. "I have to go now. Bye." She kissed him on the cheek. "Yeah, me too. Bye." He gave her an awkward hug. She finally left the room. Alone at last, Nathan let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I think I handled that pretty well. It wasn''t awkward or anything¡­" He went to the bathroom to wash his face. Splash! He stared at his reflection on the mirror and thought about his first girlfriend and the awkwardness and messiness of it all. *** 8 years ago. Nathan, 16 years old. Latif High School, Latif City. The sky was dark and Nathan was standing behind a tree dressed in civilian clothes, all-black as usual. A couple of meters away, he could see Karen dressed in her best civilian clothes with makeup, looking all cute and feminine, sitting alone at a bench and constantly checking her phone. The light coming from the lamppost illuminated her, revealing to Nathan the nervousness on her face. It was the night of the graduation after-party and they were currently at the back of the high school building, far away from the party. This was it, the moment where the smokescreen game that they''ve been playing for years to come to an end. A few minutes later, their other childhood friend finally arrived. Vincent held a calm expression. However, his eyes betrayed him. It was painted with sorrow and guilt. He approached Karen and she stood up. Karen''s lips moved first, saying something. Nathan was a couple of meters away so he couldn''t properly hear what she was saying, but he knew exactly what she saying. The love of his life was pouring her heart out on another man. That day when Karen asked him if Vincent knew she had feelings for him, Nathan didn''t tell her about his feelings and instead offered her some advice on how to properly confess to Vincent. This was the time and place they decided. If Karen and Vincent will get together after this, as their childhood friend, he will gladly accept it and keep his feelings buried deep inside his heart without telling a soul until time lets him forget about it. Nathan continued watching from afar. This time, it was Vincent''s lips that were moving. And just a few seconds later, Karen started running away with tears falling from her eyes. When Karen was already far away, Nathan stepped out of the shadows and stared at Vincent. The two of them looked at each other eye-to-eye. Nathan''s face was as calm as ever. Vincent''s face, on the other hand, was torn with guilt and sorrow. He knew Karen had feelings for him for a long time. However, he only saw her as a little sister and he didn''t want to ruin their friendship so he pretended that he didn''t notice and actively chase other women, hoping that she would grow out of her feelings for him. He knew about Nathan''s feelings for Karen as well. As much as Nathan tried to hide it for years, as his childhood friend, it was impossible for him not to notice. He also suspected that Karen may have been aware of Nathan''s feelings. But she chose to pretend not to notice it just like what he did to her. "Take care of her. I brought the car that my father gave me as a graduation gift and I promised to take Nikki on a ride." Vincent turned and walked away. Seeing Vincent walking away, for a very quick moment, a dark expression appeared in Nathan''s face before returning to that familiar bored expression of his. Nathan himself wasn''t even aware such expression appeared on his face. In his mind, he understood where Vincent was coming from. Love isn''t something that can be controlled, it just happens, just like his own feelings for Karen. Unfortunately for him, he wasn''t the person that Karen loves. And it would be a lie if he said it didn''t bother him at all. "Was it because he''s handsome? He''s rich? He''s kind? He''s brave? He''s friendly? He''s popular? Or was there something in Vincent that I, as a man, could never see?" Nathan asked himself. Hearing himself asked these questions, he shook his head. There was something else more important right now. He turned away and headed to the direction where Karen ran off. *** A few minutes later, he found Karen crying alone on a dimly lit and empty hallway. He could hear her sniffling. He approached her and stopped just a few feet away. Looking at her pitiful state, Nathan had mixed feelings. One part of him fell in deep sorrow, knowing that the woman he loves was in pain. Meanwhile, the other part of him felt relieved that her love wasn''t reciprocated so he still has a chance. However, there was also third feeling, something even he wasn''t aware of, hidden deep within that sense of relief. It was a tiny bit of resentment, silently whispering: If you had chosen me in the first place, you wouldn''t have experienced this. "I''m sorry things didn''t work out," Nathan said. "Go away, Nathan. Not now," Karen said as she sniffled and rubbed off the tears on her eyes, messing up her makeup. Nathan didn''t comply and instead stepped forward, moving closer and closer to her. When Nathan was already just half an arm away from her, she pushed him. "I said go away, Nathan!" Nathan caught her hand. He pulled her towards him and embraced her. "Let go of me!" She tried to break free by thrashing around and pushing him away, but Nathan tightened his embrace, locking her in place. "Karen, listen to me." Despite that, she still tried to break away. Only this time, it was more violent. "I SAID LET GO!" "KAREN, I LOVE YOU!" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 51 Luxury 3 "KAREN, I LOVE YOU!" Saying those words, Nathan felt lighter. One of the many heavy loads that he has been carrying inside his heart for years just vanished. But for Karen, hearing those words caused her to stop thrashing around and instead began lightly banging her fists against his body as she helplessly cried out. "Why¡­? Why did you have to say those words?" "Karen¡­" Nathan found himself tongue-tied. He was expecting her to deny it to some extent, but he didn''t expect that he would find himself tongue-tied right off the bat. "I knew you had feelings for me but it''s Vincent that I love, not you¡­" "I¡­" He felt like his heart was being squeezed. "That''s why I tried my best to act as normal as I could whenever I''m with you¡­" "I...hurts¡­" Nathan managed to say while gritting his teeth from the emotional pain inside his chest. "But you just had to say to words to throw away all my effort and make things awkward between us¡­" Nathan''s mind finally went blank. The pain was just too much for him to handle. He absently released her and dropped his arms to his side as he raised his head and stared blankly at the wall with his mouth open. Karen placed her hand on Nathan''s chest. "I love you, Nathan¡­" When he heard those words, his mind immediately went back online. ''What did she say?!'' He stared at her. "...but I only love you as a brother." ''What? I got bro-zoned? And plus, don''t go cutting your sentences like that! It''s really misleading and it really hurts, you know!'' After calming down, he shook his head. In his mind, he already got his far. He might as well let everything out and see through it to the end, even if he had to resort to begging. He grabbed her shoulders. "Karen, I may not be as handsome as Vincent, as rich as Vincent, as charming, as brave, as kind, but my love for you could compare to no one." "Nathan¡­" He dropped on his knees, held both of her hands and kissed them. "Everything you want, anything you want, I will give it to you. Just accept my love for you." "Nathan, sto¨C" She pulled her hands away and tried to move away from Nathan, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face against her stomach. "Please¡­ I promise you that my love for you will erase your love for Vincent. And even if you can''t or will not love me, my love is big enough for the two of us. I love you so much that every day I dream about us being together. Every day I dream about holding and kissing you in my arms like this. God knows how much I love you, how I longed for this moment. Please, please, please¡­ Please accept my love for you¡­" Nathan''s voice started to choke. Seeing Nathan and hearing those words, she finally gave up resisting. She coiled her arms around his head, bent her head down and silently wept. After 5 minutes or so, she stopped crying. "Nathan¡­ Did you really meant what you''ve said?" Karen whispered softly. She uncoiled her arms around Nathan''s head. He raised his head and looked directly into her eyes. "Every last bit of it," Nathan said with pure and loving eyes. There was also a hint of pain that could be seen on his face. The cause of it was from kneeling on the floor because he wasn''t used to it. Looking at him, Karen smiled sweetly. "Do your knees hurt?" Nathan let out a chuckle and nodded. "Yes, the floor is killing me." Karen let out a chuckle as well and slapped his shoulder. "Get up." Nathan unwrapped his arms around her waist and got up. When he got up, Karen cupped his cheeks and asked, "We were so dramatic, weren''t we?" Nathan palmed Karen''s hands on his face and kissed them. "Yeah. Feeling ashamed?" Karen pulled his face towards her and pressed her lips against his. Their tongues met and began playfully coiling with each other while they both gasped for air. Their fingers running all over each others'' faces and hair. The kiss was the softest and sweetest thing Nathan has ever felt and tasted in his entire life. It made his knees go weak and his heart feeling like it was going to burst out of his chest any moment. He also had this raging lust storming inside of him, screaming at him to take her right here, right now. It took him a great deal of effort to suppress it. When their lips finally parted, their foreheads remained touching each other and their breathing was heavy. "I''m dying in shame that you couldn''t even imagine," said Karen as she bit her lower lip and smiled. "I think I may have messed your makeup with my saliva. But it was already messed up to begin with anyway." Nathan grinned. Karen lightly slapped his face and said, "Eww! Stop it. Bastard." They both chuckled. Nathan kissed her lips once more, trying to see if this was a dream or not. He was filled with euphoria that he just couldn''t help but question if this moment was really happening. And if this was nothing but a dream, as cheesy and cliche it may sound, he didn''t want to wake up. When their lips reluctantly parted for the second time, she whispered in a soft and breathless voice, "Take me to your house." "Okay!" He grabbed her hand and they ran off. As they ran, Karen almost tripped. "Kyaah!" Nathan decided to carry her like a princess which caused her to punched him and growled, "Don''t even think about it! I swear to God!" "Sorry!" *** Present day. 7:50 am. Nathan was waiting on the sofa and smoking a cigarette in the living room. He was fully geared. He had his [Grade D ]Sword, [Grade D] Long Dagger, [Grade D] Dagger, police vest, Revolver, four hand grenades (he left one inside the safe along with the goggles), and fanny pack. He yawned. With all the physical activities he did yesterday and also the fact he didn''t sleep last night, despite having 29 Vit, he was restless and wore a haggard face. And just thinking about being forced to have breakfast today made his mood sour. Knock. Knock. Knock. ''This is probably the person.'' Nathan got up and opened the door. It was a young and handsome bespectacled Caucasian man wearing a business suit and was carrying an office binder. He looked like he was only 16 years old, around 5''6" tall, and had a skinny build. Seeing Nathan with his haggard, sunken face and dressed in full gear, and also hearing about his "exploits", the kid was startled and unconsciously took a step back. "I''m sorry, sir. I mean, good morning, sir. My name is Twitch. Starting today I will your personal assistant. I have your schedule for today right here with me." He tapped the binder he was holding on. "First off, I will escort you to where the Boss is at." "Personal assistant, huh." A cold glint flickered in Nathan''s eyes. "Yes, sir." "¡­" "Sir?" "Aren''t you going to bring me to where Rose is at?" "Yes, sir. The Boss is on the terrace on the second floor. Please follow me." They started walking. "Tell me, kid. Does Rose have any family members here?" Twitch heard about Nathan''s exploits so he was a bit hesitant to answer him. However, in the end, he decided to. "As far as I know, the Boss has 2 uncles and 1 younger brother living here." "Living here?" "Yes, sir. Her other family members aren''t here." "What about her parents?" "With her siblings, sir." "How many siblings does she have?" "Five, sir. One passed away and another is missing overseas." "Missing overseas, huh. So where are the other two?" "Um¡­" "Useless." Twitch immediately backed away from Nathan and raised his arms to cover himself. "Sir, please don''t kill me!" Nathan stood there with a bored look. "Don''t be so overdramatic." "I ¨C I¡­" Twitch''s face turned red. Nathan let out a sigh and flashed a friendly smile. "Sorry about that. I wasn''t able to get any sleep last night so my face looks a bit unpleasant and I''m not my usual jolly self." "No, sir. It was my fault." Still wearing a friendly smile, Nathan approached Twitch and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Is this your first time as an assistant?" "Yes, sir." "I see. You know, I also used to work as a part-time assistant before the zombie apocalypse so I understand what it''s like. The first few days are always very stressful because while you''re doing your given tasks, you''re also trying to pick up the quirks of your employer. It''s like being a mind reader, oracle and laborer all at the same time." He patted Twitch''s shoulders a few times. "Just relax." Nathan stepped back. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Seeing Twitch, he couldn''t help but felt pity. He used to be like this as well ¨C always saying ''yes sir'', ''no sir'', ''thank you sir'' and ''sorry sir''. Each time he said those words, he felt like his balls grew smaller. "By the way, who''s going to pay you for being my assistant?" "The organization will not only be providing me food and shelter but will also let me kill the captured zombies and give me System items." "Oh, I see¡­" Nathan thought about his days as a solo hunter. Zombies? He even had to stop killing and let them increase their level because they were barely giving him any exp at all. System items? He won''t even bother to pick up some of them. "By the way, sir¡­ In case you have any extra System items, I can sell them here for you here." Twitch eyes shined. Nathan raised his eyebrow. "Heh~ For how much?" "Depending on the item. You can trade them for System items, guns, bullets, food, cigarettes, liquor, drugs, house, favors ¨C anything you can think of as long as it has a price. However, you will also need to pay tax." "To whom?" "The organization, sir." "Heh~ You don''t say." "And with you as a Chosen One, you''re part of the Scavenger Teams so you''ll definitely going to have some extra System items that you can sell." "Okay, so what''s in it for you for selling my loots on my behalf?" "As your personal assistant, I wouldn''t dare to ask anything. I only want to be a useful assistant to you, sir," Twitch humbly said but his eyes gleamed with anticipation. Nathan rolled his eyes inwardly. "Oh you know I can''t do that. I''ll feel bad. Hmm¡­ Let''s see..." He massaged his beardless face. "I will give you 10% of my loots." Twitch''s eyes shined. "Thank you, sir! Thank you!" "Don''t be, kid. It''s only fair business. Hahahaha~" Nathan said and then thought, ''Plus, I wanna see if anyone will dare to make me pay tax.'' "Still, I want to say thank you, sir! Hahahaha~" The two stood in the hallway and were laughing loudly. Nathan stopped laughing. "So kid, where are the rest of Rose''s siblings?" Twitch immediately stopped laughing. His face started to sweat and he looked like he was torn about what to say. Nathan patted his cheek. "Haha~ I''m just messing with you, kid. So, you''re taking me to where Rose is, yes?" Twitch let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, sir." Twitch turned and resumed leading the way. Nathan followed and stared at Twitch''s back. He thought of the memory that caused him to decide to work online. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? TrueDevilPath And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 52 Luxury 4 4 years ago. Nathan, 20 years old. The Falsus Network, Latif City, Muwin. ''Shit! Shit! Shit!'' Nathan was running on a hallway of an office building. This was his first day as an intern for his college credit and was supposed to be at the office before 9:00 am. Unfortunately, although he woke up earlier than usual when he goes to school, he wasn''t expecting the way in going to this office building would be so traffic. Right now he was on his way to the room where all the new interns gather. He checked his watch. 9:11 am. ''Dammit.'' Kacha! Bam! "Ahh!" While he was looking at his watch, a man suddenly exited a room while rubbing his nose and violently sniffling. Thud! The man Nathan bumped into was a very skinny man, about 5''8" tall, in his late 20s, and was wearing a business suit. Due to Nathan''s height and size, when he bumped him, the man was sent flying and landed a few feet away. Nathan immediately went over to the man to apologize and help him get up. "I''m very sorry, sir. I didn''t mean it. I mean, I didn''t notice you stan¨C" The skinny man slapped Nathan''s hand away in annoyance. "YOU LITTLE PUNK! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME!" Nathan immediately backed away and apologized once more. "I''m very sorry, sir, but I have to go. I have an appointment and I''m very late. Again, I''m very sorry for bumping into you." Nathan left the skinny man and headed to the room where the new interns are gathered. ''This is not looking good. Please God, don''t give me any more problems.'' When he finally found the room, he let out a deep sigh of relief. The door was opened and there were about 11 people inside who looked like close his age and were all in business attire just like him. But most importantly, it looked like they haven''t started yet because some were just casually chatting with each other, while others were on their phones. Nathan looked for a seat. When he sat down, he pulled out his phone and saw a text from his girlfriend, Karen. [Good luck on your first day, sweetie! xoxo] He replied. [Thanks, sweetie. I''ll see you later. xoxo] He also checked the other messages. One was from Vincent. [Don''t forget about the party this Saturday at 7:00 pm! It''s a VERY important day so be sure to be there! Reply ASAP once you read this text. Also, good luck on your first day as an intern!] Nathan rolled his eyes. ''Not another party.'' It''s been 4 years now since Vincent and Nikki dated. Ever since Vincent went to college, he got obsessed with throwing parties which basically just ends in two ways: drinking till you drop or hooking up with a girl, gone was the well-mannered Vincent he used to know before college. But despite Vincent''s drinking and promiscuous nature (Nikki as well), they still stayed together. How and why? Nathan doesn''t have a clue. But every week or so, they always get into a heated argument and sometimes it could get violent. Nathan and Karen also had their arguments, but it wasn''t as grand compared to Vincent and Nikki''s. There was another text as well. It was from his mother. [Your father and I are wishing you the best. Good luck on your first day.] Reading the text, Nathan squinted his eyes. "Gather around, people! I''m not in a good mood today!" A man said as he entered the room. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Nathan quickly put his phone inside his pocket and looked at the man, only to be surprised that it was the man he bumped into earlier. The man immediately saw Nathan and noticed the surprised expression on his face. The man sneered before pulling away his gaze. "My name is Donny Falsus. Yup, you heard me. My last name is Falsus. I''m the grandson of the CEO of this company." Donny was one of the grandchildren of the CEO. But what makes him very special among the other grandchildren was that he was the black sheep of the family. In the office, he was known to be a creep and likes to bully the employees, especially the interns. Looking at the skinny man named Donny who just revealed that he was the grandson of the CEO and was grinning ear-to-ear as he swept his gaze on the new interns, Nathan''s expression darkened. Occasionally, Donny''s eyes would pause between the women''s legs and chests and lick his lips, making everyone in the room skin crawl. ''Fuck!'' Nathan could only curse inside his heart and a series of thoughts started running inside his head. Finally, Donny was done ogling the women. "Group yourselves into 3 groups. I will be assigning you your tasks." "Hey man. Wanna group?" Nathan who was still in deep thought was shaken back to reality by a male voice. He turned towards the direction where the voice was coming from. "What?" It was a man with an average body and face with pimple scars and brown skin. "Wanna group?" "Oh¡­ Yeah, sure. Nathan." Nathan offered his hand. "Xander." Xander reached out and shook Nathan''s hand. "You guys looking for groupmates?" This time, it was a female voice. Nathan and Xander looked at the female. It was a slim and beautiful woman with short black hair and glasses. She had white skin, light makeup with red lips and was wearing a white blouse that slightly reveals her cleavage, a black pencil skirt, and heels. Beside her was a chubby white-skinned and average-looking woman with heavy makeup. "Yeah, wanna group up?" Xander asked. "Yeah, I''m Stacy and this is Mary. Pleased to meet you." "Hello," said Mary. "I''m Xander. This is Nathan. Pleased to meet you as well." "Hi," said Nathan. Stacy approached Nathan. "You look very familiar. Have we met before?" asked Stacy. Nathan''s brows knitted together, trying to remember if he knew this woman. "I''m sorry, but I don''t think so." "I work out at the gym on Slick St. The one on the second floor." "Oh¡­ Yeah, yeah. I work out there as well." "We''re gym buddies." Stacy lightly touched his arm and smiled sweetly. "Yeah," Nathan replied with a flat tone. Clearly he wasn''t moved by her touch. In terms of looks, this Stacy was indeed beautiful than his girlfriend. But that didn''t mean anything to him for he had no emotional attachment to her. There was a reason why Stacy was befriending Nathan. She was one of the women that Donny ogled. As a beautiful woman herself, she experienced many stares similar to that in her life. Seeing Nathan who had the best physique in this room, she was hoping that he would white knight for her in case Donny will attempt to do something creepy to her. "Okay, follow me. I will be assigning you to your stations," said Donny and went out of the room. Everyone followed suit. *** Nathan and his group were assigned to the station that covers technology topics. The main editor''s assistant at the technology section immediately assigned them tasks. Nathan was in charge of writing the body, Xander for related sources, Mary for pictures that can be used, and Stacy to do the final checking before printing and submitting it to the assistant of the editor. Nathan was finally done writing the body. "Stacy, I sent the file to the email." "Okay. Checking now." A few minutes later. "Everything looks good. Great job, Nathan. I''m going to print it now and submit it." "Thanks. But it''s all thanks to our combined efforts." "Mr. Humble, eh~" Xander teased on the side. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. "It''s a group effort." "I''m going to submit it now." Stacy was done printing the piece and went to the assistant''s editor to submit. "I feel nervous~" Mary said on the side as she rubbed her hands together. "Don''t be. But this is really weird, man. They had us 4 work on one article. I was expecting for the each of us to write our own articles. Last night, I stayed up late reading a bunch of the latest news about tech, sports, politics and entertainment just to prepare," Xander said helplessly. Hearing Xander, Nathan thought about what he did last night as well. ''Last night I was reading light novels before going to bed¡­'' Stacy came back with her head down and clasping her hands. Beside her was the editor who was a fat man with disheveled hair in his early 40s. On the editor''s hands was the piece of paper that Stacy printed earlier. "Who''s the idiot that wrote this piece of crap?" the editor growled. Nathan, Xander and Mary looked at the editor. "Are you guys also deaf?! I asked, WHO WAS THE IDIOT THAT WROTE THIS PIECE OF CRAP?!" "Sir, I wrote the body," Nathan said and raised his hand. "We all wrote the paper, sir," Xander said. The editor looked at Nathan. "SO YOU''RE THE IDIOT WHO WROTE THIS PIECE OF CRAP!" Nathan frowned for a quick moment and immediately loosen his facial muscles. All of a sudden, Donny entered the technology section office. "I was just passing by and I heard someone shouting. What''s going on here?" "Sir Donny, we meet again. I was just asking these new interns who wrote this piece. It looks like we got another idiot that got hired," said the editor. "Let me take a look at that paper." The editor passed the paper to Donny. Donny just glanced at the article for a moment and immediately shook his head before looking at Nathan with contempt. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Are you really a graduating student? A kindergarten can write better than this. What college are you from? No, don''t answer that. I''m sure you''re just from one of those cheap nameless colleges that let anyone pass so there''s no point in answering." Nathan clenched his fists and quickly unclenched them. "I''m sorry, sir," said Nathan with an apologetic face. Donny shook his head again passed the paper to the editor. "I''m very sorry that you have to deal with people like this. I will be sure to file a complaint at the management to make sure that the company will be stricter in choosing who to allow to intern in our company. If we keep allowing people like him to intern here, the quality of work here in our company would drop." "Thank you very much, sir. That really means a lot to us," the editor said to Donny with a very grateful and dramatic expression. While Nathan was looking at these two clowns in front of him and still holding an apologetic expression, he was imagining how easy it was for him to brutally beat the shit out of them. On his head, he was breaking their knees and elbows one by one, taking his sweet time and smiling as they begged for mercy. After that, he would gouge their eyes out and rip off their tongues and ears as they squealed like pigs and begged him to kill them. However, he won''t kill them because that would be an act of mercy. But of course, this scene inside his head will only remain as a fantasy and nothing more. As a person, despite being a self-proclaimed lone wolf, by the end of the day, he still had to remain "civil" if he wants to be part of society and enjoy its benefits. He had no desire to go to jail and spend the rest of his life there or face the death penalty. "Okay, that will be all. I will be going now. I still have other matters to attend to," said Donny. "Certainly, sir. Sorry for bothering you. Please keep up the good work and have a good day, sir." Before Donny left, he looked at Nathan one last time and sneered. When Donny finally left, the editor looked at Nathan and threw the paper to him. "Rewrite this piece of crap right away! We can''t publish this kind of crap in our company!" "Yes, sir. I''m very sorry, sir." Nathan''s emotions were still running wild inside but he still kept an apologetic expression. Regardless of whether the article he wrote was of poor quality or not, this kind of treatment was just too much. As for that lousy performance that Donny and the editor did, only a fool would believe that this wasn''t a setup. Everyone in the technology section office was looking at Nathan. Some felt bad for him, some indifferent, while the others were sneering. As for his groupmates, only Xander and Mary felt sorry for him. Stacy, on the other hand, was looking at him as someone she regretted grouping up with. ''So this is real-world office politics¡­'' Nathan thought inside his heart. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? meeeeeeeeeeee ? jose1992 And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 53 Breakfast Club Present time. Nathan and Twitch arrived at the terrace on the second floor and were standing at the entrance. "Sir, this is where we part ways. I will leave now and wait for you outside your room." "Okay." Twitch turned and left. Nathan entered the terrace. The view from the terrace showcased the South and West areas of Haven Town. "Nathan! You''re finally here!" An excited female voice called out. He turned to his right and saw four people seating on a round table that''s enough for 6 people. There were two waiters standing on the side and a chef standing behind a breakfast buffet table. It was Ashleigh who called him out. She was dressed in workout clothes. She stood up from the table, rushed up to him and gave him a hug. He could smell her sweet shampoo and feel her voluptuous breasts pressing against him. "I''m so glad you''re here! I was so worried about you! I thought you were dead!" She hugged him even tighter. ''Dead?'' He laughed coldly inside his heart. "I wanted to go pick you up this morning, but Rose said that it would be better if we gather here first to celebrate our reunion. I''m sure you have so many questions to ask." ''Rose prevented you from talking with me?'' Nathan''s suspicion of Ashleigh and Rose working together grew. In truth though, Rose was wary of Nathan''s nature. Given how important Ashleigh''s powers are, she was very important in the group. As for Nathan''s nature, Rose feared that he would kill her once he learned about what really happened. This is why she set up this meeting to ease the tension before having them talk with each other later in private. There was also another reason why she set up this meeting. "Well, that''s our Lee-Lee, alright." One female voice remarked. "She is a bit too kind. But that''s why everyone loves her," said male voice. Nathan patted Ashleigh''s shoulder. "Bim ¨C Ashleigh, I can''t breathe." "Oh!" She quickly let go. "Sorry, I got carried away." Nathan heard a few chuckles on the table. He flashed a friendly smile at Ashleigh and pinched her cheeks. "Do you know how worried sick I was about you? How are you? Have they been treating you well?" He secretly glanced at the people at the table. There were 3 people there dressed in civilian clothes: Rose, a very handsome but chubby teenager who looked like Rose, and a strikingly beautiful black woman around the same age as Rose. Rose and the other woman were wearing a morning robe, while the man was dressed in workout clothes. "I''m doing fine. I''ve also been worried sick about you, Nathan ¨C about you and Amir. I''m so glad that you two are fine." Tears started to well up in her eyes. ''So you knew that they have Amir?'' He wanted to strangle her with his bare hands. But instead¡­ He pulled her towards him and embraced her. He gently caressed the back of her head as if she was the most precious person in his life. "Oh Ashleigh, I''m sorry for making you worry. It''s okay now. I''m just glad that things are working out well for ALL of us..." She hugged him back. "Yes¡­ *sob* ¡­Thank God." Someone cleared their throat. "The two of you are going to make us cry," Rose teased. "Nathan, I''m glad you''re finally here. Please come sit so that we can all have breakfast." Nathan pulled himself away from the embrace and looked at Rose. "Sure, but I want Ashleigh to heal me first." He turned to Ashleigh. "Ashleigh." Her eyes widened in surprise. She finally noticed Nathan''s sunken right cheek. "Oh my god! What happened to you? Are you in pain? Let me heal you real quick." She quickly placed her hand on Nathan''s chest. "[Heaven''s Treatment]!" Light glowed from her hand and covered Nathan''s entire body. Whatever wounds or scars Nathan had, it vanished in an instant, making his skin like a newborn baby. The teeth he lost last night also grew in a blink of an eye. He licked his new teeth. "Nathan, are you okay? Is there still anything wrong? I''ll cast again." "No, everything is fine already. I was just amazed. Thank you, Ashleigh. Your power is really amazing. If only I KNEW about it back then." He flashed a friendly smile. "Come on, you two. Let''s have breakfast," said the black woman. Ashleigh wrapped her arm around Nathan''s arm and dragged him to the table. "Come, let''s have breakfast or Brezine will get mad. She can be scary if she gets mad." They finally got to the round table and sat. Their sitting position, starting from the left: Ashleigh, Nathan, Brezine, Rose and lastly Richard. "Lee-Lee, what did you just say about me?" "Nothing~" Ashleigh flashed a cute and happy smile. "Nathan, well, you already know Rose so¡­ This is Brezine¡­" "Pleasure to meet you," Brezine said. Nathan nodded. "¡­and this guy is Richard. Rose''s younger brother." Both Nathan and Richard nodded at each other. "I wonder where Derek is at. He''s a bit late. He should ¨C" Ashleigh said. "Let''s order now." Rose said. One of the waiters approached them. "I''ll have the usual." Rose said. "Me too." Brezine and Ashleigh said. "The usual as well but double it." Richard said. The waiter approached Nathan. "Ashtray only." "Certainly, sir," said the waiter and left. "So how was your night? Pleasant, I assume?" Rose asked Nathan with a smile on her face. She was informed about Akane. "I''ve had better nights," Nathan said with a flat tone. When the two waiters brought an ashtray along with the food they''ve ordered, Nathan immediately lit up a cigarette. Brezine and Richard looked at Nathan made a frown that lasted only a moment. Meanwhile, Ashleigh and Rose didn''t show any discontent. "I see." Rose took a sip of juice from her glass. "Nathan, you''re not going to eat?" Ashleigh asked. "I already ate around 6:00 am. I''m an early riser." "Oh¡­ I thought Rose invited you last night?" "She did? Well, I must''ve forgotten about it. You know me, I''m always so busy worrying about things, especially about YOU and my cousin." "So, Nathan, how long have you been here in Womania?" Rose asked. "8 months." "Got any family here, like a wife and children or something?" Richard asked. "Only Amir." "Nathan is Amir''s cousin," Ashleigh said. "Amir? The man you told me about last time?" Richard said. Nathan noticed a subtle hint of jealousy on Richard''s tone and couldn''t help but laugh inwardly. ''This is the problem of dating young and beautiful women. There''s always another man trying to steal her away from you.'' "Yes," Ashleigh said. Nathan''s eyes glanced at Ashleigh and looked at her and Richard''s outfit. ''These two probably worked out together this morning before coming here. How sweet. Well, I can''t blame this bimbo for choosing this fatty over my cousin when such luxuries are being offered to her.'' Amir''s family was rich, but not crazy rich like Rose''s family. Also, outside was no different from hell. Sure, there are a lot of things to loot, but it''s also full of dangers, mainly because of the zombies and humans. However, between the zombies and humans, it''s better to encounter zombies because at least with them, they will kill you immediately. As for meeting humans, you''re at their mercy and only God knows how long will they torture you. "Excuse me. Can you put that out? We''re eating and I''m allergic to that," Brezine said. Nathan just looked at her and deliberately blew smoke in her direction. Brezine frowned. Nathan turned to Rose. "So aside from Ashleigh healing me, what other important matters are we to discuss about?" Rose put down her knife and fork. "Nathan, do you remember what we''ve talked about last night?" He looked at Richard and Brezine. As far as Nathan knows, only Rose, Derek, Ashleigh and him were the Chosen Ones in Red Dust. The others were just ants. "Are you a Chosen One? How about you?" Nathan asked Richard and Brezine. Richard and Brezine frowned. "What are you trying to say?" Richard said. "Although I''m not a Chosen One, I''m sure I can take you on anytime." Brezine said. Both of them said in a cold tone. Long before Nathan arrived at Haven Town last night, Derek already returned a few hours earlier to inform Rose. With that, she ordered the people she was close with or vital to Red Dust to head to a secret location. Ashleigh, Brezine and Richard were among those people. Because of this, although they heard about Nathan''s power, Ashleigh, Brezine and Richard have no idea what it really feels like to fight him. To them, he was just another Chosen One that can easily be brought down with their numbers if they take him seriously. Nathan looked at Rose. "You invited me here for this?" "Is there something wrong?" Rose took a sip from her glass. Nathan put out his cigarette before getting up from his seat and walking away. "Nathan, where are you going?" Ashleigh asked. In Nathan''s mind, this was a complete utter waste of his time. There were only two things that he wanted here, a primary and an optional one. The primary one was getting healed by Ashleigh which could have easily be done by just having her go to him or having him go to her last night or this morning. The optional one was the truth about Ashleigh. This was only optional because she meant nothing to him. Their only connection is that she''s Amir''s girlfriend. In Nathan''s mind, so what if she had such power? He survived on his own outside, why can''t he continue doing it? And based on the setup he was seeing right now, he was betting that Ashleigh is indeed on Rose''s side. If it''s true, he couldn''t blame her. With the kind of life she was living here, why wouldn''t she? It''s not like she and Amir are married anyway. And based on his understanding and experience with people, most will choose a position where they will be most comfortable at. As for establishing a friendship or an alliance with Brezine and Richard, it meant little to him. In his eyes, these two won''t even last a day outside of Haven Town on their own. Without their group''s protection, they were no different from those humans that could do nothing but hide inside buildings like rats, eating God knows what. He would rather eat alone in peace than force himself to eat with such people he doesn''t and will not care about and engage with them in small talk. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Let him leave, Ashleigh," Brezine said. Meanwhile, Richard was looking at Nathan with contempt. There were three things that Richard didn''t like about Nathan: One - He killed his cousin Lester whom he was very close with. Two - Nathan''s attitude. Three - Being Amir''s cousin. He wanted Ashleigh but he knew that he can''t force himself on Ashleigh or do anything against Amir because Rose will definitely punish him, perhaps even have him killed him. "Nathan, I suggest you have an open mind. Can''t you see that I set this up for you so that you can obtain more allies within the organization?" Rose said. Nathan stopped and turned to Rose. "Allies? Wasn''t our arrangement was only between the two of us? I don''t remember agreeing to lowering myself to ants." "Fine. Since you don''t know how to appreciate help when it''s being offered, I won''t force you." "Don''t bother me with useless things like this ever again." Nathan turned and resumed walking. Meanwhile, Rose continued eating as well. "Nathan, wait!" Ashleigh called out and stood up. She was genuinely happy to see Nathan, because she really thought he died back then. The fact that he protected her when the zombie apocalypse first began, she wanted to at least tell him the truth of why she didn''t tell him about her powers and the current situation they were on. Unfortunately, Nathan ignored Ashleigh''s call. As she was about to chase him, Richard grabbed her wrist, causing her to stop. "Lee-Lee, you don''t have to associate yourself with people who can''t appreciate good company." "But¡­" "Lee-Lee, Richard is right. Don''t mind him. We still have a long day ahead of us," Brezine said. "Rose¡­?" Ashleigh looked at Rose. She put down her knife and fork before raising her head to look at Ashleigh. "Brezine is right. We still have a long day ahead of us. Please finish your breakfast." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? jose1992 ? Drapp ? Ryuus And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 54 Hunters Hall Nathan was on his way to his room. He saw Twitch waiting outside of his room. "Welcome back, sir. For your next appointment, it will be ¨C" "Inside." "Yes, sir." Kacha! Nathan opened the door and went directly to the living room. He sat on the sofa and placed his legs on top of the coffee table. "Continue." "Yes, sir. Your next appointment will be at 9:00 am." Nathan checked his watch. It was 8:17 am. "You will be going to Hunter''s Hall which is located Southwest here in Haven Town. That''s where all Scavenger Teams scheduled to head outside today gather and be briefed for orders." "I''m going to what?" "Go to Hunter''s Hall where all the Scavenger Teams scheduled to head outside today gather and be briefed for orders." Nathan frowned. On his way here, he thought about secretly sneaking into Saint Town today and search for Amir. "I''m part of the Scavenger Teams?" "Yes, sir. Last night, the entire Team 5 was wiped out including the captain, Isaac. You are to take over as captain and new members will be assigned to you." "Tell me what exactly are these Scavenger Teams and what do they do." "There are 10 Scavenger Teams. They are in charge of heading out to search for food, supplies, survivors and other things. For Monday, Wednesday and Friday, teams 1-5 are to head out. Meanwhile, teams 6-10 heads out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday." "Is Rose part of the Scavenger Teams?" "She''s the Captain for teams 1 and 6, sir." ''Heh~ So she gets to go out every day? What a pretty outgoing bitch. I wonder what her level is.'' "Sir, there''s a special mission for you." "What is it?" Twitch pulled out a piece of paper from his office binder and passed it to Nathan. It featured the map of Cram City with a few pictures clipped on. "Normally, Scavenger Teams will head outside right after the morning gathering and will return to Haven Town around 5:00 pm. But with your special mission, once you enter Cram City with your team, you won''t be joining them in search of supplies and whatnot. Instead, you will be heading alone to this location to scout." The location was in the Southwest of Cram city. As for the pictures, one of them featured the mall he sneaked into yesterday before he fought Derek at the bridge. The other pictures featured the group''s leader and some of the group''s high-ranking members, including the doctor. "Just to scout?" "Sir, this group is one of the targets of Red Dust. Your mission is to scout the camp today and then tomorrow at dawn you will return to kill the group''s leader, Harry." "Just him? If that''s the case, why don''t I just kill him now?" "I''m sorry, but I don''t know many details, sir. All I know is that the leader of the group is a Chosen One that could slow down his targets within his vision and the Boss is preparing for something." "So when do I go home? Do I just go home alone or with my team? I don''t think I need the whole day to scout." In Nathan''s mind, given that he was easily able to enter the mall yesterday, it would be easy to do it once again. As for killing this Chosen One called Harry, he will have to do some investigations of his own. Twitch looked around before saying, "That depends on you, sir. But in my opinion, if I may, it would be better to go home together with your team to build rapport." "Rapport?" "Sir, if I may express my opinion again, I''ve heard about you''re exploits yesterday and it''s no doubt amazing. However, your reputation among many members in this organization, especially to the longtime ones, isn''t exactly positive." "No problem. I will deal with it my way." A cold glint flickered in Nathan''s eyes. "Yes, sir." Nathan checked his watch. 8:30 am. "9:00 am, right? Hmm..." "Yes, sir." Nathan got up from the sofa. "Bring me a medium-sized backpack this big, three tupperwares, and bottled waters. Bring me also a handgun with a silencer if there''s any. And some bullets as well." As someone who works out, he was no stranger in packing his meals for the day. And with the zombie apocalypse and the other plans he had in mind, to him, the idea packing meals was even more vital, especially today. Movement requires energy. If he didn''t have proper nutrition, he won''t be able to perform at his peak. As for his backpack that he buried outside of Haven Town last night, he decided to keep it there for the time being to serve as a secret stash. For now, he decided to milk everything he could from Red Dust. "Yes, sir." Twitch quickly left, while Nathan started cooking. *** West of Haven Town. 9:15 am. Nathan and Twitch were riding a car headed to Hunter''s Hall. Nathan was fully geared and held a very relaxed expression while looking at the window. Twitch, on the other hand, was secretly glancing at his watch from time-to-time. They were already 15 minutes late. "Who are those people?" Hearing the question, Twitch gazed towards where Nathan was looking. The people that Nathan was asking about was a group of people in chains and wearing tattered clothes being led by some guards. "Sir, those are traitors of the organization. Some of them tried to assassinate her or stage a coup d''etat, while the others violated the town''s rules set by the Boss. They were offered a choice ¨C death or forced labor." "Slaves, huh. For life?" "Only the ones who tried to assassinate her or stage a coup d''etat." The car finally arrived at Hunter''s Hall. Nathan grabbed his backpack. They got out and headed to the meeting room where all the Scavenger Teams scheduled to go out today gathered. Nathan was taking his sweet time walking while smoking. Twitch, on the other hand, was constantly wiping off the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. They finally arrived outside of the meeting room. "Sir, I''ll wait here outside." "Nonsense. You''re coming with me." Nathan flicked his cigarette away before opening the door. Kacha! "Teams 3 will be in charge of this area," said a 50-year old man with short white hair pointing a large map of Cram City that was plastered on a whiteboard. Seeing Nathan entering with a relaxed expression and Twitch with his head down, everyone in the room was quiet and stared at them. There were 6 rows of steel chairs divided into two columns. He saw Rose, Ashleigh and Brezine. Ashleigh waved at him. ''Where to seat¡­ Where to seat¡­ Oh there.'' "Sir, teams usually seat together," Twitch whispered. However, Nathan didn''t care. He already found and chosen seats for him and Twitch. It was at the back. "Young man, carrying of weapons isn''t allowed here." The 50-year old man said. Nathan ignored him and continued walking until he got to the seats he was aiming for. The 50-year old man glanced at Rose who held an indifferent attitude. Seeing Rose''s attitude, he decided not to say anything. As he was about to continue his briefing... "You four. Fuck off." Everyone looked at where the voice was coming from. To no surprise, it was Nathan telling four people sitting at the back to move away. The four didn''t move and just stared at Nathan like he was nothing. Nathan let out sigh before putting his backpack down. He quickly pulled out his silencer, grabbed one of them by the hair and shot each of them on the leg. "What are you¨C" Tsssp! Tsssp! Tsssp! Tsssp! "Aaaahhh!" The four screamed as they fell from the chair except for one that Nathan held by the hair. Thud! Thud! Craaaaannngggg! While still holding one person by the hair, he smashed the person''s nose with a butt of the gun and then shoved the barrel of his silencer inside the man''s mouth. It was hot, causing the man to scream in pain. "AAAAHHHH!" "You attack, I''ll shoot a bullet down your throat," Nathan said. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" One of the people nearby shouted. "LET THAT MAN GO!" Another one shouted as well. Even Ashleigh was about to stand up and help Nathan, but she was prevented by her captain, Brezine, and her other fellow Team 2 members. Everyone got up and were in fighting positions. No one was carrying weapons here, but some of them had spells and were ready to cast them. "The fuck is going on there?!" Someone from Rose''s team said. It was a black man about 6''7" tall with thick muscles. He was the first lieutenant of Team 1 and also serves as the acting captain whenever Rose is out with Team 6. He walked towards Nathan. The man''s towering height and the thundering sound with each step he took made everyone subconsciously make way for him. When the man finally got to where Nathan was at, he growled, "I''m expecting a good explanation for all this." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Nathan didn''t answer and just looked at the man with disdain. To Nathan, this person''s height was nothing but show. Even a high-level Chosen One kid could break this guy. "Tyrone, this asshole just attacked my men without warning. This is against ¡ª" Tsssp! Nathan shot the snitch on the leg, before shoving it again inside the mouth of the man he was holding. "AAAAHHHH!" The man Nathan was holding screamed once again. "Aaaaahhhhhh! He shot me! He fucking shot me! Kill that asshole!" "GET HIM!!!" "SAVE HIM!" His teammates were about to attack Nathan. Some charged while others began casting spells. "STAND THE FUCK DOWN!" Tyrone said. Everyone stopped. Tyrone moved closer to Nathan and stood about 3ft away from him. "It seems you think ¨C" Bam! Thud! Nathan let go of the man he was holding and delivered a front kick to Tyrone''s groin. With his STR at 31 points, Tyrone, who wasn''t a Chosen One and whose level was a few numbers lower than Nathan, not only did he have his jewels and rod crushed but also flew a few feet away. Seeing Tyrone writhe in pain on the floor while holding his groin, no one moved and were surprised. They didn''t expect Tyrone to fall that easily. When they saw Nathan pulling out his sword from his back, everyone tensed up and was about to... "That''s enough!" Rose finally reacted. She got up from her seat and went over to Nathan. "Do you always solve things with violence?" Rose coldly asked. Nathan shrugged. "I wanted these seats and asked them kindly but they refused." "You''re seat is there with your group." She pointed at a group of people on the other side which was in the middle. Nathan chuckled. "You seriously don''t expect me to show my back at a group of people who wants to kill me, right? Unlike you and Derek, I don''t have crazy defense." "Boss, let me fight him!" "No, Boss, let me!" "Boss, this is unacceptable!" "Silence!" Rose shouted. Rose and Nathan stood there and there was high tension between the two. "Better learn to control yourself." "Woman, are you threatening me?" "Just a friendly reminder," Rose said and then looked at the teammates of the 4 people Nathan just shot. "Clean that mess up." She walked away and returned to her seat. "You heard what your boss said. Throw away these trash," Nathan said. The people nearby, especially the teammates of the four that Nathan shot were fuming with anger and didn''t hide their killing intent as they carried their teammates outside of the room. As for Tyrone, he was healed by one of his team members and looked at Nathan with a murderous glare. Nathan just ignored them. To him, if he and Rose didn''t have any agreement, he would''ve killed these people already. They should be thankful he just shot them on the leg. With the seats finally vacant, Nathan and Twitch sat down. Twitch was sweating beads and was about to have a panic attack. He was afraid of what those people that Nathan shot would do to him. Unlike Nathan, they could vent out their anger on him. And given that people from Scavenger Teams have family and friends here, they could ask someone else to make his life here in Haven Town a little uncomfortable. The 50-year old man resumed the briefing as well. "As I was saying, team 3 will be in charge of this area," pointed the old man point and added, "Be sure to avoid these areas here and here." "Kid, tell me about the situation in Cram city." "Y-Yes, sir. I''m not 100% if this is correct, but from what I gathered, there used to be four government shelters in Cram City: North, South, East and West." "¡­" "The Southern and Eastern shelters have fallen. The former from zombie attacks, while the latter from other human groups." "¡­" "Between the Northern and Western shelter, the Northern shelter is considered to be the main government shelter at and is currently at war with the human groups in the East." "What about Red Dust?" "All I know is that Red Dust is on friendly terms with the government and some human groups located on the West side of Cram City." "You mentioned the Southern shelter fell to the zombies. What''s the situation there?" Back in Nathan''s solo hunter days, he hunted in the Southwest of Cram city. "The Southern shelter got overrun by zombies led by a group of 3m-tall skinless zombies: D1, M1, N1, and S1. And then two days ago, when one of the Scavenger Teams found out that the streets in the Southwest were littered with headless zombie corpses, our organization decided it was safe so they decided to send two teams there the next day. Unfortunately, out of the two teams, only one person returned, a member of Team 8." "M1? S1? How did they got wiped out by the zombies?" "Um¡­" "Speak up, kid." "Yes, sir. All I know is that an M1 can cast magic spells, while the S1 specializes in attack and speed. As for the teams that were sent, it was teams 8 and 9. Group 9 died from the zombies. But group 8 met you, sir¡­" "Oh¡­" Nathan said. ''Hmm... So Booty Warrior is part of Team 8.'' "That will be all. Dismiss," said the old man. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? sam0sa ? James_Black_2558 ? Eternal_Dawn And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 55 Hunters Hall 2 Everyone in the room started heading out. "Sir?" said Twitch. "Traffic," said Nathan with a bored tone as he stroked his beardless chin. While everyone was heading outside, a woman approached Nathan and Twitch. She flashed a friendly smiled. "Good morning, Captain. I''m part of Team 5 and my name is ¨C" Nathan yawned so wasn''t able to catch her name. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The woman''s friendly expression remained unchanged. "Captain, please allow me to accompany you." She sat down on one of the chairs nearby. After a minutes or so, the room was finally empty except for the three of them. He got up on his chair and flicked his cigarette away before grabbing his backpack. He headed outside of the room and the two followed suit. *** "Where are we headed?" "Sir ¨C" "Captain ¨C" Having them talked at the same time, the two stopped and glanced at each other. Nathan, on the other hand, upon hearing a female voice, turned around to see who was it coming from. It was an average looking Caucasian woman, around her early 20s, about 5''7" tall, and had an athletic build ¨C not the bodybuilder type. Seeing the woman, Nathan squinted his eyes and remembered something. He turned to Twitch. "Did Rose mention to you anything about my request regarding a parkour instructor? "I''m afraid not, sir." He turned to the woman. "And who the fuck are you?" The woman was caught off guard only for a moment but immediately regained her composure. She heard about Nathan''s infamous exploits and him being a Chosen One. And upon seeing his attitude earlier and how Rose responded, she was impressed and wanted to leave a good impression on him. Among the Scavenger Teams, teams with Chosen Ones usually have a lower casualty rate. But in the case of Team 8, it was just pure bad luck that they encountered another Chosen One. "Good morning, captain. My name is Kaija and a member of Team 5. I''m from Muwin." He was surprised to hear she was from Muwin. He didn''t expect they were fellow countrymen because of her Caucasian-like features. ''Is this woman one of those crazies who like to identify themselves with whatever shit they want? Kinda reminds me of the 30-year old man I saw in the news one time who identified himself as a unicorn.'' Muwinians are typically browned skinned. And interestingly enough, in the Muwinian culture, most women and some men are obsessed with whitening their skin. Nathan, however, wasn''t one of them. He examined her features closely and only saw a handful of features that were typical of Muwinians. He also tried to recall her accent. It sounded like a pure native Womanian. As for the language used in Womania, it was Regisian, the national language of the country of Regisian, one of the most powerful countries in the world. ''Mixed race?'' Nathan thought and asked her in Muwinian. "Which part of Muwin are you from?" "The South. At Nila," she replied in Muwinian. Hearing her speak in Muwinian, it was a little stiff. ''A woman from the Southern part of Muwin, huh.'' He thought about someone from his past that was a Southern Muwinian. Although Nathan grew up in the central region of Muwin, his parents are originally from the South and their religion was Iklas, but they weren''t as serious about it unlike other Southern Muwinians. There are two religions that dominate in Muwin: Trinity and Iklas, making it a conservative country. Northern and Southern Muwinians hated each other, mainly because of religion. In the eyes of Northern Muwinians, the Southern Muwinians are too rigid in their beliefs and sees them as nothing but barbaric people unwilling to let go of their outdated beliefs. On the other hand, in the eyes of Southern Muwinians, the Northern Muwinian are too lenient and sees them as nothing but hypocrites that likes to pretend to be pure and religious. And in Nathan''s eyes, there were all the same ¨C corrupted. However, given that he grew up in a household where his parents, despite not being overly religious but more or less embodies the attitude and practices of the Iklas religion and South Muwinians, and plus his own experiences in the past, his core beliefs more or less tilt towards the South Muwinian culture. He turned to Twitch. "Kid, where are we going?" "Tony''s Car Shop, sir. It''s right next to this building. That''s where all teams will go after gearing up." Nathan looked over at Kaija. She wasn''t carrying any weapons. Just an armor, boots and gloves from the System. Noticing that Nathan was looking at her, Kaija immediately answered, "A friend of mine is holding my items, Captain." "What about you, kid?" "Sir, I''m a lover, not a fighter. Plus, I''m better off assisting you here as your eyes and ears." ''I guess not everyone shares the same desires with me¡­'' Nathan thought. "Heh~ I thought you''re going to be my vice captain or something." "Sir, the spot for your lieutenant has already been assigned to a person named Bryan." "Oh, where is he?" "Sir, I believe he left right away to gear up." He turned to Kaija. "Hmm¡­ Okay, you will be my lieutenant from now on." "Captain¡­?" She was caught off guard. She wasn''t expecting anything like this. The reason why she approached Nathan earlier was to leave him a good impression of her. "Sir, you can''t ¨C" "It''s MY team, right? Or do I have to ask for Rose''s permission every time I take a dump?" The two didn''t say anything after that. *** The trio arrived at Tony''s Car Shop. It was a large open warehouse. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In front of the shop were rows of cars and trucks, and there were many people walking around and carrying stuff. Looking at the cars, he remembered the N1 zombie that slammed its body against Lester''s SUV. There was no way in hell he was going to ride one, only a truck will do. "Sir, that''s Team 5 and that''s Bryan talking to that mechanic over there." Twitch pointed. When Nathan approached his team, they all greeted him except for Bryan who was still busy talking to the mechanic. "Yeah, I already fixed the brakes and I also did a few customizations. This baby is good to go," said the mechanic. The two were talking about an armored truck that he, Brezine and the other teams looted two days ago. It was one of the four armored trucks. "What about the other trucks?" "They''re good to go as well. I even checked them myself earlier." "Thanks, Tony. I owe you one," Bryan said. "Yeah. I gotta go check on the other teams." When Tony left, Bryan turned and saw Nathan. He approached him immediately. He greeted and offered his hand. "Good morning, Captain. I''m Bryan. I''ll be serving as your lieutenant." Nathan didn''t hear him and continued walking with Twitch and Kaija, and they were telling him some things. "So these are the fresh recruits, while the others were transferred from the other Scavenger teams?" "Yes, Captain." Including Nathan, Team 5 had a total of 13 members. And based on what they told him, 7 of them were new recruits. Nathan was etching their faces of the ones that got transferred from other Scavenger Teams in his head, including Bryan. Team 5''s members were a mixture of sexes ¨C straight, gay, lesbian, trans and other things that Nathan could only wonder. Well, the fact that Womania was a progressive country, such lineup was pretty much expected. "What the fuck is this? Rainbow squad? Can these people even fight?" Nathan unconsciously muttered under his breath. "Captain, to be able to join the Scavenger teams, most new recruits are trained for a couple of days before joining," Kaija said. "A couple of days?" ''It''s only been about a week since the zombie apocalypse started! What is this bitch even talking about?'' "Yes, Captain. And the training is really intense." "Yeah, sure. So where is the truck?" Bryan, who was ignored earlier and has been silent for a while now, moved closer and spoke. "Excuse me, Captain. If I may ¨C" "The hell? Quit bothering me and fuck off!" "Sir, that''s Bryan¡­" Twitch whispered on his shoulder. Nathan raised an eyebrow as he looked at Bryan. He turned to the rest members. "All of you, gather around. I have an announcement to make." He looked over at Kaija. "Miss, please come stand beside me." "Yes, Captain." Kaija stood 3ft away from Nathan. "This is your Lieutenant. Anything you want to say to me, you go through her first and she will pass it to me. If I''m not around, you take orders from her." "Wait! I object! You can''t do this!" Bryan shouted. In the Scavenger Teams, if the captain dies, the lieutenant will be nominated as the leader and he/she can nominate a member to be a lieutenant. Meanwhile, if the lieutenant dies and the captain is still alive, he/she can nominate someone among the members. And if the captain didn''t nominate a lieutenant among the members of the team, the management will choose or send someone to fill that role. As for the main reasons why many want to be the captain or lieutenant, it gives the person status within the organization, allowing one to have access to certain things and favors that normal members can''t get. Nathan wasn''t aware of this. In regards to Bryan, he didn''t have any intention of ignoring Nathan at all. After what happened back at the meeting room, he decided to go straight away to Tony to ask about their vehicles and make sure that everything was okay. He was afraid that someone from the other teams might sabotage their vehicles out of revenge. Nathan didn''t acknowledge him and said to Kaija, "Show me the truck." "Yes, Captain. It''s this way." Bryan was about to grab Nathan''s shoulder but was stopped by the other Team 5 members that knew him. "Don''t do it, man." "It''s not worth it, man. Chill." "No! He can''t do this! This is against the rules!" Bryan tried to break away from their hold. "Just wait for the right moment, man." "No! This is unfair!" "Bryan!" One of them grabbed him by the collar. "Think about Lea! You want to risk your life just for the sake of a position?" "Boozer, you don''t understand. Lea is sick! I needed this position so that I can ask the higher-ups to have Ashleigh heal her!" Ashleigh''s status in the group was very special that not many people could just approach her. Even the captains can''t just approach her anytime they want. In regards to her healing powers, the fact that it requires mana and it takes every 4 minutes to recover 1 mana point, she could only heal a number of people per day. And although Bryan was part of the Scavenger Teams, there were a lot of people with terminal disease waiting in line to be healed by Ashleigh. If he wanted to speed things up a little bit, he had to have a higher position within the group. "Let me go. I just need ¨C" Bryan tried to break away again. Boozer, who was still holding Bryan''s collar, pulled him closer to his face. "Listen to me, Bryan! If you risk it now, then you lose all your chances of healing her!" "I said fucking let go! I just want to talk!" "You don''t get it! That man is already a dead man! Did you see how the Boss looked at him earlier? If there''s something that the Boss doesn''t like, it''s being disrespectful to her ¨C I''ve seen it happen before." Bryan finally stopped struggling. Boozer released him and patted his shoulders. "Don''t even bother asking favors from him. Just wait for the next chance, man." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? Apollox ? James_Black_2558 ? thanh_pham_cong ? sam0sa And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 56 Outside 9:37 am. The Scavenger Teams gathered at Tony''s Car Shop were already outside of Haven Town and on their way to Cram city. Each convoy consists of 3 vehicles, typically with a van and two 6-wheeler trucks. In Team 5''s convoy, upon finding out that the head vehicle was an armored truck instead of a van, in the end, Nathan decided to hop on it. Inside the armored truck were three people: Nathan, Kaija, and a man named Victor, one of the people that got transferred from another Scavenger Team and serving as the driver. Nathan was at the backseat alone and currently putting on a coiled tube earpiece that was attached to his radio. Before leaving Haven Town, it was given to him by a messenger sent by Rose. "Captain, we will arrive in the area in 2 minutes." Nathan looked over at Kaija who was sitting at the front passenger seat. He already informed the team that Rose assigned him a special mission so he would be separating from them, but didn''t disclose that many details. All they knew was that, once they enter Cram city, they will drop him at a certain area. And then at around 4:30 pm, he will go to the area that Team 5 was assigned to loot at and contact them via radio to head home together. *** Cram City ¨C West side. A convoy stopped in the middle of the road. Heading the convoy was an armored truck. The backseat door opened and a fully geared man carrying a backpack stepped out. He closed the door behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring that familiar smell he had grown accustomed to in the past few days. "Good luck and please take care, Captain." It was a female voice coming from inside the armored truck. His delusions immediately crumbled away when he heard the woman''s voice. ''Ah yes¡­ The mission. The goddamn mission that I care little about.'' He opened his eyes and turned around. The window of the front passenger''s seat was down, showing Kaija. "Yeah, thanks. You too. Don''t die now." Nathan activated [Coward''s Way]. "Yes, Captain. See you later." The convoy drove off. Alone at last and back to his familiar territory, he felt at peace and he resumed. He turned off his radio. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, tears welled up and a sense of joy filled his heart. He whispered, "I''m home¡­" Here in the jungle of concrete walls, he was his own king. There were no social interactions that he had to force himself to participate in, no schemes he had to think about. If he didn''t like someone, kill. If he wanted something, kill. If he was happy, kill. If he was sad, kill. If he was bored, kill. Life here was just bloody simple. In this so-called hell, Death was god and killing was the religion. Nathan started walking to look for a good place to stay for a few hours before doing his mission. He already thought about what he planned to do today. One - Take a nap before doing his mission. Two - Level up. By now, the zombies must be Level 10 already. Three - Regroup with his teammates and "take care" of the ones that needs to be taken care of. *** Cram City ¨C Southwest 10:03 am. Nathan was inside a one-story building that had no electricity, but still had running water. The reason why he chose this place was simply because it had an underground storage room that was enough for 3 people to lie down. He removed all the unnecessary things to create more space and cleaned it up before putting his backpack, an alarm clock, emergency light, 2 pillows and a mattress made up of thick blankets inside. He also placed a chair with glasses and metal on top of it behind the door in case someone will enter. Inside the storage room with the door closed, he was wearing boxers and System items such as his [Grade D] rings and amulet. It was hot, but he didn''t care. If there was anything he was concerned about, that would be the alarm clock. He just finished eating one of the meals he packed and drank a bottle of water. The meals he packed were pretty much a standard workout meal: 1 and ? cups of rice, 3 slices of chicken breast, and steamed vegetables. He returned the empty tupperware inside his backpack. Meanwhile, he cut off the tip of the emptied bottle of water just in case he needed to pee. "Okay, goodnight." He turned off the emergency light and activated [Coward''s Way]. *** A few hours later¡­ Riiiinnnngggg¡­ Nathan''s eyes immediately opened and his hand wandered around in search of the emergency light. Click! The light went on. He grabbed the alarm clock and switched it off. He glanced at the clock. 3:00 pm. He wanted to go back to bed and just forget about everything¡­ He streched. He grabbed a bottle of water and a packed meal inside his backpack and started eating. After that, he got dressed and headed to the mall. *** The mall. 3:45 pm. Nathan was currently on the grounds of the mall and was already done checking the inside of the mall. The place was the same when he sneaked in yesterday ¨C the circular wall made up of vehicles surrounding the entire area of the mall, the sea of trailers and tents outside of the mall, the children playing around, and the haggard look of the adults. He also tried to look for Harry, the Chosen One who was the leader of this camp. Unfortunately, he was out so he decided to walk around a little bit. While sightseeing, there were also a number of questions plaguing his mind. ''Do I form an agreement with Harry?'' Putting aside the fact that Nathan every time he sees Rose and most of the people there he has this strong urge to lash out, his gut was also telling him that Rose will fuck him up the moment he was no longer useful to her. This is also why he decided that there was simply no point in pretending to be nice. The fact that she told him that they were both the same already says a lot of things. If they really were the same, then there is only one ending. The situation right now was nothing but a temporary ceasefire, a momentarily delay to the inevitable. But he didn''t want to be the cause of Amir''s death. He was family, no matter how he denies it. ''But what can Harry do for me in regards to Amir? Sure, he was a Chosen One, but can he provide me any help?'' ''What if he can?'' ''What if he can''t?'' ''What if he refuses?'' ''How can I force him?'' His head ached from thinking. ''What happened to my plan going solo? What happened to my other plans? Now I''m here entangled in this mess... Useless... Despite my powers, I still lack the capacity to do anything I want...'' His original plan was simple: Level up to Level 20 before going to Saint Town to find Amir. After that, they''ll figure out something else. Perhaps go back to Muwin to reunite with their family or just continue powering up here. Instead, he''s here helping Rose conquer the West side of Cram City in exchange for Amir''s freedom. He resumed pondering. ''The bimbo?'' Nathan scoffed. ''Twitch? Good luck with that.'' ''Team 5? Same shit.'' He stopped and stared at all the people around him. And after much thought, he finally decided. ''Harry isn''t the one. I need to find something or someone else. Perhaps talking to that bimbo alone could provide me some useful information, like Rose''s family members or something. And then tomorrow, I''m going to sneak into Saint Town... Twitch did say that teams 1-5 heads out MWF, while teams 6-10 heads out TThSat.'' He decided to leave the area and regroup with his team. *** Somewhere Southwest of Cram city. "Remember your training! Stick with the triangle formation!" Bryan shouted. They were currently facing a group of zombies that were all Level 10. The triangle defense consists of 3 people. The ones guarding the left and right side were carrying a shield and melee weapon, while the one in the front usually carries a gun or long weapon like a spear. Despite Kaija being the lieutenant of Team 5, she was still lacking in real-life experience in leading a team against a group of zombies while also boosting her team''s morale so Bryan had to take over. Plus, in a woman''s entire life, not counting the scratching and hair-pulling, how many times does a woman actually get to experience engaging in a dangerous physical fight? Even some men don''t get such opportunity. "[Ice Spear]!" [Ice Spear] is a magic spell. Invoking it, a 3ft long spear made of ice will materialize on the caster''s palm and then throw it. Whoo! Whoosh! "[Fireball]!" Bang! "Ahhhh! Help¡ª!" "Help them!" Tata! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Tata! "[Stone Spear]!" [Stone Spear] is the same as [Ice Spear]. But instead of a spear made of ice, it''s made of stone. The battle lasted about 2 minutes. "Do a headcount and check the wounded!" Bryan said. Everyone started checking themselves and each other. "We''ve lost 4 members," said a man next to him. It was Boozer. His clothes were covered in blood and dirt. Bryan didn''t say anything and lowered his gaze at the zombies and [White] Treasure Chests. "It''s already 4:00 pm. I think we should call it a day. We''ve already asked gathered enough supplies," Boozer said. Bryan looked at Boozer. "You should ask the Lieutenant about that, don''t you think?" Boozer scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Haha~ Yeah, which is why I was hoping you could tell the Lieutenant about it. Look at the faces of everyone. They''re all exhausted." Bryan swept his gaze on all the surviving members before heading towards Kaija who was currently giving orders to some of the remaining members. "Go pick up all the food and drinks inside that store. You, pick up the System items. And both of you, wrap the bodies of our fallen members and bring them at the back of the truck." "Yes, Lieutenant!" The typical objectives of Scavenger Teams once they''re outside is to gather food and System items, "rescue" survivors, and capture 10 zombies to be sent back at Haven Town. Regarding the food and System loots, 70% will go to the organization, while 30% will go to the team. Kaija sat on a corner and took off her helmet. She wiped off her sweat before opening a bottle of water and taking a couple of gulps. "Great work, Lieutenant. Any news from the Captain?" "Thanks," Kaija said weakly and continued, "Not yet." "If I may offer any suggestions, I think we stay here until we receive a word from the Captain. It''s already 4:00 pm anyway. And plus, the team is already exhausted." Kaija looked over at the rest of the team. Signs of fatigue, both physically and mentally, could be seen on their faces. "You''re right. Let''s do that." Bryan was about to turn away. "Thanks, Bryan¡­" "What?" "I heard about Lea. I''m sorry, I didn''t plan any of this. I swear to God. The Captain just suddenly decided ¨C" "I understand. Don''t worry about it." "Once we return, I''ll resign from this position." "Please don''t do that. I don''t think our Captain will be happy about that." "I think the Captain will understand." "I seriously advise you not to do that. I tell you what, let''s make a deal instead." "Okay. What is it?" "You don''t resign and I''ll be your right hand, and you will help me with Lea. How''s that sound?" Kaija got up and offered her hand. "Deal." Bryan grabbed her hand. "Deal." All of a sudden, Kaija''s radio made noise. "Team 5, this is Nathan. Do you copy? Over." "This Team 5. Glad to hear from you, Captain. Over." "What''s your location? Over." "Our location is¡­" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? meeeeeeeeeeee And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 57 Outside 2 4:20 pm. Nathan arrived at the location where Team 5 was waiting. "Welcome back, Captain," Kaija and the others said. Nathan placed down his bag at a corner. "Is this everyone?" "Yes, Captain. We''ve lost 4 members." "I see. Okay, I want the new recruits to gather on this side and the rest on that side." "Yes, Captain," Kaija said and turned around. "What are you guys waiting for?" When everyone heard the order, they had a confused expression on their faces at first but then decided to just follow orders. "Except for you," Nathan said to Kaija. "Yes, Captain." The members were now divided into two groups. On the right side were the new recruits which only had 5 members. Meanwhile, on the left side was only 3. ''Only 3 left, huh? Makes it easier.'' He looked at their faces. They were indeed the people whose faces he had taken note of before leaving the Haven Town. "All of you strip down to your underwear." "What?" some asked, while the others looked at Nathan as if he was a pervert or something. Nathan rolled his eyes and pulled out his silencer. He shot one of the people from the left side in the head. Tsssp! "Boozer!" cried out a woman who was among the people standing on the left side as she caught Boozer and held onto him. Everyone was taken by surprise. Their minds were still trying to process just what happened and why this was happening, leaving them not knowing how to react to this. ''Wew¡­ Good thing I didn''t miss the headshot. It would''ve been so awkward,'' Nathan thought. Bryan, who was also standing on the left side shouted, "What the hell did you do that for?!" Tsssp! Tsssp! Nathan shot Bryan twice, one on the leg and the other on the stomach. "Arrrggggh!!!" "Bryan!!!" Although everyone was still confused, they finally reacted and prepared to defend themselves from Nathan. Thanks to what they experienced today, many of the members have grown to see Bryan as a dependable person. And in their hearts, they probably have more respect for him compared to Nathan. However, they didn''t charge towards Nathan. Regardless of whatever their feelings towards Nathan are, he was still their captain, the highest-ranking member in the Team. Rebelling against your superiors without a justifiable reason was something that Red Dust doesn''t tolerate. They could face death or slavery. "Captain?!" Kaija said. "You! You just committed murder! You better have to a proper explai¡ª" said a new recruit but wasn''t able to finish her sentence. Tsssp! "Ughhh!" She was shot in the chest. "Natalie!" Some people on the right side went over to help her. "Natalie, hang on!" One person was pulling out a [Small] Healing Potion. "Captain! What''s gotten into you?!" Kaija asked. "As your captain, when I give orders, I expect them to be carried out immediately without any questions." "You fucking bastard! I don''t care if you''re the fucking president!" said the woman who held onto Boozer earlier and started firing at Nathan. "Zana!" Byran helplessly called out. Bang! Bang! Nathan wasn''t able to evade one of the bullets and got hit on the shoulder. He quickly activated [Coward''s Way] and charged towards her. He caught Zana by the neck, causing him to lose his invisibility. He raised her up in the air and then ruthlessly slammed her to the ground. Bam! The woman named Zana laid motionlessly on the ground. "Zana!" Bryan cast [Fireball]. Nathan easily evaded it and disappeared once more. When Nathan appeared, he kicked Bryan''s jaw so hard that it twisted his neck to a terrifying angle and made a loud cracking sound. Pah! Crack! He turned towards the remaining members. Despite the horrified and confused look on their faces, there were still not getting undressed. Instead, they held their weapons. "Heh~ It seems you people think you''re powerful just because you survived one day here. Let me help you reassess that foolish notion." "Fuck it! Get him or we''ll all die!" One of the new recruits shouted. Nathan disappeared and charged towards one of them. It was a fat, muscular man carrying a [Grade D] Shield and [Grade D] Spear. He viciously kicked the fat man''s knee to the opposite direction, causing him to appear. Pah! Crack! "Aaaahhh!" The fat man screamed in agony as he fell on one knee, lost his balance, and rolled over to the ground. Nathan quickly picked up the [Grade D] Shield from the fat man and threw it like a frisbee with all his strength towards another member who was running away and was a trans woman. Woooo! Crack! When the [Grade D] Shield hit her, it delivered a devastating blow to the back of her head, breaking her skull and killing her immediately. He picked up at [Grade D] Long Spear and stabbed it on the fat man''s thigh, pinning him on the ground. "Ahhhh!" The fat man squealed like a pig. "Stick around," Nathan said. Bang! Someone shot him in the back. Nathan coughed out blood and turned to the two remaining people: Kaija and another man. The man was carrying a gun and pointing it at Nathan. Bang! Nathan evaded the bullet and disappeared. Seeing Nathan disappear and still standing even after getting shot twice, Kaija tried to take away the gun from the man''s hand. "Put the gun down! Quick!" "Bitch! What the fuck are you doing?!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Throw that away and strip!" The two wrestled over the gun until they fell on the ground. "Let go of the gun, you stupid bitch! You''ll kill us both!" Kaija was eventually overpowered by the man and was at the bottom. Nathan appeared from behind and grabbed the man by the collar bone. He squeezed hard. Crack! "Aaaahhhh!" The man quickly let go of the gun as he was viciously dragged away by Nathan by the hair. Kaija quickly got up. "Captain, hold on! Please give us a chance to strip!" Nathan turned towards her and frowned. ''What? That didn''t sound right. I ¨C'' "Help me! It hurts! It hurts!" the man cried out, cutting Nathan''s thought process and bringing him back to the present situation. "You, stand down." Nathan told Kaija before turning back to the man. "Will you shut up for a moment?" He kicked the man on the face. Pah! He turned to Kaija who was already half naked. ''That was fast¡­ Hmm¡­ Not bad,'' Nathan thought and said, "What are you doing? Stop that and wear back your clothes." "Captain, please¡­" Kaija was in the process of removing her bra. She was confused, terrified and had tears on her face. Nathan let out a deep sigh and flashed a warm and friendly smile. "Listen, I need you to calm down and get dressed, okay?" "What...?" "I said calm down, get dressed, and sit on that corner. Can you do that for me, Lieutenant?" "Y-Yes, Captain." Nathan could hear someone whimpering behind him. "I''ll be back." When he turned, he saw the man just kicked earlier crawling away. Perhaps the man noticed Nathan''s gaze, he subconsciously looked back. To his horror, he saw the eyes of Nathan looking at him like a predator was looking at its prey and was walking towards him. "Please, no! I beg you to stop. PLEASE!" The man cried out in desperation and increased his speed. ''Why the fuck is he crawling?'' Nathan thought. When he caught up with the crawler, the man turned towards Nathan. "I''M ALREADY UNDRESSING! JUST GIVE ME¨C" Nathan stomped on the man''s shin. Crack! "¨CAHHHHH!" The scream of the man echoed throughout the city. *** Kaija''s POV She was sitting on a corner still completely terrified and was holding a radio. While hearing the cries and curses of her teammates, she was pondering about why Nathan spared her from the pain. ''Was it because I''m a woman?'' ''Was it because of my beauty?'' ''Was it because I''m the lieutenant?'' ''Was it because I told him I''m from Muwin?'' Kaija''s father was a Caucasian man, while her mother was half Muwinian and half Womanian. Although she was born in Nila which was one of the cities in the South of Muwin, she only lived there for a few years before migrating to Womania with her family. If she were to be brutally honest, she didn''t like it there, at the South, due to their strong beliefs when it comes to traditional gender roles. And despite their men having a reputation for being a so-called "gentleman" when it comes to treating women, they were also notoriously known to be cold and violent towards people who don''t share their beliefs and practices. Because of these things, she was grateful to her parents in deciding to move here in Womania when she was only 12 years old. After hearing and seeing what Nathan has done so far, she started to fear if he was raised from the South. ''If he is¡­'' "Lieutenant." A male voice entered her ears. She yelped in surprise and turned towards where the voice was coming from. She saw Nathan''s brown eyes glanced on her hands. Realizing that she was holding a radio, she immediately threw it away. "No, I didn''t! I swear to God!" It was the truth. Nathan squinted his eyes. A chill ran down her spine and a strong desire to run away surfaced inside her heart. Nathan''s face relaxed and he flashed a warm smile. "Don''t be afraid. I will never hurt you," he softly said and held out his hand. She really wanted to run away, but she knew it was useless. She had no choice but to play along with whatever sick game this person in front of her was playing. Her hand trembled as she grabbed onto it. She closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever painful thing she was going to experience. She was pulled up. "I know this is something that shouldn''t be asked to a lady, but I have no choice. I need you to strip the new recruits down to their underwear to check if there are zombie bites." She opened her eyes and had a dumbfounded look on her face. "What?" "You see, I used to travel with a group of survivors a few days ago. Unfortunately, one of our members didn''t come clean so¡­ Let''s just say I lost a lot of friends because of that and until now I''m still in mourning," Nathan said with a pained expression. Upon hearing Nathan''s excuse and seeing his pained expression, she wanted so bad to claw his eyes out and scream at him, ''You could''ve at least mentioned that reason first before you started killing your own teammates!'' But she didn''t and forcefully calmed herself. "I''m sorry to hear that, Captain." "It''s okay. At least I was able to confirm my suspicions. Those I killed earlier were indeed infected and the others couldn''t accept it so I had no choice. I hope everyone will understand and not question my orders EVER again. Let it be known I will not tolerate any form of insubordination." "I''m sure they do, Captain. I''m sure they do." "Is that so? That''s good then. I''ll take a break for a while. Go check the new recruits." "Yes, Captain." Nathan grabbed his backpack and disappeared. He went to the rooftop of a nearby building. He healed his wounds first before eating his meal, while keeping an eye on Kaija the entire time. Regarding the violence earlier, there was a reason why he took note of the faces of the members who got transferred from other Scavenger Teams before leaving Haven Town. In his mind, compared to the new recruits, the chances of the ones who got transferred from the other Scavenger Teams being loyal to Red Dust and seeking revenge by stabbing him the back while they were outside was higher. Moreover, he had no interest for a Shounen-like story arc where two people who started off as enemies will eventually end up as friends after a series of trials. He was too lazy for that troupe. With that logic, there was only one ending for them ¨C Death. As for the new recruits, including Kaija, there were only 3 left. He originally intended to keep at least 4 alive, but alas, his miscalculated. Nevertheless, there were still enough members to drive the 3 vehicles. *** 4:45 pm. Nathan was standing in front of the remaining members of Team 5. Aside from Kaija, there were two men: the fat man and the crawler. They were no longer injured and were wearing clothes. When Kaija told them about the reason for the violence earlier, they almost vomited blood. Sure, they were in a zombie apocalypse, but they were supposed to be a team and he was their captain. Where''s the sense of brotherhood? Where''s the sense of camaraderie? Why didn''t he mention that before he started killing? He even had the audacity to accuse them of insubordination! They were all fuming in anger inside their hearts and were also scared, but they didn''t show any expression of it. Instead, their faces were painted with a look of gratitude. All they want right now is to head back to Haven Town as soon as possible and file a request to be transferred to another team. One of them even wanted to file a complaint. However, putting aside filing a complaint, they don''t know if it''s even possible to request for a transfer just because you don''t like your team. Perhaps it would be possible if they hold a high position or have strong backers within the organization. At the moment, here in Cram city, they couldn''t do anything but curse their bad luck for having such a person as their captain and follow whatever orders that come out of his mouth without any questions. "Captain, I''ve checked their bodies and concluded that they''re not infected. Everyone here also knows how to drive," said Kaija. She was referring to the other two members that were still alive. Nathan was looking at the sky and squinted his eyes. There was something flying. ''Is that a bird? No¡­ Doesn''t look like one.'' It looked like a drone, but the design wasn''t the typical commercial drone sold by tech companies. ''Hmm...'' He turned to Kaija. "Let''s take our time heading home, I still have yet to level up." They all cursed inside their hearts. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? sam0sa ? Apollox And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 58 Outside 3 5:40 PM. Team 5''s convoy was moving at a very slow pace as it headed towards outside West of Cram City. Whoosh! Whoosh! The level 10 zombies that were charging towards the convoy were being killed one by one by Nathan alone, leaving a trail of corpses and [White] Treasure Chests behind. Whoosh! ''Ding! Congratulations on reaching Level 19!'' ''Finally¡­'' *** Level: 19 Exp: 0% Stats: STR ¨C 32 VIT ¨C 30 AGI ¨C 27 (+14) INT ¨C 27 Equipment: [Grade D] Sword (4/12) [Grade D] Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (10/12) [Grade D] Leather Cap (12/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Armor (12/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Gloves (10/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Boots (10/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Amulet: +2 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Walk] *** From time to time, Nathan will pick up the [White] Treasure Chests and toss them inside the back of the second truck. Witnessing Nathan''s killing prowess, the remaining Team 5 members all found themselves speechless. Although they''ve heard about last night and seen the trail of corpses he left behind, and even fought him today, it was only now that they fully realized the advantage that Chosen Ones had. They also concluded that his skill doesn''t require any mana and has no cooldown. "With this strength and his personality that isn''t bounded by morals, no wonder the Boss wanted to recruit him¡­" Kaija muttered under her breath as she glanced over at the side mirror to see the trail of zombie corpses. When she returned her gaze in front of the road, a black-skinned man around his late 20s suddenly rushed in the middle of the road. "PLEASE STOP!" "Shit!" Kaija immediately hit the brakes. The two trucks behind her also stopped. "Please help us! A child is sick and needs immediate medical attention! Please!" Kaija looked over at the man. He was around 6''2" tall, athletic build, above-average face and was wearing some System items. As for his weapons, the only visible weapons were the sword on his waist and the shield on his back. Hearing the man''s story, she wanted to get off the car and help. However, after remembering their captain''s personality, she didn''t dare to and instead picked up the radio. "Lieutenant Kaija to Captain Nathan. Do you copy? Over." "This is Nathan. Stay within your vehicles. As for you Lieutenant, stall that man without letting him get close. I will search around the area to see if there are others lying in ambush. Over." "Roger that, Captain. Over." Kaija put down the radio and rolled down the window. "Sir, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened." "The child is over there with his mother. The child has been sick for 3 days now. Please help us," said the man as he tried to approach the armored car while pointing at a direction with one hand. "Sir, please wait a moment and stay where you are!" The man continued walking. Kaija pulled out a handgun and aimed it at him. "I said stay where you are! I''m warning you!" The man stopped and raised his hand. "I don''t mean any harm! Look, a child is dying and ¨C" "Back off or I''ll shoot!" The man took a few steps back. Suddenly, a Caucasian woman who was in her mid-30s and carrying an unconscious child came out from one of the buildings. "Please, we mean no harm! This is my son and he needs help! I beg of you!" said the woman in her mid-30s. Kaija looked over the child. The kid was only 5 years old and unconscious. He looked skinny and was so pale. "Is he infected?" Kaija asked. "He isn''t. He''s just sick. Look!" said the mother and approached the armored car. "Don''t come near! Stand back!" Kaija aimed the handgun at the mother. The mother stopped. "Please, my child is dying! He has been sick for three days!" Still holding the child in her arms, the mother dropped to her knees and tears started flowing from her eyes. "Please, I don''t mind if you take my child and leave me. All I ask is for you to save him." Seeing the mother and child duo, Kaija''s heart ached. "Miss, if you don''t have any intentions of helping us, can we please just leave?" said the man. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "What?" Kaija said. "We risked exposing ourselves to you because we''re in desperate need of help. If you don''t have any plans of helping us save the child, can we please just leave?" "Um¡­ I¡­" Kaija found herself tongue-tied. Whether this child is infected or not, thinking about Nathan''s action earlier on how he dealt with her fellow teammates made her feel sorry for these people because they will most likely be killed. She could tell them to leave but she was ordered by Nathan to stall them and she didn''t want to go against his orders. She too had people back at Haven Town she cared about and was depending on her. "Germaine, what are you saying?" said the mother. Germaine shook his head and said, "Cassandra, there''s no point ¨C" Tap! A tip of a sword laid on Germaine''s shoulder from behind and a man''s voice entered his ears. "Let me decide on that~" *** Nathan''s POV. After searching around the area, he concluded that these three were the only people nearby. Now, his only problem left was to determine who these people really are and what are their real intentions. He didn''t care if he will be sending a potential spy in Haven Town. However, the fact that about 60% of the System items Team 5 looted today were made by him, he didn''t like the idea of it going to the hands of people he isn''t associated with. "What''s the meaning of this? We already told you that we were only asking for help," Germaine said. "Exactly," Nathan said. With the tip of the sword still on Germaine''s shoulder, Nathan slowly walked to his side. "Officer, please, we don''t mean any harm. My son is sick but he isn''t infected. We''re just desperate for help," Cassandra said. ''Officer?'' Nathan was confused for a moment before realizing that he was wearing a police vest. He chuckled. Putting that aside, there were many things that didn''t seem right here. Looking at Germaine, there was something about his temperament. He had this military air on him. It was subtle, but it wasn''t hard for Nathan to spot. Although Nathan wasn''t exactly close with his father who was a policeman and the only father-and-son bonding time they had was him getting disciplined, he also had an uncle who used to be in the military. "Tell me about your professions before the zombie apocalypse," Nathan said. Everyone was confused for a moment. "I used to work as an MMA instructor," Germaine replied first. "I ¨C I used to run a flower shop and also sold cosmetics online," Cassandra replied. Nathan squinted his eyes. When he heard about Germaine being an MMA instructor, it aroused his interest. If he had given a different answer, he would''ve left these three. There''s bound to be other good Samaritans anyway. And although he refuses to kill children, that doesn''t mean he will go out of his way to save them. As for Germaine being an MMA instructor, assuming it''s true, he could have this man, who he suspects isn''t related to Red Dust, join his team and train him. But if he proves to be useless to him¡­ However, it was still too early to decide. He needed more information. "You mentioned that this child has been sick for 3 days now. Tell me, why did you wait 3 days?" As far as Nathan knows, once a person is infected with the zombie virus, it will take an hour before the victim becomes a zombie. As for the level, if the person''s level is lower compared to the overall level of the zombies, it will take hours before the person''s level catches up with the overall level of the zombies. Meanwhile, if the victim''s level is higher than the overall level of the zombies, there will be no changes on the victim''s level. It will simply wait for the overall level of the zombies to catch up before growing along with the overall level of the zombies. "I can explain, officer," replied Cassandra. "When the zombie apocalypse happened, I hid inside my apartment with my child and waited until the government takes care of the zombie threat. Unfortunately, that didn''t happen. And 3 days ago, not only did we ran out of supplies, but my child also got sick. Look, he has no bites." Cassandra lifted the child''s shirt and pulled down his pants to show that he wasn''t infected. Nathan looked over at the child. There were no bites. He also noticed that the child was clearly white, not mixed. Nathan''s eyes bounced between the child and the black man, Germaine. ''Adopted? Or is this man a white knight?'' Nathan thought before moving the tip of his sword under Germaine''s chin. "What''s your relationship with each other?" "We just met this morning, officer," replied Cassandra. "It''s true. We just met this morning. I used to be part of a group at the South, but we were overrun by a horde of zombies led by 3m-tall zombies. I''m the only one left," said Germaine. "Is that so?" "Yes." Nathan recalled what Twitch told him before leaving Haven Town. The southern government shelter fell from the zombies. He raised Germaine''s chin with the tip of his sword. "So you guys just met today, huh. Tell me, what made you decide to help this mother and child?" "Isn''t it normal for everyone to help those in need?" Hearing his answer, Nathan couldn''t help but grin. He also noticed how calm Germaine was. Perhaps it was simply because he was an MMA instructor? Was it because he''s somehow related to the military or police? Or was he just faking it? Or perhaps it was due to his experience these past few days? Who knows. Nevertheless, Nathan still suspected that he was hiding something else ¨C everyone has their own story and secrets anyway. He put away his sword. "One last question. Why us? I doubt that we''re the only people you guys encountered today," Nathan said. "We did encounter a few people but neither of them had good intentions," Germaine said. "And you think we do?" "The people we encountered today were hooligans, lowlifes that you could smell a mile away. As soon as they saw us, their eyes told us everything about them." Nathan raised his eyebrow and thought about the drone-like thing he saw earlier. ''It can''t be related to them, right?'' "And based on your group''s equipment and the way you guys reacted, I think you have a stable camp and you guys look trustworthy," Germaine confidently said. Nathan laughed inwardly. He couldn''t tell whether this guy was telling the truth or not. If he was lying, then he was one hell of an actor. "Heh~ You don''t say." He pondered. And after much thought, he finally decided. "Hmm¡­ Unfortunately, just like you, we also encountered many untrustworthy people and lost many family and friends. All we can do is give you some medicine and leave you guys." "Wait! Please don''t leave us, officer! My son is very sick. He needs help! Please let us come with you! I promise I will do anything!" Cassandra cried out. ''Everyone has the System. Level up and then fucking go to a hospital to loot or to one of the government shelters!'' Nathan retorted inside his head. "Have you tried using [Small] Healing Potions?" "Cassandra, relax," Germaine said and turned towards Nathan. "We''ve tried but it''s not working. The kid''s malnourished. What he needs is vitamins, and proper food and rest." Nathan was starting to have a headache about this woman called Cassandra. Although he refuses to kill children, that doesn''t mean he will go out of his way to save one. And based on what he heard, her son''s suffering was due to her own decision. ''I only need Germaine here. He isn''t related to Red Dust... I think. However, his attitude¡­'' "Hmm... I guess I can bring you guys to our camp. However, let me warn you that it isn''t paradise. Everyone there needs to contribute." "I''m ready to do anything for my son." "What kind of contribution do I have to give for the three of us? If it''s protecting the camp and fighting these zombies, I think I''m capable enough," Germaine said. "Germaine, you don''t have to¡­" Cassandra was touched. "I will be helping you until your son gets well. It''s not a big deal at all." "But¡­" "Don''t worry, it''s really not a problem. And plus, I''m getting tired of living like a rat here in Cram city." A teardrop fell off of Cassandra''s eye. "If you say so¡­ Still, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. We''re both strangers, yet you''re doing this much for me and my son. I promise to repay you one day." "You really don''t have to..." "Okay, that''s enough," Nathan said and turned to Kaija. "They will be riding with you." "Yes, Captain." Cassandra immediately got up and thanked "Officer" Nathan. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! I have an announcement to make. I won''t be able to release a chapter tomorrow. I have some important matters to deal with. To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? Apollox ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 59 Return 5:52 PM. Team 5 returned to Haven Town. They were at Northwest of the town in front of Tony''s Car Shop and just got out of their vehicles. Twitch was there waiting. He approached Nathan. "Good evening, sir. I''m so glad to see you alive and well. I knew ¨C" "Have these two treated immediately," Nathan indicated Cassandra and her child. "Make sure they''re treated with priority." "Yes, sir." While Nathan was giving instructions, two people, a man and a woman, came forward to talk to Nathan and his team. "Good evening. We''re part of the logistics team. We''re in charge of doing a headcount on each Scavenger Team and also check the items your team brought. Please proceed to the tent over there to have our medical staff check your bodies after we''re done with the headcount," said the man. Everyone listened except for Nathan and Twitch. "One more thing, kid. Have him be part of my team no later today and give him proper accommodations." Nathan indicated Germaine. When Twitch saw Germaine, his whole world slowed down and a romantic song started playing inside his head. ''You are my destiny~'' "You got that? Kid. Hey, kid. Hey." Nathan lightly slapped his cheeks. Pah. "Are you okay?" Twitch returned to reality. "Huh? Yeah, yeah. I mean, yes, sir." "..." Nathan remained silent for a moment before continuing, "I''ve already taken the potions as part of my share of the loots and there are still some remaining. You can have them." Twitch''s eyes shined. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Nathan decided to leave. He wanted to see Ashleigh and ask her a few things. "So only 4 people survived and you saved 3 survivors¡­ Okay. Please proceed to the tent over there for the medical check-up," said the man from the logistics team. The woman from the logistics team noticed Nathan leaving. She quickly called out, "Excuse me, sir. There''s still ¨C" Hearing his companion, the man from the logistics team looked at his companion and saw Nathan leaving. "Take care of this," said the man to his companion and ran towards Nathan. There was one incident in the past where one of the members of the Scavenger Teams returned to Haven Town without notifying that he was infected with the zombie virus. It caused quite the chaos, killing a number of people in the town. Ever since then, anyone who went outside and enters Haven Town is required to do a medical check-up. "Excuse me, sir. Sir. Sir, please wait!" The man grabbed Nathan by the shoulder. "Sir, you still have to go to that tent over there for a medical check-up." Having someone grab his shoulder, Nathan stopped and turned his head. He gazed over at the hand holding his shoulder and then to the man''s face. The members of Team 5 saw it and they chose not to say anything and remained passive. Not long ago, they''ve witnessed and experienced for themselves their captain''s personality. There was no way in hell they were going to interfere. However, they secretly wished inside their hearts that Nathan will suffer. Nathan frowned and an annoyed expression formed on his face. Seeing Nathan''s expression, the man quickly pulled his hand away. He was about to explain himself, "This ¨C" But it was already too late¡­ Nathan grabbed him by the neck. He raised him up in the air and squeezed. "Who the fuck gave you permission to touch me?" The man''s legs were flailing and his hands grabbed unto Nathan''s hand as struggled for air. "M¡­er¡­cy¡­" No one in the area said a word or moved, including the nearby guards and personnel. Throughout the day, the story about Nathan ¨C starting with his fight with Team 8 at the bridge up to the incident at Hunter''s Hall ¨C spread across town. As for Cassandra and Germaine, they didn''t do anything. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In the case of Germaine, he was prevented by Twitch. He quickly explained to him how things worked around here and also about Nathan''s background. Although there were rules set in Haven Town by Rose herself, people from the Scavenger Teams, especially a captain, holds a higher status within the town. Offending them will only lead to plenty of troubles, including assassination. It was rare for a member of the Scavenger Teams, especially the captains, to be heavily punished unless that member caused too many mistakes. But in Nathan''s case, who was a Chosen One and was also personally recruited by Rose even after everything he has done, there were only a few people here in this town who would dare cross him. And unfortunately for the man, none of them were present at the moment. "I hate it when a dog doesn''t know their place. Let me teach a lesson you will never forget." Nathan dropped the man to the ground and let him lay on his stomach. "Please! I''m sorry! I was only doing my job!" Nathan stepped on the man''s back and grabbed one of his arms by the wrist. "PLEASE! PLEASE NO! HELP MEEEEEEE!" "STOP THAT!" said a female voice. Everyone turned towards the direction where the voice came from. It was Brezine. She just got out from the tent for the medical check-up with her fellow teammates, Team 2, including Ashleigh. Most of their members were women. They just finished having their bodies checked inside the tent. "Release that man or I will have you arrested for violating the rules!" Hearing what Brezine said, a sense of hope blossomed inside the man''s heart. Brezine and Ashleigh were here. They were among the most influential people within Red Dust. Many considered Team 2 a very special team, mainly thanks to two people. First was Ashleigh who was the lieutenant of Team 2 and was also Chosen One with the power to heal, repair lost limbs and even cure zombie infection. The second was Brezine who not only was the captain of Team 2 but is also one of Rose''s close friends back from college. There were even rumors that she and Rose have been in a relationship since college. As for the breakfast incident this morning, after Nathan left, Rose told Brezine and Ashleigh about her plans and the reason why she recruited Nathan ¨C well, Rose told them a slightly different version. And although Brezine and Ashleigh heard about last night, they were positioned in another area to specifically keep Ashleigh safe. Because of that, they have yet to witness or experience firsthand what it was really like to face Nathan. Nathan looked at Brezine with a sneer on his face. "Violating rules?" He moved his feet to the back of the man''s right shoulder and ruthlessly pulled out the arm by the wrist. Craaaaack! Riiiiiiip! The sound of bones cracking and muscles being ripped apart echoed throughout the air. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Due to the intense pain, the man immediately lost consciousness in a matter of seconds and his body occasional twitched. It was only a matter of time he dies. Nathan dropped the arm and his backpack as well. Thud. He crossed his arms and held a nonchalant expression. Some of the people around began to vomit due to the sight. Meanwhile, some of the members of Team 2 immediately started shouting. "How dare you!" "You murderer!" "You should be put to death for the crimes you''ve done!" "This is why men can''t be trusted! All they know is violence!" "Guards! Arrest this pig for violating the rules!" Unfortunately, no one outside of Team 2 moved. Some were in fear, while others were curious as to how this will play out. Brezine trembled with rage, including most of her fellow members. In their minds, Nathan didn''t have any right to act like this in front of them, especially towards Brezine and Ashleigh. "Ever since I''ve been here, all I hear is: Do this, do that, go here, go there. Do you people take me for a dog?" Nathan said. "In Rose''s place, I will teach you some manners!" Brezine said as she tried to pull out her weapon but was stopped by Ashleigh. "Brezine, don''t!" Ashleigh said and then turned to Nathan. "You too, Nathan, stop it! You''ll only get hurt!" "Teach me? Come, I want to see you try." Nathan''s eyes shined in amusement and a wide grin spread across his cheeks. "Ashleigh, let go!" Brezine said to Ashleigh and then turned to the other members, "Take her away from here." Two members of Team 2 grabbed Ashleigh away. "Lieutenant, please come with us." "Wait! Let go of me!" When Brezine pulled out her weapon and turned Nathan, he was already gone. Bam! She was punched in the face by Nathan, causing him to lose his invisibility, and she flew a few feet away before landing on the ground. Thud! Her nose was broken and it was bleeding. Nathan immediately disappeared. Meanwhile, the rest of the members of Team 2 shouted. "Captain!" "Brezine!" Brezine quickly got up to fight. Nathan quickly charged towards the rest of the members and beat them up into a bloody pulp. The air was filled with the sound of anguish and cracking bones. Bam! Crack! "Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Crack! "Aaaaahhhhh!" The only person he spared was Ashleigh. He had some business with her after all. *** Nathan was slowly walking towards Brezine who was lying on the ground. Her beautiful face disfigured and bloody, her right arm and legs were dislocated. She was barely alive. As for the people present that were not part of Team 2, they just stood there. They didn''t want to get involved. Ashleigh, on the other hand, was on the side watching in horror. She wanted to help, but she was frozen in fear. When Nathan reached Brezine, he stood right next to her. "What happened? Are you tired? I thought you were going to teach me a lesson?" With a smile on his face, he stepped on her left hand. He could see her eyes glaring at him, full of hatred, but she didn''t cry out in pain. This fight made Brezine realize how powerless her team was against Nathan. No wonder Rose wanted to team up with him and how Derek couldn''t kill him. Putting aside the fact that his disappearing skill has no mana cost and cooldown, without any proper preparation, once he disappears, you''re left with a sense of dread wondering whether he will attack you or not. It was mentally exhausting. "And as I recall this morning, you also said that you can take me on by yourself, right?" "Go...on! I dare you... to kill me!" Although she was now aware that her team wasn''t a match against Nathan without any proper preparation and had to learn it the hard way, she knew that he won''t kill her because she held a special position within Red Dust, thanks to her friendship with Rose. If Nathan kills her now, she was confident that Rose would avenge her. At the moment, she was waiting for back up to arrive, specifically from the other Scavenger Teams. Nathan ruthlessly stomped on her left elbow. Crack! "AHHHH!!!" Brezine screamed in pain. Nathan then stepped on her bloodied and disfigured face to shut her up. He was also aware that he can''t kill her. Based on the setup earlier in breakfast, he concluded that she held a very close relationship with Rose. However... "Since I can''t kill you, I''m going to play with you more in the meantime~" "It''s Team 1!" One of the people who witnessed the entire drama said. "Make way!" "I''m curious about how is this going to play out!" "Shhh¡­ Quiet, you dumbass!" It was indeed Team 1 and they were heavily armed. They were also accompanied by a group of medics carrying stretchers. The person leading them was the 6''7" black guy from this morning, Tyrone. Tyrone''s eyes swept over the scene. He saw the twisted arms and legs of members of Team 2 lying on the ground and groaning in pain. He saw Ashleigh standing in a corner. Fear was written all over her face but she seemed to be unharmed, physically at least. However, what really struck him the most was the sight of Brezine''s bloodied and bruised face under Nathan boot and her broken arms and legs. "Heh~ It''s you, Darkness. Looking for a second round?" "You pathetic bitch! You dare call yourself a man?!" "Oh please¡­ Save me from your sexist views. Equal rights... and lefts. Isn''t that what this country stands for?" "Tyrone, remember the orders," said a man behind him. Nathan recognized the man. It was the man who Rose was talking to last night before he rode the limousine. "So what is it going to be, Darkness?" Nathan taunted as he started moving the sole of his boot around Brezine''s face. "You''re really asking for it, you pathetic bitch!" Tyrone was about to charge, but three men behind him grabbed stopped him. "Tyrone, calm down!" Amused, Nathan increased the pressure against Brezine''s face. "Uggghhhh¡­" Brezine groaned in pain. "Wait! Wait! We''ve already heard about what happened here! You were merely acting in self-defense!" said the man that Nathan recognized from last night. On the other hand, Tyrone and the others were looking at Nathan with killing intent. In their mind, that was a woman. What kind of man does something like that? It was even more hurtful for Tyrone because Brezine had the same skin color as him. Witnessing the scene, aside from being a serial killer with an explosive childish temper, everyone in the area started to think that Nathan was also a full-blown misogynist. In their eyes, Nathan was the scum of scums. A worthless human that''s better off dead. "Really now?" Nathan said. "Yes, sir. It was confirmed by multiple witnesses and the Boss approved it. We''re here to take these people away and interrogate them." "Rose said that?" Nathan said. ''That bitch is quite patient, huh... Well, I didn''t kill anyone here so I guess it makes sense.'' He forgot about the man that he ripped an arm off. "Yes, sir." Nathan studied the man''s expression for a moment. "If you say so." He removed his boot against Brezine''s face and turned towards Ashleigh. With a very warm and loving smile, he asked, "My dearest sister-in-law, would you like to have dinner with me back at my place?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? James_Black_2558 ? FacuQO ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 60 Return 2 Hearing Nathan''s question and seeing his warm smile, everyone in the area fell silent. In the case of Team 1, they found themselves lost because one of their orders was to escort Ashleigh away to safety. As for Ashleigh herself, she felt conflicted. Truth be told, even she was starting to fear Nathan as well. Although she wanted to have a private talk with him and explain why she didn''t tell him she was a Chosen One, every time she sees him, he always ends up in conflict with someone else due to his behavior. He was just too unstable, too violent. Someone that she shouldn''t associate with. Yes, she was thankful that Nathan never once laid a hand on her and even helped her back when the zombie apocalypse first started. But after witnessing what just happened now to her fellow teammates, the desire to distance herself from him as much as possible was stronger. Everyone, including Nathan, noticed the conflicting emotions within her eyes. "Nathan... Sorry, but I already made plans with Rose tonight to have dinner. So maybe ¨C" "My dearest sister-in-law, you know that it''s been a while since we spent time together. I was hoping we could catch up and all." "True. B-But maybe we can set it for another time? How about tomorrow? It''s our rest day anyway." Nathan just stared at her, still wearing a warm smile. Her palms started to sweat and her knees weakened. During these past few days, as a person who was fearful in nature and hates violence, she knew that she had no choice but to toughen up and face her fears if she wanted to survive in this zombie apocalypse. This is why she has been training every morning and even requested to be part of the Scavenger Teams. And with the support of her friends and teammates here, although she was still afraid, she was slowly building up her courage with each passing day. However, upon seeing how Nathan ruthlessly beat up her teammates singlehandedly, most of the courage she built up until now started to waver. Fortunately for her, there was a brave soul¡­ or perhaps a vengeful soul willing to save her at this moment. "Miss Ashleigh, we''ve also been ordered by the Boss to escort you to her for your scheduled dinner date." It was Tyrone. Ashleigh looked at Tyrone and a sense of gratitude bloomed inside her heart. On the other hand, the warm smile plastered on Nathan''s face slowly faded away. Everyone tensed up. However, his face didn''t display anger or frustration, nor did he attack. Instead, he just stood there with a calm expression. "Well, I guess it can''t be helped then," Nathan said. He picked up his backpack and walked away, leaving everyone surprised. *** Haven Town ¨C Northwest. 6:40 PM. Nathan was walking down the streets alone while smoking a cigarette. Normally, he doesn''t like to smoke while walking. To him, a cigarette must be enjoyed in a relaxing and comfortable manner. But at this moment, for some reason, the feeling of walking down the streets alone and not being invisible with people around instead of zombies made him jumpy and uncomfortable. He felt so naked, so vulnerable as if everyone''s eyes were locked on him. As a self-proclaimed lone wolf, before the zombie apocalypse, he disliked going to crowded places. However, the feeling that he was experiencing right now was just too intense. He had other issues in his mind as well. Firstly, since the zombie apocalypse began, he now couldn''t imagine himself having someone to specifically cook for him a nice and warm meal in fear of poison. Secondly, he doesn''t feel safe at Haven Manor at all and would never sleep there. Thirdly, he was having a hard time controlling his temper. ''This¡­ When did I become so dysfunctional?'' He tried to think about something else. Ashleigh''s face flashed inside his head. ''That traitorous bimbo. I shouldn''t have helped her back then. Because of how well she is being treated here and her status as a Chosen One, she had the guts to refuse my invitation!'' Nathan spat on the ground. ''But thinking about it now, this was something that I should''ve expected right from the start. I was a fool to even expect something different. Regardless of what era, female nature or just human nature in general will never change ¨C a person will always pick the side that''s most comfortable and beneficial for them.'' He thought about what he was going to do tomorrow after taking Harry''s head. ''Hmm... my only choice is to make an excuse that I will be grinding at Cram city tomorrow but will instead secretly sneak into Saint Holy Child Hospital at Saint Town to look for Amir.'' His mind then shifted to another issue. ''But what about my training with Germaine? I also need to learn about parkour and other things.'' He felt conflicted. In his mind, he was only able to suppress most of his opponents due to high level and invisibility. If his stats were the same as the opponent or if he loses his invisibility skill, he wasn''t confident if he could even win. His mind shifted back to Amir. ''If I could save Amir tomorrow, then at least I will have from freedom back and I could think about getting even later. Aside from that, there''s also the issue about the government... Assuming what that bitch said is true.'' Rose told him that the government wasn''t interested in eliminating the zombie threat once and for all in favor of leveIing up and learning more about the System to the point of even conducting human experiments. In some way, he could understand why the government would do this. Who wouldn''t be tempted by the System? The fact that every human has it means anyone can obtain superhuman strength as long as they level up. Sure, there could be some people out there that aren''t tempted by it and wants to end the zombie threat as soon as possible. However, there are also people who desire it. If those who desire it are from high positions or want to be in high positions decide to build an army of superhumans, that would definitely pose as a big threat, not only to the people of this country but also to other countries as well. However, there was an issue: The source of EXP was limited. Right now, the only source of EXP were humans that turned into zombies. Animals were still just normal animals. Although there are about 7 billion humans around the world, it still was a limited number. That number would eventually die out. He wouldn''t be surprised to hear if some countries have also begun human cloning or invade other countries to turn the people into zombies. With the limited source of EXP, it''s no wonder the Womanian government isn''t interested in ending the zombie threat. As for his agreement with Rose and her personality, he would be a fool to believe that she will keep her word. If he was going to join a group, it must be in equal terms where both parties share the same interests or at least find it very costly if they decide to betray one another. If he was going to form his own group, he would still need to interact with others aside from Amir. There''s also the issue about his family back in Muwin. If he decides to go solo, no matter how strong he is, if a group of elites backed up with their vast resources and technology bands together to take him out, even he would be powerless to stop them. ''Sigh¡­ Why can''t things just be simple? Where is my [Plot Item] or cheat?'' He held open his palm. ''Even with the strength I have right now, I''m still as powerless as ever, still struggling, still having to bend over to the rules of society. Are humans bound to be weak, social creatures that need to depend on others no matter what?'' He closed his palm. ''Useless¡­'' *** Outside of Haven Town to the North deep within the mountains. Rose just met Brezine and Ashleigh not long ago. Upon seeing their state, she was displeased with Nathan''s actions. Fortunately, he didn''t kill Brezine and Ashleigh. If he had¡­ Rose and a female assistant were walking in an underground tunnel that was just enough for a single 6-wheeler truck to pass through. The floor and walls were coated with cement and there were fluorescent bulbs on the sides,10 feet away from each other. Up ahead, there was a closed large steel double door guarded by two guards who were extremely loyal Red Dust, specifically to the previous leader. "Boss, that Nathan. What he did to Brezine and her team ¨C" "Paula." "I''m sorry, Boss." "I understand where you''re coming from and I know how much you care about the overall safety of this town." "You are very wise, Boss." "People like Nathan are like bullied children who one day was given the power to fight back. Right now, he''s acting out but will eventually calm down once he has his fill." "And if he goes too far or doesn''t calm down?" Rose''s red lips curled up and formed into a smile that wasn''t exactly a smile. Paul felt a chill ran up her spine. "Good evening, Boss." The two guards who were guarding the large steel double door greeted Rose when she was about 10 feet away from them. "I received the message from my father." The two guards glanced over at Rose and Paula. After deciding that there was nothing out of the ordinary, one of the guards turned to a camera discreetly positioned on the side and gave and O.K. signal. Kacha! The large steel double door was opened from the inside. Rose and Paula entered. Inside, the place was like a high-end hotel. The only difference was that there were no windows but the place had a ventilation system. "Good evening, Boss." She was greeted by two guards and a female maid about 45 years old. Rose, Paula, and the maid started walking together. "Marcella, how''s my father?" Rose asked the female maid. Marcella was one of the long-time employees at Haven Manor. She used to take care of Rose''s eldest half-brother when he was still a baby. "He''s doing well. Although sometimes he gets a little stressed out when the twins bombard him questions about when will they get to go outside to play." "It''s good to hear that my father could still keep up with those little siblings of mine that are always full of energy." "It''s largely thanks to the power of the System." The System was miraculous. According to the research from one of Rose''s contacts from the government and also Red Dust''s own research, the average person has 10 VIT points, giving them an average lifespan of 80 years. And every time a person increases their VIT by 1 point, it gives that individual an extra 1 year on their lifespan. The trio finally arrived to a large room that what looks like a mini-park. The sound of laughter could be heard. "Big sister!" "Big sister!" A pair of fraternal twins about 8 years old with blonde hair cried out excitedly and rushed to Rose. They hugged each of her legs. "Rico, Rica." Rose patted their heads. "Big sister, you''re just in time. The burgers that father is cooking are almost done," said Rica. "Big sister, when will we be able to go out? I want to go to the beach and play. It''s almost my birthday," said Rico. "My birthday is also your birthday, but I''m not asking for anything. I''m a good girl, right, big sister? I just want more toys." "No, my birthday is my birthday. You can have yours on a different day." "No, we have the same birthday. And as your big sister, you should believe what I say." "Who said you''re my big sister? I''m the eldest here. You should ¨C" Rose started pinching their cheeks. "All right you two. Stop fighting. I''m going to talk to father for a moment. So please behave, okay?" "Yes, big sister." "Yes, big sister." "Stop copying what I say." "No, I''m not." "No, you are." "No, YOU are." "No, YOU." "YOU." They started pushing each other. Marcella cleared her throat. The two kids flinched and immediately quieted down. However, they were eyeing each other, arguing with their eyes. Rose shook her head and walked away. She could only imagine what her father had to go through every day. She found her father wearing an apron and grilling burger patties and some vegetables. Her father''s name was Rhett. He was Caucasian with gray hair and was 68 years old. Rose had 5 siblings. The eldest children, Remington and Raphael, were from the first marriage. Rose and Richard were from the second marriage. And lastly, Rica and Rico were children from the current wife. Remington, the supposed heir to Red Dust once Rhett retires, had gone missing. When the zombie apocalypse began, he was currently overseas for a business meeting and no news about him has been heard since then. Raphael, on the other hand, was the black sheep of the family that Rose had to kill when they were both aiming for the position as the leader of Red Dust back when the zombie apocalypse began. "Father." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 61 Return 3 "Father, I received your message. You wanted to talk to me?" Rose said. "Could you pass me that thing over there? Needs more seasoning," Rhett said. Rose glanced over a table nearby. There was a brush dipped inside a container filled with sauce and spices. She grabbed the container and passed it to him. Rhett took it. "Thank you, darling. How spicy do you want yours?" "I''m not hungry." "Come on, darling." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "The usual then." "Okay." He brushed two burger patties and some vegetables. "I remember back when you were still a kid you used to copy everything I do, including the food I eat," Rhett said. Rose was silent. Memories of her as a kid trying so hard to emulate her father flashed in her head. One time, Raphael, Richard and her decided to steal the cigar and whiskey of their father to try it. Unfortunately, they were caught by one of the maids and they ended up being severely punished by their father. "And when you entered high school, you got suspended on the first day of school because you refused to go home and change your male uniform when your homeroom teacher instructed you so you beat him up including the other faculty members with a stick. I had no choice but to transfer you to another private school the next day that doesn''t have uniforms," Rhett said and smiled. He passed the container with the brush inside back to Rose. She returned it to the table. "You were a little boyish back then. And I''ll be honest, as a father, I was a bit worried. But looking at you now, how you grew up to be a very beautiful, intelligent and strong person, as a father, I couldn''t help but be very proud. I look forward to seeing my grandchildren one day." Rose didn''t react and sat on one of the chairs nearby. "Do you know what''s the secret in grilling the perfect burger?" "Father." As for this story, her father already told her about the secret long ago and the story of how he discovered it. "The first time I encountered this beef, I was out on the beach in the summer with my college friends. One of my friends brought this beef with him and started grilling. The first time I took a bite, that''s when I knew that it was the best burger patty I''ve ever eaten in my entire life. I''m happy that your younger siblings, Rico and Rica, love it as well." "Father, can you just tell me what exactly you want to say? I have other things to attend to." "You also used to love this," Rhett said. Rose massaged her forehead. As the leader of Red Dust, she was really busy. She still had to talk with Derek. They haven''t yet had a proper discussion about what happened last night. She also had to review some details regarding the mission of taking over Harry''s base tomorrow. There were other things that she needed to deal with as well. "Let me take it out from the grill," Rhett said and placed the burger along with some vegetables on a plate before giving it to Rose. She grabbed the plate and said, "Thank you." She placed it on her lap and took a small bite of the burger. "The real secret is the beef and the spices'' freshness. You can buy the same kind of beef and spices and cook it exactly the same way I cook it. However, if both of them aren''t fresh, the taste will be different. As for the bun, I recommend the one from the local bakeshop here at Haven Town." "Father, is this about how I''m running things? Let me deal with it on how I see fit." Rose got up from her seat and placed the plate on top of the chair. She was about to leave. "Rose, darling." She stopped and turned around to face him. "Father, I am the leader now, not you. I am my own self, not Remington. I welcome the opinion of others. But by the end of the day, I make the final decision." Although Womania is a progressive country, there were still some circles that prefer a man to be its leader. One of those circles was Red Dust where its leader has always been a man. Remington, the eldest of Rhett''s children, was groomed to be the next leader of Red Dust once Rhett retires ever since he was a child. Everyone knew it and it wasn''t an overstatement to say that he was the child favored the most by Rhett and many people within the organization. Everywhere he went, everything he did, all eyes were on him. However, that changed when the zombie apocalypse happened. Remington was currently overseas for a business meeting when the zombie apocalypse began and no news about him has been heard ever since, leaving all those years of nurturing and planning down the drain. Raphael, the second eldest child, tried to usurp the position from Rhett a few hours after the zombie apocalypse began which led to a bloody battle in Haven Manor. But in the end, it was Rose, a person whom no one within the organization expected much from because of her gender, to come out of nowhere and seize the position for herself. With her Chosen One powers, she was able to take the position as the leader of Red Dust. However, it came with a bloody price. The cost of it was killing Raphael, the first wife, and a number of people that were against her leadership. Only a handful of them were taken as slaves. And although she''s now recognized as the leader of Red Dust and was a Chosen One, she still had to deal with political issues from time-to-time if she wanted to maintain a certain peace: One - The relationship between her and the key members of Red Dust. Two - The relationship between Red Dust and the other groups they''re associated with. "Darling, listen to me." "Please speak plainly, father. I''m really busy at the moment and I still have other things to deal with." "Okay, I understand. This new Chosen One you''ve recruited. I believe his name is Nathan. Am I right?" "Yes." "With my years of experience, one thing I learned about being a leader is that you should carefully choose who you welcome to your group. This Nathan, although he''s a Chosen One like you and is as powerful as you, he isn''t fit to be here." "Father, the world is changing fast. It isn''t the world you used to know. If we don''t surround ourselves with powerful allies as quickly as possible, we will be the ones getting devoured." "Find other allies, darling. Just not this man." Although Rose had to deal with political issues from time-to-time to maintain a certain peace, there are times she would need to use force. There is where recruiting Nathan becomes a good choice. In her mind, although Nathan''s attitude was a little problematic, unlike Derek and Ashleigh, he was someone that doesn''t have any problem killing people. And with his power, he could easily assassinate the leader(s) of their enemies. "Father, I respect your wisdom. But like I said earlier, I welcome the opinion of others. But by the end of the day, I make the final decision. I''ve already made my decision and I plan to stick with it." Rhett still had many things to say. But he knew how stubborn this daughter of his can be sometimes and part of it was his fault and it was breaking his heart. This blinding confidence of hers is actually mixed with a bit of an inferiority complex. Because of the environment she grew up in where male energy was the driving force, she had to learn how to project an unyielding and confident persona if she wanted to escape the shadow cast by Remington. This is also why she was a tomboy growing up and it was only around college when she began acting and dressing more feminine. There''s also the cold heart of hers which was formed through years of trying to get the recognition of father. As long as the final goal is achieved, it doesn''t matter if there were a few casualties along the way. She would only care if the casualties are people she cares about or are vital to her overall plans. However, if that person or people she cares about get in the way of her plans, she will deal with them the way she sees fit. Add in the horrors that the zombie apocalypse brought, Rhett could only imagine how much it affected her view of the world. As the previous leader of Red Dust, Rhett was, of course, a ruthless man. But when he lost Remington and saw his family members killing each other just for the sake of a position, that''s when he realized how messed up his family was due to his actions. ''If I could go back in time and treat all of you fairly, I would do it in a heartbeat. But alas, there''s a reason why they say regret always comes last. I just hope you won''t regret it that much when this decision of yours bites you back¡­'' he thought. "I respect your decision as the leader." "Thank you, father. Don''t worry, I have made other preparations as well. No matter what Nathan does, it will be futile." "If that''s the case, I have nothing to worry about then. Come stay and join us for dinner, darling. Your mother and third mother will be joining us shortly. I''ve also called for Richard as well. It''s been a while since we all got together." "Okay, but I can''t stay long." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting. ? sam0sa ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting me, you can be one of the Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. I would really appreciate it. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 62 Return 4 Haven Manor. 7:30 pm. Derek entered his room located on the third floor. He had a very long day. Right now, all he wanted was to shower right and then go to bed. The hand and fingers he lost last night from his fight with Nathan already grew back. Ashleigh healed him this morning before she left. In truth though, once a person reaches 51 Vit, regrowing one''s own limbs is possible. However, it takes days, depending on the injury. Unfortunately, not many know of this yet. Only a handful of people including Derek who has 52 Vit in [Maximize] mode. Derek went straight to his bedroom and undressed before heading to the bathroom and turned on the shower. The sound of running water could be heard. With the water flowing all over his naked body, he closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander. Since last night, he spent his time trying to make sure that all the family of the victims of Nathan were safe and compensated. After that, he did some training. Speaking of Nathan, throughout the day, although the people around town won''t mention anything about Nathan when they knew Derek was nearby, he still heard some of them. He heard about what happened at Hunter''s Hall. He also heard about what happened to Team 2 and that man who had his arm ripped off by Nathan in front of Tony''s Car Shop. And as expected, 95% of the comments about Nathan were negative. Some stories were even a bit exaggerated. One such story claimed that Nathan drinks the blood of children. Another story claimed that Nathan killed a woman before raping her. ''That guy¡­ Really¡­'' However, there was one story that caught his attention. Whether it was true or not, one story claimed that Nathan was from a country called Muwin and he grew up in the Southern region which mainly practices the religion Iklas. Iklas and Muwin used to be words that were a source of hatred and pain for Derek. *** 8 years ago. Derek, 22 years old. A country outside of Womania. He slowed down his breathing in order to calm his nerves down. The crowds around the stadium were cheering. Some of them were mixed with curses from the fans of the opposing team. He forcefully tuned out both the cheers and curses from his mind. All he wanted was to focus on the ball right next to his feet and the goalposts guarded by a group of players and the goalkeeper. He turned to the crowd and searched for seats he reserved for his parents and big sister. They were empty. Three days ago, he called his parents and invited them to fly over to come to watch the finals. They agreed and arrived two days ago and were staying in a hotel. He reserved three front row seats for them. It wasn''t easy because he had to pull a lot of strings to get those seats. He returned his focus to the ball and goalposts. Prrrrt! The whistle was blown. He kicked the ball. Bam! Sooo! "Oh my god!!! Derek Giuntoli nailed the free kick!!! This is his second goal of the game!!! The UCC Rebels up the BBC Splinters by 2 points!!! The UCC Rebels could be the champions in this year''s International College Football League!!!" said an announcer. "Oh, I don''t know about that, Stuart. There''s still 20 minutes left on the game. A lot of things can happen," said another announcer. With both fists raised to the sky, Derek ran towards his teammates. They hugged him and started jumping. The UCC Rebel fans went crazy and cheered loudly. *** The game ended with the UCC Rebels scoring 4 points and the BBC Splinters 2 points. At the locker room, Derek and his teammates were celebrating. "International College Football League champions, baby!!! Woooooooooo!!!" said Derek while sitting on top of the shoulders of two of his teammates. On one hand, he was holding the trophy up high, while the other was a bottle of champagne. He was shaking the bottle of champagne and spraying it on his teammates. "Woooooooooo!!!" The rest of the players shouted as well. They were all ecstatic. "Derek! Derek!" The team''s coach was calling him while trying to make his way between the celebrating players. "Coach!!!" Hearing the coach call out Derek''s name, four players and the assistant coach gathered around the couch and lifted him up. The name of their coach was Crew. He was a 6''5" black man who rarely smiles and always seems to have a bad temper. He was also very strict and was infamously known as The Coach from Hell. "Goddammit! Put me ¨C" The players and the assistant coach started throwing him up in the air and catching him. "Coach Crew! Wooooooo!" "Put ¨C" "Me ¨C" "Down ¨C" "I ¨C" "Have ¨C" "Something ¨C" "To ¨C" "Say ¨C" "To ¨C" "Derek ¨C" Coincidentally, Derek ran out of champagne. And hearing that the coach have something to say to him, he told the rest of the team to put him and Coach Crew down. "Put him down, guys. The Coach From Hell is gonna make a speech." The 4 players and assistant coach put Coach Crew down and immediately started clapping their hands and chanting. "Speech! Speech! Speech!" Derek approached the Coach Crew and passed the trophy to him before moving to the side. "Speech! Speech! Speech!" The players continued chanting before Derek raised his hand to shut them up. Everyone stopped and were smiling as they waited for their coach to make a speech. Coach Crew had a guilty and pained expression on his face. It''s been almost a decade since their school''s football team won a championship. However, this year, not only did they win the National College Football League, they also won the International College Football League. He knew how hard the players trained their ass off and the sacrifices they made to win these two championships. With that, this should have been a very special moment for all of them, one that''s worth celebrating and treasured inside their hearts for years to come. However¡­ "You lads did great. I''m so proud of you all!" Coach Crew said with a smile before passing the trophy to another player. The players clapped their hands and thanked him. "Thank you, Coach!" "We couldn''t have done it without you, coach!" "Coach, I wish to date your daughter!" "Derek, come with me," Coach Crew said with a solemn look on his face as he pulled Derek to a corner. Derek was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Coach, that speech was so lame. You''re not gonna tell me this is your first win and you don''t know how to react, are you? It''s okay. I''m used to winning championships back in middle school and high school so I can give you some pointers for the next championship." Still sporting a solemn expression on his face, the coach said, "There are two cops outside looking for you." "Two cops?" Derek grinned wider. "Coach, don''t you think that''s a bit too early? Plus, this is a public place. I don''t think strippers are allowed here. But hey, we just won the championship so ¨C" "That''s not it. It''s about your family. Come with me outside." *** Derek and Coach Crew headed outside of the locker room. When they got there, there were three people waiting: two males dressed in a police uniform and a kind-looking woman around 30 years old wearing civilian clothes. They were talking in the native tongue of this country. "#### #### ## ######" "###" When they saw Derek and the coach approach, it was the female who greeted them in the Regisian language. "Hello, my name is Juliette. I work as a translator for the local police department. Are you Mr. Giuntoli? She offered to shake her hand. Derek shook her hand. He had a confused look on his face and gave his coach a quick glance before returning to the woman in from of him. "Yeah, that''s me. So¡­ What is this about?" "There was a robbery 3 hours ago at a local restaurant by two armed suspects. The suspects were apprehended and 11 victims were injured. Unfortunately, 4 of the victims died. Among them were your father, mother and sister." "What?" "I''m very sorry for your loss. About your sister ¨C" Derek started laughing. He backed away and pointed two fingers on his coach using both of his hands. "Great acting, you guys. I really never thought you would something like this, Coach. You even hired these people to do something like this. This is really awesome. I''m totally blown away! I can''t wait to tell the guys about this! Haha~" In Derek''s mind, there was no way what they were saying was true. He just spoke with his parents on the phone 6 hours ago. They told him they were going to check downtown before heading to the football stadium to watch the game. Sure, he didn''t see them on the game, but there''s got to be another reason why. On the other hand, in the case of Coach Crew, he was known to be a very strict individual who rarely jokes around so the players love to tease him a little bit or throw out some jokes to see if they could make him smile or laugh. They even made a list of how many times they''ve seen the coach smiled and laughed over the years. And given that they just won the championship, Derek assumed that this will be one of the rare occasions that their coach would take off his strict hat and joke around. "I''m very sorry, Mr. Giuntoli but this isn''t a joke," said Juliette. "Son, I know it''s hard to accept, but it''s the truth. Even I find it hard to believe and God knows how I wish that this was nothing but a mistake," said Coach Crew. Juliette continued, "About your sister, she survived the attack and was immediately sent to the hospital. The doctors were able to stabilize her health and she regained consciousness about an hour ago. They were able to ask her if there was anyone else they can contact aside from her parents and she told you about us. Unfortunately, she died a few minutes later." "You guys are still continuing this skit even though you''ve been busted? Wow, you guys really take your craft seriously. I want to hire you guys to prank my friends. How much is it?" Derek said with an impressed tone. He still refused to believe them. One of the police officers got annoyed with Derek''s attitude. "###### #####." Coach Crew placed his hand on Derek''s shoulder. "Son, this isn''t a joke." Derek stopped and look at their faces. Seeing all their serious and solemn faces, it finally dawned to him the possibility that this wasn''t some prank. "Wait¡­ You guys are really serious? And you seriously telling me that my parents got caught up in a robbery and died and my sister died at the hospital?" No one said a word. The serious and solemn look on their faces remained. "That can''t be, right¡­?" "We''re very sorry for your loss, Mr. Giuntoli," said Juliette. Derek took a step back and his face turned pale. "I understand the shock and pain you''re going through right now, but we need you to come with us to identify the bodies and sign some papers," said Juliette. "What...?" Derek''s knees started to feel weak. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders. "THIS DOESN''T FUCKING MAKE ANY SENSE! WHAT YOU''RE SAYING CAN''T BE TRUE! I JUST SPOKE TO THEM A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO!" The two cops and the coach immediately separate Derek from Juliette. "Sir, #### ####!" "#### ####!" "Derek, calm down! Calm down, son!" It took a minute before Derek finally calmed down. He was sitting on a bench with his coach and was trying to talk some sense into him. Derek''s head was down and he just kept staring at the floor. He would occasionally respond with a "Yes, coach" whenever his coach said something. However, his mind was somewhere else. "Mr. Giuntoli ¨C" said Juliette. Derek raised his head and asked, "Where are the murderers?" "They have been arrested." "I want to see them." "That''s not possible right now but we can arrange that in the future." Later that night, Derek watched the news and also read a few articles about the robbery that involved his family. He found out that the suspects were immigrants from Muwin and practiced the religion Iklas. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting this Immortal. You can be one of my Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal: ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades This Immortal would really appreciate it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 63 Return 5 4 years ago. Derek, 26 years old. Womania, Burrow city. 11:30 pm. It was New Year''s eve and light snow was falling from the sky, making the ambiance magical as well as boosting the festive spirit of the people. However, not everyone shared the same feeling... Derek was with two men at an empty alley. The men that Derek was with were Muwinians. One of them charged at him and punched. Derek sidestepped and kicked the man on the side. Pah! The man fell to the ground and groaned in pain. The other man approached Derek and sent out a punch aiming at his face. Derek ducked, evading it. He immediately stepped forward and delivered an uppercut on the man''s chin. Bam! The man fell to the ground. Derek got on top of the man and started pummeling him. Bam! Bam! Bam! Suddenly, someone kicked him at the back. Pah! He fell face-first to the pavement, chipping his front teeth and scratching chin. With Derek down on the ground, the man started kicking his side. Pah! "You crazy white racist pig!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. This fight was instigated by Derek. These two Muwinians were just walking down the streets minding their own business when Derek suddenly started throwing out racist slurs. They tried to ignore him at first, but Derek didn''t stop and just continued. After finally losing patience, they confronted him. Derek lured them into an alley so that no cops or snitches will interfere. Pah! "You like that!?" Pah! "Answer me, you racist bitch!" Pah! Pah! "Officer, there!" a female voice said. "What''s going on here?!" shouted a female police officer, while the female who alerted the officer quickly went away. Hearing the officer, the man kicking Derek stopped. Meanwhile, Derek cursed his luck and thought, ''This alley wasn''t deserted at all.'' "Shit!" said the man kicking Derek and immediately went to his companion to pull him up. "Wake up, man! Pull yourself together! Come on! Hurry!" The man placed his companion''s arm on his shoulders and dragged him away. "Stop!" said the police officer but she didn''t pull out her gun or chase them. It was New Year''s eve and there were too many drunks. Some even tried to kiss her. In her mind, it would be better if these scums just started killing each other. She approached Derek. She noticed that his head was bald and had a racist symbol tattooed at the back of his skull. ''A racist? I really shouldn''t have interfered then. What luck,'' she thought and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Are you okay, sir? I will need you to tell me what happened." Derek coughed out a few blood and spat before sitting down on the floor. "I''m fine, officer." He wiped the blood of his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket before looking at her. When the female officer saw his face, she was surprised to see that Derek was handsome. Despite his shaved head and the racist tattoo, it still couldn''t hide the fact that he was pleasing to the eyes. He was 6''2" tall, average but fit physique, piercing blue eyes, and a chiseled jawline. Combined with his shaved head and the racist tattoo, it gave him a bad boy charm instead that women couldn''t resist and give them this strong desire to "save" him. ''Too bad he''s a racist¡­ But I guess¡­'' she thought and put the pair of handcuffs away."Were you mugged, sir? I can help you file a report." Derek got up and dust off the snow on him. "It''s nothing, officer. I''m fine. I just tripped. That''s all." Derek recognized that look on the police officer''s eyes. It was a look that he was quite familiar with since he was a kid. The police officer was Caucasian just like him. However, her looks were way below average. "Excuse me, officer. I''ll be on my way." He began walking away. "Wait. I need to take you back to the station ¨C" Derek stopped and cupped her face before kissing her. When their lips finally parted, he whispered, "I''ll come back here tomorrow night and will be waiting for you." "Okay¡­" The female officer absently nodded. Her mind was still trapped in her own fantasy. Derek walked away. *** 11:50 pm. Derek entered a pub. There were a lot of people. Some were with their partners, while others were with their friends. Everyone in the room was in a festive mood except for Derek. Ever since the death of his parents and sister, he was never the same. He dropped out of college and lived a life the solely revolved around fighting, drinking, drugs and sex. This was all possible thanks to the wealth his parents left him. Although he never has to worry about money and didn''t have any gambling problem, it wouldn''t matter because, with the kind of lifestyle he lived, he would most likely die first before using up all of his money. He also had some relatives and friends that tried to help him, but he just kept shutting them out until they finally stopped pestering him. He went over the front bar and ordered a drink. The bartender was a 6''7" Caucasian man around 50 years old with knife scars on his face. He had a large beer belly and his arms were as thick as an adult''s thigh. "Whiskey neat," said Derek. The bartender poured him his drink. As he was about to grab his drink, someone shoved his head from behind. He turned around to see who shoved him. "You got a nice tattoo there, my friend." It was a group of men of color and they were sneering at him. Derek licked his chipped teeth and smiled. He was about to pounce at them when suddenly a thundering voice behind him said, "If you little boys want to play, go outside and don''t bother everyone here." It was the 6''7" bartender. Upon seeing the towering height and the massive arms of the bartender along with his face riddled with knife scars, the group of colored men backed away and left. Derek turned to the bartender. He picked up his glass and drank it. "Another one." The bartender poured him another drink. Derek did the same thing. "Another one." The bartender poured. "Another one." The bartender poured. "Another one." "Woah¡­ Easy there, buddy." Derek looked at the bartender with the expression that read: Pour me a fucking drink. "There must be a really good reason why you''re doing this on a New Year''s eve. So¡­" The bartender grabbed a bottle of whiskey and placed it in front of Derek. "¡­ this is for you." Derek squinted his eyes. "It''s on the house. I have other customers to serve and I can''t have you monopolizing one of my employees as well." It was New Year''s Eve and the pub was crowded. Unfortunately, there were only 3 waitresses on duty tonight and all of them had their hands full. When Derek grabbed the bottle, the bartender grabbed the bottle as well and leaned over. "Just don''t go making a mess or you''ll owe me big time. You understand?" Derek pulled the bottle away and didn''t say anything as he poured himself a drink. The bartender left him alone and served the other customers. After a few shots, he felt a little tipsy so he left the whiskey bottle and glass before going to the comfort room for a quick sniff. On his way to the comfort room, there were a few people standing on the sides. Some were making out, some were talking, while the others were doing only God knows what. Kacha! Derek entered one of the bathroom stalls and sat on the bowl before taking out his drugs. Sniff! Sniff! He raised his head and rubbed his nose. Sniff! Sniff! He put his drugs away and got out of the comfort room. When he got back to his spot, it was already taken by a group of women and there were no other seats available as well. Tch. Derek clicked his tongue. He went over to grab his whiskey bottle. When the women noticed Derek approaching, they immediately made eye contact with each other before throwing him subtle flirtatious gazes, trying to see who among them could get his attention. One of them even "accidentally" tripped and bumped into him, while another unbuttoned one of the buttons of her top to reveal more cleavage. Unfortunately, Derek wasn''t interested at the moment and just ignored them. He grabbed his whiskey bottle and turned away to leave. Seeing Derek ignore them and walking away, they finally noticed the racist symbol tattooed on the back of his head so they quickly lost interest and decided to put him down to heal their wounded ego. "Ewww... A racist. No time to waste our time with someone like that." "Yeah, you''re right. So disgusting." "Most white men are racist pigs anyway. It''s not a surprise." "Ugh! To think he came to us... I feel so dirty!" Derek headed back to the bathroom stall earlier to continue drinking. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? TrueDevilPath ? gabriel_espinoza ? Passs3rby ? 7Life7Sky And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting this Immortal. You can be one of my Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal: ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades This Immortal would really appreciate it. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 64 Return 6 The next morning. Someone was kicking Derek''s leg. "Hey, wake up." Another kick. It was stronger. "Wake up." It was even stronger. "Wake up." There was no kick this time. Instead, the sound of flowing water could be heard. Splash! He was splashed with a basin of water. "THE FUCK?!" Derek quickly opened his eyes and shouted. He looked around to see who splashed him with a bucket of water. It was the 6''7" bartender with knife scars on his face. "Good, you''re awake." He passed him a mop and a plastic bag of fresh clothes along with a hat. "Clean up the mess you made and then change to these clothes. You owe me big time." "Like hell I do!" Derek quickly got up and was about to pounce on the bartender. It was then he realized that he was inside the men''s toilet and his shirt and jacket were covered in puke. It was also already morning outside. "You won''t hurt a fellow ''white'' brother, yes? I''ll be waiting over at the front bar and make some coffee. We have so many things to do today so hurry up." The bartender turned and left him. *** 15 minutes later. Derek got out of the men''s toilet and was wearing a fresh of set clothes. He didn''t wear the hat. "Looks good on you. It was left behind by one of the customers last week," said the bartender. Derek just stood there and didn''t say anything. The bartender was standing behind the bar and there were two cups of coffee on top of it. "Come, this will help with that hangover of yours." Derek approached. He grabbed one of the cups and took a sip. It was sweet. "Take this too." Derek glanced over at the medicine before taking it. Thanks to all the drinking and vomiting he did last night, he had this splitting headache of a hangover. "People call me Sweet Dave. What about you?" said the bartender. Derek glanced at the knife scars on Sweet Dave''s face as he took another sip. "Derek." The two of them silently drank coffee after that. Derek put down his cup and checked his watch. 8:13 am. "Thank you for this. I''ve got to go," said Derek. "Where are you talking about? You haven''t yet repaid me. We''re going somewhere and my wife is going to pick us up any minute now." Derek frowned. "Look, let me just write you a cheque for whatever inconveniences I caused you last night." Derek started checking his pockets. "The favor you owe me can''t be bought with money." "I can pay you handsomely." All of a sudden, the front door of the pub was opened. Kacha! "Morning, dear and happy New Year~" said a female voice. "Morning too, dear and happy New Year," replied Sweet Dave. Derek turned to the direction of where the female voice was coming from. It was a plumped brown-skinned woman around 40 years old and about 5''5" in height. Seeing her brown skin, a sense of disgust welled up inside of Derek. He was about to walk away but was blocked by the woman and she hugged him. Derek flinched. Despite his hatred, he never hit a woman. "So you must be the little sheep that my husband told me about over the phone. Very handsome." She grabbed his head and pulled him over before kissing both of his cheeks. "Hey, hey, hey. You''re hurting my feelings here. You haven''t yet kissed your husband and you''re already kissing a complete stranger," said Sweet Dave. "Shush you! It''s not every day I get to kiss a young and handsome man." She kissed Derek''s cheeks again. "Well, sorry if I''m just handsome, not young," Sweet Dave muttered on the side. "Oh you were never both when I met you!" "What''s the meaning of this?" asked Derek. Derek started to wonder if these two were one of those swinger couples who like to do cuckold sex. "Derek, this is ¨C" "Oh! So your name is Derek. What a very manly name. I''m Sansa. You can call me Sunny if you want~" She grabbed Derek''s buttocks and squeezed them. "Ah!" Derek yelped in surprise. Sweet Dave shook his head and smiled as he picked up a hat from the counter. Derek removed Sansa''s hands from his buttocks and took a step back. "I''m sorry but I have to leave. Let me write you a cheque real quick or you can swipe my credit card." "Dear, you''re scaring the kid," said Sweet Dave. He walked out of the bar, pulled his wife over and gave her a kiss. Their lips parted and she looked at Derek. "Shy guy, huh. Rawr~" She purred. Derek felt a chill ran down his spine. Sweet Dave threw that hat at him and caught it. "My wife is just teasing you. Let''s go." Derek frowned. "Look, I got to go ¨C" Sweet Dave wrapped his giant arm around Derek''s neck. "I know your type. You don''t have anywhere to go ¨C you slept inside a pub''s toilet on a New Year''s eve and no one looked for you or called your phone. And plus, the place we''re going, it''s not what you''re thinking." He dragged him to the front door. "Hey, unhand me!" When they finally got outside, there was a pink van parked in front of the pub. Sweet Dave released Derek. "She''s a beauty, right?" Derek was speechless. ''This couple is just so weird. But then again, I don''t really care whether I die or live anyway. So who cares where they take me.'' "Wear the hat. You''re gonna need it," said Sweet Dave. Derek saw giant plastic bags, tupperware, and other kitchen utensils. "Find someplace to sit," he said to Derek as he went to the driver''s seat. Sansa, on the other hand, went to the front passenger seat. ''Here goes.'' *** The place that Sweet Dave and Sansa brought him wasn''t some secluded area. Instead, they went to this public open space in the slums. There were a few opened tents of different sizes erected and a number of people of different genders, ages and races. The adults were busy preparing food, while the children were playing around. When the three of them got off the van, Sweet Dave and Sansa were immediately greeted by some people and exchanged hugs. They also introduced Derek. Pah! Sansa slapped Derek''s ass, causing him to yelp in surprise. "What are you waiting for? Quickly help my husband unpack the things inside the van. We''ve got so many people to feed." "Yes, ma''am." He fixed his hat. They spent the whole morning cooking and feeding people of all races and ages. When they ran out of food to serve around 11:00 am, Sansa had Derek accompany her at her house to get more supplies for lunch. And during that time, he had to undergo a lot of teasing from her. They ran out again of food to serve by 4:00 pm. This time around, it was Sweet Dave and Derek who went to fetch for more supplies. This cycle finally ended around 9:00 pm. Sweet Dave and Derek were sitting and drinking beer at one of the open tents. Derek was still wearing his hat to cover his racist tattoo. As for Sansa, she was busy gossiping with other people at the next tent. "You were a lot of help today. Thanks to you, our old bones didn''t have to suffer that much unlike last year," said Sweet Dave. Derek thought about his experience today. It was indeed physically exhausting, but it was also spiritually fulfilling. Ever since the death of his parents and sister, he couldn''t remember the last time someone genuinely smiling and thanking him. For the first time in years, he felt lighter and his mind clearer. It was a hundred times better than the feelings that drugs and alcohol gave him. "Yeah, no problem." Neither of them spoke after that until a group of children passed by them with a smile on their faces. "I don''t know how you became who you are, but I do know that you''re a good person." "You''ve guessed wrong, old man." Derek took a sip of beer. "Take a look at this." Sweet Dave lifted the bottom of his shirt and revealed a giant racist symbol on his belly. It was the same symbol as the one tattooed on the back of Derek''s head. "I''ve got many more in my body and I''m still saving money to remove all of them." Derek didn''t say anything but he was genuinely surprised to find out that Sweet Dave had such tattoos. "I know this may come as a surprise, but I wasn''t always called Sweet Dave." Derek coughed. "Shocking, right?" Derek looked at knife scars on Sweet Dave''s face. "Yeah, I could never picture you having a different name other than ''Sweet Dave''." They both chuckled. "I know what it''s like to live with hate. I lived almost 30 years of my life with it." Derek didn''t say anything. "And I do know that hate is a time-consuming, stressful, and destructive thing. And to hold onto it when there''s so many beautiful things in life is simply a wasteful thing to do. Sure, there are bad people out there, but there are also good people as well." "You don''t know what I''ve been through," Derek said dismissively. "Hmm¡­ Based on what I''ve observed, I''m guessing you lost someone dear to you." "Look, I appreciate what you''re trying to do, but just drop it. I''m not interested." Truth be told, as much as he hates non-white people, especially the brown-skinned ones, he also hated himself. If he didn''t invite them to go to another country to watch the game, they never would''ve been at that time and place. They would''ve still been alive now... Sweet Dave finished his beer and stood up. "I''m going for a refill. What some?" "I''m good." Sweet Dave left. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? Poloxx ? 7Life7Sky ? TrueDevilPath And to those who want to take an extra step in supporting this Immortal. You can be one of my Immortal Donators by sending it through PayPal: ?PayPal: immortalshades123@gmail.com Or become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades This Immortal would really appreciate it. I also have an important announcement to make. Starting next week, I will only be releasing around 3 chapters a week. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 65 Return 7 "Excuse me." It was a female voice. Derek turned to the direction of where the voice was coming from. It was a group of teenagers: a brown-skinned woman, a black-skinned woman, and a white-skinned man. Their ages range from 16 to 19 years old. Derek was familiar with these teens. They were part of the organizers of this feeding program and he was introduced to them this morning. The one who asked was the brown-skinned woman. Derek noticed their shy gazes and blushing cheeks. "Yes?" "Um¡­ My friends and I were wondering if you happened to see a cat passed by here." "A cat?" "Yeah, it''s color white." Derek tried to recall if he had seen any white cat passed by here. "I''m sorry. I don''t remember seeing a cat passing by. But I can ask my friend when he comes back." "Oh! Thanks, but you don''t have to!" The brown-skinned woman began to flush. "We don''t want to cause you any more trouble! Thank you for your help, Derek!" She quickly turned and walked away. Her companions followed suit. One of her companions, a black-skinned woman, grabbed her arm and whispered, "Girl, what are you doing?! You didn''t even ask for his number!" Meanwhile, the only man in the group, who was Caucasian, grabbed her other arm, "You''re wasting a good chance! If I were half as beautiful as you, I would''ve thrown myself to him already!" The brown-skinned woman stopped. She was thinking about whether to turn back or not. She finally decided. She turned and went back to Derek. Her face was beet red. "I''m sorry but I forgot to ask something: What''s your name ¨C Kyah!" One of her companions pinched her side, causing her to make that strange sound and jump. They already knew his name. In fact, she just mentioned his name earlier. "Are you okay?" Derek asked. "Oh, it''s nothing. I thought I saw a cockroach passed by. I''m Anna by the way. Can I get your number?" Derek felt a knot on his stomach. This was one of the problems of being handsome. He had no power of who approaches him. They could be younger, the same age as him, or older. As for the woman who asked for his number right now, although he admires her courage, he would never give his number to an underage girl. One time, an underage girl asked for his number and he gave it to her without really thinking much about it. He, of course, had no intention of dating her or even doing anything to that underage girl. However, the girl somehow developed this idea that he was playing hard to get so she decided to do stalker-like things and even threatened to kill herself. Ever since then, if a woman looks underage or if he suspects they are, he would immediately shut them down without caring about their feelings. But this time around, he decided to shut her down without being too callous because he didn''t want to cause any problems to Sweet Dave and Sansa. "I''m sorry, but I have a girlfriend and ¨C" "Derek, I brought you a beer just in case." It was Sweet Dave. When the three teenagers saw Sweet Dave, they greeted him. "Hello, Sweet Dave." "What brings you, kids, here?" "Oh we were just looking a white cat," said the black woman. "A cat?" "Yeah, we wanted to ask if you''ve seen it," said the male teenager. "Hm¡­ Sorry, I didn''t see any white cat here. Try asking my wife. She over there." Sweet Dave pointed over at Sansa who was at the next tent talking with some people. "Sure, Sweet Dave. Thanks. We''ll get going now," said the black woman. Sweet Dave passed Derek a can of beer before sitting down. "I have that effect on people. They get overwhelmed by my dashing looks and run away," said Sweet Dave with a proud look on his face. Derek laughed. "Of course." "So you only hate men of color?" Derek sigh in exasperation. "You really don''t know when to give up, do you?" "I see a lot of myself in you, kid. I don''t want to see you or anyone go through the same experience I did and then regret it by the age of 40 ¨C assuming you could even live that long." The two of them didn''t speak for almost a minute until Derek finally opened up. "My parents and sister got caught up in a robbery and were killed." Sweet Dave didn''t say anything and waited for Derek to continue. "I remember speaking to them a few hours before the championship game. They told me they were going downtown to do some sightseeing and have lunch before going to the game." "¡­" "Our team won the game and I remember being so happy at that time even though I didn''t see my family at the game. But then the coach pulled me over to meet these cops and they told me that my parents and sister got caught in a robbery. My parents died immediately, while sister died shortly after she was sent to the hospital." "¡­" "The people who killed them were Muwinian Iklasians." "I''m sorry, Derek." "I was so happy one moment and the next thing I knew I was filled with this intense hate and sadness." "¡­" "And you know what''s the best part of it? I was fully aware that it was unfair to hate all brown-skinned people just because two brown-skinned men happened to kill my family. But I couldn''t accept the fact that I too played a role with the death of my family. If I didn''t invite them to go to that country to watch my game, they never would''ve been there in the first place. They would''ve still been..." Derek didn''t say anything after that. Sweet Dave sipped his beer before saying, "When I was 16 years old, my younger brother and I used to be part of this all-white gang. I was the one who convinced my brother to join. We had so many wonderful memories in the first couple of months together... That is until one night we encountered an all-black gang. We fought them before ¨C some fights we won, others we lost." "But on that particular fight, we never expected that one of them was carrying a knife. I was fighting three people and my brother noticed one of them pulled out a knife and was about to stab me from behind. My brother tried to stop the man and got stabbed instead." Sweet Dave took another sip. "I don''t remember what happened next. But the next thing I knew, I was holding my dead brother in my arms and screaming his name at the top of my lungs." Sweet Dave burped. "I spent the next 30 years of my life carrying all that hate and guilt inside of me and getting out in and out of prison until I met Sunny." "She must be one hell of a woman to keep a man like you," said Derek. Sweet Dave laughed. "Believe it or not, she was my parole officer." This time it was Derek who laughed. "Really?" "Oh, you don''t know how scary she is when she gets angry. That playful persona she shows? Pray that that''s the only side of hers you get to encounter." "Yet you married her." "Yup, and I''m enjoying every moment of it!" "So what you''re saying is that the cure to this hate of mine is to get married?" "Of course not! Were you even listening? Plus, there''s no way I''m giving my Sunny to you." "She seems to be quite fond of me though." "You wish! That was just her playing around! My Sunny is only loyal to me!" "What are you boys talking about? I heard my name mentioned a hundred times." It was Sansa. "I was just telling Derek how much we love each other, dear. Come sit on my lap and give me a kiss." Sweet Dave spread out his arms and pouted his lips. However, Sansa went over to Derek instead and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Derek, how are you? Did you miss me?" "Let''s wrap things up and go home. It''s already late and I''m tired," Sweet Dave quickly said. They all laughed together. After packing their things and cleaning the area, they said their goodbyes to the other people who participated in the event before going back to the pub. *** 10:00 pm. A pink van pulled over in front of a hotel and a man got out. "You sure you don''t want to go back home with us?" A female voice asked. The man grinned. "Nah... I''m good. I received so much sugar from you today, Sunny. I''m afraid I may already have diabetes thanks to you." "Derek, I''ll be expecting to find you passed out inside the pub''s toilet next year," said Sweet Dave. "Sure, as long as you promise that you buy me a bottle of whiskey." "I''ll give two bottles of whiskey." They both laughed. "Happy New Year," said Derek. "Happy New Year, too," replied both Sweet Dave and Sansa. "Bye~" said Sansa. "Bye," replied Derek. Sweet Dave hit the honk twice before driving off with Sansa. Alone, Derek stared at the night sky. He thought about what happened today and the spiritual fulfillment it brought to him. It felt like a heavy burden was lifted off of his shoulders. He then thought about his parents and sister. ''Would you guys be proud of seeing me like this?'' He was well aware that it wasn''t going to be easy to let go of the hate inside of him and it will probably take a very long time before all of it will be erased. But he also knew he can''t live the rest of life with hate. If he was going to take this path of healing and reclaim who he once was, he needed to start somewhere. ''I need to go back to Cram City and finish my studies.'' He lowered his head and ran his hand over it. ''I should remove this tattoo and also grow my hair back.'' *** Present day. Derek, 30 years old. He turned off the shower and opened his eyes. "Sweet Dave, Sunny¡­ I hope you guys are safe." He finally decided. He was going to leave Red Dust. As much as he cared and want to help the people here at Haven Town, he had some people he cared about at as well. Plus, with what happened last night, he started to doubt Rose''s real motives. He wrapped himself with a bathrobe and went out of the bathroom. There was a knock on the front door. Knock. Knock. Knock. Derek went over to the front and opened it. Kacha! "Hi." The person said and smiled. It was Rose. She was wearing civilian clothes. Derek was surprised to see her. Last night left a bad taste on his mouth. So many people died last night... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. He thought about the first time he saw Rose... It was back at the apartment building. And when she smiled at him, it caused his heart to flutter... In Derek''s mind, Rose was indeed beautiful. And between Ashleigh and Rose, although both of them are beautiful, he found himself more attractive to Rose. To him, she was the type that was so hard to catch. But once you capture her heart, she would do anything for you, even if it means going against the whole world. However, the problem with this woman was that she was too ambitious. A good example was last night when Nathan attacked and killed many people. "Rose... What are you doing here?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? MyRedeemerLives ? Poloxx ? 7Life7Sky ? TrueDevilPath I''d like to make a follow-up announcement... In the previous chapter I mentioned that I will start releasing around 3 chapters a week. I would like to make an update about that. I''ve begun publishing "chapter drafts" on my p-a-t-r-e-o-n page. And so far, I''ve already posted up to Chapter 70 there. ?P-a-t-r-e-o-n: https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades If you want to read them, you can go to my p-a-t-r-e-o-n page and become one of my Immortal Patrons. For only $5 a month, you will have access to all my "chapter drafts". Please note that the chapters I''ve posted there are NOT the final and official chapters. They are simply DRAFTS before I officially publish them here at WebNovel (Qidian) so there will DEFINITELY be some edits or tweaks. I do not intend to steal money or traffic from WebNovel. The chapters there are simply DRAFTS to give my dear readers who want to be one of the Immortal Patrons and have a sneak peek in advance on where I''m taking the story. As for how many "chapter drafts" I will be posting there p-a-t-r-e-o-n, it depends on the week. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 66 Second Phase 11:55 pm. Nathan was inside his room on the third floor of Haven Manor. He was in the living room sitting on a sofa and there was a coffee table in front of him. On top of the table was a glue gun, glue stick, scissors, transparent plastic bags, and bottles of [Small] Healing Potions. He was making healing packets and already made 14 pieces. He was making the last one. Including the ones he had last night, he will have a total of 20 healing packets. "There!" The 15th healing packet was done. He put down the glue gun and lit a cigarette. "3:00 am, huh." He checked his watch. 11:56 pm. "Three hours to go." Twitch visited him a while ago to give him an update about the mission. At 3:00 am, he will be escorted to Cram city by Rose along with a group of people that she personally handpicked. At 3:30 am, he will infiltrate the enemy base, head off to where Harry sleeps and take his head with him. Once Harry was dead, he will contact Rose via the radio and give her his head. From their on, she will personally take over. As for why she wanted Harry''s head, he doesn''t know nor did he bother to ask. Nathan suspects that she was probably going to use it to scare the members of that group into submission by showing them the severed head of Harry. But regardless of whatever her reason was, it wasn''t a problem to him anyway, because if he carries a severed head and activates [Coward''s Way], he and along with the head will be invisible. As for the 3 survivors his team saved earlier, there were no issues. Everything went well. 11:58 pm. "Hmm¡­ What to do¡­ What to do¡­" Nathan was bored. "Sleep?" If he was going to sleep, he wouldn''t sleep here. He would choose a secret location and activate [Coward''s Way]. "Watch TV?" Putting aside that there were no channels and streaming sites available, there were two things he could do: play a video game or watch a movie from the blue-ray collection available. But he wasn''t in the mood for any of those. "Cook? Nah¡­ Too early." He planned to cook at 1:00 am and have his meal at 1:15 am so that he will have at least 30 minutes to digest his food for energy. "Call another prostitute?" He recalled his experience with Akane last night. Thinking about it, lustful desires surfaced inside his heart. However, he wanted another partner. Getting attached to someone other than his family was the last thing he wanted to do. His heart had been ripped apart before and he learned a few life lessons. And speaking of life lessons, he wasn''t sure which of the life lessons he learned before would still be useful in this zombie apocalypse era. Back then he was just another average useless human that''s part of the rat race. Now that the world was currently in a zombie apocalypse and he was a Chosen One, some of the views he knew or believed in should be obsolete and need to be updated or discarded. He resumed pondering about what woman he wanted to sleep with tonight. "Hmm... White-skinned pure Asian or a half Caucasian and half Asian woman, or a half black and half Asian woman?" He sucked his cigarette and blew the smoke in the air. "All three? Or both? Or just one?" He closed his eyes and thought about it deeply. "I will be cooking at 1:00 am so I only have one hour. With that, the best option would be to choose one." He continued. "With that one hour, let''s say it will take 10 minutes for her to come here, so I can divide each round for 25 minutes each. But is 25 minutes enough? Foreplay is also needed¡­" Unfortunately for Nathan, old habits die hard. Despite him being a Chosen One now with high vitality, he still had some of the insecurities that most (or probably all) average men have. One of them is satisfying a woman in bed. Back before the zombie apocalypse, an average man has to perform well in bed so he has to go the extra mile if he wants a next time. If that man can''t satisfy the woman and considering the fact that she has so many dating options, especially for a woman in a progressive country like Womania, she could easily replace him with another partner just with the snap of her finger. However, him being replaced isn''t actually the problem here. He doesn''t mind that at all because his goal is only for a one night stand ¨C His main concern here was his reputation. Haven Town is a small town with a small population. Sure, he views the women he is about to call as nothing more than prostitutes. But what if one of the women he slept with decides to go around town and say that he''s bad in bed? Lone wolf or not, one of the things he cares about is the reputation of his sexual performance. Once a man gets branded by the public as a person who is bad in bed, it will take a lot of effort to change that public opinion. Unless of course, if he kills everyone who has heard about the rumor. He slapped his head. Pah! "I also haven''t considered the possibility that there might not be a beautiful white-skinned pure Asian or a half Caucasian and half Asian woman, or a half black and half Asian woman available!" As for the idea of ****, he still was uncomfortable with the idea. In his mind, if he was going to **** a woman, he''s going to make sure that the woman he''s going to **** is really, really, really worth it. The woman should probably be like a beautiful virgin or something like an object for revenge. If he''s going to **** just for the sake of raping, how is that any different from admitting that he''s so damn ugly, so unfuckable that he had no choice but to resort to ****? Even though he was an average-looking man, he still had his own petty pride. 12:00 am. Ding! That familiar bell sound whenever one level''s up rang inside his head. A message popped inside his head. ''First Phase of the zombie apocalypse has ended. Moving to the Second Phase.'' "The First Phase ended? Moving to Second Phase?" All of a sudden, his surroundings started shaking. "An earthquake?!" 5 seconds later, the lights went out and the emergency lights inside the manor lit up. Nathan didn''t move and remained seated on the sofa in the living room. "If I''m going to die because of this¡­ Lady Luck, take the wheel!" His surroundings shook for a minute until it finally stopped. The lights still didn''t return, only the emergency lights continued to illuminate the area. Another bell. Ding! Another message popped inside his head. ''50 Divine Towers have appeared around the world. Enter Divine Tower to obtain unique items and even have a chance to win [Artifact] grade items. Entrance time limit is 12 hours.'' "50 Divine Towers around the world? Unique items? [Artifact] grade items? Entrance time?" He was intrigued but he ignored the messaged for now. His main focus at the moment was to immediately get out of the building because there was once a time he was "forced" to watch a TV drama by his ex-girlfriend where one of the male protagonists explained that if a building is still standing after a strong earthquake, it wasn''t safe and could collapse at any minute. But of course, there are things to consider: One - Was the building designed to resist earthquakes? He doesn''t know whether Haven Manor was designed to resist earthquakes or not. Two- How strong was the earthquake? Earthquakes weren''t a common thing back in his home country and they weren''t as strong compared to other countries. So with his limited experience with earthquakes, as long as the ground was shaking, he would still be fearful. Regardless of whatsoever, he wasn''t taking any chances. He quickly grabbed the healing packets on the coffee table and his items, both System and non-System, before jumping out of the window and breaking the windows in the process. Ka-clak! Thud. His room was on the third floor. And just like last time, his landing was far from safe and graceful. But this time around, he didn''t dislocate any of his joints. He only sprained an ankle and rolled over a few times. He got up and took out two [Small] Healing Potions instead of a healing packet. After drinking the potions, he surveyed his surroundings. It was dark. Only a handful of the area was lit. Many people were also walking around with flashlights and emergency lamps, checking any damages or anyone that was injured. ''Heh~ Is this the end of electricity?'' He activated [Coward''s Way]. He had his goggles attached to his [Grade D] Leather Cap. The pair of goggles was the one the things that were gifted to him last night along with the 5 hand grenades and handgun bullets. However, he didn''t use it for now because it required batteries and its battery life only lasts about 5-6 hours according to the manual. But the best thing about this pair of goggles is that it features both night and thermal vision. Nathan thought about the messages earlier sent by the System. The first message was about the end of the First Phase and the start of the Second Phase. ''Will there be a new wave of monsters coming or something?'' As for the second message, it mentioned about 50 Divine Towers around the world, unique items, and [Artifact] grade items. It also mentioned about an entrance time limit of 12 hours. A strong desire to head to one of the Divine Towers welled up inside of him. ''But where do I find this Divine Tower?! 50 Divine Towers ''around the world'' with an entrance time limit of 12 hours? I don''t even know where to start and it''s fucking dark! Fucking useless System! At least give me a fucking map or a hint of where to find it!'' Frustrated, he decided to walk around. There was no way he was going to stay inside Haven Manor. For all he knows, it could collapse due to the earthquake from earlier. After walking a couple of steps, he noticed something strange. Many armed people were running towards Haven Manor. He quickly went to the side to avoid bumping them and losing his invisibility. Their expressions were mixed. Some were still sleepy, others afraid, and a few were calm. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As time passed, more and more people were gathering in front of the manor and Nathan eventually decided to move further away. The people gathered in front of the manor reached close to three hundred and consists of normal guards and people from the Scavenger Teams. He even saw the members of Team 5, including Germaine. Finally, Rose appeared and was accompanied by Derek and Ashleigh. They came out of the main entrance of Haven Manor and were fully geared. ''Am I missing something here?'' Unfortunately, Nathan forgot to bring his radio nor was he at his room so no one wasn''t able to tell him the reason for this assembly. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? MyRedeemerLives ? Poloxx ? TrueDevilPath ? 7Life7Sky ? James_Black_2558 To those who want to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and access the "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month, you can visit my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that those are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also just added the draft of [Chapter 71] there. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 67 Night Hun Ashleigh and Derek were standing beside Rose. Rose swept her gaze over the people standing in front of her before landing her sights on Team 5. Nathan wasn''t there. According to the reports she received, Nathan was last seen standing outside of the manor after jumping from the third floor. After that, nobody has seen him. They also checked his room and found the radio. With that, based on Nathan''s personality, she could only guess two things where he was. One - He left to search for the Divine Tower. Two - He''s waiting in the dark for something. "My fellow brothers and sisters, some of you here may already know what had happened. But for the sake of clarity, I will explain everything to you all," said Rose. Everyone quieted down and listened. "I believe everyone here has received the messages from the System. Unfortunately, we are facing an unexpected threat. The captured 50 zombies kept inside the Training Facility in the Southeast of this town evolved into 3m-tall type zombies and are wreaking havoc as we speak." Many people, especially the normal guards gasped in cold air. They started to worry and some even wanted to run away. But who could blame them? To the normal guards, not only did they have limited light source due to the loss of electricity and are merely relying on emergency lamps and flashlights, but they also had to fight 50 3m-tall zombies? Forget about 50 3m-tall zombies, even killing one 3m-tall zombie without the use of high powered guns wasn''t an easy task during day time. Not everyone was like Derek who had high Str and Vit or Rose who could transform into crystal and alter the shape of her arms and legs. In the case of Rose, she had no plans back down from the 3m-tall zombies that were currently wreaking havoc in the Southeast of Haven Town. To her, it''s times like these as to why she increased her level, and set up this base and army. She will only abandon Haven Town once it becomes a fight that was impossible to win. "But there is no need to worry, my fellow brothers and sisters! We have already developed a full-proof plan to immediately contain the situation! " When they heard that Rose has developed a full-proof plan, some of their worries eased. "Scavenger Teams, listen up!" The Scavenger Teams stood in attention. "Teams 1, 2, 3 and 4 will head directly to the Training Facility." This batch will have Rose and Ashleigh. "Teams 5, 6 and 7 will start from the South Gate and then make their way to the Training Facility." This batch was supposed to have Nathan. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Teams 8, 9 and 10 will start from the East Gate and make their way to the Training Facility as well." This batch will have Derek. "As for those who aren''t part of the Scavenger Teams, you will be scattered across town to provide support and maintain order. Remember, we need to work together in order to protect our family and friends!" "Yes, Boss!" With the absence of Nathan, she had to no choice but to group teams 1 ¨C 4 together if she wanted to keep Ashleigh safe with her. To her, aside from her family members, Ashleigh''s life was more important compared to the other Scavenger team members because of her powers. She initially planned to have Team 2 on standby. However, to her surprise, Ashleigh flat-out rejected it and demanded to participate in heading towards the Training Facility. As for the reason of Ashleigh''s actions, Rose suspected that it was perhaps due to her experience with Nathan this afternoon. After witnessing her teammates unmercifully getting beaten up by Nathan in front of her and doing nothing despite also being a Chosen One herself, she felt guilty and wanted to redeem herself. Someone started clapping. Clap! Clap! Clap! It was then followed by a man''s voice. "Heh~ So teams 5 to 7 will combine?" A man appeared in front of Team 5 and everyone''s eyes were on him. It was, of course, none other than the beloved captain of Team 5, Nathan. "Nathan, I''m glad to see you. I was worried about having you scout in advance for us at the Training Facility. I trust everything is okay?" said Rose. Nathan raised an eyebrow before finally realizing what Rose was trying to do. "Ah yes. Based on what I''ve seen back there, we can easily take those 3m-tall zombies with that full-proof plan of yours as long we work together." Rose looked away from Nathan and stared at the rest of the members. "Did he hear that my fellow brothers and sisters?! There is no need to fear! With our full-proof plan combined with strength and numbers, we can easily take down those 50 3m-tall zombies with ease! I hereby commence operation Night Hunt!" "Yeah!" Everyone let out a war cry and raised their weapons up in the air except for a handful of people who were aware of what Rose and Nathan just did. Among them were Derek and Ashleigh. Nathan stared at Rose''s outfit for a moment. This is actually the first time he saw her fully geared with System items. As for her weapons, she was carrying a shield and sword on hand, and a handgun and extra clips on her waist. The normal guards started heading out to their assigned positions as soon as they were given orders. As for the Scavenger Teams, they grouped up with their assigned teams first before heading to their designated positions. Everyone was armed to the teeth, carrying both System and non-System items such as guns. And compared to the normal guards, all members of the Scavenger Teams were wearing night/thermal vision goggles. Nathan stood with the members of Team 5, waiting for teams 6 and 7 to approach him. He yawned. An old man in his 50s approached him. "Captain Nathan, I am Chet, the captain of Team 7. I look forward to working with you." Nathan only spared him a glance before replying with a bored tone, "Yeah, sure." What he failed to recognize was that this old man was one of Rose''s uncles. The next person who approached was a woman in her 30s. "I am the first lieutenant and acting captain of Team 6, R.R. I look forward to working with you all." Rose was the official captain of Scavenger Team 1 and 6. Unlike the other teams, these two teams have a first and second lieutenant. Chet turned to R.R. "I look forward to working with you as well, Captain R.R." Meanwhile for Nathan, with his name not specifically being mentioned, he didn''t bother to acknowledge or even look at her. "Okay," Nathan clapped his hands. "This is the plan: We head first to Southwest and then move to the South Gate. And from the South Gate, we head to the Training Facility to reunite with the other teams." "A good plan, Captain Nathan. But I cer¡ª" Chet said but was interrupted by R.R. "Excuse me, I believe we should directly head to the South Gate and immediately make our way to the Training Facility. With each moment we waste, the more damage those 3m-tall zombies will cause." Nathan finally glanced at R.R. She was a Caucasian muscular woman with a pixie haircut, around 30 years old and about 5''9" in height. ''Steroids?'' Chet noticed Nathan''s eyes looking at R.R. As an old fox and the information he has gathered about Nathan''s personality, he immediately tried to get on Nathan''s good side. Despite his hatred towards him for killing one of his nephews, Lester, he knew when to fight and when to back down. He waited to see how Nathan was going to react. "LGBT-100, you and whoever wants to go with you are free to do whatever you guys want." "What did you call me?" "Captain R.R., what Captain Nathan is trying to say¡ª" Chet tried to explain. "Hey, I''m talking to you. Did you just fucking call me LGBT-100?" Nathan rolled his eyes and looked at the rest of the members. "Does anyone here have a crystal body like Rose, a crazy vitality like Derek, or godlike healing powers like Ashleigh? Or just some super OP power that can kill those 3m-tall zombies just like that?" Nathan snapped his fingers. No one answered. "I thought so." Nathan walked away and turned on his night/thermal vision goggles. He was headed to the Southwest of Haven Town. "Wait! What about you said earlier back at the assembly? Didn''t you scouted the area and said that we can easily take down the 3m-tall zombies?" "Go do whatever you guys think is right." Nathan nonchalantly waved his hand as he continued walking away. He didn''t choose to ride a vehicle. The members of Team 5 immediately followed Nathan. They knew exactly what their captain was capable of. Two of them, the fatty and crawler, even experienced it firsthand. If even their captain wasn''t confident to just waltz to the South Gate and head to the Training Facility, then what about them? "Can you fucking believe that guy?! We''re in a fucking crisis and he just left like that! He should at least properly fucking explain himself! Aren''t we supposed to be a fucking team?!" R.R. roared. "Captain, don''t mind him. From what I heard, that guy is not only an unreasonable murderer, but he also has his head way up to his ass. We can do this on our own," said the second lieutenant of Team 6. "What do you think?" R.R. asked Chet. Chet was in deep thought when R.R. asked him. From what he gathered from Nathan, although he was extremely arrogant, violent and uncooperative, he did have some strength. One good example was last night when he singlehandedly caused chaos in this town. But whether Nathan can kill a 3m-tall zombie all by himself, that''s still up for speculation. And based on Nathan''s refusal to head directly to the South Gate, it shows that he isn''t confident in killing a 3m-tall zombie on his own. After much thought, Chet finally made a decision. "I suggest we follow him for now. It''s better if we stick together." "Then what about what the Boss said earlier? We can''t waste any more minute. We need to head at South Gate immediately!" "I will follow Nathan. You do what you have to do." Chet and his team, Team 7, followed Nathan and Team 5 who were already far away. "Captain, what do we do?" asked one of the members of Team 6. "Captain, we will follow whatever orders you give," said another member of Team 6. "No choice but to follow them," R.R. helplessly said. As much as R.R. wanted to punch Nathan in the face due to his attitude, she knew that going directly at the South Gate without Team 5 and 7 would no doubt put the lives of her teammates in grave danger. But if Team 7 sided with her decision, she would''ve pushed the decision to directly head to the South Gate. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? 7Life7Sky ? sam0sa ? TrueDevilPath ? Bartandal To those who want to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and access the "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month, you can visit my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that those are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also just added the draft of [Chapter 72] there. Moreover, I made a typo in the previous chapter. I wrote: "The people gathered in front of the manor reached close to a hundred and consists of normal guards and people from the Scavenger Teams." I changed "a hundred" to "three hundred". I''m very, very sorry. I was so busy yesterday because I just got home from traveling for two days and I had a lot of workloads to finish from my other jobs. In fact, I didn''t even properly edit the previous chapter and just edited it today. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 68 Night Hunt 2 Haven Town, Southwest. It''s been more than 20 minutes since they left Haven Manor. Nathan had his night/thermal-vision goggles on and was smoking while leisurely walking the street. With each passing moment, the people behind him were growing more and more restless. Some were even irritated, especially R.R. R.R. stopped walking. "This is bullshit!" Except for Nathan, everyone stopped walking was as well and stared at R.R. "While we are wasting our time walking around here, the other teams are already close or at the Training Facility by now, fighting the zombies and getting rid of them before the zombie virus spreads and causes even more damage!" Everyone then looked at Nathan who just continued walking as if he was out for a leisure walk and heard nothing. "I''m heading straight to the South Gate. Who''s with me?" "Captain Nathan," said Chet. Nathan didn''t reply and just continued walking. Chet thought deeply. If they continued wasting time, the zombies that they were supposed to stop from their end would cause damage. And if Rose finds out about this and survives this ordeal, they will surely be punished. There will be no doubt about that. In fact, he was present when Rose killed Raphael and some of the people who sided with him. "I agree with Captain R.R.," said Chet. Many people nodded. "Let''s go," said R.R. They left. Right now, only Kaija was left following Nathan. She didn''t say anything and just silently followed. After a few minutes more, Nathan and Kaija stopped in front of a small store. He kicked the glass front door, destroying it. Ka-clak! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Before entering, he surveyed the surroundings to see if there were any suspicious movements or heat signatures that his goggles could detect. He waited for a minute. Seeing that the coast was clear, he stepped inside and went to the counter to find cigarettes. The pack he had on him now was out. Kaija stepped inside as well. After getting two packs of cigarettes, he turned around to see who was left following him. He saw Kaija alone. ''So Germaine left, huh. Well, it can''t be helped.'' Nathan went to the beverage section. There, he saw some bottles of bottled tea, causing him to scoff as he remembered a certain person in his life in the past who loves tea so much. "What do you want?" he asked her in Muwinian language. "Captain?" Kaija was confused. "What drink do you want?" He continued asking her in Muwinian. "Um¡­ No thank you. I''m good." She replied to him in Muwinian. Right after she said that, she immediately regretted it. She recalled the scene from this afternoon. Nathan grabbed an energy drink before going back to the counter and sat on top of it. He opened one of the cigarette packs he took and pulled one out and lit it. "Want one?" He offered her a cigarette and was still speaking in Muwinian. Kaija didn''t want to reject him a second time so she took one cigarette. She held the cigarette like she was holding a wand and didn''t ask for a lighter. Looking at how Kaija was holding the cigarette, Nathan said, "Throw that away." He was no longer speaking in Muwinian, but the language of Womania, Regisian. Kaija immediately threw the cigarette away. They didn''t speak after that and there was a long awkward silence between them. After Nathan finished smoking, he immediately drank the energy drink and went out. Kaija followed. When Nathan was outside, he stopped and looked at the night sky. ''It''s time¡­'' He didn''t look at Kaija and said, "Go back inside or whatever." He disappeared. *** Nathan was currently invisible and heading towards the South Gate. Earlier, while he was "leisurely" walking around with teams 5 to 7, he wasn''t just ignoring them, he was also thinking about the pros and cons of the situation and how he should deal with it which is why he proposed to take a detour instead of heading straight to the South Gate right away. As for his concerns... One - Could he kill the 3m-tall skinless zombies alone without relying on non-System items? He already killed an N1 before. Aside from the fact that their stats were higher sot they were harder to kill, they''re basically only Level 11 which will only give him 0.1953125% exp each as a Level 19. Now, with the Second Phase, all zombies have evolved into 3m-tall skinless zombies so he had to reevaluate a few things. For starters, he doesn''t believe Rose was the suicidal type. The fact she proposed to fight the 3m-tall zombies and even led the charge means that she''s confident of killing them which is why he decided to appear at the assembly to show that their agreement still stands. However, if Rose and her group can''t even protect themselves from the zombies, then there is no point of him honoring his agreement with her. She should forget about the idea of conquering the West side of Cram city and release Amir immediately. He wasn''t even interested in conquering Cram city and wasn''t some white knight who would do things for other people that he isn''t even close with. And even with the potential loots, he can just forcefully take it from the looter anyway. Two - Facing a mob of 3m-tall zombies. Rose said that there are about 50 of them. Whether that''s true or not, it''s hard to say. But the thing Nathan was concerned about was in case his team encounters a mob of them, it will no doubt be chaotic. Aside from trying to evade those high-stat 3m-tall skinless zombies, he would also need to evade friendly fire or anyone that has any plans of stabbing him in the back. He thought about using his teammates as bait, but that would require too much effort and planning so he dropped the idea. It''s not like he could just ask or force them to act as bait and they would happily comply. Not everyone is a pathological savior like Derek. He would rather have the zombies spread out around town and take his time killing them by himself. ''If this town gets overrun by zombies¡­ Rose, don''t let me catch you¡­'' Nathan''s lips curled up into a smile and his eyes flickered with a cold glint. He finally arrived at the South Gate. There were torn up corpses lying on the ground. These corpses were from the normal guards that were patrolling the area before the Second Phase began. Their heads were either crushed or separated. ''Preventing the zombie infection to spread, huh. Smart.'' As far as he knows, it takes exactly an hour before a human bitten by a zombie turns into a zombie. He continued walking and until he found two decapitated 3m-tall skinless zombie corpses. One looked like an N1 zombie because of its average body size, while the other was skinnier. Nathan approached the corpse of the skinny 3m-tall skinless zombie and knelt down in one knee. ''I''ve never seen this type before. Could this be the S1 zombie that specializes in speed and strength that Twitch told me about?'' Tata! Tata! "Ahhhh!!!" "KILL IT! QUICK! KILL IT!" "SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT!" The sound of gunshots and voices of people could be heard from afar. Nathan immediately got up and looked towards the direction where it came from. ''Heh~ Looks like someone is having one hell of a party there.'' As he was about head to the location to where the gunshots and screams were coming from, he noticed a two-handed axe a couple of feet away lying on the floor. The steel handle was about 3ft long with a pointy edge about 4 inches long on the eye and its blade was about a feet long. He went over to the weapon and picked it up with one hand. The System told him that it was a [Grade D] Two-handed Large Axe and its durability was 7/12. ''I thought it would something special. But at least it''s not as heavy as I thought it would be. Having 32 STR really pays off.'' He had his [Grade D] Sword on his back. However, after his experience in fighting Derek for the second time and the fact that he will be facing 3m-tall skinless zombies from now on, he decided that he needed a weapon that packs more punch in case he encounters those D1 types. Sure, he has grenades, 4 of them (he left the 5th one back at his room because his Police Vest can only carry 4 pieces), but they''re consumable items and are hard to find, making them not really dependable. ''This looks good for cutting down those 3m-tall zombies. But unlike my sword and daggers, I don''t have a holster for it ¨C if there''s even such a thing.'' Nathan looked back at the two 3m-tall skinless zombie corpses and approached them. He raised the [Grade D] Large Axe with one hand and slashed down, chopping off the thigh of the N1 zombie corpse. Whoosh! The N1 zombie was already dead, so he didn''t lose his invisibility. However, the [Grade D] Large Axe didn''t turn invisible because he was already invisible when he grabbed it. ''Hmm¡­'' This time, he took out his [Grade D] Sword from his back and chop off the other thigh of the N1 zombie. Whoosh! ''Hmm¡­ Chopping the flesh and bone with this [Grade D] Large Axe felt easier compared to the [Grade D] Sword. Perhaps it''s because of the weight? However, I don''t know how to fight using it. It feels so foreign to me...'' He felt conflicted. ''Sigh¡­ What the hell. As if I even knew how to use a sword when the zombie apocalypse began. Just like the sword, I''ll eventually get used to using this axe after a few days.'' He took off the strap that had his sword sheath so that he can return the [Grade D] Sword to the sheath and wore the strap once again. He picked up the [Grade D] Large Axe before deactivating [Coward''s Way] and activating it once again. ''This will be my main weapon tonight. Now let''s go check out that party.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? MyRedeemerLives ? 7Life7Sky ? souland ? Nojo ? TrueDevilPath To those who want to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and access the "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month, you can visit my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also just posted the draft of [Chapter 73] there. Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 69 Night Hunt 3 When Nathan arrived, still invisible, he saw about five human corpses lying on the ground. He also saw three 3m-tall skinless zombies kneeling down, each of them feasting on one of the corpses. One was an N1 zombie biting off the flesh of a man''s shoulder. The other two had skinnier frames, just like the one he saw earlier. One was eating a woman''s face, while the other was eating another man''s leg. Nathan steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on the [Grade D] Large Axe''s handle, trying to calm himself down. ''You can do this. You just tested this weapon''s sharpness. Relax, relax, relax. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on...'' He already made up his mind who to kill first. It would be one of the skinny ones. He held the [Grade D] Large Axe with two hands before running towards one of the skinnier 3m-tall skinless zombies. When he was 5 meters away from it, the System informed him that this was a Level 1 M1 zombie. ''Level 1 M1 zombie, huh. Not the S1.'' When he was finally within melee range, he swung the axe at the M1''s neck with all his strength. Whoosh! He lost his invisibility and immediately activated [Coward''s Way] before running to a distance. The M1''s head fell to the ground and rolled over. He stopped and collected his thoughts. His breathing was heavy. ''I felt no resistance at all from cutting its flesh, just like when I was testing this axe''s sharpness from one of the corpses earlier.'' What Nathan didn''t know was that this Level 1 M1 was a wizard type zombie and its stats were: ? STR - 16 ? VIT - 16 ? AGI - 16 ? INT - 44 Compared that to a level 10 zombie before the Second Phase, its stats were: ? STR - 19 ? VIT - 19 ? AGI - 19 ? INT - 19 Meanwhile, Nathan''s stats as a Level 19 were: ? STR - 32 ? VIT - 27 (+14) ? AGI - 30 ? INT - 27 As for the exp he received from killing the Level 1 M1 as a Level 19, it was only 0.1953125%. The remaining M1 and N1 zombie didn''t mind Nathan killing one of their companions and just continued feasting on their human snack. He went back to finish off the other M1. Whoosh! He lost his invisibility and immediately activated it. The M1''s head rolled over the ground. This time, instead of backing away after he killed the second M1, he immediately headed to the N1. Whoosh! He easily killed it off. Holding his axe on his right hand, he stared down at the decapitated N1. ''Now this one, I certainly felt a little resistance.'' As for the stats of this Level 1 N1 zombie: ? STR - 31 ? VIT - 31 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ? AGI - 31 ? INT - 31 ''It would be nice if the System could tell me what the exact stats of these 3m-tall skinless zombies are. Hopefully, I could get an item or equipment that offers such a feature.'' He looked around to check the corpses for some loots. Examining them, he realized that out of the five corpses, three of them were part of Team 6 while the remaining two were people he couldn''t recognize and were not wearing any System items. However, Chet, the captain of Team 7, wasn''t one of the deceased. There was also no sign of Team 7. ''They got separated?'' He tried to see if there were other corpses around. But after finding out there was none, he couldn''t help but shook his head in disbelief. ''Haha~ You guys heading here without me to stop these 3m-tall zombies is admirable, but I wasn''t expecting you guys to separate into smaller teams. But nevertheless, your corpses helped me distract these zombies. For that, I want to thank you all.'' He chopped off their heads before and leaving. He was headed to the Training Facility which was located in the Southeast of Haven Town. *** A group of seven people was inside a one-story building, dressing up the wounds of their injured companions. This group consists of R.R, Chet and the members of teams 5, 6 and 7. They originally had more than twenty members. Now, only seven of them are left. Their journey to the South Gate was easy. When they got there, they even killed an N1 and M1. Seeing how they killed it without suffering any casualties from their side, they became confident and thought that Nathan was nothing but a coward despite being a Chosen One. With high spirits, they immediately headed to the Training Facility and nothing dangerous happened for quite a while along the way until they encountered a group of survivors running towards them. They immediately told the survivors to stop and planned to take care of whatever was chasing them. What they didn''t know was that what was chasing them was a group of twenty 3m-tall skinless zombies led by an M2. And the craziest part about this M2 was that it had wings and was shooting spells while flying! The fight only lasted about 5 seconds before they were overrun by the group of 3m-tall skinless zombies and had to run away from different directions. As for calling backup via radio, the members who had radios got separated from them so they were left with no choice but to make their way to the Training Facility and hopefully regroup with the other teams. Regarding how they were able to identify the flying zombie as an M2, during the short battle, it landed to pick up one of their teammates before flying away. Those who were close to it 5 meters away when it landed were able to get its name. And this building there were inside right now, was the third building they''ve escaped to because the M2 was actively leading a group of D1s, M1s, N1s and S1s to hunt them. "We have 2 minutes, people. Be sure to check your ammo, mana, your night-vision goggles ¨C everything that needs to be checked. We''ll continue heading out to regroup with the Teams 1-4 and 8-10 at the Training Facility. It''s just a couple of blocks away," said R.R. "I think no one here among us has any mana left to cast magic spells. But at least the M1s are out of mana as well. They''ve been shooting at us for quite a while now, including that M2," said one female. The number of mana that a person has is dependent on the INT points. 1 point of INT is equal to 2 mana points. As for mana recovery, it takes 4 minutes to recover 1 mana point. "My night-vision goggles is destroyed and I lost my flashlight on the way here. Anyone got a spare flashlight?" A man asked. "Here." R.R. gave the man her flashlight. "Anyone got some extra rifle clip to spare? I''m out of ammo." Another person asked. "You can have mine." The female who said no one has any mana left including the M-type zombies answered. "Thanks." "This is the last [Small] Healing Potion I have," said a man as he gave it to Germaine who was treating Chet. Chet''s left arm and leg were bitten off by one of the S1 zombies. His face was so pale due to the huge amount of blood that he lost. "Don''t waste the last potion on me. I''m already infected and I''m old. I''ve lived long enough already," Chet said weakly. Looking at their situation, R.R. couldn''t help but feel helpless. She was also angry at Nathan for being uncooperative. "Hold the captain. I''m going to pour this potion on his arm and leg to seal up the wounds," said Germaine. Two people held Chet. "There''s still hope. Once we reach the Training Facility to meet up with all the groups, we can ask the Boss to have you healed by Ms. Ashleigh," said Germaine. Chet didn''t say anything. Everyone here was quite impressed with Germaine. Not only was his fighting and shooting skills great, but he was also a great medic. After pouring the [Small] Healing Potion, Germaine wrapped Chet''s arm and leg with a bandage. "You just arrived in Haven Town and joined Team 5 today, right?" A man asked Germaine. "Yeah." "Where did you learn all those skills?" "Before the zombie apocalypse, I worked as an MMA instructor. It''s not rare to get injured in practice so I learned a few things along the way." "If Captain Nathan was here, we probably could have taken care of them¡­" Another man said. Everyone in the room looked at the man who said it. The man who said it was also part of Team 5 and coined as "Crawler" in Nathan''s head. "What the fuck are you even talking about? That guy is nothing but a fucking coward!" said a member of Team 6. "Keep your voices down!" R.R. harshly whispered. Crawler didn''t say anything. He thought about how Nathan single-handedly beaten the members of Team 5 and even killing some of them, killed all of those zombies during their trip at Cram city, and beat up Team 2 outside of Tony''s Car Shop. ''That Kaija was a smart one¡­'' Crawler thought but then did a 180. ''However, thinking about that bastard''s personality, there''s a higher chance that Kaija must be dead already by now or worse rather than being safe and sound. I guess it makes no difference at all whether I went with these people or not.'' "Everybody ready? We''re going to continue heading to the Training Facility. Follow my ¨C" R.R. said. Boom! Two D1 zombies crashed down a wall and entered the building they were in. Behind these two buffed up 3m-tall skinless zombies were other D1s and N1s, S1s and M1s as well. The M1s immediately began bombarding them with spells: [Ice Spear], [Stone Spear] and [Fireball]. Meanwhile, the S1s, N1s and D1s charged. "TAKE COVER AND SHOOT!" "Goddammit! Who said the M1s are out of mana! Each of those skills cost 20 mana points to cast!" One man shouted. In truth, the M-type 3m-tall skinless zombies have a special skill. They can absorb the mana of the human they feed on. The humans began firing their guns. Tatatatatata! R.R. threw a hand grenade. Boom! Two S1s and one N1 immediately fell to the ground due to the ammo being fired and the grenade thrown by R.R. However, there were still four D1s, three N1s and two S1s charging towards them. Moreover, the four M1s who just ran out of mana to cast spells began charging as well. "RUN! HEAD TO THE TRAINING FACILITY STRAIGHT AWAY!" R.R. ordered as she threw her last hand grenade before running outside. Germaine carried Chet''s on his shoulders before moving. Crawler was silently crawling away to safety. As for the others, they were caught by the 3m-tall zombies. They screamed in agony as the zombies bit on their flesh and tore their limbs apart. "Ahhhhhhhh!!!" "HELP ME!!!" "MOMMY!!!" Boom! The grenade that R.R. threw finally exploded. It exploded between two D1s, one N1 and one S1 that were feasting on one of the humans. Unfortunately, only the S1 died from the explosion. The N1 was severely injured, while the D1s only sustained some wounds. There were still other 3m-tall skinless zombies feasting on the other two humans. Whoosh! Two M1s that were eating a leg from one of the Scavenger Team members who had her limbs ripped apart were decapitated. "Now that''s what I call a double kill! Hahaha~" A man''s voice said. Nathan was nearby when he heard the gunshots and explosions so he immediately ran here. He quickly activated [Coward''s Way] and went to chop off the other 3m-tall skinless zombies nearby that were feasting on the human corpses. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, thank you for voting: ? TrueDevilPath ? Passs3rby ? 7Life7Sky ? Immortalgodslayer ? Daoist039481 ? fnp1 To those who want to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and access the "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month, you can visit my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also just posted the draft of [Chapter 74] and [Chapter 75] there. And to those who want to become Immortal Donators, you can send it here at my PayPal address: ? immortalshades123@gmail.com Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 70 Night Hunt 4 Whoosh! Nathan swung his axe and decapitated an S1 zombie that was feasting on a human, causing him to lose his invisibility. ''Heh~ So this is a Level 1 S1. It has a similar frame to the M1, skinny... I remember Twitch telling me this one specializes in power and speed. Too bad I didn''t get to experience its speed.'' The feel he got from cutting its flesh and bones was similar to the M1 but was even softer. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As for the actual stats of a Level 1 S1: ? STR- 32 ? VIT - 12 ? AGI - 32 ? INT - 11 It was then, he heard a zombie roar coming from outside on top of the building. "Roooaaarrr!" This 3m-tall skinless zombies that were feasting on human flesh stopped and looked at Nathan. Nathan squinted his eyes. ''What''s going on? And that roar¡­'' He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and ran outside of the building. The 3m-tall zombies inside the building roared before rushing to where they last saw Nathan. When he got outside, he was still running as he turned his head to look on top of the building. He immediately stopped and his jaw dropped. He saw a 3m-tall zombie with a skinny frame similar to the M1 or S1. But what left him in disbelief was that it had wings. It was flying and circling the building. ''Fuck me sideways! Wings?! How the hell am I supposed to reach that without relying on non-System items?!'' He thought about throwing his daggers. But after considering his aiming skills, he immediately discarded the idea. He thought about the scene earlier. ''Those zombies inside stopped eating and attacked me when they heard that roar¡­'' He looked at the 3m-tall skinless zombies that attacked him. There were five of them (four D1s and one N1) and were gathered at where they last saw him and continued roaring. The flying zombie roared again. "Roar!" The 3m-tall skinless zombies began to spread out to search for Nathan. ''That flying zombie seemed to be controlling them. But what''s the name of that flying zombie? Aside from the wings, its body frame is similar to the M1 and S1.'' The flying zombie invoked a spell and aimed it on the other end of the building. ''Magic? It can cast magic?'' Nathan continued to piece the clues he has seen so far. ''I remember when the zombies were still Level 1, a group of zombies led by a D1 zombie attacked the apartment building I was living and I almost died. And so far, the M types are the ones that can cast spells. Following that pattern and considering that this flying zombie has a similar frame to the M1 and also the fact that the 3m-tall zombies were compared to Level 11 zombies before the Second Phase, this could mean that this is an M2 and it''s¡­ Level 21!'' Nathan licked his lips. As a Level 19, if he could kill this Level 21, that would give him 150% exp because killing a zombie that''s the same with his level gives him 50% exp. ''But how do I bring it down?'' Nathan was no longer interested in the four Level 1 D1s and the Level 1 N1, especially the D1s. They were only Level 11 which only gives him 0.1953125% each. He saw the M2 cast another spell before flying down and there was the sound of a rifle being fired. Tata! His eyes widened and coldly gasped in panic. ''Hey! Don''t die right away! Wait for me!'' He gritted his teeth and immediately rushed to where the M2 landed. He ran as fast as he could as if his very life and soul depended on it. ''As God as my witness, if someone else kills that, I promise to skin that person alive!'' As for the stats of the M2: ? STR- 26 ? VIT - 26 ? AGI - 26 ? INT - 84 *** Tata! "GO ON! I''LL TAKE CARE OF TH¡­IS!" R.R. roared and coughed out blood as she fired her rifle at the M2 that was diving down towards them. There was a hole on her stomach due to the [Stone Spear] that hit her while they were running. Fortunately, her equipment was based on Vit and Str, and she spent her stat points on ST, VIT and AGI so she was able to hold on. As for her stats: Level 15: ? STR- 21 (+7) ? VIT - 20 (+7) ? AGI - 19 ? INT - 11 Germaine, who was carrying Chet on his shoulders, continued running. As for Crawler, he was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately for them, the M2 didn''t summon its minions to help it. It looks like it was confident that it could take on them. R.R. continued firing. "WHY DON''T YOU JUST DIE, MOTHERFUCKER!!!" Tatatata! She managed to hit the M2 zombie on the body, neck and wings, causing the M2 to roar in pain. Click! Click! Click! She ran out of bullets and threw here rifle away. She didn''t have her main System weapon because she dropped it earlier while running away. She quickly pulled out her [Grade D] Short Dagger. The M2 cast another spell, [Ice Spear]. She tried to avoid it by jumping to the side but she got hit on her right shoulder, impaling her on the ground. "Ahhh!!!" She coughed out blood again. Both the [Ice Spear] and [Stone Spear] lasts for 2 seconds before it vanishes, releasing its target from being impaled to the ground. The M2 ignored her and set its sights on Chet and Germaine. It flew straight and low, just about 5ft above ground. When it was already only a few inches away from Chet and Germaine¡­. Whoosh! It was sliced in half by the waist with an axe by Nathan, causing its lose balance mid-air and crash into the ground, while its blood and guts splattered all over the place. "Not yet!" Nathan rushed over to where the upper part of the M2 landed and stomped on its head twice before it eventually cracked open. It wasn''t even able to roar to call its minions. Bam! Bam! Crack! A [Blue] Chest Appeared. ''Ding! Congratulations on reaching Level 20!'' A smiled appeared on Nathan''s face and he started chuckling. "Hehe~ Haha~ WAHAHAHAHA! SYSTEM!" *** Level: 20 Exp: 51.953125% Stats: STR ¨C 33 VIT ¨C 31 AGI ¨C 28 (+14) INT ¨C 28 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (4/12) [Grade D] Sword (12/12) [Grade D] Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Leather Cap (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Armor (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Gloves (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Boots (13/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Amulet: +2 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Walk] *** "System off." "You¡­!" said R.R. who was on the side lying on the ground and coughed out blood. "Cap¨CCaptain Nathan¡­ You came for us¡­," said Germaine as he knelt down as he gently put Chet down from his shoulders. "Captain Nathan¡­ You have my thanks¡­" Chet weakly said. However, Nathan didn''t hear them. Something else caught his attention. "Heh~ What''s this?" Nathan''s attention wasn''t on the chest but on a gold-colored orb that was the size of an infant''s fist. It was among the things inside the M2''s head. He picked up the orb and examined it. The System informed him it was a [Grade C] Nucleus. It was used for trading at the Divine Tower. ''Divine Tower¡­'' He had no idea where the exact locations of the 50 Divine Towers were. ''But this [Grade C] Nucleus¡­ Come to think of it, I never bothered to check the insides of the head of the zombies before.'' Thinking about the number of zombies he killed, he didn''t whine because he was in a good mood. He also thought about [God And Devil World] regarding the use of nuclei. ''Wait¡­ Does this mean I can make my own Greenie? If I have my own Greenie, I can fly back to Muwin. Hehe~ I''ll test it out later.'' He placed the [Grade C] Nucleus inside his fanny pack and turned towards the [Blue] Treasure Chest with a loving gaze and sweet smile as if he saw someone very dear to him. "I''ve never seen your color before~" Nathan sweetly said. He picked it up like it was the most delicate and precious thing in the world. After that, he disappeared and ran away in fear that the four D1s and the single N1 might arrive while he opened the treasure, destroying the precious moment. "Eh?" Everyone was dumbfounded. *** Nathan was inside a building and on his knees. In front of him was the [Blue] Treasure Chest and on his side was the [Grade D] Large Axe. He clasped his hands together and prayed. "Please don''t be a spellbook, please don''t be a spellbook, please don''t be a spellbook..." Clap! "Okay! Time to open it." He took a deep breath before opening it. When he opened it, it was a [Grade C] Tiara that gives +5 to INT. His eye twitched. He closed his eyes, pursed his lips and took a couple of deep breaths. ''I must be imagining things. It can''t be, right?'' He opened his eyes. It was still a [Grade C] Tiara that gives +5 to INT. He closed his eyes once more and then opened it. It was still the same item no matter how he looks at it. Realizing that he wasn''t imagining things, he lifelessly sat on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "Of course. Haha¡­" He removed his goggles and slapped his forehead. Pah! "What was I even thinking? I mean, why would I get a nice item? Who am I to get [Plot] items? As a matter of fact, come to think of it, I''m nothing but a lowly, spineless Chosen One so I don''t have any right to dream about getting nice items in the first place." "Do I have [Plot Armor] like Ashleigh? No." "Do I have a likable personality and power like Derek? No." "As for Rose¡­ Hmm¡­ What''s nice about her? Hmm¡­ I really can''t tell¡­ She''s a scheming bitch?" "Anyway, I should already accept the fact that I have rotten luck when it comes to System item drop so I can only resort to stealing. Haha~" He shook his head helplessly and smiled. All of a sudden, he grabbed the [Grade C] Tiara and threw it away with all his strength. "Fuck me sideways!!!" It hit a wall and made clanking noises as it hit the wall and fell to the floor. Clang! Clang! Clang! "Fucking INT?! What am I fucking going to do with INT?! Aside from that, it''s a tiara! A fucking tiara for god''s sake! Why don''t you give me a fucking dress and heels as well!" He let out a deep sigh and massaged his forehead before wearing his headgear and picking up his [Grade D] Large Axe. There was also another issue. ''[Grade C], huh? I only have [Grade D] Repair Kit. If it was a ring, necklace or amulet, it would''ve been okay because it doesn''t have durability.'' He decided that what he needed right now was to vent out his frustration so he planned to kill until he loots something good. "I don''t believe those skinless zombies can''t give me something good!" He tightened his grip on the handle of his [Grade D] Large Axe and activated [Coward''s Way] before heading out. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Immortal Power Voters: ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? MyRedeemerLives ? Light777 ? sam0sa ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? hamberger ? yourfriendlydaoist Harrumph! Of course, as the author, I''m the Grandmaster Immortal of the Immortal Bastard Sect...(>.>) To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: First position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also just posted the draft of [Chapter 76] and [Chapter 77] there. The second position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 71 Night Hunt 5 Nathan was standing in the middle of the street and invisible. A couple of meters away from him was a D1 zombie. Its stats were: ? STR- 42 ? VIT - 42 ? AGI - 11 ? INT - 11 He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the [Grade D] Large Axe''s handle. He thought about the first time he encountered a D1 zombie and almost died. He thought about the second time he fought Derek. He thought about how he was going to deal with this D1. After collecting his thoughts, he opened his eyes. ''Okay. Let''s do this.'' He charged towards the D1. When he finally got close to the D1, using the momentum, he swung his axe towards its right leg with all his strength. ''HAAA!'' Whoosh! He lost his invisibility. The [Grade D] Large Axe chopped off the D1''s right leg nice and clean, causing it too lose its balance and tumble down. Nathan immediately turned back to the D1 and took a few steps before hacking its neck. "HAAA!" Chop! "HAAA!" Chop! The head of the D1 finally separated from its body and a [Green] Treasure Chest appeared. Nathan held the [Grade D] Large Axe on his right hand facing downward. He pulled his head back and looked at the night sky. His breathing was heavy. His hands were shaking. His palms were sweaty. "I killed¡­ I finally killed a D1. And I did it without relying on a grenade. Haha~" He recalled once again the time he almost died the first time he faced a D1. "I wasn''t expecting to feel this kind of feeling after killing one. It also feels a little anti-climactic... Was I just too overly cautious?" After calming down and gathering his thoughts, he extracted the nucleus inside the D1 head. Compared to the M2, the D1, M1, S1 and N1 doesn''t give [Grade C] Nuclei. Instead, it was [Grade D]. After extracting the [Grade D] Nucleus from the D1''s head, he then proceeded to open the [Green] Treasure chest. ''[Grade D] Gloves that give +3 VIT, huh.'' He thought about the first time he killed an N1 where he was chasing Lester. It dropped a [Grade D] Ring that gives +2 ST and +1 INT. He thought about the M2 he killed. It dropped a [Grade C] Tiara that gives +5 INT. ''This D1 dropped an item that gives bonus stats on VIT. With that, I can assume that N-types drop STR-based items, M-types drop INT-based items, D-types drop VIT-based items, and S-types drop AGI-based items. So the 3m-tall skinless zombies that I should be hunting are the S-types!'' He suddenly heard footsteps of another D1 coming his way, it was loud as thunder. He looked at the D1 that was a couple of feet away charging towards him. Nathan held an annoyed expression on his face. "You''re not the one I want." He activated [Coward''s Way]. *** Haven Town - Southeast Training Facility. Rose and Ashleigh along with the rest of the members of Team 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Scavenger Teams were already on the grounds of the Training Facility. "Three 3m-tall skinless zombies coming! One appears to be an S1 and the other two are N1s!" said a female. The S1 was faster than the N1s so it was leading the charge and leaving the N1s a couple of meters away. "I''ll take care of the S1," Rose said in a calm voice as she walked in front with no weapon on hand. Aside from the System items, she was wearing a night/thermal-vision goggles and carrying a handgun, which was actually a magnum, on her waist. On their way here, they''ve encountered a few 3m-tall zombies. In the beginning, Rose was carrying a [Grade D] Sword and Shield. But after a few fights of winning and without suffering any casualties, she let one of her subordinates hold it for her. She waited for the S1 to come. As for her stats: *** Level: 19 Exp: % Stats: STR ¨C 28 (+8) VIT ¨C 26 Agi ¨C 29 (+7) INT ¨C 30 Equipment: [Grade D] Helm (11/15): +2 Agi +1 Str [Grade D] Leather Armor (11/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Gloves (10/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Leather Boots (11/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Str [Grade D] Ring: +2 Str [Grade D] Amulet: +2 Agi Skill: Level X [Crystal Body] - Turns the user''s body into crystal. While activated, it gives +30 to VIT and allows the user to transform the shape of their arms and legs. No mana cost and cooldown. *** When the S1 got closed to Rose, it immediately pounced on her. She activated [Crystal Body] and caught the S1 mid-air and body-slammed it on the ground. Bam! The S1 roared in pain. "Roooaaa¨C" Crack! She stomped the S1''s head, crushing it. The blood and brain tissue of the S1 splattered all over. She deactivated [Crystal Body] and stepped away from the S1 corpse. Although her skill [Crystal Body] seems powerful, the System doesn''t tell her the other secret advantages and flaws of it. She had to do some experiments to learn all of them, just like Nathan. As for the flaws of her skill: 1) In [Crystal Body] mode, healing potions and skills have no effect on her and her regeneration is off. If she wants to heal any physical damage inflicted on her body, she must deactivate her skill before receiving any treatment. 2) In [Crystal Body] mode, she doesn''t have any sense of touch, which can technically be a good thing but becomes an issue if you link it with the third flaw. 3) Although her body is extremely hard thanks to the added 30 VIT bonus when activating her skill, once a crack appears on her body, the enemy can exploit that crack by hitting the same spot over and over again or close to it until the crack spreads. With her having no sense of touch, if she isn''t aware of a crack on her body and the enemy exploits it, it could lead to a dire situation for her once she deactivates her skill. 4) Once she''s in [Crystal Body] mode, the bonus stats given by the gloves, shoes and rings are nullified. Moreover, if she were to, for example, change the shape of her right hand into a sharp blade, the glove on her right hand will be destroyed. A member of Team 1 immediately approached the S1 that Rose killed and extracted the [Grade D] Nucleus. Meanwhile, the other members started firing their guns on the N1s, aiming for the legs. Tata! Tata! The N1s got shot on the leg and tumbled over and rolled a few times. And as soon as they stopped rolling, the immediately tried to get up and charged once again. "Take them out!" said Brezine. Six people charged towards the two injured N1s. One of them was Ashleigh. She was fully geared and was carrying a [Grade D] Mace and [Grade D] Shield. As for her Ashleigh''s stats: *** Level: 16 Exp: % Stats: STR ¨C 25 VIT ¨C 26 Agi ¨C 26 INT ¨C 24 (+15) Mana: (62/78) Equipment: [Grade D] Mace (9/12) [Grade D] Shield (11/12) [Grade D] Leather Cap (14/15): +2 Int [Grade D] Leather Armor (14/15): +2 Int [Grade D] Leather Gloves (14/15): +2 Int [Grade D] Boots (14/15): +2 Int [Grade D] Ring: +2 Int [Grade D] Ring: +2 Int [Grade D] Amulet: +3 Int Skill: Level X [Heaven''s Treatment] - Heals and cures almost everything. Requires 20 mana to cast. No cooldown. *** Ever since what happened to her fellow Team 2 members in the hands of Nathan, she very felt guilty about not doing anything to stop it despite being a Chosen One herself. Ashleigh came from a middle-class lifestyle and her family was at another city here in Womania. Since she was a child, due to her looks and status, she got used to people, especially from the opposite sex, doing things for her. In fact, in her 20 years of life before the zombie apocalypse, her life just revolved around school, dating and traveling. This is why, when the zombie apocalypse began, she didn''t bother about telling Nathan she was a Chosen One with god-like healing power. At that time, she was expecting the government to eradicate the zombie threat and it will be over within a few days or weeks, returning back to how society was. However, as days gone by, she slowly realized that things weren''t getting any better so she decided to learn how to fight and increase her level but didn''t really take them that serious. It was thanks to what Nathan did this afternoon to her teammates that she finally realized how vital it was in getting strong is if she wanted to protect the people she cared about. "Miss Ashleigh, we''ll distract the zombie while you deal the final blow," said a Team 2 member. The six people who charged forward decided to divide into two groups. One group would deal with one N1, while the other group that has Ashleigh would take care of the other N1 and have her kill it. "Okay. Be careful," said Ashleigh. The two people that grouped up with Ashleigh nodded before attacking the N1 they were in charge of taking care of. After slashing and stabbing the N1, it finally got to its knees due to its severe injuries. "Miss Ashleigh, now!" Ashleigh rushed to the injured N1 and swung her [Grade D] Mace on its head, cracking its skull. Bam! Crack! A [Green] Treasure Chest appeared. The other N1 zombie was also dealt with by the other three that charged with them. "Good job," said a female voice. Ashleigh looked behind her. It was Rose approaching. She shook her head. "I couldn''t have done with it without their support. If it was you, Derek or Nathan, you guys could''ve killed it without needing anyone''s help." "Don''t be so hard on yourself. You know that you''re the support type so having you charge in is new to you. Plus, these aren''t the typical zombies anymore." "But still¡­ If it was you, Derek or Nathan¡­" Rose placed her hand on Ashleigh''s shoulder. "I know you feel bad about what happened this afternoon, but you shouldn''t push yourself too much. Rushing things will only lead to accidents. Plus, as Chosen Ones, we all have our own powers so it can''t be helped that we have different fighting styles. In fact, I think your powers are even more useful compared to ours." Ashleigh lowered her head. "Cheer up. At least you''re improving, right?" "What are you two talking about?" Brezine butted in. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Rose and Ashleigh looked at her. Seeing Brezine, Ashleigh couldn''t look at her straight in the eye due to guilt so she lowered her head again. "I''m just telling Ashleigh how amazing her performance was." "Oh¡­ Yeah, I totally agree. She was a real badass. By the way, Rose, where are we going next?" "We continue searching together as one team for the zombies in the area. Just keep using guns so that we can catch their attention, drawing them to us. As for the other teams, they will be arriving soon." "Okay." Tata! Tata! Boom! Boom! Tata! It was the sound of gunshots and explosions from afar, just a few blocks away from where they were standing. "Rose!" Brezine and Ashleigh said and looked at Rose who was staring at the direction from where the gunshots and explosions came from. It was outside of the Training Facility. "All teams! We''re heading there right away!" said Rose. "Yes, Boss!" They all replied. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hi, I''m sorry for posting late. I''ve been so busy since last Thursday and I''m still so busy until now (perhaps I may only post one chapter this week). As for properly editing this chapter, I will edit it later after I wake up. I haven''t yet slept and I still got tons of work to do in my other jobs. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Immortal Power Voters: ? 7Life7Sky ? TrueDevilPath ? HybridBeast ? Nojo To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 79] there. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 72 Night Hunt 6 Derek along with Teams 8, 9 and 10 were facing a group of twenty 3m-tall skinless zombies led by a D2. This D2 was also 3 meters tall and had a muscular body like the D1. However, it had white scales covering its body. As for its stats: ? STR - 62 ? VIT - 62 ? AGI - 21 ? INT - 11 Meanwhile, Derek''s stats were: Level 16 ? STR - 52 (26) ? VIT - 56 (28) ? AGI - 8.66 (26) (+12) ? INT - 25 Derek was currently in [Maximize] mode and wrestling with the D2 while being attacked on the sides by two S1s, resulting in his equipment all tattered up to the point that it may break soon. Moreover, his body was covered in wounds and bruises as well and was also losing a lot of blood. Furthermore, his pair of night/thermal-vision goggles was destroyed. On their way here, with Derek leading the way, things were easy. They even killed some M1s, N1s, S1s and D1s along the way without breaking any sweat. And although they were expecting to encounter a mob, they weren''t expecting a D2 to appear. And given that Derek didn''t carry any System weapons, only a handgun, two grenades and some System potions, it was already too late for him to pick up System weapons when the D2 and two S2s ganged up on him. As for the rest of the members of Team 8, 9 and 10, they were busy fighting off the other remaining 3m-tall zombies. There were also a handful of members of Team 8 that were supporting Derek by shooting from afar. In their combined efforts, they still had 20 surviving members left. However, they were slowly being killed one by one. Tata! Tata! Shoo! Shoo! A woman from Team 10 was struck on the head with a [Stone Spear] spell that was cast by one of the M1s. Tata! Tata! "Take down those M1s before ¨C Aaaahhhhh!!!" The captain of Team 10 man was attacked by an S1. Tata! Tata! "HELP ME!!!" Another man from Team 10 was being ripped apart into two by an N1. Tata! Tata! "Call in the radio and request for backup! Don''t stop shooting! Shoot! Shoot! SHOOT!" said the captain of Team 9. Tata! Tata! "Arghh!!!" Derek groaned in pain as the D2 bit him on the shoulder. Fortunately, his skill [Maximize] multiplies his STR and VIT by 2 but divides his AGI by 3 and also grants him immunity to the zombie virus. So to him, it was nothing but a flesh wound. However, the two S1 zombies that ganged up on him didn''t stop attacking, constantly dropping the durability of his System items. "Support the captain!" said the lieutenant of Team 8. Tata! Tata! One of the S1s attacking Derek got shot in the head and died. Tata! Tata! "Grenade!" A member of Team 10 shouted before throwing the grenade on a group of D1s and N1s that were attacking teams 9 and 10. Boom! Both the D1s and N1s got caught up by the explosion and were hurt. However, the D1s still continued to charge forward while the N1s laid on the ground. "Fuck! Kill them!" Tata! Tata! Soon, most of the members were killed by the 3m-tall skinless zombie. Some of the zombies even began to feed on the street and ignored the gunshots. "CAPTAIN, I JUST RECEIVED A MESSAGE! TEAMS 1-4 ARE AT THE TRAINING FACILITY AND ON THEIR WAY HERE!" A member of Team 9 said. "WE''LL HOLD ON UNTIL THEY RETURN!"said the Captain of Team 9 and continued shooting. "GO! REGROUP WITH ROSE AT THE TRAINING FACILITY! I WILL CATCH UP!" Derek shouted at the remaining members. With his skill [Maximize], he could easily kill the M1s, N1s, S1s and D1s. However, he had his hands full with the D2 and the durability of his items were dropping down fast. Hearing what Derek said, the remaining member said, "Captain! We won''t leave you!" In the case of Team 8, they really admired their captain. Even though they just joined Team 8 earlier today, they already had a very good impression of him before joining. Derek was known to be a kind, humble and helpful person. Added with his good looks and his powers as a Chosen One, to many women and some gay men, he was their knight inshining armor. Meanwhile, to the others, he was a great person that''s worth admiring. And now, despite being caught up in a dangerous position, he still placed the lives of others over his. Tata! Tata! One of the members managed to hit the D2 on the eye. The D2 roared in annoyance, ordering the other 3m-tall zombies that were feasting on the corpses to attack the gunners, especially the one that shot its eye. "Roooaaa¨C" Derek immediately took out one of the grenades he had with him, pulled out its pin and shoved it inside the mouth of the D2. "EAT THIS SHIT!!!" The D2 was about to bit down the grenade, but Derek held its jaw with his right hand, waiting for the grenade to explode. The D2 held onto Derek''s right arm, trying to remove its jaw from Derek''s tight grip. 3 seconds passed. Boom! The D2''s head exploded, immediately killing it. Derek and the remaining S1 that were close to the D2 were blown away. A [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared near the D2''s corpse. Given that the D2 wasn''t technically killed using an item that''s part of the System or with Derek''s bare hands, he didn''t receive any exp. Derek laid on the ground, dazed and severely injured but still breathing. When the grenade exploded, it caused the other grenade he had with him to explode as well. He lost his right hand and it destroyed his equipment and his clothes. The explosion also burned and torn his skin apart, and destroyed his eyes. There was also a ringing sound on his ear due to the explosion. Derek lifted his left hand and moved his right to get up. Tata! Tata! "QUICK! HELP THE CAPTAIN!" A member ordered as the others were shooting the other 3m-tall zombies. As they got closer to the Derek who was trying to get up, two D1s came rushing at them and one N1. "FUCK!" "TAKE THEM DOWN QUICK!!!" Tatatatatatatatatata! They were able to take down the N1, but for the two D1s, they just continued charging. Suddenly¡­ Tatatatatatatatatata! A group of gunners started shooting from afar. It was Rose and her companions. Rose immediately activated [Crystal Body] and rushed to them. When she got close to the D1s, she leaped at one of them and delivered a superman punch. Bam! Crack! Her fist caved in the D1''s face, causing the zombie to fall to the ground. She immediately followed it up with an elbow drop to its face. Crack! The D1 finally died. The other D1 was on its knees. It sustained too many gunshot wounds and was being hacked on the head by the other members. The rest of the members continued killing the other 3m-tall skinless zombies before shooting the heads of those people who are already dead and were bitten. A few moments later¡­ Derek and the few surviving members of Team 8, 9 and 10 were sitting on a corner getting treated. He was also given a set of new clothes. There were people guarding the area and picking up the loots, including the [Grade D] Nucleus from the heads of the 3m-tall skinless zombies. "Derek, please hold on. I''m going to heal you now," said Ashleigh as she cast [Heaven''s Treatment]. Derek''s wounds were immediately healed in a blink of an eye. "Thank you, Ashleigh." His face was pale as he smiled at her. Despite having his wounds completely healed, he lost quite an amount of blood so he felt a bit weak. "No problem. I''m glad I could be of help," said Ashleigh. He got up and saw Rose from afar who was talking to Brezine and a group of people. "Where are you going? You still need rest!"Ashleigh said with a worried tone. "Don''t worry, I''m fine. I think you should go check on the others." Derek pointed at the other injured members who were being treated. "Okay. But in case you need help, just call me, okay?" "You bet I would." Derek flashed her a smile. Ashleigh went to check on the injured members who were being treated. Derek eyes surveyed around the area before returning his gaze at Rose. He wasn''t wearing a night/thermal-vision goggles because it got destroyed from his fight earlier with the D2 so he was only relying on the light coming from the flashlight of the other members. After Rose was done talking to Brezine and the others, she turned towards Derek and headed towards him. Derek met her halfway. "How are you feeling?" Rose asked "I''m good. Thank you for saving us." "Don''t mention it. We''re all on this together, remember?" Derek nodded. "Here." Rose tossed Derek a pair of night/thermal-vision goggles and he caught it with one hand. "Good, it seems like you''re still capable of moving. I was worried about your health," said Rose. "It would take a lot to slow me down, let alone kill me." "Sure thing, big guy." Both Derek and Rose smiled at each other. The first lieutenant of Team 1, Tyrone, approached them. "Boss, one of the scouts returned and told me that he saw Captain Nathan about 50 meters away from here killing a group of those 3m-tall zombies on his own before disappearing. No Rank 2s confirmed." "On his own? Did you try to contact him using the radio?" Derek held his gaze at Rose and thought about his fight earlier. In his mind, he concluded that Nathan and his team must''ve encountered a mob of 3m-tall skinless zombies led by a Rank 2 as well. And considering Nathan''s power and attitude, he most likely abandoned his teammates. "The scout only mentioned seeing Captian Nathan. And when we tried to contact him, we received a message from Captain R.R. of Team 6 that he left them and went on his own." As for how R.R. got the radio, when Nathan left them after picking up the [Blue] Treasure Chest, they decided to continue on their journey to the Training Facility and met Crawler along the way who was crawling. And during that time, they heard the sound of the radio from afar and immediately went to pick it up. "How many of them are left?" "Excluding Nathan, there''s only four left. Captain R.R., Captain Chet who''s infected, and two members of Team 5." Rose turned towards Derek. "There''s some extra System equipment from the fallen members. Take anything that fancies you." Derek nodded. His equipment got destroyed from the explosion earlier so he needed new ones, preferably the ones that give AGI. "Inform the men that we will be leaving this area in 3 minutes. We are to continue getting rid of the 3m-tall zombies and also regroup with the remaining members of teams 5 -7. Contact the rest of team 5 - 7 and set up a meeting point." "Yes, Boss." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, it''s been more than a week I posted a chapter. Sorry, I was just so busy with my work. Please accept this immortal''s sincere apology. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Ghost_XYZ ? MyRedeemerLives ? Passs3rby ? Meilstrem ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? rnbhal ? dragonwhite ? fghtgggtr To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 80] there. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 73 Night Hunt 7 Combining teams 1 - 4 and the surviving members of 8 - 10, the total number was 56. Going all together seemed too much so Rose decided to divide them into two groups, 28 in each group. For Group 1, it was led by Rose. Meanwhile, Group 2 had Ashleigh and Derek. Rose was confident that Derek won''t let anything bad happen to Ashleigh so she assigned them together. In addition to that, in case Group 2 encounters Nathan, she believed that Ashleigh will serve as a mediator between Derek and Nathan. On the other hand, in case Group 1, the group she was part of, encounters Nathan, there wouldn''t be that much problem because she was confident that he would honor their deal. And even if he doesn''t, she was still confident that he can''t kill her or find where she kept the people she held dear. *** Bam! Derek shoved his hands inside the mouth of an N1 and went pass out of its neck, killing it instantly. Meanwhile, the other 3m-tall skinless zombies were taken care of by Brezine, Ashleigh and the others. Group 2 was in charge of rescuing the remaining members of teams 5 - 7 and they were currently headed to the designated meeting point. Once they accomplished that objective, they will go around town to continue hunting down the 3m-tall skinless zombies. When they heard that Nathan abandoned his teammates and hunted on his own, many were displeased with it. They were already displeased with Nathan''s attitude to begin with. It all began when he killed a lot of people while sneaking into Haven Town. After that, there was the incident at Hunter Hall and the incident in front of Tony''s Car Shop. There''s a limit to a person''s patience. "What a nasty way to die," said Brezine as she saw Derek pull out his hand from the N1''s mouth. Derek forced a smile and shook his head. She patted Derek on the back as they continued moving. **** The remaining members of team 5 - 7 arrived at the designated meeting point. It was a two-story building. Germaine was carrying the infected and unconscious Chet. Meanwhile, Crawler was serving as the scout and R.R. was the rearguard. "Roar!" "Roar!" "Tang!" "Tang!" "Roar!" They heard a few roars and a banging metal from afar, causing them to stop and look at the direction where the noises came from. It seemed like it was just a couple of blocks away. "Could it be Captain Derek and the others? Or Nathan?" Crawler asked. "I don''t know. But whoever it is, our mission is to wait here and I''m not in the mood to go there. You can try though and I won''t stop you," R.R. said and smiled. Her stomach and right shoulder were covered in bandages. The M2 from earlier shot a [Stone Spear] and [Ice Spear] spell on her, leaving her with two holes that were about the size of an infant''s fist. Moreover, she lost a lot of blood. Lucky for her, she had 20 (+7) points on VIT as a Level 15. Although her injury greatly affected her movement, her desire to live was so strong that she forced herself to move despite her injuries. Crawler scratched his head and let out an awkward smile. "You got to be kidding me. I''ve already have enough of them tonight. No way I''m going there." "Guys, hurry up. Let''s go inside the building already. I''m also tired of this shit and want to go back home and take a nice, long bath. I think I''m also going to ask a beautiful girl to wash my body for me," said Germaine and let out a grin. "It''s not me who wants to go there," R.R. jokingly said. "Hey, don''t look at me. I have no interests as well," Crawler said and raised his hands. "Then what the fuck are were standing here outside for?" Germaine said helplessly. There is this phenomena called "crisis bonding" where two or more people who experience a crisis together form a bond. In the case of Crawler, Germaine and R.R., due to the experience they had tonight, they stopped addressing each other by rank and just talked like normal friends. They went inside the two-story building. *** Tang! Tang! "Come here, you fucking zombies!" Nathan shouted. He was banging his [Grade D] Two-handed Great Axe against a lamppost. On his way here, after killing some S1s, he picked up a few new items: ? [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +2 Agi +1 Str ? [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Agi ? [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (13/15): +2 Agi +1 Int It wasn''t much, but at least there were a few extra bonus stats. In front of him was an S2 which was guarded by four D1s and four M1s, surrounding it like a VIP. The M1s had already run out of mana from firing at Nathan earlier. Nathan killed the N1s and S1s that charged to him, but for the D1s and M1s, they were ordered by the S2 not to charge. With his experience earlier with the M2, he understood that the Rank 2 3m-tall skinless zombies could command the Rank 1 3m-tall zombies and had some intelligence. However, he didn''t expect that this S2 would know how to do tactics. But despite that, he still tried if he could lure the D1s and M1s. As for the stats of the S2: ? Str - 52 ? Vit - 32 ? Agi - 52 ? Int - 11 Tang! Tang! "Come on, come on! Fresh meat here. What are you fucking zombies waiting for? Come on, I rarely appear, you know!" Tang! Tang! Unfortunately, they didn''t move. It seemed like they were waiting for Nathan to approach them. "Heh~ Still not coming, huh?" He pulled out his Silencer and started taking out the M1s. Tssp! Tssp! Tssp! Tssp! Seeing the M1s die, the S2 roared. The D1s raised their arms to cover their faces. In addition to that, they were now moving together as one unit, marching step by step. Nathan''s jaw dropped. "What the... It can even do that?!" He put his Silencer away and took out a grenade. He really didn''t want to use this because of two things: One - This wasn''t an item he could just loot anytime he wants so he preferred to use it only for emergency. Two - He might accidentally kill the S2 which is a Level 21. And as a Level 20, this S2 will give him 100% exp. He placed the handle of the [Grade D] Large Axe between his teeth and held the grenade on his hands. ''Do I really have to do this?'' The group of 3m-tall skinless zombies was fast approaching. They were about 30ft away. ''Ha! Fuck it!'' He pulled the pin and rolled the grenade just about 7ft away from the group. 1 second. 6ft away from the group. 2 seconds. 5ft away from the group. 3 seconds. 4ft away from the group. Boom! When the dust settled, the D1s that were in front sustained some injuries but still continued marching. ''Dammit! The explosion was too far!'' He pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger and Dagger, and threw them on the D1s, aiming for their head. Wooh! Wooh! By some miracle, he was able to hit one of the D1s on the head and the other on the arm. However, none of them died. The group of zombies continued to march and they were now just 20 ft away. He held his [Grade D] Large Axe on his right hand and pulled out his Silencer once again. He was going to kill the D1s guarding the S2. Tsp! Tsp! Tsp! The D1 that got hit on the head with the [Grade D] Long Dagger was shot on the head three times yet it still didn''t die and the group continued to march towards him. They were now 12ft away from him. Nathan put his Silence away and held his [Grade D] Large Axe. When the group was already 10ft away from Nathan, the D1 that got hit on the head with his [Grade D] Long Dagger and was also shot in the head 3 times with his silencer, suddenly fell to the ground. It finally died. Just like Derek who has 50+ VIT when in [Maximize] mode, once he gets shot in the head, specifically on the brain, he will die after 30 seconds if he doesn''t get treated. But in the case of the D1 who has 42 Vit, it will die after 20 seconds. This is also why when Rose stabbed the D1 in the head back at the apartment building where Nathan and the others lived in, it didn''t die right away. To kill a creature with high VIT, one will have to either cut off its head or cause severe damage to its brain. Unfortunately, Nathan isn''t aware of this. All he knows is to cut off a zombie''s head for a sure-kill. And with his experience fighting Derek at the bridge, zombie or human, he would definitely go for the head just to be sure. But as soon as the D1 fell to the ground, the S2 roared, ordering the remaining D1s to charge. However, the S2 ran away! "WHAT?!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan''s eyes widened and he immediately activated [Coward''s Way] to chase the S2. *** Derek and the others arrived nearby the two-story building where R.R and the others were hiding. "Does anyone copy? This is Captain Brezine of Team 2. We''re at the location. Over," Brezine said to the radio on her hand. "This is Captain R.R. of Team 6. We''re inside the building. We''ll come to see you right away. Over." "Negative. We''ll go to you. Over. "Roger that. Over." As they were about to enter the two-story building, they heard the thundering sound of footsteps coming from the D1s, the roar of zombies and Nathan''s voice. At first place was the S2, second place was Nathan, and third place were the D1s. Nathan''s Agi was only 28 (+15) points. Meanwhile, the S2''s Agi was 52 points. "STOP! I SAID STOP! DON''T YOU WANT TO EAT ME?! I''M PURE MEAT, NO FATS!!!" Nathan was chasing the S2 and deactivated [Coward''s Way], hoping it will be tempted to stop and eat him. Unfortunately, it just ignored him and continued to run away, leaving him irritated. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? dragonwhite ? James_Black_2558 ? UsualWeeb ? fghtgggtr ? angelica ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? GOD_OF_HAREMS ? HybridBeast To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades (I was informed by one of the Immortal Readers, MyRedeemerLives, that he/she couldn''t find my account page at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. When I checked it, he was indeed correct, my page doesn''t appear on the searches. With that, last Monday I contacted P-a-t-r-e-o-n for help but they have yet to reply -- the only reply I got was an automated response. In the meantime, to those who want to view my page, just type in the link posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the right words) Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 81] there. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 74 Night Hunt 8 Looking at the 3m-tall skinless zombie that had a skinny frame which they didn''t know was an S2 running away while being chased by Nathan and Nathan being chased by the D1s, it took everyone a minute to process what exactly was happening. When they finally understood a bit of what was happening, it was Ashleigh who spoke first. "Shouldn''t we help?" "I''ll take care of the D1s," Derek said and headed to the D1s. "The eight of you, support Derek!" Brezine ordered. "The eight of you, take down that skinny zombie!" "DON''T YOU FUCKING KILL THE S2! I SWEAR TO GOD, IF ANY OF YOU KILL IT, I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU ALL EVEN IF IT MEANS FALLING OUT WITH ROSE!" Nathan said while chasing the S2. "Captain¡­" The other eight people that were ordered by Brezine to help Nathan hesitated. They heard about what happened to Team 2 this afternoon. And witnessing this scene where Nathan is chasing an S2 instead of the other way around, they couldn''t help but have second thoughts. Brezine gritted her teeth. Out of everyone in Haven Town, it was Nathan that she hated the most. She could never forget how he brutally beaten her in public and even stepped on her face. To her, Nathan wasn''t a man. Even pigs would be ashamed if they knew that Nathan was categorized as one of them. As for the rest of the members, although some of them were afraid of Nathan, almost all of them were really displeased with his selfish and arrogant attitude. To think he would threaten to slaughter all of them, including Ashleigh and Derek, it was just too much. "I''ll help Derek," Ashleigh said on the side and charged. *** Nathan was running as fast as he could, but he just couldn''t catch up with the S2. And the worst part of it is that it was slowly distancing itself from him. ''It''s faster than me! How much AGI does this zombie have?!'' What Nathan didn''t know was that the S2''s AGI was 52 points. Compared to his which was only 28 (+15), it was no wonder he couldn''t catch up and he was slowly getting left behind. ''This isn''t looking good.'' He pulled out his Silencer. So far he already shot seven bullets earlier and hasn''t been able to reload. He still had eight more bullets on the clip. He aimed for the legs. Tssp! Tssp! Tssp! Tssp! He missed all four shots. He started to panic for a moment but then forcefully calm himself down. ''You can do this. Concentrate.'' He aimed again. Tssp! The S2 got hit on the left leg. However, it didn''t crash. It still continued running. He fired again Tssp! He missed. ''Two bullets left. I can do this.'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Tssp! It got it on the left leg again. This time, its speed was affected, slowing it down a bit. ''Last shot!'' He aimed again. Tssp! He hit it on the right leg. With the three gunshot wounds on the S2''s legs, it finally crashed and rolled on the ground. He threw away the Silencer and held the [Grade D] Large Axe with two hands as he head to the S2. When he was finally close, he immediately aimed for the neck. "YOU MADE ME CHASE YOU! EVEN THE M2 DIDN''T MAKE ME CHASE HIM! NOW GIVE ME THE 100% EXP POINTS!" Chop! ''Ding! Congratulations for reaching Level 21!'' A [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared as well. Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath while also making a slurping sound. "System~" *** Level: 21 Exp: 53.41796875?% Stats: STR ¨C 34 (+1) VIT ¨C 32 (+1) AGI ¨C 29 (+15) INT ¨C 29 (+1) Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (9/12) [Grade D] Sword (12/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +2 Agi +1 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Leather Gloves (10/15): +2 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (13/15): +2 Agi +1 Int [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Ring: +2 Agi [Grade D] Amulet: +2 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Way] *** "System off." He looked at the [Blue] Treasure Chest. There was no emotion on his eyes. ''If it''s a spellbook, then it''s a spellbook. Or perhaps a tiara...'' He crouched down and opened the chest. It was a [Grade C] Necklace that gives +5 Agi. He wanted to smile and laugh so bad but he didn''t and forcefully pursed his lips. He didn''t want to ruin his luck. He removed his [Grade D] Amulet (+2) and equipped the [Grade C] Necklace (+5). With that, his current stats are: ? STR ¨C 34 (+1) ? VIT ¨C 32 (+1) ? AGI ¨C 29 (+18) ? INT ¨C 29 (+1) He started running back and forth, checking his speed. ''It''s fine. I still need to hunt but the zombies are so limited here. A good place is Cram city. I need to go there right away before the people there kill the S2s.'' He started daydreaming of going to Cram city to hunt for AGI-based items. He checked his watch. 1:30 am. ''It''s only been an hour and 30 minutes since the second phase began, huh.'' He then extracted the [Grade C] Nucleus from the S2''s head. ''The Rank 1 only gives [Grade D] Nucleus while and the Rank 2 gives [Grade C] indeed¡­ As for my fanny pack, it''s full already. I''m going to need a bag or something.'' In his solo hunting spree tonight, he picked up about 18 [Grade D] Nuclei and 2 [Grade] C Nuclei already. His fanny pack was already full that he even had to use some of the pockets of his police vest. ''I''ll just put this inside my pants for now.'' He went to look for his Silencer that he threw away earlier. He saw it on a corner and picked it up. ''This thing¡­ It''s good for stealth but lacks firepower. Is there such a thing as a revolver or magnum with a silencer?'' He let out a sigh. ''I still need to pick my Long Dagger and Dagger that I threw at the D1s as well.'' He thought about the D1s he threw his daggers on. The one who got hit on the head with his [Grade D] Long Dagger died after three shots on the head with the Silencer. Meanwhile, the one that got hit on the arm followed him but was intercepted by someone. He let out another sigh. ''This is really tiresome.'' He decided to go look for the D1 that got hit on the arm with his [Grade D] Dagger first. *** Nathan arrived at the scene where the three D1s were intercepted by Derek. He noticed two people extracting the [Grade D] Nucleus, while some were treating the injured and the others just standing by, watching out for any 3m-tall zombies to appear. There was no sign of his [Grade D] Dagger. "What''s the meaning of this?!" Everyone looked at Nathan. "You!" R.R. shouted as she saw Nathan. "You abandoned us!" Nathan ignored her and continued, "Where the fuck is my [Grade D] Dagger?!" Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "What are you talking about?" A person from the crowd asked. "Don''t bother listening to him! He ignored orders and abandoned us! Arrest him!" R.R. continued. "Captain R.R., please remain calm. You''ve lost a lot of blood so please don''t push yourself," said a medic. "I don''t care about that! That person there should be arrested and executed! He chose to ignore the orders given by the Boss and even left us!" R.R. said. Although Germaine and Crawler weren''t saying anything, they shared the same feelings with R.R. They were supposed to be a teammates yet Nathan abandoned them. And seeing how easily he could kill the 3m-tall skinless zombies to the point that even the S2 would run away from him, if he had just been cooperative in the beginning by heading straight to South Gate right away with them, they wouldn''t have faced such loss. "I said, where the fuck is my [Grade D] Dagger?! If no one returns it to me, I''m going to fucking kill you all!" One of the things that Nathan hates the most is people taking his things. He worked hard and risked his life to get those things. There was no way he was just going to let someone he doesn''t care about leech on him. "How dare you!" A lot of people shouted. "Nathan, shut the hell up! Don''t think you can threaten us anytime you like!" Brezine said. "Nathan, don''t overstep your boundaries. Be thankful that we haven''t arrested you right now for abandoning your mission and own teammates," Derek said. "N-Nathan, calm down!" Ashleigh said. "Heh~ So you guys don''t want to return my Dagger, huh. And plus, you guys seem to have developed some courage. I wonder where that''s coming from." Nathan held his [Grade D] Large Axe down with his right hand. His lips slowly parted from each other and his eyes were looking at them as if they were nothing but pigs to be slaughtered. "Nathan, I''m warning you. Don''t push us," Derek coldly said. "Go on, I like to see you try to take on all of us!" Brezine said. "Raise that axe of yours and we''ll blow you to pieces!" R.R. said on the side. "N-Nathan, stop it! You''re already being too much!" Ashleigh said. Meanwhile, the others were already holding their guns, ready to raise it and fire at Nathan at any moment. Nathan looked at the crowd that formed a C formation around him. They were more than 20 and carrying guns. Even if he activates [Coward''s Way], the chances of him getting hit was high, causing him to lose his invisibility. By then, they could freely shoot him or whatever. "What''s going on here?" It was a woman''s voice. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? VioletIce ? James_Black_2558 ? enroke ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? dragonwhite ? Light777 ? M1keN10 ? MyRedeemerLives ? HybridBeast ? fghtgggtr ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Mancii To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I''ve just received a reply from P-a-t-r-e-o-n today and informed me the reason why my page doesn''t appear on the searches. This is because it''s marked with "adult content". Well, I could request to have that marked removed but I won''t because if you will go to my page, I wrote there that there will be cannibalism, torture and **** as the story progresses. With that being said, to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you only need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 75 Night Hunt 9 "What''s going on here?" Rose and Group 1 just arrived when they saw the commotion between Nathan and the rest. There were no longer 3m-tall skinless zombies around town so they decided to contact Group 2 and asked for their location. She also gave orders to have 25 normal guards and some members of Group 1 to patrol the Southeast of Haven Town just in case. And because there was no electricity, the slaves and other personnel will clean the area in the morning instead. She gazed over at Nathan who seemed like he was looking at preys. On the other side were the members of Group 2 who were looking at him with murderous intent, ready to bombard him with bullets at any moment. The tension in the air was so high as if it will explode any second now. "I said, what''s going on here!" "Rose, this so-called captain of Team 5 chose to ignore your orders and abandoned his teammates to hunt on his own. He also threatened to kill all of us twice! Twice, I tell you! Aren''t we supposed to be allies? This person doesn''t see us as allies at all!" Brezine said. "Boss, if I may, we are an organization. If a member, especially a high-ranking member at that, refuses to follow orders, how can we expect the lower-ranking members to follow orders? An organization without rules is nothing," R.R. said. "Yeah!" "That guy is too much!" "He should be branded as a traitor and serve as a slave!" A lot of people began to voice out their frustrations. Rose looked over at Nathan and there was a cold glint in her eyes. She saw him slowly taking a few steps backward from the crowd that formed a C formation around him. To be honest, she tried her best to be patient with Nathan''s attitude, thinking that he was still adjusting and will eventually settle down. It''s only been 24 hours since he joined the group anyway. However, although it''s only been 24 hours since Nathan joined, every time he interacts with the rest of the members, there''s always a fight and he already got into many fights. First was at Hunter''s Hall, the second one was when he murdered his own teammates at Cram City (Team 5 members confessed when they were interviewed), the third one was a when he fought Team 2 in front of Tony''s Car Shop, and now this one. With the pressure of the Second Phase, she was finally starting to consider that perhaps inviting Nathan to join Red Dust was a poor decision. ''Even in a simple operation like this, he could make trouble? How much more if it was an important mission?'' Rose thought. She then recalled her father''s advice. ''Was this what father was warning me about?'' After asking that inside her head, she calmed herself down. She still hasn''t heard Nathan''s side of the story. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Rose asked Nathan. "Say for myself?" Nathan, who was already a couple of feet away from the group, spat on the ground. "I will never explain myself to weaklings who have no choice but to depend on other people to survive." In Nathan''s mind, if he were to explain himself to these weaklings, how would be that any different from begging? Wouldn''t his efforts to become be a high-level being worthless? There was no way he was going to bow down to society ever again. This was no longer the world before the zombie apocalypse. In this new world, he''s a Chosen One and society should be the one bowing down to him! And as for their accusations, the way he sees it, they were nothing but convenient lies modeled into something to paint themselves as the victims. Ignore orders? For starters, he isn''t and will never be Rose''s subordinate. And plus, they have an agreement that he has the right to accept and ignore tasks. And even if he chooses to ignore a task mid-way after accepting it, he has every right to do so. He was no one''s dog or slave! Abandoned them? What sort of bullshit is that? In the beginning, he specifically told them to follow him yet they abandoned him mid-way and went on their own. Now, because they got hurt and some of them even ended up getting killed due to their own decisions they''re blaming him? Do they think of him as their nanny? Do they think of him as a white knight that would save them from their own dumb decisions? He doesn''t owe them anything! The fact that they decided to join Scavenger Teams, they should''ve been prepared to face death. That''s like going into the frontlines of war and not expecting to get hurt. Threatened to kill them? Why not? He didn''t and would never ask for their help to kill the 3m-tall skinless zombies. They even wanted to kill-steal the S2 he was chasing. In addition to that, they''re not returning his [Grade D] Dagger. His own self is the only person he needs and can depend on. And lastly, him about being supposed allies with them. Just imagining them having this notion that they were allies made Nathan''s skin crawl. He doesn''t and will never acknowledge them as allies, especially when considering the fact that he was forced to join this organization through blackmail! Who in their right mind would accept these people as allies? He would be the greatest fool to see them as such! Hearing Nathan''s answer, the crowd grew livid. "You see that?! His arrogance is boundless! He''s nothing but a selfish bastard!" "Boss, this person has no respect for you and the organization!" "Execute him! He has killed so many of our fellow members!" "No, torture him and make him a slave for the rest of his life!" "This person has no right to be part of Red Dust!" Some people spat on the ground and looked at Nathan with disgust. Nathan offended far too many people in the short time he joined Red Dust. Rose looked at Nathan who held a cold and arrogant expression on his face. Thinking about her agreement with him, his personality, and everything, although there''s a slim chance that Nathan might actually be the victim here, she knew that no amount of lies would help her convince the mob to excuse Nathan. If she excuses him now, her status and power as the leader will drop. Sure, she can use violence to forcefully convince them to accept her decision, but that wouldn''t last long and her foundation will be unstable -- Humans aren''t gullible creatures, they''re complex and each has their own motives and desires. And plus, because of the Second Phase, her plan to conquer the west side of Cram city needs to be reconsidered, including her deal with Nathan. At least with Ashleigh and Derek, she could manipulate them in some way or another and they weren''t as bloodthirsty and arrogant as Nathan. There was also the information she received just not long ago from her satellite phone from one of her colleagues inside the government. It was about one of the [Divine Towers]. In this situation, in order to have Nathan excused by the mob, by the very least, she could do a public punishment to Nathan. However, she doubts if he would even agree to such a thing. ''Will I choose Nathan or the group...?'' Rose thought. From here on, there was only one choice. She walked towards Nathan and stopped when they were only an arm''s length. Nathan glanced at her. Rose held a cool and confident expression. "Nath¨C" Before she could even finish saying his name, she activated [Crystal Body], transformed her right arm into a sharp blade and thrust forward, aiming for Nathan''s chest. Whoosh! Rose''s attack was quick and precise. But unfortunately for her, Nathan easily evaded it and was sneering before he disappeared. Rose''s face was painted with a surprised expression for a quick moment before turning into a serious one. She squinted her eyes. Even though she already long suspected that Nathan''s equipment was AGI-based, thanks to his fight with Derek last night, she wasn''t expecting him to be able to evade her attack on such distance. This is also why she was confident to appear in front of Nathan last night without wearing System items because she believed he would never be able to penetrate her skin once she activates [Crystal Body]. But this proved that Nathan had grown stronger. "SHOOT! SHOOT!! SHOOT!!!" Someone in the crowd ordered. They began firing Tatatatatatatatatata! They only stopped firing until their magazine ran out of bullets. "Did we get him?" Someone from the crowd asked. Unfortunately, Nathan''s body was nowhere to be found. He was already long gone. Seeing no sign of Nathan, many began to feel fear and looked around their surroundings. "Rose¡­ Why?" Ashleigh asked. To Ashleigh, although Nathan was someone whom she considered as an unpleasant person, she still wouldn''t wish to see him get killed. When the zombie apocalypse started, he welcomed her inside his home and didn''t do anything to her. And despite being that powerful, not once did he hit her. As for her relationship with Amir¡­ "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! We messed up! That killer got away! We''re doomed!" Crawler threw his gun away and was freaking out. Everyone looked at him. Crawler was one of the people that got beaten up by Nathan and survived. He knew firsthand how cruel that bastard can be and how strong he was. Just thinking about the idea that Nathan is still alive and out there, he knew he could ever sleep without worrying. Brezine looked at Crawler and she could understand where he was coming from. To her, Nathan was someone unreasonably violent and doesn''t care whether you''re a man or a woman. She saw how Nathan ripped a man''s arm just because that man touched him. She also experienced firsthand Nathan''s "equality" treatment for women. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In fact, she was well aware that the only reason why Nathan let her live was because she was Rose''s friend. If not, she would have already been like those people he killed. And now that this happened, there''s nothing stopping him taking her life. The next time they meet, she would have to face him. But despite all that, she wasn''t afraid. ''Let me see you try to take my head!'' She thought. Derek looked at Rose and the others. He knew that because of this there will be a lot of blood soon, something even bloodier than what had happened when Nathan first arrived here at Haven Town. In truth, he was expecting Rose to arrest Nathan and give him a fair trial. He wasn''t expecting Rose to handle the situation like that. But now that that happened, there was no turning back now. As for what he will do, earlier, before Rose visited him in his room, he already intended to leave Red Dust to go search for Sweet Dave and Sansa at Burrow City to see if they''re still alive. But thanks to their "talk", she managed to convince him to stay for a few days before leaving to which he agreed. But then the Second Phase happened so he has to reconsider his plans once again. "Boss, what we should do? If that person starts killing just like last time¡­" Someone asked Rose with a worried tone. Rose glanced at the person who asked her. Everyone else also looked at her as well, waiting for her reply. Unfortunately, she didn''t reply. The fact that she failed to kill Nathan, she knew she messed up big time and there will be a heavy price to pay but it wasn''t something she can''t afford. What is done is done. No point of regretting her actions. At the moment, she was thinking about what would be her next step. Earlier, she received intel from one of her close colleagues in the government regarding the location of one of the 50 Divine Towers. One of the towers was actually at the center of Cram city and there was a giant stingray that was as large as football stadium floating beside it. As for why those two popped up there, details are still being investigated by the government. She finally decided. She was going to Cram city and enter the tower. She remembered the System informing her that the towers have an entrance time limit of 12 hours. And the most interesting part is that those who enter the tower can obtain unique items and even have a chance to win [Artifact] grade items. As for her family members, they will be safe in the secret bunker. Even a nuclear blast wouldn''t be able to damage it. She will also have the family members of the high-ranking or important members of Red Dust to evacuate to the secret bunker. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? fghtgggtr ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Light777 ? dragonwhite ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? MyRedeemerLives (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? Dyllanwade ? Passs3rby To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that the chapters there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. To view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you only need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. It doesn''t appear on the search list because my page is marked with adult content. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 82] there. And most importantly...*grins* I finally have my first ever Immortal Patron! WAHAHAHAHA! YES! YES! YES!!! ? Teltaios I''m just so fucking happy, man. I mean, I''m really thankful to the Immortal Readers, Immortal Commentors (only the positive comments... >.>) and Immortal Power Voters -- it really means a lot to me. But to have an Immortal Patron, it''s just different. I can''t properly explain it without talking about money which will end up with me sounding like someone who''s only after money. But if I were to try to explain it, well, basically, it''s the idea that someone is supporting you beyond what''s normally available which is extremely flattering -- I think is what I''m trying to say. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 76 Returning Nathan was running away and invisible, leaving Haven Town. He had no plans to fight Red Dust at the moment. In his mind, they will always be here and he can return any moment. And if they decide to move to another place, not only will the preparation take time, the journey will be long and dangerous as well -- such is the weakness of having a large camp. Given that he has no idea where the Divine Towers are, his goal right now was to go to Cram city and hunt for S2s before they will be killed and their AGI-based items taken by other people. Because of that, he also didn''t bother digging up the bag he buried in the mountains when he first arrived here. To him, it would only be a waste of time. He can always loot or steal from others anyway. As for his cousin Amir... ''Amir, I''m so sorry. Things happened and I reacted. I promise to avenge you no matter what... I hope you will forgive me...'' Once he''s done powering up, he would definitely return here and hunt down Red Dust. ''Rose, whether you kill Amir or not, I will still hunt every last member down, even if it means killing everyone here in Womania or chasing you all to the end of the world. And as for your family, you can definitely expect that I will torture and kill them in front of you!'' He thought about Derek. ''White knights that don''t know how to mind their own business should be killed!'' He thought about Ashleigh. ''Just thinking about the fact that I helped her before and now she''s against me just because she''s with Red Dust makes me sick! I want to see how you will beg once I kill your precious companions in front of you!'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan spat on the ground. ''No matter¡­ Thinking about what I experienced with human relationships in the past, I should''ve expected this.'' Nathan began to recall his past¡­ *** 3 years ago. Nathan, 21 years old. Latif City, Muwin. 4:30 pm. Nathan graduated from college just a few months ago and was working online. After he finished his internship at The Falsus Network, he decided that he didn''t want to deal with any of that office politics so he decided to work online. This way, although there are scammers and the job isn''t exactly stable, it was a small price to pay compared to having to deal with office politics. He was working on an article when his phone rang. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ He picked up his phone. Ring¡­ It was Vincent calling. He answered it. "What''s up?" "Yo! Are you busy right now? It''s an emergency." Nathan frowned. He thought about the last time Vincent called him like this. He had to go to a neighborhood that''s filled with Southern Muwinians and give him clothes. Although Latif city was located between the North and South region of Muwin, the tension between the two groups was high and they normally don''t get along due to religious beliefs and whatever bullshit reasons. As for how Vincent got to the neighborhood, he was drunk the night before and went home with a South Muwinian woman to her house whom he thought wasn''t married. That morning, the woman''s husband arrived so Derek had to escape through the window with only his boxers and phone. Unfortunately, he left his wallet. "I''m working right now. Whatever it is, give me 30 minutes and I''ll call you back." "Wa-wait! It''s really important. I need to talk to you." Nathan massaged his forehead. "What is it?" "Let''s meet. I have something to tell you. It''s very important." "Look, man, if you''re not going to tell me on the phone, I''m going to end this call right now. I''m really busy so just tell me. You know me, I won''t judge." "I''m serious. It''s really important. It''s not something that should be said on the phone. Come on, man. Let''s meet." ''Maybe this really is an emergency.'' Nathan thought and said, "Are you in jail? Or have you been kidnapped?" "What? No, it''s nothing like that. It''s ¨C" "So just tell me on the phone or you can just drop by later." "I can''t. We should meet outside. It''s really an important matter." Nathan let out a sigh. "Look, I have to submit this article I''m working on in 30 minutes. Not everyone is like you who doesn''t need to work. Karen and I have bills to pay for this apartment and everything." "Nathan, I''m being serious here. I seriously need to talk to you." "I''m also being serious. So just tell me." "Okay, the reason I want to meet you is because ¨C" Ding! There was a notification from the Message App of his laptop. It was from his employer. [How''s the article?] "Wait¡­ Hold on for a moment. My boss just sent me a message." He replied to his employer. [It''s almost done, sir. I''m currently checking for some spelling errors, the grammar and the links of the sources just to be sure. I''ll send it in 20 minutes.] [No worries. Just take your time.] [Thank you, sir.] "Yo, Vincent. I''m sorry but I''m really busy. My boss is already asking about the article. Look, don''t worry, wherever you are, I''ll go to the place and give you clothes once I''m done working. But I will have to rush back home because I have to cook dinner before Karen comes home from work. You should join us because I''m cooking her favorite dish. Lately, she doesn''t have any appetite. I''ll talk to you later, okay?" "Nathan, I''m calling you because I have something to tell you about Karen, about why she doesn''t have any appetite." Nathan frowned. "What¡­?" "Just go to the restaurant where we celebrated your birthday last time." *** A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan and Vincent were at the restaurant they decided to meet. They were currently sitting on a table, facing each other. "So what do you have to tell me about Karen?" Vincent took a deep breath before looking at Nathan. "Do you remember the first day of your internship last year?" "You mean at The Falsus Network?" "Yeah, that place." "Okay." "That day I sent you a text about a party I was throwing at the weekend which you didn''t attend, while Karen did because you were busy..." "Yeah, Karen told me that you to proposed to Nikki at that time but she rejected it." "Then you must know how devastated I was at that time because Nikki not only declined by proposal but she also broke up with me and I ended up making a scene, causing some of the guests to leave." "Yeah. Vincent, where is this going? Get to the point." "Hold on. I want to tell you the whole story. This is very important¡­" Vincent rubbed his hands nervously and his face was sweating despite the restaurant''s air conditioner was turned on. Nathan looked at Vincent and frowned. "When Nikki and the other guests left, I started drinking like crazy and Karen was there consoling me the whole time¡­" Vincent took another deep breath. Nathan was beginning to become suspicious and thought, ''Don''t tell me this is going to be like one of those dramas that Karen loves and forces me to watch¡­'' "I know this is a shitty excuse, but I was just so heartbroken and vulnerable at that time that I ended up forcefully kissing Karen." Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Karen never told him about this. However, thinking about the circumstance, he calmed himself down and smiled. "So you guys kissed. You were in a bad place and drunk. I understand that. It''s no big deal. We''re all adults here and we sometimes make stupid decisions, right?" Vincent stared at Nathan. His eyes were painted with extreme guilt that he could barely look at Nathan straight in the eye. "There''s more..." "What did you just say?" "Two months later, she texted me. She wanted me to accompany her to this bar and have a drink because you were busy and then --" "Vincent¡­ Stop." Nathan was no longer smiling and his voice now cold. "I''m sorry, man. But I have to tell you. The guilt is killing me. So we went to this bar, we got drunk and the next thing we knew we were kissing and then¨C" Nathan got up on his seat, grabbed Vincent by the collar and punched him the face. Bam! Vincent''s nose was broken and bleeding. "I deserved that¡­" Vincent said as he picked up some tissues and wiped off the blood coming out of his nose. Everyone inside the restaurant stopped and looked at Nathan and Vincent. Nathan returned to his seat and didn''t look at Vincent. He closed his eyes, he pursed his lips, and took deep, long breaths... His heart was racing... His chest felt like it was being viciously ripped apart... He was clenching and unclenching his fists... His right leg was fidgeting... He was trying so hard to suppress the powerful and dark emotions stirring inside of him. A waiter approached them. "Sir, we need you to leave. You''re making the customers uncomfortable." "FUCK YOU AND MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS!" Nathan pointed at the waiter. "Sir, we need you to leave or we''re going to call the cops." Nathan slammed his fist against the table. Bam! "DID YOU FUCKING HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?! FUCK OFF!!!" Vincent got up and said, "Please excuse us and let us talk a bit longer." "I''m very sorry, sir. But we need you both to leave," said the waiter. Nathan, who was still trying so hard to suppress his emotions, got up from his seat and stormed out of the restaurant. He was seeing red and he couldn''t believe what Vincent told him -- or perhaps he refused to believe it. In the first and second year of his relationship with Karen, he and Karen used to argue about her feelings for Vincent. Fortunately, they were able to eventually overcome it¡­ or so he thought. Vincent followed Nathan outside. He saw Nathan walking down the street. "Nathan, wait! There are still more things I want to tell you." "FUCK YOU BOTH! I''M NOT A FUCKING MASOCHIST! I DON''T WANT TO FUCKING HEAR ANYMORE OF IT!" "Nathan, Karen was pregnant and she aborted it." Nathan stopped walking but he didn''t turn around. Karen doesn''t take pills because she was allergic to it. Instead, Nathan uses condoms. But when it was her safe day, they do it raw. He clenched his fists once again. But this time, his nails sunk into his flesh. "She said it was my child¡­ But I don''t know¡­" Nathan turned around, walked up to Vincent, grab him by the collar and pinned up against the wall. "WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS?!" Nathan growled. "I¡­ I honestly don''t know. I honestly don''t know¡­" Vincent started crying. Nathan immediately let go of him and stepped away. Vincent sat on the pavement, he held his head down and grabbed his hair. "I don''t know, man. It''s¡­ It''s everything yet at the same time confusing. I''ve been feeling so guilty for months that I could hardly sleep and eat - I mean, we''re childhood friends so I never wanted to betray you but I''m also angry that she aborted the baby yet I also love her and want to be with her..." Vincent crawled his way to Nathan. He knelt in front of Nathan and grabbed onto his legs. "I really didn''t mean to betray you like this. I honestly didn''t. Things just happened. Please forgive me. Hit me or anything. Do whatever you want. Please! PLEASE!!!" Nathan looked at Vincent in disgust. "Childhood friend? Didn''t want to betray me? What a load of bullshit¡­ Hearing your apology, you only confessed because she had an abortion and it could be your baby. If that didn''t happen, would you two even tell me that you''ve been sleeping together behind my back?" Vincent was tongue-tied, "I - I¡­" "You''re dead to me. Don''t ever show your face to me again." He kicked his leg away and left Vincent. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? fghtgggtr ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Manorakc4 ? James_Black_2558 ? godofall ? Chen1010 ? Light777 ? MyRedeemerLives (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Ramvox To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. It doesn''t appear on the search list because my page is marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 83] and [Chapter 84] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 77 Returning 2 6:30 pm. The sky was already dark outside but Nathan didn''t turn on the lights inside the apartment. He was sitting at the dining table and smoking a cigarette. The ashtray already had at least fifteen cigarette butts. He was absently staring at the table, lost in his own thoughts. Kacha! The door of the apartment was opened. "Why is it so dark in here?" Karen said and turned on the light. Click! The lights turned on. She closed the door behind her and removed her shoes before heading to the kitchen. "Sweetie, what are you doing?" She saw Nathan absently staring at the dining table. Nathan didn''t answer so she decided not to mind him and go to the bathroom to change and wash her hands and face. After that, she went to the living room, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV to watch the news while checking her phone. Nathan could hear the voice of the news anchor reading the news. He glanced at her from the dining table. ''Is this really what it means to be in a relationship?'' Aside from Karen, he never dated anyone. She was his first for everything. His only basis about what it was like to be in a relationship with someone were from movies and observing other couples, such as his parents and Vincent and Nikki. Sure, he was aware that being in a relationship isn''t like those depicted in the rom-com movies, at least for him. And based on his experience, it was mostly mundane. It had its bad moments, but it also had its good moments. But now that he knew that she cheated on him, got pregnant by another man and aborted it, he couldn''t help but question if being in a relationship was worth it or if this is just what relationships are all about. ''Was I living a fool all these years¡­?'' "Sweetie, can you make me tea?" Karen said from the living room while checking her phone. Nathan snapped back from reality and looked at Karen. There was a cold glint on his eyes. Given that he was working online and spent most of his time at home, he was in charge of most of the household chores. And of course, this wasn''t because he was forced by Karen. On the contrary, he volunteered to do it because he loved her and wanted to treat her like a princess. He got up and started boiling water. Time slowly passed... After making the tea, he brought it to her in the living room and placed in on top of the coffee table. "Thanks, sweetie," Karen said as she gave him a quick glance before resuming to look at her phone. Nathan didn''t answer and went back to the dining table and sat down. ''How long has our relationship been like this?'' He tried to recall what they would usually do. During this time, he would be eating his fourth meal of the day at the dining table. As a person who works out, he eats 5 meals a day and the amount of food depends on the season. In a year, there''s a season where he bulks up and another season where he cuts down his carbs to lose fats. While eating his fourth meal of the day, there are times she would eat with him at the table and there are times she would say she''s full so she wouldn''t eat and just watch the news. However, in both scenarios, the TV would be on and she will have her phone on her hand, looking at videos, reading posts, and chatting with her family and "friends". ''Isn''t relationships like this? I mean, we''ve been together for so long so it''s understandable that we don''t need to talk that much anymore because we''re so familiar with each other''s company, right?'' Nathan continued to sit at the table to understand things. He wanted to know how things went horribly wrong. 15 minutes passed¡­ Karen finished her tea and got up from the sofa to put the mug on the sink. She saw Nathan who was still deep in thought and smoking. She didn''t mind him and went to the sink. When she got to the sink to put down the mug, she finally noticed that Nathan hasn''t cooked anything. She turned to Nathan sitting on the table. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Sweetie, are you okay? I noticed you haven''t eaten your fourth meal of the day. Did you eat outside?" Nathan looked at her. "Have I told you about the quote I read once as a kid?" ''Oh my God, I guess it''s that time of the week where he goes emo.'' Karen thought. "Sweetie~" she said as she massaged his shoulders. "I passed by this bookstore once on my way home and read a quote. I can''t remember the exact words so I''m just going to paraphrase it. A person has three core identities: The person who he thinks he is, the person who people think he is, and the person who he really is." She kissed his head and said, "Of course. Don''t forget to take a bath. You reek of cigarette." As she was about to walk away, he asked, "Why did you cheat on me?" She stopped and looked at him. "What?" "Vincent told me." "I don''t know what are you talking about." Karen frowned. Nathan didn''t say anything and just stared at her face, studying and etching the face of a liar on his head. ''So this is the face of a cold-hearted liar that kills babies¡­'' "Nathan, I don''t know what you''re talking about. If this is a joke, it''s not funny at all!" He looked at her face and smiled. ''Ah¡­ This is a facial expression of hers that I know. This is the look that she gives when she''s getting pissed and we''re going to have a fight. I won''t deny it, having sex after fight feels good.'' However, that wasn''t part of his plans tonight... or ever again. He got up from his seat. "I also know that you had an abortion." She slapped him on the face. Pah! "I must say, despite being in a relationship with you for 5 years, I never once thought of you as a murderer. You really can''t tell a person''s true nature. Don''t you agree, baby killer?" She slapped him again. Tears started running down her cheeks. "How dare you! You don''t know anything!" He sneered. "Oh please tell me what I don''t know, cheater. Or should I just call you again baby killer?" She started slapping him but he avoided her. She went near the sink to grab one of the mugs and threw it at him. Smash! The mug missed and hit the wall, shattering into pieces. "You don''t know anything¡­! You don''t know anything¡­" She fell to the floor and continued crying. He rolled his eyes. "Oh please. How rich of you. Why are you acting like you''re the victim here, baby killer?" "Why are you doing this?! Why?! Stop this¡­!" "Why?! WHY?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?!" "THE TRUTH, YOU FUCKING CHEATER! YOU FUCKING BABY KILLER!" "OKAY, I ADMIT! I CHEATED ON YOU WITH VINCENT AND HAD AN ABORTION! HAPPY NOW?!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan knelt down and raised his hands on the air, "Oh thank God! Thank you! This cheating baby killer finally spoke the truth!" He got up and shook his head in disbelief. "To think that even after all these years¡­ You still want Vincent, not me." Karen got up. "Don''t even go there! You know how much I love you! How much I sacrificed for you!" Nathan scoffed. "Yeah, right. And yet here we are." "Don''t think this is all my fault! You''re the one who forced me to cheat!" Nathan''s jaw dropped. "What? Forced you to cheat? I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LOYAL TO YOU!!!" "Do you really know what''s it like being with you?!" "Oh please tell me! It''s always my fault anyway! Please enlighten this stupid man who forced you to cheat, you who could never sin!" "You''re a selfish, whiny and cowardly boy! Everything is all about you! When things don''t go your way, you whine! And just because of your experience in your internship, you chose to do online jobs. Get a fucking real job! I have bigger balls than you!" "I''m selfish? I''m whiny? Please! I''m doing all the household chores here and you don''t hear me say anything! You call me a coward? Online is what''s hot right now!" "Oh, he''s not selfish! When was the last time we did something that I want?! When was the last time we went out to travel?! Oh, I forgot! You''re always busy from working out, dieting, getting proper sleep, reading those stupid novels and working on that fake job of yours!" Nathan face-palmed himself so hard. "What are you even fucking talking about?! Every Saturday night I accompany you to those clubs to drink!" "To which you begrudgingly go and it''s only once a week for 3 hours! And even when we''re there, you do nothing but sulk!" "Oh excuse me if I find places like those worthless! I really don''t see any point in going to places like that! It''s crowded, full of drunks and it smells of piss and puke!" "Then what about vacation, what about doing other things, Mr-I''m-Too-Good-For-Clubs?!" "Oh, forgive me if I''m so busy working to earn money!" "Working?! Your job is fake, a joke! I have a real job and even I have time for vacations!" "Oh, I get it now! You''re still and will always be fucking gold-digger!" Nathan face-palmed. "I''m sorry I''m not rich like Vincent! I''m sorry I don''t have a car like Vincent! I''m sorry I can''t take you to expensive restaurants! I''m sorry I can''t buy you expensive things! I''m sorry I can''t take you on a vacation! I''m sorry I am not good enough for you even after all these years! How blind was I!" She rushed up to him. "Is that how you''ve always seen me? Someone who''s only after money? To think that I even loved you and stayed with you for 5 years! You really don''t know me!" "Oh please! Stop twisting words! For all we know, Vincent and I aren''t the only ones you''re sleeping with which is why you killed that baby, you cheating, baby-killing, gold-digging slut!" "FINE! FINE!!! IF THAT''S HOW YOU WANT IT! FINE! YES! I SLEPT WITH SO MANY MEN AND I LIKED IT! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT ME TO SAY, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEY WERE BETTER MEN THAN YOU WILL EVER BE, RICHER THAN YOU, ESPECIALLY VINCENT! THEY FUCKED ME SO HARD AND GOOD THAT ¨C" Nathan raised his hand and was about to slap her but stopped just a few centimeters away from her face. In their 5 years of relationship, although they had their fights, he never once hit her. He would just avoid her strikes. And when he already had enough, he would break things. And plus, hitting women is against the law. "GO ON! HIT ME! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO ON! I''M NOTHING BUT A CHEATING, BABY-KILLING, GOLD-DIGGING SLUT, AREN''T I?" He leaned forward closed to her face. "I won''t stoop down to your level. But know this. Although I wasn''t a better and a richer man than them, than Vincent, at least I was never unfaithful to you, not even once. Know that there was a time I used to love you with ALL my heart and it sickens me. But now¡­ you''re dead to me and I''m glad. I never want to see your face ever again. Go! Get the hell out of this apartment and run to Vincent or whoever rich asshole you''re fucking!" He walked away and was headed to the bedroom. As he was headed to the bedroom, Karen grabbed another mug and threw it at Nathan. Thud! It hit his side, causing him to stop and lean against the wall from the pain. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP? YOU KNOW NOTHING! I FUCKING HATE YOU! I HOPE YOU FUCKING DIE!" Nathan turned to look at her. "Sacrificed for this relationship?" Nathan scoffed. "Come to think of it, you''re still 21 years old. If you had a baby now, you won''t be able to enjoy your youth even if you spread your legs to all the rich men in the world. Good strategy, I must admit. No wonder you''re a gold-digging baby killer." Karen grabbed a knife and charged at Nathan. "I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Seeing the knife in her hands and charging towards him, he ran to the living room to grab the pillows on the sofa and threw it at her. When he threw the third pillow at her and she got distracted, he immediately charged forward and took the knife from her hands. "GIVE ME THAT KNIFE!" Karen growled and lunged forward. Nathan threw the knife away. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her away, causing her to trip and hit her head on the edge of the coffee table. Bam! Thud! She was unconscious. All of a sudden, someone was knocking on the door. Knock! Knock! Knock! "This is the police. We received a call for a public disturbance complaint. Please open the door." Nathan''s eyes widened in horror. ''Such fucking timing!'' He forgot that there was a nearby police station in the apartment building they were living in. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Now, you could argue that even if there was a nearby police station at the apartment they were living in, it would still take time for the cops to respond. Please just ignore it because I didn''t want to make this mini-arc to be more than 3 chapters. Sorry and thank you for understanding. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Ominous ? Light777 ? Passs3rby ? zStick21 ? MyRedeemerLives (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? joel_Salmi ? sam0sa ? immortalntime To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 85] and [Chapter 86] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 78 Returning 3 "This is the police. Open up." A man said behind the door. Nathan could hear the chatter coming from the police radio as well. Panicking, he quickly searched for the knife. After he found it, he rushed to the kitchen and left it there. Bang! The police kicked the door open. They saw Karen lying in the living room unconscious and Nathan who was standing at the kitchen. They immediately pulled out their handgun and pointed it at him. "GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" "Officers, it wasn''t me! She tripped on her own!" "GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" Nathan immediately lay down on the floor and placed his hand behind his back. One of the police officers approached Nathan and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Officers, please listen! My father is a police ¨C Argh!!!" The police officer yanked Nathan''s arm so hard that it almost felt like it got dislocated when he was handcuffing him. "You have the right to remain silent¡­" The police officer began reading to him his Miranda rights. "Officer, I didn''t do it! I''m innocent!" *** The next day. 10:30 am. A cell door was opened by a big and tall police officer. "You, get your ass over here." The officer was calling Nathan who was sitting at one of the benches inside the group cell. Nathan got up and went to the police. As he stepped outside of the cell, the police shove him from the back. "Move it!" Nathan gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists and unclenched them. All night he explained to the police officers that it was self-defense because she attacked him with a knife so he took the knife from her and pushed her away, causing her to trip and hit her head on the edge of the coffee table. He also told them about the source of their conflict and even showed them his bruise from the mug that was thrown at him. However, given Nathan''s physique compared to Karen''s no one took him seriously. To them, he was nothing but a woman beater, a criminal. They even teased him, "You work out, right? What''s the use of that body of yours if you can''t you take a hit from a woman?" "What are you waiting for? I said, move it!" Nathan started walking brought him to a room. Before the officer opened the door, he said, "You''re lucky that your father is a police officer. If I were your father, I would''ve let you rot in jail for raising a hand against a woman." When Nathan entered the room, he saw Nazul, his father, sitting on one of the chairs and between the chairs was a small table. Nazul was in his late 40s. He sported a short haircut typical of police officers, clean-shaven, an average physique, and was 5''10" tall. Whereas Nathan sported long hair, a goatee, a muscular physique but not as large as a bodybuilder, and stood 6ft tall. ''Ahh¡­ My great father who I rarely get to see. This is gonna be interesting.'' "Sit." His father commanded. Nathan sat down. "I''m really disappointed in you," Nazul said with a stern voice. "You''re always disappointed in me," Nathan replied with a flat tone. Nazul didn''t speak. "What? You''re not going to hit me? It''s been a long time since we''ve bonded together. I miss it." Ever since Nathan entered college, his father stopped beating him so their interaction, that was already close to nonexistent to begin with, became even lesser. "Do you know how bad the situation is? You''re being charged for assault and they''re also considering attempted murder," Nazul said. "If I told you it was self-defense, would you believe me?" Nazul was silent. Nathan snorted. "Of course, you wouldn''t." "I made a deal with Karen''s parents and you''re going to do it." Nathan just stared at him and didn''t speak. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In his head, there was no point in having a discussion with his father anyway. The way their discussion goes is basically like this: It was either his father''s way or the highway. "You''re going to beg for forgiveness and leave Latif City. If not, a lawyer is going to come in and talk to you about the details." Nathan continued to be silent. "Be thankful. The only reason why I was able to somehow convince Karen''s parents not to press charges is because we''re long-time neighbors. Now get up." Nazul got up and went outside of the room. Nathan followed suit. *** Nazul brought Nathan at a hospital. They made their way to the room where Karen was admitted but didn''t enter. They waited outside until Karen''s parents came out, leaving Karen and her younger sister inside. Seeing Karen''s parents, who were both in their late 40s, Nathan immediately opened his mouth. "I''m¨C" Pah! Karen''s mother slapped Nathan on the face. Nathan didn''t react. He suppressed his anger and wore an apologetic expression. In Nathan''s mind, although he pushed Karen away, it was self-defense. And plus, the source of the conflict were Karen and Vincent. He was the victim here! He hated those traitors so much that he wished he could kill them. But after thinking about the law, he tossed the idea right away. As much as he hated them, he loved freedom more. "I trusted you! I trusted you with my daughter, you animal!" Karen''s mother cried out as her husband held her. "Krishna, dear, please calm down," Karen''s father said. "DON''T EVER GO NEAR MY DAUGHTER AGAIN! IF I SEE YOU NEAR HER, I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF!" Her eyes were burning with hatred as she stared at Nathan. ''My father is here. Are you sure you want to say those things in the presence of a police officer? Oh wait, my father doesn''t give a fuck about me. Silly me,'' Nathan thought. "Kristoff, I''m very sorry about your daughter. I feel so ashamed of what my son did. I hope someday we can return as good neighbors," Nazul said. "Just make sure you honor our deal," Kristoff said with a dismissive tone. They were really serious about pressing charges against Nathan. "Of course," Nazul said. "GET OUT OF HERE! LEAVE! DON''T EVER COME BACK!" Krishna shouted as she charged over to Nathan and tried to slap him. Nathan was able to dodge for a second but Nazul grabbed him from behind so he ended up getting slapped. Pah! Pah! Kristoff immediately pulled his wife away as she continued to cry out. "Please leave," Kristoff said. "Okay," Nazul said and dragged Nathan away by the arm. "Nathan," Kristoff called out. Nazul stopped and slapped the back of Nathan''s head, "You''re being called!" Nathan turned and looked at Kristoff. "Never go near our family again. I swear to God I will do everything I can if you ever hurt my family again," Kristoff said with a cold tone. Although Nathan was swirling with so many negative emotions inside of him right now, he maintained an apologetic expression. "I''m very sorry for hurting your daughter," Nathan said. Nazul dragged Nathan away. As they continued walking, Nathan and Nazul could hear Kristoff and Krishna''s voices. "I never should''ve allowed Karen to date a person from the South! They''re all barbarians!" Krisha said. "Dear, please calm down. It''s already been settled. Let''s go inside," Kristoff said. In the country of Muwin, there''s this hate between the North and South that''s been going on for years, mainly due to religion. In the North of Muwin, the dominant religion is Trinity. Meanwhile, on the South is Iklas. And in terms of strictness between the two, Trinity is the lenient one. In the eyes of South Muwinians, they see the North Muwinians as weak and sinful people because they aren''t too strict when it comes to religious beliefs and practices. On the other hand, in the eyes of North Muwinians, they see the South Muwinians as rigid and barbaric people due to their zero-tolerance attitude when it comes to religious beliefs and practices. But of course, there are also some Muwinians that refuse to be part of this hatred. Unfortunately, only a handful of them exists because the hate has already been part of their culture for many, many years. When they finally got outside of the hospital, Nazul immediately drove Nathan to his apartment and have him pack his things before heading to the airport. The agreement was to have Nathan leave Latif City as soon as possible. He wasn''t even able to say goodbye to his mother. His father already bought him a plane ticket headed to the South of Muwin at Banya City. And from there, he will travel by boat to go to Liit Town, a small town on a tiny island which is the hometown of his grandfather from his father''s side. Nazul accompanied Nathan to the airport. He wanted to make sure his son boarded the plane and take off. The last thing he wanted was Nathan refusing to honor the deal they made and remain in Latif City because of his feelings for Karen. Although this may seem unfair to Nathan, Nazul concluded that this was the best course of action for his son. Whether Nathan was innocent or not, it doesn''t matter. Muwin''s culture was a strange one. In this country, you can say it''s a patriarch and conservative society, especially in the South region. But when it comes to the justice system, it''s tilting towards more in the favor of women, especially if it''s violence against women. So if they decide to fight it out in court to prove Nathan''s innocence, there''s a high possibility that he will be convicted. There''s also the issue of the cost a lot of money if they were to hire a good attorney and the other fees as well. At least this way, although their family''s pride was driven to the dirt, his son was free. To Nazul, although he wasn''t much of a father to Nathan, he would rather see his son with a broken heart and pride than behind bars. After seeing Nathan board the plane and it took off, he pulled out his phone to call his long-time best friend, a man, before leaving the airport. "Are you free right now¡­?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: (I clicked the "Power Stones" before I was able to see how many I received since I posted Chapter 77 so I''m not 100% who voted but I will try my best. So to those who voted after I posted Chapter 77 and doesn''t see their names, I''m very sorry.) ? sam0sa ? immortalntime ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? dragonwhite ? fghtgggtr ? Passs3rby ? sam0sa ? M1keN10 ? ABSenior ? darklord12332 ? ImJames ? Tonoddjobs ? asuran_tiger ? Light777 ? ViolenceOfNumbers To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 87] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 79 Cram City Present time. 2:39 am. Nathan arrived at the main highway to Cram City. From Saint Town to Cram City, one would have to drive 10kms until they reach the main highway. After that, they will have to turn left and drive another 10kms until finally reaching Cram City. On his way here, from the South Gate of Saint Town, he followed the road for 2kms, in fear that there might be traps on the side, before taking a shortcut straight to the main highway. He also noticed two strange objects from afar in the middle of Cram City. However, he wasn''t sure what was it due to the distance so he continued running until he reached the main highway. Now that he was at the main highway and about 5kms away from the entrance of Cram City, he could get a somewhat clearer look at the strange objects he saw earlier. With his night/thermal-vision goggles on, he studied the strange objects. His jaw dropped. ''What the fuck is that¡­?'' In the middle of Cram City, there was a cylinder-shaped building reaching up to the skies. But what really shocked him was a giant stingray-liked thing flying around the cylinder-shaped building. The fact that he could see that stingray-shaped thing despite being about 5kms away from entering Cram City, it was no doubt a large object. ''I''m pretty sure that those two weren''t there before the Second Phase¡­ Hmm¡­ That cylinder-shaped building¡­ Could it be one of the Divine Towers? There''s a high possibility it is¡­'' He shook his head. ''No, I''m certain that that''s definitely a Divine Tower.'' ''But as for that stingray-like shaped object, I have no idea. Perhaps it''s another type of zombie?'' So far, since the Second Phase began, he has only encountered the D, N, M and S types. ''Whatever it is, I need to enter that Divine Tower no matter what.'' Based on the message he received earlier from the System, 50 Divine Towers appeared around the world and there''s a 12-hour entrance limit. But most importantly, entering the tower will give him the chance to obtain unique items, as well as [Artifact] grade items. He checked his watch. 3:02 am. ''I still have 9 hours left before the tower closes. I need to gather a lot of [Grade D] Nuclei before heading there.'' Based on the description given to him by the System regarding the [Grade D] Nucleus, it''s used for trading inside the Divine Tower. Also, the fact that Divine Towers have an entrance limit of 12 hours, it made him a bit suspicious. Does that mean he can''t exit the tower within that timeframe? ''I also need to hunt for AGI-based items from the S types and pack up a few food. Who knows what dangers or fucked up situation I might come across¡­'' Aside from the fact that he doesn''t know what''s inside the Divine Towers, Nathan also doesn''t believe he''s the only person who plans to enter them. Those people could likely end up as his enemies because of the loots, specifically the [Artifact] grade ones. On his way here to the main highway, so far, he hasn''t encountered any humans, only those 3m-tall skinless zombies. Filled with excitement and determination, he rushed towards Cram City. *** 4:12 am. Nathan was invisible when he arrived at the center of Cram City where the cylinder-shaped building stood. It was pure chaos. The building itself was as wide as a football stadium and reached high above the sky. Aside from the 3m-tall skinless zombies, the road on the way here was filled with cracks and broken down buildings due to the earthquake earlier. The military was already here with their tanks and assault helicopters fighting off the 3m-tall skinless zombies. Boom! Boom! As for the stingray-like shaped creature floating above the sky near the Divine Tower, it was even larger than a football stadium. But what surprised him the most was that the creature would drop down flesh-like eggs that were about 10ft tall and 5ft wide from its pores from time-to-time. And inside the flesh-like eggs were 3m-tall skinless zombies. There were even D2s, N2s, M2, and S2s among them. "What the¡­?" Nathan dropped his [Grade D] Large Axe from his hand and it lost its invisibility. Clank! Tears welled up in his eyes as he dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air in a very dramatic fashion. "U-Unlimited EXP¡­ Thank you¡­ Thank you, Lord¡­" A single teardrop ran through his cheek. In Nathan''s own mind, there was a very good and logical reason why he minimized killing zombies and started killing off people. In the case of zombies, they were a limited source of EXP and he had to let them increase their overall level. As for the non-Chosen One humans, one of the reasons why he started killing them was because he strongly felt that it was a total waste of resources to let them farm the limited source of EXP. He doesn''t see any reason why he should share the EXP with those weak and worthless humans. As far as he knows, there''s no skill or system that allows a group of people to share EXP. It''s all about who gets the last hit. But now that there was an unlimited source of EXP, how he could not be so happy? With this, he could kill as much as he wants without having to worry! Boom! A building near him was destroyed from one of the shells fired by the tanks so dust got into his eyes and lungs, causing him to cough. "Cough¡­ Cough¡­ Goddammit. Can''t I have a fucking moment?" Nathan muttered under his breath as he picked up his [Grade D] Large Axe and stood up. He deactivated [Coward''s Way] and activated it once again before moving away to observe things. He was deciding whether to enter the Divine Tower right away or not. ''If I enter, will I be able to go out?'' He couldn''t tell what was inside because the entrance was just a large open double door with a red portal, giving anyone looking at it an ominous feeling. ''I haven''t gathered that many nuclei yet and I doubt I could loot here safely with all the chaos around¡­'' So many 3m-tall skinless zombies corpses were lying on the floor thanks to the military. But unlike the limited ammo, shells, etc. of the military, the stingray-like creature floating above the sky near the Divine Tower had an unlimited supply of those 10ft-tall flesh-like eggs. It was simply a losing battle for the military. If they want to survive, they have two choices: One - Retreat. Two - Enter the tower. ''I also need to hunt for the S-type zombies, especially the S2 and M2 for exp¡­ Perhaps an N2 as well...'' As for the D2? That would only mean extra work. On his way here to the centered of Cram City, he killed a few S types and looted a few useful things. However, his overall equipment is still lacking and he doesn''t know what kind of monster or dangers is waiting for him inside. ''I also need food just in case¡­'' Although the System said the entrance limit to the Divine Tower is 12 hours and there''s a chance that to loot unique items and [Artifact] grade items, it didn''t mention how long he will be there or what tasks will be given. Among the things he didn''t want to cross was eating human flesh and drinking human blood just to live. ''Wait! What if it''s a first-come, first-serve scenario? Like, whoever gets to enter the tower first or the earliest get better items?'' Nathan felt conflicted and had butterflies on his stomach. Boom! Boom! Due to the unlimited supply of 3m-tall skinless zombies, the military eventually ran out of ammunition and was slowly getting overrun by the zombies. "HOLD THE LINE! REINFORCEMENTS IS COMING!" shouted a military officer. "SERGEANT! WE CAN''T HOLD THE LINE ANYMORE! THEY''RE TOO MANY! PLEASE GIVE THE ORDER TO RETREAT OR ENTER THE DIVINE TOWER!" shouted another soldier. The sergeant assessed the situation. He was well-aware that holding the line right now was no different from suicide. With that, part of him wants to follow the orders he was given, while another part of him didn''t want to send his brother-in-arms to their deaths for nothing. Moreover, the world and society itself have changed already. When the zombie apocalypse first began, the higher-ups were busy taking advantage of the situation by powering themselves up while fighting with other groups and countries for political gains and resources. And everyone who was aware of the situation thought it was going to stay like that for quite a while. And as part of the military, he saw and even participated (due to orders) in causing some injustice against his fellow humans. However, now that this "Second Phase" happened which caused everyone in the world to stop fighting among each other for political gains and resources, who knows what will happened to their loved ones if they died here. Killing them right away would be an act of mercy to save them from the hardships that''s about to come. The sergeant finally decided. "ENTER THE DIVINE TOWER NOW! THAT''S AN ORDER!" Retreating was impossible because the zombies will catch them without a doubt. Meanwhile, entering the Divine Tower could give them a chance. "GO! GO! GO!" The soldiers began heading to the entrance of the Divine Tower while shooting the zombies that were trying to get to them. When the group of soldiers finally entered the Divine Tower, about half of them were killed. Nathan, who was watching all this time decided to wait for 15 minutes. He wanted to see if the soldiers could enter and exit the tower. 5 minutes later¡­ The backup that the sergeant said arrived. It was a group of fighter jets and assault helicopters. However, just like the previous battle, it was a losing battle for the human side. 10 minutes later¡­ The soldiers who entered the tower haven''t come out ever since they entered. ''Hmm¡­ It''s already been 15 minutes since those soldiers entered. With that, there can only be three assumptions: One, no one was allowed to exit. Two, they encountered something inside. And three, the ones who entered refused to come out knowing the danger that was waiting for them outside.'' ''No¡­ I can ignore the third assumption. That military officer mentioned that reinforcements are coming. They would''ve gone outside if they could.'' Nathan decided to leave and make his preparations before heading back here to enter the Divine Tower. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? M1keN10 ? joel_Salmi ? ABSenior ? Passs3rby ? dragonwhite ? novelfanatic ? AlchemistUniversal ? Nea7 ? Kakashi19 ? zxcblake To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 83] and [Chapter 84] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios ? TurtleManiac (Yeah, I have another Immortal Patron! Woohooo!!!) The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 80 Cram City 2 Cram city, Southeast. 7:30 am. The sound of explosion and gunshots could still be heard throughout the city, especially closer to the middle. A drone was flying in the sky and preparing for a landing near an abandoned building. When it finally landed on the ground, a man immediately came outside of the building to pick up the drone before returning into hiding. Inside the building... "So, Jerry, it''s on?" said a man. Jerry was a leader of a small camp in the South of Cram city. This group he was with right now was made up of 10 people and none of them were Chosen Ones, but they were the best and the bravest among in his camp. Their goal was to head into the middle of the city to check out that cylinder-shaped building. They believe it was one of the Divine Towers that the System mentioned last night. However, the way there wasn''t easy because the streets were filled with those 3m-tall skinless zombies. This is also why they waited until the sun was up so that their vision wouldn''t be limited. Not all groups had access to night or thermal vision goggles. As for the drone they sent out, they originally sent 4 drones, but 3 were taken down by the zombies that had wings. They were using drones to get a layout of the city and find out where the safest route is going to the middle of the city. "Yeah. Whoever here wants to back out, now''s your chance. No one will call you a coward," said Jerry. None of the members said anything. They all had a determined look on their faces. As non-Chosen Ones camped in Cram city, they knew too well the dangers and horrors brought by the zombies and humans. And given that the zombies now evolved into 3m-tall skinless zombies, if they want to continue living like kings or queens instead of just merely surviving, they have no choice but to venture to the Divine Tower to loot unique items as well as [Artifact] grade items. All of the people here were wearing a complete set of System items. Jerry''s weapons were a [Grade D] Sword and [Grade D] Hand Axe. Meanwhile, his non-System weapon was a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, perfect for killing those pesky D1 zombies with a headshot in close range. "Okay, let''s go. And remember, no guns unless necessary. We kill them quick and clean. The last thing we want is them ganging up on us." said Jerry. They all nodded. The group exited the building they were hiding in and headed to the middle of Cram City using the route that they have planned. *** Out in the streets. Jerry''s group traversed the streets of Cram city silently, but it took them a lot of time to get to where the Divine Tower was. If there was a group of more than five 3m-tall skinless zombies, they would take a detour. Jerry raised a fist, ordering his team to stop. There was a group of more than 15 zombies up ahead. He looked to his sides to find another route and found one. The group continued making their way to the middle of the city. And after another 30 minutes, they came across a street full of headless 3m-tall zombie corpses and a man cursing loudly. "FUCK ME SIDEWAYS! I KNEW IT! I WAS RIGHT! I WAS FUCKING RIGHT" Jerry immediately raised his fist and signaled his companions to take cover. Just like the zombies, humans were also dangerous. Probably even more dangerous. At least with zombies, they don''t torture you. They just eat you right away. But with humans, depending on who you encounter, if they happened to be one of those sick and sadistic freaks, pray that you don''t get captured by them. When Jerry and his group got into positions, they looked at the person openly cursing in the middle of the streets and surrounded by headless 3m-tall zombie corpses. *** Nathan had been hunting zombies all night non-stop, most of them were S types. He also killed some of the M types and N types. However, for the D types, he only killed a handful of them and. of course, ignored the D2s. Right now, he was testing out his new equipment and noticed something strange. *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.3662109375????% Stats: STR ¨C 38 VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+33) INT ¨C 33 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (4/12) [Grade D] Sword (12/12) [Grade D] Helm (12/15): +3 Agi [Grade C] Chain Mail (18/20): +5 Agi [Grade C] Chain Gloves (17/20): +5 Agi [Grade C] Chain Boots (20/20): +5 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +5 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Way] *** ''So¡­ around 30 points is the threshold?'' He had always wondered what if his AGI reached 99 points. How will his eyes keeps up with the speed? Wouldn''t things become blurry by then? He also wondered what''s allowing him to see things in slow motion once he focuses. With this experiment, he found out a few things¡­ When one''s AGI is 30 points more than their VIT and INT, his body couldn''t keep with the speed. In the case of his VIT which is at 36 points, whenever he uses his full speed in moving with his AGI points at 33 (+33), he could feel a strain on his joints. In the case of his INT which is at 33 points, whenever he uses his full speed, there was an obvious delay in his reactions because his brain couldn''t process the information immediately that his eyes were seeing. ''So I really can''t just focus solely on AGI anymore once I equip [Grade C] System items¡­ Good thing I didn''t throw away those [Grade D] armor, boots and gloves I looted earlier.'' Although wearing [Grade C] items were way better because it gives +5 bonus stats, he doesn''t have any [Grade C] Repair Kit. He even tried using a [Grade D] Repair Kit on a [Grade C] equipment but it didn''t work. At the moment, only the [Grade C] Rings and Necklace were useful for him because these accessory-type System items don''t have limited durability. ''If AGI can''t be more than 30 points compared to VIT and AGI, what about the other attributes?'' Nathan doesn''t believe only the AGI attribute has this restriction. One of the things he suspects is that STR can''t be more than 30 points than the VIT. As an analogy, that would be like creating a powerful gun using cheap materials. After a few shots or so, the gun will most likely break. His stomach growled from hunger and he checked his watch. 9:27 am. ''I still have about 2 and half hours to loot for more Nuclei before I head to the Divine Tower¡­ But first, I need to go back to the place where I kept my equipment and loots before eating. I also need to pack food and take a dump.'' Nathan doesn''t care if you''re the strongest person who has ever lived. Even that person would bow down and surrender when nature calls. As he turned around to get the sack of nuclei he left on the side before extracting the nuclei from the zombies he killed, he saw a man walking up towards him with both of his hands held up high. "Hello, my friend. My name is Jerry and I come in peace." Nathan looked at Jerry and frowned. Jerry stopped about 20 ft away. ''Tch! I was so busy killing zombies and it''s so noisy from all the explosions and gunshots that I failed to notice this guy spying on me,'' Nathan thought as his eyes darted around to check his surroundings for a quick moment before returning his gaze at Jerry. "Come in peace, huh. So what do you want?" "I''ll be straight with you. We''re heading to the center of Cram City to enter the Divine Tower. You''re headed there as well, right? We can help each other." In Jerry''s mind, Nathan was most likely part of a strong group and they''re gathering Nuclei before heading to the Divine Tower. The entrance limit to the Divine Towers is 12 hours and there''s still about 2 and a half hours left. His plan was to latch on Nathan''s group for the meantime while heading to the Divine Tower. Thanks to the drones they sent earlier, they knew how chaotic it was in the center of Cram City. There''s no shame in trying to find an easier way to survive. And once they''re inside the Divine Tower, they will act according to the situation. Whatever the situation is, their end goal was to take the biggest slice of the cake. "Help each other, huh." Nathan had an amused smile. In his mind, aside from the fact that he can easily go to the Divine Tower all by himself despite the chaos there, no one is going there to "help" each other. The word "use" would be more appropriate. The System informed everyone that unique and [Artifact] items can be obtained there. With that, anyone who plans to enter the Divine Tower were most likely solely driven by greed. "So, what can you give me if we helped each other?" Nathan asked and was still wearing an amused smile. "We have a lot of System items, including potions and skill books. But most importantly, we''re a capable group," Jerry said. Being able to survive here in Cram City wasn''t easy. And Jerry and his group were one of the groups that thrived in this city despite being a small group and as non-Chosen Ones. "Just that?" ''Just that? This son of a bitch is quite greedy. Nevertheless, it makes him even easier to read and predict,'' Jerry thought. "Whatever loots we get at the Divine Tower, we will give you 30%." Nathan let out a chuckle and said, "You mentioned, ''We.'' So where are your other companions? That''s awfully rude for someone who''s asking to work together, right?" Nathan said. All this time, Jerry''s gaze was locked on Nathan. Aside from the frown that Nathan has shown when he first saw him, he has been smiling ever since. ''Is this son of a bitch that confident that his group is that powerful? But come to think of it, he hasn''t mentioned his name nor his teammates and he has had that smirk on his face like he''s looking down on me¡­'' Jerry pondered. ''But then again, I was the one who requested to have an alliance first so it makes sense that I should show my cards¡­ Wait¡­ Should I delay things and let him offer more information first?'' "What''s wrong? Don''t me you''re the only person left in your team, are you?" said Nathan. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''I''ve already got this far. No point in being indecisive. Plus, based on that annoying smirk on his face, it only means that he''s really part of a powerful group. Let''s see if you could still smile when the time comes I stab you in the back,'' Jerry thought. "Of course not." He raised his hand and made a signal for his companions to come out. His companions came out and gathered behind him. "So this is all of you?" Nathan asked. "Yeah. Where are your teammates?" Jerry said. Still wearing a smile, there was a cold glint in Nathan''s eyes as he said, "Teammates?" When Jerry saw the cold glint on Nathan''s eyes and heard the question, a chill suddenly ran down his spine and made him realized that this guy was one of those sick and sadistic freaks that get turned on by killing people. Nathan vanished. "Fuck! Get ready to fight!" Jerry shouted. 81 Cram City 3 "Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmmm~ " Nathan was humming as he walked over to the last member of Jerry''s team who had his legs chopped off and was desperately crawling away to grab a handgun and fire it in order to lure the 3m-tall skinless zombies. When the man''s fingers were just inches away from the handgun, Nathan slashed down his [Grade D] Large Axe, chopping off the man''s hand. Whoosh! "AHHH!" The man cried out in agony. "Sorry, my ''friend''. But you guys started it," Nathan said with an apologetic tone but there was a smile on his face. The man flipped over to face Nathan and shouted, "YOU FUCKING CRAZY SICK BASTARD! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!" before casting [Fireball] with his other hand. Pah! Nathan pulled up his [Grade D] Large Axe and slapped the man''s hand away, causing to change the trajectory of the [Fireball]. Seeing his [Fireball] skill shoot in another direction, a sense of helplessness welled up inside of the man, causing him to laugh and cry in misery. He had no mana left to cast another attack spell. Nathan knelt down on one knee beside the man. "You broke?" Nathan snorted. "Kill me already. That''s what you want, RIGHT?!" The man reached out to Nathan with his remaining arm and grabbed onto him. "COME ON!" The man''s eyes were wide and hysterical. Looking at the man''s state, Nathan lost his desire to kill and felt a sense of disgust from being touched by a man. This man already wanted to die, spoiling all the fun. From all the killing he had done, he had developed a certain taste that he never realized before ¨C It was more fun to kill people who struggle desperately as they cling onto life before robbing it from them at the last minute. As a matter of fact, it gave him a bit of a hard-on. ''Hmm¡­ Is it possible to reach orgasm from killing someone, like when one experiences wet dreams?'' Nathan thoughts started to wander. Pah! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The man slapped Nathan''s arm, causing him to return back to reality. "HEY! COME ONE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Nathan felt irritated and swung his [Grade D] Large Axe. "Annoying!" Whoosh! The man was decapitated and his head rolled over and landed where it looked like its eyes were staring straight at Nathan. "Don''t look at me like that. You broke my daydreaming. I would''ve let you lived, you know," Nathan said and snorted. Realizing he was talking to a decapitated head, he shook his head in shame and chuckled as he raised his hands. "Okay, okay, okay. I admit. I was going to kill you all in the end regardless of whatever you guys said or offered. But hey, you should be thankful that I lowered myself to even talk to you people." "However, I didn''t expect that you would waste my time by not offering something good or interesting by the very least. That''s no different than spitting on my face, my prestige as a Chosen One. You people ought to know your place." "But then again¡­" he stroke his beardless chin. "I guess I have no one to blame but myself for even expecting anything decent from you ants¡­ Silly me~" He got up and hummed once again as he began looting the corpses of Jerry and his team. Most of their faces held an expression of disbelief. They didn''t expect Nathan could not only turn invisible without any cooldown and mana cost but his AGI was also so high that they could barely react before getting their heads chopped off. Aside from the System potions, a [Grade D] Long Dagger and bags of nuclei, he also took the sawed-off double-barrel shotgun of Jerry, its holster, and a couple of shells. Unfortunately, there were only 12 shotgun shells left. ''This would be better than my Silencer in terms of power. But the range and reloading would be a problem¡­ There''s also the limited number of shells¡­ Sigh¡­'' He removed the knife holster on his right thigh for his [Grade D] Dagger and replaced it with the knife holster for his [Grade D] Long Dagger on his left thigh. After that, he placed the holster for the sawed-off double-barrel shotgun on the left side of his waist. It also had a pair of straps on the other end to secure it properly on the leg. He tried moving around to see if the sawed-off double-barrel shotgun would fall off. He ran¡­ He jumped¡­ He rolled over¡­ He sidestepped¡­ He turned around¡­ ''Hmm¡­ Not bad. At least it''s secured.'' He grabbed his sack of nuclei before disappearing and heading back to where he stashed the rest of the items he looted today. *** Cram city, South. 10:30 am. Nathan was currently inside an abandoned one-story building. Before choosing this building, he tried kicking its pillars to see if it will come crashing down. The fact that it went through an earthquake last night, he had to make sure by the very least. In his mind, how pathetic it would be if he died from a building collapsing on top of him and one of the bars piercing his head? He just finished eating and made sure to eat a lot, at least worth 3 meals. He also packed his food, both cooked meals and canned goods and 6 bottles of water. He did his morning routine as well. And lastly, he changed some of his equipment and repaired all of them. As for his status chart¡­ *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+27) INT ¨C 33 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (12/12) [Grade D] Sword (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Chain Mail (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Chain Gloves (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Chain Boots (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +5 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Way] *** In regards to the other [Grade C] equipment that he had, he hid them at a secret location. He was currently sitting on the floor as he counted the Nuclei he gathered. Given that there was already an unlimited source of EXP, he didn''t hold back in killing. It was just pure massacre -- except whenever he encounters the D2 zombies. He had 1251 [Grade D] Nuclei and 32 [Grade C] Nuclei. ''I think this is going to be a problem¡­ I guess¡­'' His problem was that not only does he need to carry his [Grade D] Large Axe on his hand and a backpack for his food and the other things, he also had to carry two large sacks filled with these nuclei. Each nucleus was as large as an infant''s fist. With that, he would be unable to fight right away in case of an emergency as he head to the Divine Tower. Moreover, he needs to be careful and couldn''t run fast in case the sacks get damaged. ''This¡­'' He felt a little speechless for a moment before letting out a sigh. ''I just have to leave early and just head straight to the Divine Tower as safely as I could.'' He got up and prepared the rest of his things before going to the center of Cram city where one of the Divine Towers is located and enter it. *** 11:31 am. In the middle of Cram City. Nathan was carefully making his way to the Divine Tower. Aside from his backpack and other things, his right hand was holding the [Grade D] Large Axe, while his left hand was holding the two large sacks of nuclei over his shoulder. Almost everything here was destroyed and the stench of death was too strong, even for Nathan. The road was filled with cracks and the buildings broken down thanks to the earthquake last night. There were burning tanks, helicopters and other types of vehicles. There were many corpses, limbs and guts lying on the ground. Furthermore, there were a number of 3m-tall skinless zombies (most of them were Rank 1 while a few of them were Rank 2) around that he had to evade thanks to the stingray-like creature floating in the sky near the Divine Tower that drops those 10ft-tall flesh-like eggs. As for the appearance of Nathan, he looked like a refugee who escaped from a war-torn town or city. ''It''s times like this I really, really wish I had a spatial item¡­ The unique and [Artifact] grade items in the Divine Tower should better be worth it!'' He was already just a couple of steps away from the entrance of the Divine Tower when suddenly a group of 3m-tall Rank 1 zombies led by an N2 approached the entrance, almost bumping into him. ''Dammit!'' Krrrr¡­ Nathan managed to flawlessly evade the group but he heard a tear coming from one of the large sacks he was carrying. Regarding this N2 zombie, he fought a few earlier in his farming spree this morning. In terms of appearance, it was similar to the N1. The only difference was that it can also cast magic spells just like the M1, including the absorption of mana skill when it feeds on human flesh. As for its stats: ? Str - 41 ? Vit - 41 ? Agi - 41 ? Int - 41 Nathan carefully slipped into the entrance. As he took a step forward into the red portal that could give anyone who looks at it an ominous feeling, and given that this was his first time in entering a portal, he closed his eyes and silently wished that everything will turn out just fine. Stepping through the red portal, an odd sense of displacement washed all over him, causing him to feel a bit nauseous. He closed his eyes to calm himself down as he continued walking. It was only until he felt a cool and gentle breeze brushing against his face and the sound of the voices of people ringing inside his ears that he dared to open his eyes. To his surprise, he found himself just outside an entrance of a brightly lit village under a starless and moonless dark sky. The lights were coming from these golden wisps that were hovering in the air. There were people walking around and it looked like there was a festival of some sort. ''What the hell?'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios ? Turtlemaniac The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 82 Eternal Village In front of Nathan was a brightly lit village under a starless and moonless dark sky that was nothing but pitch black. The lights were coming from the golden wisps that were hovering in the air. There were people, mostly young adults, walking around as if celebrating something. ''What''s the hell is going on here?'' Nathan retracted his vision from the village and surveyed the rest of his surroundings. The road he was standing on was no different from outside of the Divine Tower -- it was just soil. And on the side what an endless plain of grass that was blanketed by darkness. Unfortunately, he didn''t bring his night/thermal vision goggles. The reason behind this was because its battery died and he had no way to charge the batteries or change them. The buildings inside the village were either made of wood or stone, or a combination of both. However, most of them were only a one-story building, only a handful were two-stories. Meanwhile, the roof was made up of malleable materials either from straw or wood. He closed his eyes and concentrated on listening to the voices of the people. His eyes widened. The language spoken by the villagers was no doubt something he hasn''t heard of, let alone was familiar with. However, he could clearly understand them. As for what they were talking about, it''s was just mundane things such as, food and entertainment served at the festival, the harvesting of crops for the next season, a cow that gave birth yesterday, training horses and other things. Sniff. Sniff. He tried smelling the air to find out if he could catch that familiar stench of death, zombies and gunpowder that was prevalent in Cram City. ''Nothing¡­ It''s just nature and food.'' He put down the sacks of nuclei he carried over his shoulders and took out a small flashlight from his fanny pack and pressed the switch. Click! The light flickered for only a quick moment, illuminating the green grass, before dying down. He frowned and pressed the switch again. Click! No light came out. ''That''s weird. I remember the batteries of this flashlight are still working¡­'' He pressed the switch again. Click! Click! Still no light came from his flashlight. He started to ponder. ''This is really, really weird¡­ Plus, what happened to the people that entered the Divine Tower before me? Are they the ones being cooked right now?'' After thinking for a while and getting nowhere, he finally made a decision to go check the village and ask for information. But before that, he checked his stats and his skill [Coward''s Way] first. There were no changes. Everything felt and looked the same as ever. ''Hmm¡­'' He looked towards the village once more. The people walking around the village were mostly dressed in normal class medieval clothing and looked non-threatening, at least on the surface. There was also one thing he noticed. Everyone here looked Caucasian. However, they had different hair colors. In fact, their hair color coincides with their eye color. Red hair, red eyes. Golden hair, golden eyes. Brown hair, brown eyes. ''Sneak in or not?'' In his mind, people will only show their true colors when they think no one is watching them. Plus, he doesn''t know what''s waiting for him inside. They could be cannibals for all he knows. He decided to activate [Coward''s Way]. The minute he stepped inside, he lost his invisibility and a messaged popped inside his head. ''Ding! You have entered the Eternal Village. Please be aware that there are rules and are posted inside the Village Hall. Failure to abide by the rules is punishable by death. You have three chances but some crimes are immediately punishable by death.'' "What the¡­?" He was surprised to see his body turn from transparent to clear. Some of the villagers only spared Nathan a quick glance before continuing what they were doing. It seemed they were not surprised by his appearance at all. Nathan checked his status chart once again. Everything felt and look the same as ever. ''Eternal Village? Rules? Village Hall? Punishable by death? Three chances? Hmm¡­ What a strange village. Better check the rules at the Village Hall first.'' He decided to ask some of the villagers where the Village Hall is. He approached a young man with golden hair who was standing on a corner looking like he was waiting for someone. "Hi, excuse me. I''m looking for the Village Hall. Can you tell me where it is?" "Oh, hello, are you one of the Traveling Mercenaries sent by God to participate in the Holy Night Ceremony?" Hearing what the young man said, Nathan squinted his eyes. ''So they can understand what I''m saying.'' Since these people had Caucasian features, he decided to use the Regisian language which was the most popular language outside of this Divine Tower. ''Let''s try using Muwinian this time,'' Nathan thought. "What do you mean by ''Traveling Mercenaries sent by God to participate in the Holy Night Ceremony''?" "Oh¡­ So this is your first time attending the festival? I may not know much compared to the Village Head, the Priestesses and elders, but I''ll tell you everything I know." ''They can also understand Muwinian¡­ What if I try making up a language?'' Nathan thought. "Asdkknvc sduivvzzw sfdsfdsf?" "What did you say?" ''Heh~ Interesting.'' Nathan held an apologetic expression. "I''m sorry, you were going to tell me everything you know about this festival and the Holy Night Ceremony?" "Every year, God sends ''Traveling Mercenaries'' to our village to participate in a ceremony that will be conducted on the Holy Night Festival. We also call that ceremony the Holy Night Ceremony." "Every year? How long has this tradition been going on?" "Since the beginning of time." ''Since the beginning of time?'' Nathan thought. "You mentioned God. Who exactly is this God is? And what are the ''Traveling Mercenaries'' supposed to do in this Holy Night Ceremony?" "God is God. We aren''t worthy of knowing of His true and holy name but we are nevertheless eternally grateful to Him. As for what the Traveling Mercenaries are supposed to do in the ceremony, we, the villagers, are supposed to shower them with prayers as they enter a portal that will appear at the Holy Temple." ''God is God, huh¡­'' Nathan thought the first time he heard that god''s voice when the zombie apocalypse began. "What''s waiting for the people on the other side of the portal you mentioned?" "Sorry, I don''t know." "Didn''t you say that this tradition has been going on since the beginning of time? What happened to the people that entered the portal?" "Sorry, I don''t ¨C Ahhh!" The man he suddenly had a searing headache, causing him to hold onto his head and kneel on the ground. Nathan was about to smack him in the head, but decided not to after thinking about everything, especially the message. "Hey, are you okay?" After about 5 seconds, the man got up and looked at Nathan. "Oh, hello, are you one of the Traveling Mercenaries sent by God to participate in the Holy Night Ceremony?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan''s eyes widened for a quick moment before reverting to its previous state. "Yeah¡­ Do you know how long has this tradition been going on?" "Since the beginning of time." "Do you know what''s waiting for us once we enter the portal that will appear at the Holy Temple?" "Sorry, I don''t know." "Has anyone come back after entering the portal?" "I don''t ¨C Ahhh!" The same scenario happened. However, this time around, a message popped inside Nathan''s head. ''Ding! You have one chance left. Continuing to ask more about restricted information will lead to death.'' ''One chance left?'' Tch! Nathan made a clicking sound with his tongue. Just like from earlier, after about 5 seconds, the young man got up. "Oh, hello, are you one of the Traveling Mercenaries sent by God to participate in the Holy Night Ceremony?" ''No point of pushing it further,'' Nathan thought. "Yeah." "Oh, that''s great. You should go to the Village Hall and talk to the Village Chief." "Why should I talk to the Village Chief?" "I''m sorry, but is this your first time participating in the Holy Night Ceremony?" Nathan didn''t answer. A strong urge to squeeze the neck of this young man welled up inside of him but he knew he couldn''t. "It''s okay. No need to be ashamed of it," said the young man with a warm smile. "Just so you know, it''s customary. The Village Chief will add you to the list of the traveling mercenaries that will enter the portal that appears at the Holy Temple." "Where is the Village Hall?" "The Village Hall is located at the center of this village. Go hurry, the ceremony is about to start any minute now." "What?" Nathan remembered that when he entered the Divine Tower, there was only less than 30 minutes left before the entrance closes. He checked his watch. 11:42 am. ''18 minutes left?! Fuck me sideways! I don''t have enough time to investigate this village!'' He quickly put down one of the sacks. He took out a [Grade D] Nucleus and showed it to the young man. "Do you know what this is?" Seeing the object on Nathan''s palm, there was a warm glint in the young man''s eyes. "Oh yes. That''s a nucleus. It''s one of God''s greatest blessings to mankind." ''One of God''s greatest blessings?'' Nathan couldn''t help but scoff inside his head and wondered if this person even knew where this actually came from. "It''s what we use in our daily lives. In fact, one of the reasons why we all look forward to traveling mercenaries visiting here is to obtain that." "Use in your daily lives?" "See these lights?" The young man pointed over at the golden wisps hovering in the air that illuminated the village. "They are powered by it. Well, I don''t have the skill or talent to create such things, but this one example that we used it for." ''This¡­'' He wanted to learn more, but he doesn''t have much time and there''s also the issue of the restriction regarding what things can and can''t be said. "Where do I use this or exchange it with?" "You can exchange them at the shops located near the Village Hall." "Can you act as my guide?" Nathan gave five [Grade D] Nuclei to the young man. In his mind, although there''s something preventing these people from revealing certain things, it''s better having a guide to lead him there to quicken things. For all he knows, when he gets there, there could be some tasks or issues that he would have to face and it would take a huge chunk of his time trying to figure it out alone. As for whether he will participate in the ceremony or not, he would decide after he meets the Village Chief. "Sure, no problem. Follow me!" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Passs3rby ? darklord12332 ? shayan_mohebbi ? M1keN10 ? Nea7 ? MyRedeemerLives (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? dragonwhite ? Light777 ? ViolenceOfNumbers ? samurai12467 ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? 14Lit ? Meilstrem ? Unparalleled_marti ? James_Black_2558 ? Ramvox ? asuran_tiger ? Dyllanwade To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 91] to[Chapter 96] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios ? Turtlemaniac The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 83 Eternal Village 2 11:45 am. Nathan and the young man arrived at the Village Hall. It was a two-story building made up of wood and stone. ''His stats seem to be average¡­'' On their way here, Nathan was observing the young man. One of the things he did was increase his speed only a little bit -- he didn''t want to tear his sacks and end up wasting precious time picking the nuclei. Nevertheless, it showed that the young man moved like a normal human. ''But I can''t be sure yet. After all, some of them are capable of creating things using the nuclei¡­'' "This is the Village Hall. Come," said the young man as he made his way to the entrance. Nathan followed suit. "By the way, you''re really strong. Despite having carrying those things, you can still move normally and fast. If I had even half of your strength, I would leave this village and travel around the world or perhaps even participate in the Holy Night Ceremony as well." ''Travel around the world? I wonder what type of monsters or magical beings outside of this village. Also, he would participate in the Holy Night Festival? Does that mean it''s safe? But thinking about what happened earlier¡­'' Nathan thought. "It''s nothing --" "There''s one more traveling mercenary left?" It was a woman''s voice. "G-Good evening, Priestess," said the young man as he quickly offered a bow and his cheeks blushed. ''Priestess?'' Nathan looked at the woman referred to as Priestess. It was a beautiful and pure-looking Caucasian woman with red hair and eyes and looked like she was still about 16 years old. She was wearing a crown made of white flowers, a long white robe that covered her entire body and touched the ground with intricate golden symbols and patterns embroiled on it, and gold pieces of jewelry. Some of the symbols Nathan couldn''t make out of, while the others represented the shape of leaves and feathers. "You should thank God that I was ordered by the High Priestess to return here and pick something up. No one is left here inside the Village Hall. Everyone, the Village Chief, the other priestesses and elders, all went to the Holy Temple to conduct the ceremony. Follow me right away for the marking." "Wait. What --" Nathan was about to ask some questions regarding the ceremony but after thinking about the warning from the System earlier, he decided not to and just followed the woman to one of the rooms. "I''ll just wait here," said the young man and waited at the hall. Nathan was brought to this spacious room. In the middle, there was a white orb sitting on top of the pedestal that was about 4ft high. "Place your hand on the orb." Nathan put down the two large sacks of nuclei on his left hand touched the white orb. The moment he touched the white orb, it shined brightly with this blinding golden light. He also felt this intense burn on the back of his hand. Seeing the golden light, a warm glint flickered on the priestess'' eyes. "Ugh!" Although Nathan was stronger compared to non-Chosen humans, especially for those who didn''t even increase their level, his sense of pain was still no different from every other human. He tried to pull his hand away from the orb, but he couldn''t. ''What the hell is happening?!'' The orb continued to shine and the back of his hand continued to burn. The process lasted about 5 seconds when the light emitted by the orb dimmed down until it returned to its previous state, the burning sensation vanished, and his hand free. "What the fuck was that?!" Nathan shot an angry gaze at the priestess. The priestess offered a deep bow. "Please forgive me, oh powerful one. I didn''t know you were a Chosen One." ''These people are aware of Chosen Ones?'' Nathan squinted his eyes. "What do you mean?" "The orb will only emit a golden light if the traveling mercenary is Chosen One. To those who aren''t, the orb will emit a white light." "And what about this?" Nathan pulled out the glove of his left hand and showed the golden mark printed on the back of his hand. The golden marking was a pentagram of some sort with some strange symbols that Nathan had no idea about. Truth be told, he felt like an animal being branded for some sacrifice. "That''s a marking from God, showing that He has granted you His divine blessing to enter the portal at the Holy Night Ceremony." ''Blessing?'' Nathan scoffed. "What if --" He was about to ask what if he entered the portal without having this mark or what if he refused to enter the portal but was afraid it was against the rules. "Tell me about the rules and where can I trade the nuclei I brought." The priestess looked at the two large sacks on the floor. One of the reasons why they, the villagers, looked forward to the Holy Night Festival was because of the nuclei that were an important tool in their everyday life. "The rules are simple. Killing, stealing, using of magic with the intent of causing harm, and causing chaos within the village is prohibited and punishable by death. Also, now that you''ve received God''s blessing, you have no choice but to enter the portal or you will face the wrath of God. As for the nuclei¡­" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Wait! Wrath of God? What the -- You didn''t --" The priestess pulled out a ring from her finger and gave it to Nathan. "Take this ring. The ceremony will start in about 15 minutes from now so the people in this village are heading to the Holy Temple to attend the Holy Night Ceremony, which includes the shop owners so no shops will be opened until the ceremony ends. I will try to ask the High Priestess to delay the ceremony for 10 minutes. That ring represents us, the Priestesses, so the shop owners will have no choice but to open their shops for you." ''I''ve been duped¡­'' Nathan frowned as he held the ring on his palm. It was an ordinary golden ring with an insignia in the form of a feather imprinted on it. The look on the priestess was so sincere that it didn''t look like she was lying about facing the wrath of the so-called god she was referring to. ''Looks like I have no choice but to enter the portal, huh,'' Nathan thought. "I didn''t catch your name." "When we joined the Priestesses, part of our vow is to discard our name in honor of our God. You may refer to me as Priestess, oh Chosen One." The Priestess bowed once more. "Sure, sure. Whatever." Nathan didn''t mind the respect, but he felt a bit weirded out from being called "oh Chosen One". Even with his petty pride and all, it seems a bit too cheesy for him. He picked up his two large sacks of nuclei before going out of the room while the priestess followed from behind. When he got outside of the room, the young man was still waiting at the hall. "I will be going now. May God bless you in the Holy Night Ceremony, oh Chosen One," said the priestess before leaving Nathan and the young man. "What are the shops here that are vital to the traveling mercenaries who are about to enter the portal?" Nathan said to the young man. Given that he had so little limited time left, despite the fact he still had so many things to ask and investigate, he decided to ask right away about the vital shops that could help traveling mercenaries before entering the portal. "Umm¡­ There''s the Blacksmith Shop, Item Shop, Magic Shop and the Tavern. They''re just right outside of the Village Hall." "Show me the way." "Okay." *** The young man brought Nathan to the Magic Shop first. When they got there, there was a skinny old man and a young kid already preparing to close down the shop to attend the ceremony at the Holy Temple. The old man noticed Nathan and the young man. "I''m sorry, but I''m already closing to attend the ceremony." "Wait!" Nathan took out the ring and showed it to the old man. The old man looked at the ring and recognized the insignia. "Forgive me for my transgression. Please enter my humble shop, Great Chosen One." ''Heh~ This ring is that effective? Plus, it seems people have high respect for Chosen Ones. I must admit, I kind of like them compared to the ones outside of the Divine Tower who think they''re my equal.'' Nathan thought as he entered. Meanwhile, the young man who was acting as Nathan''s guide was wide-eyed from the revelation. Not only did the priestess gave Nathan her ring, but Nathan was also a Chosen One. As for the reason why the magic shop owner knew Nathan was a Chosen One, it was really simple. The Priestess will only give special privileges to such beings. The young man has heard stories about the Chosen Ones among the traveling mercenaries before. According to what he has heard, their overall stats are higher compared to the ordinary traveling mercenaries. Moreover, although they only had one skill, each of their skill is unique. And in most cases, almost cheat-like so they usually have a lot of nuclei to spend on. And given that nuclei are an important tool they use in their everyday lives, in the eyes of the people especially for the business owners who cater to traveling mercenaries'' necessities, the Chosen Ones are viewed as the best customers. ''I should''ve realized he was a Chosen One right away when he was carrying those two large sacks filled with nuclei¡­'' The young man thought. The place was filled with books placed on shelves. "Please have a look at our collection of spellbooks." Nathan abruptly stopped and looked at the old man. "Spellbooks? You only have spellbooks here and nothing else?" "Yes, Great Chosen One. This is a magic shop after all. But the spell books that I offer are useful for your companions --" "Use--" Nathan was about to curse before realizing something. "Hmm¡­ Given that you know I''m a Chosen One, do you know a way that I can learn skills or upgrade my Chosen One skill?" "As far as I know, it''s not possible. However, the world is full of mysteries so there could be a way that I''m not aware of." "Useless!" Nathan said as he stormed out of the shop. "Thank you for gracing my humble shop with your presence, oh Great Chosen One!" The old man said with sincerity and offered a bow to Nathan. "Thank you!" The young kid who worked at the magic shop offered a bow as well. Outside¡­ "Is that the Blacksmith Shop?" Nathan asked the young man. "You''re one of the Chosen Ones? Wow. May I --" "Not now, I don''t have much time!" "I''m very sorry. Yes, it is, Great Chosen One." When they got to the shop, it was the same as the Magic Shop. The shop owner, who was an old man with a robust body, and a young man who looked like his son were closing the shop to attend the ceremony. The son noticed Nathan and the young man approaching. "I''m here to check your shop." Nathan flashed the ring right away. "We''re closed already. Go away!" "Do you see this ring?" The son looked at the ring on and recognized the insignia. His eyes widened and he ran to his father. Nathan stepped inside the Blacksmith Shop right away. There were medieval-type weapons and equipment displayed around the shop. He approached one of the items and touched it. ''[Grade D]¡­ [Unawakened]¡­ What?'' He touched another item. ''[Grade D]¡­ [Unawakened]¡­'' He touched another item. It was also [Grade D] and [Unawakened]. ''What the fuck is this shit?'' "Great Chosen One, how may I be of service?" It was the owner of the shop. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios ? Turtlemaniac The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 84 Eternal Village 3 "What does ''unawakened'' mean?" said Nathan. "The act of awakening an item is blessing it with the powers granted to us by God and is classified into two tiers: First Tier and Second Tier. Once an item is awakened, it will give bonus stats such as STR, VIT, AGI and INT to the wearer," said the blacksmith ''Oh¡­ So the equipment I am wearing are awakened items?'' Nathan thought. "Are the stats random?" This was an important issue for Nathan. Regardless of whether you''re a Chosen One or not, having the right combination of bonus stats was crucial, especially in the case of Chosen Ones where they only have one skill. "Each equipment [Grade] has its maximum number of bonus stats. And as I already mentioned, they are divided into two tiers. As for the stats that will appear once it''s awakened, it depends on the wishes of the customer." The blacksmith grinned and looked at the two large sacks of nuclei that Nathan was carrying. Nathan was getting impatient because he was short of time. "Tell me all the information right away. Also, do you have [Grade C] equipment here? Can you re-awakened a piece of equipment that''s already awakened?" "Please forgive me, Great Chosen One. For a [Grade D] equipment, each item costs 100 [Grade D] Nuclei. As for the tiers, the First Tier gives +3 bonus stats and costs 50 [Grade D] Nuclei, while the Second Tier gives +4 bonus stats and costs 100 [Grade D] Nuclei." "..." "Unfortunately, I don''t have any [Grade C] items here. But I can re-awakened them if you have one. But of course, the price is higher -- 150 [Grade D] Nuclei for the First Tier which gives +5 and 200 [Grade D] Nuclei for the Second Tier which gives +6." Nathan narrowed his eyes. At the moment, he had 1246 [Grade D] Nuclei and 32 [Grade C] Nuclei. He gave 5 [Grade D] Nuclei to the young man earlier. But despite that, it was still too expensive and he has yet to go check the Item Shop and the Tavern. Nathan turned to the young man who was acting as his guide and threw him the ring given to him by the priestess. "Go to the Item Shop and tell the owner to wait for me. Return here right away once you''re done." "Yes, Great Chosen One," said the young man and left the Blacksmith Shop. "What''s the worth of a [Grade C] Nucleus?" Nathan asked the blacksmith. "[Grade C]? Wow, you have that. That''s worth 50 [Grade D] Nuclei each. Not many --" Nathan was short of time so he cut him off. "How long does it require to awaken or re-awaken an item?" "It will only take a second." "Is it possible to awaken a weapon?" That blacksmith shook his head. "There are no weapons that give bonus stats but there are weapons imbued with elemental powers. If you want to try to purchase one, it''s at the Tavern, but it''s quite expensive and it all depends on luck. Though I do have some Magic Arrows and Bolts." When Nathan heard the word "luck", his heart immediately sank. If it was just expensive, he would''ve purchased one. But given that it requires "luck", he couldn''t help but assume that it was a form of gambling so he decided not to. "You mentioned Magic Arrows and Bolts? Show me your range weapons." The blacksmith pointed at the bows lined up at a corner. There was a [Grade D] Short Bow, Bow, Long Bow and Crossbow. "This is it?" Nathan was displeased. He wanted a gun or something. He pulled out his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun and showed it to the blacksmith. "Do you have something like this?" The blacksmith looked at the gun and shook his head. "I''m not familiar with that item. What does it do?" "It shoots a metal ball. Can you awaken it?" "No, because I don''t sense any magic from the metal being used." ''Sense any magic? So the material used to create the System items emit magic? I never thought of that¡­ But what if --'' "Shoots metal, huh. Hmm¡­" That blacksmith took out a mini crossbow. "Well, I have this [Grade D] Mini-crossbow that you can attach to your forearm. It can shoot 5 bolts in one reload and is as powerful as a crossbow but reloading it takes a lot of time. If you''re not interested, I also have throwing daggers and darts," said the blacksmith, interrupting Nathan''s thought process. "What about the bolts? Are they part of the System?" "Part of the System?" The Blacksmith''s brows knitted together in confusion. "Umm¡­ Fuck! Um¡­ I mean, is it ''blessed'' by your God or ''awakened'' or do they have a [Grade]?" Nathan didn''t know how to properly explain it so he just said the words, hoping the blacksmith would understand it. "Oh¡­ Arrows and bolts are ''gradeless'' but they''ve been ''awakened'' through a special procedure so they''re not your typical arrows and bolts. Do you want the awakened Normal Bolts or the awakened Magical Bolts? 1 [Grade D] Nucleus gives you 50 pieces of the former or 10 pieces of the latter. Also, please keep in mind that an awakened Magic Bolt can only be used once and requires 10 mana points to cast. After that, it will turn into an awakened Normal Bolt." "What''s the difference between a Normal Bolt and Magical Bolt?" "Magic Bolts have a tracking feature. However, before shooting it, you need to lock on your target for 3 seconds first. It also requires 10 mana points to cast -- Oh, I think I already mentioned that." "How much?" "This [Grade D] Mini-crossbow? 100 [Grade D] Nuclei." Nathan checked his status chart. *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+27) INT ¨C 33 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (12/12) [Grade D] Sword (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +3 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +5 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +5 Agi Skill: Level X [Coward''s Way] *** ''I have 1246 [Grade D] Nuclei and 32 [Grade C] Nuclei¡­'' Nathan thought ''If I want Second Tier awakening, I will need to spend 400 [Grade D] Nuclei for my helm, armor, gloves and boots, and another 600 [Grade D] Nuclei for my rings and amulet. There''s also the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow that''s worth 100 [Grade D] Nuclei. As for the bolts¡­ 4 [Grade D] Nuclei for the normal bolts and another 10 [Grade D] Nuclei for the magic bolts¡­'' ''With that, the total amount is¡­ 1,114 [Grade D] Nuclei! My god! This amount is for me alone?! This is crazy expensive!'' The fact that he still had to check the Item Shop made his heart bleed and a desire to strangle the blacksmith welled up inside of him. But of course, he didn''t¡­ ''I still need to divide my stats...'' Nathan recalled his experiment earlier. The threshold is 30 stats. More than that, there will be an imbalance. As a matter of fact, just having a difference of 30 points alone already feels some imbalance but it was still manageable. After mentally computing his stats, he immediately his equipment but was stopped by the blacksmith. "You don''t need to remove it if it''s just for awakening. But if you want it to be repaired, then okay." "Make my rings and amulet +6 AGI each. My helm, armor and glove +4 AGI, and my boots +4 STR. I will also buy the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow, 4 [Grade D] Nuclei worth of normal bolts and another 10 [Grade D] Nuclei worth of magic bolts " Nathan handed the blacksmith 1,114 [Grade D] Nuclei. "Prepare the bolts," said the blacksmith to his son and then looked at Nathan. "Don''t worry, we will also provide you 6 quivers for the 200 awakened Normal Bolts and 100 Magic Bolts for free, which can carry a maximum of 50 bolts each." ''Sigh¡­ Another baggage¡­ But what choice do I have? I must be prepared.'' While the son was busy preparing the bolts, the blacksmith awakened the equipment of Nathan by just touching them one by one and inwardly offering a prayer. He also gave him a quick course on how to use the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow. During this time, the young man that Nathan instructed to go to the Item Shop came back. After the awakening and the quick course, the son gave Nathan the 6 quivers along with the bolts. "By the way, do you do any custom jobs?" Nathan asked. This was what he was thinking earlier but his thoughts were interrupted by the blacksmith. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Of course, but it would take time. Take for example a one-handed sword with no intricate designs. This would take me between 3 and 4 hours," answered the blacksmith. Hearing this, Nathan thought, ''Given that the entrance limit to the Divine Tower is only 12 hours and it takes between 3 and 4 hours for this blacksmith to make a sword, I guess no one from outside can take advantage by ordering custom-made System weapons or vehicles¡­'' It was then an idea popped inside his head. ''Wait, what if I place an order today and then get it the next time I visit here?'' However, right after thinking about it, he immediately shook his head as he recalled the mind-resetting phenomena he witnessed earlier when he tried to force some answers from the young man. "I see. Thank you then." "Thank you for your purchase, Great Chosen One. May God bless us all in the Holy Night Ceremony." Nathan left one of the sacks before heading to the Item Shop. It was already 11:56 am. Although he was very worried about the time, the priestess did say that she would try to delay the ceremony for 10 minutes, so he only had about 14 minutes left. He could only hope that she would keep her word but he would try to finish his business at the Item Shop as soon as possible. If not, then as the priestess mentioned earlier, he would face God''s wrath if he fails to enter the portal. As for the Tavern, there was no time for that. Maybe next time, if he will survive whatever was waiting for him inside the portal and return here. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Hello, as you may have noticed, last week and this week, I''ve been posting the weekly chapters by bulk. The reason behind this is because I''m currently traveling for the holidays and I don''t have proper access to an internet connection. Nevertheless, I would like to thank you all for all your love and support. I really appreciate it. And as for when will my release schedule will return back to normal, it will be on January 6, 2020 -- hopefully, if I don''t get overwhelmed by the workload from my other jobs. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 83] and [Chapter 84] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2019: ? Teltaios ? Turtlemaniac The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 85 Eternal Village 4 Nathan and the young man walked inside the Item Shop. "Welcome to our shop." They were greeted by a blue-haired and eyes plumped woman around in her 40s and a green-haired and eyes girl who was around 14 years old. Both of them had a very friendly expression on their faces. ''So this is the big fish,'' the older woman, who was the owner, thought. Back when Nathan was still at the Blacksmith Shop, the young man whom he instructed to come here with the Priestess'' ring on his hand, informed her that Nathan had 2 large sacks of Nuclei, including [Grade C] ones, causing to her to smile in delight and look forward in meeting him. The other Traveling Mercenaries that came here earlier barely bought anything so she wasn''t able to earn that much. With that, she saw Nathan as her last chance to earn before the Traveling Mercenaries enter the portal. "Welcome to my shop, Great Chosen --" "I don''t have much time left. Tell me what items I should carry inside the --" Nathan was about to ask about the portal but stopped himself after remembering the warning from the System earlier. "I mean, show me the items you''re selling and make it quick." "Certainly, Great Chosen One. We have¡­" The woman immediately gave a quick and brief introduction of the items she was selling. First, she introduced the potions¡­ ? [Small] Healing Potion...Restores health by 20% - 50 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Medium] Healing Potion...¡­Restores health by 40% - 100 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Large] Healing Potion.....Restores health by 60% - 150 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Small] Mana Potion...¡­...Restores mana by 20% - 150 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Medium] Mana Potion....Restores mana by 40% - 200 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Large] Mana Potion...¡­...Restores mana by 60% - 250 [Grade D] Nuclei ? Antidote......Cures ailments - 300 [Grade D] Nuclei ? Awakening Potion...¡­.Adrenaline rush for 10 minutes which will then be followed with downtime for 20 minutes - 300 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Grade D] Repair Kit....Restores durability of [Grade D] equipment- 50 [Grade D] Nuclei ? [Grade C] Repair Kit....Restores durability of [Grade C] equipment - 100 [Grade D] Nuclei Next, she introduced something that immediately caused Nathan''s eyes to shine after the woman explained its function. ? [Grade D] Spatial Bag - 500 [Grade D] Nuclei And for the others, they were¡­ ? Dust of Appearance....Reveals invisible beings - 200 [Grade D] Nuclei ? Divine Stone........Unknown - 50 [Grade D] Nuclei ? Divine Tears......¡­Unknown - 1000 [Grade D] Nuclei Hearing the prices, Nathan''s eyes widened in disbelief. ''Hey, shouldn''t items be cheaper compared to equipment?! That''s a classic RPG rule, you know! I''m not being scammed here, right?! '' he screamed inside his head. "Great Chosen One, which items do you want to purchase?" Nathan slowly turned towards the shop owner with a cold gaze. "Items?" He stressed the letter "s". He looked at the remaining Nuclei he had with him. ''I only have 132 [Grade D] Nuclei and 32 [Grade C] Nuclei left¡­ One [Grade C] Nucleus is worth 50 [Grade D] Nuclei¡­ That means I have a total of 1,632 [Grade D] Nuclei¡­'' "The [Grade D] Spatial Bag¡­ What''s the maximum weight it can carry?" The [Grade D] Spatial Bag was as big as a medic pouch that the wearer can attach on his/her waist. "The maximum capacity isn''t based on the weight. Instead, it''s based on the size. It''s as large as a sack this big." The woman made a gesture with her hands. Based on the woman''s description, a [Grade D] Spatial Bag''s space was as big as a 30" x 50" duffle bag. "I see." The woman added, "Also, it''s enchanted with Time-freeze magic so you can keep food and drinks without worrying that it will spoil and can enjoy cold or hot meals and drinks as you travel. However, no living being can be kept inside the bag." ''Wow¡­ That''s nice,'' Nathan thought. "Can you tell me about the Divine Stone and Divine Tears?" "Oh, those two? They are mystery items from God that only the Traveling Mercenaries can identify its use by touching it. We, the people of this village aren''t allowed to know about it due to the rules of our religion." Nathan raised an eyebrow. The woman passed Nathan the Divine Stone and Divine Tears. The Divine Stone was a pearl that was as large as an adult''s thumb. Meanwhile, the Divine Tears was a 5-inch vial with gold liquid. As soon as Nathan touched them, the System immediately informed him of the use of the items. To use the Divine Stone, the user must first be outside the Divine Tower before crushing it which will teleport the user to a nearby Divine Tower. The Divine Tears, on the other hand, was a cure for the zombie virus. However, it will only work when the person hasn''t turned to a full-fledged zombie yet. Knowing about the use of the Divine Tears, Nathan couldn''t help but exclaimed, "My God! This¡­ This is basically a second life!" Looking at the Divine Tears on his palm, Nathan was mesmerized. On the other hand, seeing Nathan''s reaction, the woman''s eyes glistened in anticipation. "Great Chosen One, are you interested in buying that as well? I can give you a discount. I will give a 5% discount on your total expenses." "Only 5%?" Nathan scoffed. "I''m very sorry, Great Chosen One. Business has been slow lately so 5% is the best thing I can do." "Yeah, yeah, right. Okay, I will buy the [Grade D] Spatial Bag, Divine Tears and Divine Stone¡­ Add-in a [Small] Mana Potion as well." He remembered that Magic Arrows required 1 mana point to cast so he bought one just in case. "Okay, that''s 1,700 [Grade D] Nuclei¡­ Subtract it with the 5% discount, the total price is 1,615, Great Chosen One." Nathan paid her the amount and he was left with 17 [Grade D] Nuclei to which he plans to give to the young man who was serving as his guide. The green-haired girl, who was only 14 years old, gave Nathan the [Grade D] Spatial Bag. He immediately put down his backpack and fanny pack before wearing the [Grade D] Spatial Bag around his waist. He then emptied his backpack and fanny pack and placed its contents inside the [Grade D] Spatial Bag. As for using it¡­ Putting items inside was easy. He just has to insert the item on its mouth and it will automatically absorb it like a vacuum, providing that there''s still extra space inside. On the other hand, to take out an item, he just has to insert his hand inside the mouth of the bag and the System will give a list of the items inside and he will have to imagine grabbing the item before pulling his hand out. ''This is quite handy¡­'' Nathan thought as he moved around. He no longer had to carry a backpack, fanny pack and the sacks for the nuclei. However, he decided to remove his police vest and the sword he carried behind his back. Aside from that, he still had the sawed-off double-barrel shotgun on his left thigh, a [Grade D] Long Dagger on his right thigh, and his [Grade D] Large Axe that he carries on his hand. ''Dammit¡­ I forgot to ask the blacksmith if he had some strap for this axe,'' he thought. "This is for you." He gave the sack that had his remaining nuclei to the young man who was serving as his guide. "Thank you, Great Chosen One!" "No problem. Just take me to the Holy Temple now." "Of course!" The owner of the shop approached them. "Thank you so much for your purchase, Great Chosen One. To show you my gratitude, I would like to give you these treats for your future travels." The owner of the shop gave him a box which had 6 slices of cakes. "These are from the Tavern. Aside from being tasty, eating one is like eating one full meal but without counting the water." Nathan held the box on his hand and inspected it for a quick moment before putting it inside his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. He wasn''t sure if eating anything served inside the Divine Tower was safe. Even if it was, for all he knows, it could be human meat or he could have stomach problems. But given that it eating one piece of it is like eating one full meal, it was nevertheless a valuable item. ''From the Tavern, huh,'' Nathan thought. "Thank you." Unfortunately, he had no nuclei left and he was very short on time. He checked his watch. 12:03 pm. "Let''s go to the Holy Temple right away," Nathan said to the young man as he turned away to the exit. He didn''t want to go along with the Item shop owner, thinking that she would only slow him down. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Light777 ? Passs3rby ? dragonwhite ? Apeerlesscoward ? asuran_tiger ? Nea7 ? 14Lit ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? Meilstrem ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? sam0sa ? Ramvox ? Estrella18 ? LuciFallen ? Furrygagemckee2426 ? shayan_mohebbi ? Nocte To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 97] and [Chapter 98] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 86 Holy Temple Nathan, who was carrying a [Grade D] Large Axe on his hand, and the young man, who was acting as his guide, arrived at the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple was located at the outer edge of the village to the North. To Nathan''s surprise, rather than a temple, the Holy Temple was a garden with an open-air platform made up of stones that had two pillars in the middle, serving as a door. He concluded that the two pillars in the middle of the platform served as a door because there was a red portal between them. It was the same ominous-looking portal he had seen when he entered the Divine Tower. On the side of the road leading to the platform, there were villages on their knees with their heads down praying. On the sides of the platform, there were eleven women wearing the same clothes that the woman referred to as Priestess whom Nathan met earlier at the Village Hall. All of them, except for one, were on their knees with their heads down and praying. The one that wasn''t on her knees was the High Priestess. She was this ungodly beautiful woman in her early 30s with silver hair. In fact, among the priestesses, she was the most beautiful of them all. She was standing between the other ten priestesses and praying with her eyes closed. Nathan tried to look for the other Traveling Mercenaries around, but there was no one was on sight. ''Perhaps they''ve already entered the portal?'' "Great Chosen One, this is where we part ways. I pray that you will have a safe and bountiful journey," whispered the young man on his side before heading to the side to join the villagers. Nathan turned to him. "Wait." The young man stopped and turned. "Yes, Great Chosen One?" "What''s your name?" "My name is Gadostizaraza, Great Chosen One." The young man offered a quick bow. Hearing his name, Nathan couldn''t help but knit his brows for a quick moment because it was a name that would cause him to bite his tongue every time he says it. However, there was no denying that this young man was of great help to him. If he hadn''t been there to support him, acting as his guide, who knows how much time he would''ve wasted. "Thank you, Gadostizaraza. I will remember this gesture you did for me. Just call me Nathan, by the way." "Great Chosen One Nathan, it was an honor to be of service. My God bless us all in the Holy Night Ceremony." Nathan shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, sure." Gadostizaraza turned around and went to join the villagers on the side of the road. Nathan checked his watch. 12:07 pm. He walked down the road leading the platform. As he drew closer, the High Priestess opened her silver-colored eyes and looked at Nathan. The expression on her eyes was neither haughty nor humble. It was neutral as if she didn''t care whether Nathan was a Chosen One or not. She went in front of the platform and waited there. When Nathan got near the High Priestess, she spoke first and held out her hand. "Greetings, Traveling Mercenary. I believe you have something of ours." Just like her eyes, the tone of her voice was neither haughty and humble as well. Nathan frowned. For some reason, his instincts were screaming at him that this woman in front of him was extremely dangerous. He doesn''t know why but it just felt like that. Plus, she reminded him of those die-hard religious freaks that are always a headache to deal with because of their extreme dogmatism and are best left alone. ''What is this bitch saying?'' But then he thought about the ring that was given to him by that priestess he met earlier so he took it out. "You mean this one?" "Yes." Following the warning of his instincts, instead of telling the woman to come over and take it herself or throwing it at her or just ignoring her, he placed the ring on her palm. Once she had the ring, she immediately put down her hand. "The others have already entered the portal. Go and complete the Holy Night Ceremony. I may not be able to hold the portal any longer." ''Others? Hmm¡­ So they really have entered already. But I wonder how many are they¡­ And this bitch has the power to hold the portal? Interesting¡­'' This place, both inside and out, had so many mysteries that Nathan wanted to unearth. But unfortunately for him, he lacked the time and there was also that restriction. Right now, all he was doing was just going with the flow. If he had just entered at a much earlier time, perhaps he could''ve investigated and prepared more. ''Perhaps next time¡­ If I do survive and be able to return here.'' Nathan walked passed the High Priestess and continued walking until he was in front of the red portal. ''Sigh¡­ This is it. But first¡­ System.'' *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 (+4) VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+30) INT ¨C 33 Mana: 66/66 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (12/12) [Grade D] Mini-crossbow (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +4 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi [Grade D] Spatial Bag Skill: Level X [Coward''s Way] *** "May God bless you in the Holy Night Ceremony," said the High Priestess behind him which caused him to make a clicking sound with his tongue. Tch! With the [Grade D] Large Axe on his hand, he stepped inside the portal and that familiar odd sense of displacement washed all over him once more, causing him to feel a bit nauseous. But this time, he didn''t choose to close his eyes. He continued walking and everything was red until his surroundings began to change. When he exited the portal, he found himself in a spacious arena that was as large as a football stadium. The ceiling seemed endless and there was a gigantic golden orb hovering above that was serving something like the sun, illuminating the entire area. But those weren''t the things that surprised him the most. The High Priestess told him that the others have already entered the portal before him so he was expecting them here. But what he wasn''t expecting was to see Rose and her group -- Ashleigh and Derek were there was as well. There were other groups as well, Harry''s group, the soldiers he saw last night and a group made up of Asians. Basically, there were 4 groups, making it a total of 92 people. Each group was not staying close to each other except for the military and Rose''s group -- it seemed that they formed an alliance. And among the military group, there were two people with a metal collar around their necks. Furthermore, there were also three corpses lying on the ground. ''Looks like a fight broke out when these people entered the portal before they decided to stop killing each other,'' Nathan thought. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Everyone noticed Nathan because he was the last one to enter and the portal behind him immediately disappeared. What Nathan didn''t know was that the event won''t start until the red portal closes. And now that the final Traveling Mercenary entered the portal, it was time to see what was going to happen. "It''s Nathan!" One of the people from Rose''s team said. Nathan sneered and immediately disappeared. Of course, he didn''t choose to charge at them right away. He decided to circle around and make sure he was behind another group while deciding what to do. And in case he does attack, he wanted to test out his new toy, the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow. Seeing Nathan disappeared, all of the groups became alert. There was already animosity between the four groups. There was hatred between Harry and Rose''s group, and the military and the Asian group. The only reason they didn''t continue killing each other was because they had no idea what awaited them here. Nathan was already behind a group -- it was a group of Asians -- when a message suddenly popped inside everyone''s head. Ding! ''Stage 1 of the Divine Tower will now begin. Kill all the Armored Angels to proceed to the next stage.'' Everyone stopped and looked up in the sky. An army of 100 2m-tall armored angels with a wingspan of more than 5 meters long appeared and were descending. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 97] and [Chapter 98] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 87 Divine Tower The 100 armored angels with a wingspan of more than 5 meters long and a height of 2m were descending from the sky. Everyone stopped to marvel from the sight for a quick moment. The light coming from the giant golden orb which served as a miniature sun and illuminated the entire area made the armored angels'' descent divinely beautiful. It was as if heaven opened its doorways and the angels have arrived to welcome them. The armored angels were donned in full armor, covering their entire body, and armed with shields and melee weapons such as spears, swords and maces. The slit of their helmets where the eyes should''ve been visible featured nothing but darkness as if nothing was inside but a black void. They had a golden crystal that was positioned on their forehead. However, not all of them shared the same armor color. Some featured a black full armor, while the others had white armor. "Prepare to engage!" Someone among the crowd said. No matter how breathtakingly divine the sight was, some humans were able to break away from the captivating sight right away and reminded themselves that they were inside the Divine Tower. The Eternal Village itself was already a great example. It was mysterious and dangerous -- some of them even died when they chose to ignore the warning given by the System. With that, it was best to assume the worst possible scenario at all costs. As soon as the armored angels were 20 meters above the ground from the humans, the angels began to throw spells at them. "Spread out!" Everyone began to scatter away, including Nathan. Although no spell was specifically targeted at Nathan because he was invisible, bumping into anyone or getting caught in the explosion of the spells will make him lose his invisibility. Boom! Shoo! Boom! Wooh! There were a number of spells that Nathan wasn''t familiar of. He didn''t know what was the name of the spells because the armored angels didn''t speak, but it was something he has never seen before. The spells he recognized were [Fireball], [Ice Spear] and [Stone Spear]. As for the spells he didn''t recognize, there were [Decrease STR], [Decrease AGI], [Decrease VIT], [Decrease INT] and [Silence]. And when the armored angels landed on the ground, they began to cast other spells as well. But this time it was the support type such as [Increase STR], [Increase AGI] and [Increase VIT]. The people who were close to the armored angels were also informed about the names of these angels. The black ones were Level 1 Black Armored Angel, while the white ones were Level 1 White Armored Angel. As for their actual stats: STR - 21 AGI - 21 VIT - 21 INT - 100 Although their stats weren''t as high (except for the INT) and they were a headache to deal with because of their spells and capability of flying, what made these angels such as hassle to deal with is¡­ "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! SOME OF THEM ARE NOT DYING!" said an Asian man who was carrying a [Grade D] Mace and [Grade D] Shield. No matter how many times he bashed the Black Armored Angel, even hitting the golden crystal on its head, it just kept regenerating. "USE MAGIC TO DESTROY THE GOLDEN CRYSTAL! THE BLACK ONES ARE IMMUNE TO PHYSICAL DAMAGE, WHILE THE WHITE ONES ARE IMMUNE TO MAGIC DAMAGE!" said another man who transformed into a 2m-tall werebat. He was a Chosen One with the power to transform into a werebat and was part of the Asian group. He could spit poisonous acid which was labeled as a magic attack. And although his skill doesn''t require any mana to cast, it required something else -- there must be water inside his stomach. So in a way, it was like him vomiting. Hearing what he said, the others began to change their tactics as well. The group of Rose and the military that were working together discovered the weaknesses too. The same thing happened to Harry and his group as well. Nathan, who was on the edge of the arena far from the battle, was observing quietly and invisible. He doesn''t know when exactly he started developing this type of fighting style. Perhaps it was when he first encountered the D1? Regardless, after all the things he witnessed since the zombie apocalypse began, if he encounters something new, he would observe first before making his move. Plus, given that it was a chaotic battle with spells and bullets flying around, the effectiveness of his skill, [Coward''s Way], drastically dropped. ''These armored angels don''t look like they have high stats but they can fly and cast spells. There''s also the issue of their immunity¡­ I wonder how much EXP one gives¡­'' Nathan put on 5 Magic Bolts on his [Grade D] Mini-crossbow that was attached to his left forearm and aimed it at one Black Armored Angel that was attacking an Asian woman. A scoping system appeared through his eyesight. He recalled what the blacksmith told him. Magic Bolts have a tracking feature. But to use it, it requires 10 mana points and one must lock on their target for 3 seconds before pulling the trigger. The blacksmith also mentioned that this [Grade D] Mini-crossbow is as powerful as a crossbow but reloading it takes a lot of time. However, how strong is it? Can it one-hit-kill a D1? Perhaps if it had an explosion effect, it could. He aimed for the gold crystal of the Black Armored Angel that he had his sights on. Toof! The moment that he pulled the trigger he immediately lost his invisibility and his mana points dropped to 56/66. The Magic Bolt flew in the air with a blue aura on its tip and went straight to the golden crystal of the Black Armored Angel he was aiming. The image of the bolt was too eye-catching, especially to the ones who had high INT. Ka-clak! The Magic Bolt shattered the crystal and the Black Armored Angel immediately disintegrated and dropped a [Green] Treasure Chest. Nathan knitted his brows in confusion before activating [Coward''s Way]. Putting aside the [Green] Treasure Chest which means it''s only a [Grade D] equipment, what made him confused was that he didn''t receive any EXP. ''It can''t be, right?'' He aimed for another Black Armored Angel. Toof! 46/66 mana. The same thing happened, except that it didn''t drop any treasure chest. His expression darkened. ''This¡­!'' He immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and pondered. Given that there indeed no EXP, his desire to fight drastically dropped. There was also the issue of immunity. Nathan gritted his teeth. ''Does this mean I have to team-up with people again?! Weak! Useless! Even with all my strength and new equipment¡­!'' It takes 4 minutes to recover 1 mana point and he only had 1 [Small Mana Potion]. As for his Magic Bolts, not only does it require 10 mana points to use, but it will turn into a normal Bolt once used and he only bought 100 pieces. He glanced at Rose''s group. They were about 100 feet away from where he was standing. There were familiar faces -- Derek, Ashleigh, Brezine, Germaine, Kaija, Crawler, Darkness and R.R. Both Derek and Rose had their skills activated. Ashleigh, on the other hand, was heavily guarded -- there was an outer and inner circle surrounding her. The outer circle was composed of 6 people and were spread out by about 10 feet from each other. Meanwhile, the inner circle had 3 people and Brezine was one of them. ''Well, although I have to work with other people -- again, that doesn''t mean I can''t choose who I can work it. Hmm¡­'' He couldn''t go near Rose''s group without facing the risk of losing his invisibility. It was just too chaotic thanks to the spells, bullets and people moving around. He raised his left arm and aimed at Ashleigh''s head. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''To take down a group, one should always aim for the healer first, right?'' He recalled the anime show he watched a few years back. It was Hai to Gensou no Grimgar. Toof! The Magic Bolt flew, aiming for Ashleigh''s head. When it was just a few feet away from her, she raised her shield. Clank! Tch! Nathan made a clicking sound with his tongue. What was he expecting? They haven''t forgotten what happened last night and they knew his personality. And given that they knew he was here, they were no doubt expecting him to attack them. This is why Rose ordered her men to guard Ashleigh. As for how Ashleigh was able to see guard the Magic Bolt, aside from the fact she was expecting a sneak attack from Nathan, as a Level 20, her stats were: ? STR ¨C 29 ? VIT ¨C 30 ? Agi ¨C 30 ? INT ¨C 28 (+34) Mana: 124/124 With that, if AGI increases one''s movement speed, having high INT not only increases mana points but also increases thought process which allows them to see things that''s moving fast in slow motion. However, INT must not be over 30 points compared to VIT because it will give the user headaches -- the higher the gap, the stronger the headache the user experiences if he/she focuses to see fast-moving objects in slow motion. Also, the blue aura emitted by the Magic Bolt was too eye-catching. Ashleigh winced in pain from a headache. "Ashleigh, are you okay?" Brezine said. "Yeah, I''m fine." "There he is!" A person from the outer circle said. They caught a glimpse of Nathan before he disappeared. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 97] and [Chapter 98] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 88 Divine Tower 2 The arena was in chaos. And for Rose''s group, it was even more chaotic for them because not only did they have to fend themselves from the armored angels and potential backstab from Harry''s group despite reaching an agreement of a ceasefire, but there was Nathan who was actively hunting them down. Nathan, who was currently invisible, moved away from the spot he last appeared with his eyes locked on Ashleigh. "NATHAN, I NEED TO TALK WITH YOU! IT''S ABOUT AMIR AND WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT. I''VE ALREADY..." Despite Ashleigh screaming to the top of her lungs, the arena was so noisy from all the fighting going on. And plus, Nathan didn''t bother to hear what Ashleigh was saying. He placed the handle of his axe between his teeth before taking out two grenades from his [Grade D] Spatial Bag and pulling their pins. ''You can block the Magic Bolt? Let''s see if you can block this.'' He waited 2 seconds before tossing the two grenades to Ashleigh. The moment he the two grenades left his hands, he immediately lost his invisibility and a few people noticed him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Grenade!" One member of Rose''s group assigned to protect Ashleigh said. Suup! The person was stabbed in the chest by a Black Armored Angel. The two grenades landed near Ashleigh. Seeing the grenades on the ground, Ashleigh and the others immediately moved away. However, not many of them were lucky enough to avoid the upcoming explosions because there were also attacked by the armored angels. Boom! Boom! One of the grenades exploded 5ft away from Ashleigh, causing her to be blown away and land flat on the ground. Her ears were ringing. Her [Grade D] Mace and Shield lay on the ground a few inches away from her. As for Brezine, she wasn''t hurt badly and immediately went over to Ashleigh to help her get up. "ASHLEIGH, GET UP! GET UP!" Ashleigh''s ears were ringing and she was on a daze. However, she saw and felt Brezine''s hand grabbing and pulling her up. Two people immediately went forward to come to help them, shielding them from the armored angels and another upcoming attack from Nathan. One of them was Tyrone (aka Darkness), while the other was just a random-san. "ASHLEIGH, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" said Brezine as she dragged her away from the battle. After about 2 seconds, Ashleigh recovered. "My mace and shield¡­" Hearing what Ashleigh said, Brezine realized that she forgot to pick up Ashleigh''s [Grade D] Mace and Shield, causing her to curse. "Shi--" She wasn''t able to finish because a Magic Bolt came out between her brows and it stayed there. Brezine''s grip on Ashleigh loosen as she fell to the ground. Although she also a Level 20 like Ashleigh, her stats were: ? Str - 21 (+9) ? Vit - 11 ? Agi - 22 (+9) ? Int - 22 (+3) Due to her low VIT, she immediately died when her brain was pierced. If she had at least 30 VIT, she would''ve had 10 seconds before dying and Ashleigh could''ve saved her. Just like the D1s who had 42 VIT, it takes them 20 seconds to die after their brain is pierced. But of course, if the damage is too severe or their head is cut off, they will immediately die. Seeing Brezine lying on the ground motionless, Ashliegh''s eyes widened. "Brezine¡­?" Hearing no response, she immediately cast [Heaven''s Treatment]. However, Brezine remained motionless. She cast [Heaven''s Treatment] once more, making her mana 84/124. Still no changes. She grabbed onto Brezine''s shoulders. "Brezine! BREZINE! WAKE UP, BREZINE!!!" She cast [Heaven''s Treatment] once again. Her mana was now 64/124. Tears started flowing from her eyes. Brezine was a very kind and supportive friend ever since she joined Red Dust. "MISS ASHLEIGH, PLEASE DON''T WASTE YOU MANA AND PICK UP YOUR WEAPON AND HEAL THE OTHERS!" shouted Tyrone on the side after he killed a White Armored Angel. However, he couldn''t rest and go to Ashleigh because another armored angel was approaching. Hearing what Tyrone said, some sense of clarity came to her. She saw the bolt that pierce through Brezine''s skull and remained attached between her forehead. She also saw her other teammates that got caught in the explosion from the grenades that were thrown earlier. She had no doubt who did this. ''I failed you once more¡­ I''m really useless.'' She remembered how passive she was when the zombie apocalypse happened, depending on everyone around her. She remembered how Nathan brutally beat Team 2 right in front of her and she didn''t do anything, bringing her extreme guilt and ending up with her promising to herself that she will train hard and become strong. And when Nathan left the Haven Town, she confronted Rose. In the end, she demanded to ensure the safety of Amir and convince Nathan to come back or she will leave Red Dust. Rose agreed. However, this happened. Before she even had the chance to talk to Nathan, the armored angels descended and Nathan attacked. And plus, not only did she became a heavy burden as usual, but she also let Brezine die. She grabbed Brezine''s [Grade D] Sword and Shield before standing up to stop Nathan. ''I must stop him!'' Ashleigh thought. She was already torn in choosing between choosing Red Dust and Amir. And whether it''s the right thing or not, the only thing she could do right now is to stop Nathan from causing even more damage. She first healed the others that were still alive. *** Nathan was invisible and sneering as he stared at Ashleigh who seemed like something changed in her after seeing the death of her friend. ''Heh~ What a very interesting reaction¡­'' He was initially aiming for Ashleigh''s head but changed his mind after he saw how they were desperately prioritizing her safety. He recalled the group of non-Chosen Ones he killed before entering the Divine Tower and remembered how beautiful it was to see someone struggle desperately as they cling onto life before robbing it from them at the last minute. And in the case of Ashleigh, given that she chose to side with Rose and betray Amir, it would be too kind and generous of him to kill her right away. It would be more fitting to slowly destroy those she held dearly around her and witness how she slowly breakdown in despair and regret. Anyway, compared to Derek and Rose, she wasn''t that much of a threat to him. Nathan moved closer to a corpse to pick up a rifle. He didn''t bother to deactivate [Coward''s Way] before picking it up and moving away. When he was at a reasonable distance, he began firing at Rose''s team, causing him to lose his invisibility. Tata! Tata! Tata! Tata! The bullets fired by Nathan killed 3 members of Red Dust. *** Rose, who just finished killing an armored angel, witnessed the bullets being fired on her men. Far from the battle, she saw the gunner, Nathan, who was shooting freely and with a sadistic smile on his face. She also saw Brezine''s corpse, lying on the ground. ''Damn you, you bastard!'' She pulled out her magnum that was capable of firing 8 rounds. She aimed for Nathan''s head. Bang! The bullet landed on Nathan''s left collar bone, causing him to stagger back and stop shooting. She didn''t stop pulling the trigger. Bang! Bang! One bullet missed while the other hit Nathan on the shoulder. Nathan looked right straight at her and sneered before dropping the rifle and disappear. She continued pulling the trigger. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! As she was about to reload, a White Armored Angel came charging towards her, thrusting its spear. She sidestepped and transformed her other hand into a long and sharp object before piercing it through the head of the White Armored Angel. After killing the White Armored Angel, she looked towards Ashleigh''s group. She was about to call Tyrone, who was fighting off an armored angel, and give him orders¡­ Tatata! He was shot in the head, thrice. Tyrone fell to the floor and stopped moving. She looked at where the gunshots came from. It was Nathan again, fully healed, still shooting from a distance. He had a wide smile plastered on his face before he disappeared, showing that he was extremely pleased with the headshot he just did. ''YOU IMBECILE! CAN''T YOU SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE?! THE DIVINE TOWER IS THE TRUE ENEMY AND YET YOU PRIORITIZE YOUR PETTY DESIRE FOR REVENGE!'' shouted Rose inwardly. Tata! Tata! Tata! Another 3 members of Red Dust died in the hands of Nathan. Rose was starting to lose her focus due to her anger. If this keeps up, she would have no subordinates left. The fact that the Black Armored Angels are immune to physical attacks and they don''t know how many stages are there, the non-Chosen One members are vital. And plus, having a larger group gives you more power in the long run. ''How will I kill him? I must first restrict his invisibility.'' She thought about the item she bought back at the Item Shop. It was Dust of Appearance that could reveal invisible beings. She specifically bought this because she had a feeling that she would encounter Nathan here. However, using it is a different matter. To use it, as explained by the shop owner, one had to throw it at the target. And if the dust touches the target, it will stick with target and shine for 30 seconds. And at the current situation, Nathan was currently shooting from afar so it was basically useless at the moment. Nevertheless, she still had to stop him. "Captain Barlow!" Rose called out the leader of the military group. He was a black man with a strong build, about 6''4" tall and in his mid-30s. However, he wasn''t a Chosen One. Barlow and his group were fighting off the armored angels that were attacked them. "You called, Miss Haven?" "Help me kill that invisible Chosen One. I need a Chosen One with an AoE skill." Barlow was silent. "Captain, remember our agreement," Rose reminded coldly. Although Red Dust had some connections with the government due to their dealings in the past, their influence wasn''t that great. In the military''s eyes, Red Dust was just another organization that they chose to work with for benefits. There are no eternal friends and enemies, only eternal benefits. "You, go help them," Barlow ordered a Caucasian man with a metal collar around his neck. This man was a captured Chosen One who had the skill [Burning Fighting Fighter]. He was about 6ft tall and in his late teens. As for the metal collar around his neck, it was a bomb that was designed to explode if tampered. The bomb can also be remotely activated. And of course, Barlow has one of the remotes that can activate the bomb. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? shayan_mohebbi ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? Passs3rby ? darklord12332 ? Light777 ? 14Lit ? Furrygagemckee2426 ? LuciFallen ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? asuran_tiger ? dragonwhite ? FlyingSword ? Meilstrem ? Rauwynt ? DKYMuffinman To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 99] and [Chapter 100] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 89 Divine Tower 3 Nathan continued picking up rifles from dead people and firing them at the members of Red Dust from afar. He also used up his other last two grenades -- However, it became harder to kill them with grenades because they don''t stick together anymore and they were always a certain distance between each other. They were now down to 13 members. Ashleigh, Derek and the others felt so helpless. The moment he appeared and they charged towards him, he would just disappear and appear at another spot and shoot them. It was mentally mind-numbing and frustrating to fight him. There was also the issue of the armored angels. Tata! Tata! Tata! Click! ''Tch! No ammo left again¡­'' Nathan threw the rifle away before activating [Coward''s Way] to find another. He noticed a few rifles that he hasn''t picked up yet. However, they were from corpses that were near or close to the center of the battlefield. From the 93 people (including Nathan) that entered this arena, there were only 57 left. As for the armored angels, from the 100, they were now down to 30. Before the armored angels get defeated on this first stage, he planned to thin Red Dust down to Rose, Derek and Ashleigh. As for who will go first between those three Chosen Ones of Red Dust, he planned to capture Rose and Ashleigh to torture them. For Ashleigh, he would torture her, let her heal herself, torture her, let her heal herself -- until she runs out of mana. Meanwhile, for Rose, if possible, he wanted to kill her loved ones right in front of her before killing her. Nathan decided to go to the center of the arena to pick up a rifle. Tata! Wooh! A few bullets and spells ran pass him that he decided to shield one side of his head with his [Grade D] Large Axe. Given that there were now 30 armored angels left, he decided to deactivate [Coward''s Way] before picking the rifle and activating his skill. Unlike earlier, almost everyone was busy fending off the armored angels so it was hard to notice a rifle floating in thin air and moving. And plus, this was the center of the battlefield, not the edge. The moment Nathan appeared, someone shouted. "There!" He was suddenly bombarded with bullets and fireballs. Tatatatatatatatata! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom! The bullets came from the members of Red Dust, while the fireballs came from the Chosen One who had the skill [Burning Fighting Fighter]. Regarding the fireballs, each one burns for 3 seconds, and has no mana cost and cooldown. Nathan immediately dropped the rifle. He shielded one side of his face with the blade of his [Grade D] Large Axe and the other side with his left arm as he ran away and activated [Coward''s Way]. The fireballs were too slow so it didn''t manage to hit him. However, the same can''t be said about the bullets. A couple of bullets pierced through his body, causing him to lose his invisibility and slow down. But still, he continued to activate his skill and ran away. In his mind, eventually, those people would have to reload. Tatatatatata! Boom! Boom! Boom! "ARGH!!!" Because he started to slow down due to the injuries, the fireballs were now able to hit him. He was engulfed in flames. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Nathan screamed in agony from being burned alive. He was like a human torch desperately trying to run and flickering every now and then because of activating [Coward''s Way] but it keeps getting deactivated due to the bullets and the fire. "ROSE!!! RED DUST!!! I CURSE YOU ALL!!! I HOPE YOU ALL DIE HERE!!!" Nathan finally stopped running. He let go of his [Grade D] Large Axe and fell to the ground. Clank! Thud! The members of Red Dust stopped shooting and Burning Fighting Fighter stopped throwing fireballs as well. Rose took out the Dust of Appearance and was about to charge towards where Nathan was but she was met with three armored angels, a white one and two black ones, so she had no choice but to fight them. They cast curse spells. [Decrease AGI]. [Decrease VIT]. [Silence]. A few members immediately provided back up. As for the rest of the members of Red Dust, they figured that Nathan was either already dead or no doubt going to die soon. And plus, there was still armored angels remaining. Many people, who witnessed the barbecuing of Nathan, felt disgusted from the sight. By the time Rose finally reached about 15ft away from Nathan, he was nothing but a burnt corpse and he doesn''t seem to be breathing. Aside from that, the stench coming from the burnt flesh was also so strong that it would give anyone a strong urge to vomit. Ashleigh quickly approached as well. Rose transformed her right arm into a sharp blade in order to stab Nathan in the head to make sure he was dead. Ashleigh suddenly grabbed her arm. "Rose! Why?!" Rose stopped and turned towards her. "What are you even talking about?" "This is not what we agreed upon!" "He killed Brezine and the others. Does that not mean anything to you?" Rose coldly said. "I --" Rose pulled her arm away from Ashleigh''s grip. But Ashleigh grabbed her arm once again. "He''s already dead! What are you doing?! I feel like I don''t know you anymore!" Rose looked at Ashleigh and saw the expression on her face. Since she learned about Ashleigh''s powers, she was adamant in making her part of Red Dust so she presented herself as this kind but strict leader, while secretly manipulating her. The same goes for Derek. And so far, everything was going well until... She "invited" Nathan to join Red Dust. And from there on, her relationship with Ashleigh and Derek started to turn sour to the point where the possibility of losing them was a real threat. And not only that. Due to Derek''s unselfish nature and Ashleigh''s power, their influence was so great within the group that if they decided to leave, it will be a huge blow to Red Dust because some of the members were willing to leave with them. In the light of what has happened so far in the zombie apocalypse, although it would be a waste to lose Derek, it was a loss that she could afford. But Ashleigh? She couldn''t afford to lose her. Her power was far too useful. And although everyone was caught in surprise by the Second Phase, in Rose''s mind, this was just a temporary setback. Once everyone recovers from the surprise, all those weak camps will be devoured either by the zombies or the powerful human camps. She still wants to be a powerful force so she could not afford to lose a Chosen One like Ashleigh. Sure, she can force her, but that wouldn''t work in the long run. She now understood the wisdom that her father was trying to tell her. Rose was still in [Cystal Body] mode as she reverted her arm back to its normal crystallized state. "You''re right. He''s already dead. I''ve overreacted." "This --" Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short because a White Armored Angel was headed towards them, reminding them that the battle wasn''t over yet. Seeing Nathan''s death, in the case of Crawler and R.R., they felt relieved. Meanwhile, Derek and Germaine were indifferent but thought that it was such a painful way to die. As for Kaija, she felt conflicted. Harry, who was watching on the side with his group, didn''t do anything. They already killed the armored angels on their side and was waiting for the other groups to kill the ones on their side. "Harry, why didn''t you help? It seems that that person too shares a great hatred towards Red Dust like us," asked a man. The man was Joseph. The same man that Nathan saw the first he visited the mall. Joseph was a married man in his mid-20s. Before the zombie apocalypse, he used to work as a plumber as his main job and did some other part-time jobs. Harry, on the other hand, was a Caucasian male in his late 20s. Just like Nathan, Harry''s group shared a great hatred towards Red Dust. In Harry''s case, it was personal, something deeply personal that happened years before the zombie apocalypse. Red Dust was a powerful organization. The group had their hands on many businesses. However, not all of it was legal. Some involved destroying the livelihood of other people. When Harry was still in middle school, his family used to run a small pet shop and a salon. But one day, a group of people from Red Dust came in offering to buy the place. Harry''s father disagreed. A week later, his mother had a car "accident" which left her in a vegetative state. But the weird thing about it was, his mother detests driving cars and it would take heaven and earth to convince her to drive. However, the problems didn''t stop there. The insurance company also refused to pay for the treatment of his mother so his father had to borrow money to pay for everything. During those months, the people from Red Dust would come weekly, driving the customers away and trying to force his father to sell the businesses. His father tried to ask help from the police, but they proved to be of little help as if something was stopping them. He also tried to go online to start a crowdfunder, but it went nowhere. Stricken by grief, guilt, debt, expenses and all, his father decided to sell the two businesses. However, even after that, their problems still didn''t stop there. Two months after his father sold the two businesses, his mother died. Two weeks later, his father committed suicide. After his father''s death, Harry had to go live with his aunt and uncle in another city. Fortunately for him, they were kind folks. However, he could never forget those painful memories. The image of his mother''s vegetative state and his father''s suffering burned through his soul. He decided that he would become a lawyer one day and return here to Cram city to his get revenge. Unfortunately for him, although he already became a lawyer and was on the process of exacting revenge, the zombie apocalypse happened. Speaking of the zombie apocalypse, back when Nathan saw him severely injured, the group that he and his team encountered at that time was actually Red Dust. In fact, it was Rose whom he fought before the hoard of zombies led by D1 and N1 came joining their battle. Rose even tried to "recruit" them, but Harry, of course, flat-out refused the invitation. There was no way he was going to forgive Red Dust. As for Joseph, he used to live in the same block back when Harry''s parents were still alive, but they were never close because Harry was 4 years older than him and they went to different schools. However, they shared the same hatred. Just like Harry, his family was also bullied in some form or another by Red Dust. "Harry?" said Joseph. "He''s already dead. And plus, all of the groups had an agreement to have a ceasefire." Joseph was silent. Unlike Harry, he wasn''t the smart type nor was he the leader type. He was the sidekick type that would blindly follow whatever the leader would say as long as their goals match, but he was a good-natured person nevertheless. All of the armored angels were cleared out and a red portal appeared at the center. There was also a message from the System. Ding! ''Congratulations on completing Stage 1 of the Divine Tower. Please proceed to Stage 2 through the portal.'' "There''s a Stage 2?" Everyone gasped. Aside from the few Chosen Ones, no one had an attack-type magic skill that doesn''t require mana points. Although they can recover 1 mana point every 4 minutes, there was also the issue of the food. However, what was the point of complaining or worrying? They chose to enter this Divine Tower. No choice but to continue moving on. Perhaps the portal will teleport them to an Eternal Village. Moreover, it''s also important to point out that armored angels doesn''t leave any body behind because it immediately disintegrates when they die so there was no nucleus to extract. Before entering the portal, the remaining survivors started checking their loses and opened the [Green] Treasure Chests. Upon opening the treasure chests, people were surprised. Some of the loots include [Grade D] Black Chain Mail, Black Full Helm, White Chain Gloves and White Chain Boots. Now, what was shocking to these loots wasn''t the stats because they only gave a +3 random combination. The thing that surprised them was the "Bonus Effect" that each equipment gives. For the "Black" type equipment, it gives a 1% chance to block any physical attack. Meanwhile, the "White" type gives a 1% chance to block any magical attack. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? darklord12332 ? wunderwave ? Light777 ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Dcreversal ? Meilstrem ? shayan_mohebbi ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? DKYMuffinman ? DFun ? Yerby7213 ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? LuciFallen ? Passs3rby To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 101] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan (I got another one! Yay! Thank you! ^_^) The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 90 Divine Tower 4 Many of the survivors began trading with each other before entering the red portal. The main goal, of course, was to get a "Black" or "White" type equipment that fits perfectly with their stat build. Some offered food that they brought, while others offered System potions and non-System items like bullets, grenades and other things. The trading lasted almost 10 minutes before everyone began to discuss what to do next. While they were discussing, there were a few people trying to search for others undiscovered or untouched loots around the area. One of them was Nathan''s burnt body. A man, who was part of the Asian group, went over to check Nathan''s body. The smell of the burnt flesh coming from the body wasn''t as strong as compared to earlier where just a sniff of it made one want to puke. The hair and the non-System clothes on the body were burned away. Almost all of the visible skin turned to charcoal, while the parts that didn''t were just one step away from turning into charcoal. Meanwhile, the skin that was hidden beneath the System items, due to the intense heat earlier, the skin and equipment got stuck together. One would have to clean the equipment first before wearing it. And as for his gunshot wounds, thanks to the heat that burned his skin, in a way, it more or less slowed down the bleeding. The man noticed a small pouch around the body''s waist. It seemed that it was still in good condition despite the severe burns and shooting earlier. Thinking that he was so lucky, he immediately reached out for the pouch. When his hand was just a few centimeters from touching it, Nathan suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed onto the man''s wrist. "Ughhhhhhh¡­!" Nathan groaned in pain. He could feel his skin peeling away from his System items due to the sudden movement -- and that was just one of the pains he was experiencing. However, his eyes were full of vitality and¡­ immense hatred. "The fuck!" The man fell pulled his wrist away from Nathan''s hold and fell on his butt. Everyone turned to look at the man who shouted. There, they saw Nathan, a burnt corpse, yet still alive. The man who tried to loot from Nathan got up and ran back to his group. "You chicken shit. That man is already half-dead," said another member of the Asian group to the man who tried to loot from Nathan. He was about was to go over to Nathan and end his misery when suddenly¡­ "Let me finish him," Crawler said as he pulled out a dagger and head to where Nathan was going. He hasn''t forgotten how Nathan beat him up at Cram city. This was going to be his revenge. The man looked over at Crawler for a moment before backing out. "Make it quick," Rose said on the side. Her voice held no emotion as if it was just a normal matter. Derek and Ashleigh couldn''t help but notice it. In the case of Derek, as much as he didn''t like Nathan, he already started to have some doubts regarding Rose''s true personality after that night he fought Nathan. As for Ashleigh, she started to wonder if she really knew who Rose is and if it''s safe to continue being around her. Of course, she talked with Derek and he told her that he was thinking of leaving Red Dust one of these days to look for some people that he cared about. "Wait!" Someone suddenly said. Crawler stopped and everyone turned towards the person who said it. It was Joseph. "The guy is a Chosen One, right?" "He''s a killer. Don''t bother," R.R. said on the side. "Shut the fuck up, Terminator Dark Fate. As if you people aren''t killers," said a person from Harry''s group. "What did you say?! I dare you to say that again!" R.R. said. "What are you going to do, Terminator Dark Fate? Come on!" The other members of the group began to join in as well. Harry and Rose''s group were already not in peaceful terms to begin with. So any slight altercation could no doubt disrupt their temporary ceasefire and lead to bloodshed. "Everyone! Please calm down. We don''t have time to waste. We have limited resources and we need to make a decision right away," said a man from the military group. It was the sergeant that Nathan saw last night who was forced to enter the Divine Tower in order to escape the 3m-tall zombies. "For once, a military dog is talking some sense," said a man from the Asian group. "Why don''t you come over here and I''ll show you other things that we do right?" said a man from the military group. "Suck my dick, military dog." "Not possible. Your dick too small to begin it." The Asian man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the military man. "Let me hear you say that again!" "Wait, what? So if it''s big he would be willing to suck it? That didn''t sound right," commented a person on the side. The other member of both sides pulled out their weapons as well. This Asian group was one of the groups that band together in the East of Cram city to fight the government. "Stand down! I said, stand the fuck down!" Captain Barlow ordered his troops which they immediately followed. He looked over at the leaders of the Asian group. They were two men: a Chosen One that could transform into a werebat, while the other was still unknown because he hasn''t shown his powers yet. "You won''t stand down? I don''t mind dying in battle. However, I don''t want my men to die a senseless death!" said Captain Barlow. The Werebat Chosen One snorted before he looked at his companions and nodded. They put down their weapons as well. "Now, finish that Chosen One immediately so that we can resume our discussion for our next plan of action. As I proposed earlier --" "Hey, why are you acting like you''re the leader here? You dare to ignore me? I asked if that person is a Chosen One or not," Joseph said. "He''s already half-dead. He would only be a burden," Rose said as she signaled to Crawler. Crawler resumed heading to Nathan. "Don''t you fucking move, motherfucker!" Joseph aimed at gun at Crawler. "I swear to God, I will fucking blow your brains out!" "Put down that weapon or the ceasefire ends now!" Rose roared. "Who the fuck are you to give me orders?!" Joseph said and looked over at Harry, signaling him that there''s something wrong here. Based on what he was seeing, it was as if Rose feared this Nathan guy. And he couldn''t blame them after witnessing his powers. Harry pondered for a very quick moment before opening his mouth. "Rose, don''t think you can fool everyone here. It''s quite obvious what you''re trying to do. The military and Asian group have 2 Chosen Ones, while my group only has 1. But your group¡­ You have 3." Rose was silent. An uneasy feeling welled up inside of her. Harry continued, "Now that there''s an unaffiliated Chosen One who also happens to have some conflict with you, you want to kill him right away. No matter how we see it, the only group that will benefit from killing him is yours." Hearing what Harry said, everyone started to look at Rose suspiciously. During the fight earlier, the only people that Nathan attacked was Rose''s group. He didn''t touch any of them. And in the case of the military group, given that they have an alliance with Red Dust, they were forced to help. Rose turned to Captain Barlow to see if she could as for support. However, the expression written on his face told her everything she needed to know. He too was displeased that Rose''s group was the most powerful here in terms of Chosen One powers. Most of the people who entered the Divine Tower didn''t come here to hold hands together to complete it. They were driven by the unique items and the [Artifact] grade items that the System mentioned when the Second Phase began. It was too dangerous to have Red Dust hold too much power. "Hmph! That person will only give you problems. You will be lucky if that person would even follow your orders," said Rose. "You really want him dead, don''t you? Do you fear him that much? Make him even worth recruiting," said Harry and sneered. "Just a piece of friendly advice." "Yeah, right," said Joseph on the side. Rose signaled Crawler to return. "Fucking lucky bastard!" Crawler spat on the ground before returning to the group. "Now, let''s discuss who will have that Chosen One." *** Nathan who was silently suffering extreme pain heard everything. He felt so insulted. He, a Chosen One, was treated like a product by these people who have no choice but to group together because they were weak! They didn''t even bother to ask for his opinion first. How dare they! No matter what happens here, he will definitely kill everyone here to wash away the humiliation he felt today -- of course, he still wanted to torture Ashleigh and Rose. If word gets out that he survived here due to pity, he would rather kill himself than live out the rest of his life carrying this great shame. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Hello, sorry for not posting the 3rd chapter for last week last Saturday. I was fired from one of my jobs. I mean, I knew it was going to happen because there were signs. But I chose to ignore it and didn''t want to accept it because I worked for that company for I think almost 2 years... I guess? I don''t remember. I''m still recovering from a hangover. Anyway, so after I was done with my other job for that day, I went out with my friends to drink like crazy -- yeah, I know it wasn''t the smartest idea but I was just depressed and it felt the right thing to do at that time. LOL. And the next day, waking up with a crazy hangover, I just shut myself inside my room and watched Silent Hill videos the whole day. I''m fine now if you''re wondering. And on the bright side, while I''m still looking for a new job to replace one of the jobs that I lost, I have more time to write. So anyway, this chapter is for the 3rd chapter that I failed to post last week. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? AreuShura ? shayan_mohebbi ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Nea7 ? LuciFallen ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? MyRedeemerLives ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? Passs3rby ? Ramvox ? wunderwave To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 102] and [Chapter 103] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ? chan The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 91 Divine Tower 5 Nathan''s skin returned back to normal and he was currently cleaning his equipment with a rag, wiping off the blood and skin tissue stuck on it. He was given some clothes and healing potions by Harry''s group. Although he had some extra clothes inside his [Grade D] Spatial Bag, he chose not to take it out in fear that they might covet his item. And speaking of the [Grade D] Spatial Bag, to his surprise, no one seems to acknowledge it. Perhaps they didn''t know what it was or didn''t care about it or pretending they aren''t aware of it? Whatever the reason was, he chose not to reveal it. But despite his cautious approach, there was a flaw here that Nathan didn''t consider. It was already strange that he didn''t carry any bag for his food and drinks. Putting that matter aside, Nathan secretly glanced around to see if anyone here aside from him had a [Grade D] Spatial Bag. He didn''t see any. Regarding his overall health, given that he wasn''t healed by Ashleigh because Rose argued that Nathan wasn''t part of her team and was now part of Harry''s group so they aren''t obligated to help him and the other teams agreed, he more or less recovered 80% of his health. But there was another issue plaguing Nathan''s mind¡­ While cleaning his equipment to remove the blood and skin tissue stuck on it, the scene from earlier kept replaying inside his head. In fact, despite already healed, his body would sometimes involuntarily twitch from the intense pain he experienced not long ago. ''I lost all my hair from the fire¡­ Why is it in most fantasy novels and shows character looks don''t change that much? Instead, in most cases, if there are changes, it makes them look even more badass. With the rate of how things are progressing, I wouldn''t be surprised if I ended up looking like Gollum¡­'' "Nathan, buddy, are you done?" Nathan turned towards the person who asked him. It was Joseph. Nathan flashed a warm and weak smile. "One last minute and I''ll be done." "Sure, sure. No problem." Everyone was waiting for Nathan to finish cleaning his equipment. Once he was done, Harry and his group would be the first ones to enter the red portal that presumably leads to the 2nd stage of the Divine Tower. This was one of the conditions Harry had to pay the other groups to have Nathan be part of his team. As for whether they asked for Nathan''s opinion, well, nothing. It was as if he owed these people for not killing him, which is true. But to Nathan, he felt no gratitude towards them. By the end of this journey, he would see to it that they would pay with their lives for stepping on his status as a Chosen One. He quickened his pace in cleaning his equipment. Seeing the blood and skin tissue on it, he couldn''t help but softly mutter under his breath, "I almost died¡­ again... for the second time¡­" For some miracle, no bullet entered his head and he knew he was extremely lucky. He even started to think he had [Plot Armor]. However, he still couldn''t shake the feeling that he almost died a second time. And it was not a pleasant experience. The first time was when he was slapped away by a D1. This time around he burned and shot. But on the second time, he didn''t pray. With his skill [Coward''s Way], does he really have the potential to become the most powerful Chosen One? If not, should he just bow down to those are more powerful? Should he just accept that as a human, he had no choice but to depend on others? Should he revert back to his old self before the zombie apocalypse where he had to wear a mask and tweak how he acts whenever he meets people in order to be seen by society as a decent citizen? He shook his head. ''I''m still level 25. It''s still far too early to give up. And if give up, what was the point of all my hard work?'' He let out a pitiful smile. ''God, I must be one of the greatest masochists that have ever lived. In some way, I''m probably no different from that booty warrior.'' He knew that he will no doubt face more near-death experiences if he continued walking down this path. But if he wanted a world where he can act how he wants to act and do what he wants to do, he must continue becoming strong. He also knew that he should tweak his approach a little bit¡­ Nathan finally finished cleaning his equipment and wore them immediately. He had to discard his police vest, and the holsters for his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun and [Grade D] Long Dagger. Fortunately, there was some extra holsters and some shotgun shells from the corpses so he was able to replace them. They also pointed out that he was so lucky the shells loaded on his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun didn''t explode when he was engulfed in flames earlier. They also warned him it may have caused some damage to the weapon so it''s better to replace it. But he ignored their advice because there was no decent gun available to replace it. Plus, this was his weapon to deal with those two tank-type Chosen Ones like Derek and Rose. Nathan picked up his [Grade D] Large Axe. "I''m done." "Let''s go," said Harry as he entered the red portal with his group and with Nathan. After entering the portal, they found themselves in the same setting like the previous stage -- the large spacious arena, the ceiling that seemed endless and the gigantic golden orb hovering above serving as a miniature sun. "I guess there won''t be any Eternal Village, huh," commented someone among Harry''s group. "Yeah, so we need to complete this Divine Tower as soon as possible before we starve to death," commented another one. No one knows who many stages they need to complete. Were there 10 stages? 100 stages? 1,000 stages? Or perhaps endless? Nathan thought about the food he carried inside his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. It was worth 7 days, eating 3 meals a day. He could stretch it out to 14 days if he decides to reduce his consumption. And as much as possible, he didn''t want to consume human meat or drink human pee or blood. He checked his watch. 1:41 PM. ''Only about 1 hour and a half since I left the Eternal Village¡­'' A minute later, the other teams entered as well. When all of the remaining survivors entered the red portal, a message from the System popped inside their heads. Ding! ''Stage 2 of the Divine Tower will now begin. Kill all the Armored Angels to proceed to the next stage.'' Everyone raised their heads and looked at the sky. Just like in the previous stage, a group of 100 Armored Angels appeared up in the sky and were descending. "Prepare to engage!" Nathan disappeared and moved away. The same as the previous stage, when the armored angels were 20m above ground, they began to throw spells. And when they landed on the ground, they cast buffs on themselves. It was the same sequence just like the previous stage. The only difference was their level because they were now Level 2 and their stats are: ? STR - 22 ? AGI - 22 ? VIT - 22 ? INT - 100 In clearing Stage 2 of the Divine Tower, Nathan decided to only aim for the White Armored Angels but didn''t kill that many. The reason why he chose this approach wasn''t because they didn''t give any EXP, he was throwing a tantrum, or his health was not at full capacity. In his mind, given that no one knows how many stages are there, he wanted to conserve his energy. Sure, having high VIT makes one''s endurance and defense higher, immune system stronger and recovery faster. However, movement requires energy -- the more energy he spends, the more food he would need to consume. And even if they accused him of deliberately not putting effort in killing and have Ashleigh heal him, he could always argue that he''s still recovering from the loss of blood due to the injuries he sustained earlier. After 30 minutes, they finally killed all the armored angels. As for Nathan, out of the 100 armored angels, he only killed 5 white ones and none of the black ones. And despite killing only 5 White Armored Angels, he was able to loot 2 [Green] Treasure Chests. ''It seems that the drop rate is a bit higher here, huh.'' He opened the two chests. One of the chests was a [Small] Mana Potion. It was 3-inch vial with blue liquid inside. ''Nice.'' Meanwhile, inside the other chest was a [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Gloves that gives +1 INT, +2 VIT and 1% chance of blocking any magical attack. Nathan pondered. He asked earlier if there was any difference between the drops of the black and white armored angels. Based on his what he has learned so far, in terms of bonus stats, there were random unlike the ones dropped by the D, M, N and S types. Random in a sense where it''s not like the D-types that drops +3 Vit or +2 Vit and +1 random stat attribute. Instead, it could be any combination. The only difference between the two, as he found out, was the special effect. The white equipment gives a 1% chance to block any magical attack, while the black equipment gives a 1% chance to block any physical attack. ''Hmm¡­ These special effects are really effective and could definitely affect the outcome of the battle or one''s survival. However, the combination of the bonus stats makes them useless¡­'' Nathan examined the [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Gloves. ''Only +3 bonus stats so this is only a First Tier enhancement, not a Second Tier which gives +4¡­ It would be nice if by the end of this Divine Tower I could return to the Eternal Village and have it re-awakened.'' But after thinking about the cost, he smiled and shook his head. ''What would I pay for the re-awakening? Perhaps I could sell my equipment?'' As far as he has seen, no Nuclei was dropped by the armored angels because their body disintegrates once they''re destroyed. ''Well, no point in thinking about that. For now, my goal is to survive here in this Divine Tower so I can''t change my equipment. And as for looting, well, I can always kill these bastards.'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. His eyes flashed a cold glint. Aside from pretending to work with these people, he was observing them, especially the Chosen Ones. And the one that burned him? Well, he already had some ideas on how his skill works. *** Stage 5 of the Divine Tower¡­ The survivors just cleared out all the armored angels and a red portal appeared for them to proceed to stage 6. With each stage, everything was the same. The only difference was the level of the armored angels because it rises up to one. Although they knew quite well how to defeat them, it was getting harder and harder to defeat them. In fact, they lost some people along the way and they were now down to 40, including Nathan. "Let''s take a break and resume after 6 hours of rest," said Captain Burlow. According to Nathan''s watch, it has already been 7 hours since they left the Eternal Village. Signs of fatigue, exhaustion and hunger can already be seen on everyone''s faces. There was also the issue that perhaps there was no ending to the stages or they would all die before they completed the stages which was slowing eating away the morale of everyone. With those issues, continuing would be suicide so a much-needed rest and bonding time was required. "Okay," said Rose. The other groups agreed as well. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 92 Divine Tower 6 There were 40 survivors remaining. The four groups didn''t stay together. Instead, they distanced themselves from one another and stick with their own circle. Nathan sat together with Harry''s group and ate. Including Nathan, their total number was 8. Nathan was given half a sandwich and also half a cup of water by Harry''s group. While they were eating, a man, who wasn''t a Chosen One, was talking about how many armored angels he killed and how he killed them with style. He even brought out his weapons and reenacted the scenes to make his stories even more dramatic. In the case of Nathan, despite being a Chosen One like Harry, no one paid him that much attention due to the performance he has shown from Stage 2 to Stage 5. He only maintained to kill 5 to 7 White Armored Angels per stage. And because of that, the reactions were mixed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Some of the dimwitted ones asked, "Is he really a Chosen One? We shouldn''t waste our food on him." However, those who were sharp-witted knew exactly what Nathan was doing and didn''t comment at all, because they too were doing it as well. It would be better to let those dimwitted ones brag without realizing that they were doing all the heavy lifting. And of course, there were others that were just pathological saviors. And speaking of pathological saviors¡­ Nathan secretly glanced at Rose''s group. Thanks to Derek''s hero complex, they still had 13 members left. No one died ever since Nathan joined Harry''s group. Among them were familiar faces. So aside from Rose, Derek and Ashleigh, there was also Germaine, Kaija, Crawler, and R.R. ''Well, given that they have two tank-type Chosen Ones and another one with almost god-like healing powers, it''s not really a surprise,'' Nathan thought. He looked over at the military group. Based on what he has seen, they have two Chosen Ones, thanks to the collars around their neck. One was the Caucasian teenager who barbecued him. The other one was also Caucasian but in his mid-20s. His power was that he was able to use his own bones as a System weapon. Although this Chosen One didn''t have to worry about picking up weapons and he had unlimited bone-made weapons so he doesn''t need to be conscious about durability, the process was painful. For him to summon a weapon, he had to alter the shape of his bones from any part of his body which would then pierce through his skin due to the unnatural shape and then break it. In Nathan''s mind, he coined them as Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones. ''So, what the bitch told me wasn''t exactly a lie. Looks like the government is forcing Chosen Ones to fight for them¡­'' He wondered for a quick moment about the story behind these two Chosen Ones that led them to this state before tossing it away to the back of his head. ''It doesn''t matter if they were forced against their will or not.'' Regardless of whatever the reason, they must die, especially the one that barbecued him. He looked over at the Asian group. This group also has two Chosen Ones as well. One was a man in his late 20s and had the power to transform into a 2m-tall werebat. Aside from flying, he could also spit poisonous acid which was labeled as a magic attack. And although it doesn''t require any mana to cast, it required something else -- there must be water inside his stomach. So in a way, it was like him vomiting. Nathan also noticed that he doesn''t wear gloves and boots, and perhaps rings as well, whether it was in human or werebat form. With that, he concluded that this Chosen One''s bonus stats were low. The other Chosen One was mysterious. He was a short and chubby man in his early 30s. And so far, he hasn''t revealed any of his powers yet or perhaps he had already but those who have no knowledge what his powers are were simply unaware. Moreover, among the Asian group, there were also two Muwinians. The man finally ended telling his stories about the many armored angels he killed and how he killed them. The crowd gave him a few cheers and applause as he sat down to eat his meal. Another man got up to share his stories. Harry got up as well and went over to Nathan who already finished eating his meal a long time ago. He ushered Nathan to follow him and sit beside him just a few feet away from the circle. When they were finally together¡­ "I''ve spoken with one of the leaders of the Asian groups earlier," said Harry. "Okay," said Nathan as he looked at Harry and thought. ''This guy looks like one of the successful guys before the zombie apocalypse.'' He remembered the file of Harry and his group that was given to him by Twitch back at Haven Manor. However, he only glanced over the pictures and asked what his powers were. And after observing him, he concluded that Harry could slow down his opponents that are within his peripheral vision. As for how slow, he wasn''t sure, but it was probably about 20%. And as for the range of his skill, probably about 20 meters. Harry was a native of Womania -- Caucasian with black hair. In terms of looks, despite not being close to the level of the handsomeness of Derek, he was still good-looking. But what made him really attractive was his confidence, thanks to the success he acquired as a lawyer before the zombie apocalypse. "They believe that there are only 10 stages," said Harry. Nathan knitted his brows, trying to decipher where did they get such information to reach such a conclusion. ''Perhaps back at the Eternal Village?'' "Let me explain why. In fact, it makes sense. When the zombie apocalypse first began, there were Level 1 normal zombies and the Rank 1 types which were basically Level 11 zombies. And before the normal zombies reached Level 11, the Second Phase occurred and now there are Rank 2 types which are Level 21 zombies." Nathan was silent. "So following that pattern, it would make sense that there will be 10 stages. Plus, those armored angels don''t give any EXP. And as diabolical and messed up the god is who unleashed this zombie apocalypse, there''s always a sense of balance." ''Hmm¡­ Makes sense but¡­'' Nathan thought. "So what''s the reason you''re telling me this?" A small smile slowly formed on Harry''s lips. "From Stage 6 to 9, our group and the Asian group would let Red Dust and the military group do most of the killing to wear them down. At Stage 10, we will resume our normal killing pace. And once the armored angels drop down to 30, that''s when we attack the other two groups." "You seem so sure that the plan will go according to plan. What if it fails? Do you even have a plan B?" "Do we have a choice? Our food supply is limited. And plus, as a fellow Chosen One, I can tell that you''re not exerting that much effort to save energy." "What about what''s waiting for us outside once we completed this tower? Have you considered that?" "Back at the Eternal Village, the military group tried using their radios to contact the outside world." "And?" "There was no signal." "Are you sure about that?" "100%." Nathan remained silent. "By the way, that [Grade D] Spatial Bag around your waist is quite eye-catching." Upon hearing what Harry said, Nathan''s eyes immediately turned cold. "Woah, easy now," said Harry as he raised his hands up. "Look, some of us here have seen what a [Grade D] Spatial Bag is and heard about its use but weren''t able to afford it. I think it''s only as big as a 30" x 50" duffle bag? Which, although is reasonably large, isn''t worth fighting over with you -- an alive Chosen One is 10,000 times more useful than a dead one. However, once people start to go hungry and there''s little food left, well, you can imagine what could happen." "A threat, huh," Nathan''s voice was cold. Harry put down his hands. "No, no, no. That was actually part of Plan B, a worst-case scenario -- well, sort of, in case the belief that there are only 10 stages turns out to be false. But if it turns out to be true, well, our share of the loots will be larger." ''Quite interesting you didn''t mention anything about the Artifact,'' Nathan thought. When the Second Phase began, the System mentioned that participants could loot unique items and [Artifact] grade items inside the Divine Tower. And based on what Nathan has seen so far, he could only conclude that the "unique" items are probably like the spatial bag, the Divine Tear, and Divine Stone he had and the black and white-colored equipment. As of the [Artifact] grade items, whatever that is, he has no clue. But hopefully it''s worth it. Nathan thought about Harry''s proposal to team up with the Asian group to kill the other two groups. ''Hmm.. If we could successfully kill those two groups, that would make things easier for me to reach my main goal -- kill everyone here.'' And the way he sees it, killing Harry and the Chosen One that could turn into a werebat (except for that secretive Chosen One that''s a member of the Asian group) was easier. In the case of Harry, as far as from what he has observed, he only needs to disappear and attack from behind or at least out of his peripheral vision. "Before I give my decision, do you know what the powers are of that other Chosen One from the Asian group?" said Nathan. "Which one?" "The chubby one." "The short, chubby one?" said Harry and chuckled. "Believe it or not, his power is that he could heal his wounds by eating the flesh of others -- Of course, the victim must be alive." Nathan heard it, he couldn''t help but feel pity yet also disgusted, making him thankful for his skill. "Well, it doesn''t technically have to be human. As long as it''s a living being, it activates his skill. It also makes him full... I think. But how much flesh he needs to consume? That I don''t know." Nathan glanced over at the Chosen One that feeds on flesh to heal wounds, trying to decipher whether that person was a cannibal or not, despite not having encountered one so far or not knowing if there are any tell-tale signs that could indicate someone was a cannibal. Regardless, he decided to coin this Chosen One in his head as "Cannibal". But given that they''re in a zombie apocalypse, there''s no doubt that he would definitely encounter one sooner or later. But still, if he does encounter one, as much as possible, he wouldn''t want to be near one. To him, that kind of depravity was so low (perhaps the lowest a human can get) and just downright repulsive. Who knows what kind of diseases he could get from just being near them. "Anyway, back to my offer. So, what''s your decision? Don''t you want to get revenge from what they did to you? In fact, just like you, I too share a deep hatred against Red Dust," said Harry. "Really now," said Nathan as he stroked his beardless chin. "They murdered my mother and drove my father to suicide. I will never rest until every last one of them is dead," said Harry with a low and cold voice. Nathan looked over at Harry. The hatred he felt from how he said those words was no doubt genuine because it left out a lingering feeling on his skin seconds even after they were spoken. ''I wonder how will this guy backstab me once we''re done kill the other groups?'' Nathan thought and smiled. "It seems that not only do we share a common enemy, we also share a similar experience as well. Rose took my cousin as a hostage. And when I refused to work with her, she killed him but failed to kill me." Harry offered his hand. "So we have a deal then." Nathan reached out to grab Harry''s hand. "As long as you give me Rose and that blonde bimbo of a Chosen One named Ashleigh." "No problem. It would be a waste not to torture that bitch before killing her." "Okay. We have a deal." After reaching an agreement, Harry got up and returned to the circle. Nathan, on the other hand, disappeared and got up before heading to the edge of the arena. His plan was to eat and then take a quick nap. Regarding the food, what is half a sandwich and half a cup of water? Even a toddler would still be hungry after eating that! As for taking a nap, how many hours has it been since he slept? It''s been at least more than 24 hours. ''Let''s see if this works¡­'' While still invisible, he pulled out one of the meals from his [Grade D] Spatial Bag that he prepared before entering the Divine Tower. It was a tupperware that had rice inside that he cooked, and meat and vegetables from canned foods. He didn''t lose his invisibility. Even the tupperware was invisible. ''Interesting¡­'' He put down the tupperware on his lap so that it won''t lose its invisibility and then took out a bottle of water. He ate his meal¡­ After eating his meal, he returned the tupperware and the bottle of water inside his [Grade D] Spatial Bag before pissing on the wall of the arena. There were no windows in this spacious arena, only an endless ceiling and the giant golden orb hovering above that illuminated the entire area. He sat down with his back against the wall. And before he closed his eyes, he looked over at the Muwinians among the Asian group and then to Harry. ''Muwin¡­ Success¡­'' Asleep, he dreamt about a certain memory¡­ ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? MyRedeemerLives ? Ramvox ? darklord12332 ? Meilstrem ? 14Lit ? shayan_mohebbi ? LuciFallen ? 7Life7Sky (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? wunderwave ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? Amber_Primeau ? Passs3rby ? Pyrtzii ? Daoist_WhiteBurner ? Koushik52 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 104] and [Chapter 105] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 93 Recall 3 years ago. Nathan, 21 years old. Liit Town, Muwin. "Come on! Come on!" "Hrrr!" "Up, up, up, up, up!" Nathan was bench-pressing a barbell that was stacked with 270 pounds of plates. His face was red as he gritted his teeth. "Come on! Come on!" said the spotter who was lightly touching the center of the barbell. Thick veins appeared on Nathan''s neck and forehead as he continued to push the weight. He tipped his toes. His lower back was beginning to rise and rise, almost to the point of reaching a bad form. But thanks to the years of lifting, the muscle memory of his body subconsciously prevented him from doing so, holding him just a half-step away from doing a bad rep. However¡­ "Push! Push! PUSH!" "Hrrrrrr!" Nathan was stuck in the middle of completing the rep. He couldn''t push anymore. His forearms started to shake and his shoulders felt like it was going to pop any moment. This was his first time bench-pressing 270 pounds. Just a week ago, his highest was only 260 pounds. And a week before that, it was 250 pounds. It was too early. As he was about to tell the spotter to grab the barbell and assist him in returning it to the rack, he thought about what happened back at Latif City 2 months ago. He thought about the police officers¡­ He thought about his father¡­ He thought about Karen''s parents¡­ He thought about Vincent¡­ He thought about Karen¡­ He thought about Vincent and Karen naked and passionately kissing¡­ All of a sudden, he was fueled by rage and a new surge of strength ignited inside of him. "HAAAA!" He pushed the bar up in the air, completing the rep. With the rep finally complete, the spotter grabbed onto the bar and assisted Nathan in returning it to the rack. Clang! Nathan immediately sat up. "Hah¡­ Hah¡­ Hah¡­. Thanks, bro," said Nathan breathlessly and held out a fist. The spotter, who was actually the gym instructor, fist-bumped him. "No problem, bro." The spotter returned to the counter to check his phone. Alone, Nathan clicked his tongue. Tch! ''Damn those people! I wish they all drop dead right now!'' Does he still love Karen? It''s complicated¡­ It would be a lie if he said he doesn''t have any positive feelings left for her. It would be a lie if he said he doesn''t miss her. It would be a lie if he said it never crossed his mind to call her. It would be a lie if he said he never thought about leaving this town and go back to Latif City. She was, after all, his first love, his first girlfriend and a person that he shared a lot of memories with, both good and bad. On the other hand¡­ As much as Nathan hated Karen and Vincent to the point that he wanted to strangle them to death, he was also someone, in the end, who wants to live in society and enjoy its benefits. He doesn''t want to spend his life behind bars. Since that incident 2 months ago, all he did was focus on his job to forget about the pain and work out 6 times a week to release his anger. After catching his breath, Nathan checked his watch. 8:21 am. ''About 40 minutes to go before the gym closes.'' Today was a Saturday. Saturday was the holy day for the Iklas religion. However, on this particular Saturday, it wasn''t just a typical holy Saturday for Iklasians. Today was the final day of the celebration of the Holy Week where the prophet Zalimun climbed Mt. Makanalah and wandered inside a cave for days before encountering God on the 7th day and received the holy teachings. At 12:00 noon, everyone was to head to the church and attend the mass which will then be followed by a feast. Although Nathan wasn''t particularly religious, thanks to the household he grew up on, Liit Town was a small town on a tiny island with only about 2,500 residents. So given that this town had a small population, there naturally was this sense of a so-called "tight" community. There''s also the fact that most South Muwinians that believe in Iklas have a low opinion on those who don''t share their beliefs. So if Nathan wanted to live a peaceful life here, he had no choice but to adapt to their mindset -- at least whenever he''s around them. Fortunately for him, he had relatives here and he didn''t say or do anything stupid so far so he was welcomed with open arms right away in the first few days he got here 2 months ago. If he was a total stranger, it would''ve probably taken him much, much longer. Nathan stood up and head to the water dispenser which was beside the counter. "I''ll be going now. I''ll see you guys later at the mass!" said a man who just came out of the locker room. "What the hell, bro? You''re going already? You barely lifted anything," said another man. "Yeah, bro. I need to go back home to help my wife." "Under~ Under~ Under~" Another person started chanting a slang term. The term "under" meant someone who is submissive to his/her partner. It was a term commonly used against men here in Muwin. "Lol¡­ I can''t help it, bro. My in-laws are present," said the man as he waved his hand and headed towards the exit which was near the counter. "Take care, bro." "Thanks, bro. See you guys at the mass." As the man passed by the counter, he tapped Nathan on the shoulder, who was right beside counter drinking water from a plastic cup. "Nathan, bro, I''ve got to go," said the man and held out his fist. Nathan put down his cup and fist-bumped him before saying, "Sure, sure. Take care, bro." "You too, bro." Nathan resumed his workout. *** 9:02 am. Nathan was walking down the street, heading home. Although Liit Town was just a small town on a tiny island, there were a few things he likes about this place¡­ One -- Everything was just a walking distance. Two -- It wasn''t noisy compared to living in a city. Three -- It wasn''t crowded and there were actually places that you can just be alone and relax other than your own room. Four -- Fresh air. Five -- Almost everything was cheap here, such as the bills, rent and food. And speaking of food, the main source of income here was fishing. Living here, Nathan was able to eat all kinds of sea creatures that if he ate them at a restaurant in a city, it would cost him at least 20 times more than what he would pay here. And the worst part? As a 6ft-tall man who works out, the typical meal size that an average person would be full with will never be enough for him. Nathan passed by the market to buy some fruits for his relatives living with him at his grandfather''s house. He stopped by a fruit vendor. The vendor was a woman in her early 30s. "Good morning, Nathan. Done working out?" As a new face in Liit town and someone who came from the city and also had relatives here, everyone knew about Nathan but he doesn''t know all of them. And if there was something he didn''t like about this place aside from their die-hard take on religion, it was that most people here can be nosy sometimes so one had to be in their best behavior at all times if they want to maintain a good reputation. Nathan looked at the vendor and couldn''t help but notice that she had a bruise around her left eye. In truth, the woman tried to conceal it with makeup. However, she must have forgotten about it and accidentally wiped the sweat from her face with a cloth while she was working. Compared to the north, the South Muwinian culture was truly a patriarchal society and had strict gender rules. They expect men to act as men and women to act as women -- nothing in between. Each gender had their own roles to fulfill. And although men are expected to treat women with respect, if a woman acts or does something that is deemed to be improper, a man that is related to her has the right to hit her. Given that Nathan grew up in the central region of Muwin and didn''t really associate himself with South Muwinians that much, he, of course, found the practice somewhat barbaric, particularly the part of hitting women. To him, as sexist as it may sound, most men are just naturally superior when it comes to physical strength. Anyone who would think otherwise is a fool brainwashed by movies or whatever source of lies they''ve taken it from. Regarding this woman in front of him, well, he chose to ignore it. Who was he to question other people''s culture and beliefs? Who was he to tell people what''s right and wrong? And the most important part, he doesn''t know the context of the story to what led to the bruise. Was the person who hit her just an animal who loves to hit women for fun? Or did this woman do something wrong that made it "reasonable" to hit her? "Good morning, too. Yes, and I''m headed home right now. Six oranges, apples and bananas please," said Nathan as he handed her cash. Whatever trouble this woman was in right now, he didn''t want to be part of it so he wanted to leave right away. The woman took the cash and started putting fruits he requested inside a plastic bag. She gave the plastic bag to him along with his change. "Here you go." "Thank you." "You''re welcome." Nathan quickly left. *** Nathan arrived in front of his grandfather''s house. As he was making his way through the front door, someone called out his name from behind. "Uncle Nathan!" It was a little girl''s voice. Nathan turned around and saw that it was his neighbor, Jadaa. She was this 13 year-old girl who likes to ask Nathan about city life. She dreams about growing up one day and go to the city to live there. Nathan wasn''t related to her or whatsoever, except being neighbors. As for why she calls him "uncle," perhaps it was because he was sporting a goatee and had long hair which makes look older. And add-in his body size, he also looked a bit intimidating. "Hello. Good morning." "My father bought me this dress from the city for the mass today. Isn''t it beautiful? This is what the people in the city also wear, right?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The clothing she was wearing a cute red dress that reached way below her knees. It had white frills and a big yellow ribbon at the back. Nathan flashed a warm smile and said, "Yes, it''s very beautiful. And yes, people in the city also wear that." "You mean it?" "Of course! I would never lie, especially on a holy day." Jadaa smiled brightly as she spun around and looked at her dress. She was pleased. Whether Nathan was lying or not, it doesn''t matter to him. When it comes to children, he always had a soft spot for them because unlike adults, they were true to their nature. In most cases, there were no hidden meanings or motives when they speak or act. And even if there were, it was easy to spot a mile away. But of course, although Nathan had a soft spot for children, this doesn''t mean he wanted one -- well, not at the moment. Firstly, he was still 21 years old. Secondly, his financial status isn''t stable yet. If he were going to have children, he wants to be financially stable first so that he can provide them a good and stable life. "Come pick a fruit you want," said Nathan as he opened the plastic bag of fruits that he was carrying. "I''m already full. I just ate." "Oh¡­ Okay." "Do you have candies, though?" "I thought you said you were full?" "I have a special space inside my stomach for candies." "..." "JADAA!" She was being called by a woman from her house. "I''ve got to go now or mother will get angry at me!" said Jadaa. "Sure, sure," said Nathan and chuckled. When he reached the front door of his grandfather''s house, he could hear the voice of Jadaa''s mother. "Didn''t I tell you not to go outside and play? You will get that dress dirty and you won''t have anything to wear at the mass!" Nathan just shook his head and smiled. He left his flip-flops at the entrance before entering. His grandfather''s house was a two-story house that was mostly made up of wood and was built about 60 years ago. Here, aside from his grandfather Sakhr who was already 95 years old, there was also his uncle (his father''s younger brother), aunt and one of their children. His uncle''s name was Mabrook and he works as a teacher at the local high school. His aunt''s name was Mariam and was a housewife. Both of them were in their mid-40s. As for their children, they were both were males. The eldest was Maaz. He was 25 years old who didn''t go to college and continued living here in Liit Town but rarely comes home. Meanwhile, the youngest was Malik. He was 20 years old who is currently studying at Banya City College and didn''t come home this weekend due to some reason related to school. Banya City is one of the cities in the southern region of Muwin. "Nathan, you''re back. I''ve already prepared food. Come eat first," said a woman. It was aunt Mariam. In this household, they usually have breakfast together before 7:00 am during the weekdays and 9:00 am on weekends. "Okay, aunt Mariam. But I need to change first," said Nathan and then passed her the plastic bag. "What''s this?" Mariam took the plastic bag and opened it. "Oh, your grandfather would love these." Nathan climbed up the stairs and went to his room to change. His room was on the second floor and didn''t have a door. The reason why it didn''t have a door was because it was removed by his uncle Mabrook about 10 years ago. This room that Nathan was staying in was something he shared with his cousin Maaz. There were two bunk beds. But given that Maaz rarely comes home, Nathan never felt he was sharing it with someone. As for why the door was removed, it was thanks to Maaz. When Maaz was around the age of 15, he started doing drugs and would sometimes take them inside his room. But one day, aunt Mariam caught him. When uncle Mabrook found out about it, he beat Maaz so badly that he needed to be assisted for a week whenever he goes to the toilet. However, just about a week later after his recovery, he was caught again doing drugs inside his room and the same thing happened. In the next several months, there was no incident because Maaz stopped doing drugs inside his room. But one afternoon, uncle Mabrook received a call from his phone that Maaz was sent to the local clinic due to overdose and he almost died. Fortunately for Maaz, someone "found" him unconscious in the forest so he was sent to the clinic right away. Furious and helpless, uncle Mabrook decided to remove the door of Maaz''s room. In uncle Mabrook''s mind, it would be better for Maaz to do drugs inside his own room because at least they could spy on him and prevent him from overdosing rather than having him overdose at some unknown place. Of course, during the years that went by, they tried to have Maaz rehabilitated as well. However, things only got worse and he began to associate himself with some dangerous people. As for the reason they had Nathan stay in this room, they were aware about what happened to him 2 months ago before he was sent here and feared that he might do something crazy like commit suicide or something. And given that they''ve noticed that Nathan hasn''t tried to date or showed any interest towards another woman ever since he came here, they were getting a little worried. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? shayan_mohebbi ? darklord12332 ? Ramvox ? MyRedeemerLives ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? LuciFallen ? Jeng_Leng_Lee ? SaberDaddy ? asuran_tiger ? Passs3rby ? MoonlightOwl34 ? darkgu_00 ? Smith91 ? wunderwave ? Pratik2610 ? ABSenior ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 106] and [Chapter 107] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 94 Recall 2 Right after Nathan changed his clothes, he went straight to the kitchen to eat post-workout meal -- which was also his last meal of the day. There, already sitting at the table were uncle Mabrook and his grandfather Sakhr. Meanwhile, his aunt Mariam was getting something in the kitchen. His uncle Mabrook had his glasses on and was reading something on his tablet while drinking coffee. His grandfather had a bored and pissed-off look as usual as he ate his gruel and vegetables with some fruits on the side. And from time-to-time, he would grumble under his breath about how bad it tastes and would like to eat something delicious like a steak or something. "Nathan, come eat," said aunt Mariam as she came back from the kitchen with some food. "Good morning, uncle, grandfather," said Nathan before sitting on the table. He grabbed some fried fish, soup, rice and some other seafood delicacies. The food was really delicious when there''s a dedicated housewife. "Good morning, too," said Mabrook before resuming reading. "Hmph! This is not a man''s meal! This is a goat''s meal! Always vegetables and fruits! Look at what my grandson is eating! Am I a prisoner here?!" "Grandfather, Nathan is growing boy. He needs to eat a lot," said Aunt Mariam. Every meal, his aunt Mariam and grandfather had this skit. Aunt Mariam would console grandfather Sakhr, telling him that because he has no choice but to eat his meal to maintain a healthy diet. "Then what about me?!" said Grandfather Sakhr. "Grandfather, you''re --" Aunt Mariam was about to tell him that he wasn''t a growing boy but stopped after realizing that it sounded weird to tell a 90-year old that, despite the fact that he does act like a spoiled child most of the times. But then again, some old people are like that. They regress as they grow older. Uncle Mabrook put down his tablet and looked at Nathan. "Will you be attending the mass today?" As someone who works online, in most cases, their schedule differs from the normal work schedule of those who work on traditional jobs. Moreover, in some jobs, employees are required to always be available for contact. Nathan has 2 online jobs right now. One was his main, while the other is part-time. However, due to some financial problems that the company of his main job is facing right now, there have been some issues lately. On a normal day, Nathan would be going to bed before 9:00 am. Meanwhile, on Saturdays, where it''s considered to be a holy day for Iklasians and the ceremony starts at 12:00 noon where all its believers are required to attend and last for about 40 minutes, he would wake up around 11:30 am to go to church with his family to attend the ceremony. And once they return home, he would go back to bed and wake up around 4:00 pm. However, today''s Saturday was special due to the Holy Week, so the ceremony would last close to 2 hours which is why his uncle asked him if he would be able to join. "Yes, uncle. I will be attending." In Nathan''s mind, of course, he was going to attend. He had to or he would have a bad reputation here which will also affect his uncle and aunt''s reputation, causing them unwanted attention from the people of the community. "I see. That''s good to hear." *** 12:40 pm. Inside the Iklasian Church. There were 2 columns and 30 rows each. The men sat on the first 15 rows, while the women sat on the remaining rows. As for those who were late, they had to resort to standing near their designated genders. The mass has been going on for 40 minutes now. Nathan was sleepy and bored to death but didn''t show any expression of it. Well, that''s because he had some practice years before¡­ though in a different church. Back when he and Karen used to be together, she would force him to go to a Trinitian church and attend the mass with her every Sunday. Because of that, although he wasn''t exactly religious, he was able to learn their prayers and a few things. At the moment, the priest was telling the story of the prophet Zalimun, about how he climbed Mt. Makanalah and wandered inside a cave for days before encountering God and received the holy teachings. "One night, one of God''s angels spoke to the prophet Zalimun in a dream, telling him to climb Mt. Makanalah to meet God¡­" "When he woke up in the morning, he told his wife, Hayati, about the dream and immediately decided to climb Mt. Makanalah¡­" "Hayati tried to stop the prophet Zalimum, telling him that it was only a dream and nothing more¡­" "But the prophet Zalimun''s faith towards God was so great, greater than his love for his wife and children¡­" "The prophet Zalimun climbed the steps of Mt. Makanalah for half a day before entering a cave where he heard the voice of God¡­" "Inside the cave, he searched for God for days¡­" "And on the 7th day, he found God¡­" "When the prophet Zalimun saw God, he was blinded by the holy light and overwhelmed by His presence that he could only kneel down and close his eyes as God passed onto him the holy teachings¡­" The priest began to list the holy teachings and explain to them one-by-one¡­ *** The mass finally ended. Nathan and his family exited the church. Outside the church, they were greeted with the church''s volunteers (mostly women) who were standing behind tables that had many dishes laid out on top of it. "Nathan, watch your grandfather. Don''t let him eat any food that''s high in cholesterol," said aunt Mariam. Another part of South Muwinian culture, thanks to the Iklas religion, was that men and women are not allowed to be too close together in public, even with certain family members. In the case of Nathan''s grandfather, although he was already 95 years old so it was okay for him to be assisted by women in public, he had a reputation for being a womanizer and also had a somewhat problematic attitude so not many wanted to be around him. Meanwhile, in the case of aunt Mariam, the reason why she left Sakhr with Nathan was because she wanted to mingle with the other housewives and some of her old friends that came visit here at Liit town for the Holy Week celebration. And as for uncle Mabrook, he was busy talking with some associates of his regarding business matters. "Yes, auntie," said Nathan. "I''ll see you later." "Okay." Aunt Mariam left. Nathan sighed inwardly as he glanced over at his grandfather who had a cane stick on his hand to support himself. ''Great, now I''m a nanny.'' He noticed that his grandfather''s eyes were shining. It was as if he was a wolf that hasn''t eaten for days and finally seen some fresh meat. ''Well, I guess eating gruel and vegetable day-in and day-off would make someone produce such reaction,'' Nathan thought and looked over at the direction where his grandfather was looking. He knitted his brows. There was a table. On top of it was a roasted pig and some other tasty, yet high cholesterol dishes on the side. It was the type of dishes that aunt Mariam warned him about not to let his grandfather eat. However, there was also a very beautiful woman in her late teens behind the table, serving as a server for the guests. She had her long black hair tied into a ponytail. Her skin was white and flawless, like a baby''s. She was 5''7" tall and had a slim figure. And if Nathan was going to rate her, she was probably a 9 by the very least. Furthermore, she had this very pure and innocent look that makes you want to protect her. Basically, she wasn''t the type that you''d fuck. She was the type you''d make love to, go on a date with like take her to fancy restaurant, hold hands, and do all those sweet and cheesy things that lovers do. Nathan wasn''t familiar with the woman, nor has he seen her ever since he arrived here at Liit Town 2 months ago. ''My god, grandfather! You''ll get us killed! The woman is like less than 5 times your age!'' Nathan placed his hand behind his grandfather''s back and pointed at another table that was filled with fruits and vegetables. "Grandfather, let''s go get something to eat there." "Yeah, yeah. Let''s do that. I want the food there." Of course, Sakhr was headed towards to the table where the beautiful woman was. "Grandfather, the food there isn''t --" "Shh! You brat! What do you know what I can and can''t eat?! I''m not a goat! I am a man! I do what I want! I eat what I want, whenever I want! No one tells me what to do!" ''Oh, God help me¡­'' Nathan didn''t want to cause a scene so he agreed. His grandfather was already 95 years old anyway so Nathan figured that even if his grandfather did something crazy, they would not really take it at heart¡­ probably. And as for his health, he''ll try to do something, like try to minimize the food that his grandfather ate. Nathan and Sakhr arrived at the table¡­ "Hello, do you already have any spoons and plates? If not, let me give you some," said the woman. Her voice was so soft and sweet that it could make a man relax and put his guard down. Add-in her very beautiful face, one couldn''t help but fall for her. Although Nathan wasn''t struck by something like a love at first sight kind of thing or whatever, the only person he dated was Karen and he was devotedly faithful to her. And in terms of looks, Karen was only slightly above average. Because of these factors, he couldn''t help but be overwhelmed by her beauty and was left tongue-tied. "I- I -- We- We¡­" "What my useless grandson is saying is that we don''t have any spoons and plates left," said Sakhr. The woman smiled sweetly. Her smile was like something that it could make one''s heart melt. "I see." The woman took out two plates and spoons from the side and handed them over to Nathan and Sakhr. "Here." Sakhr hit Nathan''s legs with his cane, signaling him to take them. Pah! Nathan took the spoons and plates on her hands. "Thank you very much for being such an angel," Sakhr said with a very warm, friendly smile and held an expression that looked like he couldn''t break a glass. Nathan''s eyes were wide as saucers. Although he wasn''t a stranger in lying and acting, this was just a whole new level. At the moment, gone was the grandfather he knew, the one that always had a bored and pissed-off look on his face. It was like he was replaced by a completely different person. "Oh, it''s nothing really. I''m one of the volunteers and I''m just happy that I could be of help," said the woman. "By the way, are you perhaps the granddaughter of Raisa?" "Yes, I''m her granddaughter." "Oh, no wonder I was surprised earlier when I saw you. You looked just like her when she was your age. I almost thought I was seeing a ghost." The woman smiled. "Yes, many have told me that I looked a lot like my grandmother when she was my age." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "I didn''t catch your name. Sorry, I''m a bit old and I tend to easily forget about things. What was it again?" "It''s Reatha, sir." "Oh, please don''t call me sir. Just call me grandpa Sakhr," said Sakhr as he weakly waved one hand. "Okay." "This is my grandson Nathan." Reatha looked at Nathan and smiled. "Hello, nice to meet you." "Yeah -- I mean, it''s nice to meet you as well." "Reatha, dear. How''s Raisa? It''s been a while since I''ve seen her." "Oh, my grandmother is at Banya City and I''m staying there with her. We were supposed to come here and attend the mass today but her health hasn''t been too good lately so I came with my parents instead." "Oh, I see. Please do send my regards to her." "Of course, grandpa Sakhr. I will tell her. I''m sure she''ll be happy." "Hohoho~ My, my¡­ I didn''t know that to be called grandpa Sakhr by you would feel this good. I feel like I can eat everything here in this table." "Oh, please stop teasing me." Reatha blushed and covered her face with her hands. Hearing what Sakhr said, Nathan also couldn''t help but feel embarrassed as well. No, he was mortified. However, he was no doubt impressed. ''Perhaps maybe he knows he''s old and no one is very tolerant of him?'' Nathan thought. "Reatha, my dear, what do you recommend?" said Sakhr. "Hmm¡­ I heard that this roasted pig is really good. Uncle Jabir roasted it himself." "Old man Jabir from the steakhouse? No wonder it looks really delicious!" "Here, let me cut you a slice." "Oh, thank you so much!" said Sakhr and looked at Nathan. "The plate." "Grandfather --" Nathan wanted to stop Sakhr but Reatha already began cutting off the meat and his grandfather was also pointing at the other dishes so he decided not to say anything and just give in. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Rocksoul ? MyRedeemerLives ? wunderwave ? darklord12332 ? Light777 ? kinv ? 7Life7Sky ? M1keN10 ? shayan_mohebbi ? James_Black_2558 ? LionWannabe ? immortal_wanderer ? Yousaf_Luni ? dragonwhite To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 97] and [Chapter 98] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 95 Recall 3 Nathan and Sakhr sat at one of the tables and were eating their meals. From time-to-time, people would greet Sakhr and Nathan. In the case of Sakhr, they were old acquaintances and relatives. Meanwhile, in Nathan''s case, most of them were from the gym that he works out, while others were relatives that he wasn''t familiar with. And because Nathan was a new face and came from the city, it was unavoidable that there were also a few women who would secretly glance at him as well, while others purposely try to catch his attention. Unfortunately for them, Nathan paid those women no heed. Aside from the fact that the wound on his heart was still fresh as ever even after 2 months, he was well-aware that he wasn''t someone special. He knew for a fact that he was just someone who happened to grow up in the city and there were millions of others like him. And plus, he may be special here, but that soon will fade over time. Sakhr heartily ate almost all of the oily and sweet dishes that he picked out. Nathan, on the other hand, despite having a delicious meal, had no appetite and couldn''t focus on eating because he was worried his grandfather would have a heart attack any second. Fortunately, even after they finished eating, no heart attack or any attack whatsoever happened. His grandfather was as healthy as ever. "Brat, let''s go somewhere else." "Grandfather?" "You heard me. Let''s go." "But grandfather, we can''t leave uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam here. They --" "Pussy!" Sakhr got up from his seat. "For someone who''s big and tall, you have no balls. No wonder you got fucked over." Sakhr walked away. Hearing what his grandfather said, Nathan couldn''t help but cursed inside. ''This fucking old man! God! All I want is to have a peaceful time yet I have to deal with this!'' Helpless, he had no choice but to follow his grandfather. *** Nathan and Sakhr were now far away from the church and there were only a handful of people could be seen passing by. "Give me a stick." "A stick?" "A cigarette, you idiot. I know you always carry a pack with you." Ever since the break-up, the number of sticks that Nathan smokes per day increased so he had no choice but to keep a pack with him at all times. Before the break-up, it was only 3 sticks a day. But now, it was close to 10 sticks a day. Nathan''s eyes widened. "Grandfather, you''ve just eaten those unhealthy foods. If you --" "Give one to me right now!" Nathan closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. ''What does it matter? He already those unhealthy foods anyway. Plus, if he gets a heart attack, it''s not my fault. I''m simply being a ''supportive'' grandson who bows down to his grandfather''s desires.'' Nathan pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pockets and passed them to his grandfather. Sakhr lit one before returning the pack and lighter to Nathan. He closed his eyes as he blew a mouthful of smoke in the air, savoring the taste of the cigarette. "Oh yes¡­ That''s it¡­ Yeah¡­ that''s really good¡­" Nathan couldn''t but feel weird hearing those words coming from his grandfather. But at the same time, he also couldn''t help but feel pity. ''Is he this deprived?'' "Go get a bottle of soda. Make sure it''s ice-cold." "What flav--" "Just get me one. Hurry up!" Nathan went back to the church to get two bottles of soda. He returned to where he left his grandfather and gave him the other one. "Ahhh¡­. Perfect. Now this is life," said Sakhr with a cigarette on one hand and the soda on the other. By now, Nathan didn''t say anything. There was no point anyway. What''s done is done. "What are you moping about? It''s not like a person can live forever." Nathan remained silent. "Brat, why didn''t you ask for that woman''s number? I provided you an opportunity but you stammered like a faggot. You''re not a faggot, are you?" Nathan looked over at his grandfather with a curious expression. ''I wonder if uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam ever thought of killing or just wishing this grandfather of mine would just die.'' "So, are you a faggot? Answer me, brat!" ''I wonder how will I be when I grow old. Would I be this annoying?'' "You''re like your father. I had to get him a wife just so that he can get married. Sometimes I wonder if that father of yours is really my son¡­" Arranged marriage was a common practice in the South Muwinian culture, thanks to their religion. The groom will have to offer a dowry to the bride''s parents to ask for the bride''s hand in marriage. If the dowry isn''t enough or if the parents don''t like the groom, the parents of the bride can reject the groom''s proposal to marry their daughter. Hearing what his grandfather said, Nathan couldn''t help but roll his eyes. ''What is this old geezer talking about? No matter how you look at it, father and uncle look like you!'' "So tell me, are you a faggot?" "Grandfather¡­" Nathan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I''m not." "Then why didn''t you ask for her number then? Don''t tell me you''re still butthurt from that North Muwinian woman?" "What? No! There''s no way in hell I''m getting back with that bitch!" Nathan accidentally raised his voice and then thought, ''My grandfather knows the word ''butthurt''?'' "Oh, I get it now. Because of your experience, you don''t want to talk to women anymore? How''s that any different from being a faggot? Are you seriously planning to spend the rest of your life with your right hand?" Sakhr made a lewd gesture with his right hand. Nathan clenched his fists. He seriously wanted to punch his grandfather already. Since he arrived here, no one tried to confront him directly about what happened 2 months ago. Even his uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam were careful not to mention anything about it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Hahahaha!" Sakhr had a wide grin plastered on his face. "Good! Good! That''s what a real man is! Do what you want! Say what you want! Take what you want! Society must bow down to you, not the other way around!" "What?" To Nathan, such thinking was absurd. As a person living in society, there are certain rules that people must to follow, especially the average ones like himself. "You know what''s your problem? You overthink things, making you indecisive. A real man must have a clear sense of direction about his desires and must do anything to take it, even if it means stepping on others." ''God¡­ This grandfather of mine must be a world-class bastard¡­'' Nathan thought. "But I swear to God, if you turned out to be a faggot, I will shoot you myself. And even if you turned out to be one after I''m dead, I will rise from the grave just to shoot you. Remember, the Makhad family has no gay men!" Nathan rolled his eyes. ''Yep, he''s really a world-class bastard.'' Although Nathan wasn''t a saint or a psychopath, part of being a so-called lone wolf left him trapped in this limbo between being his true self and being a "good" citizen. By default, he didn''t want to deal with any of that political and social drama. However, no man is truly an island. Sure, he could choose to leave the modern world and live his life alone in some deserted island or whatsoever. But that would mean not enjoying the benefits that the modern world has to offer. There were books he wanted to read. There were shows he wanted to watch. There were foods he wanted to eat. There were gadgets he wanted to play with. There were things he wanted to try or at least have. If he was some rich bastard that could afford anything, perhaps that would be possible. But as an average Joe, he had to work to earn money so he has no choice but to deal with people and engage with their political and social dramas. Perhaps one day if he becomes rich enough, the true lone wolf lifestyle that he desires may be possible to achieve -- or at least something close to that. ''But I guess...'' Given his grandfather''s age, he concluded that there was no doubt that Sakhr had seen and learned a lot of things. Surely he had some great advice to give. And plus, having the society bow down to you instead of the other way around? As absurd and crazy it may sound, to a young man like Nathan, that kind of logic seemed so bold, daring and¡­ free. "Grandfather, you''ve lived a long life. What''s the purpose of a person''s life?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Hi, sorry for posting so long. I was having a hard time writing a flashback arc. I think I rewrote the first 4 chapters thrice before finally posting them. Well, as much as possible, I prefer to post an official chapter here at Webnovel once I have at least a chapter draft that I''m more or less satisfied with to post on P-a-t-r-e-o-n. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Meilstrem ? AritoDeCebolla ? darklord12332 ? MyRedeemerLives (Unofficial Third Seat Power Immortal) ? sam0sa ? Light777 ? 7Life7Sky (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? thama ? shayan_mohebbi ? Yousaf_Luni ? M1keN10 (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Ramvox ? wunderwave ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) I wrote "Unofficial Third Seat Power Immortal" because 7Life7Sky and MyRedeemerLives have the same total power stones at the moment. Hmm...I wonder who will win between the two of them? I can''t wait to see. LOL To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 109] to [Chapter 112] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019: ? Teltaios ? chan ? Andrew Stithem (Yay~! I have a 3rd Immortal Patron ^_^) The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 97 Divine Tower 7 Clang! Clang! There was a loud sound of metal clashing against each other. Nathan quickly opened his eyes and looked at where the noise was coming from. From afar, he could see Ashleigh and Germaine sparring. Ashleigh held a mace and shield. Germaine, on the other hand, was carrying a sword and shield. "Noisy weaklings¡­" said Nathan under his breath before checking his watch. 12:16 am. He raised his head and stared at the giant golden orb that illuminated the entire area. Looking at the orb and remembering all the things that had happened so far, he had a strong urge to slap himself, wondering if everything that has happened so far was real. Just about a week ago, he was just an average guy working on a dead-end job with no sense of fulfillment, slowly rotting away. Sure, aside from working tirelessly to earn money, he had hobbies like exercising, reading novels, watching shows, occasionally playing the guitar and other things -- when one prefers spends a lot of time alone, in most cases, they tend to pick up a number of hobbies. Moreover, once a month, he also messages 10 new women on a dating app that''s between a 4 and 6 in terms of looks to invite them to go out on a date. Out of the 10 women, 3 would agree to go out with him. And out of the 3 women who agreed to go out on a date with him, 1 or 2 will sleep with him. There were of course days that he wasn''t lucky. It was a numbers game after all. But did he find any enjoyment in doing those things? Of course. However, at the same time, it also felt mundane and repetitive. As if he was no different from a zombie. Sure, one could simply say: Do new things then. He did, though nothing drastic because it could disrupt the successes he accumulated so far. Another part of him also noticed was that, as he aged, he became more fearful, not wanting to risk losing the things that he worked so hard for. In fact, sometimes, he would ask himself: Is this what''s life all about? Working 90% of the time and enjoying life with the remaining 10%? There were even times that he started to doubt the advice that his grandfather had given him. One of the problems he perhaps failed to consider at that time was that, although he likes sex, he wasn''t as crazy about it. And with his experience, there''s a difference between romantic sex and casual sex. He doesn''t have the right words to explain it, but it''s something more than just physical. It was something that was between an emotional and spiritual level that casual sex could never offer. Even after he slept with Akane, the most beautiful woman he slept with so far in his entire life, he still felt that same emptiness. There were also other life lessons he learned along the way throughout the years. Regardless, the advice that his grandfather had given him was still good in his opinion if you exclude the women part because it focuses on financial stability. And given that he was still 24 years old which is still 6 years from the supposed turning point of a man''s life (assuming that one worked his ass off and steadily accumulated financial successes throughout the years), he just continued to soldier on and hoped for the best. But the world as everyone knows it has changed ever since the zombie apocalypse began, throwing away all of his hard work. And here he was, trapped inside a tower with some people and killing armored angels because of his desire to become strong. ''There must be a reason why I dreamt about that part of my life¡­ Maybe it''s because¡­'' Nathan thought. An image of Amir''s face flashed inside his head. Whether he denies it or not, he knew he played a role in Amir''s suffering and death. He shook his head, trying to toss the idea away from his mind. When he succeeded in erasing the thought, he then heard a voice inside his head. ''Betrayer¡­'' He shook his head once more. ''Selfish¡­'' ''Get out of my fucking head!'' said Nathan as he gritted his teeth and shook his head once again. Only this time, it was with viciousness. Silence. He got up. ''I don''t have the luxury to overthink and be melodramatic right now with the situation I''m in.'' He began stretching. "Ughhh¡­" Pop! Pop! Pop! His neck and joints made some popping sounds. Despite having a short nap and his VIT at 36 points, he still felt a little tired. He looked over at Harry''s group. Some were already awake and checking their equipment, including Harry and Joseph, while others were still sleeping. Nathan recalled that the agreement was to rest for 6 hours before proceeding to stage 6. He was about 15ft away from Harry''s group when he deactivated [Coward''s Way]. When he appeared, he raised one hand and greeted them. "Yo," said Nathan. But right after he said that, he couldn''t helped but scoff inwardly. It reminded him of someone in his past who used to greet him with that word. ''When was the last time I used that word? It feels like forever.'' "Yo," replied Harry and Joseph. Nathan sat on the floor 5ft away from them. "How''re things?" Harry put down his equipment. "Nothing much. We''ll be entering the portal about half an hour from now." "I see." "Buddy, want some coffee? I made some earlier and I could reheat it," said Joseph. "I''m good," said Nathan as he pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Given that he knew Harry and the others were already aware what the [Grade D] Spatial Bag was and they have an agreement, Nathan decided to let down his guard a little bit. And plus, he wanted to smoke. He lit one for himself before offering the pack and lighter to Harry and Joseph. Only Joseph took a cigarette. "I have these, by the way. They were given to me back at the village," said Nathan as he took out the 3 slices of cakes. Before leaving the Item Shop, the owner gave him a box of treats that had 6 pieces inside it. Although the owner of the shop gave these to him as a gift and told him about its effects, he didn''t trust her fully. What if he eats one and gets diarrhea? He would rather have others taste it first before eating it. Harry and Joseph took one each. "I''ve seen this at the Tavern. They were being sold 200 [Grade D] Nuclei a box with 6 pieces inside," said Harry. "Me too," said Joseph. "You know its effects?" said Nathan. "Yeah. As far as I can recall, eating one is like eating one full meal but without counting the water." "Buddy, this would go well with coffee," said Joseph. "I''ll reheat the coffee," said Harry and looked at Joseph. "Go wake up the others." "Okay," said Joseph and got up. Harry put down the piece of cake before taking out a portable mini gas stove and a small kettle from one of their bags. "Any news from the Asian group?" said Nathan. "Nothing new. The plan is still the same." "I see." Harry switched the mini gas stove on and reheated the coffee before picking up the piece of cake once again. Nathan carefully studied Harry''s facial expression as he took a bite. "How is it? Good, right?" "It''s good, but a little too sweet for me." ''It''s sweet, huh. Well, now time to observe for at least an hour if he will get diarrhea or not,'' Nathan thought. "Well, good thing we have coffee then." "Indeed." *** Divine Tower - Stage 6 "Someone help me kill this! I''m out of mana!" said a member of Harry''s group who was fighting a Level 6 Black Armored Angel. There was also another White Armored Angel coming towards him. Nathan was nearby and he just killed a White Armored Angel. He disappeared and looked over at the person who called out for help. ''Heh~ Wasn''t this the guy who was bragging about how many armored angels he killed?'' Nathan was deciding whether to help or not. Out of the 100 Magic Bolts he bought, he already used 4 pieces. Aside from being limited, although he was able to loot [Small] Mana Potions from Stage 2 to 5, he only had 3 with him and each Magic Bolt requires 10 mana points to use. The mana consumption was just too high for him because he only had 66/66 mana points. However, he already made a deal with Harry¡­ "Tsk!" Nathan raised his left arm that had his [Grade D] Mini-Crossbow and aimed for the golden crystal on the forehead of the Black Armored Angel. It requires 3 seconds to lock-on the target before the tracking feature would activate. He put down his arm. ''What if I try this?'' He held one Magic Bolt like a dagger with his left hand and rushed forward. When he was at an arm''s length with armored angels, he stabbed the Magic Bolt into the gold crystal of the Black Armored Angel, losing his invisibility in the process and killing it right away. Ka-clak! A [Green] Treasure Chest appeared. Without pausing, he immediately swung his [Grade D] Large Axe towards the White Armored Angel''s golden crystal. Whoosh! Ka-clak! No treasure chest appeared. Nathan had a frown on his face as he disappeared and moved away. ''There was still a deduction¡­'' 56/66. ''So it doesn''t matter whether I use the tracking feature or not¡­'' *** Stage 6 was finally cleared¡­ No one died and there were still 40 survivors remaining. "Thanks, man," said a man to Nathan who was about to open a [Green] Treasure Chest. Nathan stopped and looked over at the person who said it. It was the man who asked for help earlier. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''Oh, it''s the useless bragger,'' Nathan thought. "We''re allies. No need to thank me." "Still, I want to thank you. I owe you one." "It''s nothing really." "Here, this what was the Black Armored Angel dropped after you killed it." Bragger gave him a pair [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves. Given that Bragger was being insistent and Nathan wanted to end their interaction as soon as possible, he accepted the item. As Nathan touched the item, his eyes widened for a quick moment. "Thanks." "No problem. See ya," said Bragger and left. Alone, Nathan''s lips slowly formed into a small smile. ''Well, what do you know. It seems that that bragger wasn''t as useless after all¡­'' Aside from the bonus stats, the Black equipment gives 1% chance to block any physical attack, while the White equipment gives 1% chance of block any magical attack. The [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves given to him by Bragger gives 1% chance to block any physical attack, of course. But what made him smile was that it gives +4 AGI which was perfect for him because it had the same bonus stats with the gloves he was using. ''Before Stage 6, the bonus stats were only +3¡­ I see. I get it now. So stage 1-5 gives First Tier awakened items, while stage 6-10 gives Second Tier awakened items.'' He immediately replaced his [Grade D] Heavy Leather Gloves with the [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves. He held out his hand and formed a fist. ''Whether it''s 1% or 100%, it''s still no doubt a lifesaver." He resumed to opening the [Green] Treasure Chest in front of him. It was a [Grade D] Repair Kit. ''Hmm¡­ Oh well, it''s still useful nevertheless.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Hello, I''m very sorry for not posting these past few days. I''ve been so busy. Please accept this shameless immortal''s shameless apology *shamelessly kowtows 3 times* To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? MyRedeemerLives (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? darklord12332 ? InfinityDragon ? Ramvox ? joel_Salmi ? shayan_mohebbi ? M1keN10 (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? NerDfrags ? thama ? Shikla ? 7Life7Sky ? asuran_tiger ? T_art_e ? RENEGADE912 ? Fajri_M ? MoonlightOwl34 ? Light777 ? munlockk40 ? Jahel_Marival ? Evil_God69 ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Zack_Kenway ? wunderwave ? katrina2222 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I posted the draft of [Chapter 113] to [Chapter 117] there. I also reposted [Chapter 112]. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2019: ? Teltaios ? Andrew Stithem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 98 Divine Tower 8 Divine Tower - Stage 9. Red Dust''s side. They still had 13 members left and Rose divided them into two teams. Team 1 had Rose, Ashleigh, Germaine and 3 other members. Meanwhile, Team 2 had Derek, Kaija, Crawler, R.R. and the other remaining members. "Get down!" Kaija, who was told to get down, immediately ducked. Whoosh! The Black Armored Angel who swung its morning star, aiming for Kaija''s head, missed just a couple of centimeters. Kaija rolled away before casting an [Ice Spear] and aimed it to the Black Armored Angel''s forehead. Wooh! She missed. She was out of mana. She had no way to kill the Black Armored Angel but she couldn''t run away because she was caught in an awkward and difficult position within Red Dust, all thanks to Nathan''s "betrayal" last night. That night when the Second Phase began and all the Scavenger Teams were tasked to head to the Training Facility and wipe out the zombies along the way, only she didn''t head there. When she was asked why, she told them that she was ordered by Nathan to stay at the shop they''ve broken into. However, given how things went, although she didn''t do anything wrong because she was simply following the orders of her superior, that didn''t stop others from doubting her. Although Womania is a progressive country that pushes equality, there were still cases of people latching onto rich and powerful people for resources in exchange for sexual favors. And with the zombie apocalypse, that sort of transaction became even more common, despite the fact that everyone has the System. Because of that, she was caught in an awkward and difficult situation. So, to prove her loyalty and ensure her own safety and the safety of her loved ones, despite the fact that she didn''t even want to enter the Divine Tower, she had no choice but to volunteer. She could only hope that she will survive this nightmare and return to her loved ones back at Haven Town. Going back to the situation where she was facing the Black Armored Angel¡­ Even if she could run, where would she go to? "I''m out of mana! I need back up! I will distract it in the meantime!" said Kaija as she dashed forward. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In front of the Black Armored Angel, not only did these 2m-tall armored angels have higher stats compared to her, had the ability to fly and could cast attack-type magic spells, they could also cursed their enemies with [Decrease STR], [Decrease AGI], [Decrease VIT], [Decrease INT] and [Silence] which could last about 30 seconds each and decreases the targeted attribute by 20%, making them such a headache to deal with, especially the black ones. And given that they were now on Stage 9, the armored angels'' overall stats were: ? STR - 29 ? AGI - 29 ? VIT - 29 ? INT - 100 Meanwhile, Kaija''s stats were: Level 19: ? STR - 21 ? AGI - 22 (+2) ? VIT - 21 ( +1) ? INT - 10 (+18) Mana points: ? 8/56 Special Effects: ? 2% Chance to block any physical attack. The Black Armored Angel cast [Decrease AGI] on Kaija. She ignored the curse placed upon her and continued to dash forward. When she was now close to the armored angel, she thrust her sword, aiming for the golden crystal to immobilize it for a quick second as it regenerates. However, due to the already low stats of hers and the [Decrease AGI] curse that decreases one''s AGI by 20%, the armored angel easily parried her attack by swinging away Kaija''s blade with its morning star. Clank! "Ahh!" Pain immediately wrapped around her wrist as she lost her balance and stumbled down. As the armored angel raised its weapon to struck down Kaija, a pair of large arms grabbed it from behind, locking it. It was Derek. His Chosen One skill [Maximize] transforms him into a 2.5m-tall giant. It multiplies his base STR and VIT by 2, and divides his AGI by 3. Moreover, he was also immune to the zombie virus. And as for his stats... Level: 22 ? STR - 64 (32) (-12.8) ? VIT - 68 (34) (-13.6) ? AGI - 10.66 (32) (+28) (-7.73) ? INT - 31 (-6.2) Special effects: ? None With his high stats, he was like an unstoppable machine, killing the White Armored angels and tanking almost most of the attacks, which not only boosted the morale of his comrades but also further increased the respect and admiration they had for him. "Kill it now! Hurry!" said Derek as he held onto the Black Armored angel. The Black Armored Angel tried to flap its wings to fly, but it couldn''t. There was also a White Armored Angel coming and was about 50ft away. "I can''t! I don''t have any mana anymore." All of a sudden, Crawler and R.R. were coming to the rescue. They just killed two armored angels, a black and white, before heading here. Thanks to the experience they had gone through the night of the Second Phase, they became close friends, including Germaine. "I''m already out of mana!" said Crawler. "I still have enough for 2 spells!" said R.R. "The same as usual!" "Got it!" Crawler increased his running speed and abruptly stopped about 5ft away in front of Derek and the Black Armored Angel before crouching. Behind him was R.R. She invoked a [Fireball] spell and stepped on Crawler''s back, leaping towards the 2m-tall Black Armored Angel and aimed for the golden crystal on its forehead. "EAT THIS!" said R.R. as she thrust her hand and grabbed onto the Black Armored Angel''s forehead with her hand that had the [Fireball] spell. Boom! Fire immediately spread all over the Black Armored Angel, breaking the crystal. The armored angel disintegrated. However¡­ Derek wasn''t able to let go right away so he also got caught in the flames and it engulfed him for 2 seconds. Fortunately, his VIT was high. So although his skin got burned along with his clothes, the damage wasn''t that severe. Seeing Derek''s burned skin, R.R. immediately apologized. "I''m so sorry!" "Save that for later, there are still more angels," said Derek. Crawler got up and smiled, "It looked so cool. But in the end--" Suuup! A large blade of a sword came out of his chest. He was stabbed by a White Armored Angel from behind. It was the White Armored Angel earlier that was about 50ft away and heading towards Derek and Kaija. "Uggghhh¡­.!" Crawler groaned in pain and blood trickled from his lips down to his chin. "NOOOOOOO! FELIX!!!" said R.R. and dashed forward. The White Armored Angel flapped its wings, leaving the ground as it carried Crawler''s body with its sword. When the armored angel was already about 6ft above the ground, it swung its blade away, cutting away from Crawler''s body. Whoosh! Thud! As soon as Crawler''s body touched the ground, he immediately died. R.R. was already near the White Armored Angel, but it was above her. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!!" "R.R., NO!" said Derek and dashed forward. Kaija followed suit as well. R.R. grabbed onto one of the armored angel''s armored boots and tried to pull it down. But despite her efforts, the angel just flapped its wings and flew higher, lifting her from the ground. Derek and Kaija tried to pull down R.R. but they were already too late. The White Armored Angel flew higher and higher, faster and faster with R.R. still grabbing into its boot. Due to the speed, she had to let go of her [Grade D] Sword and held onto the armored angel''s boots with two hands. High above the ground and near the giant golden orb that illuminated the entire area, the armored angel stopped. With it''s other hand, it invoked an attack-type spell and aimed it at R.R. It was [Fireball]. Seeing the spell, R.R. realized that she had no other choice left and braced herself for the consequences of her actions. She let her emotions get the better of her. She immediately cast [Fireball] as well, despite know that this White Armored Angel was immune to magic. Both of them cast [Fireball]. Boom! Boom! They were both engulfed by the flames of each others'' [Fireball] for 2 seconds. The White Armored Angel got into a thrusting stance with its sword. R.R., on the other hand, let go due to the pain from being burned. And with nothing to hold onto up in the sky, she came falling down like a meteor. The armored angel began flying down to plunge its sword into R.R.''s flesh. Her skin was severely burned but there was a smile on her face. "So this is the end, huh¡­" said R.R. as she looked at the White Armored Angel coming towards her as she fell from the sky. A series of memories came flashing inside her head. She thought about her family and friends. When the White Armored Angel was only a few feet away from plunging its sword towards her, it was suddenly met with gunshots. Tatatatata! The White Armored Angel stop and moved to the side to avoid bullets. Although she was now safe from that armored angel, she was still falling down¡­ She thought about the ones that died. She still continued to fall and was now getting closer to the ground¡­ She thought about the ones that were still alive. She was now very close to the ground¡­ "At least I''ll be able to say that I flew with an angel¡­" As she closed her eyes and finally accepted her death, all of a sudden¡­ "Gotcha!" A large hand with claws grabbed her. It was the Chosen One from the Asian group who could turn into a 2m-tall werebat. "Your leader asked me to save you for a price," said the Werebat and smiled, showing his long, sharp fangs. Although the Asian and Harry''s group plan was to kill the other two groups, it was still a step too early. Not only were the armored angels getting stronger, their food supply was also getting shorter. And in his case, given that he needs fluid for his acid skill to work and was getting short in supply, naturally, the price he asked for saving this woman was 2 liters of water. And even if he saves this woman, what can she do other than just be another random kill? There''s a reason why Chosen Ones are more powerful. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2019: ? Teltaios ? Andrew Stithem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 99 Divine Tower 9 Ding! ''Congratulations on completing Stage 9 of the Divine Tower. Please proceed to Stage 10 through the portal.'' There were now 29 survivors left. 9 with Rose''s group. 8 with the military group. 6 with the Asian group. 6 also with Harry''s group (including Nathan). And as for the Chosen Ones, all of them were still alive. "Go to the military group. Tell them we should take a two-hour break before entering Stage 10," said Rose to Germaine. The break that all groups have agreed to between stages was 30 minutes. But for this stage, Rose decided for a two-hour break. "Yes, boss." Germaine went over to the military group to tell Captain Barlow. After passing the message, Germaine returned and told Rose that he agreed. ''Now that I have 1 vote, I need to tell the other teams,'' Rose thought. She headed to the Asian group first and then to Harry''s group. The Asian leaders and Harry disagreed, but Rose and Captain were adamant with the decision to take a two-hour break, telling them that they were low on both mana and mana potions. In the end, all groups reached into an agreement of a one-hour break. *** At the moment, everyone was busy checking their loots and trading. Nathan opened a [Green] Treasure Chest and frowned. It was a spellbook. ''Sigh¡­ Useless¡­'' As he touched the spellbook with his fingers to see what kind of spell the book featured, the System informed him¡­ ************************************************** Name of skill: Summon Skeleton Warrior Description: Summons a skeleton warrior for 40 mana points and lasts for 1 hour. Stats is 50% of the caster''s base stats. Equipment depends on the skill level. Requirement: 20 intelligence required. 2 skill points learn. ************************************************** ''Do you wish to learn [Summon Skeleton Warrior]?'' asked the System. His eyes widened for a moment. "White Bones!" ''Error! Unknown command given. Failed to learn the [Summon Skeleton Warrior].'' Some people heard Nathan''s shout and looked at him out of curiosity. They saw Nathan grab a spellbook with a smile on his face and were now confused. They knew that Nathan was a Chosen One and Chosen Ones can''t learn any skills so it was useless to people like him. "Buddy, what skill is it?" So far, the spellbooks that dropped were just the common ones, such as [Fireball], [Ice Spear], [Stone Spear], [Double Slash], [Sword Stab] and [Spear Stab]. There was also one person who was able to drop [Lion Heart] which costs 20 mana points and boosts a person''s courage for 30 seconds. In addition to that, there was also the buff spells [Increase STR], [Increase STR], [Increase AGI], [Increase VIT] and [Increase INT]. There was also curse spells [Decrease STR], [Decrease AGI], [Decrease VIT] and[Decrease INT]. Nathan looked at the person who asked. It was Joseph. "It''s a skill called [Summon Skeleton Warrior] that costs 40 mana to cast and lasts for 1 hour!" Nathan made sure his voice was loud enough to attract potential buyers. "Whoever wants this, I''m willing to trade it with a +4 AGI Black/White helm or armor, or a +4 STR boots!" "What about its stats? Does it have spells?" "I don''t know if it can cast spells. But for its stats, it''s half of the caster''s base stats." Putting aside whether it can cast spells or not, when others heard that its stats were only 50% of the caster, some lost interest. Noticing it, Nathan immediately followed it up with another sentence. "Yes, it''s only half of the caster''s base stats. However, it''s not like you''re going to be low-level forever, right? Plus, it doesn''t say that you can only cast one skeleton at a time!" The crowd''s interest returned and grew. "The skill also says that its equipment improves as you increase its level!" "What about the skill points required?" Hearing the question about the skill points required, Nathan started to have a bad feeling. Skill point is an important matter for non-Chosen Ones. As a Level 1, they get one free skill point. However, the next skill point is at Level 5. From there, they will receive one skill point every five levels. Because of this, not many would carelessly learn or spend their skill points. They would only do so when they find a useful skill or if they have no choice due to circumstances. Also, as far as Nathan can remember from all the spellbooks he has seen, all of them required only 1 skill point to learn, except for this one that he had on his hands right now. "It''s¡­ It''s 2 points¡­" When the crowd heard what he said, about 70% of the non-Chosen Ones quickly lost interest. A man from the Asian group first approached Nathan. This man was a Muwinian. "My fellow countryman, I have here a White Heavy Leather Armor that gives +2 AGI, +1 INT and +1 STR. I hope you will --" Listening to the man''s accent, he could tell that he was a North Muwinian. "No thanks. That''s trash!" Another man approached. This time it was from the military group. It was the sergeant that Nathan saw last night. "I have here a Black Helm that gives +3 AGI and +1 INT. I will also offer this." The military man held out what looked like a pentel pen. "What''s that?" "It''s a drug to boost one''s physical and mental performance and eliminates pain for 10 minutes." "Is that the Awakening Potion sold at the Item Shop?" "No, this is one of the items issued to us by the government." Nathan squinted his eyes. One of the stories that his ex-military uncle told him before was that whenever they are on a mission that required them to be on the battlefield for more than 3 days, they are secretly given premium-grade drugs by the government. It was used for emergencies, allowing them to be awake for hours, be fearless, eliminate hunger and pain in order to perform in top condition. And whether they use it or not during the mission, once they returned, it was theirs to keep. However, they were not allowed to sell it or they will face serious consequences. "How do I know you''re not lying about its use? What if it''s already used or expired?" The military man looked at Nathan with an expression that read: Are you for real? "I would like to make an offer as well," said a woman''s voice. It was a voice that Nathan has gotten very familiar with recently. He turned towards where that familiar voice was coming from. It was Rose. And beside her was Kaija. "Shoo!" Nathan waved his hand. "Even if you offer me 10 times the item I''m asking for, I will never accept it! I don''t deal with backstabbing whores like you!" Rose squinted her eyes as she looked at Nathan. Even though she can''t learn any skills, she wanted the [Summon Skeleton Warrior] for her loved ones. She could have her father or siblings learn it. "Nathan, listen. Your cousin is --" "Shut your fucking mouth! Don''t you even think about blackmailing me again! Never will I believe anything that comes out of that poisonous mouth of yours! Get your skinny ass away from here! Shoo! Shoo! You''re scaring my potential customers! SHOO!" Seeing that Nathan refused even to listen to her, Rose backed away and returned to her group. Kaija followed suit. "Please wait. If there are no other better offers, I will accept yours," said Nathan to the sergeant. "Okay." Nathan was presented with other offers, but none of them were to his liking. Some of the offers even pissed him off. If he didn''t need to work with these people to kill the armored angels, he would''ve killed them already. 5 minutes later¡­ "Here," said Nathan as he passed the [Summon Skeleton Warrior] spellbook to the sergeant. "Thank you," said the sergeant as he took the spellbook and passed on the Black Heavy Leather Helm and the performance-enhancing drug. Once the sergeant left, Nathan immediately removed his [Grade D] Helm and placed it inside his [Grade D] Spatial Bag and wore the [Grade D] Black Helm. ''System.'' *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 (+4) VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+29) INT ¨C 33 (+1) Mana: 61/68 Equipment: [Grade D] Large Axe (8/12) [Grade D] Mini-crossbow (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Black Helm (9/15): +3 Agi +1 Int Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (12/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (13/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (12/15): +4 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 2% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] *** ''My god! That guy was so cheap! The durability of the helm he gave me is already 9/15!'' He felt cheated. However, after thinking that that sergeant wasn''t a Chosen One. ''Well¡­ what can I expect from weaklings?'' He shook his head and smiled. ''Anyway¡­. so my AGI is down by 1 point. But hey, at least I got a 2% chance to block any physical attack¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ My total mana is 68 points. One more point and I can make it 70 for 7 shots¡­'' ''Well, whatever. This is only temporary. I will be killing everyone anyway. So whatever loots they have will be mine in the end.'' Nathan raised his head and looked around. His smile became wider and his eyes flashed a cold glint. ''Soon¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2019: ? Teltaios ? Andrew Stithem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 102 Divine Tower 12 There were only 18 survivors left. 6 with Rose''s group. 5 with the military group. 3 with the Asian group. 4 with Harry''s group (including Nathan). Nathan headed towards the center of the battlefield to join in killing the Golden Armored Angel. On his way, he threw away his [Grade D] Large Axe and picked up a [Grade D] Morning Star. His original goal was to pick up a [Grade D] Sword but there wasn''t any along his way. In his mind, although the [Grade D] Large Axe was great in cutting down giants, it was hard to use when his goal was to aim for a specific spot constantly. Nathan arrived at the center and deactivated [Coward''s Way]. The Golden Armored Angel was descending once more along with its summoned armored angels to kill the remaining survivors. "All Chosen Ones take care of that Golden Armored Angel! The rest kill the armored angels!" commanded Captain Barlow. There were 7 Chosen Ones remaining and the Golden Armored Angel had 6 Golden Crystals on its body (forehead, chest, shoulders and knees). Almost everyone nodded¡­ Nathan looked at Captain Barlow. ''Why the fuck is this useless dog acting like he''s calling the shots?'' However, as distasteful it was to him, he recognized that it wasn''t the time for that. "You!" Captain Barlow looked at him. "Use that crossbow of yours to destroy the Golden Crystal on its forehead!" Nathan gritted his teeth. "Okay," he said begrudgingly before disappearing and heading towards a corner. "Rose and Derek, the two of you pin it down." Rose and Derek nodded. Captain Barlow then told the other Chosen Ones to attack the other remaining Golden Crystals before ordering the rest of the non-Chosen One survivors to take care of the armored angels that were summoned by the Golden Armored Angel. "Make sure not to kill all of the armored angels before the Golden Armored Angel is killed!" Everyone nodded. Earlier, they noticed that once the cursed and buff spells lost its effect and the summoned armored angels died, the Golden Armored Angel flew away to repeat the series of spells and the crystals on its body regenerated. With that, Captain Barlow decided to take a chance to not kill all of the summoned armored angels before killing the Golden Armored Angel. The Golden Armored Angel and the summoned armored angels began firing spells as they landed on the ground. [Stone Spear]. [Ice Spear]. [Fireball]. [Silence]. [Firewall]. [Blizzard]. Tatata! Boom! Tata! Tata! Boom! "Now!" said Rose. Harry begrudgingly activated his skill [Deceleration] on the Golden Armored Angel. The Golden Armored Angel''s movements decreased by 20%. Derek and Rose who both had their skills on immediately ran towards the Golden Armored Angel to pin it down. As for their stats¡­ Rose: Level 23 ? STR ¨C 32 (+5) (-7.4) ? VIT ¨C 30 (+30) (-12) ? Agi ¨C 33 (+9) (-8.4) ? INT ¨C 34 (-6.8) Special effects: ? 1% chance to block any magical attack. ? 1% chance to block any physical attack. During [Crystal Body] mode, she gets +30 VIT and allows her to alter the shape of her arms and legs. However, she loses the bonus stats given by the gloves, shoes and rings. And if she were to change the shape of, for example, her right hand into a sharp blade, the glove on her right hand will be destroyed. Her skill also loses her sense of any physical feeling. Furthermore, healing potions and spells don''t have any effect on her and her regeneration is off. Derek: Level 22 ? STR - 64 (32) (-12.8) ? VIT - 68 (34) (-13.6) ? AGI - 10.66 (32) (+28) (-7.73) ? INT - 31 (-6.2) Special effects: ? None During [Maximize] mode, he transforms into a 2.5m-tall human. His base STR and VIT are multiplied by 2 and his AGI is divided by 3. He''s also immune to the zombie virus. Rose was a bit faster so Derek was left behind. Because of that, the Golden Armored Angel had its sights on Rose and cast [Lock]. Rose turned back to her human form but she didn''t stop charging. She continued to push forward and pulled out her Magnum. She aimed for the golden crystal on the Golden Armored Angel''s chest. Bang! Bang! Ka-clak! It shattered. The Golden Armored Angel didn''t mind it and cast another spell. It was a spell that they haven''t witnessed before. [Stone Wall]. A wall made of stone that was 2m tall and 4m wide raised from the ground and blocked Derek''s path. However, it was nothing to Derek that he just jumped over it. The Golden Armored Angel then cast another spell to stop Derek. [Firewall]. It then ordered a Black Armored Angel to hold Derek off before charging towards Rose. Rose was left alone fighting the Golden Armored Angel. Seeing the situation, Ashleigh, Cannibal and Harry decided to charged in to help Rose. "Where is that crossbow guy?!" shouted Cannibal. But as soon as he said that, a Magic Bolt emitting a blue light flew straight to the Golden Armored Angel''s forehead, shattering one of the Golden Crystals. Toof! Ka-clak! There were only 4 Golden Crystals left. As for the summoned armored angels, out of the 20, there were only 8 left. Nathan, who lost his invisibility from shooting the Magic Bolt, scoffed before disappearing and running to another location. In his mind, he wasn''t tank-type like Rose and Derek, and he doubts if anyone would even help him if the Golden Armored Angel sets its sights on him and attack him so he specifically waited for it to have its full attention on the other Chosen Ones. The Golden Armored Angel stopped attacking Rose and cast a spell to where it last saw Nathan. [Blizzard]. Nathan was already far away from that spot he previously appeared so he wasn''t caught by the spell. Ashleigh, Cannibal and Harry finally arrived near the Golden Armored Angel. All of them, including Rose, immediately attacked the remaining crystals. Realizing the situation it was on, the Golden Armored Angel immediately cast a spell. [Shockwave]. This spell blows away its opponents. And the closer the opponent is, the greater the damage. Boom! "AHHH!" Ashleigh, Cannibal, Harry and Rose were blown away and landed about 10 ft away from the Golden Armored Angel. All of them suffered great damage and coughed out blood as they tried to get up. Ashleigh immediately healed Rose before healing herself and the others. Upon healing Rose with her [Heaven''s Treatment] skill, she and Rose realized that it removed the curse of the [Lock] spell. Rose immediately activated [Crystal Body] before charging towards the Golden Armored Angel. Cannibal and Harry immediately charged in as well after being healed. As for Ashleigh, she drank a [Small] Mana Potion first before joining the fight. But before the four of them were able to get to the Golden Armored Angel, Derek was already only on it. He tackled the Golden Armored Angel to the ground. Bam! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. He immediately got on top of it and ripped off its arms. Craaank! Craaank! There were two golden crystals left -- there were on its knees. The curse and buff spells that were cast by the Golden Armored Angel finally wore off. However, there were still armored angels. As Rose was about to help to destroy the remaining crystals, the Golden Armored Angel immediately cast [Shockwave] once again and called upon the remaining summoned armored angels for cover before flying away. Boom! Everyone near was blasted away. As for Derek, due to his high VIT and there was no longer any curse spells affecting him, although he was blasted away, only a tiny amount of blood trickled on from his mouth as he immediately got up and charged towards the Golden Armored Angel. Rose, on the other hand, due to her skill that not only crystallizes her body and gives her high VIT but also loses her sense of feeling, after being blasted away, she immediately got up and charged. Unfortunately for both of them, they were too late. The summoned armored angels blocked their path and the Golden Armored Angel continued flying away¡­ Two armored angels, a Black and White, protected the Golden Armored Angel while the rest charged towards remaining survivors. "Quickly, stop it!" said Captain Barlow. Everyone threw everything they had. Tata! Wooh! Boom! The Golden Armored Angel threw a couple of spells as well. [Firewall]. [Stone Wall]. [Blizzard]. [Lock]. The last spell was targeted on Derek. He immediately lost his skill [Maximize] and was immediately stabbed by one of the armored angels. Fortunately for him, Rose was nearby to help. "I''m out of ammo!" said someone among the group of survivors. "I don''t have any mana anymore!" said another survivor. Seeing the Golden Armored Angel already way above the ground, a sense of loss welled up inside everyone''s hearts. But then¡­ Toof! A Magic Bolt emitting a blue light flew straight to one of the two remaining crystals of the Golden Armored Angel. Ka-clak! The Golden Crystal on its right knee shattered. Nathan was seen running towards the Golden Armored Angel who was already a couple of meters above the ground and preparing his second shot for the remaining crystal before disappearing. For the Magic Bolt''s tracking feature to be activated, it needs 3 seconds before shooting so he needed time. The Golden Armored Angel cast [Decrease STR - All]. The skill enveloped the entire arena and caused Nathan to appear. Seeing Nathan, the Golden Armored Angel cast [Lock] before sending out the two summoned armored angel that was guarding it to kill him. And before the [Lock] spell was about to land on Nathan, the Magic Bolt was released. Toof! The curse of the [Lock] spell finally landed on Nathan. The Magic Bolt flew¡­ However, one of the armored angels that were charging towards Nathan intercepted it. Clank! ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 103 Divine Tower 13 Seeing his attacked intercepted by one of the armored angels, a sense of dejection washed over Nathan as he looked over at two armored angels coming towards him. He thought his plan was flawless. But he failed¡­ He shook his head. This wasn''t the time to be dejected. He still has a chance. He moved away from his spot and tried to activate [Coward''s Way] but realized he couldn''t. He stopped. ''What the hell?'' He wasn''t aware that the Golden Armored Angel had cast the [Lock] spell on him, because the armored angels don''t talk and the System doesn''t inform him so he had to manually check his status chart. In the case of [Decrease STR - All ] and the other curse spells similar to it, he was only able to notice it right away because he lost his invisibility while running when the spell touched him. He immediately checked his status chart. ''System.'' *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 (+4).... (-8.4) VIT ¨C 36 AGI ¨C 33 (+29) INT ¨C 33 (+1) Mana: 44/64 Equipment: [Grade D] Morning Star (10/12) [Grade D] Mini-crossbow (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Black Helm (9/15): +3 Agi +1 Int [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (12/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (13/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (12/15): +4 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 2% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] Status: ? STR down by 20% (26/30 secs) ? Skill(s) locked (28/30 secs) *** ''My skill is locked?'' The Golden Armored Angel cast [Decrease VIT - All]. Nathan frowned. In his status chart, another curse was added. VIT down by 20% (30/30 secs). He ignored it. ''System off.'' The Golden Armored Angel cast another spell once more. [Decrease AGI - All]. He raised his left arm that had his [Grade D] Mini-crossbow with a Magic Bolt, looked passed the two summoned armored angels that were coming at him and aimed at the Golden Armored Angel who had no arms left and had a single Golden Crystal on its left knee. The scoping system that would usually appear through his eyesight didn''t manifest itself. He recalled what happened to the Werebat Chosen One and how he fell. He also recalled what happened to Rose and Derek. ''I see now. I got silenced.'' The Golden Armored Angel cast another spell yet again. [Decrease INT - All]. He put down his left arm and continued to hold his gaze at the Golden Armored Angel. ''The Golden Armored Angel is just hovering in the sky and casting spells¡­'' The survivors that still had bullets and spells to fire tried their best to hit the last Golden Crystal but failed. He recalled what happened earlier when the others failed to kill Golden Armored Angel on the first try. ''Perhaps it''s waiting for all the summoned armored angels to be killed?'' The 2 armored angels sent by the Golden Armored Angel were now just a couple of meters away from him. He braced himself. *** Everyone saw Nathan''s failed attempt and felt dejected. The summoned armored angels that attacked them were all taken care of. The only armored angels left aside from the Golden Armored Angel were the ones that were charging towards Nathan. Meanwhile, the others who had no bullets and spells to fire at the Golden Armored Angel hovering in the sky stopped. "Why isn''t he disappearing to shoot again to end this?!" said someone among the crowd. Although they knew that Nathan had a mini-crossbow, not many knew about the requirements of the Magic Bolt''s tracking feature. In addition to that, they also didn''t know that he was cursed with the [Lock] spell because the armored angels don''t talk. Ashleigh was observing Nathan. ''Nathan never fights head-on. He always uses his disappearing skill when he fights. Perhaps¡­!'' Earlier, she witnessed the Werebat Chosen One losing his transformation and fell from the sky when that Golden Armored Angel cast a spell. She also witnessed Derek and Rose''s transformation skill getting deactivated after being cursed by the Golden Armored Angel and found out that her skill has the power to lift the curse. Realizing what happened to Nathan and the other things she discovered, she immediately ran towards him. "Ashleigh, what are you doing?!" said Rose. "Miss Ashleigh!" called out another Red Dust member. "Go support her," Rose commanded Germaine and R.R. They both nodded and went after Ashleigh. To Rose, Ashleigh''s power was so important in this zombie apocalypse that it would a huge waste to lose her. *** The 2 armored angels, a Black and a White one, sent by the Golden Armored Angel were now just a few meters away from Nathan. The two armored angels immediately cast spells. [Stone Spear]. [Fireball]. Nathan charged as he easily evaded the spells. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Despite the curse placed upon him, with his high AGI, evading was no big deal for him. He managed to kill the White Armored Angel first because it was only immune to magic attacks. But the same can''t be said with the Black Armored Angel. The Black Armored Angel cast [Silence] on Nathan. And just like the [Lock] spell, he wasn''t aware that the Black Armored Angel cast [Silence] on him. While he was fighting the Black Armored Angel and waiting for the curse of the [Lock] to wear off and the other spells that he was aware of, he began to wonder about something. ''Wait¡­ To use the Magic Bolt, whether to use its tracking feature or not, it needs 10 mana points. It''s basically like a forced consumption. What if I use it now?'' He pulled out a Magic Bolt from his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. ''Hmm¡­ The spatial bag isn''t affected by the curse as well¡­'' He bashed the Black Armored Angel with his [Grade D] Morning Star a few times, denting its armor, before stabbing the Magic Bolt into the Golden Crystal on its forehead. It didn''t have any effect. The Black Armored Angel just regenerated. Nathan frowned. There was still about 20 seconds left before the curse of the [Lock] spell wears off. Suddenly, his entire body was covered with a white light and was followed by a refreshing feeling. His eyes widened for a quick moment before his expression turned into confusion. ''This spell seems familiar.'' "NATHAN, MY SKILL REMOVES THE CURSE! YOU CAN NOW USE MAGIC!" shouted Ashleigh from afar. He immediately checked his status. The curses were lifted, including the other curse spells. Seeing his status back to normal, his lips curled up into a smile for a moment before turning into disgust. "NATHAN, YOU CAN KILL THE GOLDEN ARMORED ANGEL NOW!" said Ashleigh Nathan gritted his teeth. The feeling of being helped and ordered around by Ashleigh irritated him and made him want to vomit. However, he suppressed his emotions. ''Not now¡­ Focus on what''s important first.'' As he was about to kill the Black Armored Angel with a Magic Bolt, Captain Barlow immediately shouted from afar. "DON''T KILL THE BLACK ARMORED ANGEL! THERE''S A CHANCE THAT THE GOLDEN ARMORED ANGEL''S CRYSTALS WILL REGENERATE!!!" ''GOD, THESE FUCKING DOGS KEEP ORDERING ME!'' Nathan thought before disappearing. Seeing its enemy disappear, the Black Armored Angel set its sights on the closest target. Ashleigh. Germaine and R.R. who Rose ordered earlier to follow Ashleigh immediately provided support. *** Nathan, who was invisible, ran towards the Golden Armored Angel that was flying in the air as he locked on the remaining Golden Crystal with his [Grade D] Mini-crossbow. He had one goal in mind at the moment -- be the one to get the treasure chest in case it drops one. Meanwhile, as he was waiting for the 3-second lockdown to finish, behind him, a number of people were also heading towards the same location he was heading to. Among them were Rose, Derek, Harry, Joseph, Cannibal and two members of the Asian group, and the military group. In the case of the military group, not all of them cared about the drop because some of them were only here because they were following orders. As for Ashleigh, Germaine, Kaija and R.R., they chose not to participate. Putting them aside, those who were headed towards the location the Gold Armored Angel will land were all anticipating or preparing for a treasure chest to drop and take it. Everyone received the message from the System when the Second Phase began. It mentions that inside the Divine Tower, one could obtain unique items and even have a chance to obtain [Artifact] grade items. In the events so far, everyone was already assuming that they know what the unique items are. These were the Black and White equipment that gives immunity. But for the [Artifact] grade item, no one has ever seen it yet. And given the peculiarity of this Golden Armored Angel, they assumed that this was probably the one that drops the [Artifact] grade item. It''s also important to point out that the message given by the System when the Second Phase began mentioned more than one [Artifact] grade item. However, no one can tell for sure whether this Golden Armored Angel would drop one or two treasure chests, or one treasure chest but with multiple items inside because no one has ever encountered a zombie or armored angel that dropped more than one treasure chest or opened a treasure chest with more than one item inside. Nathan pulled the trigger and lost his invisibility. Toof! The Magic Bolt flew straight to the last remaining Golden Crystal of the Golden Armored Angel. And as the Magic Bolt was making its way to its target, Nathan looked behind him and saw the group of people heading towards his location. ''They have the same idea that I have!'' He quickly disappeared and headed towards the side but not too far from where he estimated the Golden Armored Angel likely will land. He didn''t want to be caught in the center. He didn''t want to have a 3rd near-death experience. The Magic Bolt finally hit the Golden Crystal. Ka-clak! The Golden Armored Angel began falling from the sky. And as it landed on the ground, it shattered into a million pieces and a [Gold] Treasure Chest appeared. Pscht! Almost everyone''s eyes shined in greed and a message from the System popped inside everyone''s heads. ''Ding!'' ''Congratulations on completing the Divine Tower! The Divine Tower will close in 10 minutes. Please enter the portal to exit the tower.'' The entire tower began trembling and everyone lost their sense of balance. On the southern edge of the Divine Tower, a red portal appeared. Meanwhile, on the northern edge of the Divine Tower, a small pyramid began to rise. And on top of it was another [Gold] Treasure Chest. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 104 Divine Tower 14 Seeing that there were two [Gold] Treasure Chests, the people who were originally anticipating for the Golden Armored Angel to drop a treasure chest were divided. Some continued to head for the one that the Golden Armored Angel dropped, while the others headed to the pyramid located at the northern edge of the arena that had the other chest. Among those who head for the treasure chest that the Golden Armored Angel dropped were Nathan, Derek, an Asian guy and Captain Barlow along with one soldier and Burning Fighting Fighter. Meanwhile, those who went the other way were Rose, Harry, Joseph, Cannibal, an Asian woman, Bones and the sergeant. Nathan was not only the closest but was also the fastest so he got to the [Gold] Treasure Chest first. As soon as he was about to touch the chest, he disabled [Coward''s Way], picked up the chest, activated his skill and then ran off as fast as he could as if he was being chased by the devil himself. "STOP HIM RIGHT AWAY!" roared Captain Barlow. Burning Fighting Fighter threw 2 [Fireballs]. The other soldier threw a flash bomb. After that, both Captain Barlow and the soldier began firing with their handguns. Bang! Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang! Unfortunately, almost all of the non-Chosen Ones had no mana and had barely any non-System equipment left. As soon as the flash bomb landed near where they last saw the [Gold] Treasure Chest, Captain Barlow and his team covered their eyes. Poof! The flash blinded Derek and the Asian guy, causing them to stop on their tracks. However, Nathan wasn''t anywhere to be seen. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, BOY?!" shouted Captain Barlow to the Burning Fighting Fighter. He knew that this chosen one''s skill doesn''t require any mana so he was furious that he only threw 2 [Fireballs]. Burning Fighting Fighter activated his skill once more. Balls of flames manifested on his hands and he threw them. "I''M FUCKING SICK OF YOU ORDERING ME AROUND!" To the military group''s surprise, the [Fireballs] were aimed at Captain Barlow. Boom! Boom! "GYAAAAAHHH!!!" cried Captain Barlow as he ran around wailing like a human torch. He tried to take out that remote control that could activate the bomb around Burning Fighting Fighter''s neck but failed to do so due to the intense burning pain he was going through. Each [Fireball] of Burning Fighting Fighter lasts for 3 seconds. The other soldier quickly aimed his gun at Burning Fighting Fighter. Although some of the soldiers felt that it was unjust or just downright evil that the government captured and forced a few Chosen Ones to obey them by placing a remote-controlled bomb around their necks, they couldn''t do anything about it because just like them, they too had their own problems to deal with. And as soldiers, it was their duty to follow the orders of their superiors. Of course, there were also a few Chosen Ones that willingly joined the government, but they were stationed at another place. The other soldier began to fire. Bang! Bang! Burning Fighting Fighter threw [Fireballs] at the soldier as he tried to evade the bullets. Bang! Boom! "GYAAAAAHHHHH!!!" He too was burned alive. Meanwhile, Burning Fighting Fighter was shot in the head twice and the third bullet landed on his collar bone. Being a trained soldier wasn''t a joke. They were definitely great shooters. Even with his sudden betrayal and his attempt to dodge, that soldier still managed to hit him. Burning Fighting Fighter fell on his knees. Thud! As for Derek and the Asian guy, upon seeing the situation, they immediately headed towards the pyramid for the other [Gold] Treasure Chest. Burning Fighting Fighter''s vision was a little blurry and it felt like his world was swirling a bit. He could also feel the intense burn coming from his gunshot wounds which was quickly followed by this buzzing feeling and then a severe aching pain. Unfortunately, for the soldiers, Burning Fighting Fighter was Level 21. And as a Chosen One, his stats were much higher. Also, given that his VIT was more than 30 points, despite being shot in the head twice, he didn''t die right away. He still had 10 seconds before he dies. But had the damage been so severe where it cracked opened his head or chopped off, he would''ve died immediately. He quickly took out 4 [Small] Healing Potions from his pockets. Due to his injuries, the vials fell from his hands to the ground. He grabbed one and clumsily opened it. Gulp. With the [Small] Healing Potion he drank, he felt a little better and his wounds started to heal as well. He threw the empty vial to the ground and grabbed another one. Gulp. He was getting better. He could feel it. He needed to survive in order to get revenge for what the government did to him. Before the zombie apocalypse, he was a troubled teenager who went in and out of juvenile detention centers for crimes like fighting, vandalizing, stealing and selling drugs. When the zombie apocalypse first began, he was inside a juvenile cell with 3 others. He turned 18 just a few days ago at that time so he was scheduled the following day to be transferred to an adult correctional center. Upon learning that he was a Chosen One and receiving the [Burning Fighting Fighter] skill, he burned two of his cellmates but was still unable to escape. The next day, a group of government agents arrived at the juvenile detention center he was at and took him. Ever since then, he became the government''s lapdog with a metal collar around his neck that could be remotely controlled to explode if he decides to ignore orders. And if he decides to tamper it, it would automatically explode. He threw the empty vial and picked up another one. As he was about to open his third [Small] Healing Potion¡­ Whoosh! Bam! A [Grade D] Morning Star was swung against the side of his head so hard that it separated from the body and landed more than 50ft away. Thud! If it wasn''t for the System helmet that Burning Fighting Fighter wore, his head would''ve burst like a watermelon. "Hahahaha~" Nathan had a wide smile on his face as he saw the headless body of Burning Fighting Fighter lie on the ground beside him. "Heh~ Where did the head go?" He placed his [Grade D] Morning Star over his shoulder as he searched for the head. He saw it more than 50ft away from where he was standing. "Hmm~ I wouldn''t call it as a home run, but it was satisfying nonetheless." He chuckled. He then closed his eyes and raised his head as he made a slurping sound with his mouth, trying to savor the sweet death of the kill. "Slurp~" He slowly opened his eyes and it was filled with warmth. "Haaa~ Revenge. Such beauty." He looked over at Burning Fighting Fighter''s headless corpse once more. "To see someone struggle so desperately and have them think that they''ve succeeded before robbing it from them at the last second. This is art." He smiled sweetly and then a thought suddenly popped inside his head. "So killing Chosen Ones doesn''t give additional skills or anything. I totally forgot about this experiment when I fought that booty warrior back at the bridge." His thoughts wandered for a split second. "Oh well¡­ Nothing I can do about that. At least I got that thing inside the [Gold] Treasure Chest and I need to get the other one." He looked over at the pyramid that had the other [Gold] Treasure Chest on top of it. He could see Rose, Derek, Harry, Cannibal and Bones fighting. There was also Joseph and the sergeant there. Meanwhile, the [Gold] Treasure Chest was still left untouched. "But first¡­" He started humming as he walked over at Captain Barlow who was severely burned. "Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmmm~ HmHmHmHmHm~ HmHm~ HmHmmm~" When he got to Captain Barlow, he noticed that he was still alive, albeit barely, a bit similar to the condition that Nathan suffered a couple of hours ago. However, unlike Nathan who was not only shot but also burned, Captain Barlow couldn''t move. "You still alive?" said Nathan as he stepped on Captain Barlow''s hand, slowly crushing it. Captain Barlow let out a low and painful groan that one could barely hear it. "Ugghhh¡­." "Good." Nathan raised his [Grade D] Morning Star and swung it downward, smashing Captain Barlow''s head. Whoosh! Bam! Crack! The morning star dented the helm he was wearing and blood gushed out. Its spikes penetrated through the helmet and got stuck. "Ugh! Disgusting¡­" Nathan stepped on the helmet as he yanked the [Grade D] Morning Star away. Crank! After successfully removing his weapon from the helmet, he checked his status chart. ''System¡­'' *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 38 (+9) VIT ¨C 36 (+5) AGI ¨C 33 (+28) INT ¨C 33 (+6) Mana: 37/78 Equipment: [Grade D] Morning Star (9/12) [Grade D] Mini-crossbow (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Black Helm (9/15): +3 Agi +1 Int Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (12/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (13/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (12/15): +4 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 2% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] *** Looking at his stats, he couldn''t help but smile. Regarding the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger, aside from its +5 to all stats bonus, based on the name alone, its function was indeed like the [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Although he hasn''t yet properly investigated all its functions, restrictions and limitations, he already knew about the general ones, thanks to the System and the quick experiment he did. As far as he knows¡­ One - Equipping it was painful and nasty. One had to tear off one of his/her fingers and attach the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger to the spot of his/her hand where the finger was torn off. Once attached, it will automatically transform into the finger it replaced. The finger that Nathan chose to tear off was the ringer finger of his left hand. Two - It''s also enchanted with a Time-freeze feature like the [Grade D] Spatial Bag. But the real kicker was that the space inside it was as large as a tennis court. Three - To put an item inside, he had to touch the item with Gold Finger and will it to be absorbed. Four - To take out an item, he simply had to imagine the item that he wants to take out or the System will provide a list and will it to appear on his left hand. Five - When [Coward''s Way] is activated, absorbing or taking out an item doesn''t deactivate his invisibility. In addition to that, the item he takes out remains invisible as well. With these functions and the bonus stats, he was no doubt extremely satisfied. He was even looking forward to entering the Eternal Village and ask if he could re-awaken the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. Putting aside the cost, if it was possible, arranging the stats according to his liking and possibly making it a Second Tier awakened item as well would be a huge boost to his capabilities. And even if it couldn''t be re-awakened, +5 to all stats was already a huge boost, not to mention it also a has a spatial function. ''It was all worth it. System off.'' He looked over at Rose and the others who were still fighting at the pyramid. He also noticed Ashleigh accompanied by Germaine, Kaija and R.R. heading there to support Rose and Derek. ''Hmm¡­ I wonder what kind of [Artifact] is inside the other [Gold] Treasure Chest¡­'' Once he gets that item, he could have a total of +10 stats to all of his attributes. ''I just hope it isn''t a spellbook though¡­'' A shiver ran down his spine right after he said it. He also recalled the message that the System sent. The Divine Tower will close in 10 minutes. And so far, more than 2 minutes have already passed. He activated [Coward''s Way] and went to the pyramid. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 106 Divine Tower 16 "Heh~ What is this? Very interesting!" Rose was on the broken steps looking at Nathan who had opened the [Gold] Treasure Chest on top of the pyramid. Harry also stopped and looked at Nathan. ''I was so close¡­!'' Rose thought. She had lost both of her arms from blocking the shells of Nathan''s sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. She had her skill [Crystal Body] on and her body was already filled with cracks to begin, especially on her arms, thanks to her fight with Harry earlier. So when Nathan suddenly shot her as she was about to open the chest, it couldn''t be helped that she lost her arms when she blocked it. If she was a half a second late in blocking, perhaps her entire chest would''ve shattered and she would''ve died. Nathan didn''t reload his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun and returned it on its holster. And with the [Grade D] Morning Star on his other hand, he picked up the item inside the [Gold] Treasure Chest with his remaining free hand. It was a transparent orb similar to the size of a nucleus (which is the size of an infant''s fist). However, compared to the nucleus, this orb was soft, almost like a jello. And inside it was a tiny drop of gold blood. The System informed Nathan about its use, causing him to smile widely. He immediately ingested it. "ARRGGGHHH!!!" Nathan gritted his teeth and dropped his [Grade D] Morning Star as his body made popping sounds all over. Clang! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! From an outsider''s view, it looked like his bones wanted to pop out of his skin. It also seemed like he was growing. "ROSE!" It was Ashleigh who finally arrived along with Kaija. It took her a while to get to Rose because she went over to Derek first to heal him because he suffered massive wounds from Cannibal''s attacks. After healing him, Germaine and R.R. stayed behind to provide support for Derek. "ARE YOU OKAY?!" said Ashleigh as she looked with horror at Rose''s state. "I''m fine," said Rose as she got up. "Please deactivate your skill so I can heal you!" When Rose''s skill [Crystal Body] is activated, although she loses her sense of physical touch, one of its weaknesses is that healing potions and spells don''t work on her and her regeneration is off. She had to deactivate her skill before she can receive any treatment. But doing so, given the amount of damage on her body at the moment, she would have to undergo a sudden surge of inexplicable pain that could possibly break a person''s mind. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Also, despite humans now having the System which allows them to increase their stats, their sense of pain was still no different from before. Pain was still pain. However, if she doesn''t deactivate her skill to receive treatment, with the state she''s in, she would have no choice but to retreat. And there was no way she was going to choose that option. She deactivated [Crystal Body]. As soon she did that, a rush of inexplicable pain washed all over her. And despite her strong-willed spirit, she couldn''t help but cry out in pain and fall to the ground. "AHHH!!!" A huge amount of blood burst out from her wounds. The pain made her feel like she was going to lose her mind. Ashleigh immediately cast [Heaven''s Treatment] on her. All of her physical wounds were healed. However, it took her about a second or two before she could move her body. Her mind was still suffering from the sudden rush of inexplicable pain that her physical body just felt earlier. When she got up, she immediately activated [Crystal Body]. "Rose, I''m low on mana and I can only cast my skill one more time. But I will be able to cast again after 12 minutes. I don''t have any mana potions left either," said Ashleigh. It takes 4 minutes to recover 1 mana point. "No problem," said Rose. She looked over at Nathan who just finished transforming and noticed the changes on his body after he swallowed that transparent nucleus. His body became larger and was now 2.2 meters tall or around 7.2ft. In addition to that, there were also a few visible white spots that could be seen on his body that were not covered by his equipment. However, their color was slightly different from a Caucasian''s skin color. It was also different from the white scales of the D2. The white spots were close to greyish or deathly pale as if he was an undead corpse. Ashleigh and Kaija also noticed the changes in Nathan''s body. They all had a bad feeling¡­ Aside from changes in his outer appearance, there was something else¡­ Even Rose who was normally fearless felt a shiver ran down her spine. "Rose, what should we do?" "Ashleigh, tell Derek and the others to leave the tower right away. I''ll buy you guys some time." The System did say that the Divine Tower will close in 10 minutes. And so far, it''s already been more than 4 minutes already. "No, there''s also that other guy. You --" Before she could even finish her sentence, Rose cut her off. "No! Go now!" Aside from Nathan, there was also Harry. "WE''RE NOT DONE YET!!!" It was Harry. He activated his skill on them. "GO! NOW!" Rose said to Ashleigh and Kaija. They finally followed her orders. *** Nathan was grinning as he looked at his hand and formed a fist. "Now this is power!" The orb that he swallowed earlier was a consumable item called [Artifact] Divine Blood, according to the System. As for its use, the System informed him that ingesting it will grant +30 stat points to a single attribute to the user''s choice and it cannot be reversed. The attribute he chose to increase was STR. Regarding the increase of body size, the System didn''t mention any of it so it came as a surprise to him that he almost thought he was poisoned. His clothes felt a little tight right now. However, he didn''t have any problems with his System equipment (except the weapons) because they automatically change size to perfectly fit the wearer''s body. He also hasn''t noticed that 20% of his skin''s body was covered with deathly pale white spots. If he did, he would''ve cursed and call himself a dalmatian. ''System.'' *** Level: 25 Exp: 0.4425048828125% Stats: STR ¨C 68 (+9) VIT ¨C 36 (+5) AGI ¨C 33 (+28) INT ¨C 33 (+6) Mana: 37/78 Equipment: [Grade D] Mini-crossbow (12/12) [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Black Helm (9/15): +3 Agi +1 Int [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (12/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (13/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (12/15): +4 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 2% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] Transformation: ? 20% *** Looking at his stats, his grin became even wider. ''This is getting better and better!'' He also noticed the "Transformation" written on his status chart. He knitted his brows. ''What the fuck is Transformation 20%?'' He never saw this before in his status chart prior to taking the [Artifact] Divine Blood]. ''Was it because of the Divine Blood? What happens if it reaches 100%? Does this also mean that I can only drink Divine Blood 5 times?'' His head ached from thinking and there were more important things he needed to focus right now. ''I''ll think about this later... System off.'' He looked over at the remaining survivors as he stood on top of the pyramid. He saw Rose and Harry fighting. He saw Ashleigh and Kaija heading towards Derek, Germaine and R.R. who were fighting Cannibal. He saw the sergeant killing the last remaining non-Chosen One member of the Asian group. The sergeant was able to kill the other one non-Chosen One member a while ago while Bones and Harry were fighting earlier. And at the moment, he was heading towards the red portal to exit the Divine Tower. The sergeant had no desire to enter the Divine Tower to begin with and was only forced by circumstances. And seeing that all of his companions were already dead and knowing that there was a time limit before the tower closes, he decided to head for the exit. He prayed that outside the tower his fellow brothers-in-arms are waiting for him or it will be no different from staying here. ''1 trying to escape and 8 people left, huh,'' Nathan thought. "NATHAN! HELP ME CAPTURE THE MEMBERS OF RED DUST!" said Harry. He glanced at Harry. ''Heh~ He still thinks we''re allies?'' He picked up his [Grade D] Morning Star and placed it inside his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before activating [Coward''s Way] and head towards the red portal. And as just after two steps, he lost his balance and tripped, causing him to come tumbling down the steps until he reached the bottom of the pyramid. Thud! "Ahh!" Thud! "Ouch!" Thud! "Aw!" Thud! At the bottom of the pyramid¡­ ''Fuck me sideways!'' Due to his new body size, he wasn''t able to properly control it. Of course, from 6ft (or around 1.82m) to around 7.21 ft (or 2.2m), it was no doubt a big change for him or anyone who was in his position. ''Good thing I was invisible so no one saw that shameful fall!'' However, they all heard his voice¡­ ''Wait! If I can''t properly control my body right now, how am I suppose to stop them, let alone kill them?!'' He got up and ran towards the red portal. The sergeant was already gone. Ignoring the sergeant, aside from blocking the exit, to Nathan, this run was a quick training course to help him adapt to his new body size. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Sorry if it took me more than a month to post again. I got so busy dealing with a number of things, work and personal. This effing epidemic just messed up a lot of things. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing fine. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? darklord12332 ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? NovelLovers ? lobsterkingo ? LuciFallen ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Ramvox ? LordOfLaziness ? James_Black_2558 ? Daoist743350 ? Louvine ? munlockk40 ? UpsurgeDays ? richtu ? The_Sloth ? shayan_mohebbi ? DKYMuffinman ? M1keN10 (Third Seat Power Immortal) ? 7Life7Sky ? tontata ? yerby ? MoonlightOwl34 ? reader04 ? joel_Salmi ? Jay_Hoven_4180 ? Hime_Sama88 ? Runnezz ? DemoKingX ? Panchokemon ? erwintjiam ? Alconperez_YT_YT ? Daoist619289 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I posted the draft of [Chapter 124] and [Chapter 137] there and also edited chapters 122 and 123. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 108 Exi When Nathan exited the red portal, he found himself back at Cram City. It was already morning around 8:00 am and the sky was cloudy. Boom! Tata! Tata! Boom! ''What the¡­?!'' The enormous stingray-like creature that was larger than a football stadium and used to hover near the Divine Tower and spat out 10ft tall and 5ft wide eggs with a 3m-tall zombie inside of it was dead and lying on the ground, crushing everything underneath it. There were assault helicopters, jets, land vehicles and soldiers fighting off a number of 3m-tall zombies. There was also no sign of Ashleigh and Kaija. The countdown for the closing of the Divine Tower finally ended and it vanished, leaving a plain field of dirt that was as large as a football stadium. ''This¡­!'' Putting aside the unlimited source of EXP, as much as Nathan wanted to hunt down Ashleigh and Kaija, he was tempted to search for the treasure chest that the enormous stingray-like creature dropped. What if it was an [Artifact] grade item as well? Possibly like the [Divine Blood] which is a consumable item. He gritted his teeth. ''There''s always a next time in killing that bimbo!'' He decided to circle around the enormous stingray-like creature. There were many ruined buildings and abandoned vehicles from the battles between humans and zombies since last night. The road was also filled with cracks and pitfalls thanks to the earthquake last night by the summoning of the Divine Tower. Nathan did his best to move as fast and carefully as he could as he circled around to search for the treasure chest. ''God, I hope it hasn''t been taken¡­'' *** 40 minutes later¡­ The battle between zombies and humans came to a close about 25 minutes ago, with the military retreating back to their base with their land and air vehicles. Nathan was far away from the enormous stingray-like creature and in the eastern part of Cram City. During his search, he found out that the 3m-tall zombies were still Level 1 despite more than 24 hours has passed. He didn''t kill any of the 3m-tall zombies and just searched for the treasure chest that the stingray-like creature may have dropped. However, his search was a failure. He didn''t find any [Gold] Treasure Chest, only [Green] and [Blue]. "FUCK ME SIDEWAYS!!!" He kicked a lamppost. Pah! Clang! There was a dent on the lamppost. "GODDAMMIT! WHO FUCKING TOOK IT?!" He facepalmed. Pah! "Shit, shit, shit! Had I knew I wasn''t going to find it, I would''ve just chased those two bitches!" "IDIOT!" "STUPID!" He forcefully calmed himself down and assessed the situation. ''Those two are probably still making their way to Haven Town. I can try to catch up¡­'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''However¡­. that bimbo did say that Amir is still alive and is at Saint Town¡­'' ''She didn''t look like she was lying¡­'' Nathan stroked his beardless chin. ''By now, everyone already knows the Divine Tower disappeared and the members of Red Dust are expecting Rose and the others to return¡­'' ''If those two bitches return back to Haven Town and tell the people there what happened, Amir would no doubt be dead¡­'' ''I need to go reach Saint Town and retrieve Amir before those two bitches rat me out!'' Nathan looked over at the east. "Amir, I''m coming to get you. Don''t worry, we''ll torture your captors slowly." *** 30 minutes later¡­ Nathan was invisible and running as fast as he could. He was so fast that the sound of his footsteps seemed like a dozen men were running. He was still far away from exiting Cram City. His destination was a one-story house. ''Faster! Faster! FASTER!'' He jumped over the walls. When he reached the front door, he pushed it away, forcefully opening it and ended up destroying it. Pah! With his STR at 68 (+9) points, it was no different from pushing a piece of thin plywood. Inside, his eyes quickly wandered around. There was no light inside the house and the windows were closed. However, there were a few open cans on the table and unwashed dishes on the sink. ''Where''s the toilet?! Where the fuck is it?!'' Although he could do his business anywhere out in the open without being judge, he hasn''t yet reached the point that he was comfortable with it. Sure, he was a so-called lone wolf and hates crowded places, but that doesn''t mean he likes to go out in the wilderness to do some camping. He preferred to stay inside the comforts of his room and read books. ''There!'' He finally found the toilet. He quickly opened it. Kacha! He deactivated [Coward''s Way], pulled down his pants and sat on the bowl. Atomic bombs began dropping¡­ "Ahh¡­." He placed his elbows on tops of his thighs and held his head down. "Wew¡­ I shouldn''t have eaten so much." Before he entered the Divine Tower, he ate at least worth 3 meals. And during his time there, he also ate another meal. Furthermore, as a person who works out, he developed a habit of moving his bowel every day. All of a sudden, there was a clicking sound and it was followed by a man''s voice. "Put your hands on the air and raise your head or I''ll blow your brains out!" Nathan''s eyes widened. Realizing the situation he was in, he was torn inside. Was it a handgun, rifle or shotgun? Although he found out back in the Divine Tower that he wouldn''t die right away from a headshot due to his VIT, he doesn''t know if he could survive is his head was blown off. ''Fuck! I got Tywin-Lannistered!'' His pants were down so he couldn''t stand up and charge. "DID YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?! DO IT NOW!!!" "Please don''t shoot! Please, I just wanted to use your toilet!" Nathan said as he slowly raised his hands and head. He saw the man in front of him. It was an Asian man around his late teens with System items on and looked like he was from Muwin. He had a double-barrel shotgun pointed at Nathan''s face. "Bro, please don''t shoot! I''m a Muwinian as well!" Nathan said in Muwinian. Still pointing the shotgun, the man studied Nathan''s features. He was surprised to see Nathan''s body size. The average height of Muwinians is 5''7" for the male and 5''5" for the female. So to see Nathan who was 2.2m tall (or about 7.21ft), he was surprised. "From where?" the man asked in Muwinian. "Latif." Based on their accents, both of them could tell that they were at least from the central region of Muwin. The man slowly put down his shotgun. Seeing the man put down his gun, Nathan also put his hands down. ''I could take out my sawed-off shotgun and kill this guy but I don''t know how many people are inside this house¡­'' Nathan thought. "Um¡­ Bro, can I finish my business?" The man squinted his eyes and said, "Do it quickly and leave right away." However, the man didn''t leave. He just stood there waiting. ''Eh¡­ Is this person one of those perverts that get turned on by watching people defecate? My god, what a weirdo,'' Nathan thought. Nathan quickly finished his business and flushed. As he pulled his pants up, the man pointed the shotgun on Nathan once again. "Okay, I''m done," said Nathan with his hands up. The man slowly backed away and moved to the side but just enough for him to be able to shoot Nathan in case he does something he didn''t like. "Leave now." "Okay," Nathan said with his hands up in the air as he exited the toilet The moment he exited the toilet¡­ Nathan suddenly disappeared, catching the man off guard and accidentally pulling the trigger. Bang! After the trigger was pulled, Nathan grabbed the man''s shotgun and neck, causing him to lose his invisibility. He tried to absorb the shotgun into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger but it didn''t. ''Heh~ So as long as another living person is holding the item I can''t absorb it?'' Nathan pulled the shotgun away and threw it away before raising the man up in the air. He tightened his grip around the man''s neck to the point that it could break at any moment. The man was about to cast a spell but Nathan threw him against the wall. Bam! "AHH!" Thud! The man broke a few ribs and landed on the floor. He coughed out blood as he desperately tried to get up, causing Nathan to sneer. "Good, you''re still alive. You made me beg. Whoever it is you''re with here, I''m going to kill them right in front of you." All of a sudden, Nathan heard the sound of footsteps. "DIANNE! COME BACK HERE!" a woman called out. Nathan looked over who was coming. It was a girl who looked like she was only 16 years old and was dressed with System items. She threw her weapon and ran over to Nathan''s leg and cried. Clang! "Please, mister! Please don''t kill my big brother! Take me if you want! Just spare my brother, please!" Meanwhile, the woman who called out earlier appeared as well. She was a Caucasian woman in her early 20s and was also dressed in System items. "Dianne!!!" said the Caucasian woman. However, when she saw Nathan''s towering height and Asian guy lying on the floor and injured, her eyes widened and she dropped her weapon. Clang! ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 109 Recalling The Caucasian woman''s face was pale as a ghost. The Asian man coughed out blood once more before finally getting up and pulled out a knife. "DIANNE, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Dianne who was hugging Nathan''s leg let go immediately and tried to move away. However, Nathan grabbed her by the neck and raised her up. "Well, well, well¡­ What do we have here?" said Nathan as he looked at the Asian man and smiled. "BASTARD! LET HER GO RIGHT NOW!" "You really like ordering me around, huh." Nathan grabbed Dianne''s left hand and crushed it. Crack! "AHHHHH!!!" Dianne screamed. "YOU!" said the Asian and dashed forward. However, Nathan shielded himself with Dianne''s body, causing the man to stop. The Asian man gritted his teeth and his eyes were burning with fire. As much as he wanted to save his little sister, he knew that Nathan was far too powerful. He already lost his parents during the zombie apocalypse. He couldn''t lose his sister as well. Nathan smiled. "The bitch behind me, move to this man''s side or I''ll break this girl''s neck," said Nathan to the Caucasian woman. "Hannah¡­" said Dianne weakly. The Asian man looked at Hannah. His eyes were pleading. However, Hannah was frozen from fear. "Heh~ Still not being cooperative," said Nathan as his hand slowly reached out for Dianne''s left ribs. "HANNAH! PLEASE DO AS HE SAYS!" said the Asian man. He knelt down and bowed. "Please¡­ Don''t hurt my sister¡­. Please¡­ We only want to survive¡­" Tears started flowing from his eyes. Seeing the Asian man prostrating and crying, Hannah finally snapped back to reality. "David¡­" Hannah quickly went over to David''s side and hugged him. "Please don''t hurt us¡­ We don''t mean any harm¡­" said Hannah and cried as well. As for Dianne, she started crying as well and weakly said, "Please, mister¡­ I''ll do anything you want¡­ Just don''t hurt them¡­" Looking at their scene, Nathan couldn''t help but feel a little guilty. He felt like he was the villain here. ''No! I''m the victim here! That dog pointed a gun at me while I was at the loo and made me beg!'' The scene also reminded him of a certain memory¡­ *** 3 years ago. Nathan, 21 years old. Liit Town, Muwin. "Grandpa! Cousin! What are you guys doing here?" a man called out. Sakhr and Nathan looked towards the direction where the voice was coming from. It was Maaz, the eldest child of uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam. And with him was a group of drugged-up and dangerous-looking men. Maaz was 25 years old. However, despite being older, he was only 5''2" tall and was skinny. Because of that, from what Nathan has heard, he had this Napoleon complex. Nathan glanced over at the drugged-up and dangerous-looking men. They too looked at Nathan, sizing him up. Back in the day, despite Karen''s objection, he didn''t mind talking to people like this. To him, they were the outcast or rebels of society and their devil-may-care outlook kind of intrigued him a little bit. However, after he graduated and started working, he began to distance himself from such people to protect his image. In his mind, he wasn''t a teenager anymore so he needed to "man-up" or "act right" as they say. "You drug addict, what are you up to now?" said Sakhr. Although Sakhr believes that a real man does, say and takes what he wants, he doesn''t agree with throwing your life away by doing drugs or engaging in illegal activities. Sure, doing drugs once in a while is acceptable. But doing it every day that it affects your physical and mental health? That''s a different matter. To him, what''s the use or how can you enjoy the benefits of your success if your body is broken? What was the point if you will only end up inside a coffin or spend your life behind bars? Maaz smiled and said, "Nice to see you too, grandpa." He then looked at Nathan and nodded. Nathan nodded back as well. Sakhr snorted. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "We''re getting some fresh air," said Nathan. "Oh, okay. See you guys later. We''re going to grab something to eat," Maaz said and started walking towards the church with his crew. When Maaz and his crew were already a couple of feet away, Maaz stopped and turned. "Cousin, we''re going to Banya city tonight. You should come with us to celebrate." "Sorry, I can''t. I have work later." "Okay." Maaz resumed walking. "Brat, don''t follow the footsteps of that brat," Sakhr said and then sighed. "I only have 3 grandchildren that I know of. And unfortunately, one turned out to be a disappointment. You and Malik are the only decent ones so don''t fuck up our family name." "Wait¡­ what? You have other grandchildren?" As far as Nathan knows, this grandfather of his only had two children, his father and uncle Mabrook. Sakhr hit Nathan with his cane. Pah! "Ouch!" "You idiot. With the number of women I''ve slept with in my life, it wouldn''t be a surprise if one of them got pregnant and I wasn''t aware of." Nathan checked his watch. 3:43 pm. From Monday to Saturday, he usually wakes up around 3:00 pm because his main job is from 5:00 pm - 12:00 am and his part-time job is 2:30 - 5:30 am. However, his employer at his part-time job was a cool guy and let him take the day off today. With that, today, he only had to work at his main job. ''I''m going to try to take a 30-minute nap.'' Nathan thought. "Grandfather, uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam are probably looking for us." "Go tell them to come here." "Okay." Nathan got up. "Brat." Nathan looked at his grandfather. "Give me another stick." Nathan didn''t want to argue to he gave his grandfather his pack of cigarettes and lighter. After returning them to Nathan, Sakhr blew smoke and said, "Go now but take your time." *** Nathan and his family got back home. Maaz didn''t come with them. Nathan climbed up the second floor and went straight to his bed. He grabbed his phone and set the alarm clock. ''4:30 pm¡­ Okay.'' There were a few messages from his family members that were not here at Liit town. He decided to ignore them for now and slept. *** 4:30 pm. Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Ring¡­ Nathan opened his eyes and grabbed his phone to turn it off. ''I still want to sleep¡­'' His body felt so weak and heavy from the lack of sleep and food he ate earlier. He decided to close his eyes for 5 minutes. A minute or so passed when suddenly¡­ "Nathan, I made you coffee and a few snacks," said a woman. It was aunt Mariam. The room that Nathan shared with Maaz didn''t have a door because it was removed by uncle Mabrook about 10 years ago due to Maaz''s drug problem. Nathan opened his eyes and got up. "It''s downstairs. Do you want me to bring it here?" "Thanks. I''ll just eat them downstairs." "Okay." Aunt Mariam left. Nathan stretched. He then grabbed his laptop, phone and headphones before heading downstairs. *** Nathan was at the dining table listening to music on his laptop while checking his email and drinking coffee. His first work starts at 5:00 pm so he didn''t open his message app and was checking his emails in the meantime. He noticed an email. It was an email from the company of his main job and was sent just about 4 hours ago. It was a termination letter. The reason he was being fired was because the company was facing some financial issues and they had to fire some of its employees. However, the "bright side" was that his pay was sent right away instead of at the end of the month. After reading the letter, he opened his message app right away to contact his former employer. His status wasn''t online yet. Nevertheless, he clicked the profile of his former employer and began typing a message. [Hi, I just read the email that was sent to me by the company. I don''t understand why I''m being fired. I''ve been producing good articles. In fact, every week, I have one article that''s part of the top 5 weekly tech news articles. What''s the basis of my termination?] After sending the message to this former employer, he decided to contact his fellow writers as well that he was friends with in the company. [Hey, I received a termination letter today and got fired. Did you receive one as well?] He sent the same message on all 4 of them -- 3 were females and 1 male. They all messaged him back. It turns out, 1 female and the other male were fired as well. Also, he couldn''t help but notice that the 2 females that were not fired were the beautiful ones. And out of the two of them, one rarely writes and doesn''t even get her articles at the top 5 weekly tech news articles. His former employer finally replied. The "reason" given to him was the same as written in the termination letter that he received. Nathan was about to ask why the writer who rarely writes wasn''t fired but decided not to. It would be no different from begging. "FUCK!" Bam! Nathan slammed his fist on the table, causing his coffee to spill. Seeing the spill, Nathan grabbed his laptop and phone right away. "Shit!" Aunt Mariam rushed to the dining area. "Nathan, what''s wrong?!" "Um¡­ Sorry, aunt Mariam. I accidentally bumped the cup and it spilled over all my laptop." "Oh¡­ Let me help you wipe that." "Don''t worry. I can clean it myself." "Oh you, it''s okay. Just let me do it." Seeing that she was so persistent, Nathan finally gave in. However, he couldn''t help but feel bad for her. Sure, she was a housewife just like his mother, but she was too dedicated that he couldn''t help but feel bad for her. If no one knew she was married to uncle Mabrook, they probably would have thought she was the maid or something. But who was he to question a society''s culture? Who was he to tell his aunt what''s right and wrong? Who was he to tell her how to live her life? "Thank you," said Nathan. "It''s okay." He went back to his room. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 110 Recalling 2 Nathan was lying on his bed and topless. Without any work today, he decided to check out the messages on his phone. One of them was from his mother. The other messages were from Amir''s parents, Abbas and Amira, and sister, Aena. There were also messages from Amir, Malik, the younger brother of Maaz, and his ex-military uncle Eid. All of them were about greeting and wishing him well in the celebration of the Holy Week. He replied to all of them. A week ago, Amir and his family arrived here in Muwin and were currently in the Latif city. They came to visit the country not only to celebrate the Holy Week but to also scout a good medical school for Aena. Although Amir''s parents loved the freedom and progressiveness of Womania, they started to fear for their daughter''s principles because of all the "freedom" that women have there and the influence of those all-women rights groups. So to balance out her principles because they didn''t want her to go full-feminist, they decided to have her attend college at Latif city which is in the central region of Muwin. In their eyes, the central region was the best environment because it was a society where the northern and southern cultures were blended together. Ding! Ding! He received two messages. There were from his mother and his cousin Aena. The messages were just about mundane things so he didn''t really need to reply back. And then he received a call¡­ It was from uncle Abbas. "Hello, uncle Abbas. How are you?" "Nathaniel, it''s been a while since we''ve spoken. I''m doing fine. What about you?" Uncle Abbas likes to call him Nathaniel and he''s the only one who calls him that. "I''m doing fine as well. Thank you." Almost every family that Nathan knew heard about what happened to him 2 months ago. Uncle Abbas was so enraged that he wanted to sue Karen and her family, Vincent and the police station. However, Amira and Nadia (his sister and Nathan''s mother) talked him out of it, explaining to him that the issue has already been settled. But despite all that, he still felt that Nathan''s current situation was wrong. "Nathaniel, my boy, why don''t you go to Womania with Amir? The country is very welcoming to immigrants, it has a great economy so there''s a lot of ways to earn money, and you have all the freedom there. I can help you with the papers and the cost of moving there." Nathan frowned. As far as he knows, Womania was a very progressive country. In fact, he has seen a couple of feminist and SJW videos online of people there in Womania that it just left him mind-blowned due to the cultural difference. And right now, the reason why he was in his current situation was because of a woman. So why would he go to Womania? That''s like escaping from a tiger''s mouth to jump into a dragon''s mouth. "Umm¡­" "Nathaniel, I know what you''re thinking. Womania isn''t a bad place, especially for immigrants that aren''t Caucasian. And plus, you''re a young man. You shouldn''t be wasting your life in some small town on a tiny island at the edge of the country." "Yeah, uncle¡­ But¡­ Um¡­" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Nathaniel, I don''t mean to pressure you. It''s just that you''re my nephew and I treat you as my son so I want the best for you, just like how I would want the best for Amir and Aena. Just think about my offer for a few days." "Thank you, uncle Abbas. I''ll be sure to think about it." To Nathan, uncle Abbas acted more like a father to him compared to his own father, Nazul. However, Nathan was used to being independent since at an early age so he preferred not to ask help from people if possible. And if he were to go to Womania, he preferred to spend his own money. So that in case he didn''t like it there, he could leave right away and return here at Liit town without feeling guilty. "Okay, I have to go now. Your aunt Amira is calling me. Take care." "Take care as well, uncle. Bye." "Bye." The call ended. "Womania, huh¡­" Nathan decided to look for some home-based jobs being offered at Womania. "Cousin, what are you looking at? Porn?" A male voice suddenly entered his ears. He put his phone down and looked over who it was. It was Maaz who just entered the room. "LOL¡­ Come on," said Nathan. "I won''t judge, you know," Maaz said as he went over to his own bed and lifted the mattress. Nathan just smiled and resumed checking his phone. Maaz pulled out a plastic bag from his waist and inserted them inside the mattress. "Don''t tell father and mother about this," said Maaz. "Yeah, sure," Nathan said without looking. He heard stories that Maaz was involved in some shady things so he rather not know or be involved in any of it. And plus, Maaz was 4 years older than him. So who was he to tell someone older what was right and wrong? It''s not like he''s the smartest person in the world either. In fact, in his current situation right now, Maaz''s life was probably way better than his. Maaz finished hiding whatever it was that he was hiding and turned to Nathan. "I thought you have work?" "No, I received a termination letter from the company I worked for," Nathan said, still looking at his phone. "Heh~" Nathan continued looking at his phone. Maaz continued, "So what are you going to do?" "Nothing. I''ll just read a book or something and then find a new job on Monday." "So you have two days free, huh." Nathan was still looking at his phone. "Why don''t you come with me and my crew? We''re going to Banya city tonight to party." "Sorry, I''m going to pass. I had a long day." Maaz grabbed Nathan''s phone to see what he was looking at. "''Here''s What''s Wrong With Toxic Masculinity''? What the fuck are you reading?" "Hey! Give me back my phone!" Nathan said as he got up from the bed and took back his phone. It was a sample article linked to one of the writing jobs available in Womania. Maaz looked at him with pity and said, "You city boys are really messed up." "It was for a job listing that I was checking," Nathan said as he returned to his bed. "Cousin, you really should come with me at Banya city tonight rather than spend you time reading some shit like that. Plus, we never had the chance to bond so this is a great chance." "Yeah, but doesn''t it take at least 4 hours to ride a boat going to Banya city?" "We''re going to ride a speedboat." Nathan put down his phone. "Speedboat?" He has never ridden a speedboat before. "Yeah. So you coming? If you are, we should go right now. The guys are waiting for me at the docks right now." Nathan thought about what Maaz said. Aside from the fact that he hasn''t ridden a speedboat before, they never bonded. Also, he was pissed from getting fired and he couldn''t go back to the gym to release his anger because he already worked out this morning. He finally decided. "Okay," Nathan said and got up. Maaz smiled and shook his head. "Are you this hard to invite?" Hearing Maaz said that to him, he couldn''t help but remember Karen''s words about him and going to clubs. Even Vincent mentioned that to him a few times. ''Am I that boring?'' He always disliked going to crowded places, especially to clubs. But hearing it from another person ever since the breakup, he couldn''t help but think if he really was that hard to deal with, forcing Karen to cheat on him. ''I guess it --'' Pah! Maaz slapped Nathan''s back, disrupting his train of thought and bringing him back to reality. "Come on, hurry up. I promise you you won''t regret it. I''m going to introduce you to some women there," Maaz said with a lewd smile. Nathan pondered. It''s been 2 months since he had sex so he felt a little thirsty. "Okay, let me grab some clothes." *** 5:24 pm. Maaz and Nathan arrived at the docks. There, 3 friends of Maaz were waiting as well. Nathan tied his hair into a ponytail and was wearing a black slim-fit shirt, gray jeans and black shoes. Maaz and the others were also wearing black but mixed with white or blue. "About time you came, bro. We''ve been waiting for so long," one person said who was smoking a cigarette. "Sorry, bro, I had to ask permission from my father to bring my cousin along." "Heh~" the same person said as he looked over at Nathan. Nathan looked at him as well and couldn''t help but sense some animosity coming from him. He was 5''6" tall, shaved head, about the same age of Maaz, and had a few visible tattoos on his arms and was skinny. Nathan then looked at the other two¡­ One was behind the steering wheel of the speedboat. He sported a mohawk and was wearing shades. He was 5''5" tall, the same age as Maaz, skinny and had visible tattoos on his arms as well. The other one sporting a shoulder-length hair and was sitting on a corner at the dock texting. He was good-looking, 5''7" in height, in his late teens, skinny but had no visible tattoos unlike the others. "So you guys already know that this my cousin Nathan. He''s from Latif," Maaz said. He then looked at Nathan and pointed at his friends. "This is Baar." It was the shaved head. "That''s Omar." It was the one behind the steering wheel. "And that''s Khalid." It was the pretty boy. "Let''s go," Maaz said and boarded the speedboat. Nathan couldn''t help but noticed that it seemed like Maaz was the leader. Nathan and the other two followed suit. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 111 Recalling 3 7:02 pm Nathan and the group arrived at Banya city about 30 minutes ago. It was a one-hour ride via speedboat from Liit town to the docks of Banya city. At the moment, they were walking in the downtown area of Banya city, looking for a good place to drink. There were a lot of people walking around, celebrating the Holy Week. There were stalls that offered food, drinks and different kinds of merchandise. There was a live band performing a heavy metal song. Heavy metal and rock were the popular genres in the south, unlike in the central and northern regions where pop and hip-hop were the prevalent genres. But, of course, there were bars in Banya city that caters to the people who prefer pop and hip-hop. Nathan''s eyes wandered all over. This was his second time visiting Banya city. The first time was 2 months ago when he had to leave Latif city. However, during the first time, right after he arrived at the airport, he went straight to the pier to board a boat headed to Liit town so he wasn''t able to explore the city. Banya city wasn''t as big and as modern as Latif city because it wasn''t among the largest cities in the southern region of Muwin. Nathan and the group stopped in front of a bar called Good Times. The sound of a heavy metal band performing inside could be heard. Maaz ordered Baar to check if there was an available table inside. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After a minute or so, Baar came out. "Bro, it''s cramped inside and there''s no table available." "Let''s look for another one," Maaz said. "Bro, Lena is asking where are we drinking," Khalid said. "Tell her we''re still looking for one." *** 8:09 pm. After about an hour of walking around and checking out bars, they finally found a good place to drink. It was called Rivers Cafe. Nathan and the group entered. Inside, the lights were dimmed except for the light pointed at the live band performing an alternative song. They got on their table. "Finally!" Baar said. "Bro, I''ve already texted Lena to come here at Rivers Cafe," Khalid said. "Okay," Maaz said. Nathan and Omar were quiet. A waiter approached their table and asked what they were ordering. "I''ll take care of the first round," Maaz said. He ordered four pitchers of beer, a bowl of ice, some dishes and 2 packs of cigarettes. When the waiter told him the total, Maaz took out his wallet which surprised Nathan. The wallet was loaded with so much cash that he couldn''t help but wonder how in the world could his cousin comfortably sit with that bulging at the back pocket of his jeans. ''That looked like 3 months worth of my pay¡­'' Nathan thought. Maaz gave the waiter the money and said, "Keep the change." "Thank you, sir," the waiter said and left. ''Is Maaz always this loaded?'' In the past 2 months that he stayed at Liit town, Maaz only came home 3 times. And on the first and second time that Nathan witnessed Maaz came home, he brought a lot expensive things and food but uncle Mabrook threw them away. ''Grandfather did say that I should really focus on accumulating financial success. And by the time I reach the age of 30, things would get better. Perhaps if I¡­'' The waiter returned with the things they''ve ordered and placed them on the table. Maaz poured himself a glass of beer. "Come on, let''s drink!" Nathan dropped what he was thinking and then poured himself a glass of beer. The others also did the same. "Cheers!" said Maaz. "Cheers!" They said and clinked their glasses. Clink! *** A few minutes later¡­ "So, your name is Nathan, right?" Baar said. Nathan put down his drink and looked over at Baar. He was still holding his glass. For some reason, he didn''t like this guy. There was this feeling of animosity or something coming off from him. However, based on what he has learned so far, this Baar guy was like Maaz''s right hand or closest friend. In fact, they were supposedly childhood friends. "Yeah, why?" "Why is your name Nathan? Why isn''t it like a true south Muwinian name?" "I don''t know. Go ask my parents." "I heard you got fucked over by a north Muwinian woman." "And?" "What are you doing?" Maaz said to Baar. Baar looked at Maaz and said, "Hold on, hold on, bro. I just want to know more about your cousin. That''s all." Maaz was looking Baar straight in the eye before switching to Nathan. "What in the world made you decide to seriously date a north Muwinian woman?" Baar said. Nathan frowned. With his size and strength, he could easily snap the bones of this skinny drug addict into two. However, he decided not to and just ignored Baar. He took a sip from his glass. However, Baar wasn''t letting him go that easily. "So are you going to tell us? Those women are nothing but good for fucking only." Nathan put down his glass and pursed his lips. As much as he hated Karen, he still had some feelings for her and he would be a liar if he denied it. However, in this situation, it wasn''t about Karen or this blatant sexist taunt that Baar was spouting that was pissing him off, it was about himself. He felt like Baar was ridiculing him for dating a north Muwinian woman. He was about to¡­ "ENOUGH!" Bam! Maaz threw a handgun on the table. Fortunately, the lights of the bar they were at were dimmed. Moreover, it was also noisy from the live band performing so the people around didn''t notice them and the gun. Nathan''s eyes were wide as saucers as he saw the gun. "YOU DARE DISRESPECT MY COUSIN IN FRONT OF ME?!" Maaz growled. They all looked at Maaz, including Nathan. "Maaz, bro, listen, I was just¡­" said Baar sheepishly. "IF YOU THINK MY OWN COUSIN ISN''T A TRUE SOUTH MUWINIAN, I DARE YOU TO TAKE THAT GUN AND SHOOT ME OR I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF!" "Maaz, Baar, chill out guys. Come on, put the gun away," Omar said. "Yeah, guys. We don''t need these bad vibes," Khalid said. Maaz looked at Omar and Khalid. "YOU TWO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" He returned his gaze at Baar. "COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" "ARE YOU FUCKING SCARED?!" Baar held his head down. "ARE YOU A FAGGOT?!" "I''LL EVEN LET YOU PULL OUT YOUR GUN AND AIM IT AT ME BEFORE I TAKE THAT GUN!" "COME ON! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Nathan finally had enough and didn''t want things to escalate so he intervened. "Cousin, it''s okay. I don''t mind admitting that I got fucked over by my ex. It''s true anyway," said Nathan. Maaz continued staring with burning eyes at Baar who still had his head held down. And after 10 seconds¡­ Ding! "Bro, Lena just texted me. She said they''re outside. I''ll go get them and bring them over," Khalid said and stood up. Hearing what Khalid said, Maaz grabbed his handgun on the table and put it away. Baar got up as well and went outside. Omar looked at Nathan, "Sorry, bro. Baar is a good guy. He just doesn''t really like it when a new face joins us so he likes to do shit tests." He then looked at Maaz, "Bro, I''ll talk to him and get him straight." He left Maaz and Nathan on the table. "Nice friends you have, BRO," Nathan said. Maaz finished his glass of beer and then lit a cigarette. "Cousin, I''m really sorry about that." "It''s okay. I understand, " Nathan said. ''Sigh... I really shouldn''t have come here. God, what the fuck was I even thinking? What a fucking waste of my fucking time. These disgusting addicts act like they''re above me when they''re nothing but vermin in the society.'' "Baar''s actually a good guy. He''s just... He''s cautious." "..." "I mean, I''m well-aware of Baar''s attitude because we''ve been best friends since we were kids. And given that I introduced you to them as my cousin, I thought he would at least treat you with respect. I''m really sorry." "I understand." "I mean, you''ve heard stories about me, right? That''s why we don''t easily let anyone enter our circle. I hope you understand." ''Your circle of criminals and drug addicts?'' Nathan thought and then flashed a friendly smile. "Of course, I understand." "Anyway, let''s forget about that. I''m sure Omar will straighten him up. If he doesn''t, we''ll beat the shit out of him and then I''ll let you beat the shit out of me as well." "That''s not needed¡­" Clap! Maaz clapped his hands together. "And plus, Lena brought her friends along. And trust me, they''re cool girls who are quite outgoing and aren''t Number Twos." In the south, there is this term called Number Two. In the South Muwinian culture, especially to those who practice the Iklas religion, marrying a virgin is one of the main factors considered in picking a bride. If the groom finds out that the bride isn''t a virgin, he can take back the dowry given to the bride''s parents and dissolve the wedding, causing the bride and her family to be marked with shame. Because of this, there are certain women who would preserver their virginity by doing anal instead. "Wait¡­ So they''re prostitutes?" As far as Nathan knows, another part of the South Muwinian culture is that men should act like men and women should act like women. And if a woman acts improper or indecent, a man that is related to her has the right to hit her. Meanwhile, if a man doesn''t act like a "real" man, he is publicly ridiculed to the point that things could even get physical. "No, they''re not prostitutes. Let''s just say it''s complicated." "Complicated? They''re not slu--" "This is our table, ladies," Khalid said with a smile. Nathan and Maaz looked over at Khalid who was with 5 women. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 112 Recalling 4 "I''m gonna get more chairs," Khalid said and went away. There were only 8 chairs, which was 2 chairs short for their group. The 5 women sat took a seat at the chairs. "Baby!" one of the women cheerfully said and sat right next to Maaz before giving him a hug. Nathan knitted his brows. As far as he knows, PDA isn''t something commonly seen in Muwin, especially in the south Muwinian culture. ''She called him baby. Is she like his girlfriend or something?'' "Lena, this is my cousin Nathan," said Maaz. Lena looked at him and flashed a smile. "Hi, nice to meet you." "Hello," said Nathan with a friendly smile as he studied Lena''s features. She was a 5''4'''' tall woman in her early 20s. She had short black hair, skinny and fair skin. She wore light makeup and a tight black short dress and carried a black purse on her hand. If Nathan was going to rate her beauty, she was probably at least a 7. As for the other women... One of them was sitting beside Nathan. "Girls, this is Nathan, my cousin. And Nathan, this is Zainab, Fatima, Salma and Kera.". "Hi," said Salma. "Hi, nice to meet you," said Kera. "Hello," said Zainab. "Hi, you''re quite huge," said Fatima. They were all beautiful as well, ranging between a 5 and 7 in terms of beauty. Their ages were also about the same -- between 20 to 25 years old. The one who sat beside Nathan was Fatima. She was about 5''6" tall, not skinny but also not chubby, her long black hair tied into a ponytail, and had brown, flawless skin. She wasn''t wearing a dress unlike her other companions. Instead, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a white shirt with a foreign heavy metal band''s logo printed on it. It was a band that Nathan was a fan of. But what really caught his eyes was that she was wearing glasses. Who doesn''t like a girl with glasses? As for her looks, if Nathan was going to judge her, she was a 5.5. But because she was wearing glasses, he decided she was a 6. "Hello, nice to meet you all," said Nathan with a smile to all of them and then turned to Fatima who said that he was huge. "Nah, I''m just normal. There are bigger guys than me at the gym that I work out." "Oh okay," said Fatima. "Your accent. You''re not from here, are you?" said Salma. "I''m from Latif," said Nathan. "Oh, I see. So that''s why." "Where''s Baar and Omar by the way?" said Kera. "Yeah, where are they?" said Zainab. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Yeah, baby, where are they?" said Lena. "They went outside to get something. They''ll be back soon," said Maaz. The women began checking their phones. "Are you a fan of R.Z.?" said Nathan to Fatima who was sitting beside him. Fatima put down her phone and looked at Nathan. "Yeah, it''s one of the bands that I like." Khalid returned with 2 more chairs and a waiter. "Girls, just order anything you want. It''s on me," Khalid said as he sat down and took out his wallet. When Nathan saw his wallet, his eyes widened for a very quick moment because he was as loaded as Maaz. ''What the fuck?!'' He couldn''t help but feel so poor. And the fact that Khalid was still a teenager, it really hurt his pride. The girls began to order. ''What about Omar and that Baar guy?'' He shook his head mentally. As far as he knows, Maaz was involved with some shady businesses. However, although he knew that that kind of lifestyle was really lucrative, a person must have the brains, courage and the right connections if they want to survive in that lifestyle. And plus, it isn''t as glamorous as depicted in the movies. In reality, 9 out of 10 times you either end up in a coffin or behind bars. And even if you''re one of the few lucky ones that triumph in the end, you will be living your whole life constantly looking over your shoulder which can be very stressful. So although the prospect of earning money was so great, it would be something he would never choose. The waiter left. "Do you like R.Z. too?" said Fatima. "Huh? What?" said Nathan. "You asked me earlier if I''m a fan of R.Z. and I said yes. So how about you?" "Oh, right." "LOL¡­ Are you drunk already? It''s still too early." Nathan scoffed and said, "Of course not." He grabbed his glass and finished the beer in one gulp and then refilled his glass to show that he wasn''t drunk. He continued, "Yeah, I''m a fan too. I even have a number of their songs inside my phone." "Oh." "How about you?" "Same," Fatima said as she fiddled with her phone. ''Ugh... This doesn''t seem to be going well,'' Nathan thought. "Want a smoke?" He lit one before offering her a pack and a lighter. "Maybe later," Fatima said while she fiddled with her phone. ''Fuck! It really isn''t going well!'' Putting aside his so-called lone wolf attitude, the only woman he dated was Karen. And although he wasn''t the perfect boyfriend, he was by the very least faithful to her that he never attempted flirting with any woman. Because of that, he doesn''t know how to flirt. The waiter returned with the drinks ordered by the women. Time went on and they all chatted happily with each other, except for Nathan. They shared stories and jokes -- well, mostly from Maaz and Khalid. Meanwhile, Nathan would just answer with short replies or fake a laugh whenever a funny joke was shared. For some reason, he couldn''t felt but feel this distance between himself and these people. As a so-called lone wolf, he disliked small talks. If he decides to talk, there always has to be a reason, a purpose. There''s also the part where he hates crowded places. ''Why did I come here?'' ''What am I even doing here?'' ''To have sex?'' ''To let out my frustration from being fired?'' ''God I''m stupid.'' Karen''s face flashed inside his head. Whenever he was with Karen on a bar, he didn''t have to worry about talking to people because he would just be talking to her or to Vincent. His heart ached. Khalid was telling another joke... "Okay, so there were two guys talking." "Guy A asked: Who is your idol?" "Guy B answered: Arnold Schwarzenegger." "Guy A then said: If he''s really your idol, spell his name then." "Guy B replied: You know, the truth is my idol is actually Jet Li." They began laughing. Meanwhile, Nathan pretended to laugh. When the laughter died down, Nathan grabbed two cigarettes and stood up. "I''m gonna go outside to get some fresh air." "Okay. And if you see Baar and Omar outside, tell them to return here," said Maaz. "Sure." He left the table and went outside. *** When Nathan got outside, there were a lot of people. He checked his watch. 9:49 pm. He saw Baar and Omar standing across the street talking. They had a cigarette and a can of beer on their hands. He didn''t mind them. He went to a corner lit a cigarette. A group of 7 people passed by Baar and Omar. There were 3 males, 2 females, 1 lowkey lesbian, and 1 gay person. The gay person was wearing a yellow skin-tight dress and a wig. Meanwhile, the lowkey lesbian was wearing jeans and a shirt and even had short hair which could pass a woman, but there was something in her demeanor that you could just tell in one glance that she was lesbian. "Hey, faggot, where did you get that dress from? Your mother?" Baar said. Everyone on the street except the members of that group smiled and laughed. Even Nathan smiled as well. Of course, it wasn''t because he disliked gays or anything. It''s just that in the south Muwinian culture, gender roles were very strict. So for someone to go outside with that attire, you''re either completely oblivious to the society''s standards or a masochist because that''s no different from wearing a sign around your neck that reads: Come harass and insult me. The other bystanders began to harass the gay person as well. "FAGGOT!" "IN THE NAME OF THE PROPHET ZALIMUN, YOU''RE GOING TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!" "GAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!" One person hidden within the crowd threw an empty can of beer to the gay person, hitting the back of his head. The group stopped. The 2 females and the lowkey lesbian consoled the gay person who was crying, while the 3 males tried to look for the person who threw the empty beer can. When they couldn''t find the person who threw the can, they set their eyes on Baar and Omar. And as expected, Baar and Omar welcomed it. Out of the 3 men that Baar and Omar were fighting with, 2 of them works out but they weren''t as big and tall as Nathan. Two were facing Baar and one was facing Omar. ''Fuck me sideways!'' Nathan said as he threw his cigarette away and dashed forward. Back when he was still with Karen and they would go to a bar, he, of course, got into some bar fights. As for how many fights he won and lost, that''s not important. The most important thing is the unspoken rule that all Muwinians shared. Whoever you came with on a night''s out, if you see that person get into a fight, regardless of whether he was the perpetrator or the victim, as a man, you should join in and help him, except if it''s a fight between females or gays, or it''s a fight that involves using weapons like guns or sharp objects. If you don''t, you will be branded as a coward among your group of friends or anyone that knows you. So basically, as long as you joined in and threw at least a single punch, you''re already safe. *** Nathan arrived and helped Baar who was fighting two people. He got to the side of one of them and threw a punch straight to the man''s side jaw. Pah! The man was knocked out cold. The bystanders cheered. "Oooohhhh!!!" "Woah! A knockout!" "Just one punch!" "Damn~!" As for Nathan, he felt like a heavy load was lifted from his shoulders. He doesn''t know whether it was from all the rage he carried this past 2 months, from his main job, from Baar, or from everything. However, he had no time to think about it and tossed it at the back of his head because they were still in the middle of the fight. Baar got hit by the other man once on his face, causing his nose to bleed. Pah! When the man was about to follow-up with an attack, Nathan got close to him and delivered a punch to the side, causing the man to lose oxygen and was momentarily stunned. Pah! Baar immediately took advantage of this and kicked the man''s groin. Pah! The man crouched down from the pain and fell to the pavement. Thud! Baar went forward and started kicking and stomping the man''s head. Pah! Pah! Pah! "DISGUSTING FAGGOT LOVER!!!" Baar said. Seeing her companions losing, the lowkey lesbian was about to help. However, Nathan pointed at her and growled, "IF YOU FUCKING COME NEAR, I''M GOING TO BREAK YOUR JAW, YOU FUCKING LESBO!" The lowkey lesbian stopped and backed away, returning to her female companions and the gay person. Meanwhile, Baar was still kicking and stomping the other man''s head who shielding his head with his arms. "WHAT NOW, FAGGOT LOVER?! HUH?! HUH?!" Pah! "ANSWER ME, YOU COCKSUCKER!!!" Pah! "Prrrrrrrrrtttttt!" A policeman nearby blew his whistle as he ran to the scene. There were 3 police officers coming as well. Seeing the police officers, Nathan grabbed Baar''s arm and pulled him away. "COME ON, LET''S GO!" However, Baar refused and kept kicking and stomping the man''s head. Nathan was so pissed that he wanted to punch Baar. Omar, who already taken care of his enemy, tapped Nathan''s shoulder. Nathan looked at Omar. "Just relax, bro," Omar calmly said. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE DON''T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! WE HAVE TO LEAVE!" Nathan was panicking. Just two months ago he got arrested for assault and barely escaped it so he had no desire to get arrested. "Just relax." Police officers finally arrived. Nathan face-palmed. "Fuck me sideways!" The fighting stopped, but Baar tried to steal a few hits so the police had to cuff him. The two groups were immediately questioned. As they were being questioned, Nathan looked at the side and saw Maaz and the others were outside of the bar. Maaz was talking to someone on the phone and he looked angry. An ambulance arrived and brought the three men and the gay person to the hospital, while the others were escorted back to their homes. As for Baar, Nathan and Omar, they were handcuffed and driven away inside a police car. And just a couple of minutes of driving around, the driver pulled over on an empty street. He got out of the car, removed their handcuffs, let them go and drove off as if nothing happened. Nathan''s jaw dropped and he blinked a few times. He looked at Baar and Omar. "What the hell is going on?" "We have some connections," Omar said with a tone hinting him not to ask any further questions. Tap! Baar tapped Nathan''s back. "I''m sorry about earlier, bro. I was wrong about you. You''re a cool guy." Nathan studied Baar''s expression. It seemed like he really meant what he said because he couldn''t sense any animosity compared to last time. "Yeah... sure...." "Khalid just texted me. They''re at the Pension House Hotel and they''ve already rented a room," Omar said. Thanks to the fight earlier, Nathan and the other two can''t be seen in public for at least 2 days so Maaz decided to rent a room for them to continue partying. Nathan checked his watch. 9:42 pm. "Let''s call a cab," Omar said. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? dragonwhite To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 113 Recalling 5 10:27 pm. Baar, Nathan and Omar were on the 4th floor of Pension House Hotel. The room Maaz and the others rented was a suite that had 4 bedrooms. Kacha! When Baar, Nathan and Omar entered the room, they found them at the living room and a rock song was playing in the background. There were also a number of drinks and other things on top of the coffee table. "There they are!" Khalid said. "What took you guys so long?" Lena said. "Hey!" said Zainab, Salma and Kera. "Hello!" said Fatima as she got up and went over to them. Maaz got up as well. He had a big smile on his face as he hugged Nathan. "Cousin, they told me what you did back there! You were like an unstoppable machine mowing people down! You even knocked out a person with one punch! You''re my cousin all right! Hahahaha~!" "Huh¡­?" Pah! Baaz slapped Nathan''s back and smiled. "Yeah, he was like a fucking machine all right. But don''t forget about us!" As for Omar, he didn''t say anything and just smiled. Nathan scratched his nose and said, "It''s nothing really. I just did what I had to do." "Of course!" Maaz said with a smile. "Hey, let''s continue drinking," Khalid said. "Yeah, that fight got me thirsty as well," Baar said. Omar and Maaz went over as well. Nathan and Lena were left at the front door. She wrapped her arm around Nathan''s arm tightly, catching him off-guard. "What the hell¡­?" Nathan looked at her. "What you did back there was really hot," Fatima said with a seductive voice traced her finger on his chest. Nathan just stared at her, still trying to process what was happening. Back at the Rivers Cafe, although they talked, she was at best just being friendly. But now, it was like she was a different person. And perhaps too friendly, if he could say¡­ He could smell the scent of her shampoo and her cologne. He could feel the side of her breast pressing hard against his arm. He could also feel her body''s temperature. It was so hot that it felt like she had a fever. He couldn''t help but feel aroused. "Come, let''s drink," Fatima said as she pulled him over to a single seat sofa. "Okay¡­" Nathan grabbed one of the beer bottles on the coffee table before sitting down on the single-seat sofa. He pressed the cold bottle against his knuckles. It was a bit swollen from the fight earlier. Fatima suddenly sat beside him. "Scoot over," she said. "Umm... I can move to another seat if --" he said. "No, just stay here with me." "Okay..." Although it was a single-seat sofa, it will still manage to fit both of them. However, there was barely any room left that it felt like they were squeezed together tightly. She grabbed Nathan''s arm and placed put it around her shoulders. "I feel like smoking now," Fatima said with her eyes looking at Nathan as her hands slowly slipped inside his pockets and searched for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "I-I don''t have any cigarettes left. Only a lighter I-If it''s cigarette you want, there''s a pack on the coffee table," Nathan said. "I''ll just look for the lighter then," Fatima said and bit her lower lip as she continued to search slowly, teasing him. Nathan didn''t have time to ponder about the stereotypes of south Muwinian women. All he cared about right now was this moment. He put down his beer, grabbed her chin and pressed his lips against hers. Unbeknownst to Nathan, the others have already started kissing as well except for Khalid and Kera. Khalid was busy preparing the drugs. There were pills, serums and syringes laid out on the coffee table. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. He injected Kera and she moaned. Kera then got up and started dancing slowly and mindlessly, trying to feel the effects of the drug coursing in her veins. "Okay, who''s next?" Khalid said as he put away the used syringe and opened another. Baar pulled away from Zainab''s kiss and looked over at Khalid. "Hit me." "Okay." "What about you, baby?" Baar said to Zainab as he was being injected. "I just want a pill," Zainab said and grabbed a pill from the table. They then went inside to one of the rooms. Omar and Salma already taken a pill and were inside one of the rooms. As for Maaz and Lena, they were already half-dressed. "Hey, both of you. Give it a break for a moment," Khalid said. Maaz and Lena stopped kissing. "The usual?" Khalid said. "Yeah," Maaz said. They each took a pill and then got injected. After that, they went to one of the rooms. Khalid looked over at Nathan and Fatima. "Hey, hey. Nathan bro." Nathan stopped kissing Fatima. He looked at the drugs at the table and said, "I''m good." Nathan tried drugs before. However, the only drug he tried, if you can really call it a "drug" was weed. In Nathan''s mind, compared to smoking, he didn''t particularly like drinking and drugs. With drinking, it''s really hard to concentrate or workout properly when you''re drunk or have a hangover. Meanwhile, in the case of drugs, he differentiates them into two categories -- "uppers" and "downers". What he doesn''t like about the "uppers" is that once it loses its effects, his body will crash down. It''s fine if he already finished the things he planned to do for the day or was able to finish them while he was high. If not, then he has no choice but to either take another dose or postpone the things tomorrow. And as for the downers, he didn''t like them simply because it dulls his senses. Now, what about smoking? Well, the way he sees it, although the effect of smoking is deadly, especially in the long run, its effects aren''t immediate and it neither heighten or dulls his senses so he could still perform his daily duties. "What? Come on, bro, you should try it," Khalid said. "Really, I''m good," Nathan said. "That''s not how you invite someone," Fatima said. She grabbed two pills, popped one for herself and then led Nathan to the last room that was vacant. Meanwhile, Khalid shot himself and grabbed two pills before heading over to Kera who was still dancing slowly and mindlessly. *** Inside the room, Fatima and Nathan were stripping as fast as they could. She removed her glasses and put them on the bedstand. She then placed the other pill on her tongue and kissed Nathan, twirling her tongue against his. "Umph!" Nathan was caught in surprise because he felt and tasted the pill of her tongue but he didn''t break away. The pill slowly melted away on tongues. In the first 5 minutes, Nathan suddenly felt like he wanted to vomit but forced himself not to. 10 minutes later, he felt like he was bursting with so much life, love and excitement that he was overwhelmed with this strong urge to hug and brush his skin against someone. As they were kissing and now completely naked, Fatima stopped. "Do you a condom?" "Huh? Yeah, I have one inside my wallet." "Oh okay. I also have one." They resumed kissing. *** 3:07 am. Nathan opened his eyes. The lights were still on inside the room. He could hear two male voices coming outside of the room. However, he couldn''t hear their voices clearly. He looked over on his left side and saw Fatima naked. Her long black hair partially covering his sleeping face. Nathan smiled softly brushed the back of his hand against her cheeks. "Umm¡­" mumbled the sleeping Fatima. Nathan chuckled and thought that her reaction was so cute. She was like a cat. He moved closer and hugged her as he slowly caressed the back of her head. Fatima was the second woman he slept with in his entire life. Because of that, he couldn''t help but compare her to Karen. He and Karen lasted for 5 years until they broke up. Although they both had sex at least twice a week, it was unavoidable that it became monotonous. Sure, they tried to spice things up by doing some freaky and kinky things once in a while. But after a couple of tries, the excitement would gradually fade. This led to them facing a scary dilemma. Karen told him that she was afraid that normal sex wouldn''t turn her on anymore. In her defense, if the freaky and kinky things they usually do doesn''t turn them on anymore, should they just crank up the craziness each time or stick with boring, normal sex? Seeing how frightened and concerned she was, Nathan, who was still madly in love with her at that time, agreed to just stick with "normal" sex. But after having sex with Fatima, he couldn''t help but be blown away. It was like some veil that he had no idea was covering his eyes was lifted. He experienced a lot of new things with her that he thought wasn''t possible. She performed techniques that just blew him mind that he almost said I love you to her. He was even pissed that they only had 2 condoms because her skills were just out of this world. ''Well, it''s not like this will be the last time we''re going to meet. I''ll make sure to ask for her number,'' Nathan thought and smiled. The sleeping Fatima turned away from his embrace. ''Heh~ Really just like a cat.'' He looked forward to spending more time with her and getting to know her deeper, not just some person he had sex with. He could still hear the two male voices outside. He was feeling thirsty so he decided to get up and grabbed a glass of water. He wore his boxers. As he got closer to the door, their voices became a little bit clearer. "Boss Iking called me a few hours ago. He told me the job we did wasn''t 100% clean and he''s taking some heat because of it but it''s still manageable. What should we do in case --" said Baar. "Don''t worry about it. There''s no such thing as a 100% clean job," said Maaz. "But --" "I said don''t worry about it." "..." "Look, Boss Iking isn''t someone that anyone can bully. Even the police and government officials fear him. The streets will be flooded with blood first before he would let anyone disrespect him. We just have to trust him as always. We''ve worked so hard to get where we are now. The only way is to continue climbing the ladder, do you hear me?" "Okay, I will trust you." "Do the others know about this?" "I haven''t told them yet." "Good. Let''s keep it that way. Although, it doesn''t really matter if you tell them or not. Everything will go as smoothly as always. Go get some rest." Hearing their conversation finally ended, Nathan waited for 10 minutes before going out. He didn''t want them to think he was eavesdropping. Whether it matters or not that he overheard their conversation, it''s better if they think he doesn''t know anything to avoid any trouble. *** 10 minutes later¡­ Ka-cha! Nathan exited the room. There, he saw Maaz sitting all by himself in the living room and staring blankly at his phone. It was eerily quiet. He didn''t saw Baaz nor Khalid and Kera. There were only 4 rooms. And as far as he can remember, Khalid and Kera were the last ones here in the living room before he and Fatima went to their room. ''Well, I guess they decided to share a room with the others.'' As for Maaz, he decided to ignore him. As he made his way to the kitchen to get some water, Maaz suddenly called him out. "Cousin?" Nathan stopped and looked at him. "Oh, hey." Maaz was looking at him strangely. It was like his brown eyes were trying to peer through his very soul that it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. "Still up?" Maaz said. "I just woke up and I was feeling thirsty so I decided to get grab a drink." "I see." "How about you? I mean, why are you up? Where''s Lena?" "She''s with Khalid and Kera. They''re sleeping." "Oh¡­" Nathan grabbed a glass and turned on the faucet. Gush! The sound of running water echoed throughout the room. Nathan turned off the faucet and drank the water. "I don''t sleep at night," said Maaz and then shook his head. "No, I rarely sleep at all." Nathan put down the class on the sink but didn''t say anything. To be exact, he doesn''t really know what to say. It''s not like he was a medical expert or something about insomnia in the first place. However, Maaz was family and the awkward silence was killing him so he decided to say something. "Umm... You could try drinking hot milk or reading a book." Maaz smiled and said, "I''ve tried that." Nathan scratched his nose and said, "Well... I''m sorry. I don''t know what to say anymore." "That''s okay." "Anyway, I''m going back to bed." "Okay." As he was about to enter the room, Maaz called him once more. "Cousin." Nathan stopped and turned around. Maaz continued, "I''m glad that we''ve had a chance to spend time like this. You know that I''m not really liked by our family. It makes me feel¡­ happy." Nathan smiled. "LOL¡­ I never thought you could be this melodramatic. You sound like this is going to be the last time." Maaz laughed. "True, that was some real gay shit. If the others saw me like this, they would''ve called me a faggot." "Well, for what it''s worth, I honestly enjoyed this trip." "I''m glad to hear that. Anyway, just be sure to be up around 7:00 am. The celebration isn''t over yet." "What? You still have energy to celebrate?" "Yeah, this is our first time hanging out together so I want to make it memorable." "Well, it''s a Sunday so¡­ Sure, why not." "Great. See you later then." "Okay. See you later." Nathan entered his room and closed the door behind him. Ka-cha! He turned on the lamp first before switching off the lights. Fatima slowly opened her eyes. "Hmm¡­?" Nathan smiled and said, "Hey, swee--" He was about to say "sweetie" but stopped himself because it was the word he and Karen used to call each other. Old habits die hard. However, he didn''t want to be reminded by anything about Karen anymore. He needed to move on to a new chapter in his life with someone else. "Hey¡­" Fatima said with a sleepy voice. Nathan slid into the bed and hugged her. "I''m sorry for waking you up, baby. Go back to sleep," Nathan said and kissed her head. "Okay, baby¡­" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 115 Recalling 7 Nathan and the rest finished cooking by 10:00 am and then immediately ate. It was now 10:40 am. They were all resting on the sand and telling stories. Nathan was smoking as he listened. He was trying to find the right time to talk to Fatima. "Hey, Khalid, tell us about why they used to call you Lil'' Butt," Baar said. "What the hell? Lil'' Butt?" "LMAO!" "Lil'' Butt!" "Lil'' Butt!" Everyone laughed. "Fuck you all!" Khalid said. "Hey, hey. Come on, Khalid bro, tell us the story. I''m sure my cousin and the girls would like to hear it," Maaz said. "Yeah, come on, tell us the story." "Khalid, if you don''t tell us the story, I''m going to tell it myself!" Baar said and grinned. "Fuck! Okay. So, this was like 3 years ago and I used to wear baggy clothes," Khalid said. "Oh, yeah, you used to dressed like those rappers and we used to call you blanket," Baaz said. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I was standing in the club minding my own business when this guy suddenly came up to me and asked, ''Bro, do you have a light?'' And I said, ''Sure,'' and took my lighter out. And as I was pulling out my lighter, all of a sudden, he threw a punch at me. I was able to dodge it and then I tackled him to the ground and we started wrestling." "Wait, why did the guy suddenly tried to punch you?" Lena said. "I don''t know. Maybe he was jealous of my good looks or something," Khalid said. "Nah, he was inside a metal club and he was dressed like a blanket," Baar said and laughed. The others laughed as well. "Continue the story," Maaz said. "Okay, okay, okay. So as we were wrestling on the ground, because I was wearing my pants down low, my butt was sticking out." "That''s called sagging, right?" Lena said. "Yeah. But in the end I won." "And earned the nickname Lil'' Butt. Bwahahaha~!" Baar said. Everyone except Khalid laughed as well. "Nathan, how do I get a nice butt? Mine is too flabby," Salma said as she stood up and turned around. "Get the flabby ass away from my face!" Khalid said. "Shut up, Lil'' Butt!" Everyone laughed. "Umm¡­ Just do squats," Nathan said. "Really? Just squats?" Salma said. "Yeah. You also need proper diet and sleep --" "Okay." "--because working out is basically like a three-legged chair. You need a good workout program that fits for you -- so it''s very important to hire a gym instructor if you''re a beginner -- enough sleep and a healthy diet. If one is missing, you might as well not work out at all because you''ll only be wasting your time and money and you could also hurt yourself." "Okay, thanks, Nathan. I''ll try to do some squats," Salma said and looked at the other girls, "Hey, let''s go to the gym tomorrow." "Eh~ I''m too lazy," Kera said. "I''ll go with you. I want to get some abs," Lena said. "Me too," Zainab said. "How about you, Fat?" Lena said. "I''ll think about it," Fatima said. "Nathan, let''s go to the gym tomorrow and you can train us." "Umm¡­" As far as Nathan knows, Lena and the girls are from Banya city and he''s from Liit Town. As much as he wants to spend more time with Fatima, there are just some things that are simply a bit unrealistic. ''Perhaps I should move to Banya city?'' Nathan thought. "Yeah, sure." "Nathan bro, how many times a week should a person workout?" Omar said. "It depends. You see, there are some people that are just so busy or have health problems. But at least 4 times a week is already very good." "Okay." "How long should workout last?" Maaz said. "At least 30 minutes is already good." "Nathan, how long have you been working out?" Zainab said. "About 6 years now." "No wonder your body looks great," Zainab said and smiled sweetly. Nathan scratched his nose. "Thanks, but not really. I still have many things to work on. I''m nothing compared to those models online -- though I doubt if 90% of them are even natural." "Are you taking steroids?" Baar said. "Oh, no. Steroids are way too expensive for me. Ignoring the expenses for the good, gym membership and supplements, aside from purchasing steroids, there''s also the side-effects that come with it so you will have to go see a doctor -- Um¡­ I''m not 100% sure but I think twice a month? So that he/she can prescribe to me the necessary medicine to combat the side-effects." "I see." "Hey, we still have some liquor left. Who wants to drink?" said Khalid. "Give me." "I want some." "I want one." "I think I''ll pass. I need to be sober this afternoon," Fatima said. Nathan''s eyes flashed. ''This is it! This is my chance!'' he thought. "I''ll pass as well." "Nathan, you''re not going to drink?" Zainab said. "Umm¡­ Yeah. I''m going to work out tomorrow." "That''s too bad. I was really hoping you''re going to drink." Zainab said and made a pouting face. "Aw¡­ Haha¡­ Sorry. Next time. I promise." "Okay~" Nathan looked over at Fatima. She was busy texting on her phone. ''Who is she texting? Another man? Another crew?'' He shook his head mentally. ''Now is not the time to think about that.'' He got up and approached her. "Hey, wanna go check the area?" Fatima raised her head and looked at him. "Sorry, I don''t feel like swimming anymore. I''m tired." "Well," Nathan scratched the back of his head. "We''re not going for a swim. I wanted to check the rest of the island with you. If you''re fine with that." "Woo~ Looks like someone has a plan," Khalid said on the side and smiled. Nathan blushed and said, "No, it''s not like that. I just --" "Okay, sure. I don''t have anything better to do anyway," Fatima said and got up. "You guys take your time, okay?" said Khalid. Omar, who is usually silent finally opened his mouth. "Bro, has anyone told you you can be obnoxious sometimes?" "It''s part of my charm, bro." *** Nathan and Fatima were walking along the shores of the beach in silence. They were already far away from the group. Nathan was thinking about how he was going to ask her without offending her. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find any way. ''Fuck me sideways! I''ll just fucking say it.'' He turned to Fatima. She was wearing a black bathing suit and a pareo wrapped around her waist. And of course, she had her glasses. "Do you have a boyfriend?" She didn''t look at him and just smiled. "I think you already know the answer to that." Nathan wanted to facepalm himself but he didn''t. Instead, he massaged the back of his neck. "You''re right. That was a stupid question." "I''m not interested in being in a relationship." Nathan was caught off-guard momentarily. Fatima stopped and pulled out her phone. She then passed him her phone. It was a picture of her and two children. One was about 6 years old and the other one was 3 years old. They were girls. Nathan frowned. ''Her sisters?'' "Those are my kids," she said and smiled. His jaw dropped. Fatima made a mental note of Nathan''s reaction. It was a reaction she was very familiar with from her suitors whenever she reveals that she has children. "I- I¡­ They''re very cute," Nathan stammered. Fatima and took back her phone from Nathan''s hands and resumed walking. Nathan followed suit. "I was only 15 years old when I got pregnant by my boyfriend." "..." "When my parents found out about it, they demanded to have my boyfriend marry me or they will disown me. But my boyfriend''s parents didn''t agree, saying I was unfit for their son -- they already had a woman planned for him as his wife." "..." "My boyfriend''s parents then suggested to me to secretly abort the baby. They even offered to pay for the procedure and promised to give me a huge sum of money if I break up with their son." "..." "Neither of us liked the conditions so we decided to run away together." "..." "We both dropped out of school and rented a small one-bedroom apartment. My boyfriend worked, while I stayed at home as a dedicated housewife." ".¡­" "Although I was scared about the future, I was also excited." "..." Fatima stopped and turned to him. "I was just a dumb teenager with her head in the clouds back then," she said and smiled. However, he felt the sadness in her voice. "Did¡­ did you guys get married?" Nathan softly asked. Fatima turned around and resumed walking. "We planned to one day. But decided to wait until everything settled down -- we had so many things on our plate at that time." "..." "But after our first child was born, things just rougher that we just kept on fighting. Two years later, our financial problems lessened a bit but our relationship was too chaotic. So, in order to save our relationship, we decided to have another baby." "..." "And for some miracle, it worked. He also started earning more so we were able to move to a much better apartment. And I remember thinking at that time that everything will finally go smoothly. However, that bliss only lasted for a couple of months." "What happened?" "I caught him cheating." "I''m sorry to hear that¡­" "And the best part of it all? The woman that he was cheating with was the same woman that his parents planned to partner him with since the beginning. And he''s now happily married with her." "That''s --!" Fatima shook her head. "You don''t have to feel sorry or angry for me. Thanks to what I have experienced, I''ve grown to be a strong and independent person. And plus, on the brighter side, I''m blessed with two beautiful angels that I love to death." "Yeah, that''s true." "Right now, I''m not looking for any relationship. I just want to enjoy my life with my kids." "But can''t we just --" "You''re a sweet guy, Nathan. I can tell. But I don''t see us anything more than what we''ve shared." "So why --" "You shouldn''t. Look, you''re not from here so you may not know. In the eyes of society, women like me are seen as nothing but dirty and discarded women. But I don''t care. I will live my life how I want to and do the best I can for my daughters without relying on other people." Nathan grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. "You''re not a discarded and dirty woman! Not to me! Never! Look, I love kids and I don''t care even if you have 100 of them. And plus, I know what if feels like being cheated on. In fact, 2 months ago before I --" "Nathan, please." She brushed away Nathan''s hold. "This weekend is just a little escape for me. Something like trying to take back what I''ve lost during my teen years." She resumed walking. "And plus, your reaction earlier when I revealed to you that I have children already says a lot." Nathan wanted to say something but stopped himself. What was there to say? Sometimes it''s better just not to say anything. He just stared at her back and thought about his grandfather''s advice. ''Perhaps if I was more successful she wouldn''t have rejected me?'' Fatima stopped and turned around to face Nathan with a smile. "Stop being so emo. It''s not like we''re not going to hang out again." ''Maaz said he has 600k in his bank account. That''s an amount that would take me at years to earn. Perhaps if I join whatever business that he''s in, Fatima would change her mind,'' Nathan thought. "Yeah, you''re right." Fatima''s brown eyes gaze upon the ocean. The waves came and went, brushing on her feet. The image of her right in front of him gave off a sense of melancholy. She looked like a beautiful warrior who fought a hundred battles and survived. And although no external scars were visible, one could tell she had tons of internal scars underneath. He could only wonder what hardships she had to go through. "Can I ask for your number in case we hang out next time?" he said. He refused to give up. She turned to him and smiled. "Sure." Nathan jogged towards her and gave her his phone. As she was entering her number on his phone, he continued thinking¡­ ''I don''t care about her past. I don''t care if she has 100 children. I don''t care what society thinks of her. All I know --'' All of a sudden, another thought flashed inside his head. ''Wait¡­ Given her lifestyle at the moment, is it possible that she may have experienced abortion?'' If she did, she would be no different from Karen. And wouldn''t that make him a hypocrite? ''Wait¡­ Last night, I remember using condoms. I had one inside my wallet and she also brought one.'' A sense of relief washed over him. "Here." Fatima returned his phone to him. "Thanks." "Just don''t send me any quotes and chain messages. I hate those. If you do --" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan laughed. "Don''t worry. Me too. LOL," he said and smiled. ''Yeah, nothing is going against my principles. I''m not a hypocrite. We''re both victims here.'' "Good." "Wanna go back?" "Already? I thought you brought me here to do this," said Fatima with a smile as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. ''Why do I feel like I''m the woman here?'' Nathan thought. He chuckled and then grabbed her chin. "You''re right," he said and softly pressed his lips against hers. A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan and Fatima were walking back to the group. Fatima was laughing because of a story Nathan shared with her about his past. "Oh my God. That was so funny. I didn''t expect that," Fatima said and wiped off the tears on her eye. "So who''s taking care of your children now?" "I left them with a babysitter and she''s been texting me since this morning, asking me when am I coming home." ''Oh, so that''s why she''s always on her phone¡­'' Nathan thought. "I see." "Look who has finally decided to come back!" Khalid said. Nathan and Fatima looked over at the group. They were busy packing things up. "Sorry, we got caught up with something," Nathan said. "I bet you both got caught up in a STICKY and WET situation," Khalid said. Everyone laughed. Nathan and Fatima then helped out in packing things up. *** 1:03 pm. Nathan and his group arrived at the harbor of Banya city to drop off the women. "Bye!" "Let''s hang out again soon!" "See you guys next time!" "Have a safe trip!" Omar turned on the engine and the speedboat drove away. "Now back to Liit town," Khalid said. "Nathan bro, come hang out with us tonight," Baar said. "I''m going to pass, bro. I''m so tired already. I just want to rest for tomorrow''s work." "Ok, no problem, bro." Nathan looked back at Banya city and thought about Fatima. For the first time since the incident, he felt genuinely happy. He felt like a new man with a newfound purpose. He looked over at Maaz who was talking with Baar and Khalid. ''I''ll talk to him later¡­'' *** 1:37 pm. They arrived at Liit town. Baar, Maaz and Nathan got off the speedboat. Meanwhile, Omar stayed behind. "You guys go ahead. I need to clean this up or my brother will kill me." "Okay, bro," said Maaz and Baar. "See you later, bro," Nathan said. "See ya, bro," Khalid bro. When the left the docks, Khalid was the first one to leave. "I''m going this way. See ya later, bro." "Okay, bro," said the other three. "Nathan bro, you should definitely come hang out with us tonight." "I really can''t. But I''ll think about it." "Oh, well." He finally left. A couple of steps further, it was Baaz''s turn. "See you two cousins later." "Okay, bro," said the two. With only the two of them left as they head to their home, Nathan decided it was time to talk to Maaz. "Cousin, I want to earn cash. Can I join whatever is that you''re doing?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 116 Recalling 8 "Cousin, I want to earn cash. Can I join whatever is that you''re doing?" Nathan said. Maaz stopped and looked at Nathan in the eye. Nathan looked at him in the eye as well. They both stood in silence for 5 seconds before Maaz finally spoke. "Cousin, this thing I''m doing, you don''t want it. If you ask me again, I will shoot you," Maaz said dismissively and resumed walking. "Wait!" Nathan grabbed Maaz by the shoulder and forced him to face him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. However, Maaz already pulled out his handgun and aimed it at Nathan. "I SAID YOU DON''T WANT THIS!" Nathan immediately raised his hands and backed away. "Cousin, we''re in public." However, Maaz ignored his warning and continued to aim the gun at him. Fortunately, there were only 3 people around the area. Two were drinking, while the other one was doing something else. They stared at each other once more for 5 seconds without saying anything before Maaz finally put his gun away. "Cousin, if this is about Fatima, forget about it. She''s not worth it, bro. Don''t be stupid." "No, it''s not about her. It''s more than that. Look, I only have 10k in my bank account! And that''s money that I had to work my ass off for months! I''m tired of slaving myself just to earn chump change!" Maaz didn''t say anything and Nathan didn''t make a follow-up 10 seconds passed... "Fuck!" Maaz cursed under his breath and ran his hand over his hair. He tapped his feet. "Maaz, I seriously need money. If I''m going to kiss someone''s ass, I might as well kiss the one who pays me the highest." "Look, I can just give you some money. Trust me, you don''t want to get involved in this." "Don''t patronize me. If you were me, would you accept the money? I don''t fucking need donations! I want to earn my own shit!" Nathan slapped his own chest. Pah! "FUCK! GODDAMMIT, MAN!" Maaz cursed again and then massaged his forehead. "..." "Tch! Follow me," said Maaz and walked. Nathan followed closely. *** Maaz and Nathan were smoking at a ball field sitting on the bleachers. In the middle of the ball field, there were some kids playing soccer. Maaz got up and flicked his cigarette away. His eyes locked on the kids playing soccer. "Cousin, this is your last chance. If you''re going to be part of the business I''m, you should know that there''s no backing out." "Cousin, I already told you that I''m tired of slaving myself just to earn chump change." Maaz turned to Nathan. "Cousin, I beg you, don''t do this. You''re a college graduate. You have a better chance in life. Please." "And yet you''re doing it yourself." "No¡­ I mean, yeah. But in my case, it was different. Look, I was never a smart kid to begin with. I can''t even count the number of times that my father would hit me with a stick whenever I scored badly on tests since I was young. Do you know what it feels like to go to school every day with your hands covered in bruises?" Nathan didn''t say anything. He had his own experience with his father as well. "When I started doing drugs in high school, I honestly didn''t care about the future. I was just living every day with a devil-may-care attitude and I didn''t have any purpose." "..." "I was just sinking deeper and deeper. Until one day, I met Deva. She was like this beacon of hope that I just found myself drawn to her, like a moth drawn to a flame." Maaz sat down and resumed looking at the kids playing soccer, while Nathan continued listening. "And as gay shit this may sound, if not for Deva, I probably would''ve already been dead by now. So please, trust me on this. You really don''t want to throw your life away." "Cousin, I''m not doing this for Fatima. I''m doing it for myself. Since I''ve started working, all I''ve been doing is kissing ass. All for what? Just for chump change? I can''t even remember the last time I walked with my head up high from all the bowing down I''ve been doing! If I''m going to kiss somebody''s ass, I might as well kiss the one who pays me the highest! Is that so hard to understand?" Maaz let out a deep sigh and then said, "Okay. I''ll talk to my boss tomorrow once I return to Banya city. However, I can''t promise that you will be accepted." Nathan got up, flicked his cigarette away and offered his hand. "Thank you nevertheless." Maaz reached out and they shook hands. "No problem." After shaking hands, Maaz said, "Let''s go home. I''m sure they''re worried about you." Nathan smiled and said, "Yeah. In fact, I''ve received one message each from my mother and your father, and a couple of text messages from your mother, asking me if I''m okay." Maaz shook his head and walked. Nathan followed suit. *** Later that night¡­ Nathan woke up from his bed. His body ached and he felt weak from all the partying he did. He noticed that Maaz wasn''t inside the room. Earlier, when they got home, he went straight to his room to sleep after getting an earful from uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam. ''I guess they''re out partying¡­ They''re like party animals.'' He forced himself to get up because nature was calling. He went downstairs. In the living room, his grandfather Sakhr and aunt Mariam were watching TV, while uncle Mabrook at the dining table checking some papers of his students. "Nathan, do you want to eat?" said Mariam. "I''m still full, auntie." "Okay. But just in case you''re hungry, just tell and I''ll heat up the soup, okay?" "Thanks, auntie." Nathan made his way to the toilet. Ka-cha! Inside the toilet, as he sat down on the bowl, he thought Fatima. So far, he hasn''t texted her yet. He recalled reading a few articles and watching PUA videos about flirting. According to them, after getting a girl''s number, one must wait for 2-3 days before texting or calling her because you don''t want to appear clingy. He doesn''t know if it''s true or not, but given his limited experience in flirting with other girls, he decided to follow the advice. All of a sudden, he heard some shouting. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, BITCHES, STEPPING INSIDE MY HOUSE?!" Sakhr growled. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" Mabrook said. Pah! Thud! "Dear!" Mariam said. "Shut the fuck up and don''t move!" A voice that Nathan wasn''t familiar with said. "Hurry and make it quick before the neighbors come!" Another voice that Nathan wasn''t with. There was the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud¡­! "YOU --!" said Sakhr. Thud! "Grandfather!" Nathan''s eyes were wide as saucers. ''What the fuck is happening outside?!'' He immediately wiped himself and flushed. The sound of water flushing could be heard. Ka-cha! When he opened the door and got out of the toilet, he saw 2 men with ski masks and guns in the living room. Two of them were pointing their guns at his family members. Mabrook was kneeling on the floor and covering his bloody nose with his hand. Meanwhile, Mariam had Sakhr on her arms who was looked like he had a heart attack. "GRANDFATHER! GRANDFATHER! PLEASE HOLD ON!" As Nathan stepped outside of the toilet, someone struck his face on the side with the butt of a rifle. Pah! Nathan fell to the floor. "NATHAN!" Mabrook and Mariam called out. Nathan tried to get up but he was dizzy. The person who hit him grabbed him by the hair and dragged him over to the living room to join his family. "AHH!!!" Nathan cried out as he was dragged by the hair. "PLEASE DON''T HURT HIM!" Mariam cried out. "Shut the fuck up, bitch!" one of the men said. "NO, PLEASE! PLEASE DON''T --" Mabrook and was about to get up but was kicked on the side. Pah! Thud! Mabrook fell to the floor and curled his body from the pain. "DEAR! NO, PLEASE HAVE MERCY!" cried Mariam. Nathan finally recovered from his dizziness. ''Dammit!'' he thought and gritted his teeth. He wanted to rush over and help but was unable to move because a gun pointed behind his head. He could feel the cold metal pipe pressing his head down. His mouth was bleeding and he spat out blood on the floor. Spit! A person wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun climbed down the stairs. And on his hand was a plastic bag. It was the plastic bag that Maaz hid inside the mattress yesterday. "Found it. Let''s go," the man said. The masked men immediately left. When there was no sign of them already, Nathan immediately went over to his grandfather Sakhr and aunt Mariam first. "Auntie, what''s wrong with grandfather?" "I DON''T KNOW! PLEASE CALL FOR HELP!" Unfortunately, Nathan doesn''t know the number of the local clinic here in Liit Town. "Dear, calm down," Mabrook said to Mariam. "Uncle! Are you okay?!" Nathan went over to him. "I''m okay¡­. Go get my phone on top of the dining table. The number of the clinic is there. The name is Liit Clinic." "Okay, okay, okay¡­" Nathan hurriedly got up and went to the dining table. Meanwhile, Mabrook went over to Sakhr and Mariam. "GRANDFATHER, HOLD ON!" Mariam cried out. Nathan grabbed the phone and spat out blood. Spit! He searched for Liit Clinic on the Contact List and pressed dial. Ring¡­ As he was calling the clinic, one of their neighbors came in with a shotgun. It was Jaad, their next-door neighbor and the father of Jadaa. "In the name of the prophet Zalimun! Mabrook, Mariam, old man Sakhr!" "Jaad," said Mabrook. "JAAD! PLEASE HELP!" cried Mariam. "Yes, yes, yes, I''ll call the clinic!" Jaad said as he hurriedly searched for his phone inside his pocket. "Jaad, Nathan is already calling the clinic," Maaz said and then looked over at Mariam. "Calm down, dear. Nathan is already calling for help. Stay strong." The other neighbors entered their home as well. "My god!" Meanwhile, Nathan was¡­ "Hello, this is Liit Clinic. What''s your emergency?" "Hello, hello. I have an emergency please come here at¡­" He told them the address¡­ *** At the clinic¡­ Nathan was standing outside of the clinic. He was given painkillers and was currently pressing a pack of ice on his right cheek. Mabrook went to the local police station to give his statement. Mariam was on the hallway of the clinic and being consoled by a group of females. Sakhr was inside one of the rooms being watched by the nurses. There were other people here as well. Some were genuinely concerned family members and friends, while the others were just nosy people who wanted to know what happened. ''This fucking sucks!'' Nathan put down the pack of ice on a corner. He wanted to smoke. He went over to one of the people around who was smoking and asked for a stick. The person gave him a stick and a lighter. Woooh. Nathan blew smoke on the air. When he swept his gaze around his surroundings, he saw Maaz from a distance, staring at the clinic. His face was bruised as well and there were bloodstains on his shirt. Nathan was about to call Maaz, but stopped himself after remembering the plastic bag that the men in ski masks took. And regarding the plastic bag, everyone in town already heard about it. If the people here knew that Maaz was here, they will surely beat the hell out of him for endangering his family. Nathan tried to secretly head to where Maaz was. However, Maaz noticed him right away and immediately left, disappearing into the darkness of the night. ''Dammit! Maaz, where are you going?'' Nathan thought. However, what he didn''t know was that this would be the last time he would see Maaz¡­ alive. *** A couple of days later¡­ In the culture of Muwin, a funeral lasts for a week. It will be held either in a funeral house or in the house of the deceased. And on the 7th day, that''s when the body will be buried. Two days after Nathan last saw Maaz, his corpse was found inside a dumpster at Banya city. The body had two gunshot wounds -- the head and chest. The next day, the body was sent to Liit town. Today was the 6th day of Maaz''s funeral and Nathan has been here since it began. And during those 6 days, only a handful of people came to visit. Aside from aunt Mariam, his cousin Malik and a few people from the gym he works out at, the others were people whom he wasn''t familiar with. Mabrook didn''t visit and Sakhr was still recovering. Right now, he was the only one here at the funeral room where Maaz''s coffin was displayed. As for Maaz'' crew, they too didn''t attend. Based on what Nathan has heard so far, among Maaz''s crew, he heard that Khalid was listed by the police as "missing." He also received a text message from Fatima. She heard about what happened to Maaz and Khalid. She told him that they should stop communicating with each other because she didn''t want to get involved and risk the lives of her daughters. When he tried to ask her about Baaz and Omar, her only reply was to ask them himself. So he asked for their numbers and she gave them to him. However, he couldn''t contact them. He even tried using a different number, but he still couldn''t contact them. Nathan couldn''t help but recall the conversation he overheard that Maaz and Baar had that night back at the hotel. ''I wonder where Baar and Omar are¡­'' As for his "feelings" for Fatima¡­ He understood why she chose to stop communicating with him. If he was in her place, he too would make such a decision. Did it hurt him? Of course, he felt some pain. However, he also realized something. Perhaps it was infatuation, perhaps it was loneliness, perhaps it was inexperience, perhaps it was lust, or perhaps it was all of the above. Whatever it was, one thing that he knew for sure is that it wasn''t love that he felt for her. And plus, there was no way he was ever going to beg to a woman again. He already did that before with Karen. Even if he was just an average person, he still had his own petty pride. As Nathan was sitting down all by himself, a woman dressed in black and carrying a black purse entered the room and slowly went over to Mazz''s coffin. His eyes widened. "Lena¡­" he whispered under his breath. Her shoulders started trembling and he could hear her sniffing. After 5 minutes, she turned towards Nathan and went over to him. Her eyes were red from crying. Nathan got up. "Lena." "Nathan." She hugged him and he hugged her back. She cried once more and it lasted for 5 another minutes. After crying, Lena step away from Nathan''s embrace and wiped the tears from her eyes with a tissue before pulling out a letter from her purse. "This is for you." Nathan knitted his brows as he took the letter from her hands. "What''s this?" "From Omar. It''s about Maaz''s death," Lena said with a cold tone. Nathan''s eyes widened. It wasn''t a secret that the masked men that attack their family were related to Maaz. The police even concluded that it was drug-related which caused Maaz to be hated by many of his family members even until now. Only God knows how long will it take before they could forgive him. "I have to go," Lena said and head for the exit. "Wait! Where''s Baar, Omar and Khalid?" Lena stopped and turned around. "Don''t trust Baar and Omar. As for Khalid, he''s probably already dead. Goodbye." She finally left. Once again, Nathan was all alone inside the room. He looked at Maaz''s coffin and smiled. ''Cousin, isn''t it ironic? The woman that you cared less about is the one that came, not the other.'' Nathan opened the letter. It was a handwritten letter from Omar. According to the letter, their boss had to drop Maaz because he, according to their boss'' own words, "bit more than he can chew" and "did a sloppy job". As for why Baar and Omar were spared, the letter didn''t explicitly say. However, written at the bottom was "I''m sorry." Nathan crumpled the letter and threw it at the trashcan. What was there to say? What was there do to? He witnessed for himself the power of Mazz''s so-called boss when the police let them go that night. ''You really can''t trust anyone¡­'' Ding! His phone received a message. He took out his phone to see who messaged him. It was his mother. [Son, your father and I decided that Liit town is not the best place for you. Your uncle Eid will be coming over in a few days to pick you up and take you.] Uncle Eid was his mother''s brother and was an ex-military. He put away his phone. ''The road to success isn''t easy. High risks give high rewards, while low risks give low rewards¡­'' ''But at least with low risks, although it will take longer for me to get to where I want to be in life, it''s safer and my foundation will be more stable¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: End of flashback arc! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 118 Saint Holy Child Hospital 5:37 pm. Nathan was invisible and walking along the corridors of the 37th floor of Saint Holy Child Hospital. The building had 50 floors and at least 1,000 rooms. He already checked the 1st floor up to the 36th, opening every room. He also checked the basement. But so far, he couldn''t find any survivors, only 3m-tall zombies which he killed. Some of the walls and floors were completely destroyed or had bullet holes and dried bloodstains. There were also many abandoned items left. Some were still usable while others were broken or just useless. He picked up the ones that were still usable. Witnessing the sight, he couldn''t help but feel he was the only person left in the world. And with each floor he checked, his heart grew heavier. A voice whispered in his head. ''What are you doing here?'' Tch! ''Stop wasting your time¡­'' "Shut up." ''We both know you don''t care about anyone other than yourself¡­'' "I SAID SHUT UP!" His voice echoed throughout the corridor. He then heard loud footsteps and it was coming towards his direction. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! When the source of the loud footsteps came to his view, Nathan saw that it was nothing but a Level 1 D1. He rolled his eyes. With his current stats, a Level 1 D1''s defense was nothing but a joke to him. A D1 has¡­ ? Str - 42 ? Vit - 42 ? Agi - 11 ? Int - 11 Meanwhile, Nathan has¡­ ? STR ¨C 68 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 36 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 33 (+25) ? INT ¨C 33 (+7) Nathan was currently invisible so the D1 continued to move forward, still trying to find the source of where the voice came from. When the D1 got close, its neck was met with a swift blade of Nathan''s [Grade D] Large Axe. Whoosh! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Nathan lost his invisibility. The zombie didn''t drop any treasure chest so he immediately activated [Coward''s Way]. Bzzz! The emergency lights of the hospital turned on. Although there was no electricity, the hospital had its own backup generator, thanks to the solar panels it had that were located at the rooftop. However, there were some places inside the hospital that had no light, either by design or it was destroyed due to some battle or whatsoever. Nathan looked over the window. The sun was slowly setting. He checked his watch. 5:45 pm. He could use his flashlight while invisible. However, it doesn''t turn the light invisible so anyone with a pair of eyes or just one eye would be able to spot him, making his invisibility useless. Fortunately, he was able to loot 2 pairs of battery-free night vision goggles along the way. Brrrrrr¡­ His stomach growled. ''This¡­'' Since Stage 5 of the Divine Tower, he hasn''t eaten anything except for a few snacks but drank a couple of bottles of water. And during his search inside this hospital, he noticed that there was a cafeteria in every 5 floors. Although he still had those sliced cakes given to him by the Item Shop owner back at the Eternal Villae, he didn''t want to use them. He decided that those were for situations where he didn''t have the luxury of time to eat. ''There''s only 13 floors left. After I check them all, I''ll go to one of the cafeterias for dinner.'' He took out his battery-free night vision goggles and equipped it before resuming his search. *** 48th floor. ''This seems odd¡­'' Nathan thought as he continued to walk around. In front of him was a barricaded made up with furniture and other hospital equipment, preventing those mindless 3m-tall zombies to pass. However, it wasn''t to a point where no one can pass. It was structured in a way that one would either have to force his way through or put some effort into getting over the barricades. He looked at the windows on the side. The glasses were shattered and there were smudged of dried bloodstains on the ledge. Nathan went over to examine them. From the direction of the dried bloodstains, it looked like someone either pulled or pushed a body over the window. He stuck out his head over the window and looked down. There he saw a few corpses of 3m-tall zombies lying on the ground. There were also a few corpses on the other side. Based on the location they landed, it looked like they too were dropped from the window. Given that he was on the 48th floor, he didn''t have the time to go back to the first floor to check the bodies and examine them. Nevertheless, it still caused him to smile and his eyes flashed a cold glint. He went over the barricade and was careful not to destroy it because he didn''t want to alert the people hiding. But as soon as his feet touched the ground¡­ Ring~ Ring~ Ring~ He stepped on a wire and the sound of bells ringing echoed throughout the halls. ''Hmm¡­ Smart fellows I guess?'' He was lucky it wasn''t a bomb. However, he doubts it would be because that would be no different from alerting all of the zombies in the vicinity. But then again, people could do such thing out of desperation. Nathan ignored the bell sounds and continued walking. He decided to summon back his [Grade D] Large Axe into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. In his mind, these people were most likely weaklings that he could easily snap into two with his bare hands. However, he was very careful not to trip into any more wires so he decided to remove his night vision goggles. There was light anyway, thanks to the emergency lights despite the fact that not every corner was illuminated. Nathan continued walking and met no one. He arrived in front of a second barricade. It was again a combination of furniture and other hospital equipment. It also had a tripwire. He carefully went over the barricade. Still, he met no one. He knitted his brows. ''Where are those rats? Why aren''t they coming?'' *** Nathan arrived at the 49th floor. He was met with another barricade. But this time, it was more refined. He couldn''t just go over it. He needed to move things to be able to pass. He decided to examine it carefully before making his decision. 10 minutes later¡­ ''Fuck this shit!'' He decided to grab a couple of equipment inside one of the rooms nearby. His plan was to destroy the barricade by tossing things against the barricade because he was afraid might trigger a bomb. Although his VIT was now 36 (+10), he doesn''t know exactly how effective it is against explosions. What if the bomb explodes and destroys one of his limbs or his eyes? Unfortunately, he wasn''t aware that having 50 points in VIT will allow someone to regrow their limbs naturally. ''Ugh... I need to do some experiments again. I want to see if the healing potions could restore a person''s eyes if they were dug out.'' As he was gathering stuff to throw at the barricade, he suddenly face-palmed. Pah! ''Why the fuck am I thinking like a normal human?!'' Right now, not only was his stature bigger, but his STR was also higher. With his physical prowess, he could just easily go over the window and climb to the next floor. ''Oh my fucking God! I''m such a dumbass!'' He immediately went over a window and climbed to the 50th floor. However, he was met with an obstacle. The windows on the 50th floor were barricaded with wood planks. Nathan gritted his teeth. ''These fucking rats really starting to piss me off! If Amir isn''t here or they don''t give me the information I want, I''m going to rip them apart!'' Ka-clak! Bam! He punched one of the windows, destroying its glass and the wood planks. Plang! Plang! The wooden planks dropped to the floor. He quickly destroyed the rest of the glass and the other wood planks before making his way inside. He found himself inside a lit room that was filled with boxes and boxes of food. "Wow¡­" he said as he swept his gaze over the boxes. He was tempted to loot them right now but decided to do it later. He looked at his arm. When he punched the window and the glass, it felt like it he was just pushing an open door. But what really surprised him was that the jagged glass shards couldn''t penetrate his skin. He went for the door. As he was about to open the grab the handle, someone twisted it from the other end and opened the door. Ka-cha! Nathan quickly took a step back. When the door was fully opened, a fat Caucasian man in his late 30s donned in full System gear and was holding a pump-action shotgun with a large sword behind his back appeared. His eyes were wide as he saw the broken window. Nathan, who was invisible and standing right in front of the man, smiled and tilted his head to the side. ''Hello there, little rat¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 119 Saint Holy Child Hospital 2 The fat man''s eyes widened as he stared at the broken window. With the pump-action shotgun on his hand, he slowly made his way to the window while cautiously looking at the side from time-to-time to check if the intruder was hiding behind the boxes of food. But just after three steps¡­ Nathan suddenly grabbed the shotgun''s barrel, causing him to lose his invisibility, and then slapped the fat man. Pah! Crack! The movement was so quick that the fat man wasn''t able to react. Before he knew it, 3 of his teeth flew from his mouth and he was sent flying to one of the boxes. Bam! Thud! Nathan was holding the pump-action shotgun with his left hand. ''Nice shotgun.'' He absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before turning to the fat man. The fat man was dead. The slap twisted the fat man''s neck into an unnatural angle. ''Oh fuck me sideways¡­'' Nathan was careful not to accidentally kill him so he didn''t use his full force. However, it seemed that the fat man was just too weak. Nathan went over to the fat man. He swept his gaze over the sword behind the man''s back. "Hmm¡­ Looks nice." He pulled out the sword. The System told him it was a [Grade D] Great Sword and just its blade alone was already 5ft long. His lips curled upwards, forming into a smile. ''This weapon is fitting for my height.'' He absorbed the man''s body into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before activating [Coward''s Way] and heading out. As he got out, a thought popped inside his head. ''Wait¡­ What if that fat rat is the only survivor here?'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. He shook his head. ''That''s impossible. And plus, even if they would get angry that I killed one of their companions, what can they do? Curse and insult me to death?'' He continued to search for the other survivors. *** Nathan was still searching on the 50th floor. He still hasn''t checked the rest of the 49th floor. But so far, in the current floor he was in, aside from the fat man earlier, he hasn''t encountered any survivors yet, making him worry that he probably killed his only source of information. He began to pray inside his heart that that wasn''t the case. He found himself in front of a door. He grabbed the handle to open the door but found it to be locked. He knitted his brows. So far, this was the only door he encountered in this room that was locked. He kicked the door open. Bam! "Kyaaahhh!!!" Two women inside the room screamed. Nathan was still invisible so they were left confused on who or what broke the door open. Nathan entered the room and saw a woman dressed in a sexy nurse outfit, while the other was in a sexy cop uniform. And by "sexy", their clothes were trimmed to make them look very seductive. The sexy cop was Caucasian with brown hair in her early 30s, while the sexy nurse was a black woman in her late 20s. Their looks were a little above average at best. They were hugging each other and their expression was written fear. Nathan knitted his brows and then deactivated his skill. When the women saw him appear out of thin air, they coldly gasp. They were surprised to see Nathan''s stature. However, it wasn''t just his height and the black-colored System items that he had on that made them feel dread. During the past few days since the zombie apocalypse began, many things have changed. In the beginning, despite the zombie threat, things were, for the most part, still the same. People were still acting civil -- well, in terms of Womania''s standards. But as days progressed and the zombies continued to grow stronger, some people also started to slowly embrace their inner demons. They began to witness and experience unspeakable and unthinkable things that would leave anyone living in a first-world country scarred for the rest of their life. Because of these things, despite Womania being a progressive country and that everyone had the System, they had no choice but to adapt to the new society if they wanted to survive. And seeing Nathan in front of them and their "owner" (the fat man) hasn''t returned, they could only assume their owner was already dead and they have no surrender themselves to their new master. They could only hope their new master wasn''t as sick compared to the previous one. "Master, please don''t hurt us! We will do anything you want! Anything you can possibly think off!" the white woman said as she got up and started stripping her clothes. The black woman got up and did the same thing as well. "What the fuck¡­?" "Master, we spent all of our stat points on VIT so our bodies are sturdy and we can take any sexual fetish that you want without breaking," the white woman said as she bent over and spread her butt cheeks in front of Nathan. The black woman also bent over and spread her but cheeks. Nathan''s jaw dropped. His mind was still trying to process was happening right in front of him. Sure, he met women along the way since the zombie apocalypse starter. However, he hasn''t yet to experience such a thing where people who would openly present themselves in such a degrading manner. He felt like he was in a porn film or something. "Master, we only need food and shelter. Don''t worry, we can survive with just one small meal a day," the white woman said. Nathan''s brain finally finished processing what he was seeing. "Stop, stop, stop! Stop what you''re doing!" The two women stopped spreading their butt cheeks and faced Nathan. "Master, is there something wrong?" the white woman said with puppy eyes. Meanwhile, the black woman didn''t say anything as she stopped spreading her butt cheeks and turned towards Nathan. She just stood there was and was observing Nathan. "Whatever this kinky shit you both are into, leave me out of it. I don''t care. I just want information. Where are the rest of the survivors?" Hearing what Nathan said, the two women began to suspect that perhaps this man in front of them was one of those people who still had some civility left inside. The white woman examined Nathan''s features. ''An Asian? This is going to be easy. They like white-skinned women. Now how can I wrap him around my finger?'' She looked over at her companion. ''This black whore is younger than me, but I have more experience in pleasing a man. I have to make sure that my position won''t be lower to hers.'' And just like the white woman, the black woman was also thinking about how she can make her position not lower than the white woman. "Survivors, master? We''re the only ones left here. The rest either died or escaped a couple of hours ago," the white woman said. ''You guys are the only ones left here? Let''s see about that,'' Nathan thought. "Are you familiar with a nurse named Amir or a group called Red Dust?" "I --" The black woman was about to answer, but the white woman interjected. "Master, I know Amir and this group called Red Dust. I''ve met him a few days ago and we''ve talked together about Red Dust and also met other people who were part of it." When Nathan heard the white woman knew Amir and Red Dust, he let out a sigh of relief. Both women noticed it. The black woman didn''t want to be seen as useless so she immediately opened her mouth. "Master, I also know Amir. In fact --" However, Nathan cut her off. "Where is Amir?" "Master, Amir and I are close. He and a group of people from Red Dust escaped from here 4 hours after the Second Phase began," the white woman said. ''4 hours after the Second Phase began? That was 2 nights ago,'' Nathan thought. "Do you know where they went?" The black woman didn''t know where Amir and the others went so she remained silent. "I think it was at Corn town," the white woman said. Nathan knitted his brows. He has never been to Corn town. All he knows is that it''s one of the towns between Cram city and Burrow city. There was also the fact that the white woman mentioned "I think". Either way, he was still going to Corn town to find Amir. "Stop calling me master and please wear your clothes. Let''s talk about it over at dinner," Nathan said and left the room. When Nathan was already gone, the black woman looked at the white woman. "Gale, I thought we were in this together as partners? What about our talk this morning?" However, Gale ignored and just wore her clothes. The black woman grabbed her arm. "I''m talking to you!" "Isla, unhand me." Isla let go of Gale''s arm and stared at her. Gale continued, "Stop being paranoid. Nothing has changed. We''re still partners, of course. I''m just making sure of our survival so just let me do all the talking, okay? Come on, wear your clothes." However, Isla didn''t move and continued to stare. Gale stopped what she was doing and hugged Isla. "Look, I''m doing this for us. Trust me on this. Have you forgotten how I manipulated that pig master of ours?" Isla''s eyes started to well up. She recalled the things that she and Gale had to do in order to please their master. However, their will to survive was too strong that they swallowed their pride and did them. Gale softly caressed the back of her head. "I promise you that we''ll get through this. Come on, we don''t want our new pig master to get angry. We could ask him to release us." "Okay." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 120 Saint Holy Child Hospital 3 7:26 pm. Nathan, Gale and Isla were eating at an open area on the 50th floor. Earlier, after he left the two women, he decided to check the rest of the floor first if there were other survivors. Who knows, they could be lying or wrong. After concluding that were no survivors left, he then went to the room where he encountered the fat man and absorbed 95% of the boxes of food into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before bringing over the 2 remaining boxes. There, he prepared his own food, of course, and the two women prepared their own food as well. The trio ate in silence. Nathan finished his meal and put down his spoon. The women finished their food as well. To Nathan''s surprise, they ate the same amount as him. With his new stature and all the physical activities he did, the food he needed to be satisfied was greater compared to when he was only 6ft tall. In fact, what he ate was at least 3 meals worth of food compared to an average male. ''Were they being starved by that fat rat from earlier?'' Nathan thought as he looked over at the empty plates of the two women. He took out a pack of cigarettes and lighter from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. He lit one and then offered them to the women. They both declined. "Okay. Let''s talk. Tell me where exactly Corn Town is," Nathan said. "Corn Town is the next town from here if you continue heading East to Burrow city," Gale said. "What''s your relationship with Amir? How do you know him?" "I was one of the civilians who were here when the zombie apocalypse began. That''s when I met Amir. He was one of the nurses and was a kind and gentle person." Nathan looked over at Isla. "I arrived here looking for shelter about a week after the zombie apocalypse happened. I came here with my family and boyfriend but only I survived," Isla said. "When Amir left with Red Dust, was he being forced or something? I mean, was he okay?" Nathan said. "He seemed okay. I didn''t notice anything unusual," Gale said. Nathan looked over at Isla. "I didn''t get to talk to him that much other than one time when I first arrived here. He was the one who patched my wounds." ''So he wasn''t being maltreated.'' Isla continued, "Well, he did mention to me about his family." Nathan raised an eyebrow. "When I arrived here, I was so shaken because I lost all of my loved ones. He tried to console me by talking about happy memories of our loved ones. That was when he mentioned to me that he had a cousin who was at Haven town." Nathan squinted his eyes. "How many people left with him? And how did they escape from here? Was it by helicopter or something?" Isla was silent and looked over at Gale. "Amir left with 20 people. And as far as I know, five of them were either among the staff here or people he knew -- I''m not exactly sure. Amir demanded to bring them along or he wouldn''t leave," Gale said. ''Five people? Could it be them?'' When Nathan arrived here at Womania a couple of months ago, Amir introduced him to his circle of friends. And to be honest, as friendly as they were in their own way, he couldn''t connect with them. It wasn''t because he was against their ideals, mindset, lifestyle or anything. Everyone has their own life experiences and desires. The bottom line is, with his so-called lone wolf attitude, he was just too lazy to deal with other people and deal with their bullshit. But of course, whenever he meets them he puts on a friendly facade. Gale continued, "As for how they escaped, they went through the sewers." "Sewers?" "Yeah. There were too many of those 3m-tall zombies above the ground." ''They went through the sewers, huh. Should I just go directly to Corn town? But what if Amir isn''t there? Should I go through the sewers as well to see if they were able to escape? Who knows, Amir could be trapped there waiting for me. But¡­'' He had two issues. The first issue is about one of the weaknesses of Nathan''s skill [Coward''s Way]. Although being touched by water doesn''t deactivate his skill, it doesn''t pass through him. Take for example the rain. As water ran downs on him, it forms a silhouette of his body. So anyone with a pair of eyes could spot him. Another example is standing or stepping into something like a puddle of water. Just with standing alone, anyone with a keen eye would be able to spot him because of the hallow formation formed by his feet. And if he walks, the splashing sounds made by his footsteps would give his location away. The second issue is about the passages and space of the sewers. Putting aside the smell, sewers would look like a maze to anyone who isn''t familiar with the passages. And as for the space, how wide are the sewers? Nathan fights by taking advantage of the space. The more spacious the area is, the more tricks he can pull. What if the space is limited and he encounters a horde of 3m-tall zombies? He has seen the movie Blade II¡­ The M-types and N2 could just easily bombard him with spells or the zombies could overrun him with their numbers. Sure, he has Divine Blood but he doesn''t want use it unless he has no choice because it''s not cheap and it''s not like he can just buy it anytime he wants. Add-in the puddles of water that could most likely be there, the effectiveness of his invisibility is greatly diminished. Nathan sucked his cigarette and then blew smoke on the air. ''Fuck me sideways¡­'' He thought about whether to go through the sewers or not. For almost 3 minutes, no one spoke a word. He finally made his decision. He flicked away the cigarette on his hand. "You mentioned that among the people who left with Amir there were 5 people who were not part of Red Dust, can you tell me what they looked liked?" It was Isla who answered first. "I can''t remember their names exactly, but there were men and women¡­" She looked over at Gale. "Wasn''t there that Yeppunian woman?" Yeppun was an Asian country. And its main religion was Renasitur which believes in reincarnation. "You mean that Yeppunian woman named Hae-won?" Gale said. ''Heh~ These women know Hae-won?'' Hae-won was one of Amir''s friends and was very beautiful. In fact, if Nathan was going to be honest, she was probably one of the most beautiful women he has seen in the flesh in his entire life. He even mistook her for being a model, celebrity or something the first time he saw her. She was instead one of the doctors at Saint Holy Child Hospital. But then again, given Nathan''s bias preference for Asian beauty, it''s hard to take his judgment seriously. Putting that aside, regarding Amir and Hae-won''s friendship, it was a bit awkward -- well, at least from Nathan''s perspective. Amir has been trying to charm her for years but for some reason she was immune to his charms. Perhaps it was because they knew each other for years so she''s well-aware of his sexcapades? Or perhaps it''s because she''s a doctor and Amir is a nurse so she isn''t interested in sleeping with him? Or perhaps because of racial discrimination? Who knows. Nevertheless, they remained friends for years. "Both of you know her?" "Not personally. But I think everyone here in the hospital knew her because of the trouble she brought," said Gale. Nathan knitted his brows. As far as he knows, although Hae-won was a feminist, she was not the loud and crazy type that gave feminism a bad reputation. "What do you mean by that?" "Um¡­ During the past couple of days, Amir got into a number fights defending her from some people. Fortunately, the members of Red Dust were there to provide support. But there was always this underlying tension." Hearing what Gale said, Nathan burst out in laughter and shook his head. "Hahahaha~" The two women wore a confused look on their faces. To them, Hae-won was lucky because she had someone protecting her. Whereas both of them, no one was there to help them and they had no choice in the end but to do those degrading things. ''Perhaps this new master of theirs is the sadistic type?'' both of them thought and felt a chill ran down their spine. However, unbeknownst to them, that wasn''t the case why Nathan laughed. Call him a defeatist, bitter, coward, lazy, a realist or whatever you want. Before the zombie apocalypse, he never chose to go for women who were according to this estimation are more than a 6 in terms of beauty because he didn''t want to put a lot of effort into chasing women. And plus, he didn''t want to be accused of sexual assault. You know the logic -- when a woman gets attention from a person they''re attracted to, it''s called flirting. But when it''s from an ugly person, it''s considered as sexual assault. He was well-aware that he just an average person in terms of looks, status and money. Looks? Not mentioning his average face, although he had a great body because he works out, it''s isn''t as ripped compared to someone who uses steroids. Status? He was just another human drone that''s part of the rat race. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Money? He has some savings but it''s still far from being enough for him to be able to retire. So why would he put himself to go through all that trouble by competing with other men over a beautiful woman? He already had a lot of things on his plate so he was busy. To him, all cats are black in the dark and it''s not like he''s looking for a relationship. As long as he could get some action, that''s good enough ¨C though not from a woman that''s a 3 and below. So hearing that Amir had to deal with some problems because of Hae-won, he couldn''t help but find it funny. Right now, because of the zombie apocalypse, if you''re not powerful, having a beautiful partner by your side is basically asking for extra problems that could easily be avoided. And in Amir''s case, that Hae-won isn''t even family. Nathan wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh my God. That was so funny~" He got up and cleared his throat. "Thank you for the information, ladies." He looked over the window. The sky was dark and cloudy, and there were flashes of lighting. ''I just hope it won''t rain¡­'' He summoned two sets of System equipment from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. "These are my gifts to you and goodbye." Although he was tired and would like to have some proper rest, he had to continue finding Amir. He activated [Coward''s Way] and left. Gale and Isla were left dumbfounded when Nathan just disappeared. It took almost a minute before Isla finally opened her mouth. "Does this mean we''re finally free¡­?" Gale looked over at the 2 sets of equipment and the 2 boxes of food supplies before turning at Isla. "I¡­ guess." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Hi, this is the final chapter for this week. Sorry, I miscalculated yesterday. My goal was to only post 15 chapters this week and I forgot to include [Chapter 106] in my counting which I edited from [Announcement!] to [Divine Tower 16] yesterday. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 121 To Corn Town 9:38 pm. Nathan was invisible and wearing a battery-free night vision goggles as he was running down the road to Corn Town. On the left side of the road there was a sea of trees. Meanwhile, on the the right side was the view of the ocean. Nathan was still about 30 minutes away from reaching the town when he suddenly heard the sound of engines from a distance. He stopped and closed his eyes to focus his ears on the sound. ''Cars? Motorcycles?'' The sound of engines got louder and he opened his eyes. Far across the end of the road, he could see blaring lights coming from a convoy. ''Looks like they''ve stopped¡­'' He ran towards the blaring lights. *** The convoy''s side¡­ There was a car in front, a modified school bus at the back and 4 motorbikes on the sides. A Caucasian man dressed in System items got out of the car''s passenger''s seat. He made a gesture with his hand to tell everyone to turn off the engines. Everyone turned off their engines. He looked over at the forest. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "I need 6 people to search for them here. Bring out the dogs as well." 4 people with flashlights and 2 dogs got out from the bus along with 2 people from the motorbikes went inside the forest. The rest went on patrol to guard the convoy. The engines may have alerted any zombies nearby. The man leaned at the side of the car as he lit a cigarette. "Gerald, what if we can''t find them?" a black man asked. It was the driver of the car who poked his head outside the window. "Then we''re fucked," Gerald said nonchalantly as he blew smoke in the air. The driver let out a sigh and looked over the ocean. "I wonder what happened to Byung-Ho and the others. Do you think they were able to loot unique items or [Artifact] grade items inside the Divine Tower?" "Beats me." "You know, man, I think we should''ve gone with them inside the Divine Tower. I bet they''re so powerful now with their new items and shit. They''ve probably decided to remain at Cram city." "You''re free to go to them." The driver scoffed. "Yeah, right." The two remained silent for almost a minute. The driver continued, "This sucks, man. I didn''t join our group to be a lapdog for the Chosen One''s dickshit son. I mean, who the fuck cares about two prisoners escaping? There are many others back at the town where that dickshit could torture." Gerald sucked his cigarette one last time before flicking it away but didn''t say anything. What was there to say? Although he didn''t like the situation they were at, there isn''t that much of a choice because of the zombie apocalypse. And as for their leader, who a Chosen One, not only was he too powerful to overthrow but also had a very spoiled and sadistic son. ''At least our situation is better compared to the townsfolk,'' Gerald thought. When the zombie apocalypse began, he and the others formed a group to fight away the zombies on the East side of Cram city. However, just after a day or two, other groups began to pop out as well and thus began the turf wars. But that was abruptly stopped when the government started to intervene. They refused to be the government''s lapdogs so most of the groups decided to settle their differences and band together, leading them to be able to conquer the Eastern government shelter. They lived like kings there, doing whatever they want. However, that lifestyle was cut short when the Second Phase happened. As powerful as they can be as a group, they just couldn''t handle the endless waves of the 3m-tall zombies. That was when they decided to separate. Some decided to head to the Divine Tower, while others left Cram city and head to the towns. "Let''s leave and build our own camp," said the driver. Gerald didn''t say anything and continued looking over at the ocean. The night sky was cloudy and no stars could be seen. There were flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder growling a deep rumbling warning. ''Looks like it''s going to rain tonight.'' "Man, are you listening?" Gerald looked the driver. "Donovan --" However, he wasn''t able to finish what he was going to say. "They''re back!" said one of the people who were patrolling. He was standing on top of the bus and looking through a thermal vision binoculars. Gerald and Donovan looked over at the forest and the group of people that went inside earlier emerged with a bruised and bloodied naked brown-skinned Asian woman who was bound. "PLEASE LET ME GO! I RATHER DIE THAN GO BACK THERE! I BEG YOU! PLEASE!" Hearing her plea, some laughed while others sneered. Gerald looked over the naked woman. She was beautiful -- well, to be exact, she used to be. Her body was covered in bruises and cuts. She was also missing an eye, ear and a few teeth. Most of her injuries were inflicted by the Chosen One''s sadistic son. "Where''s the other one?" "Dead. She committed suicide before we were able to catch her," said an Asian man. "PLEASE! JUST KILL ME ALREADY! I DON''T WANT TO GO BACK TO THAT FREAK!" The Asian man looked over his shoulder. One of the men beside the woman punched her on the gut. "You noisy bitch!" Bam! "Ugh!" The woman coughed out a mouthful of fluids. She dropped to her knees and lie down on the pavement. "Mer¡­cy¡­ Please¡­" Tears began flowing from her eyes. She really didn''t want to go back to Corn Town. It was no different from hell. "Take her to the bus and make sure she doesn''t do anything stupid," Gerald said before getting into the car. The Asian man turned around. "You heard the man. What are you waiting for?" The man who punched the woman grabbed the woman by the hair and raised her up. "AHH!!!" "Come on, bitch. You''re going back home," he said and dragged her to the bus. The woman continued crying. Donovan turned the engine on and looked over the rearview mirror. "The dickshit isn''t gonna be happy about this." "What else can I do about it? The other one committed suicide." "Fair enough." Gerald glanced at the side mirror and saw how the woman was being dragged inside the bus. ''This is sick¡­'' He could let her go or kill her but he chose not to because they would be the ones in trouble. And plus, in his mind, the woman was to be blamed as well. Womania was a progressive country. One of their beliefs is that all genders are equal. What a man can do, a woman can do as well. Some would even argue that women could do even better. With that kind of mindset, the fact that everyone had the System, anyone had the potential to be strong. As long as you''re brave enough to kill the zombies, one can grow to become someone powerful. Even a kid could become powerful! And in his case, there were so many times that he almost died in killing zombies but that didn''t stop him from striving hard to become strong. However, for some reason, there were people like this woman who didn''t choose to increase their strength despite being in a zombie apocalypse. What were they fucking expecting? Society would remain the same? People would just continue to white knight themselves for others? They should''ve at least expected this. The convoy turned around to returned to Corn Town¡­ *** Nathan was standing on the side and invisible as he saw the convoy leaving. He witnessed everything but didn''t do anything. Why would he? He wasn''t some white knight. In his mind, the world has always been a dog-eat-dog world even before the zombie apocalypse. The only difference now was that people are now more honest because of the zombie apocalypse. As for the Asian woman, it wasn''t someone he knew. However, the sight left his stomach in knots. ''Are they from Corn Town? Are they part of Red Dust?'' If they were, given that he killed Rose and the others and the two women he met back at Saint Holy Child Hospital told him that Amir escaped to Corn Town, he could only imagine what they did to his cousin. ''I hope I''m wrong¡­ I hope I''m dead wrong¡­'' He clenched his fists before following the convoy. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? darklord12332 ? AlchemistUniversal ? LuciFallen ? TrueDevilPath ? Marcus21 ? Daoist619289 ? Furrygagemckee2426 ? Amilcare To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 122 Corn Town 10:04 pm. Nathan followed the convoy and arrived at a town. He was invisible as he stood in front of the entrance with a post on the side that read, Welcome To Corn Town. The town itself wasn''t big, but it had a vast array of fields for different kinds of crops, mainly corn, hence its name. Some of the walls that circulated around the town were made up of large broken vehicles, concrete, thick logs and other things. There were also a number of wooden watchtowers being built that he could hear the sound of machinery and the pounding of a hammer from a distance. The town didn''t have a proper source of electricity. Instead, the people here were using a diesel-fueled generator to light up some parts of the town. As he stood there, the knot in his stomach that he felt earlier became stronger. A strong urge to turn away and ran welled up inside of him. A voice suddenly spoke inside his head. ''Go on. Leave. What are you waiting for?'' Nathan gritted his teeth. ''Weren''t you procrastinating all this time because you didn''t care about anyone?'' He clenched his fist. ''Aren''t you a lone wolf?'' He tried to move his feet forward. ''Oh, come on. Stop forcing yourself. You know that this isn''t what you want.'' "Shut up." ''You know that nothing good is waiting for you inside.'' "I SAID SHUT UP!" He was finally able to move his feet forward and entered the town. The voice inside his head stopped as well. However, he still felt a knot in his stomach. *** A few minutes later¡­ Nathan was headed to the center of the town. Earlier, he climbed one of the buildings nearby to get a layout of the town. He noticed there was a large bonfire in the middle and there were people gathered around it as if they were waiting for a spectacle to happen. After seeing it and climbing down, he consciously didn''t run there immediately. Despite having the courage to enter the town, there were still some things that were gnawing at him so he decided to just walk. With each step, his feet felt heavier that it was almost like he was dragging them. He even lost count on how many times he tried to convince himself that Amir wasn''t here and was instead somewhere else. Perhaps in the sewers, perhaps in another town, another city -- anywhere, as long as it wasn''t here. Nevertheless, he continued to head towards the center of the town. *** He finally arrived at the center of the town¡­ A crowd was gathered around a large bonfire. Inside the circle, there was a Caucasian man in his mid-20s holding a bloodied dagger. Behind him were four people tied to a post next to the bonfire. The four people were a Caucasian man in his early 50s, a Caucasian woman in her late 40s, an Asian man in his late teens, and a mixed-race little boy who was no older than 10 years old. They were barely naked and were covered with many cuts and bruises, and were also missing a few parts of their body. The man in his early 50s was missing two legs and a nose. His neck was sliced open and was already dead. Meanwhile, the other 3 were severely injured and looked like they could die any minute. The woman had her eyes dug out and her tongue cut off. The man in his late teens was missing an arm and a leg and had one of his ears cut off. And lastly, the child had one eye and his teeth removed. One can only imagine what kind of horrific tortures they''ve experienced. Among the crowd, there there were a few that were wearing System items. "I am your master! Those who choose to disobey me will face death!" said the man holding the bloodied dagger. No one said a word, while the few people that were wearing System items sneered. "You!" the man said as he pointed to someone among the crowd. It was a young Caucasian boy. The boy''s eyes widened in horror and had a strong urge to hide behind his mother but chose not to. "Do you see me as your master?" the man said. The boy nodded. "Then come to me." The boy looked at his mother behind him. His mother nodded. He summoned all of his courage and stepped forward. The man smiled and offered the dagger to the boy. "Prove to me your loyalty." The boy''s hand trembled and he slowly took the dagger from the man''s hand. As the boy held the dagger on his trembling hands, he could see his own reflection on the blade. His face was pale as a ghost. "Louie! Just do it!" said the woman behind him. "You heard your mother, boy," said the man. Louie looked at his mother and then to the man. His eyes were cold and a sinister smile was plastered on his face. Louie tightened his gripped around the dagger''s handle and approached one of the people tied to the post. The person he approached was the young boy who was no older than 10 years old. The bruised and wounded boy tied to post looked at Louie and forced a weak and toothless smile. Louie looked away. This boy in front of him was his schoolmate and one of his friends. "My body hurts¡­ End it¡­" the young boy pleaded. Louie tightly shut his eyes and said, "I''m sorry, Cris," before slicing the young boy''s neck. Slit! Blood poured down from the young boy''s neck and he died after a few seconds. The man started clapping his hands. Clap! Clap! Clap! "Very good! Very good!" The man looked at the people. The crowd started clapping as well. Clap! Clap! Clap! The man made a gesture with his hand, ordering the people stopped clapping. He went over to the boy and took the dagger. "You have pleased this master. Now, let me present my gift to you for your loyalty." He snapped his fingers. Snap! On one side of the crowd, people made way for an incoming group. There were three people and each of them was walking with a human-dog on a leash. These "human-dogs" had their limbs chopped off but just enough to let them crawl or walk on four legs. Their eyes were dug out, their teeth pulled out and their hair completely shaved off. They were also naked. The only piece of clothing they had was the leash on their neck that was attached to a chain. There were 2 women and 1 man. The man was a Muwinian. Meanwhile, the two women, one was Caucasian and the other was black. The three human-dogs were led in front of the man and Louie. "Choose one pet. Don''t worry, they have been trained. Whatever you want them to do, they will do it," the man said and smiled. Louie was horrified by the sight. The human-dogs were literally acting like dogs. They had their tongues out and showing off their private parts. Louie gathered up all of his courage and pushed all his fears away. "I choose that one, master." He pointed at the black woman. The man made a signal and the black woman human-dog was brought to Louie. As soon as the black woman human-dog got next to Louie, it immediately pressed its nose against his groin area and started licking. "Enjoy your pet. Run along now," the man said and smiled. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Louie returned to his mother''s side along with the human-dog pet. "Who else here wants to prove their loyalty to this master?" the man said as he swept his gaze over at the crowd. A black man raised his hand. "I would like to prove my loyalty to you, master." The man smiled. "Then come over here!" *** Nathan, who was invisible, stood silently as he watched in horror. His face was as pale as a ghost. He recognized two of the human dogs. One was Amir and the other was the black woman. When he saw his own cousin crawling and acting like a dog, that imaged burned right through his skull and left him completely aghast. In Nathan''s mind, although he did some sick and sadistic things, what he saw tonight was on a completely different level. At least with him, he kills his enemies right away once they served their purpose. But to break someone''s spirit, strip them off of their dignity and let them live like that, that was something just too cruel, too diabolical even for him. *** Time continued to pass and the gathering finally came to an end¡­ People returned to their homes to call it a night while a few others patrolled the area. The flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder became more frequent. It was going to rain soon. Nathan continued standing still, staring blankly and still processing what just happened. ''Am I to blame for all of this?'' ''But I almost died from the D1 so I had no choice to power up.'' ''After that, I was blackmailed by Rose and she tried to kill me.'' ''And then the Divine Tower appeared and I couldn''t just ignore it.'' ''I even almost died inside there twice.'' ''There''s no way it can be my fault.'' ''I''m simply a victim of circumstances here.'' His mind drifted away and he recalled a memory¡­ ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? LuciFallen ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? darklord12332 ? Ramvox ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? MoonlightOwl34 ? Jinn999 ? Furrygagemckee2426 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 97] and [Chapter 98] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 123 Recollection 5 months ago. Nathan, 24 years old. Cram City, Womania. 6:12 am. Rock music was blasting on Nathan''s headphones and the spring breeze brushed against his cheeks as he jogged his way back to the apartment building where he and Amir lives. He kept his eyes forward while he controlled his breathing and posture. Inhale. ''1, 2, 3, 4, 5¡­'' Exhale. ''1, 2, 3¡­'' Inhale. ''1, 2, 3, 4, 5¡­'' Exhale. It''s been three months since he arrived here in Womania. Although Womania was a country that was very welcoming to immigrants so it was considered as a melting pot of many cultures, it took him almost 3 years to save money and process all the papers he needed to come here. He even took Regisian language lessons for 6 months and did some research on what it was like living here. Despite Regisian being the most popular language internationally and he could read and write with it, he wanted to improve his proficiency to be more prepared. Amir''s father, Abbas, tried a couple of times to help Nathan with the expenses but he refused it. He wanted to do things on his own so that in case he didn''t like it here in Womania, he could return back to Muwin without feeling guilty and he could only blame himself. Seeing his determination, uncle Abbas finally gave up and was left in admiration for Nathan''s independence. As for the reason he was jogging, aside from getting health benefits, this was also his way to further familiarize himself with the neighborhood. Womania was like a massive concrete jungle with hundreds of tall buildings that there were barely any plants. The first week he arrived here, he honestly got lost while he was jogging around. Up ahead, Nathan could see a group of black men. ''Oops¡­'' Perhaps it was thanks to media, perhaps it was because Muwin was a country that considers fair and white skin beautiful to be beautiful, or perhaps both. Regardless, seeing the group of black men, he decided to cross the street. It''s better to be careful than take unnecessary risks. Despite Womania being a melting pot of many different cultures because of its openness to immigrants, it wasn''t exactly a paradise. There''s no such place on Earth. The top 1% or the true masters of Womania weren''t doing this for some altruistic pursuit. The main driving factor was capitalism. The push for gender equality and multiculturalism in this country was to lower the cost of labor. With women and immigrants added into the labor market, from an economic standpoint alone, the country''s GDP was booming. More businesses were being created, leading to more jobs available. In fact, Womania was among the top 15 countries in the world with a healthy GDP score. However, it was a different matter regarding the relationship between men and women. It was more or less toxic -- at least from Nathan''s perspective. The way he sees it, it was like most of the men in this country have been reduced into white knights or had their balls chopped off -- some of them in a literal sense. This also led to some racist or misogynist groups in the country but there were only a handful of them. The natives in Womania were Caucasian people with black hair. From some of the native racists'' point of view, they argued that Womania was losing its cultural identity because foreigners are not only taking over the country but also stealing the jobs. They felt insulted that some of them have to work for foreigners here in their own country. But of course, among the immigrants, there were also racists. Meanwhile, from the misogynists'' point of view, they argued that women here are no longer women. They act no differently from men yet still demand the benefits that traditional women get. But of course, there were still women in this country who still acts like traditional women. There were also women who genuinely practice independence. However, they were only a handful of them. So best of luck in finding one. But despite this new environment that Nathan was currently living in, he was more or less able to adapt but not yet completely. It was still a working progress on his part. The reason for this was because he spent some time in the northern region of Muwin. The northern region of Muwin was dominated by the Trinitian religion. Even though it was still a religious region, they were more open to outsiders compared to the southern region where it''s dominated by the Iklasian religion. With that, he was able to pull from his experience living there and apply it here at Womania. However, the difference between living here in Womania or in Cram city and the northern region of Muwin was still too great. Sure, the northern region of Muwin was less a patriarchal society compared to the southern region, but in this country, it was cranked up into a 100. It was almost mind-blowing in a sense for Nathan. But it was still livable nonetheless. And plus, who was he to judge? It''s not like Muwin was a perfect country either. Also, he wasn''t a native here. He would always be and feel like a foreigner here no matter what. The people in this country could kill each other for all he cares and he wouldn''t even bat an eye. He was only here to earn money. His goal was very simple -- work hard, save as much as he could and conform to this society''s standards without rocking the boat while he stayed here. And once he earns enough money, he would go back to Muwin, start his own business there. Perhaps he could try his luck in the real state business where he could have a passive income by renting property to people. *** 6:32 am. Nathan arrived at the entrance of the apartment building where he and Amir lives. At the entrance, he saw two security guards talking. One was on his uniform, while the other wasn''t. The one that was dressed in civilian clothing just ended his shift and was having a quick chat with the guard that replaced him. The guard that was dressed in civilian clothing was talking excitedly. Nathan removed his headphones and greeted, "Chief." The two security guards turned to him. He nodded to them and they nodded back. "Hey, man, listen up. I got great news," Guard A said with a smile. Nathan stopped and replied, "Oh, what''s up?" There were a number of life lessons he learned in his life. Just like it''s a stupid mistake to treat waiters poorly because they might spit on your meal, it was also important to befriend guards. Aside from the fact that guards are the gatekeepers to any organization so it''s best to befriend them, they''re also a good source of information. Their job is long and boring. And so to kill time during their shift, they would share stories with each other if they had companions to talk to or would observe their surroundings keenly, taking note of every single detail. However, it''s also important to note that there are some people who would inflate their story, be it deliberately or not, to make it sound more dramatic. So it''s crucial to be able to differentiate bullshit stories from the real ones. "The hot blonde bombshell is moving in today," said Guard A. "Hot blonde bombshell?" Nathan said and raised an eyebrow. "Brad, you should at least tell me him the whole story," said Guard B. "Oh, yeah. You see, two weeks ago, this woman who looked like a young version of Kate Upton came over to inquire for an apartment. Man, if you see her, her breasts and ass were like a black woman''s. The size was just so perfect. I tell you, man, she''s my dream wife." Guard B scoffed. "Dream wife? Quit dreaming. A hot, young woman like that would never consider you as a potential mate. Maybe if she''s already in her late 30s, divorced, had a couple of children and full of emotional baggage, you might have a slim chance." "Hey, Antonio, just because you only bang ugly chicks, don''t be a sour grape. If a man doesn''t aspire for beautiful things, what''s the point in living? I tell you, once I get my lucky break and become super-rich, I''m going to travel around the world and bang all the hot chicks! Mark my words." Brad was an aspiring musician on the side and other things. Antonio rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah." "Whatever," Brad said and then looked at Nathan. "She''s moving to your floor. I think she''s coming around 9 or 10:00 am. But don''t make any moves on her. She''s going to be my wife one day." Nathan flashed a friendly smile and raised his hands in the air. "Don''t worry, chief. I would never dream of getting in your way." "Good!" Brad said and then looked at Antonio, "You should learn from this guy. He knows I''m going to be someone one day." Antonio rolled his eyes. ''This is the great news? Useless. And what exactly is a bombshell?'' Nathan thought. He wasn''t interested and more or less shared the same outlook of Antonio. He knew what''s his social standing was. He was just an average person. With that, he wasn''t interested in competing with other men over a beautiful woman. To him, it was too much of an effort and way too risky to deal with. There were other girls that were between a 4 and 6 anyway that were willing. And plus, he wasn''t looking for a serious relationship. And speaking of beautiful, there were other aspects that Nathan was still trying to adapt. It was the standards of beauty of Womania. The first standard of beauty is the makeup. Back in Muwin, there were people who wore makeup. But here in Womania, especially in the city, it was an art that was practiced into perfection. The technique was so refined that you wouldn''t be able to recognize them if you see them without makeup. The second standard of beauty is that there were actually "slim" Caucasians and black people. Now, before you call Nathan a racist, try to look at it from his perspective. Nathan has seen white and black people in the media. He has also seen a few of them in the flesh back in Muwin. Some of them were even drop-dead gorgeous. However, given that he spent most of his life in Muwin, his definition of beauty was based on Asian standards. An Asian''s skeletal structure is mostly leaner compared to a Caucasian and black person. This is also probably why Asian men are seen as less masculine, while white and black men are seen as more masculine -- at least in terms of physical looks. There''s also of the definition of what''s considered as "petite". From his perspective, a "slim" Asian is basically like an "anorexic" white or black person. Meanwhile, a "slim" white or black person is an "average" sized Asian. Because of this, he was shocked to see a petite and anorexic white and black person for the first time because he always viewed them as large. However, these petite and anorexic white and black people were very rare. Putting aside the biological differences of bone structure, at least 60% of the people here were fat. As for the cause of that, it was all thanks to the body acceptance movement that was pushed by the feminists in this country. Furthermore, women here in this country have a lot of power so he believes that his idea of only going for women that are between a 4 and 6 seems is the best route. Call him a defeatist, bitter, coward, lazy, realist or whatever you want. The last thing he wanted to do was try to flirt with a beautiful woman and risk the chance of not only getting rejected but also being accused of sexual harassment. Because in most cases, when a woman gets attention from a person they''re attracted to, it''s called flirting. But when it''s from an ugly person, it''s considered sexual harassment. So to him, why would he risk his life and all the things that he has worked his ass for years all for the sake of a beautiful woman that he doesn''t have any plan to marry? There was too much risk yet so little reward. "Chief, I got to go. My relatives are coming over later and I got a big day today." "Okay," said Brad and Antonio. Nathan left and entered the apartment building. He really had a big day today, but it was later tonight. Amir''s parents and sister flew from Muwin here to Womania 3 days ago and were staying at a hotel downtown. Amir''s parents moved back to Muwin at Latif City about 3 years ago for Aena, Amir''s sister. Although Amir''s parents loved the freedom and progressiveness of Womania, they started to fear for their daughter''s principles because of all the "freedom" that women had and the influence of the all-women rights groups here. So to balance out her principles because they didn''t want her to go full-feminist, they decided to have her attend college at Latif city. In their eyes, the central region was the best environment because the northern and southern Muwian cultures were blended together, offering a sense of balance. Going back to why Nathan said he had a big day today¡­ Today was a Sunday and it was his day off. However, today also happens to be Amir''s birthday. As much as he would rather just spend the whole day at his apartment resting and read the chapters of his favorite novels that he stocked for the whole month, he didn''t have any choice but to attend the birthday party tonight. The party will be held at a banquet hall of a hotel that Amir''s family has rented for the occasion. The people who were going to attend the party tonight were Amir''s family and friends -- the family was from his father''s side. But regardless of who they were, they were people that Nathan didn''t care about. Why would he? He didn''t share any strong bond or blood with them. Even with his very own family members, there were some that he didn''t care about. At the moment, here in Womania, there were only 4 people that he more or less cared about: uncle Abbas, aunt Amira, Amir and Aena. There was also uncle Abbas'' younger brother, Kaaf, whom he had a complicated relationship with. Kaaf owns an online publishing company that tackles on immigrant and feminist topics. It was uncle Abbas who requested to give Nathan a job there. Nathan accepted it because he was neither with it or against it. He was given a position as an editor and the pay was good -- in fact, too good to be honest because even with this one job alone, not only could he cover his monthly expenses but also save some money. Furthermore, he was also given special privileges, like working home-based. The only drawback from it all was that Kaaf''s son, Kaab, likes to boss Nathan around. So although he was grateful for the job, he still sees Kaaf as close to a stranger, thanks to Kaab. *** Nathan was walking along the hallway of the first floor and heading for the stairs when he saw a little girl all alone scribbling on the wall. In his 3 months here, he has never seen this child so he doesn''t know if she lives here or not. The little girl stopped scribbling and looked at him. He ignored her and just continued making his way to the stairs. Here in Womania, masculinity, specifically coming from biological men, is considered toxic. Despite Nathan being part of the "protected" class because he was an immigrant and wasn''t white, he still could easily be labeled as a pedophile if he looks, goes near or talks to a child that he isn''t related with. And God forbid he gets alone stuck with a child inside an elevator or a room for more than a minute. With those things, as a man, the best approach is just to avoid and ignore children that were unrelated to you. As he was climbing the stairs, he encountered a very handsome Caucasian man carrying a drawing storage tube over his shoulder. The man was about 30 years old, 6''2" tall, black short hair, had a good physique, piercing blue eyes, and a chiseled jawline. "Morning," said the man and smiled. Nathan spared the man a quick glance and replied, "Morning," before moving to the right to make way. *** The third floor. As Nathan was making his way to his apartment, a woman in her late teens came out inside one of the apartments. Kacha! Her hair and makeup were a bit messy. He was 100% sure that this woman wasn''t among the tenants. ''A walk of shame, huh...'' Here in Womania, people''s view of sex was progressive. To them, if a man can sleep around with a hundred women, then a woman also has every right to do so. It was even celebrated when a woman has a high body count, describing them as "empowered." Nathan took a quick glance at words printed on the woman''s shirt. ''My Body, My Choice.'' Another cultural practice he was surprised about in this country was the acceptance of abortion. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Back in Muwin, although people there did abortions, especially in the Northern region, it wasn''t openly talked about in fear of being judged by the religious fanatics that dominated the country. But here, having an abortion was like no different from curing a simple flu. ''At least here in Womania, people are open and honest about it compared to the people back in Muwin who like to paint themselves as good and righteous people behind their religion.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 124 Recollection 2 Kacha! Nathan opened the door and entered his apartment. He didn''t remove his shoes and made his way to his room. Another cultural practice he learned here in Womania was that people don''t usually remove their footwear when entering a house. It took him about two months to get used to it. In fact, in his first week here in Womania, when Amir invited some of his friends over, he almost lost his mind seeing them walking inside the apartment with their shoes on. But of course, he didn''t act out his emotions. He and Amir lived here in this apartment. And given that Amir was older and lived here longer, he just accepted it. Amir rarely cleans because he''s always out either from working or chasing women so Nathan took it to himself to do most of the cleaning. He didn''t mind being the \"housewife\" because he was used to it back when he and Karen used to live together anyway. Nevertheless, that incident of Amir''s friends entering the apartment with their shoes left a bad taste in his mouth. Kacha! Nathan opened the door to his room and entered. Inside, he stripped down naked and then hanged his sweaty clothes. He needed to dry off the sweat first before lumping them with his used clothes because it would smell funny. After that, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went to the bathroom for a shower. A few minutes later¡­ Nathan finished showering. He standing in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist and tied his shoulder-length hair into a ponytail as he groomed his goatee. Bzzz¡­ He was attending a birthday party tonight, and although he didn''t want to be there, he needed to at least look good. He put down the electric shave and grabbed a pair of scissors. Snip! Snip! He moved his face closer to the mirror. He moved back. ''Looks good.'' He took a few steps back even further. He stared at the reflection of his body in the mirror. His body wasn''t as big compared to before but he still had a great body compared to most people. However, it still wasn''t as aesthetically pleasing compared to a person who uses steroids or those people on the internet who claims to be \"natural\" yet look so inhuman. 3 years ago, that night when the armed men wearing ski masks entered his grandfather''s house and hit him on the face with the butt of a rifle and the death of Maaz, he realized how weak and fragile the human body actually was. He could workout and put on so much muscle all he wants but he could still be knocked down or killed with a weapon. But despite all that, he still couldn''t give up working out altogether. When he was still young, the reason why he liked to lift weights was because it was mainly an individual sport. It also gave him the strength to deter bullies. And as he grew older, he viewed it as not only having a healthy body for functionality, but also for aesthetic purposes. In this current time of his life, he stopped going to the gym and decided to do home workouts instead. As long as he had a fit and healthy body, that was enough. And plus, it was cheaper. The third room of the apartment was used as a training room. He and Amir bought some workout equipment. It wasn''t anything fancy though, just a bench press equipment, a piece of pull-up equipment, one barbell, and a few plates and dumbbells. The was no treadmill. He never liked using them because it made him feel like a hamster running on a wheel. Kacha! When Nathan stepped outside the bathroom, there was a beautiful Caucasian woman waiting outside, catching him off guard for a quick moment. Her hair and makeup were a bit messy because it looked like she just got up from bed, but she still was beautiful because of her natural beauty. \"Good morning,\" the woman said and smiled. He noticed the woman''s eyes tracing at his well-toned muscles. Compared to Amir, Nathan''s body was better. He was also taller, about two inches. However, when it comes to the face, Amir was just on a different level. Amir had a face that looked like it belongs to a cover of a romantic novel and was photoshopped by a professional. His eyes alone were mesmerizing. He had a perfect bone structure -- the nose, the jawline, everything. He also had a voice that was not only strong, confident but also had a sweet, calming charm in it. Add in his money and status, it isn''t wasn''t surprising why many women consider him to be a high-value male. Whereas with Nathan, if not for his long hair and goatee which made him look like a goon to be beaten up in movies by the main protagonist, his face would be so forgettable because it was nothing but average -- he was neither handsome or ugly. ''I forgot. Amir brought home a woman last night,'' Nathan thought. \"Good morning too.\" \"May I?\" \"Oh! Sorry. My bad.\" Nathan quickly stepped out to let her in. As he made his way to his room, he could hear that the TV in the living room was on. \"Live with us today is Harry Gamberini. He''s one of the lawyers who filed the case against the Haven family involving a number of local businesses that were obtained through illegal means. Some of which, according to rumors, was through murder. Harry, welcome to Good Morning Womania.\" \"Thank you for having me here, Tom. It''s such an honor.\" \"You''re welcome, Harry. Please tell us more about the case.\" Hearing the morning talk show, Nathan remembered something. ''Oh, I almost forgot about.'' When he entered his room, he put on clothes first before checking his phone. While he was jogging this morning, he received a few notifications. One of them was an email from one of the writers he was handling. Nathan was an editor and was in charge of the international team. His work schedule is from 1:30 pm to 11:30 pm, Monday to Saturday. Nathan grabbed his phone and checked his phone as he head to the kitchen to eat before going for a quick nap. \"Hey, cuz,\" said Amir. Nathan glanced away from his phone and looked at Amir. He was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee and watching TV. There was another cup on the coffee table. \"Happy birthday, cuz. You''re getting old,\" Nathan said and smiled as he continued making his way to the kitchen to prepare his meal. Amir put down his coffee mug and smiled back. \"You''re also catching up.\" \"You''ll always be 2 years older than me though.\" \"You can have this second cup. Ida didn''t touch the coffee and left.\" ''Ida? Oh... It must be that woman,'' Nathan thought. \"No thanks. I''m going for a quick nap after this.\" \"Okay,\" Amir said and switched the channel. Nathan grabbed some eggs, veggies and bread. \"Doctor, let me get this straight. So many people are not using the terms psychopath and sociopath correctly?\" \"Well, there''s a lot of overlap. The fact is, a lot of people are using the terms interchangeably.\" \"How so?\" \"Just know these two key differences: a psychopath is born, while a sociopath is created. It''s basically a classic case of nature vs nurture.\" \"Wow, that''s interesting. So how can one spot a psychopath?\" \"To spot a psychopath, if a person prior to the age of 18 has shown a pattern of truancy, violence to the other kids, stealing and whatnot without feeling any stress or experience any remorse, they can be classified as psychopaths.\" \"They don''t feel any remorse?\" \"They don''t. This is why they can be very charming. Let''s say a police officer pulls them over and they have a dead body inside the trunk of their car. If you''re the police officer, unless you know already know there''s a body inside the trunk beforehand or suspect there is one, it will never cross your mind because there''s no sign of stress at all on their face for you to detect.\" \"Wow.\" \"To them, doing such things is no different from taking a bath, eating, walking a dog or having a normal chat with someone.\" \"Then what about sociopaths? You said they''re created?\" \"Yes, a sociopath is created. Take for example a kid who grows up in a rough neighborhood and learns criminality to get by. Or a kid taught by his/her parent or mentor how to break the rules.\" \"I see.\" \"Now, unlike psychopaths, sociopaths would still feel remorse. But as they continue to live that kind of criminal lifestyle, in time, they would learn not to feel any remorse because that way of life becomes the norm to them.\" \"So basically they adapt because of their environment or their life experience.\" \"Yes, experience could influence their view in life. However, the issue lies whether they will choose to do the right thing or not. If they choose to do the wrong thing and continue to do so, then of course, they can be classified as sociopaths.\" \"I see. Do you have any clients or patients that are diagnosed with psychopathy or sociopathy?\" \"I have. However -- well, another interesting fact about them is that they would never go see a doctor unless they''re court-ordered.\" \"All of them? Not even one?\" \"None. From their perspective, they don''t see any point in seeing one.\" \"That''s very interesting. Thank you, Dr. Sanders. Now, let''s go for a quick commercial break. When we come back, the good doctor will be discussing about narcissists next.\" Nathan finished cooking and was eating his meal. As he ate, he was reading the email of the writer. He squinted his eyes. According to the writer, he was fired from the company and was begging Nathan to ask the higher-ups to reconsider their decision. The writer was a fresh college graduate and he couldn''t afford to lose this job because his child was born just 2 weeks ago and they need money to cover the expenses. Nathan wasn''t surprised to hear that this writer was fired, he knew that there was a 99% chance that this writer was going to be fired because of the stunt he pulled a few days ago. In fact, because of this writer, Nathan also got an earful from the higher-ups of the company. What happened was, this writer, who was one of the top writers of the company and under Nathan''s team, was given an important topic. The topic was about an unarmed person of color immigrant who murdered 3 people before he was gunned down by the local police here in Cram city. Now, it''s important to note that their company is a pro-feminist and pro-immigrant type. With that, regardless of whatever your personal views are, you should write it in favor of the company''s political views. However, this writer didn''t write it that way. In the case of Nathan, given that this person was one of their top writers, when this writer submitted the article to him for review, he didn''t bother to check it at all and just published it right away. A few hours later after the article was published, Nathan received a call and got an earful from the higher-ups of the company. And of course, Kaab, Kaaf''s son, was so delighted and also decided to scold Nathan and the writer. He even told Nathan that he was nothing but a leech and should be thankful that if it wasn''t for the fact that he was recommended by uncle Abbas he would''ve already been fired. Nathan finished reading the writer''s email. He put down his phone and continued eating. He scoffed. ''You need the money to cover the expenses for your newborn child? Oh please, what a lame excuse.'' Putting aside the fact that the internet is a toxic place, throughout the years Nathan has worked online, one of the things he learned is that there are a lot of scammers so there''s tons of lying involved. Moreover, it was a cutthroat market so you''re always on your toes and there isn''t really any sense of job security. If the employer likes your performance, he/she will keep employing you. But if you do anything stupid, you will immediately get cut off just like that. And the best part of it all? You would be lucky if your employer would even pay you. In the online job market, there''s no such things as friends, only benefits. In this case, he sees no benefit in helping the writer. Moreover, if the writer really didn''t want to lose his job, why did he pull that stunt in the first place? Was it because he was one of the top writers so he thought he could get away with it? Was is it because he thought it was the \"right\" thing to do? Was is it because he wanted his thoughts and opinions to be heard? Who knows. Whatever the reason was, in Nathan''s mind, it wasn''t his problem. That writer chose to write it that way despite being fully aware of the political views of the company they work for so he has to face the consequences of his actions. Even Nathan himself, despite his so-called lone wolf persona, wouldn''t dare to jeopardize his job all for the sake of expressing his own views. Nathan stared at the TV in the living room from the dining table. There was a razor commercial. \"I am a woman,\" said a little boy no older than 10 years old. The screen faded out to feature another person. \"I am a woman,\" said a male teenager. The screen faded out once more to feature another person. \"I am a woman,\" said a man in his mid-20s. The screen faded out again to feature another person. \"I am a woman,\" said a man in his 50s. The screen faded out again to feature another person. \"I am a woman,\" said a man in his 70s. The screen faded out again. But this time, all 5 of the speakers from earlier were now together. \"We are women.\" The screen faded out for the last time and there was a message plastered on the screen. \"Say no to transphobia. Love all women.\" Nathan''s mouth was left open. His eyes blinked a couple of times before his brain was finally able to process what he just saw. ''Wow¡­'' He finished his meal and then proceeded to wash his dishes. After washing his dishes, he called out to Amir. \"What time was the party again?\" Amir, who was looking at his phone, turned around to look at Nathan. \"5:30 pm at the Haven Hotel.\" \"I see.\" Nathan went to his room to sleep. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? darklord12332 ? supercat_12000 ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? NovelLovers ? Hwakin_Dong ? MoonlightOwl34 ? DemoKingX ? LuciFallen ? CyberLaw ? astranizsha123 ? DaemonSoul ? zukidoto ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Yousaf_Khan_Luni To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 125 Recollection 3 5:39 pm. Haven Hotel, banquet hall. The hall itself was enough to accommodate a maximum of 300 guests. A crowd was gathered around Amir and his family, and they all sang a birthday song to him. Beside them was a birthday cake on top of a cart. \"Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~\" Nathan was dressed in a semi-formal attire; a black semi-fit long-sleeve with its sleeves folded, gray khaki pants, black shoes and a watch. He was standing on a corner and pretending to be singing along. \"Happy birthday, Amir~~~\" Amir blew the candles. \"Woooh!\" There was a round of applause. Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Amir''s parents and sister kissed his cheek and hugged him. A person handed him a mic and the crowd stopped clapping. \"My dear family and friends, I would like to thank you all for coming to my birthday party despite your busy schedule, especially you: dad, mom and sis who flew from Muwin to come here for my birthday. I love you guys so much.\" \"What are you talking about? You''re my only son. Of course, we''ll be coming,\" said Amira. There crowd chuckled. \"Anyway, as I said, I''m thankful for all of you who came here and I hope everyone will have a pleasant evening.\" The crowd gave a round of applause once again before taking their seats. And although there were enough tables and seats for all the guests, there were a few that chose not to. A few of those people was Nathan. Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Amir, accompanied by his mother and sister, then proceeded to visit the guests who were seated at the tables to greet and thank them personally for coming. Everyone wore a smile on their faces. Nathan swept his gaze over the faces of people. ''I wonder how many people actually want to be here, like in a genuine sense.'' As much as he cared for Amir in his own way, today was his day off and he just wanted to spend it by resting all day in his apartment and reading. \"Drinks, sir?\" Nathan looked over at his shoulder. There was a waiter carrying 5 glasses of champagne on a silver platter. He squinted his eyes. Back at Muwin, no one really drinks champagne and wine there, especially the people in the South. The common choice of drink at Muwin was either beer or hard liquor. He looked over at the people inside the hall. About 90% of the adults were drinking champagne. Nathan sighed. ''When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'' He took one of the glasses and said, \"Thank you.\" The waiter left. Nathan took a sip. \"Elk¡­ Disgusting,\" he said under his breath. Another waiter was passing by and carrying appetizers. It was a traditional Muwinian raw fish dish. Aside from being a religious and conservative country, Muwin was also known for its fish dishes. In fact, one of the slurs given to Muwinians is \"fish people.\" He grabbed a piece. It tasted good but¡­ ''What the fuck is this?! What kind of moron made this piece of shit?!'' The taste was good, but the fish lacks freshness. Back in Muwin, if one were to eat the best sea creature dishes in the city, although it was of high quality, it can be very expensive. This is why it''s better to go to the province, like Liit town, if you''re on a tight budget. \"Nathaniel, what are you doing there all alone? Come on over,\" a man called out to him. Nathan looked over the person who called him. It was uncle Abbas. He was seated on a table with Kaaf and Kaab. Among all of the people in his family, it was only his uncle Abbas that called him Nathaniel. ''Oh great. That meatball Kaab is there. Just my luck,'' Nathan thought as he flashed a very friendly smile and went over to them. When he got to them, he immediately greeted them. \"Uncle Abbas, uncle Kaaf, Kaab.\" Kaab was almost the spitting image of his father, Kaaf -- fat and short, like a meatball. The only difference between them was that Kaab was younger and was half Caucasian. Kaab was also the same age as Amir. ''I bet every time this meatball looks at his father, he gets pissed knowing that that is his future.'' Another cultural practice here in Womania that he trained himself to adapt was hugging which is a way of greeting between close friends and family members. Back in Muwin, no one hugs each other, except for lovers in private or when people experience something very tragic, like the death of a loved one. He first hugged Abbas, then Kaaf, and lastly Kaab. Kaab was eating something greasy with his hands and put it down before hugging Nathan. \"Nathan my boy!\" Although Kaab was the same age as Amir, he likes to address Nathan with \"my boy\". And as they hugged, he tapped his greasy hand on Nathan''s back. Nathan felt Kaab''s hand on his back. He gritted his teeth as he forcefully suppressed his overwhelming desire to beat the shit out of Kaab. He never knew why Kaab hated him and he never bothered to ask. When Nathan pulled away from the embrace, his friendly smile from earlier returned and he took a seat on the table. \"So how''s life back at Muwin?\" said Kaaf. \"Everything is good,\" said Abbas. \"How''s the businesses that you''ve opened there?\" \"It had its ups and down but we''re surviving nonetheless.\" \"Knowing you, I''m sure it will be successful. You''ve always had a talent for that. Any plans to expand or make branches soon? I would like to make an investment in your businesses.\" \"Those businesses are barely 2 years old. It''s still too early. Probably 2 or 3 years from now. But rest assured, you will be among the first people I will contact once I plan to expand.\" \"Thank you.\" \"What about you? How''s yours?\" \"Same as always.\" \"That''s good to hear.\" Kaab suddenly entered the conversation. \"Father, our news publishing business took a hit these past few days, thanks to the article that Nathan''s team posted last Wednesday which caused a number of the people visiting our site to drop by 10%. Fortunately, I was able to spot it right away. If not, who knows how much more damage it would''ve caused.\" Abbas raised an eyebrow. Kaaf sighed deeply and said, \"Kaab, we''ve already talked about this.\" Nathan, who was listening, pursed his lips. ''My God, what''s the problem of this meatball?! I already issued an apology last time!'' He took a deep breath. \"Uncle Kaaf, I''m really sorry about what happened. It''s --\" Kaaf raised his hand and said, \"Let''s not bring that up anymore. It wasn''t that of a big issue. It''s part of the nature of business -- there will be good days and bad days. Let''s just continue working hard in increasing our audience. But enough of that. Now is the time for a celebration.\" Abbas didn''t say anything and looked at Kaab. He was well-aware of Kaab''s animosity towards Nathan. He had thought that after 3 months, Kaab and Nathan would be close by now. However, it seemed that wasn''t the case. \"Well, if it really isn''t a big issue, there''s no need to worry then,\" Abbas said and smiled. \"It really isn''t,\" Kaaf said and smiled as well. Tch! Kaab made a clicking sound with his tongue. Meanwhile, Nathan wanted to go home already. ''This is such a waste of time.'' He secretly glanced at his watch under the table. 5:52 pm. ''Once it reaches 6:30 pm, I''m fucking going home. Ugh... I need to distance myself from this father and son while I''m still here.'' Abbas looked over at Nathan and was about to bring him to a corner to console him. \"Uncle Abbas, uncle Kaaf, please excuse me. There''s someone I saw earlier that I needed to talk to,\" Nathan said and made a smile which hinted that it was a woman. \"Sure. No problem, Nathaniel,\" Abbas said with a smile. \"Yes, yes, have fun,\" said Kaaf. Nathan got up and left. Kaab was about to follow him but was stopped by Abbas. \"Kaab.\" \"Uncle?\" \"How''s that lovely friend of yours you introduced to me last time? It''s been a while since I''ve seen her.\" *** Nathan maintained a cool expression as he made his way through the crowd. However, underneath it was a raging storm that could explode at any moment. ''Calm down¡­ Chill¡­ Calm down¡­'' ''This is part of life''s struggles.'' ''One day, once you earned enough money, you can live the peaceful life you''ve always dreamed of.'' ''When that time comes, you don''t always need to bow down to anyone anymore.'' ''This is for that future.'' When he was already far away from Abbas, Kaaf and Kaab, he stopped and looked around. He did make that excuse earlier so he had to at least show it. He searched for a woman to talk to. The guests consisted of people of different races. Although there were a number of beautiful Caucasians and black women, his mind was still trying to adapt to the beauty standards of Womania. So for now, he decided to only look for Asians. ''Fat.'' ''Too beautiful.'' ''Is that¡­ Is that an Asian land whale? How the fuck did that even happen?'' ''Resting bitch face.'' ''Too beautiful and also too much makeup.'' ''MA''AM community.'' ''Taken.'' ''Fat.'' ''Lesbo.'' ''Hmm¡­ Borderline fat? She''s cute though. Ugh¡­ Pass.'' ''Cake face.'' ''Lesbo.'' ''Another cake face. My God, is there a circus nearby?'' ''Too beautiful.'' ''Lesbo.'' ''Another MA''AM community.'' ''Too beautiful.'' ''Fat.'' ''Crazy.'' ''Fat and short? My God, kill yourself, meatball.'' ''Fat.'' ''Uh¡­ Yup, married.'' ''Too beautiful.'' ''Ugh... Cake face again.'' ''Fat.'' ''Too young.'' ''Oh¡­ is that a Kung Fu bitch? She''s perfect.'' He finally found a person. It was a skinny Xudonian woman in her mid-20s about 5''4\" tall with glasses standing on her own and drinking champagne. In terms of beauty, she was a 6 at best in his opinion. Even though he only goes for women who are between a 4 and a 6 in his opinion, he had his standards. He worked hard to where he was right now so there was no way he was going to lower himself. He tried to see if she had a ring on her finger or was with someone. He didn''t want to cause any drama. He was too lazy for such a thing. After observing for 20 seconds, he concluded that she was safe. ''Now what script should I go with?'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? supercat_12000 ? Naufal_Arc To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 126 Recollection 4 ''Now what script should I go with?'' Nathan thought as he swept his gaze over at the Xudonian woman. After a minute or two, he finally made a decision and then headed straight to the woman. \"Ni hao,\" he greeted her in Xudonian and smiled. During the last 3 years before coming here to Womania, aside from learning Regisian, he also learned Xudonian to expand his portfolio for his career in the online job market. However, his proficiency in the Xudonian language wasn''t that great compared to Regisian. Nevertheless, it was an important skill to learn because Xudonia is one of the most powerful countries in the world. And among the Asian countries, it was the most powerful. As for the country''s main religion, it was Renasitur which believes in reincarnation. The woman only spared Nathan a quick glance. From the woman''s perspective, seeing Nathan''s goatee, shoulder-length hair and body size, he looked a bit intimidating. Nathan continued speaking in Xudonian, \"Wo zhen de hen xiang he nin tan tan, dan wo hen jinzhang, yinwei nin kan qilai xiang ge nuren, yijing chaochu wo de nenglile. Danshi wo renwei chule nin jujue wo zhi wai, hai you she me zui zaogao de shiqing fasheng?\" The woman glanced at Nathan once again. This time, she finally answered. However, she replied to him in Regisian, \"I''m sorry but I don''t speak Xudonian.\" \"Huh?\" Nathan wore a confused expression on his face for a moment before realizing what she was saying and then switching to Regisian, \"Oh my God, I''m so sorry. I honestly thought you were Xudonian. I really didn''t mean to offend you or anything.\" \"It''s okay. Yes, I am Xudonian but I grew up here in Womania.\" \"Oh¡­ I see.\" Both Nathan and the woman listened to each other''s accents. From Nathan''s ears, her accent was that of a pure native Womanian. Meanwhile, from the woman''s ears, she could tell that Nathan was new here in Womania. \"Anyway, what I was saying earlier was -- I really wanted to talk to you but I was so nervous because you seemed like a woman that''s way out of my league. But I figured what''s the worst that could happen aside from you rejecting me?\" The woman smiled. \"Honest, but not very original.\" Nathan chuckled. \"That was my best line to be honest. But then again, I should''ve at least also expected that.\" The woman chuckled as well. \"Are you always this cheesy?\" Seeing her reaction, Nathan took it as a good sign of her letting her guard down a little bit so he offered his hand and flashed his best friendly smile. \"I''m Nathan. Amir''s cousin. And you are?\" Another cultural practice here in Womania that he trained himself to adapt was shaking hands. Back in Muwin, usually, it''s only the men shake hands and it wasn''t a common practice. However, here in Womania, if hugging is what''s used as a greeting for close friends and family members, shaking hands is what''s used for greeting strangers which can be tricky at times. Despite Womania being a progressive country, as a man, you should be careful about the woman you use this greeting on because you could be accused of sexual harassment, especially when it comes to flirting and when you''re not considered as a high-value male. But given that Nathan felt rather confident with this woman, he figured that it was safe to offer to shake hands. The woman reached out and shook his hand. \"Ying Yue, but my friends call me Jess. I work with Amir at Saint Holy Child Hospital.\" \"Are you also a nurse?\" \"Yes.\" \"I see. I work as an editor for this online news publication called The Young Progressives.\" The company that Nathan works at was established 10 years ago and has developed quite a following here in Womania. \"Oh, I''m familiar with that site. I''ve read a few articles there.\" \"Really? Well, we do our best to tackle issues about women''s rights and the racism faced by people of color in this country.\" \"That''s a cool thing to do.\" \"Not as much compared to you. You save lives. By the way, you mentioned that you grew up here in Womania?\" \"Yeah.\" \"It must''ve been so hard for you, you know, growing up in a foreign country.\" \"Not really because I consider Womania as my home.\" \"Oh, cool.\" \"Yeah.\" \"You know, in The Young Progressives we interview women and people of color and ask them about their experience here in this country and publish their stories.\" \"Yeah, I''ve read a few of those articles.\" \"Well, I can arrange for an interview with you with one of our writers if you want. I''m sure you have some exciting stories to share.\" \"I don''t know about that.\" \"Don''t worry, it can be through video chat if you like so you can just stay within the comforts of your home.\" \"Umm¡­\" \"I''m sorry I''m overwhelming you. I just get so nervous when I talk to a beautiful woman such as yourself that''s way out of my league,\" Nathan said and flashed a combination of an innocent and awkward smile. \"No, it''s not that. In fact, I''m very flattered. It''s just that my life isn''t that interesting so I don''t think I have anything worthwhile to say.\" Nathan scratched the back of his head. \"Really? Well, my company has interviewed hundreds of people throughout the years. And because of that, we learned how to quickly spot interesting people.\" Ying Yue chuckled. \"I''m sorry to break it to you, but my life really isn''t that interesting.\" Nathan smiled. \"Perhaps. But they also said that those who are reluctant to share are usually the ones who have the greatest stories to tell.\" Ying Yue''s smile became a little more pleasant. ''Okay, this is it.'' Nathan thought. \"Anyway, since you don''t want to share your wonderful stories with the world, can I invite you for dinner instead? Maybe this coming weekend?\" \"I''m sorry but I just got out from a long-term relationship so I can''t.\" ''Eh...? Oh well, at least I tried,'' Nathan thought. \"I see. Well, it was nice meeting you. Bye.\" \"Okay. Bye.\" Nathan walked away. As he was walking away, his thoughts started to wander around¡­ ''So that Kung Fu bitch was a fake Asian.'' ''Are her parents ashamed of her heritage or something that they refused to teach her how to speak Xudonian?'' ''Or maybe she''s adopted?'' ''Or was she just pretending?'' ''Maybe she''s one of those Asians who doesn''t date Asians?'' ''Hmm¡­ I guess I should try a white or black woman next time?'' ''But I heard that white women are sneaky because they would immediately call for the police. That''s scary.'' ''As for black women, I heard they are confrontational. That would be a headache but at least not as scary as white women.'' ''Maybe I should try someone that''s at least half-Asian just to be safe? You know, just to balance out the scales.'' He stopped walking. ''Wait, wait, wait¡­ That doesn''t make any sense. There are different kinds of Asians. And also with that logic, wouldn''t that also apply to white and black people?'' He massaged his forehead and then sighed. ''So many fucking things to consider.'' Putting aside his so-called lone wolf persona, back in Muwin, he never had to think about such things because it was his home country and more than 90% of the population were Muwinians. The thing about the Muwin, although foreigners can visit the country without any fear of danger (at least in the Northern and Central region), getting citizenship there is quite hard. The easiest way to get a citizenship for the average foreigners is to marry a Muwinian. What about the Southern region? Now this is where things get interesting. The fact that Southern Muwians hate the Northern Muwians simply because of the difference between religions, one can already imagine how is it for foreigners. The foreigners who believe in the Iklasian religion, if they want to be accepted in the Southern region community, they have to go the extra mile in being religious and maintain that. But now that Nathan himself was the foreigner, there were things that he never thought of before that he needed to consider. He resumed walking. ''Is it¡­ Is it possible that I could be racist?'' ''I mean, can preference be considered as a form racism?'' ''If yes, then does that mean preference can be considered as a form of sexism as well?'' He recalled the transgender commercial he saw this morning. A chill ran down his spine. There were some things in this world he would never dare to cross. To him, regardless of whatever anyone says, a transgender woman is still and would always be a biological man. ''Should I just stop dating in the meantime while I''m here in Womania?'' And then another issue popped inside his head. ''Wait¡­ what if that Kung Fu bitch was also a lesbo?'' He started having a headache. ''This is why using dating apps is easier because it filters things¡­'' Someone suddenly tapped his shoulder. Tap! \"Cuz,\" said a man. He looked over at his shoulder and saw it was Amir. \"Oh hey,\" said Nathan. ''I wonder if Amir is straight. I never saw him brought a man home though.'' Over the course of the 3 months, he had seen at least 15 women that were brought over by Amir and they were all extremely hot. ''But were they all ''real'' women though?'' \"Cuz, come with me. I want to introduce you to the rest of my friends,\" said Amir. \"I''m gonna pass,\" Nathan said and began to walk away. He wasn''t in the mood to talk to them. Well, to be exact, he rarely gets in the mood in talking with people. To him, if he does talk to people, there should at least be a purpose. Amir stopped him. \"Okay, the truth is I have a friend that''s coming but she''s a bit late due to some emergency.\" Nathan raised an eyebrow. \"So you want me to be something like a babysitter for your friends?\" \"No, no. Of course not. It''s just that this friend of mine that''s coming is someone that Aena doesn''t really like.\" \"Aena?\" Aena, Amir''s sister, was a bit spoiled. But for some reason, she feared Nathan. Whenever Nathan was around, she would tone down her usual attitude a little bit. \"I''m still going to pass.\" \"Please, cuz. All I''m asking is you just be there. You don''t have to talk that much. I''ll take care of it. And plus, one of my friends that I''m going to introduce you to is a movie producer from Iustitia and she knows a lot of people from the entertainment business. Who knows, you could hook up with her or some of her famous friends.\" Iustitia is one of the most powerful countries in the world. They also have the most powerful military tech in the world, making them somewhat like the \"international police\" who likes to get into everyone''s business. In fact, whenever there''s a war, you can bet that Iustitia has their hands on it under the guise of \"helping\" to fight for \"freedom\" and \"justice.\" Nathan squinted his eyes. He had no intention of whoring himself. Even though he was just an average man, he still had his own petty pride. The only thing he was interested in was the possibility of developing a business relationship with someone in the entertainment business. ''Well, this goes in line with the advice grandfather told me -- accumulate success.'' He glanced at his watch. 5:58 pm. \"Okay, but only in one condition.\" \"Name it.\" \"I''m leaving at 6:30 pm. I need you to back me up in convincing your parents.\" \"What''s wrong?\" \"Come on, cuz. You know the reason.\" Amir was aware of Kaab''s attitude towards Nathan and was also aware of Nathan''s anti-social nature so he didn''t really take it as an offense that Nathan would want to leave right away at his birthday party. \"So do we have a deal?\" \"Okay.\" Nathan followed Amir to where Aena and the others were. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? supercat_12000 ? RainRozae ? Yunley ? MyRedeemerLives ? devonta ? the_squacker To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 127 Recollection 5 Amir and Nathan arrived at where Aena and the others were gathered. They were standing and had drinks on their hands. Aside from Aena, there were three women and one man. Aena had long, thick and black hair. She was 21 years old, 5''5\" tall, slim, and had brown skin. Aena too was gifted with good looks but not as blessed when compared to Amir. Their parents, Abbas and Amira, weren''t bad-looking people. Their looks were above average, especially Amira''s. However, Amir was like someone who won the genetic lottery. If you saw him for the first time, you would be taken aback for a moment by his handsome face. Even racist people would admit that he was a good-looking person. \"Look at who I brought,\" said Amir. Aena and the others looked at Nathan. \"Hello,\" said Nathan. Aside from Aena, regarding the 4 other people, Nathan knew 3 of them. When Aena saw Nathan, she almost hid the drink on her hand but stopped herself after remembering that they were at Womania. The reason why she feared Nathan was because he reminded her of her father and the South Muwinians that she met. Uncle Abbas was very strict when it comes to her so they often had arguments. And when she began attending college back at Muwin, in the first couple of months, she acted like she was still at Womania. However, one day, she messed with a South Muwinian man and things got pretty rough real quick. In the South Muwinian culture, if you''re a woman and act like a man, don''t be surprised if you get into a fight with a South Muwinian man and they retaliate at you as if you were a man. Fortunately, she didn''t get hurt, at least physically, because a group of North Muwinian men immediately came to the rescue. But because of that experience, it finally dawned to her that Muwin isn''t Womania and remembered how she used to behave years ago before she and her family migrated to Womania. As for Nathan, although he appears to be \"friendly,\" she suspected that it was nothing but a facade, making her feel a little uncomfortable interacting with him. Nathan, of course, noticed Aena''s fear towards him. However, he doesn''t know why nor does he care about it. He already had problems his own problems to deal with. He could care less about the problems of others. As long as she didn''t bother him with her antics, everything was fine. Now for the other people with Aena¡­ The first person a black woman. \"Oh, Nathan. How are you? It''s been a while,\" the black woman said and hugged him. He hugged her back. \"I''m fine. Thanks.\" Her name was Moanna. She had a very cute face and was fat. However, Moanna isn''t technically fat. She was at best chubby. But from Nathan''s perspective, given that he spent most of his life living in Muwin and that Asians generally have a leaner skeletal frame compared to whites and blacks, his beauty standards are based on a Muwinian''s perspective. So to him, she was fat. Now, of course, there are some people who prefer fat women and there''s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own preferences. After Amir graduated high school back at Muwin and moved to Womania to study for college, Moanna was one of the first people he met and got acquainted with in college. And since then, they have remained best friends. She was also very close with Aena and Amir''s parents. To Aena, Moanna was like an older sister. However, there was a sad story to this. Based on what Nathan has observed, Moanna has feelings for Amir. Although she tries so hard to hide it, given Nathan''s own experience before with Vincent and Karen, he was able to spot it right away. And perhaps Amir is also aware of it. The second person he was familiar with was a Caucasian man. His name was Alexandre but prefers to be called Alex because according to him, it was a gender-neutral name. He was good-looking, had a great and sexy physique and loves to dress flamboyantly. And just like Moanna, he also got acquainted with Amir back in college. Alexandre hugged him. \"Hi, Nathan honey bear.\" He hugged him back. \"Um¡­ Yeah, hello.\" And the third person he was familiar with was a Caucasian woman. It was Ida whom he just met this morning back at the apartment. They shook hands. \"Nice to see you again. Finally with clothes,\" Ida said with a smile. Nathan smiled and said, \"Same here. Nice to finally see you without messy hair.\" \"Oooh~ What''s that supposed to mean?\" said Alexandre. Ida ignored it and just continued smiling. Meanwhile, Amir pulled out his phone and checked it. Nathan ignored them and proceeded to greet the last person of the group. It was someone he wasn''t familiar with. She was a slim and tall Caucasian woman sporting a buzz cut colored in purple. She had glasses, a nose ring, and had a few visible tattoos on her neck, arms and ankles. And speaking of tall, she was already as tall as Nathan. Add in with her heels, she towered over him by 3 inches. He was about to offer his hand but the woman hugged him, catching him by surprise. \"Hi, it''s nice to finally meet you. I''ve heard so much about you.\" Nathan hugged her back. ''Is this the movie producer?'' Nathan thought. \"Me too as well.\" After hugging, the woman said, \"Oh, Amir told you about me?\" Nathan''s eyes widened for a quick moment. ''Shit, shit, shit! Why did I say that? I''m not 100% sure if she''s the movie producer. For all I know, it could be Ida.'' He immediately tried to play it \"cool\". \"Yeah, Amir¡­ Um¡­ He told me great things about you.\" \"Oh, like what?\" Fortunately, Amir immediately came to the rescue. \"Brie, I''ve mentioned to him that one of my best friends who is a big shot movie producer from Iustitia and is also dating Kreshna, a famous actress from that thriller movie released last year is attending the party.\" Brie lightly slapped Amir''s arm. Pah. \"Oh my God. Stop saying embarrassing things like that. I''m not someone famous, you know.\" \"Ouch! You still like hitting people. I''m going to sue you and take some of that big shot movie producer money of yours,\" Amir said jokingly. \"Go ahead. I don''t even have that kind of money.\" They both laughed. As for how Brie and Amir became friends, Amir already graduated from college when they met at some high-class private party. They dated for 3 months before breaking up and decided to remain as friends. ''Heh~ So this crazy-looking tall bitch is really the movie producer.'' Nathan studied her features. To be honest, Brie was really beautiful that she could pass as a runway model. However, in his opinion, the purple hair buzz cut, nose ring and tattoos diminished her beauty. There was also the height issue. He felt conscious that a woman was taller than him. Excluding her height, maybe her fashion choice is probably what the people in this country or back at Iustitia find beautiful. In fact, he has seen a number of people dressed like her here in Womania. ''She scares me¡­'' And as for her name, it didn''t ring a bell. He has never heard about her. ''Should I ask what movies she produced to pretend that I''m interested?'' He thought about it for a moment but then decided not to. It was still too early to suck up for a potential business partnership. \"Brie honey, if you''re not famous, let''s exchange lives then. I''d rather be a movie producer and spend my life with movie stars than be stuck all day doing paperwork in some dungeon. Oh, and you can keep that actress girlfriend that you''re dating. I prefer dick,\" said Alexandre. Everyone laughed. \"Alex, didn''t you say last time you were bi?\" said Moanna. \"I changed. I now identify as a woman with trans experience.\" ''What the fuck is a woman with trans experience?'' Nathan thought. \"Brie, I read from the tabloids that you broke up with Kreshna. Is it true?\" said Aena. Just like Moanna, Aena also looks up to Brie as an older sister. Brie chuckled and said, \"Aena, don''t believe those tabloids. They''re all fake.\" She then turned to Nathan. \"Whatever Amir said to you about me, don''t believe him. I''m just a normal person.\" Nathan flashed a very warm, friendly smile and said, \"Sure.\" \"By the way, Brie honey, that girlfriend of yours,iIsn''t she going to star in that upcoming love story movie with Christopher Hensing?\" said Alexandre. Christoper Hensing was a very famous movie star in Iustitia. \"Um¡­ Yes.\" \"Oh my god, did you meet him?\" said Aena. \"Yeah, I met him twice at a private party. He was super friendly,\" said Brie. \"Hold on, honey. What kind of private party? Is it the kind where everyone gets naked?\" said Alexandre. \"Oh my God, Alex,\" said Aena and Moanna. \"What~? Don''t tell me you girls aren''t interested in hearing how long is Christopher''s dick is.\" \"You''re such a slut,\" said Moanna. \"Well, at least I''m an honest slut,\" Alex retorted. Listening to the conversation, Nathan looked at his watch. 6:02 pm. He planned to leave at 6:30 pm. ''I think I''m gonna need another drink if I want to survive this.'' \"Excuse me, guys. Hae-won just arrived. I''m going to bring her over,\" Amir said as he put his phone inside his pocket and left. Aena snorted. Nathan looked around if there were any waiters nearby carrying drinks. Unfortunately, there was none. \"I''m going to get another drink. I''ll be right back,\" said Nathan. \"I''ll go with you. I need one as well,\" said Ida. \"Oh, I can get one for you,\" said Nathan. \"No, no, it''s okay.\" \"Okay.\" Nathan and Ida left together. And as they were on their way to get drinks, Ida initiated a conversation. \"I didn''t know you were Amir''s cousin. I thought you were his roommate or something.\" ''What is this white bitch trying to say? I''m too ugly to be his cousin or do I look gay?'' Nathan thought. \"Well, at least you know now.\" \"So what do you do?\" \"I work at an online news publishing business.\" \"Oh, I used to write during my spare time back in middle school up to college.\" \"Oh, that''s nice.\" \"I''m an interior designer.\" \"Oh, that''s so cool.\" \"What''s the name of the company you work for?\" Nathan sighed inwardly. He wasn''t particularly interested in talking with Ida, especially after she mistook him for being gay -- at least from his understanding. And plus with his so-called lone wolf, he wasn''t the type who likes to do small talks. He only talks if there''s a purpose. And so far, he doesn''t see any purpose in talking with her. And no, it wasn''t because she wasn''t Asian or anything. Ida was beautiful and all. In fact, Nathan could only dream about talking to a girl like her, let alone sleeping with her. However, he just wasn''t interested. Maybe it''s because of insecurity or jealousy towards Amir or he thinks it''s a subtle form of incest that it just felt wrong -- though it''s another story if Ida is even interested in sleeping with him. And yes, there was Fatima from 3 years ago back at Muwin, but his perception of life has long since changed. \"The Young Progressives.\" \"I''m familiar with that site. You know, one time I read an article on that site about --\" Nathan decided to shut her off inside his mind. He wasn''t listening anymore and proceeded to autopilot by replying with \"I understand\" and \"That''s great.\" When they grabbed new drinks, Ida was still talking non-stop and Nathan was still on autopilot. He was surprised. Within the short time they left the group and arrived here to get new drinks, she already told him many things that would normally take a person to say in 15 minutes. He doesn''t know how did that happen, but somehow it did. And because of that, he decided to coin her as Machine Gun Mouth. His phone vibrated. Bzz¡­ \"My friend had this friend who knew a person --\" she said. \"Excuse me for a moment,\" he said. \"Okay.\" He pulled out his phone and saw that there was a text message from Amir. [Cuz, please watch over Aena for me. I''m bringing Hae-won over.] ''Hae-won?'' He squinted his eyes. He returned his phone to his pocket and massaged his forehead. ''Sigh... Why am I getting caught in this drama? Can''t I just have some peace of mind during my day off?'' \"Business matters?\" said Ida. He turned her with a very warm and friendly smile. ''Ugh! Right, I''m with Machine Gun Mouth. I really didn''t expect this from such a beautiful-looking person. She wasn''t even this talkative when we were with the group. What the hell!'' Nathan thought. \"Oh, it''s nothing. Just someone I know.\" \"I see. Your girlfriend?\" \"No. Let''s go back to the group?\" Nathan said. ''And why isn''t she sticking with Amir? Damn you, Amir. Do I look like someone who has so much free time to waste? Why the hell did you even invite her to this party if you''re not going to entertain her? Fuck me sideways!'' \"Sure. Okay, so as I was saying earlier, my friend had this friend who knew a person --\" ''Oh God, please make me deaf.'' Nathan returned to autopilot. He also quickened his steps. When they returned to the group, Ida became quiet once again. Amir hasn''t yet returned with Hae-won and the group was talking about movies. Nathan secretly glanced at Ida. ''What the hell? Why do I feel like she''s looking down on me? She isn''t willing to show her machine gun mouth to them, yet with me she doesn''t care?'' Unfortunately, the possibility of her being interested in him never crossed his mind. But then again, if she was really interested, one could also argue that she would''ve tried to present herself in a more pleasing manner. So who knows. Nathan decided to stand right next to Aena. When Aena saw him standing right next to her, she stiffened for a moment. He noticed it but didn''t care and just listened to the conversation to kill time. \"You know, I just that there aren''t that many big-budget action movies that feature a brave and strong woman of color as the main protagonist. It''s always a white woman that''s being represented,\" said Moanna. \"Yes, it''s sad to know that that''s still true in Western society. However, white women also suffer from the same thing. Studios typically prefer to cast male characters as the main protagonist and the woman is only there to be saved by the male protagonist, because God forbid a woman capable of defeating a man is shown in the screen or people would lose their mind, especially those basement-dwelling, neck-bearded man-child trolls,\" said Brie. \"Men have such fragile egos,\" said Moanna. \"But compared to us brown and black women, at least white women have it better. They''re seen as the ideal leading lady,\" said Aena. \"Yes, but it''s us black women who are the ones that are oppressed the most. If you take a look at studies conducted by experts regarding dating, it''s black women who are considered as the less desirable compared to other women,\" said Moanna. \"As a white woman, I''m very sorry about that. And if you ask me, all I see is a strong, beautiful and independent woman and men are just intimidated by you,\" said Brie. \"Yeah, they know they can''t handle a real woman,\" said Moanna. \"Facts,\" said Aena, Alexandre and Brie. \"I think that among the men, the white male is typically chosen as the ideal main protagonists,\" said Ida. ''Heh~ Machine Gun Mouth decided to join in? Her mouth must''ve started to become itchy from staying quiet,'' Nathan thought. \"Hold on. I know I''m a white male so I''m well aware of my privilege. But as a member of the Alphabet Community, I''m also part of the oppressed. At least with you women, you guys are being portrayed as people in media. But for us, we''re being portrayed as nothing but animals or the butt of the jokes,\" said Alexandre. \"But do you know what white women are also the most common victims of sexual harassment in the Western entertainment industry? And aside from that, women still are being paid less. It''s really sickening,\" said Brie. \"Oh well, we all know who are the people that caused such unfairness in the Western world. It''s the straight, sexist, racist white males that are in charge of the patriarchy,\" said Moanna. \"Amen to that, sister,\" said Alexandre. \"Did you guys see the news last week about what happened to that person of color immigrant? He was unarmed when he was gunned down by the police. And of course, the police officer that shot that poor man was white. Totally disgusting. Makes me ashamed to be a white male.\" \"It''s not really surprising. That''s what they do.\" \"It was so horrible. Straight white men make me sick.\" \"They truly are. I mean, how dumb can you be to shoot an unarmed person?\" \"They just wanted to flex their racist muscles.\" \"It''s just so disgusting.\" Listening to their conversation, Nathan was trying his best to hold back his laughter. \"What about you, Nathan?\" said Brie. \"Huh?\" \"I heard that you''ve only been here for about 3 months. Did you experience any discrimination?\" ''Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Why did you have to ask me this, you fucking crazy-looking bitch?'' Suddenly, a male''s voice interrupted their conversation. \"Hey, guys.\" They all looked at where the direction of the voice was coming from. It was Amir and Hae-won. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Anonymouse111 ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Yousaf_Khan_Luni ? Hocolate ? charlesn4 ? James_Black_2558 ? darklord12332 ? jayden13 ? asuran_tiger To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 128 Recollection 6 Amir and Hae-won were standing beside each other. Hae-Won did a quick bow and said, \"Hello, I''m terribly sorry for being late. There was an emergency and I had to deal with it right away.\" \"No problem. It''s fine,\" said the others and they began to greet her one by one in the form of a hug. However, Aena refused to hug her and just said hi. Nathan, on the other hand, just stood there as he stared at Hae-Won and waited for his turn, completely mesmerized. ''Wow¡­'' Hae-Won was 28 years old, 5''7\" tall, long black hair, a slim figure, small face, v-shaped jaw, small lips, straight eyebrows, fair and flawless skin, and beautiful brown eyes. As of her nationality¡­ ''So this is Hae-won...'' The funny thing about Asians is that if the general trend is that white and black people are racists with each other, Asians, on the other hand, are racists with each other. Yeppun is a country where the main religion is Renasitur. It''s also a country where beauty is something highly regarded in their culture and it wasn''t common for them to go for extremes just to attain the high beauty standards imposed in their society. As for the racism part, there are Asian countries where people generally have lighter skin and other Asian countries with darker skin -- Yeppunians and Xudonians is one of the former, while Muwinians is of the latter. In the Yeppunian''s case, due to their extreme beauty standards, they have a low opinion when it comes to Muwinians and other Asian countries with people that generally have darker skin. But of course, not all Yeppunians share this opinion, especially the ones who have traveled and lived abroad. Some of them are genuinely friendly and kind people who view everyone equally. What about Xudonia? Given that it''s the most powerful country among the Asian countries and even to many countries outside of Asia, they naturally have this sense of superiority. As a Muwinian, Nathan used to not like Xudonians as well. However, while he was studying in a Xudonian Language School back at the northern region of Muwin for a few months and also meeting some Xudonians there, he found out that they were just like every other people -- some of them could be good and kind people, while others could be assholes. But despite that experience, Nathan still had some doubts. Those Xudonians he met were in Muwinian soil. So for all he knows, they could just be pretending to be nice because they didn''t have the homecourt advantage. ''Heh~ I can''t believe Amir is associating himself with these racist Yeppunians. Womania is a really weird country. I wonder how many people are just pretending to get along.'' ''Hmm¡­ Is she a celebrity or something?'' Regardless of Nathan''s racist views, Hae-won was no doubt beautiful. And given his biased Asian preference when it comes to beauty, he was undeniably smitten by her. The others were finally done greeting Hae-won. \"Hi, it''s nice to meet you,\" Hae-won said and hugged him. ''Heh~ She dares to hug me?'' Nathan thought as he flashed a very friendly smile and hugged her back. \"It''s nice to meet you as well.\" The smell of her shampoo and cologne gently tickled his nose. After Nathan and Hae-won finished hugging, Brie asked a question. \"Hae-Won, are you in the entertainment industry?\" This was Brie''s first time meeting Hae-won. \"No, I''m a doctor at Saint Holy Child Hospital.\" \"Oh, but have you done any theatre work or something?\" \"Well, when I was still a teen I did some modeling here and there back in Yeppun.\" \"Are you interested in working in the entertainment industry? I''m a movie producer.\" \"I''m sorry, but I don''t have any talent in that. And plus, my passion is in the medical field.\" \"Forget about it, Brie. Many have already tried to recruit her,\" Amir said with a smile. \"I''m not the type who backs down easily,\" Brie said with a smile. Hae-won smiled as well. Over the years, she got used to such questions and invitations. Some of them were even indecent. And others were just downright creepy to the point where she even had to fear for her life. The group resumed their conversation from earlier. ''Heh~ She''s a doctor?'' Nathan secretly glanced at her. Over the course of the 3 months he lived with Amir, he had seen at least 15 women that Amir brought over at the apartment but never he has seen her. And as for the woman Amir brought over, they weren''t just your typical beautiful women. They were extremely hot, just like Ida. Nathan glanced at Hae-won''s fair and flawless skin. ''Hmm¡­ If I lick her, would she taste like milk?'' There is a stereotype that a number of Asians are crazy about white people -- strictly in terms of beauty. Whether this is true or not, in Nathan''s personal opinion, it''s true but at the same time it''s also not true. As an Asian man, Nathan doesn''t care whether his own skin is dark, brown or light. Perhaps if it was job-related, like being an actor or a model, he would care about it because whether he would deny it or not, having white skin is considered beautiful in most Asian media. As for the women, this is where things get complicated -- well, at least from Nathan''s own perspective. First of all, Nathan doesn''t have a specific preference for an Asian woman''s skin tone -- a beautiful face will always be a beautiful face. The skin tone of Asians is versatile. And just for the sake to make things simple, let''s just say brown is the default color. We''ll also ignore the people who are mixed. With the brown skin, they can either lighten it up or darken it. Getting it dark is easy. Just stay under the sun and you''ll be dark brown in no time. Meanwhile, getting your skin white is harder. With all the products and beauty regimen one must take and do, Nathan couldn''t help but appreciate the effort. It also shows that the woman cares about her beauty, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Moreover, from an Asian society''s perspective, it also signals that that person has the time and money to invest in skin whitening products, which to be frank is quite expensive -- unless you decide to use those cheap products which can be very dangerous. Now for the stereotype that Asians are crazy about Caucasians because of their skin color. Nathan can''t speak for other Asian people''s preferences, but at least for him, he isn''t because Caucasians are white by default. In his mind, appreciating a Caucasian''s white skin is like appreciating a person with a very fast metabolism for having a slim figure. If it was a person who has a normal or slow metabolism and is able to maintain a slim figure, then that for him is worthy of appreciation. Basically, from Nathan''s perspective, if he was going to appreciate something, it must have a sense of struggle or effort in order to achieve it. \"Nathan, about the question earlier,\" said Brie. \"Hmm?\" \"The one if you ever experienced any racism.\" ''Goddammit. Why can''t this crazy-looking bitch just drop it? Okay, what would be a good generic story that goes in line with their political beliefs¡­'' \"Umm¡­ One time, I went to this pub to meet someone and it was full of white people. And umm¡­ I didn''t feel welcomed because of the way they were looking at me. I probably did something wrong that I wasn''t aware of. But I didn''t really take it as an offense because I''m still new here in Womania and I''m still learning about the culture and all.\" ''I think that was a good story.'' \"Still, that''s no reason to treat you that way,\" said Brie. \"Do you know the pub? We have to warn the people about that place,\" said Moanna. ''Eh? Seriously?'' Nathan thought. \"Umm... I can''t remember the name. All I know it was near downtown.\" \"Nathan honey bear, on behalf of all white people, I would like to say sorry. I feel so ashamed that such a place could even exist here in Cram city,\" said Alexandre. \"I''m so sorry too,\" said Brie. \"Wait a minute¡­ Was it a pub for straight people?\" said Moanna. ''Eh? There''s something like that here?'' Nathan thought. \"I''m not sure. But I guess?\" \"Why am I not surprised? Alex, Brie you guys are safe. This is why straight white males are just trash,\" said Moanna. \"Facts,\" said Alex, Brie and Aena. ''What¡­?'' Nathan was dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Amir and Hae-won were just listening to the conversation. Brie then looked at Hae-won and said, \"What about you?\" \"Me?\" said Hae-won. \"Yeah, have you ever experienced any discrimination or racism here in Womania?\" \"No. So far my experience has been good.\" \"Oh, how long have you been here?\" said Brie. \"About 4 years,\" said Hae-won. \"4 years and you never experienced any racism here in Womania? REALLY?\" said Aena. \"¡­\" Hae-won didn''t really want to share her experience because most of it was related to her beauty -- all those indecent and creepy experiences she had really frightened her. \"Come on, guys. Let''s talk about something else. Something fun like --\" said Amir. \"Brother, why are you so protective of her?\" said Aena. \"Why you cheeky brat~\" Amir pinched her cheeks. \"Stop! Oh my God! Stop! Get away from me! You''re embarrassing me!\" Aena cried out. Everyone laughed. When Amir let go of Aena''s cheeks, he discreetly looked at Nathan, signaling him with his eyes. ''Heh~ You seem like you''re doing well. You don''t need my help,'' Nathan thought. Seeing Nathan''s indifference, Amir felt helpless. \"Well, I guess there are people like Hae-won who are lucky that they haven''t experienced any racism here in Womania,\" said Alexandre. \"Not as lucky as that immigrant who was gunned down last week,\" said Moanna. \"True, true.\" \"It was really disgusting what they did to that man.\" \"Wait. Who are you guys talking about?\" said Amir. \"Big brother, all you think about is chasing women,\" said Aena. Amir stared at Aena and acted like he was about to pinch her cheeks again. \"Noooo¡­.\" said Aena and hid behind Moanna. \"So, Amir, when are you going to settle down?\" Ida said all of a sudden. Everyone looked at Ida, including Nathan. Ida stared at Hae-won. \"Is she the one?\" ''Wow¡­ Machine Gun Mouth is going for the kill?'' Nathan thought. \"Excuse me?\" said Hae-won. \"Is she the one, Amir?\" said Ida. Nathan took a sip from his glass as he watched the drama unfolding right in front of him and began chanting inside his head. ''Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!'' Amir flashed a very warm and friendly smile that could disarm most people. \"Just like any other guy out there, I want to settle down with the person I love. But the person I''m in love with isn''t ready yet and I don''t want to force her in any way. All I can say that I will always be here patiently waiting for her.\" Nathan almost spat out his drink. ''What?! Even a fuckboi won''t say such script!'' Ida stared at Amir for a moment before making her way to Hae-won. Ida and Hae-won didn''t say a word. They just stared at each other. Everyone waited in anticipation. After 5 seconds, Ida looked away and held her gaze on Amir. \"Call me when you''re done with her.\" She left. Moanna, who was looking at the side, didn''t look so well. Although she had feelings for Amir and have already accepted the fact that he only sees her as nothing more than a friend, hearing him say that he was waiting for someone else really crushed her heart. \"Moanna¡­\" Aena said as she placed her hand on Moanna''s shoulder. \"I''m okay. Don''t worry.\" Aena bit her lip. The reason why she hated Hae-won was because she wanted Amir and Moanna to end up together. ''Eh~ Just like that? No sexy catfight? So boring¡­'' Nathan thought. He checked his watch. 6:14 pm. ''Sigh¡­ 16 minutes more and then I can leave.'' All of a sudden, someone slapped his back. Pah! \"Nathan my boy!\" A few drops of champagne spilled from his glass. \"Who the --\" said Nathan. When he turned to look at who slapped him, he saw that is was Kaab. Kaab flashed a quick smirk on him before setting his eyes on the others. Seeing what just happened, the others frowned as well. \"So what are you guys talking about? I got caught up because I was talking with my dad and uncle about some important high-profile business matters.\" He turned his eyes to Hae-won. \"Hello, I believe we haven''t met yet. I''m Kaab. Amir''s cousin,\" he said with a smile and extended his hand. Hae-won shook his hand and said, \"Hae-won. Nice to meet you.\" When they parted hands, Kaab noticed that Amir and Hae-won didn''t have a drink. \"You don''t have any drink?\" He turned to Nathan. \"Nathan my boy, go get us a drink.\" Aena, Alexandre, Brie, Moanna and Hae-won''s eyes looked at Nathan. Nathan clenched his jaw. And as for Amir, he frowned and said, \"Kaab, what are you doing?\" Kaab looked at Amir and waved his hand nonchalantly. \"He works for me.\" \"Your father is the CEO, not you.\" \"What difference does it make? I will own the company one day.\" Kaab turned to Nathan and said, \"What are you waiting for? Go, we''re thirsty.\" \"You know what, I don''t feel like drinking so I don''t need one. And plus, if I need something, I can get it by myself. I don''t need a man or anyone to do it for me,\" Hae-won said snappily. \"I''m going to pass as well,\" said Amir. Kaab scoffed. \"Oh well, I guess only me is here to have a great time.\" He turned to Nathan again. \"Nathan my boy --\" Amir, who was already so annoyed, reached out to grab Kaab and said, \"Listen --\" \"It''s okay. I''m going to get it,\" said Nathan. \"Good boy,\" Kaab said and sneered. \"Nathan --\" said Amir. But Nathan raised his hand and just walked away. As he was walking... He gritted his teeth. ''I''m definitely leaving after this!'' Nathan arrived at the table where drinks were being served. He put down his glass and grabbed another glass of champagne. But before heading back, he spat on it. Spit! When he was about a couple of feet away from the group, he saw that Kaab already had a drink on his hand. Unfortunately for Nathan, when he left, a waiter carrying drinks passed by. Nathan decided to finally leave. And as he was about to make his way to the exit, Kaab noticed him and called him. \"Nathan my boy, come over here!\" Nathan ignored him and continued walking. Kaab immediately followed him. \"Hey! Are you listening to me?\" Kaab finally got close to Nathan and pulled his arm, causing him to stop. \"Did you fucking hear me, FOB?\" Nathan crushed the glass of champagne on his right hand. Pscht! He turned around and grabbed Kaab on the neck with his left hand and threatened to stab him with the broken glass on his right. \"I DON''T KNOW WHAT YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM IS WITH ME AND I DON''T FUCKING CARE WHY. BUT IF YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, I''LL GUT YOU LIKE A FUCKING PIG!\" Nathan said in Muwinian. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at Nathan and Kaab. Kaab''s eyes widened and his knees grew weak. He could see the blood dripping from Nathan''s hand. And from the look of Nathan''s eyes, he could see that he was dead serious in stabbing him. He didn''t dare to utter a word. \"What''s going on here?!\" said Kaaf. \"Nathaniel!\" said Uncle Abbas. Nathan turned his head to them. He continued speaking Muwinian, \"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I''M GETTING TIRED OF THIS BULLSHIT! I DON''T EVEN KNOW OR CARE ABOUT 90% OF THE PEOPLE HERE!\" Amir arrived next to Abbas and Kaaf and said, \"Father, uncle, please. Let me explain. It was Kaab''s fault. He was being disrespectful not only Nathan but also to the other guests.\" Abbas looked at Amir and then to Nathan and Kaab. Kaaf did the same as well. Kaab''s face was pale and there was a puddle of water underneath his feet. He wet himself. ''What a shameless son!'' Kaaf thought. \"Nathan, please release --\" But before he could finish his sentence, Nathan pulled Kaab closer to his face and whispered coldly in Muwinian, \"Remember what I said.\" He pushed Kaab away and left the room. Abbas looked at Kaad with sharp eyes. And with a cold voice he said, \"Kaaf, we''re brothers. But remember, I was the one who helped you to start your business and I treat Nathaniel like a son. If I hear again that you''re mistreating him, you can forget about whatever family ties we share.\" *** Nathan was walking down the corridors. ''Fuck this shit!'' He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood on his hand. He flicked the handkerchief a couple of times to make sure there weren''t any shards stuck on it before wrapping it on his hand. He let out a deep sigh. ''I need a smoke.'' He looked around his surroundings. ''Now where the fuck is the smoking area?'' Another cultural rule he learned here in Womania, especially in Cram city, is that most people here have a strong dislike towards cigarettes but don''t mind if it''s weed or vape. And no, he would rather die than do vaping because it feels like sucking a mini-dildo. Even if it''s cocaine or whatever illegal drug it is, they too wouldn''t mind. But if it''s a cigarette, they would look at you as if you just killed their pet or something. He never understood the reason behind it, which is why it''s so hard to find a smoking area here within Cram city. But right now, he really wanted a cigarette to calm down his nerves. He saw a person coming his way. It was one of the employees of the hotel. \"Excuse me.\" \"Yes, sir? How may I help you?\" \"I''m looking for the smoking area.\" \"I''m very sorry, sir. We don''t have a public smoking area here. You will have to rent a room if you want to smoke.\" \"Seriously?\" \"I''m very sorry, sir. Would you like to rent a room, sir? I can arrange it for you.\" \"No.\" The employee then noticed Nathan''s right hand. \"Sir, do you need medical --\" \"Useless.\" Nathan left the employee. \"Nathan!\" someone called out his name. It was Amir''s voice. \"Cuz, wait up!\" He ignored him. He continued walking and head to an elevator. He decided to get out of the building and find some alley where he can smoke a stick or two. Ding! The doors of the elevator opened and he stepped in. Amir caught up and entered the elevator as well. Nathan pressed the 1st floor. \"Cuz, let me see your hand.\" \"Don''t bother. I''m fine.\" \"Cuz, about what happened --\" Nathan raised his right hand. \"I''m not in the mood so just drop it.\" Amir stared at Nathan for a moment and then said, \"Okay.\" They stood inside the elevator without saying a word, patiently waiting as it reached the first floor. Ding! The elevator arrived on the 1st floor and its doors opened. Waiting outside of the elevator was a very beautiful half Asian and half Caucasian woman with black hair in a red dress. Something about her demeanor made her so attractive and she exuded so much confidence. She took a quick glance at Amir''s handsome face and then to Nathan''s right hand that was wrapped with a bloodied handkerchief. Amir glanced at her and checked her out. Beside the woman were two men in suits happily chatting with each other, obliviously to their surroundings. They looked like they were either her brothers or cousins. One had an average body size, while the other was chubby. There was also a group of five scary-looking men in suits behind them that seems to be their bodyguards, looking at Amir and Nathan, especially with Nathan because of his right hand. One of them was a black man about 6''7\" tall. And despite his suit, you could tell that he had thick muscles underneath. Nathan paid no attention to them because his head was swirling with so many negative emotions at the moment and exited the elevator right away. Amir followed behind. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Naufal_Arc ? Yerby7213 ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Tonight_Gamers ? Daoist619289 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 129 Recollection 7 Nathan was walking down the streets outside of Haven Hotel. Behind him was Amir who just put away his phone. \"Cuz, the car service will arrive here in about 20 minutes to take you back to the apartment.\" Nathan continued walking, making his way through the people passing by. \"Cuz! Cuz, wait! We should wait here.\" Nathan stopped and turned around. \"I''m looking for a spot to smoke.\" He resumed walking and Amir continued following him. A couple of minutes later¡­ He found an alley. ''Looks good.'' But before entering he looked at the side if there were any police officers nearby. He saw 2 officers a dozen meters away having a snack. He entered the alley and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lighter. Click! He lit one cigarette and blew out smoke in the air. \"Woooh.\" \"Cuz, you should get that hand of yours checked in case of infection.\" Nathan ignored Amir''s advice and offered him a cigarette. \"I''m good,\" said Amir. Nathan stared out in the streets, looking at the people passing by. He blew out a handful of smoke. ''Oh fuck¡­'' ''Why did I fucking do that?'' ''Stupid!'' ''Idiot!'' ''Ugh¡­ I just want to run away and hide¡­'' He let out a deep sigh. ''My emotions got the best of me¡­'' ''And I''m seriously going to get fired¡­'' ''But what was I supposed to do¡­?'' ''My God¡­'' ''All I want is just some peace and quiet in my life¡­'' ''This was supposed to be my day off but here I am wasting it with people¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ I can''t lose this job¡­'' ''Should I beg for forgiveness or stand my ground¡­?'' He face-palmed himself. ''I wish I could go back in time and undo what I''ve done¡­'' ''I wish I was just the only person in the world¡­'' All of a sudden, a man hidden in the alley emerged and approached Amir and Nathan. \"Hey, man. Can you spare a stick?\" Nathan turned around to see who it was. It was a homeless man about 30 years old. \"Fuck off, trash! If you come near I''ll kick the shit out of you!\" said Nathan. \"Sorry, man,\" the homeless man said and quickly returned to where he emerged and disappeared. \"Cuz, that was uncalled for,\" said Amir. Nathan looked at Amir for a moment and then scoffed before resuming smoking. In his mind, people like that homeless person were nothing but useless humans. That person was still around 30 years old and didn''t look disabled so he should be able to get a job. Giving him would only encourage this person not to get his life together and stand on his own two feet. ''I work my ass off and trash like that just want to ask for free things? Do I look like a masochist who enjoys slaving myself to work just to give free stuff to people? Fucking lazy people like that might as well just commit suicide!'' A few minutes passed and Nathan finished his cigarette. He lit another one. Click. \"Cuz, about what happened back at the hotel, don''t worry about it. Kaab had it coming. You''d be surprised by how many people don''t like him. Uncle Kaaf is also well aware of his behavior. I''m sure things will work out just fine.\" Nathan continued smoking in silence. A minute passed. \"By the way, cuz, the hospital that I work at is offering free therapy,\" said Amir. \"...\" \"You can visit there once a week.\" Nathan looked at him and raised an eyebrow. \"What are you trying to say?\" \"Cuz, I know what it feels like to be in a new environment. It''s a weird feeling and it changes you. I remember when I first arrived here in Womania. It took me about 4 months before I finally got over my homesickness. What really helped me at that time was talking to a therapist and meeting new people.\" Nathan laughed. \"What the fuck? Look, cuz, I don''t need someone to tell me what and how should I feel nor do I need the company of others to be happy. I''m not that weak and desperate, let alone crazy.\" Amir frowned. \"I''m serious, cuz. You know, I''ve met a lot of patients in my time as a nurse. Talking to a therapist can help you open up more.\" Nathan frowned as well. \"Open up? Cuz, do you see me judging or telling you how to live your life? Look at you, when you''re not working, you spend most of your time chasing women. You''re a fucking sex addict. And plus, last I heard, nurses aren''t psychologists.\" \"That''s how you see me? Someone who only cares about sex?\" Nathan closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. That momentarily burst of emotion was an accident. He really didn''t have any intention of getting into a fight with Amir. But the emotions he had earlier back at the party still hasn''t yet completely dissipated within him. ''My God¡­ This is the problem with people. Why can''t they just leave me alone and mind their own business? Is it so hard to ask for some peace and quiet? That''s all I fucking want.'' He opened his eyes. \"I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to say it like that. What I meant was everyone has their own desires.\" \"You think I have it easy?\" \"Look, I really didn''t mean to say that. So just drop it, okay? I''m sorry.\" \"Listen --\" Amir tried to grabbed Nathan''s collar. But as soon as he was about to, Nathan dropped his cigarette and struck him in the chin with his right palm. Pah! Amir fell on his butt and was in a daze. Nathan was dumbfounded. ''What the hell¡­?'' The strike he just did wasn''t even that strong. He was only able to use about 50% of his strength because of his wound. Moreover, Nathan himself wasn''t a professional fighter or a trained soldier and was nowhere close to be considered as a good fighter. Yes, he fought before and there were fights that he won and also fights where he lost. However, most of the fights that he won were through sneak or surprise attacks so it''s hard to say if he could really win in a fair fight. However, looking at Amir, he couldn''t help but suspect that this cousin of his probably never got into a physical fight before in his entire life. He tried to recall some of his memories about Amir before he and his family migrated to Womania. ''Well¡­ come to think of it¡­'' He always felt weird hanging out with Amir when they were still young. Aside from the fact that Amir was 2 years old than him, the people that he hangs out with were too classy for him that he couldn''t relate with them. One time, he played outdoor basketball with Amir and his friends. And before they started playing, they put on lotion. Sure, he understood that they were concerned about getting sunburned or whatever, but at least do that in private. Realizing what he did, Nathan felt extremely guilty. \"Cuz, I''m sorry,\" he said as helped Amir get up. Amir was massaging his chin as he was pulled up by Nathan. \"That was the 3rd time in my entire life that someone punched me.\" Nathan was again dumbfounded. \"I''m really sorry about that.\" \"No, it''s fine. I was being annoying.\" \"No, no, no. I understand that you were just trying to help.\" \"Okay.\" Nathan lit another cigarette. Click. \"Cuz, I know you have your own experiences and I can only imagine what it feels like to be in your shoes. But I too have a lot of shit on my plate,\" said Amir. \"I know,\" Nathan said as he stared a young couple passing by. \"No, you don''t. What I''m trying to say is that my life isn''t just all sunshine and rainbows. I mean, whenever anyone sees me, all they see is my face and my father''s money and thinks I''m just this happy-go-lucky guy without a care in the world.\" \"...\" Amir chuckled. \"You may be surprised to hear this but father and mother are actually disappointed in me. They wanted me to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer or something worth bragging to their friends. To them, I''m nothing but an errand boy for doctors.\" \"...\" \"Well, at least they have Aena to fulfill that dream.\" Nathan looked at Amir but he still didn''t say a word. \"And just between you and me, there have been times that I actually contemplated suicide before. But thanks to the help of my therapist and my friends, I managed to suppress that urge.\" Nathan looked away and resumed staring at the people passing by. He never expected Amir to have such thoughts. ''What the hell...'' In his mind, there are some people who genuinely need therapy because of some life-changing event that they''ve experienced or they''re currently dealing with. However, at the same time, going to therapy has also become nothing more than a hobby that rich people like to do. Because of that, he sees therapy as a hobby for overly sensitive rich people. As for whether he needs therapy or not, to him, although he wasn''t a saint or anything, he has never gone through any severe trauma. His relationship with his parents? Is there even such a thing as a perfect family? His experience with women? Who hasn''t experienced any heartache and got rejected? What happened to Maaz? Who hasn''t been screwed in life? Of course, what happened to Maaz was too severe. However, the main idea of getting screwed over by others is something that everyone experiences in life. His work life? Who doesn''t hate their job? Anyone who says they love their job is either a liar or not earning that much because once money is involved, it changes things. To Nathan, those things were just part of life''s struggles that everyone deals with. The important thing is whether that person can learn from those experiences and adapt to a new mindset in order to conquer those obstacles. With that, he strongly believes that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him because he was simply playing the game of life and doing his best to survive while operating under the established rules. There was no need for him to go to a therapist or whatsoever. It''s not like he murdered someone or committed a heinous crime or anything. And plus, he didn''t want to be somebody else''s guinea pig. He was already slaving himself to his job. That alone is already humiliating enough. ''But if he really does have suicidal thoughts, then¡­'' Bzz¡­ Amir''s phone suddenly buzzed. He pulled out his phone and checked it. \"The driver has arrived. He''s waiting in front of the hotel.\" \"About time.\" Nathan flicked his cigarette away before walking back. Amir put his phone away and followed him. They walked in silence. Amir massaged his chin and said, \"I think I may have to sue you if you can''t get any girls anymore.\" \"I doubt that would even happen,\" Nathan said with a smile. \"Jokes aside, I really think you should consider going to a therapist. I can recommend you to the therapist I''m seeing. He''s a really wonderful and talented person.\" Nathan let out a sigh and said, \"No offense, but I think people who have never experienced any severe trauma and goes to a therapist are... well... weak.\" \"None taken. Well, there are also support groups if you want.\" \"Still the same.\" \"Okay. How about I set you up with a hot therapist? I even know a few who would be willing to get ''personal'' -- if you know what I mean,\" Amir said and flashed a lewd smile. Nathan laughed and then said, \"Like that woman named Hae-won?\" Amir laughed as well. \"Unfortunately, she''s a pediatrician.\" \"Ah¡­ I see.\" \"You like her? Can''t blame you. She''s really a good person. One of the nicest people I''ve ever met in my entire life.\" \"...\" \"As a matter of fact, one time, there was this 10-year-old kid diagnosed with cancer at the hospital. The insurance company stopped paying for the treatment and the parents ran out of money as well. Hae-won then secretly donated money from her own pocket for the treatment to continue. She didn''t tell anyone about it. Even the kid''s parents don''t know who the money was from. No one knows about it except me.\" \"Heh~ Really now.\" \"Don''t worry, cuz. I wouldn''t mind if you decide to pursue her as well. All is fair in love and war.\" \"...\" \"You know, I''ve been trying for years to get through her, but she just isn''t interested. I''m even starting to suspect she''s probably a lesbian. But I doubt it because I''ve dated women who identified as lesbians before. And let''s just say I''ve converted them,\" Amir said with a triumphant smile. ''Perhaps it''s because she''s a racist?'' Nathan thought. \"Just go for another woman then. Problem solved.\" \"Or maybe I''m just not her type. Perhaps she prefers someone like you,\" said Amir. \"...\" They walked in silence for a minute or two before Amir started talking again. \"Cuz, are you by any chance afraid of women?\" Nathan stopped and looked at Amir with an are-you-serious expression. Amir stopped as well and said, \"I mean, I get that some people would be intimidated by a woman like Hae-won but --\" \"Oh fuck off,\" Nathan said and resumed walking. Amir resumed walking as well and said, \"Cuz, I didn''t mean to insult you or anything. The point I''m making is --\" \"Look, cuz. I''m not intimidated by Hae-won or anything. I''m just a realist and I''m a busy person. I don''t have that much time and energy to spend on chasing women all day.\" Amir placed his arm over Nathan''s shoulders, \"Sure, Mr. Responsible,\" and then pointed, \"Take a look at that chick over there.\" Nathan looked at the woman Amir was pointing at. It was a 23-year old mixed-raced woman who was at least an 8 in terms of looks walking with her boyfriend. \"See the guy she''s with? If you''re gonna ask me, I would say you''re way better-looking than him.\" Nathan looked at the guy. It was a short and chubby Asian man in his early 30s and was quite fashionably dressed. Amir continued, \"Those who lack the knowledge and experience would automatically assume that the reason why a woman like her is with someone like him is because he''s rich or whatever negative thing they can think of to validate their jealousy. I''m going to tell you based on my experience that that isn''t the case. That guy right there is a genuine ladies'' man.\" Nathan brushed Amir''s arm away and said, \"I could care less.\" \"My point is, it''s not about looks or money. It''s all about confidence.\" Nathan didn''t say anything and just rolled his eyes. \"Okay, I know it sounds cliche. But just try to think about it. How come there are guys in this world who, despite having the looks and money, still can''t get the girl that they really want and only end up being bitter?\" \"...\" \"Look at me. Not to brag but I''m well aware that I''m good-looking. However, even I got dumped and had my heart ripped apart a couple of times. And as you already know, I''m currently even struggling to get through Hae-won.\" \"...\" \"You see, it''s all about confidence. And women could smell whether a man is really confident with his own skin or just pretending. And to build real confidence is going out there to hone your skills.\" Nathan was about to tell Amir to just drop it once and for all because he really doesn''t care about this PUA stuff when suddenly a small person bumped into his leg, causing him to stop. Bam! The small person fell on their butt. Nathan looked at the person who bumped him. It was a 10-year old Caucasian girl with black hair and big emerald eyes who looked like a porcelain doll. His eyes widened in horror and he gasped. He immediately stepped back and raised his hands up in the air. The last thing he wanted to be accused of hurting a child. \"Alice!\" a woman cried out. Nathan looked at the woman who cried out. The woman was also a Caucasian with black hair. She was around in her late 20s, very beautiful and her features were similar to the kid. ''The mother?'' Beside her was a blonde-haired Caucasian man in his early 30s and had a military air on him. ''I guess this is the father?'' Both of them were coming over. Still raising his hands, Nathan quickly said, \"I''m very sorry. I swear to God I honestly didn''t see her. It was all an accident.\" The woman pulled the kid up. Meanwhile, the man said, \"No, no, no, it''s us who should apologize. She had too much sugar today. Sorry about that.\" \"Alice, what do you have to say?\" said the mother. \"I''m sorry, mister,\" the kid said. \"We''re very sorry for causing you trouble,\" the mother said and shot a quick glance at Amir. \"It''s okay,\" Nathan said and resumed walking. Amir didn''t say anything and continued following him. When they were a couple of feet away, Amir said, \"That was one hell of a MILF.\" Nathan rolled his eyes. \"Why didn''t you pick her up then?\" \"Cuz, you may think of me as nothing but a sex addict but there are things that I would never do. One of them is sleeping with married women.\" \"Sure.\" \"Anyway, so back what I was talking about.\" \"Cuz, I know you''re passionate about those things. But I''m not,\" Nathan said with a slightly irritated tone. Sensing it, Amir decided to drop it and said, \"By the way, if uncle Kaaf fires you, which I doubt would even happen, I know some friends that could give you some writing gigs. Perhaps even Brie could help you. You could be a screenwriter or something.\" \"We''ll see about that.\" Screenwriter? Nathan doesn''t know anything about screenwriting. A few minutes later, they finally returned to Haven Hotel. There was a chauffeur waiting beside a car near the entrance. Nathan went over to the car and opened the door of the backseat. And before he entered, Amir stopped him. \"Cuz.\" Nathan stopped and turned around. \"If you ever decide that you want to see a therapist, just tell me, okay? I''ll introduce you to the best ones I know. Or you can just talk to me. Many have said that I''m a great listener.\" \"Yeah, whatever. I''ll see you later back at the apartment,\" Nathan said before entering the backseat and then closing the door. The car drove off. Inside the car¡­ Nathan was looking out the window, watching the bright lights and the parades of people walking on the sidewalks. There was rap music playing on the radio. The rapper was rapping about how he was slowly losing his mind from conforming to everything imposed by the government and society. Listening to the song, Nathan recalled what Amir told him and smirked. ''If I''m broken, then the whole world is broken.'' ''Everything in this world has a condition.'' ''I''m simply operating under the rules established by the ones before me and doing my best to survive in this rat race.'' ''It''s basic logic.'' He looked down at his right hand. ''One day I will be able to live the peaceful life that I want -- or something close to that.'' ''A life where I won''t have to always bow down to society¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Naufal_Arc ? Zero_2000 ? Meilstrem ? MyRedeemerLives (First Seat Power Immortal) ? darklord12332 ? Yerby7213 To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 130 Snap Present day. 11:09 pm. Lightning in the sky and it was quickly followed by a roar of thunder. Kraaag! Rain began to fall. Pitter-patter! Water ran down on Nathan''s invisible body, forming a 2.2m-tall ghostly silhouette in the middle of the rain. He closed his brown eyes. Perhaps it was the zombie apocalypse¡­ Perhaps it was because of the spectacle involving his cousin he saw earlier¡­ Perhaps it was because of the memory he recalled¡­ Perhaps it was because of the rain¡­ Perhaps it was everything¡­ He slowly opened his eyes. What little warmth his eyes had completely vanished. All that was left was a dead and cold gaze. \"All of these people¡­\" he coldly whispered under his breath. He pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger from his right thigh before walking away. *** An Asian man and a black man were standing beside a building taking shelter from the rain. They were among the guards scheduled to patrol tonight and were wearing System items. \"I won the bet,\" said the black man. \"You didn''t. We bet whether it will rain at midnight or not. It''s still 11pm,\" said Asian man. \"Are you seriously going to pull that kind of bullshit excuse? Give me what you fucking owe me!\" \"Fuck you. You should be thankful that I''m not asking for your payment. Let''s call it a draw.\" \"What? What kind of fucking logic is that?\" The Asian man didn''t say anything and proceeded to check his weapon. \"Fuck you, man,\" the black man said before walking away to find a corner to piss. But just after 3 steps, a long knife was slashed across his neck and a 2.2m-tall dark figure appeared right in front of him. Whoosh! The black man''s decapitated body and severed head fell to the pavement. Thud! Thud! The dark figure vanished. Thanks to the rain, the Asian wasn''t able to hear what happened. He was still checking his weapon. ''Stupid fool. As I''m going to agree to give you a [Small] Healing Potion and a [Grade D] Repair Kit,'' he thought. All of a sudden, a large hand appeared and grabbed him by the face. And before he could even react, a long knife cut through his neck. Whoosh! Blood spurted as the body fell to the pavement. Thud! The black figure dropped the severed head before disappearing. Thud! *** Costa Mansion -- the largest mansion in Corn town. A Caucasian man in his late 50s was sitting behind a desk and reading a book inside a study room. The original tenants of the mansion were \"removed\" when this Caucasian man and his group arrived in the town about 2 days ago. There was a knock on the door. Knock! Knock! Knock! \"Master Walter, Master Wesley is here,\" said a woman behind the door. Kacha! The door swung open and a young Caucasian man in his mid-20s entered. Kacha! The door behind him was closed. \"Dad, you called for me? I was --\" The Walter raised his finger. Wesley immediately sealed his lips. Walter flipped a page and continued reading. Not a word was said between father and son. The room was completely silent except for the rain outside drumming against the concrete walls and rooftop along with the occasional growls of thunder. 5 minutes later¡­ Walter closed the book and placed it on the desk. He tapped a head between his legs. A Caucasian woman got up and wiped the fluids on her lips with a handkerchief before heading for the door. Kacha! After the Caucasian woman left, Walter tapped his fingers on the book he just read and said, \"This book was published 10 years ago. Do you know what makes it so special?\" Wesley was silent. Walter smiled and said, \"Of course you don''t.\" He got up and slowly walked towards the window. He held his hands together behind his back and stared outside. Walter continued, \"The author of that book is one of the last remaining pure Womanians in this country.\" \".¡­\" \"When I was still a young boy, I remember growing up in a neighborhood with real Womanians. And during that time, it was rare to see foreigners.\" \"...\" \"But when I entered high school, I started seeing more foreigners. I remember being so surprised at that time because the other real Womanians treated it like it wasn''t anything special.\" \"...\" \"Although I was only a teenager, I already knew the consequences of what was going to happen in the future.\" \"...\" \"And with each passing year, more and more foreigners came.\" \"...\" \"And as their numbers grew, their demands also grew as well.\" \"...\" \"It really broke my heart -- watching everything happen before my eyes. We were slowly being invaded and they were mixing their inferior genes with ours.\" \"...\" \"We were losing our culture, our tradition, our identity. All for what? Economic progress?\" \"...\" \"It even came to the point where these filthy foreigners and our very own women banded together against us Womanian men, treating us like 2nd class citizens in our own country.\" \"...\" \"This is a failed nation.\" \"...\" \"But¡­\" Walter raised a finger. \"But God hasn''t completely abandoned us. We have been blessed with this apocalypse. He gave me, he gave us the chance to correct things.\" He put his hand down and turned around to face his son. \"And for that I am eternally grateful.\" He slowly walked over to his son. \"My son, do you remember what I told you last time?\" Wesley bit his lip and then said, \"Dad, what happened was --\" Pah! He was slapped on the cheek and fell to the floor. He palmed his swollen cheek. And with red eyes, he looked at his father and cried out, \"Dad, why?!\" \"Why?! You dare to ask me why?! We''re already a dying breed yet you still dare to kill our own kind?!\" \"Dad, those people that I sacrificed earlier refused to follow orders! I was protecting our group''s interest by making an example out of them!\" Walter let out a sigh and said, \"Son, listen to me. For once in your pathetic life, I need you to focus. Get this inside that thick skull of yours: Do not touch our own kind. I don''t care if you torture those filthy foreigners, kill them or whatever degenerate things you do with them. Just don''t touch our kind. Can you do that? Do you understand what I''m saying?\" Wesley looked down on the floor and nodded. \"Answer me properly!\" Wesley looked at his father''s eyes and replied, \"Yes, dad. I understand.\" \"Good. And when there are no others left, we will then start to remove the foreigners within our ranks.\" *** 11:17 pm. Inside a house. It was dark. A golden retriever was barking in the living room. \"Woof!\" \"Woof!\" \"Woof!\" It was barking at the new \"pet\" of the house. The new pet was Moanna who was lying on her back with her tongue out and spreading her legs. The human-dogs had their limbs chopped off but just enough to let them crawl or walk on four legs. Their eyes were dug out, their teeth pulled out and their hair completely shaved off. Louie climbed down the stairs with a flashlight on hand and said, \"Max, stop it!\" The golden retriever stopped barking and sat on a corner. Moanna got up and crawled to Louie. \"Arr~ Arr~\" Moanna whimpered as she brushed her head against Louie''s crotch. Louie pushed Moanna away and said, \"Please stop it. You don''t have to act like that anymore.\" However, Moanna continued to act like a dog. One can only imagine what kind of brutal torture she had to go through for her to completely throw away her humanity and be reduced to such a mental state. \"Louie! What are you doing?\" a woman said from upstairs. It was already late and they went to bed about 20 minutes ago. \"Mom¡­\" \"Return to your room!\" \"But mom¡­\" \"Listen to me or I swear to God I will --\" With his head held down, Louie climbed the stairs, head back to his room and closed the door. Kacha! After seeing her son return to his room, she wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. She trembled and softly whispered, \"I''m sorry¡­\" As much as she wanted to help the human-pet, she feared more for her son''s safety. Ever since the Chosen One and his group arrived, the town has been like a living hell. Those who opposed them or did something they didn''t like would be taken and tortured. And those who survived the torture will be turned into human-dogs. Because of that, they had no choice but to cooperate. In fact, some of the townsfolk even participated in the torturing to ensure their own safety. After regaining her composure, she opened her eyes and turned to Moanna. Her eyes widened in horror. Lighting flashed outside, revealing Moanna and Max lying in a pool of blood. Standing beside them was a 2.2m-tall dark figure with a bloody knife on its hand and was looking at her. Kraaag! The sky roared in thunder. The dark figure began climbing the stairs, making its way towards her. \"Who are you?! What do you want?!\" the mother said as she took a step back. The dark figure didn''t respond and continued climbing the stairs. When the dark figure arrived right in front of her, her back was already against the wall. She fell to the floor and cried, \"Please don''t hurt us! My son is only a child and I''m the only one he has left!\" Louie, who was inside his room, heard his mother''s voice coming from outside his room. He got up from his bed and took out a [Grade D] Training Stick under his bed and his flashlight before heading for the door. Kacha! When he opened the door, he saw his mother lying on the floor decapitated. Standing beside her was a 2m-tall dark figure. It turned its head towards him. The dead cold gaze of the dark figure left him completely petrified. His feet were frozen to the floor. His voice lost. The only thing he could do was watch the dark figure made its way to him. The dark figure finally reached him and the last thing he saw was its large hand reaching out for his face. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? alexman ? zukidoto ? Jose_Enrique ? the_squacker ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Kingsean230 ? Jha_Mes ? Zero_2000 ? Juzishu ? Mustafa665 ? Gabe_Salinar To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my \"chapter drafts\" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 131 Snap 2 11:37 pm. Inside a barn house. The sky continued to rain, and flashes of lightning and roars of thunder continued as well. A naked black woman missing an arm and two legs was strapped on top of a table. There was a fork sticking out of her left eye socket. "Hey, dumbass. You killed her," said an Asian man. A black man wiggled the fork and said, "Wake up, bitch!" When there was no response from the woman, he pulled out the fork and slapped the woman''s face. Pah! "I said wake up!" There was still no response. The Asian man let out a sigh and said, "How many times do I have to tell you to use a spoon, not a fork?" "Remind me again who was the smartass who told me that she has 20 points in VIT?" said a black man. The Asian man was silent. He did say that so they were confident that she wouldn''t die easily. "And plus, it''s no fun using a spoon to scoop out an eyeball. There''s no challenge at all. It''s all about the process." "Yeah, right. Let''s get another one. And this time, I''m scooping the eyes out, while yours are the limbs." "Okay. Which one should we get this time?" "I''m thinking a white bitch." "A white bitch? Are there still even left?" "Let''s take a look. If there''s none, we''ll pick whatever." "Okay." They headed over to the cages where they kept the prisoners. It was at the end of the barn house. As they were headed there¡­ "AAAHHH!!! PLEASE HAVE MERCY!!! AHH!!!" a woman''s voice cried out. Both the Asian man and black man turned to look at who was screaming. A naked Asian woman was tied to a table with her ass sticking out. Behind her were a group of men laughing as they were trying to stick in as many pipes as they possibly could inside her second hole. So far, there were already 8 pipes inside her and it was almost ripping apart and there was blood. Earlier, they managed to stick in 12 pipes inside the woman''s first hole before it tore apart. They quickly healed it with a [Small] Healing Potion but it didn''t fully heal her so they stitched up the rest -- without anesthesia, of course. And now, they were playing with the other hole. "NOOO!!! PLEASE!!! I CAN''T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!" Pah! "Shut up!" A Caucasian man slapped her head and the table wiggled which almost cause her second hole to tear apart. "Hey, hey, hey! Watch out! We''re already low on prisoners and healing potions! Don''t spoil our fun!" said the men. "My bad," said the Caucasian man. "Here, here, here. Add this one," said another Caucasian man. It was another steel pipe. A black man took it and slowly inserted it in the middle. "AAAHHH!!!" The woman''s second hole was stretching. "AAAHHH!!! PULL IT OUT!!! IT HURTS!!!" However, the man continued inserting it slowly. "ARGH!!!" The woman gritted her teeth in pain and tears fell from her eyes. The man was finally able to insert it. "Success! 9 pipes!" "Oh, come on!" "Wooohooo~!" "Dammit! I was betting at 7!" Some of the men rejoiced and doing high fives, while the other cursed. "Okay, let''s put another one," said one of the men. But as they were about to insert another one, the woman''s second hole finally ripped apart and the steel pipes fell on the table and into the floor. Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Blood, guts and feces laid out on the table and floor. You could even see the woman''s insides. The men began laughing. "Wahahaha~!" "Ugh! That fucking stinks!" "Yeah, it''s really hard to get over the smell whenever that happens." One of the men checked her pulse to see if she was still alive. "The bitch isn''t breathing anymore." "Wooohooo~!" "Yeah!" "FUCK!" cursed some of the men. "Okay, who were the ones who bet that she could only last until 8?" "Wait a minute! She didn''t technically last at 8 because before we even had the chance to insert the 9th pipe, her asshole ripped apart. Those who bet 7 pipes are the winners!" said an Asian man. The two men continued heading to the cages where the prisoners were kept. When they got there, there were two male Caucasians having "fun" with one of the prisoners. The prisoner that had the honors to be played with was a Caucasian man. If Nathan was here, he would recognize the prisoner because it was Alexandre. His body was covered in bruises and cuts. The two ignored them and they started checking the cages. There were about 14 naked people inside consist of different genders and ranging from 18 to 40 years old. There were Caucasians, Asians and black people. However, there were only a handful of Caucasian males and no females. "Looks like there aren''t any white bitches left," said the Asian man. "Hmm¡­ Let''s go for that one," the black man said and pointed at a black woman. "Another black woman?" the Asian man said and raised his eyebrow. "What?" All of a sudden, they heard men screaming. "AHH!!!" "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" "KILL THAT BASTARD!" "AHH!!!" "GYAAAHHH!!!" The Asian man and the black man along with the two Caucasian men stopped what they were doing and went to check what happening. Everyone was dead. "Wha --" said the Asian man Whoosh! A dark figure suddenly appeared right in front of him and swung a long dagger, cutting him into half. "What the fuck?!" said the black man. Meanwhile, the two Caucasian men were about to cast spells. However, the dark figure disappeared. Whoosh! "AHH!!!" "GYAAAHHH!" The two Caucasian men were sliced into two by the dark figure with a large axe. It disappeared once again. The black man found himself unable to move. His knees buckled and his hands were shaking. "Who¡­ Whoever you are, I surrender." There was no sign of the dark figure. The only thing he could hear was the sound of rain pouring and the roar of thunder outside and the pleas of the prisoners inside the cages. "I swear to God. I didn''t mean to do this. I was --" He stopped talking because the dark figure suddenly appeared right in front of him. He raised his head and saw the dark figure''s eyes. It was dead and cold, devoid of any emotion. The dark figure slowly reached out its hands for his head. Tap! He could feel the hands of the dark figure holding the sides of his head. It had a strong stench of blood that was almost nauseating. Despite being overwhelmed by fear, the black man continued to make reason. He swallowed and said, "I-I was forced to --" Crack! The black man''s skull was crushed and his headless corpse fell to the ground. Thud! The dark figure went over to the cages. "Help us, please!" "Please!" The dark figure looked at the side and saw a naked Caucasian man curled up in a corner covered in cuts and bruises. When the Caucasian man saw the dark figure, there was a sense of recognition in his eyes. And although he doesn''t know how or why this person became 2.2m tall, he didn''t care. All he cared about was that they knew each other and it wasn''t wrong to say that they were "friends". "Na-Nathan¡­? Is that¡­ is that you?" Tears welled up in his eyes. He immediately got up and went over to the dark figure. He grabbed the dark figure''s arm and said, "Nathan! Thank God you''re here! Everyone¡­" He closed his eyes and fell to his knees. "They''ve tortured everyone! They''re all devils covered in human skin!" The dark figure didn''t say anything and tilted its head to the side. Alexandre opened his eyes and got up. "Nathan, have you seen Amir, Moanna and Hae-won?!" The dark figure continued to remain silent. "We were under the protection of Red Dust, but then a group came and the son''s leader named Wesley tortured Amir because he wanted Hae-won for himself! Moanna and I were sent here as well, but what they did to Amir and Moanna was just... was just so inhuman! As for Hae-won, she''s still with that Wesley and only God knows what that sick freak has done to her!" Alexandre wiped the tears in his eyes and got up. He grabbed the dark figure''s arm and said, "Nathan, we have to find Amir and the others! We must save them! Save everyone in this town!" The dark figure suddenly grabbed his neck. "Nathan¡­?" Alexandre wore a confused expression on his face. The dark figure squeezed. Crack. The prisoners gasped and were also confused. What is going on? Didn''t they know each other? Wasn''t this person here to save us? Why would he kill those beasts if he wasn''t here to help us? The dark figure let go of Alexandre''s body. Thud! The dark figure turned to the prisoners and made its way to the cages. "GET AWAY!" "PLEASE NO!" "WE''VE DONE NOTHING WRONG!" "WE''RE VICTIMS AS WELL!" "WE''RE INNOCENT!" "WE''RE NOT LIKE THEM!" The dark figure got to one of the cages. Inside the cage was an Asian woman. The dark figure grabbed the handles and ripped it open. Crank! "NOOOOOOO!!!" the Asian woman cried. The dark figure extended its hand and reached out for her. "PLEASE NO!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? sadd1 ? Gabe_Salinar ? supercat_12000 ? Yerby7213 ? Mouhcine ? zukidoto ? darklord12332 ? Naufal_Arc ? Zero_2000 ? NovelLovers ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? ppp999 ? Kodaa To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 132 Snap 3 11:46 pm. The rain continued pouring. Flashes of lightning and roars of thunder continued as well. Two men, an Asian man and black man, were standing on a porch and smoking. "Man, when will this rain stop? It''s been raining for almost half an hour now," said the Asian man. "At least we''ll have extra water to use," said the black man. "But we have a well though." "For an Asian, you sure are dumb. Nothing is pointless in an apocalypse. Every resource we can get is vital. And the more resources we have, the higher our chance of surviving." "Yeah, yeah. Fuck you, you racist bitch." "Racist? I''m black. How could I be racist?" The two stopped talking. After a few minutes¡­ "By the way, are you going to try that new pet inside? I just hope it would last longer." The black man scoffed and said, "I''m not a faggot." "You know, they said that those who say shit like that are usually the ones that are secretly gays -- it''s like a repressed desire or some shit." The black man looked at the Asian man with cold eyes and said, "I don''t care whether that makes me secretly gay or not. But one thing I know is that regardless of the gender, fucking those human dogs is just downright sick and twisted." The Asian man looked at the black man and said, "Man, get off of your high horse! Didn''t you participate in torturing this morning?" The black man scoffed and looked away. "Hypocrite," the Asian man said and looked away as well. As they both stared into the distance, they noticed a ghostly silhouette up ahead under the rain coming their way. The couldn''t tell exactly what it was. But thanks to the rain, it looked like a 2.2m-tall human ghostly silhouette. The Asian man squinted his eyes and said, "Hey, do you see that?" The black man also squinted his eyes but didn''t say anything. The ghostly silhouette made a stance like it was going to throw something with its left hand. A transparent object appeared on its left hand. Wooh! The strange figure threw the object on its left hand and lost its transparency, revealing a 2.2m-tall human donned with black-colored System items and the object was a large axe. The large axe flew straight through the Asian man, slicing his upper torso into two before landing against the wall. Chud! Meanwhile, the black man, before he could run and shout, the dark figure was already in front of him and threw out a punch. Pah! The punch blew off his head. The dark figure pulled out the large axe stuck on the wall before absorbing it into its left hand. The dark figure looked at the front door before disappearing. *** Inside the house in one of the bedrooms. A Caucasian man and a human-dog were on top of a bed. The man was thrusting his hips against the human-dog''s behind and the sound of flesh slapping against each other echoed loudly throughout the house despite the sound of the rain outside. Clap! Clap! Clap! "Arf~ Arf~" the human-dog cried out in pleasure. The man wrapped his arm around the human-dog''s neck, choking it and pulled it over. "You like that, don''t you, you Asian bitch?" "A-ar¡­ Arf¡­ Ar¡­" Clap! Clap! Clap! "Yeah¡­ I know you like it!" Clap! "Arf¡­ Ar¡­" Clap! "I wish I had you before your limbs were chopped off. You were such a good-looking man," the man said and licked the human-dog''s cheek. Clap! Clap!" "But that''s okay. I will be sure to use every part of you. Hahaha~" "Ar.. Arf¡­" Clap! Clap! "Hey man, make it quick. I want to try that bitch as well," someone suddenly said. It was a naked black man sitting on a chair and stroking his shaft. "Wait for your turn! With that thing between your legs, this bitch''s ass will loosen and I won''t be able to enjoy it anymore!" The black man sighed. He got up and climbed on the opposite side of the bed. "I''ll use its mouth in the meantime," the black man said as he grabbed the human-dog''s face and aimed the tip of his shaft on its mouth. The Caucasian man stopped thrusting his hips and said, "Okay, but make sure not to choke this bitch to death." "Yeah, yeah." "I''m dead serious, man." "Quit worrying like a bitch," the black man said and shove his shaft inside the human dog''s mouth. The threesome began. And as the two men were thrusting¡­ Bam! The door was forcefully opened. The black man and Caucasian man stopped thrusting and looked at the door. They had a confused look on their face because there was no one. The black man climbed out of the bed and said, "I swear if it''s --" Whoosh! A dark figure appeared in thin air as the black man''s head was chopped off with a long knife. Blood splattered all over. Seeing the dark figure appear all of a sudden and his companion decapitated, the Caucasian man quickly raised his right hand to launch a spell but was unable to because the dark figure pulled out its sawed-off double-barrel shotgun from its left thigh. Bang! He was blown away. The dark figure quickly went over to the Caucasian man and stomped on his head. Crack! Blood and brain matter splattered all over the floor. The dark figure''s eyes were dead cold. But when it laid its eyes on the human-dog laying on top of the bed, a little bit of warmth returned. "Amir¡­" the dark figure softly said with a sorrowful tone. He could see white fluids were flowing from the human dog''s lips and rear end. The human-dog quickly crawled out from the bed and went over to the dark figure. It then opened its mouth and stick out its tongue, signaling the dark figure to shove his shaft inside it. "Arf!" The dark figure felt a lump on his throat and said, "Amir, it''s me, Nathan. You''re safe now." "Arf! Arf!" "Amir, you don''t have to do that anymore. You can return to your real self." The human-dog turned around and presented its rear end, signaling him to play with its hole. His chest tightened that he found it hard to breathe. "Arf! Arf!" the human-dog barked and stuck out its tongue. He took a few deep breaths to recollect himself. And for some reason, he was also afraid to touch the human-dog. After recollecting himself, he said, "Amir, come on. Drop it already and come back to your real self. I''m sorry I''m late¡­" However, the human-dog only wiggled its rear end, further encouraging him to play with it. "I SAID STOP GODDAMMIT!!!" The human-dog yelped and ran away to a corner. "Arw¡­! Arw¡­! Arw¡­!" His chest tightened even further. He went over to the human-dog and knelt down in front of it. "I''m very sorry. I''m very sorry for shouting at you. Come¡­" The human-dog became lively again and barked, "Arf! Arf! Arf!" It walked towards him and directly pressed its mouth against his crotch and licked it, telling him to unzip his fly. Looking at the human dog''s actions, a great sense of loss and dejection washed over him. He shut his eyes tightly and his face became distorted. "Amir¡­ Stop it¡­ Cuz, please¡­ I beg you¡­ I already told you I''m sorry that I was late¡­ Snap out it¡­ Please¡­" He bowed down and pressed his temple against the cold floor. "Please!" And despite the overwhelming emotions stirring inside of him, he still couldn''t even shed a single tear. "Arf! Arf!" the human-dog barked and started licking his ears. He slowly opened his eyes. The little warmth it had earlier vanished and returned to its dead cold gaze. He got up and stared at the human-dog. The human-dog was brushing its head against his leg. "Arw~ Arw~ Arw~" He still had one shell left inside the chamber of his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. He aimed it at the human dog''s head. As far as he knows, healing potions don''t regrow limbs. Unfortunately, unlike Derek and a few others, he wasn''t aware that once a person has more than 51 points in VIT, he/she can regrow lost limbs. As for how long it takes for the lost limb to regrow, it depends on the injury and the amount VIT points. What about Ashleigh? Yes, but there''s an issue. Aside from their fall out, the other thing that he was concerned about was Amir''s mental state. Based on what he knows, Ashleigh''s power was only limited to physical wounds, the zombie virus, and curses such as the [Lock] spell of the Golden Armored Angel. Resurrecting the dead wasn''t part of it. He witnessed her trying to revive Brezine''s corpse. Emotional and psychological wounds? He himself continued hearing voices inside his head despite having been healed by her twice. In his mind, with the current situation of the world right now, being a cripple would only be a liability. Letting them continue living with such disabilities would only be cruel. And plus, how will he explain this to their family back at Muwin? The Amir in front of him has been stripped off of his pride as a man and his dignity as a human being. "Cuz, you''ve already suffered enough. I promise I won''t rest until I get the revenge you deserve." He took one last look at Amir and burned the image inside his head before looking away and pulling the trigger. Bang! ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? darklord12332 ? Gabe_Salinar ? Daoist619289 ? Naufal_Arc ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? papumania ? Howl_King ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? THEHUNTER2048 ? NovelLovers ? ppp999 ? Meilstrem ? Zero_2000 ? Roi04 ? LuciFallen ? Alexus_Lightning ? TangChengXi ? Ramvox To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 133 Snap 4 11:58 pm. Costa Mansion, Game room. The sky stopped raining. "Sorry, boys, but it looks like this round is mine again," Donovan said and placed his cards on the table. It was a royal flush. "I swear to God, either he''s a crazy lucky son of a bitch or he''s cheating. Three royal flushes in a row? What kind of fucking luck is that? Seriously!" said an Asian man as he put down his cards on the table. There was a Caucasian woman behind the Asian man massaging his shoulders. Donovan kissed the Asian woman on his side and said, "You''re my lucky charm, baby." He then grabbed the System potions on the table and put them on the side. "Hey, Gerald, back me up here," said the Asian man. "I''m already out," Gerald said and put down his cards before grabbing his cigar. "Man, you can''t quit. We have to take back our losses," said the Asian man. Gerald didn''t say anything and got up from his seat. He made his way to the billiard table to find a match or lighter. There were four people, 2 men and 2 women, playing Strip Pool. Tak! The eight-ball landed into one of the pockets. "Got a light?" said Gerald. "I got one," said of the men and tossed him a lighter. Click! "Hey, anyone wants to join us here? We''re one man short," said the Asian man. After lighting the cigar, Gerald returned the lighter. He looked at the couch. There was a Caucasian man making out with 2 women, a black woman and a Caucasian woman. Gerald let out a sigh and decided to go to bed. As he was headed to the door, it suddenly swung open and a Caucasian man entered. "Everyone," said the Caucasian man. Gerald knitted his brows. ''Did some of the prisoners escape again?'' He honestly didn''t want to go out and search for them. The rest didn''t notice the man that just entered and continued what they were doing. The Caucasian man pulled out a gun and fired at the ceiling. Bang! Everyone stopped and looked at the who fired the gun. "We have an emergency. Follow me." All of the men grumbled as they grabbed their equipment and then followed. As they were walking¡­ "What happened?" said the Asian man. "Man, if another of those prisoners escaped again, I''m seriously going to gut those useless motherfuckers in the barn," said another Caucasian man. "Mikey, what''s this about?" Gerald said to the Caucasian man. "Earlier, one of the patrols went out to get something from his house. When he entered his house, he found all of his family members were slaughtered, even his 4-month old sister," said Mikey. Everyone became silent. Mikey continued, "The nearby houses have been checked as well -- all of them were also slaughtered." "Is it a zombie?" said Gerald. "Based on the wounds of the victims, it couldn''t possibly be a zombie. Even with the weather, the work was too quiet and clean. This is the work of humans. Our mission is to search and kill the intruders." "What about Walter? Does he --" Tata! "AHH!!!" Tata! The gunshots and voices of people were coming from the main entrance of the mansion. "Looks we don''t have to search for them anymore~" said the Asian man. They all hastened to the location. *** Gerald and the others arrived at the main entrance of the mansion. The floor and walls were painted with blood and there were corpses either sliced into two or decapitated. "What the hell happened here?" one of them said. All of the victims lying on the floor were their companions. "Could it be a group led by a Chosen One? Or perhaps more than one?" another one said. Their leader, Walter, was a Chosen One and they''ve also fought and worked with other groups with Chosen Ones in the past so they knew exactly how strong a Chosen One is. Although Chosen Ones only have one skill, their stats were higher and their skill is quite overpowered compared to the normal System skills. They could only pray that their enemy only has one Chosen One. "AHH!" Tata! The sound of gunshots and voices of people was about 50ft away. "Report to our leader about the situation," Mikey said to one of the men. "The rest of you, follow me." "No need," a voice said. It was Walter donned in full-System equipment climbing down the staircase. Behind him were 5 Caucasians -- 3 men and 2 women. They too were fully geared. One of the men was his son Wesley. "Leader!" Mikey and the others said. "Let''s check out who these brave and foolish people that dare to challenge us, shall we?" Walter said with a relaxed and dignified tone. They head to where the fight was at. *** In the hallway. "No! Please, no!" a man begged as he was lifted above the ground with one hand by the head. Bam! Rumble! Thud! Nathan viciously slammed the man''s head against the concrete walls and it splattered into bits and pieces of blood and brain matter. The body fell to the floor, while his hand shot pass through the wall. He pulled out his hand and then wiped off the blood and dust against the wall. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! He heard the sound of footsteps coming to his location. He turned and saw a group of 13 people. And among the 13 people, his eyes looked straight at Wesley. "I finally found you," Nathan said with a cold voice and smiled. Meanwhile, when the 13 people saw Nathan, although there were a little bit surprised with his towering height which was 2.2m or around 7.2ft, it was mainly due to his black-colored System equipment. It''s not that they''ve never seen such color among the System items. It was that, from their experience, there were some narcissists that liked to paint their System equipment just for the sake of fashion. In their eyes, not only was it pointless because the paint will vanish once you pour it with a [Grade D] Repair Kit, but also childish. In these dark times, who has the time to think about fashion? But although they think Nathan was childish for doing such a thing, they didn''t dare to underestimate him because of the killings that he and his companions have done. Wesley noticed Nathan''s dead and cold gaze looking directly at him. A cold shiver ran down his spine and his knees buckled. ''Why is he looking at me?'' He looked at his father. Walter signaled 7 people to attack. Among them were Mikey, Donovan and Gerald who charged, while the other 4 cast spells. [Stone Spear]. [Ice Spear]. [Stone Spear]. [Fireball]. Bam! Rumble! Nathan broke through the side of the wall before disappearing. As angry and thirsty as he was for revenge, he wasn''t that crazy to meet the spells head-on, especially in a hallway that had limited space. When Mikey, Donovan and Gerald arrived near the hole Nathan made, they immediately went inside to search for him. Whoosh! A long knife slashed through Mikey''s neck and causing Nathan to appear. "Shit!" Donovan said and quickly moved to the side to get a proper footing before attacking. However, Nathan was too fast. Nathan stabbed his fingers into Donovan''s throat and then grabbed the bone before gripping tightly. Crack! Donovan''s entire neck was crushed, only a handful of skin was left supporting it. Nathan pulled out his hand as Donovan''s lifeless body fell to the floor. "FUCK!" Gerald said as cast a spell. [Sword Stab]. Whoosh! Clank! Nathan swatted it away with his [Grade D] Long Dagger, causing Gerald''s eyes to widen for a quick moment. That single clash of blades caused Gerald to lose his balance from the overwhelming difference of their physical strength. But thanks to his fighting experience, he somehow managed to recover right away. Gerald''s stared at Nathan and felt a sharp throbbing pain on his wrist. Nathan slashed again and Gerald took a step back. There was no way he could handle another clash of blades with Nathan. Whoosh! A large amount of blood sprayed in the air. Despite Gerald''s fighting experience, he wasn''t able to fully evade Nathan''s attack. Nathan''s dagger carved an 8ft-long horizontal wound across his chest. Gerald quickly distanced himself from Nathan even further as fast as he could, retreating back to the hallway before healing himself. Beads of sweat ran down his face and he was pale as a ghost. ''This guy''s stats is like an S2-type zombie!'' He himself was... Level 22: ? STR ¨C 30 (+11) ? VIT ¨C 30 ? AGI ¨C 30 (+11) ? INT ¨C 16 (+5) He was also one of the non-Chosen Ones with the highest level and also among the strongest in their group. Meanwhile, Nathan''s stats were¡­ Level 25: ? STR ¨C 68 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 36 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 33 (+25) ? INT ¨C 33 (+7) Nathan slowly walked back into the hallway. He switched his [Grade D] Long Dagger to his right hand and summoned the pump-action shotgun he looted back at Saint Holy Child Hospital. Bang! Gerald was blown away but was still alive. One person quickly went over to Gerald to pull him away before treating him, while the other 3 charged towards Nathan. As for Walter and the other 5, they continued to watch. Nathan absorbed the pump-action shotgun back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. When the 3 got to him¡­ Whoosh! Pah! Whoosh! Nathan easily killed them. He looked at Gerald who was being dragged away by his companion before landing his eyes on Walter and the rest. "All of you, come at me. I don''t have all night." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Bill_Bewes ? ppp999 ? Naufal_Arc ? Yerby7213 ? Gabe_Salinar ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Lelouch10Niichan ? fairy_tail_fan_ ? shockwave12128 ? darklord12332 ? LuciFallen ? Orginal_Panda ? Daoist619289 ? Taylor_Oubre ? TangChengXi ? zukidoto ? Zero_2000 ? This_Deity ? Joshua_Church To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of Volume II [Chapter 1] to [Chapter 8] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem ? Kevin The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 134 Snap 5 "All of you, come at me. I don''t have all night," said Nathan. Walter squinted his eyes and thought, ''Quite the brown monkey.'' He swept his gaze over at the mutilated corpses of his men on the floor and then glanced at Gerald who was being healed in the corner. ''He''s one of my best men and yet....'' He returned his gaze at Nathan. ''This could only mean that this guy is a Chosen One. But what exactly is his power?'' He recalled the scene earlier. Based on what he has seen, Nathan''s STR and AGI were quite high, similar to an S2-type zombie. As for his powers, this is where he was left confused. Based on what he knows, all Chosen Ones only have 1 skill but gains +1 to all stats each time they level up. However, increasing one''s level was hard, because not only was the source of EXP limited but the EXP gained in killing a zombie also gets lower the higher your level is. And even if he considers the bonus stats given by the System items, Nathan''s stats seemed to be abnormally high so he could only assume that Nathan''s Chosen One skill is some kind of a stat booster. But he also saw Nathan summoning a pump-action shotgun on his left hand. ''If this Chosen One''s skill is something like a stat booster, what was that summoning thing?'' It didn''t make sense. An idea then popped inside his head. ''Perhaps this brown monkey is one of the people who went inside the Divine Tower?'' He recalled the message mentioned by the System when the Second Phase. Those who entered the Divine Tower would be able to loot unique and [Artifact] grade items. ''That must be it¡­'' He was confident to say that that was the most likely answer. ''But where are the rest of his companions? How many Chosen Ones do they have?'' He thought about whether to offer a truce or not. Back at the East side of Cram city, when the government began to intervene, the groups there decided to settle their difference and banded together to fight the government. And in this current situation, although it would be an insult to him and also an inconvenience to leave this town that they set up as their base, it wasn''t something worth dying for. There are other places that are way better that he and his group could stay. However, if he does decide to offer a truce, he knew for a fact that he must first prove his strength to these people for them to even take him seriously or look at him in equal footing, such was the case back at the East side of Cram City. "You''re not coming? As expected expect from ants," Nathan said. "My fellow --" Bam! Rumble! Walter wasn''t able to finish his sentence because Nathan broke through the side of the wall once again before disappearing. Walter decided to postpone talking to Nathan and commanded, "Go!" Gerald, the person healing Gerald, and the 2 men with Walter charged. And as they charged¡­ Whoosh! Nathan suddenly appeared right in front of them and swung a [Grade D] Great Sword. Three of the people charging were sliced into two, only Gerald was left. "AHH!!!" "GYAAAHHH!!!" "AHH!!!" Gerald rolled forward and slashed Nathan on the leg. Whoosh! "Argh!" Nathan groaned and swung his sword again. Whoosh! The [Grade D] Great Sword missed Gerald''s neck just a couple of centimeters as he retreated. He was about to cast [Stone Spear]. Nathan unsummoned his weapon and quickly charged forward. He slapped Gerald in the head. Pah! Clank! Gerald''s helmet bounced against the wall and his headless corpse fell to the floor. Thud! Suup! Suup! "Argh!" Nathan groaned and blood trickled from his lips. He felt a cold sensation on his chest so he looked down. There were two spears, one made of ice and the other made of dirt, protruding out of his chest. He ignored them because they would eventually vanish after a few seconds. He turned around and stared at that the people who threw the spells at him. It was the two women with Walter and Wesley. They were about to cast another spell. Nathan sneered and disappeared. Wooh! Wooh! The [Ice Spear] and [Stone Spear] flew in the air, hitting nothing. Walter squinted his eyes. ''What''s the meaning of this? He has 3 skills? Were the rewards at the Divine Tower that powerful? Or are there Chosen Ones with more than one skill?'' He looked at his son and the two women. "All of you. Leave. I''ll take care of this." Wesley looked at his father with worried eyes. As much as he believes that his father was a powerful Chosen One, the strength that Nathan showcased left him afraid for his father''s safety. Nevertheless, he trusted his father. "Okay, father. We shall wait for you upstairs," Wesley said and left with the two women. Walter summoned two Blood Beasts and his face became pale. One looked like a panther made of blood with abnormally long claws and fangs, and a tail with a sharp spike. The other one looked like falcon made of blood with abnormally long talons and beak. These Blood Beasts had 50% of his base VIT as their overall stats. And to summon one Blood Beast, it requires 10% of his own blood and doesn''t have any cooldown. As for his stats¡­ Level 24: ? STR ¨C 32 (+14) ? VIT ¨C 31 ? AGI ¨C 31 (+13) ? INT ¨C 37 Skill: [Blood Beasts] Walter sent out a command to the Blood Falcon telepathically. It squawked and a wave of sound burst out. Wooom¡­ Nathan lost his invisibility and stopped walking. He looked at his body. "Heh~ Interesting," said Nathan. He felt nothing from the spell except a slight tingling sensation from his eyes and ears. He checked his status chart if he had been cursed with [Silence] or [Lock]. There was nothing. Walter squinted his eyes. The spell that the Blood Falcon cast costs 20 mana points and had a 20-meter range. Anyone who gets caught by it will bleed in their eyes, ears and mouth if their INT was lower compared to the INT of the Blood Falcon. And the greater the difference between the INT, the more blood loss the target(s) will suffer. He unsheathed his [Grade D] Sword and ordered his Blood Beasts to charge before charging as well. Nathan didn''t activate [Coward''s Way] and just stood there with a smile. He pulled out his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun from his left thigh and aimed at the two Blood Beasts. Bang! The Blood Falcon exploded like a balloon in mid-air. Bang! The Blood Panther exploded as well. Walter continued charging. When he finally got close to Nathan, he summoned a new Blood Panther, ordering it to attack as he swung his sword and aimed for Nathan''s neck. Nathan ignored the newly summoned Blood Panther that was lunging towards him. He threw his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun and summoned his pump-action shotgun before aiming it at Walter''s chest. Bang! Walter was blown away and Nathan slapped the Blood Panther. Pah! It exploded. ''Eh?'' Although Nathan knew his STR was quite high, it gave it a surprise when he slapped the Blood Panther because it felt like he was slapping balloon. He unsummoned his pump-action shotgun and then picked up his sawed-off double-barrel shotgun on the ground before walking towards Walter. "Old man, are you by any chance a Chosen One? Sorry, I couldn''t exactly tell because you were so weak." Walter''s face was pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood as he struggled to get up. He didn''t bother to pick his sword. There wore holes on his armor and it was soaked in blood. He also felt a little dizzy, thanks to the Blood Beasts he summoned. "Nevertheless, it was a cute trick. You should try joining a circus. It''s not too late even for your age." Walter raised his hand and said, "Wait! My name is Walter Romano and I''m also a Chosen One like you. We don''t have to kill each other. We can form an alliance. My group and yours." Nathan continued walking and chuckled. "Hehe~ The mindset of the weak. It never ceases to amaze me." Nathan finally got close to Walter. He stood in front of him and looked down. "What do you say? We can be friends. In fact, I have an alliance with an Asian group. Their leaders were Byung-ho and Chaoxiang. They''ve entered the Divine Tower and will be coming here anytime soon. I can introduce you to them and we can all work together," said Walter. Nathan smiled and slowly reached out for Walter''s neck. His thumb gently brushing against Walter''s Adam''s apple. "Really now." Walter didn''t dare to slap away Nathan''s hand. He knew he was at the disadvantage. Not only was Nathan stronger than him, but he also doesn''t know how many companions Nathan has. Moreover, for all he knows, there could be other Chosen Ones just as powerful as Nathan. "Yes." "So you''re the leader of this town, huh," Nathan said and realized that Walter looked like Wesley. "Yes." "Was that your son who left?" Walter began to have a bad feeling. "Wh-why do you want to know?" Nathan, still holding a smile on his face, said, "Tell me. Why did he torture my cousin?" Walter''s eyes widened. Although he doesn''t know who exactly Nathan''s cousin was, he knew that there was no way they will have an alliance. Even he won''t agree to have an alliance if he was on Nathan''s position. He quickly summoned a Blood Falcon and Blood Panther to attack Nathan and tried to stab Nathan''s eyes with his fingers. However, Nathan lifted him by the neck and threw him against the wall. Bam! Rubble! Thud! Meanwhile, the Blood Falcon was clawing Nathan''s head, while the Blood Panther was biting his back. Unfortunately, their attacks couldn''t penetrate his skin. They only served as an annoyance. Nathan grabbed the Blood Beasts and squeeze, causing them to explode like balloons. Walter, on the other hand, was trying to get up in order to run away but was too weak. He already sacrificed 50% of his blood to summon those Blood Beasts and he also had injuries. Nathan stepped on Walter''s back, pushing him back to the ground. "So, are you going to answer, old man?" He increased the pressure of his boot. Crack¡­ Crack¡­ The sound of ribs cracking could be heard. Walter groaned and coughed out more blood, "AHH!!!" Nathan continued to apply pressure. Walter gritted his teeth and said, "YOU PATHETIC BROWN MONKEYS!!! YOU PEOPLE CAN''T SURVIVE IN YOUR OWN SHITHOLE OF A COUNTRY SO YOU CAME TO OURS AND DESTROYED IT!!!" Nathan stopped stepping on Walter. Walter continued, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO QUESTION WHAT WE DO TO YOU!!! THIS IS MY COUNTRY AND I AM A CHOSEN ONE!!! IT IS MY RIGHT AND DUTY TO SEE THROUGH IT THAT ALL VERMINS LIKE YOU ARE REMOVED!!!" He summoned Blood Beasts again. This time, it was three -- one Blood Falcon and two Blood Panthers. Pah! Nathan lightly kicked his jaw, dislocating it and knocking him out cold. Meanwhile, the Blood Beasts attacked him. Nathan rolled his eyes. ''These things are completely useless. What a stubborn and stupid old dog.'' He slapped them all. Pah! Pah! Pah! He stared down at Walter. ''So he''s one of those racist natives, huh?'' Before Nathan came to Womania, he did some preparations. He took Regisian speaking and writing lessons for months to improve his proficiency and also did some research about the culture and customs of this country so that he can assimilate himself faster. The last thing he wanted was to unknowingly commit a crime in a foreign country due to his ignorance and go to prison. Speaking of this Walter''s racist views, he more or less understood where he was coming from. He wasn''t blind. He lived in this country for 8 months and noticed a few things. However, Nathan didn''t have any savior complex. And even if he did, who was he to tell people what is right and wrong or tell them how to run a country when even his country wasn''t perfect and was poorer compared to Womania? In his mind, as long as it didn''t bother him personally, he could care less about it and just do what he came here to do -- earn enough money and then return back to his country one day. According to what he knows, 50 years ago, Womania suffered from a severe economic and social collapse. During that time, hunger, unemployment and violence became the norm which caused many of its people to flee to other countries to seek for a better life. It took 10 years before Womania was able to stabilize itself again. However, the damage caused the country''s economy to regress at least two decades worth of progress before the economic and social collapse. As a matter of fact, during that time, due to the collapse, Womania was like a third-world country compared to its neighboring countries. Realizing the situation they were in, the government decided to take a huge gamble by loosening its immigration laws to attract foreign investors to help them rebuild their country''s economy in the shortest amount of time. It''s also important to take note that during this period, political correctness was still almost non-existent in the world so racism in countries was still a pretty common thing, making Womania a like pioneer. In the first 5 years since Womania loosened its immigration laws, it was a complete nightmare for the government because they struggled to control the massive influx of foreigners, and the tension between the foreigners and the natives was growing and growing. Aside from that, the country became a laughing stock to neighboring countries, telling them that they were selling their country to foreigners. However, in the 10th year, although there were still some tensions between the foreigners and natives, for some miracle, Womania''s economy was growing at a rapid speed that even the average citizens felt it. With this success, the government used it in their propaganda to further convince its citizens, especially the natives, that a multi-ethnic country was the key to a prosperous future. Fast-forward to the future, Womania eventually became a very rich country, even richer than its neighboring countries. It also boasted as one of the top 15 countries in the world with a healthy GDP score even after 40 years. It was a slap in the face for Womania to the countries that used to laugh at them. With Womania''s success, it became the poster child for many politically correct rich countries. It was even praised by many experts around the world as a country that was way ahead of its time because according to them, countries in the future will become multi-ethnic societies. Was it all worth it? Nathan doesn''t know. Yeah, it would be nice to live in a perfect world where everyone is happy and nice to each other, but such a world doesn''t exist. Even his own country, Muwin, used to be a colony of Regis which has shaped what it has become now. Sometimes he wondered if Regis never colonized Muwin. Would it have been richer? Would there be no social divide because of the difference in religion? He doesn''t know. Also, what good would it bring to think about it? The past is the past. Muwin lost from the Regis invasion because it was weaker and that''s it. He pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger from his right thigh before grabbing Walter by the neck and raising him up. Whoosh! He chopped off his legs. Walter woke up and screamed. "AAAHHH!!!" He then began punching and scratching Nathan''s face but he was too weak to cause any significant damage. Nathan sneered. "No right? You dare to talk to me about rights? This is the new world. Weaklings have no rights!" Walter spat on Nathan''s face and said, "YOU PATHETIC BROWN MONKEY!!! IT DOESN''T MATTER IF YOU KILL ME!!! MY PEOPLE --" Nathan dropped his [Grade D] Long Dagger and shoved his hand inside Walter''s mouth. "Weaklings like you also have no need for tongues." He grabbed Walter''s tongue and ripped it out. "EEEAAAHHH!!!" Walter shrieked in pain as blood spurted in the air and then trickled down his mouth. "Hahaha~" Walter again tried punching and scratching Nathan but it was the result was the same. Nathan dropped Walter. Thud! He was thrashing around as he continued crying out in pain. Nathan stepped on Walter and ripped off his arms. The sound of bones cracking and flesh tearing apart echoed in the hallway. Craaack! Riiip! "EEEAAAHHH!!!" Craaack! Riiip! "EEEAAAHHH!!!" Walter stopped moving and was silent. His face was so pale that he looked no different from a corpse. The only reason Nathan could tell Walter was still alive was because his body would spasm from time to time. Blood dripped down from his mouth and severed limbs, painting the floor in red with whatever little blood he had left inside his body. "Don''t die just yet. I''m going to bring you over to your son," Nathan said with a smile. He grabbed his [Grade D] Long Dagger before carrying Walter by the neck. And just after a few steps, Nathan stopped. He shook Walter. He was dead. "And you dare to call yourself a Chosen One and demand rights?" Nathan scoffed. "Pathetic." He threw away the mutilated corpse. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? zukidoto ? Gabe_Salinar ? zukidoto ? Yerby7213 ? Anonymouse111 ? Bill_Bewes ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? ppp999 ? darklord12332 ? Howl_King ? Orginal_Panda ? Naufal_Arc ? Kodaa ? LuciFallen ? TangChengXi ? Alesince2001 ? Taylor_Oubre To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I also posted the draft of Volume II [Chapter 1] to [Chapter 8] there. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2020: ? Teltaios ? Mandrew Stickem ? Kevin The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 135 Snap 6 Costa Mansion, 3rd floor. Wesley and 6 women were inside a room waiting in a living room. The room itself had five rooms -- the living room, two bedrooms, a recreational room, and a bathroom with a jacuzzi that could fit 8 people. Among the women that were with Wesley, two were Caucasians serving as his guards. They were the same ones that left the hallway earlier with him and were still dressed in full-gear. Meanwhile, the other 4 were dressed in elegant clothes. They were women from different races -- one Caucasian, one black, one Asian, and one mixed race. All of them were extremely beautiful and were handpicked by him to be part of his harem. Outside the room and the entire floor, there were men guarding. Wesley was sitting on a sofa in full-gear sitting on a sofa while being served by his harem of beautiful women. The Asian woman was in charge of pouring him drink, while the other 3 were massaging him -- the Caucasian woman was massaging his shoulders, and the black and mixed-raced were massaging his legs. His hands trembled as he reached out for the glass on the coffee table in front of him and drank it one go. Gulp... gulp... gulp... He put down the glass. Clink! The Asian woman grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured him another drink. "Master Wesley, I think we should make a move before it''s too late," said one of the female guards. Wesley looked at the guard. Her name was Gianna. "Master Wesley, I think we should go back and provide back up to Master Walter," said the other female guard. Her name was Eula. Wesley frowned and said, "Shut your mouth, the both of you. Whatever the situation, dad always finds a way to put things to his advantage. Everything will be the same as always." Although he said those words, a hint of fear could be heard from his tone. "But Master --" said Gianna. Wesley quickly grabbed the glass on the table and threw it against the wall. Ka-clak! It shattered on the wall. "We shall wait here until dad returns! Open your mouth again and I will see to it that you will be sent to the barn!" The two female guards didn''t say anything after that. As much as they wanted to do something rather than just wait here and do nothing, in their group, Walter held the highest position and Wesley, his son, was second in command. The Asian woman who was part of Wesley''s harem got up to get another glass and placed it on the coffee table before pouring him another drink. "Master, it''s going to be okay," said the Asian woman as she presented the glass of whiskey to him. Wesley looked at the Asian woman and squinted his eyes. His mind recalled the scene in the hallway. ''That 2.2m-tall Asian man looked straight at me back there, not at dad. Is he somehow related to this woman? But he didn''t look like a Yeppunian. He looked more like a -- Oh what the hell, who cares what shithole of a country that person is from.'' The Asian woman in front of him was none other than Hae-won. "Master?" said Hae-won. Wesley closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ''It doesn''t matter. I''m sure dad will work things out as usual.'' He opened his eyes and reached out for the glass. As his fingers were about to touch the glass, he suddenly heard screams and noises coming from outside the room. "GYAAAHHH!!!" Bam! "ULK!!!" Thud! Clang! "AHHH!!!" Thud! Bam! "UWAAAHHH!!!" All of them stared at the door. The two Caucasian women who were acting as his guards looked at Wesley and said, "Master Wesley!" Wesley looked at the two female guards, they already had their weapons out and were ready to engage in battle. Meanwhile, his harem of women stopped what they were doing and retreated to a corner. Wesley''s eyes were wide and he looked down at the floor. His hands trembled so he clenched his fists to came himself down. ''Where is dad?! What''s taking him so long to arrive here?! The enemies have already reached the 3rd floor!'' Before the zombie apocalypse, Wesley grew up a bit spoiled because his mother died when he was still young and his father never remarried, raising him on his own. And although Wesley was Level 22, had a great set of equipment and skills, and a number of potions at his disposal, his fighting skills were way below average or close to non-existent. Thanks to his father''s powers and influence within the group and the alliance that they formed with the other groups back at Cram city, he didn''t have to participate in any life-threatening battles. He only had to sit back and wait for the spoils to be handed to him. The screams and noises continued outside. And based on the sounds, the enemies were getting closer. "AAAHHH!!!" Bam! Thud! "GYAAAHHH!!" "PLEASE NO! I SURRE-- AHHH!!!" "Master Wesley, we should escape now," said Gianna. "No, it''s too late. And plus, have you seen that person we encountered on the first floor? For all we know, there could be other people as powerful as him. Our best chance to try to negotiate with them," said Eula. However, Wesley was still trapped inside his own thoughts. ''Dad could never lose! Impossible! That''s simply impossible! He''s a Chosen One and those Blood Beasts of his are deadly!'' Seeing Wesley''s reaction, the two female guards looked at each other but didn''t say a word. They only had to look at each other''s eyes in order to understand each other''s thoughts. Truth be told, their hands were as bloody as the male members in their group because they too participated in some of the torturings here in Corn town and also back at Cram city. However, when they participated in torturing people, the main reason they did it was to avoid being ostracized by the group, especially when the groups finally took over the Eastern Government Shelter at Cram city. Moreover, despite already being members of the group, there were times that they still had to present themselves to Walter and Wesley without any hesitation. Just like everyone else, they simply wanted to survive. But at this moment, given how things turned out, they had to rethink where their loyalty lies. And with that, they had two main issues to consider. One -- Whether Walter is still alive or not. Two -- Whether the assailants tonight were here to rescue the people of this town or to take over. After talking to each other with their eyes, Eula approached Wesley. "Master Wesley." He didn''t give any response. His eyes were still staring down at the floor and his mind was trapped in his own thoughts. Eula knelt in front of him and place her hand on Wesley''s shoulder. She nudged him and said, "Master Wesley." Wesley finally broke free from his own thoughts and raised his head. "W-what¡­?" Seeing Wesley''s state, Eula didn''t show any expression on her face. However, in her mind, she finally arrived with a decision. Pah! She suddenly threw an upper-cut at Wesley. The couch tumbled back along with Wesley and he was knocked out cold. The women who were part of Wesley''s harem screamed out in surprise from the sudden turn of events. "KYAAAHHH!" In the short time they''ve spent with Wesley, as far as they knew, all of the people who defied or annoyed him have suffered a terrible fate. One time, one of the helpers of the mansion was cleaning the room and she accidentally annoyed Wesley who happened to be there. And the reason why he got annoyed by the helper was because the air became dusty, causing him to sneeze. So he ordered the guards to send her to the barn and they never saw her again. And ever since then, whenever the helpers were cleaning a room and Wesley enters, they would immediately leave and clean another room or busy themselves with whatever other tasks that were part of their responsibilities. So to see him being hit was a big shock to them. Eula looked at Gianna and they both nodded at each other. Eula immediately started stripping down Wesley. Gianna, on the other hand, searched for something to tie him up. She pulled down the curtains to use it to tie Wesley. They''ve decided to gamble. If they could join this new group and not be treated badly, they would choose it. But if not, with the horrific things they''ve done, they might as well just commit suicide to save themselves from the torture that they will no doubt be facing and send themselves straight to hell where they were definitely headed. Bam! The door swung open and a 2.2m-tall man wearing black-colored equipment entered. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hi, sorry to keep you waiting. I was busy rewriting chapters 3-8 of Volume II. I seriously didn''t like them. But after trying to rewrite them 3 times and failing miserably because I still wasn''t satisfied, I finally decided to just let it go and stick to which rewrite was the best out of all of them and focus on how I can forcefully shove the things and information I was planning to give to Nathan in that arc. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Bill_Bewes ? sam0sa ? Gabe_Salinar ? ppp999 ? supercat_12000 ? Daoist535645 ? Daoist619289 ? Anonymouse111 ? Yeeeeeet69420 ? Meilstrem ? zukidoto ? Zero_2000 ? Marte ? the_squacker ? darklord12332 ? LuciFallen ? Taylor_Oubre ? TangChengXi ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Kodaa ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? Yerby7213 ? Pillastre ? Juneurdark To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. By the way, I reposted the draft of [Chapter 3] to [Chapter 8] of Volume II there and also added [Chapter 9] to [Chapter 13]. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2020: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 136 Snap 7 Nathan entered and swept his dead and cold gaze across the room. When he saw the unconscious Wesley laying on the floor while being stripped down by Eula and Gianna tying him with the fabrics of the curtains, his lips slowly curled upwards. ''Eh? Seriously? These weaklings even have time for that?'' He thought about the scene from Overlord S2 when Ainz and his minions accidentally caught the lizardmen through the mirror engaging in the pleasures of the flesh. ''Well, I guess I can''t blame them...'' Seeing Nathan, Eula and Gianna immediately stopped what they were doing and went over to him. They knelt down in one knee and laid their weapons on the floor. Eula then said, "Master, we surrender ourselves to you and may we present to you the son of the Chosen One you''ve fought. All we ask is --" Whoosh! Nathan summoned his [Grade D] Great Sword and swung it, chopping the both of them into two with one swoop. He scoffed. ''What a delusional bitch. Ask for something?'' He could never forget that they struck him with an Ice and Stone spears earlier. "You... Are you¡­ Are you Amir''s cousin?" said a woman. He turned his head to the direction of where the voice was coming from and saw a group of beautiful women hugging each other in the corner. Among them was Hae-won and her beautiful and perfect face was painted in fear. And it was also her spoke earlier. "You''re Amir''s cousin, right?" ''Heh~ She still looks normal. I guess it really pays to be a beautiful woman.'' He checked out the other women. ''My, my, even the son of the Chosen One has a harem of beautiful women.'' ''I can''t help but feel like I fail as an MC.'' Hae-won broke free from her companions'' embrace and stepped forward. "I''m not sure if you remember me, but we''ve met at Amir''s birthday party a couple of months ago. My name is Hae-won. You''re Norman, right?" Putting aside the fact that she doesn''t know how Nathan became so tall, unfortunately, they''ve only met once and it was at Amir''s birthday party. Because of that, she never really thought anything about him which is why she couldn''t exactly remember his name. However, she more or less could at least remember his face because of that scene between him and Amir''s other cousin, Kaab, which was hard to forget. "Norman?" Nathan tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes. He thought about it for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "Hahaha~!" Hae-won didn''t laugh and just stood there with a confused expression. Meanwhile, the other three women were looking at both Nathan and her. Not only did they wore a fearful expression, but also a confused one. Ever since the zombie apocalypse began, one of the things they''ve learned was that it''s best not to say anything. And after witnessing Nathan killing Eula and Gianna without even batting an eye, they were no doubt extremely fearful of him. For all they know, he could be as sick as Wesley. Nathan stopped laughing and wiped off the tears in his eyes. He summoned his weapon back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and looked straight at Hae-won. "Yes, sweetie, I''m Norman. And I''m really honored that someone like you would remember the name of a person such as myself despite the fact we''ve only met once," he said and smiled. Hae-won felt a chill ran down her spine. Although he was flashing a friendly smile and speaking to her in a kind tone, his dead and cold gaze made it hard for anyone to feel relaxed, let alone safe. She also noticed that he didn''t seem to be in a hurry or worried at all. But despite all those issues, Hae-won forcefully quelled her fears and doubts. "Yes, Amir mentioned to me that you''ve joined Red Dust as well. Did you come here with Rose? Is Amir and the others safe?" The reason why she knew more about Rose and Red Dust than about Nathan was because she, Amir and the others spent a lot of time with the members of Red Dust that were assigned to protect Amir these past few days ever since the zombie apocalypse began. As for where these Red Dust members were, some died from the zombies during their escape from Saint Town to here, while the others were killed by Walter. ''Joined Red Dust? Rose?'' His smile became wider and he took his time walking towards her. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Thud¡­ He finally stood right in front of her. With his height at 2.2m (or around 7''2") and hers 5''7", he had to bend down his neck a little further just to look at her beautiful and perfect face. He slowly reached out both of his hands to cup her cheeks. His actions took Hae-won by surprise for a moment that she instinctively tried to evade it. They were covered with a strong stench of blood that could make anyone puke even as a doctor as herself. He paused his hands in mid-air and innocently asked with a smile, "What''s wrong, sweetie?" She stopped and looked at his dead and cold eyes partnered with that friendly smile of his. The fears and doubts that she just suppressed earlier returned and her instincts were screaming at her to run away. But after remembering what happened to Eula and Gianna, she realized that it doesn''t matter whether he had bad intentions or not. He could easily kill her. "Nothing," she said and let him cup her face. "Ah, I get it now. I''m sorry I didn''t realize I was being rude, sweetie." He removed the glove on his right hand, making him lose the bonus +4 AGI and the 1% chance to block any physical attack that his [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves gives him. After that, he summoned a hand sanitizer and washed his hand with it. "There. It''s clean now, sweetie," he said with a smile. He softly traced the beautiful and perfect features of her face with his fingers. Hae-won didn''t move, nor did she say anything. She already experienced Wesley forcing himself to her so this wasn''t exactly new to her. "So you know about Red Dust and Rose, huh. Very interesting." "Yes. They was --" "Shhh¡­" He placed his finger on her lips, silencing her. "..." He resumed tracing the beautiful and perfect features of her face with his fingers. "I remember the first time I saw you." "..." "I was so surprised by your beauty that I was completely blown away." "..." "I remember wondering to myself if you would taste like milk if I licked you because of how beautiful your skin is," he said and chuckled. "..." He then noticed the mixed-raced woman who was one of Wesley''s harem trying to discreetly move away from her companions and head for the door. He summoned his pump-action shotgun and aimed it at her. Bang! The mixed-race woman was shot in the head and she immediately died. "KYAAAHHH!!!" The women screamed, including Hae-won. The Caucasian and the black woman hugged each other. Meanwhile, Nathan grabbed Hae-won''s mouth to silence her and prevent her from running away. He glared at the Caucasian and the black woman and coldly said, "You two better keep quiet and behave!" They stopped making noise. He returned his gaze to Hae-won. He released her mouth and said with a smile, "I''m very sorry. I''m a bit jumpy than usual at the moment due to everything I''ve witnessed tonight so please excuse my behavior. Where were we again, sweetie?" Hae-won stared at him in horror. Although she understood the logic of why this man in front of her would kill Eula and Gianna, killing that mixed-race woman was a different matter because that woman was a victim just like her. "Please don''t give me that look, sweetie. I''m not that bad, you know." "Where is¡­ Where is Amir and the others?" "What a kind soul you are, sweetie." "I''m sorry?" He stopped smiling and recalled the information that the two women he met back at the Saint Holy Child Hospital shared with him and also what Alexandre told him. And with a cold voice he said, "Do you know what they did to my cousin?" Hae-won''s eyes widened and she stammered, "I¡­ I¡­" She hasn''t seen Amir and the others since she was taken away by Wesley. However, she heard some rumors that they were sent to the barn where it was supposed to be something like hell. He returned back to his friendly demeanor and said, "You don''t have to say it. I know the truth. My cousin was tortured to death because he was protecting you." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I''m sorry¡­ I''m so sorry. I really --" "Shhhhh¡­ Stop crying. It doesn''t matter anymore. What is important is that I''m here now." Hae-won forcefully stopped herself from crying. And of course, she felt guilty about what happened to Amir. Even before the zombie apocalypse, Amir protected her a number of times from perverts. And despite telling him so many times that she doesn''t need his help, he still chose to do it and told her that he wasn''t doing it because he liked her but because it was simply the right thing to do as a man. And when the zombie apocalypse began, the number of times he had to protect her increased and became even more dangerous. Because of all of that, she and Amir had become quite close these past few days. Nathan grabbed her chin. "I want to see what''s all the fuss about you that so many people -- even my own cousin would risk his life for you." He bent down and softly pressed his lips against hers. With their lips locked together, he felt Hae-won''s hesitation. He stopped kissing her and gritted his teeth before grabbing a handful of her hair on the side and yanking it. "Ahh!" Hae-won screamed in pain as she tried to reach out for his hand that was holding her hair. "YOU DARE TO REJECT ME, YOU WORTHLESS BITCH?!" "No, I --" He violently pushed her down to the floor. Thud! "AHH!" He turned to Wesley and went over to him. "Stop pretending to be asleep, dog!" He stomped on his stomach and only used about 20% of his strength. Bam! "UGH!" Wesley opened his eyes and coughed out a mouthful of fluids. It smelled like whiskey. He grabbed Wesley by the neck and raised him up. Wesley held onto Nathan''s wrist as he was being raised up in the air "W-W-What do you want?! I surrender! I surrender! Please don''t hurt me!" "So this is the kind of dog you''d rather kiss, huh. Well, there is a stereotype that Asian women are obsessed with white men," he said and studied Wesley''s face. Wesley wasn''t a bad looking person at all. In fact, if he was going to rate his looks, it was slightly above average. He had black hair, green eyes, and a nice nose and jawline. Wesley tried to cast a spell but he quickly noticed it and threw him against the wall. Bam! Thud! As Wesley tried to get up, he already got to him and crushed his right shoulder by stepping on it. Crack! "AHHH!!!" Wesley cried out in pain. "Noisy!" He slapped the back of Wesly''s head but was careful to only use about 20 percent of his strength. Slap! "WHAT DO YOU FUCKING WANT?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I SURRENDER!!!" He rolled his eyes and then ripped off the other shoulder of Wesley. Craaack! Riiip! The sound of bones cracking and flesh tearing apart echoed inside the room. "GYAAAH!!!" Wesley cried out. He began thrashing around, causing blood to splatter all over as he cried out," YOU FUCKING ASIAN BASTARD!!! I FUCKING CURSE YOU TO DEATH!!! I HOPE YOU DIE A PAINFUL DEATH!!!" He stepped on Wesley to pin him down and said, "Hold on for a moment, it needs to be balanced." He ripped off the other arm. Craaack! Riiip! "GYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Wesley continued to cry out in pain and thrash around. "Still noisy!" He slapped Wesley''s mouth. Pah! Crack! This time around, he forgot to control his strength that he broke Wesley''s jaw and he stopped moving. "Oh fuck me sideways! I forgot to control my strength." He knelt down. ''Please don''t be dead... Please don''t be dead... Please don''t be dead...'' He checked Wesley''s pulse and also placed a finger under his nose to see if he was still breathing. Fortunately, he was still alive. "Wew..." He got up and swept his gaze all over the floor. It was a bloody mess. He scratched his nose. ''Uh¡­ I think I may have overdone it.... just a little bit.'' ''But hey, at least he''s still alive.'' He turned to Hae-won who was still on the floor. Her face was pale as a ghost as she looked at him in complete horror. He flashed a friendly smile and said, "Fuck him." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? Orginal_Panda ? Naufal_Arc ? LuciFallen ? Pillastre ? darklord12332 ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Zack_Kenway ? the_squacker ? Daoist535645 ? THEHUNTER2048 ? TrueDevilPath (First Seat Power Immortal) ? _King_Slayer To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2020: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 137 Snap 8 "Fuck him," Nathan said with a friendly smile. Hae-won wore a confused expression on her face and said, "What...?" Seeing her expression, he rolled his eyes and went over to her. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over to Wesley''s bloody body. "Ahh!" she screamed in pain and she held onto his hand. "Sigh... Try to see things from my point of view. I came here and I witnessed what horrible fate that my cousin had to go through because of you. And then when found you, you''re here -- safe, dolled up and playing house with the person that tortured him." When they finally got to Wesley, he released her and continued, "Fuck him. I want to see how you spend your quality time with this lover of yours." She looked at Wesley''s bloody corpse and then looked at Nathan, her eyes pleading as she said, "Please... I''m really sorry. I was powerless. I was forced against my will. Please forgive me -- Ahh!" He grabbed her by the hair once more. "You''re not listening. Here, let me give you a little help." "PLEASE NO! AHH! Mmm¡­!" He shoved her face against Wesley''s face. "Come on, kiss him! Since you don''t mind being his whore, kiss him! Make love to him like you usually do! Do it, you fucking whore!" Hae-won tried to resist kissing Wesley at first but eventually gave in. However, she was having a hard time kissing Wesley''s lips because his jaw was dislocated due to the slap from Nathan earlier. She quickly tried to find a way to properly do it due to fear. She cupped Wesley''s jaw to make it steady and kissed him. Nathan let go of her hair. "Kiss him like you fucking mean it!" he said and lightly kicked her side. Pah! "Ugh!" she groaned from the kick but didn''t stop and continued to do what she was told. Her desire to live was greater. She showered Wesley with passionate kisses as if he was the love of her life. She even sucked and licked the blood that came out from his lips. And despite all that was happening, Wesley was still unconscious. Looking at the situation, Nathan burst out laughing and clapping his hands. "Hahaha~!" Clap! Clap! Clap! "What a disgusting and funny couple! I have to admit, it made me feel a little bad for my cousin!" The two remaining women watching at the side didn''t say anything. Wesley had forced himself on them before this wasn''t really something new. "Okay stop." Hae-won didn''t hear him. "I said stop," he said as he nudged her away with his foot. She finally stopped. "Like a bitch in heat," he said and shook his head. "..." "Now strip." Hae-won looked at him. "Did you hear me, whore?" She began undressing. She wasn''t wearing any underwear underneath. ''Not bad. Slim and she has the right amount of curves and bumps for an Asian woman''s body,'' Nathan thought. "Now strip down his pants." She removed Wesley''s bottoms. "You know what to do." She grabbed Wesley''s shaft to awaken it. When there was no response, she spat on it and stroke it, including the balls. However, there was still no response so she began sucking it and was doing some other techniques. But even then, she still failed to awaken it. Nathan was covering his mouth with his hand. And when he couldn''t hold it any longer, he burst out laughing. "Pffft... BWAHAHAHA~!" Based on what he has seen on Hae-won''s techniques, he was going to bet his life that she had quite the experience in handling shafts. There was absolutely no way that she was a lesbian, let alone a virgin. "Ho~ Ho~ Oh my fucking God! Seriously?! I can''t believe this! My cousin seriously died for a used whore?! What a simp!" He wiped off the tears in his eyes. "Okay, okay. Stop that. Stop what you''re doing. Give me a moment to catch my breath." Hae-won stopped what she was doing and looked at him. Her eyes were dead. She felt so humiliated that she decided to just shut herself emotionally, just like when Wesley forced himself on her for the first time. However, between Nathan and Wesley, she preferred the latter because despite his sick and twisted personality, he at least tried to be "romantic" in his own way. Nathan took a few deep breaths. After calming himself down, he looked at her straight in the eye and asked in a dead-serious tone, "Please answer me honestly. Is your vagina the fountain of youth or something that makes people drop everything just to have you despite knowing you''re a used whore?" Hae-won was silent. And as he waited for her to answer, his mind drifted away. Despite knowing about his cousin''s white-knighting gesture for Hae-won, he doesn''t believe that his cousin wasn''t able to sleep with her because that would be just downright crazy, stupid and pathetic if he white-knighted just for the sake of being a white knight during a zombie apocalypse. It was simply illogical. He just couldn''t imagine Amir to be so stupid to do such a thing. His mind then thought about Ashleigh who was a Chosen One and also technically his cousin''s girlfriend. ''Wait¡­! Perhaps there was a love triangle going on between the three of them? ''But that bimbo seemed to be close with that dogshit piggy brother of Rose.'' ''But then again, that bimbo is a Chosen One. I doubt she would lower herself to such dogshit piggy because as far as I know, women would always date up, not date down.'' ''Haaa¡­ Why am I even wasting my time thinking about this? There''s no point.'' His mind returned and he looked at Hae-won who was still silent. "So, are you going to answer or not? Oh well, I guess I have to find out myself," he said as dragged her over to a "less bloody" spot. Hae-won didn''t show any resistance at all. She already accepted her fate. Nathan let her lie down on her back and his eyes ran across her naked body to awaken his lower half. "Oh, I almost forgot." He leaned over and licked her neck. There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. ''What was I thinking? Of course, she doesn''t taste like milk.'' He unzipped his pants, pulled out his shaft. His eyes widened. ''Oh my -- What the fuck is this?!'' His size was bigger than usual -- quite big as a matter of fact. The [Divine Blood] that he had taken gives the person 30 points for a single attribute, increased his height to 2.2m and other things. And speaking about his new height, it, of course, made certain parts of his body "proportionate" to his new body size. ''Heh~ This is quite a surprise.'' He looked at Hae-won''s lower half and sneered before shoving it right inside of her without any hesitation. "AHH!" Hae-won moaned in pain. "Eh?" He could feel that her insides weren''t wet. However, he didn''t care and just continued violently thrusting. "AHH!!!" Hae-won moaned in pain once more. Clap! Clap! Clap! In his mind, she would eventually become wet after a couple of thrusts anyway. Hae-won bit her lip as she endured the pain. *** 10 minutes later¡­ "Ahh¡­" Nathan came inside of Hae-won and he couldn''t continue anymore. His knees were shaking, not from pleasure but from overfatigue. The last time he slept was back inside the Divine Tower at Stage 5 and took mini-breaks on the rest of the remaining stages. And after he exited the tower, he barely had any rest aside from the quick bathroom break where he encountered those teens and the dinner he had with those two women back at the hospital. He pulled away from Hae-won and lied down beside her. Hae-won didn''t move and just let the white fluids drip out of her as she stared blankly at the ceiling and wondered how she got to this situation. A single teardrop ran down from her eye. Just like everybody else, she too had a past. The reason why it took quite a while before she finally got intimate with Amir wasn''t because she was a racist, a lesbian or she was traumatized from all the creepy and indecent proposals that she received. Five years ago, she used to be engaged. However, she and her fiance got into a car accident and she was the only one who survived. And the best part of it all? She was the driver. And although it took her almost a year before she decided to move to Womania to start a new life and continue her studies as a doctor, it took her years and this zombie apocalypse to finally get over the guilt that she carried within her and allow herself to open her heart to another person. However, just as when things we''re looking good despite the zombie apocalypse, she met Wesley and then "Norman". As for the other two women who were part of Wesley''s harem, they continued not to move and remained silent in the corner. No one said a word. The silence lasted about a minute before Nathan broke it. "Well, that was disappointing." When he slept with Akane back at Haven Manor, despite her being the most beautiful woman he had slept with in his entire life at that time and even genuinely enjoying it, after the deed was done, he felt that familiar feeling of emptiness. And now with Hae-won, it was no different -- no, it was even worst. She was indeed more beautiful compared to Akane. However, he found little or no joy in it that masturbation would''ve been a better choice. Perhaps it''s because the setting and mood wasn''t right? Nevertheless, that same familiar feeling of emptiness that he always felt after doing the deed lingered inside him. He tried to recall the times in his life where he felt any positive feelings after doing the deed. ''Karen¡­ Fatima¡­'' In the case of Karen, although he no longer had any emotional attachments towards her, there was no denying that she played a major role in his life. The thousand memories and moments they''ve shared together will always be a part of his sea of memories. As for Fatima, although she only appeared for a brief moment in his life and he too had no emotional attachments towards her, she helped him realize a few important things in life. He turned towards Hae-won. "You know, I once heard that the best high is your first high. After that, you get trapped in a cycle where you''re just trying to recapture the feeling of that first high." Hae-won continued to remain silent. "Or perhaps it''s because I could no longer see things through rose-tinted glasses because of the things I''ve experienced in life?" "..." "What do you think, sweetie?" "..." Nathan smiled and ran his eyes across her beautiful naked body. "Hmm... I wonder if the people you slept with had the same feeling as I do right now, especially my cousin." "..." "By the way, are you 100% natural? Your face seems too perfect." "..." "Oh well. Nevermind." Hae-won finally opened her mouth, "What''s going to happen to me now?" Nathan''s smile became friendlier and he reached out for her neck, caressing it slowly. Hae-won continued and her voice sounded like she was about to cry, "Norman?" "Don''t be afraid, sweetie. The place you''re going will be a beautiful and peaceful place where there is no suffering," he softly said. "I''m--" He squeezed. Crack! He got up, wiped himself and then zipped his pants. He looked at Hae-won''s corpse. "Amir¡­" he said and shook his head. He then looked at the two remaining women. "Please! We''re innocent! We will do anything!" said the Caucasian woman. "We have nothing to do with your cousin! Please have mercy!" said the black woman. "Don''t be afraid, ladies," Nathan said and flashed a friendly smile as he went over to them. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I''m so happy today! For almost 3 weeks now, I had this new neighbor who is from the countryside and he has been bringing his "country lifestyle" in our neighborhood -- by that I mean roosters. My God, it opened my eyes to how evil roosters can be. They would start crowing from 4:00 am up until 6:00 pm every single damn day! The thing about me, I''m very, very sensitive when it comes to sounds -- I can''t focus and I can''t sleep when it''s noisy. And lucky me, this new neighbor of mine had one of his roosters close to my room just about 15ft away. In the first week, I talked to him about the issue and he said he''ll do something about it. However, he just moved his rooster an extra 5ft away. And believe me, I even tried for weeks training myself not to be bothered by the crowing but it was just so damn hard to the point that not a day goes by I didn''t stare at my handgun and imagine myself carrying it with me and walking over to my neighbor''s house and shooting him, his family and his precious roosters. Finally today, I couldn''t stand it anymore. I was shaking from anger and I had this headache that''s been bothering me for days. I decided I was going to file a complaint at the local community center, office or whatever is it called -- I don''t know exactly what it''s called in English, nor have I ever filed a complaint before because I''ve always resorted to other things when I was young. But given my age now, it would be dumb to handle things the way I used to. But before I was going to file a complaint, I decided to go talk to him one last time. So I went straight to his house (without the gun of course!) and asked him nicely to move his rooster away. And thankfully he moved the rooster to the other side of his house. When that happened, I almost cried and hugged him. Okay, okay, okay. I know you must be wondering why I waited for so long to talk to him a second time. Am I a pushover, a masochist or something? Well, the other neighbors didn''t seem to mind the crowing. And as I already mentioned, I''m very, very sensitive to noises. So in my mind, I didn''t want to be labeled as the "overly sensitive neighbor" in our community. Moreover, I''ve also been noisy before and got called out -- twice actually, years ago. Well, the reason why I was called out was because some of my neighbors who were my friends and I were drinking, playing the guitar and singing loudly in the middle of the night. One was during my birthday, while the other was a night I don''t remember that much. So yeah, the reason why it took me so long to talk to my neighbor a second time was because I was afraid to be called a hypocrite. I just hope there won''t be any problems after this. Anyways, that''s the story about why I''m so happy today. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading! As for the edits, I''m going to do them later. Right now, all I want is to take a peaceful nap after almost 3 weeks of hell. To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters: ? FreedomFighter ? Naufal_Arc ? LuciFallen ? Bill_Bewes ? MyRedeemerLives (Second Seat Power Immortal) ? Pillastre ? Marc_Gaborieau ? ppp999 ? Yerby7213 ? wicked_waldo ? supercat_12000 ? Gabe_Salinar ? Demes_LR To those who want to help this immortal in his path to immortality in writing his first immortal book, you can consider these two other immortal positions: The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-a-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month. ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades Please note that to view my P-a-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn''t appear on the search list because it''s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits. With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2020: ? Teltaios The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address. ? immortalshades123@gmail.com This Grandmaster Immortal would be eternally grateful to you... *Kowtows 3 times* Thank you once again and I''ll see you in the next chapter. 138 Farewell 7:38 am. The sun was up and a large black cloud of smoke hovered above Corn Town. Every building, every vehicle, every corpse in the town was engulfed in flames. Nathan was smoking a cigarette and watching from a distance, burning the fiery sight inside his head. And despite being far away from the town, he could still feel the heat of the flames brushing against his skin. "I wonder if Hell is this hot¡­" He thought about the teachings of Iklas and Trinity. Craaaccckkk! Rumble! One of the buildings in the town collapsed. His lips curled up into a smile. "So sad yet so beautiful¡­'' If this was before the zombie apocalypse, the chances of him witnessing such an event in person were very low. And yet here he was, enjoying this view of an entire town drowning in flames which were his own doing. Craaaccckkk! Rumble! Another building collapsed. He sucked his cigarette one last time before flicking it away. He turned around and there was a small mound in front of him. Beside the small mound was a human-dog that was bound in chains and gagged. It was Wesley. Just like the other victims, this human-dog was completely naked, his eyes dug out, his teeth pulled out, and his hair shaved off and his limbs chopped off -- well, whatever that was left because Nathan ripped off his arms last night. He also added his own little touch -- he pulled out Wesley''s tongue because he got annoyed listening to his cries. Nathan knelt in front of the small mound. "Amir¡­" He thought about all of the things he has done since the zombie apocalypse and how has it affected him and the people around him. "I managed to become this powerful but the price was¡­" "I almost died three times¡­" He thought about the time he almost died from a D1. He thought about the time at the first stage of the Divine Tower where he was bombarded with fireballs and bullets. He thought about the time at the last stage of the Divine Tower where Rose almost decapitated him. "And the other price was???" An image of Amir in the human-dog form flashed inside his head. He gritted his teeth. Last night, he admits that he snapped when he saw what they did to his cousin. He would also admit that he started to develop a grudge but he doesn''t know where exactly to aim it. A part of him blames Amir. A part of him blames Ashleigh. A part of him blames Rose and her group. A part of him blames the townsfolk of this town. A part of him blames Walter and his group. A part of him blames this country. A part of him blames the God who unleashed this zombie apocalypse. And lastly, whether he was aware of it or not, there was also a small part of him that blames himself. "You know, I can''t help but wonder how our family is back in Muwin¡­" "Are they also suffering¡­?" "Have they also been stripped off of their dignity and reduced to something less than human¡­?" He forced a smile. "Are they dead¡­?" "Death would be a much merciful fate than to live a life carrying such scars if you were to ask me¡­ "I know you would definitely agree¡­" "How could you not?" Silence. An unknown amount of time passed. "Cuz, I will find a way back to Muwin to search for our family before the next Phase begins. Whatever it takes I will return there and find them. I promise you that." "And once that''s settled, with all the power I have, I will find Red Dust and whoever is associated with them to pay for what they did to you, including that bimbo." "I know part of it is my fault. But had they not forced you to join them and blackmailed me, we wouldn''t be in this situation¡­" "You do agree, right?" Silence. An unknown amount of time passed once again. "Cuz, was Hae-won worth it?" "I mean, what were you thinking, cuz?" "We''re in a zombie apocalypse¡­" "Haven''t you seen any zombie apocalypse movies?" "Remember our talks about the Resident Evil characters?" "Remember that night when you came home from your birthday party we had some drinks and talked for hours?" "I even childishly and foolishly blurted out to you at that time that Ada was my waifu and we even had a debate who was the best girl between Ada and Jill." Nathan shook his head in shame as he recalled that memory. "So why?" "I just don''t understand it." "Love?" He scoffed. "We both know that we''re too old to be that naive¡­" "And you of all people should at least be aware of that¡­" "It''s just stupid¡­" "Really stupid¡­" "I would''ve understood if it was that bimbo because she''s a Chosen One, she can be useful, she has some value¡­" "But a normal human being?" "Come on, cuz, there''s tons out there." "Even I''m not as crazy and delusional as to bring someone useless or unimportant under my wing despite my power." "So tell me, cuz." He clenched his fists. "Why couldn''t you just treat her like the other women in your life?" "Why did you have to think with your dick?" "Why did you have to be illogical?" "Why did you have to be irrational?" "Why did you have to be a bloody white knight?" "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SEE IN HER THAT MADE HER SO SPECIAL THAT YOU HAD TO DIE FOR HER?!" "TELL ME!!!" He slammed his fist against the soil. Bam! Realizing what he just did, he suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha~!" "You know what''s so funny?" "I just realized I''m talking to a dead person." He covered his face with his hand. "BWAHAHAHAHA~!" After a minute or so, he finally stopped laughing and then wiped off the tears on his eyes. "I''m sorry about that. I got carried away for a moment." He thought about once again all of his actions -- the murders and experiments -- so far since the zombie apocalypse began. "Did I do the right things¡­?" "Did I make the right decisions¡­?" He shook his head. "I don''t know¡­" "I honestly don''t know..." "But I will admit that there were a few poor ones¡­" "However¡­" He gritted his teeth. "I believe most of them were logical things that one would definitely do to survive in a zombie apocalypse!" He smiled. "Yes, yes¡­ "I don''t regret them at all¡­" "Not a single bit¡­" "I did what I had to do to get where I am¡­" "This power that I hold¡­" "And most importantly¡­" He got up and raised a fist like a hero who triumphed in the end after undergoing a long and arduous journey. "I am a Chosen One! I refuse to bow down to society! Society must bow down to me!" He dropped his fist and stared down at the mound. "What happened here, cuz, no one in our family, not a living soul will know." "And if the entire world will know of it, I will burn everything along with it until there''s nothing left." "When I see our family, I will tell them you died a brave and honorable death." "Not a fool''s death." He turned to Wesley and sneered. "And you¡­ You''re gonna live the remaining days of your life as a dog!" He removed the chains that were binding him and the gag on his mouth. "ERRR EH, ERRR EH!" said the tongueless Wesley. Nathan ignored him and looked at the small mound one last time. He summoned his phone from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and looked at it. The phone had life on it but was turned off. The last time it was on was during the time he was recuperating from the D1''s attack and he hasn''t read any of the messages or calls. He tossed it at the mound. "Farewell, cuz. I hope you''re doing well wherever you are." He raised his head up and stared at the blue sky. Ignoring the black smoke coming from the flames, the sky wasn''t as cloudy anymore compared to yesterday. He softly whispered, "And I''m sorry my actions have caused you pain. Please forgive me¡­" He activated [Coward''s Way] and disappeared. 139 New Beginning Riiing¡­ Nathan slowly opened his eyes. Still lying in his bed, he reached out for his phone and turned off the alarm. He glanced at the time. Monday - 11:00 am. He closed his eyes. He had to prepare lunch and he had to work from 1:00 pm - 11:00 pm. He opened his eyes once again and stretched before getting up. "Uhhh..." After fixing his bed, he stepped outside of his room. Kacha! As he was making his way to the kitchen, he noticed that the main door of the apartment was wide open. He knitted his brows. Although he has never heard of anyone getting robbed in the apartment building that he and Amir were living at, it was best to be careful than being sorry. ''Amir must be doing something outside which is why he left the door opened.'' He continued heading to the kitchen to prepare a meal. A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan finally finished cooking and was eating at the dining table. However, Amir still hasn''t returned. A couple of minutes more¡­ Nathan just finished washing the dishes and was wiping his hands with a towel. He looked at the main door. There was still no sign of Amir. ''Seriously, sometimes Amir could be so careless.'' Whatever the reason was why Amir left the door open, he decided that he was going to close the door. As he was about to grab the doorknob, his eyes widened. ''What the fuck is this?!'' There was a trail of fresh blood on the hallway floor leading to the stairs. And from the looks of the trail of blood, it looked like the body was dragged away on the floor. ''Could it be¡­?!'' In the months he lived with Amir, he saw the number of women that his cousin brought home. And to be honest, he was quite impressed because they weren''t just your typical beauties. They were extremely hot just like Ida whom he met a few months ago. However, he always wondered if Amir was ever worried about encountering a woman who will develop feelings and react in a violent manner. He even asked him about it one time. Amir''s response was that he had enough experience with women to be able to detect the crazies. ''This¡­!'' Nathan rushed back to his room to grab his phone and call the police. But when he grabbed his phone, he noticed that there was no signal. Nevertheless, he still tried to call the police. Unfortunately, as expected, his call couldn''t go through. Pah! He face-palmed. He went to check Amir''s room. No one was inside but the bed was messy. He felt a knot in his stomach and his knees grew weak. ''Wait! What if it was Amir who was the murderer?'' And then another idea popped inside his head. ''The internet!'' He tried to use the internet but the signal was dead as well. ''What the hell?! What kind of luck is this?!'' Although he cared for the whereabouts of his cousin, he also feared for his own safety. He concluded that if he doesn''t call the police now, he might be considered as a suspect and end up behind bars. He worked his ass off to get to where he was today so he absolutely had no desire to go to jail, especially in a foreign country. ''What do I do?'' ''What do I do?!'' ''WHAT DO I FUCKING DO?!'' ''FUCK!'' ''FUCK!'' ''FUCK!'' Pah! He slapped himself. ''Calm down!'' ''Calm down!'' ''GODDAMIT, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!'' Pah! Pah! Pah! He slapped his face a couple of times and then took a few deep breaths. ''Okay¡­ I''m calm...'' "Hoo~" ''Okay¡­ I''m calm...'' "Hoo~" ''Okay, okay.'' "Hoo~" After finally calming down, he decided that he was going downstairs to the 1st floor to report this to the management. He grabbed his phone, wallet and keys before leaving the apartment. However, he didn''t close the door. He also made sure not to step on the trail of blood. When he got to the second floor, his eyes widened in horror. The entire hallway was filled with mutilated corpses and there was a suffocating stench of blood in the air. The mutilated corpses were mixed -- men, women, old and young. There were even babies. And one thing that most of them had in common was that they were decapitated. "Ugh!" He covered his mouth and looked away as he staggered back to the 3rd floor where his apartment was located. On the third floor hallway¡­ "Blarhg!" He vomited the food he just ate not long ago on the floor. Spit! Spit! He wiped off the saliva from his lips with the back of his hand. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" He checked his phone once again. Still no signal. "Useless!" He put away his phone and decided to knock on the door of his neighbors. Knock! Knock! Knock! "Hello?!" "Anyone there?!" "Help please!" "Somebody help me!" "Please! There was no answer so he tried to check the other doors. Knock! Knock! Knock! "Hello?!" "Anyone there?!" "Help please!" This time he tried to open the doorknob but it was locked. "Somebody help me please!" "There''s an emergency and I can''t call the police!" Still no answer. After checking all the doors on the 3rd floor, he decided to go to the 4th floor. When he got to the 4th floor, it was the same as the 2nd floor -- a hallway filled with mutilated corpses and a suffocating stench of blood in the air. He ran back to the 3rd floor and into his apartment. ''Seriously, what the hell is going on?!'' ''And why the fuck am I the only person alive?!'' ''Only person alive¡­?'' He decided to check the window and ask for help. Outside the window, there were people walking down the streets and cars passing by. He stuck his head out and shouted, "HEEELLLPPP!!!" He waved his arms. "SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE! THERE''S BEEN A MURDER!!!" "HEEELLLPPP MEEE PLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!" But despite his cries for help, no one seemed to notice him. He gritted his teeth. "FUCKING PEOPLE!!!" He stepped back, grabbed a chair and threw it out the window. Bang! The chair landed on the sidewalk and it broke into pieces. Some people in the street stopped. They looked at the broken chair and then to the upper floors of the apartment building before landing their eyes on Nathan who was waving his arms outside the window. "I NEED HELP!!!" "SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE! THERE''S BEEN A MURDER!!!" The people just looked at him for a moment and then continued walking as if he didn''t say anything strange. Seeing them walking away, Nathan''s eyes widened. "WHAT THE FUCK?! SERIOUSLY?! HEY! DON''T FUCKING IGNORE ME!!!" He stepped away from the window. He grabbed his hair and stared down at the floor. "FUCK ME SIDEWAYS! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY!?" "I JUST THREW A CHAIR OUTSIDE THE WINDOW AND SHOUTED SOME PEOPLE WERE MURDERED BUT THEY AREN''T GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!" Angry, afraid and confused, Nathan subconsciously started pulling his hair. Riiip! He looked at his hands and there was a chunk of hair. Based on the volume of hair that he pulled, it was enough to make him go bald. However, the strange thing was that he didn''t feel any pain. He quickly ran to the bathroom to check himself in the mirror. On both sides of his head, there was a huge bald spot. "Oh my fucking God¡­ My long black hair..." Nathan had shoulder-length natural thick, straight black hair that hasn''t been touch by chemicals except for shampoo. And given that he doesn''t really like spending under the sun that much due to the nature of his hobbies, it wasn''t surprising that it looked quite healthy. He touched his remaining hair and gently pulled to figure out why he didn''t feel any pain earlier. Riiip! He was able to pull his hair without any pain. "What the¡­?!" He started to pull another and he still didn''t feel any pain. He began pulling and pulling until there was no hair left on his head. He also tried pulling out his goatee and it took got plucked out without any pain. "This is really crazy... What the fuck is happening to me? I... I..." he said as he stepped away and stared at his reflection in the mirror in horror. He then ran to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife before running outside his apartment. Whatever was happening, he doesn''t care anymore. He only had one goal in his mind at the moment -- leave the apartment building. 140 New Beginning 2 Nathan ignored the mutilated corpses and the suffocating stench of blood in the 2nd floor as he made his way to the 1st floor. But when he finally reached the 1st floor, he was greeted with another surprise. Between the staircase and the front entrance of the apartment building, a group of people were gathered around another group of people that were crying. He recognized all of them. They were his family. His father, his mother, grandfather Sakhr, uncle Mabrook, aunt Mariam, uncle Eid, and cousins Maaz and Malik, including the children of uncle Eid, Eena and Enzo. The crying stopped and they all turned to him. All of their eyes were nothing but dark empty sockets. They then moved to the sides, revealing uncle Abbas, aunt Amira and Aena hugging the corpse of Amir. Nathan eyes widened. "Look who has finally decided to come," said his mother, Nadia. "He really does like to take his time. That time when he was with us and a group of masked men invaded out home, he hid inside the toilet," said aunt Mariam. Nathan knitted brows, "Mother, aunt Mariam, what are you guys talking about?" "As usual, he''s a disappointment," said his father, Nazul. Nathan gritted his teeth and looked at his father. He was about to talk back to his father but his grandfather immediately cut him off. "Brat, what''s that look on your face? Your father is right. You are a disappointment. Always and forever will be." "Grandfather! I --" "Shut up, brat. You can''t even protect a single person." "Protect a single person? I was asleep! How could I know?!" "Now that you mentioned it, makes me think if he also had to do something with Maaz''s death," said Mabrook. "Uncle! What are you talking about?! Maaz is right there beside you!" Nathan said and pointed at Maaz. "Pffft¡­ And to think he goes around saying he''s better off than anyone because he''s a Chosen One. Does he even know how pathetic and cringey he sounds? He''s like one of those men who go around and informs people that he''s an alpha male. Newsflash: If you''re really an alpha male, you don''t need to tell anyone or even think about acting like one!" said Malik. Nathan pointed at Malik and said, "Shut your mouth, boy! I''m older than you!" In Asia, age is an important factor that determines the hierarchy in social interactions. So for someone like Malik who is younger than him to talk to him like that, it was considered as a huge insult. Nathan was about to step forward and slap Malik when¡­ "Cousin¡­" Maaz said and looked at him with disappointed eyes, causing him to stop. Meanwhile, uncle Eid just snorted which was typical of him. "Uncle Eid?" Although Eid only let out a snort, Nathan could tell that he too was disappointed in him. Meanwhile, the two children of uncle Eid, Eena and Enzo, didn''t say anything but their eyes said everything what was in their thoughts. They too shared the shared sentiment of their father. "Wait! All of you! This¡­ This isn''t my fault! I had --" Finally, Amir''s family spoke. "Nathaniel, look at my son. Look at what you did to him¡­ I treated you like a son and this is how you repay me? Why? Why?!" said Abbas. "You''re just like your father. Both of you only care about yourselves!" said Amira. "Brute, you know nothing but violence," said Aena. "You¡­!" Nathan wanted to slap Aena but he stopped himself. He dropped the kitchen knife on his hand and got on his knees. Clang! He covered his eyes with his hands. "No¡­ I''m simply a victim of circumstance here... How could I prevent it? Do you people think I''m a god or something that I know and can do everything? Isn''t that a bit unreasonable?!" "Look at Mr. Chosen One trying to wash his hands from the blame as usual," said Malik and sneered. They all chuckled and looked at Nathan in disdain. "But you could''ve asked my girlfriend to at least heal me, right?" Amir, the corpse, suddenly said. Hearing Amir''s voice, Nathan put down his hands and looked at him. "Girlfriend? Heal you?" Nathan said with a confused expression on his face. Amir continued, "Let''s be honest here. You were jealous of me. That''s why you murdered me." "What?" Amir scoffed. "Do you think I never noticed how you stare at the women I brought?" Nathan knitted his brows and said, "What are you even talking about?" "I noticed how you lust over the women I brought." "What? I really don''t know what you''re talking about." "Come on, be honest. You even masturbated to them, right?" "What? Fuck no! I''m not that pathetic to lust over my own cousin''s woman!" "So how was Hae-won? Was it worth killing me for it?" "Hae-won?" Nathan tried to recall who Hae-won was. For some reason, the name sounded familiar but he couldn''t remember who exactly it was. Amir sneered and said, "Look at him. He has already forgotten." "What a low-life¡­ Already forgetting what he did. So much for Mr. Chosen One," they all said altogether. Amir suddenly moved like lighting and was already right in front of Nathan, their faces just an inch away. "Here, let me help you a little bit. Look into my eyes." When Nathan stared into Amir''s dark empty sockets, he saw the things he did in Corn Town. "Ahh!" Nathan cried out as he moved away from Amir. "It''s funny how you looked down on Karen and call her a baby killer when you''re also one yourself and even worse." Nathan finally remembered everything. His body also changed. He was now 2.2m-tall and was wearing his Black System set. He got up and looked around. ''A dream?'' he thought and squinted his eyes. "Well, what do you expect from a person like him? All he knows is violence and complain," a female voice said. It was a voice he was familiar with even though years have passed and they''ve never seen or spoken with each other ever since they''ve parted ways. He looked at the direction of where the voice was coming from. It was a 21-year-old Karen and beside her was a 21-year-old Vincent who had his arm on around her shoulder. "Have you ever wondered why Karen chose me and not you despite everything you''ve done for her? It''s because everyone knows you''re nothing but a pathetic and bitter man," Vincent said and pressed his lips against Karen''s. Nathan felt nothing but disgust. Although he doesn''t have any romantic feelings for Karen anymore, it would be a lie if he said that she and Vincent don''t have a place in his heart and mind. After all, whether he denies it or not, he grew up with them and spent a lot of years with them which shaped a huge part of who he was today. He ignored them and closed his eyes to wake himself up. "He''s trying to escape as usual," his family along with Karen and Vincent said altogether before transforming into dark and sinister-looking shadows. They all lunged towards him. Nathan wasn''t able to wake himself up from this dream so he opened his eyes. Seeing the dark shadows coming at him, out of habit, he immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and moved to the side before summoning his [Grade D] Large Axe from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. To his surprise, his invisibility was useless because they still knew where he was and caught him. ''What the¡­?!'' The dark shadows wrapped themselves around him. He tried to move but his brute strength was rendered useless, leaving him completely immobile as the dark shadows slowly crawled over his entire body. Their dark matter also crawled up into his orifices, causing him to make some choking sounds, "Ugh¡­ Ugh¡­" He woke up. He looked at the window and saw it was still dark outside. He glanced at his watch. 8:30 pm. He rubbed eyes with his fingers. "Fuck¡­ What a stupid dream." "Cuz~" a creepy voice suddenly said. He stopped rubbing his eyes and opened them. He was surrounded by Amir and the rest of his family along with Karen and Vincent and they were all staring down at him with their dark empty eye sockets. They all jumped into him. "Haaaa!" He woke up and got up. There were beads of sweat on his face as he checked his surroundings before looking at the window. It was bright outside. He checked his watch. 8:30 am. Yesterday, after burning down Corn Town, he continued heading West and passed a few towns along the way until he reached Burrow City. He didn''t head back to Cram City because he didn''t want to be tempted to go to Haven Town. What he needed right now was to find a way to return to Muwin and find his family as fast as possible before the next Phase comes which is around 16 days from now because the zombies were now Level 3 and it took around 48 hours for their overall level to increase. And speaking of finding a way to return to Muwin¡­ Nathan glanced over at the three cages. Each of the cages had a dog inside. He got up and went over to the cages. Out of the three dogs, two were dead. ''Sigh¡­ Neither of them worked.'' Last night, he originally caught 3 dogs. On the first test, he fed Dog A a [Grade D] Nucleus and fed Dog B some dust he scraped off of a [Grade D] Nucleus. Unfortunately, Dog A died from choking because a Nucleus was as large as an infant''s fist and isn''t easy to crush. However, he didn''t toss the corpse away, thinking it may take a few hours for the transformation to take place. So before going to bed last night, he decided to do another experiment. On the second test, he fed Dog B some dust he scraped off of a [Grade C] Nucleus and Dog C a [Grade C] Nucleus. As expected, Dog C also died from choking and didn''t return from the dead. And as for Dog B, despite being alive, there were no changes at all. ''Oh well¡­ I guess I really have to think of another plan.'' He wanted to see if he could make his own Greenie to fly back to Muwin. But unfortunately, it didn''t work. ''In the meantime¡­'' He deactivated [Coward''s Way]. Dog B yelped in surprise, seeing Nathan suddenly appear in thin air. Nathan smiled as he opened the cage and reached out with his hand. "Arw... Arw... Arw..." The dog curled up into a ball from fear and let out whimpering sounds. "Don''t be afraid. You''re safe now. And as a reward for helping and surviving, I''m going to feed you a delicious breakfast before letting you go," he said with a warm and friendly expression. 141 Burrow City Burrow City, Northwest Government Shelter. 9:01 am. Bam! A door was kicked open and a group of 10 fully-armed people stormed inside a building. They were wearing System equipment and carrying both System and non-System weapons. "Who are you people?! What are you doing inside here?! What do you want?!" shouted a black woman dressed in civilian clothing. 7 of the people that stormed inside the building ignored the woman and continued searching inside the building. A 6''7" Caucasian man in his late 50s in full-gear stood by the entrance. Beside him were a brown-Caucasian man, and half-black and half-Caucasian woman. They too were dressed in full-gear. If Derek was here, he would''ve recognized the 6''7" Caucasian man because it was none other than Sweet Dave. Moreover, he didn''t have any knife scars anymore on his face. It was all thanks to the [Small] Healing Potions. Sweet Dave went over to the tenant and showed her a search warrant. "We''re the Riot Control Task Force. We''ve received a report that you''re sheltering people that were part of the government." Two days ago, when the government was still in control of the shelter, there was already tension between the government and the civilians here. In the first week, the civilians still followed the rules and regulations imposed by the government and were expecting that by the end of the week the government would be able to eradicate all the zombies within the city. However, a week later, the zombies were still roaming around and the government still hasn''t used all of its military might, causing the civilians to become dissatisfied. It was then the civilians started protesting. At first, the protests were still peaceful. But as days gone by and rumors started to circulate, such as human experiments, the start of the Second Phase and many other things, the protesters started to become violent. However, despite all that, things were still under control by the government. A day before the civilians took over the shelter, a rumor was leaked to the leaders of the civilian groups saying that the government officials and a number of important people were planning to escape to another base via the helicopters. The leaders of the civilian groups didn''t know whether the rumor was true or not. And even if it was true, they didn''t know when exactly it will happen. So they decided not to just keep a watchful eye instead. And during the chaos, some of the government officials and important people were able to escape, while others were either killed or hid inside one of the buildings. "There''s nothing here but empty shelves of medical supplies! Just because there we''re in a zombie apocalypse, that doesn''t mean you people have the right to trample on my rights as a human being! I am a legal citizen in this country and I pay my taxes!" said the tenant. "Ma''am, please cooperate and let us do our job. If we can''t find anything, we will compensate you with whatever damages we''ve caused. You have my word," said Sweet Dave. "Your word?! What good is that?! That means nothing! For all I know, you could be --" "Bitch, if you don''t shut your fucking mouth, I swear that I''ll shove this down your throat!" said the half-black and half-Caucasian woman beside Sweet Dave and aimed her rifle. "W-W-What are you doing?! Does anyone see this?! You can''t do this! You''re violating my human rights! Someone help! Please save me! I''m being physically and sexually assaulted! Help me please! HELP ME!!! I''M BEING ASSAULTED!!!" the tenant screamed and began thrashing around on the floor. "Why you¡­!" said the half-black and half-Caucasian woman and she was about to go over to the tenant to teach her a lesson. "Lisa, stop," said Sweet Dave. The half-black and half-Caucasian woman turned to Sweet Dave and said, "But¡­!" "No buts! We''re here to maintain the peace and order in this shelter, not terrorize its people!" Sweet Dave then turned to the brown-Caucasian man beside him. "Nur." Nur nodded back and went over to the tenant. He grabbed her wrists to calm her down and said, "Ma''am, if you refused to cooperate peacefully, I will be forced to handcuff you. And if you still continue to be uncooperative even after that, we will have no choice but to send you to the holding center." The holding center was where all the "criminals" were being kept. Due to the zombie apocalypse and the power granted by the System, there was a sharp rise of criminals. However, despite the rise of criminals, if they were able to capture them, they wouldn''t kill them. And for the extremely violent and powerful criminals, they would be given a remote-controlled metal collar bomb around their neck. It was one of the tools created by the government to control the unruly people. To the new owners of the base, it was the most humane thing to do than killing them. However, there weren''t that many available remote-controlled bombs so it''s a complicated issue. Hearing what Nur said, the tenant stopped thrashing around and screaming. She got up and grumbled as she went to the side. "This world is falling apart¡­" the tenant said under her breath. Both Sweet Dave and Nur man sighed. Aside from the growing number of criminals, some people were also losing their minds from being unable to cope with the new reality that the world was currently in. Some went crazy, others committed suicide. There were even people who were totally in denial that they started claiming that the zombie apocalypse was nothing but a hologram or illusion created by the elites of the society to control the masses. And when asked to explain how these holograms work, they argued that the government has been mixing drugs and microchips into food and medicine for years now. Others even claimed that the zombie apocalypse was only happening in Womania. But who could blame them? The life that everyone used to know was completely toppled upside down ever since that so-called God unleashed the zombie apocalypse. And the best part of it all? The zombies were only getting stronger and stronger. Take for example the Second Phase, the zombies evolved into those 3m-tall skinless zombies and there were now Rank 2s. It was already a headache to deal with the normal zombies. But now they had to deal with much stronger zombies. With the way how things are going, some couldn''t help but think that taking back the world from the zombies seemed like a fool''s errand. Furthermore, there was also the issue of food. Due to the zombie apocalypse, the whole world came to a screeching halt. No new fresh batch of food was being processed and delivered to places were huge human populations gathered. The humans living in cities could only count on the existing food supply in their area. And to make matters worse, some of them, such as vegetables and meat, had an expiration date. One of the members of the Riot Control Task Force went over to Sweet Dave. "We''ve found something." "What is it?" "We''re still investigating what it is. It''s better to see it for yourself." Sweet Dave and the man went over to a room where the thing they''ve found was located. There was an opened steel floor hatch leading to the underground. "Has anyone checked what''s inside?" said Sweet Dave. "Gregg and Leo just entered to check. We have yet to contact them via radio." All of a sudden, they received a message on the radio. "This Gregg. Does anyone copy? Over." A member who was holding a radio answered, "This Mariah. Loud and clear. What''s your status? Over." "I found a large steel circular door. Something like the ones used in banks. Over." Sweet Dave immediately left the room to ask the tenant from earlier for some questions. After interviewing the tenant for a couple of minutes, she finally confessed that the thing was actually a blast shelter that had 2 underground floors. And according to her, some of the people that were part of the government who failed to escape two days ago during the chaos are hiding inside there with weapons and tons of food and medical supplies. "Inform the other leaders about this information. I''ll call my wife," said Sweet Dave. Although he had some authority in this base, he wasn''t one of the leaders in this shelter unlike his wife. So this matter was beyond his jurisdiction. All he could do is to report this and wait for orders. "Okay," said Lisa. 142 Government Shelter 11:02 am. Nathan was on top of a building located in the northwest of Burrow City and looking through his binoculars of what looked like a government shelter. The shelter was surrounded with 20ft tall steel walls and had two gates -- one in the north and the other in the south. On top of the walls, there were missile launchers and machine gun turrets along with armed guards dressed in System items. And around the walls, there were hundreds of corpses of zombies and holes suggesting that it was either caused by a missile or landmine explosions. Nathan put down his binoculars. ''Hmm¡­ Is this a government shelter? But¡­'' Speaking of the armed guards stationed on top of the walls, most of them didn''t look like proper soldiers and he suspected that they were just civilians because of the way they looked -- some had colored hair, while others didn''t have that air or demeanor that people in the military, police, etc. usually have. ''Also, it seems I have no choice but to enter through the gates.'' With his current STR points, it wasn''t impossible for him to climbed the walls. However, the problem were the landmines. Despite his skill [Coward''s Way] giving him a so-called complete invisibility, it still had some weaknesses such as his weight. He suddenly heard the sound of a grinder coming from the base. Griiinnnggg! ''What''s going on inside there?'' Regardless of whatever was happening inside that base, he had no choice but to sneak in. Once he enters the base, he would search for an aircraft, a pilot to teach him how to fly that aircraft and also loot some high-powered military weapons. The aircraft was to, of course, fly back to Muwin. As for the high-powered military weapons, it was for the next time he enters the Divine Tower. Although he had a huge boost of strength, thanks to the things he obtained back at the Divine Tower, he knew for a fact that he couldn''t complete the tower alone. In the recent Divine Tower, he was lucky that there were people along with other Chosen Ones who entered. What if in the next Divine Tower he''s the only Chosen One? Or worse, he''s all alone? Forget about the Gold Armored Angel, it would be a miracle if he could even complete the first stage all by himself. With that, aside from gathering high-powered military weapons, he also decided to assemble a team once he arrives at Muwin. And at the moment, given that he needs to find a pilot to teach how to fly an aircraft, he decided to avoid killing unless he had no other choice left. ''Sigh¡­ I hope everything will work out just fine. Lady Luck, please give me luck.'' *** Nathan was invisible and standing in front of the South Gate of the base. On the other side of the gate, there were two armed guards that were carrying rifles but lacked in System equipment. ''These two are definitely not soldiers.'' Aside from the lack of System equipment, their attire had too many unnecessary items on them and they looked like teenagers who could barely pass as 18 years old. ''Hmm¡­ Now how do safely I cross this gate?'' Nathan wasn''t sure if it was installed with electricity or not. If it was and he touches it, he would lose his invisibility and these guards along with the other guards nearby will be alerted and they would most likely bombard him with missiles, bullets or whatever is available at their disposal. He thought about it for a moment. ''I have to take a gamble.'' He went back far away until he reached a nearby building. He also checked if there were zombies nearby. He deactivated his skill before summoning a [Grade D] Sword, scabbard and 4 healing packets. He sheathed his sword and wore the scabbard around his shoulder. As for the healing packets, he placed them inside his mouth, two on each side of his gums so he could still speak properly. He also thought about whether to replace his Black System equipment with the normal System items. In the end, he decided not to. Although it was catchy due to its color, the special effect it had was too useful. He might be able to survive if guards bombarded him with spells and bullets. But with the missiles and whatever high-powered guns they had, it would be a miracle if he didn''t lose any of his limbs before dying. ''Okay! Lady luck, give me luck!'' As he was about to step outside, he stopped. ''Oh, I almost forgot!'' He crushed some concrete and rubbed it in his face and entire body to make himself looked like he just escaped from a long battle. He summoned a mirror from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and checked his face. ''Needs a little more.'' He punched himself on the face. Pah! "Aww! Motherf--!" He busted his lip and a trickle of blood ran down from his lips. He waited for a minute or two before his lips stopped bleeding. Next, he pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger from his right thigh and gave himself a few superficial cuts on his face and arms. He checked himself in the mirror once again. ''Yup¡­ Not too clean but also not too injured to be suspected as someone bitten by the zombies either. Just the perfect balance.'' He summoned the mirror back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. ''Okay, this is it. I could only hope that these people aren''t unreasonable. Lady luck, please give me luck.'' He stepped outside of the building with his hands up in the air and made his way towards the South Gate. "PLEASE HELP ME! I''M LOOKING FOR SHELTER!" "DON''T SHOOT PLEASE!" "PLEASE HELP ME! I''M LOOKING FOR SHELTER!" "DON''T SHOOT PLEASE!" When he was about 100 ft away from the South Gate¡­ Peng! A bullet was shot right next to his left foot so he immediately stopped walking. "WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" said one of the guards on top of the walls and pointing his gun at Nathan. "I''M LOOKING FOR A SAFE PLACE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE ZOMBIE THREAT!" "TURN AROUND AND GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM! WE DON''T HAVE ANY ROOM HERE ANYMORE!" Nathan gritted his teeth but then relaxed his face, "PLEASE, ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE DEAD AND I DON''T HAVE ANYWHERE LEFT TO GO! I HAVEN''T EATEN AND SLEPT FOR DAYS! I BEG YOU, PLEASE LET ME IN!" "THAT''S NOT OUR PROBLEM! GET LOST!" "PLEASE! I WOULD DIE IF I GO BACK!" "IF YOU DON''T TURN AROUND WITHIN 3 SECONDS, WE WILL --" the guard didn''t finish his sentence because he was interrupted by a 6''7" tall Caucasian man in his late 50s donned in a complete set of System items. Nathan didn''t move and waited. Due to the distance, he couldn''t hear what the guard and the 6''7" Caucasian man were talking about, but he was hoping it was about letting him enter. Moreover, although he also couldn''t probably see their faces, based on the way that the 6''7" Caucasian man carried himself and equipment he wore, he concluded that there was a big possibility that the man held a high position in this group. After about a minute, the 6''7" Caucasian man left and the gate was being opened. "HURRY UP!" said the guard on top of the wall. Nathan''s lips curled upwards, forming a smile before running towards the gate. And of course, he didn''t use his full speed. Instead, he only used about 50% of it. In his mind, in case the people inside the base have other plans against him, he could catch them off guard with his speed and disappearing act. ''I hope you guys aren''t that stupid to set a trap.'' 143 Government Shelter 2 When Nathan entered the shelter, there were five people waiting for him. Four of them had their guns pointed at him, while the 6''7" Caucasian man just stood there and didn''t draw any weapon. "What''s the meaning of this?!" Nathan cried out in fear and took a step back. "Don''t take this personal. We need to clear a few things first," said the Caucasian man. As Nathan''s continued to wear a frightened expression, his eyes were secretly counting how many enemies were around and if there were other traps. ''The defense inside seems pretty weak. However¡­'' He stared at their guns. The weapons they were carrying were the type that would only be issued to military personnel. However, these people didn''t have that military air around them and looked like normal civilians. ''Although they have high-powered guns, their fighting skills are most likely questionable. Killing everyone would be easy. And if they act unreasonably then¡­'' The Caucasian man continued, "Were you sent by the government?" Nathan raised an eyebrow and replied, "Sent by the government? No." "Are you alone?" "Yes." "Have you killed anybody?" "Yes." "Have you eaten people?" "Do I look like a fucking cannibal? Just because I''m Asian, that doesn''t mean --" Nathan said with an irritated tone. "Shut your mouth or I''ll blow your brains out!" said one of the guards that had their guns pointed at him. It was a young Caucasian man with short and colored hair. Nathan looked at the young man. It reminded him of those gender studies soy boy aficionados. ''I''m being threatened by such lowlife?'' He felt so humiliated that a strong urge to kill everyone here welled up inside of him but he suppressed it. ''Not right now. Not right now. Calm down, calm down. Remember, you need a fucking pilot.'' "Stand down," the Caucasian man said to the Soy Boy and then looked at Nathan. "Where were you since the zombie apocalypse happened?" "Are you going to shoot me already or kill me to death with questions? I''m so tired and hungry. You might as well just kill me right away." The Caucasian man didn''t say anything and looked into Nathan''s eyes. One of the things Nathan found very funny and shocking in politically correct Western countries like Womania is that although the people here, especially the locals, try to be as open and non-racist as possible, they still had these "positive" stereotypes for each race. Because of this, some even view Asian men as effeminate or non-threatening. But the funniest thing about it all? Some Asians who were born and raised in Western countries actually believe in this and try so hard to distance themselves from this stereotype by acting more Westernized than any native Westerner to the point it even makes an Asian mainlander like Nathan cringe. Meanwhile, some Asian women would avoid dating Asian men because of this stereotype and would give this flimsy excuse that they don''t want to date Asian men because they don''t want people to mistake them as their brother. These things were really mind-blowing to Nathan. Now, he isn''t sure where exactly the stereotype that Asians are good at math and effeminate comes from. But if he were to guess, this was probably from the white-skinned Asians because they live in an extremely competitive society where having good grades, studying in the top universities, working in big companies is the key to success in life. Moreover, they''re so fashion-conscious that men wearing makeup was normal to them. And as for the stereotype of following the rules, keeping their head down, and minding their own business, well, as a brown-skinned Asian, he could explain this -- at least from a Muwinian''s perspective. In the northern region of Muwin, 1 out of 10 men carries a gun. Now, whether they will use this gun or not, it''s a 70/30 chance -- 70 percent is the part they won''t. Meanwhile, in the South, 1 out of 10 men also carries a gun. However, 70% of the time they WILL use it if you aggravate them. And if by some miracle you managed to escape before they were able to use it or they weren''t carrying a gun and they want to get revenge, be sure that they will look for your address and pay you a "visit" in your home. This is why average Muwinian mainlanders like Nathan have this habit of keeping to themselves or this sense of indifference. Their motto is that -- I don''t care whatever you do, just make sure your actions don''t affect me in a negative way or else we''ll have a problem. In fact, 3 years ago, that night when the armed men wearing ski masks entered his grandfather''s house and hit him on the face with the butt of a rifle and the death of Maaz, he realized how weak and fragile the human body actually was. He could workout and put on so much muscle all he wants. But at the end of the day, in front of a weapon, he was nothing but just another bag of human flesh. Which is why he stopped going to the gym and decided to do home workouts instead. As long as he had a fit and healthy body, that was enough. Anyway, although Nathan believes these stereotypes were kind of funny and shocking, he didn''t mind it at all. Because thanks to them, before the zombie apocalypse, he was able to get away with a lot of things that he would normally never be able to back in Muwin. Almost a minute had passed and before the Caucasian man spoke, "Everyone, put down your weapons. I believe this guy isn''t a government spy." ''Government spy? Are these people rebels?'' The four guards put their guns down. "Let''s check if he''s infected," one of the guards said. Nathan scoffed and then said, "Do I look that weak?" All four guards raised their rifles once again and Nathan almost activated his [Coward''s Way]. "All of you, enough! That''s an order!" the Caucasian man roared. The guards put away their weapons. The Caucasian man stepped forward and offered a handshake. "I''m sorry about that. People are a little tense nowadays because of the zombie apocalypse. People call me Sweet Dave. You are?" ''Sweet Dave?'' Nathan stared at his face. Unfortunately, he didn''t know that Sweet Dave used to have knife scars on his face and lost it thanks to the [Small] Healing Potions. Because of that, he was confused as to what made this man in front of him earn the nickname Sweet Dave. He shook Sweet Dave''s hand. ''Is he perhaps slow in the head or a pervert or something? Is this another booty warrior?'' Nathan thought as he studied Sweet Dave''s face and felt his ass tighten. Nathan opened his eyes and said, "Nathan." "Nathan? Okay. Follow me. You looked like you''ve been through a lot," Sweet Dave said and then walked. Thanks to Nathan''s costume design choice from earlier, he did look like he has been a lot -- his equipment was covered in dust, his lip busted, and he had few superficial cuts on his face and arms. ''Where is this old pervert taking me? But he seems to have some authority here. Ah whatever, I''ll just follow him.'' He followed Sweet Dave. As he was following him, he pretended to cover his mouth with his left hand and secretly summoned back the 4 Healing Packets inside his mouth back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. And as they were walking to wherever Sweet Dave was taking him to, his eyes were studying his surroundings. There were vehicles such as Humvees, trucks, tanks and helicopters. ''Helicopter? Tsk¡­'' Although he didn''t mind using a helicopter to fly back to Muwin, he wanted something faster like a jet or something. There were also a lot of people walking around, both young and old. Some of the adults had System items or were carrying weapons, while the others were just normal civilians. However, almost all of them didn''t have air that people in the military, police, etc. usually have. ''From the look of the people here, would I even be able to find someone who could teach me how to fly a helicopter?'' He sniffed. ''It smells bad.'' The shelter had limited space. Aside from the trash that he could see on the ground and the smell of urine in the air, from the look and smell of the people that he encountered, it seemed that they haven''t taken a bath for days. Nathan and Sweet Dave entered a 50-person rectangular military tent. Inside the tent, there were tables and benches, and people cooking in the kitchen. "You mentioned that you''re tired and hungry. Let''s have something to eat first." ''Eh? Eat? Ugh¡­'' Nathan thought. "Okay¡­" Although Nathan understands that food is scarce during a zombie apocalypse, as much as possible, he didn''t like to eat meals that weren''t prepared by himself. For all he knows, it could be poison, rotten or whatever sick and perverted ingredient was added. And plus, with the amount of food he looted back at Saint Holy Child Hospital, it was enough for him to last for at least 10 months, eating 3 full meals a day that was enough for his new body size. However, if he were to decline Sweet Dave''s invitation, then everything he has done so far just to enter this base would be for nothing. They took a seat and Sweet Dave continued, "I haven''t eaten since last night. If my wife finds out about it, she''s going to scold me again." Nathan just smiled. One of the cooks approached them. It was a half black and half Caucasian man. "Sweet Dave my friend, you''re quite early today for lunch. But then again, I didn''t see you this morning for breakfast." "Pietro my friend, thanks for the hard work as always. By the way, this is Nathan. He just arrived here." Pietro looked at Nathan and offered an elegant bow. "Nathan my friend, it''s always a wonderful feeling to be able to meet a new face. My name is Pietro Lavidad and I used to run a meat shop before the zombie apocalypse. Don''t worry, the meal that I will serve to you will reinvigorate your weary body, mind and soul." Nathan was taken aback that he didn''t know how to react so awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Ah¡­ I see, my friend. And thanks¡­ I guess?" "Give me a minute, my friend and I will serve you the best dish you will ever taste in your entire life. Muah!" Pietro blew out a kiss in the air and left. Sweet Dave chuckled and said, "People like Pietro are the kind of people that we need in times like this because they give out this sense of hope and normalcy that makes you forget about the grim reality even for just a moment." "Yeah... Sure..." He suddenly heard the sound of a grinder. Griiinnnggg! It was coming from outside of the tent and quite far but still within the premise of the shelter. "Where''s that noise coming from?" said Nathan. Sweet Dave stared at Nathan''s eyes for a moment before answering, "They''re trying to break into a blast shelter." "A blast shelter?" "As you can tell, this is a shelter established by the government of this city -- one of 3 actually." "..." "Anyways, a group of corrupt government officials, scientists and their bodyguards who failed to escape two days ago shut themselves inside a blast shelter." "..." "Of course, we don''t have any intention to kill them -- too much blood has already been spilled. What we''re after is the tons of food kept inside the blast shelter." Nathan said with a bored and uninterested expression, "Can''t you just ask it from them?" Sweet Dave smiled and said, "I wish everything was as simple as that." Pietro came with two food trays and two bottles of water. "My friends, bon appetit~!" Nathan picked up his spoon and stared at the dish in front of him. There was a small bowl of mushroom soup which was a personal favorite of someone he used to know, one thin slice of meat, a handful serving of scrambled eggs, and one piece of bread. ''This?'' Based on the dish in front of him, he could tell that the people here were low on food supply and were trying their best to divide it among themselves. He has seen what a typical meal of the locals here. It was big and heavy. That''s probably why Westerners are bigger. And compared to Nathan''s usual meal and considering his new body size, this was at best only a small snack. However, what he was most concerned about was the meat. ''What meat is this?'' Sweet Dave noticed Nathan''s hesitation and said, "I don''t mean to be racist. Don''t worry, we aren''t yet that desperate to throw away our humanity and eat whatever meat is available, including zombie meat. Anyway, it''s pork. Also, it''s not poisoned." Nathan studied Sweet Dave''s face for a moment. Another stereotype here in the West is that Asians eat anything that moves. And although people here try to be politically correct as possible by not pointing out, sometimes it just accidentally comes out. But even if this was zombie meat, aside from the fact he had [Divine Tears], he was sure he wasn''t going to be infected because during back his experiment days, he fed people zombie flesh, blood and saliva and they didn''t turn into a zombie. And even if it was poison, he also had the [Antidote] potion. But in the end, Nathan still decided to eat because he did mention that he hasn''t eaten and slept for days. ''Hmm~ Not bad for a weirdo.'' To his surprise, it actually tastes great. 144 Government Shelter 3 After eating, Sweet Dave brought Nathan to another tent. It was one of the 20-person rectangular tents used as sleeping quarters for the survivors who came to this base to seek shelter from the zombie apocalypse. Some of the beds were occupied by people. The people occupying them were old while others were young but had lost a limb or two. ''The smell of piss and body odor is even stronger in here compared to outside.'' "You can rest in any of the available beds here. Once you''re done, come find me at the Riot Control Task Force Office. I''ll give you your assigned tasks," said Sweet Dave. Nathan turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Tasks?" Sweet Dave slapped Nathan''s arm and chuckled. Pah! "Everyone who is young and able should contribute in maintaining this shelter. And based on the way you carry yourself, I can tell you''re strong." Nathan squinted his eyes. Putting aside the fact he disliked being ordered around, especially after everything that has happened ever since the zombie apocalypse began, he wasn''t expecting Sweet Dave to tell him that he looked strong. ''What gave him that impression? Or is this old pervert just bluffing? Perhaps he''s hitting on me?'' However, the truth was that Sweet Dave had been paying very close attention to Nathan''s actions all this time. With his experience as a former convict and his wife who was a parole officer, he was confident to say that Nathan wasn''t a spy sent by the government. He didn''t have that air of a person who belongs to the police or military. And the attitude that he has shown so far was more like an entitled tourist who was more concerned with the quality of food and the facilities around him rather than the threat of the zombies. He also didn''t have any of that stressed and worn out face that many of the people here had. But most importantly, despite the fact he couldn''t help but notice that Nathan looked at people as if he was looking at ants or something lower and he had a murderous and dangerous air around him, he was at least quite honest with his answer when he asked him if he has killed anyone. And as a former convict himself, he believes that everyone, regardless of whatever their crimes were, deserves a second chance in life. "Okay, I have to go. Rest well. I have other matters to attend to," Sweet Dave said and then left. After seeing Sweet Dave leave, Nathan picked a bed closest to him. However, there was a problem¡­ ''This bed was too fucking small!'' Unfortunately, there wasn''t any and decided to lie down on the bed. With his current height at 2.2m, it was hard to find a bed that was suitable for him. As a matter of fact, outside he even began training himself to sleep on the floor. There was also another problem¡­ Putting aside that he wasn''t sleepy, he didn''t want to take off his equipment. In his mind, although these people have welcomed him in their base, fed him and even gave him a bed to sleep on, there was still no way he would trust them. The System items he had were far too precious and he had risked his life more than once to get these. ''Sigh¡­ Okay, after I pretend to rest for 2 hours, I will find that old pervert to receive my tasks and then search for a helicopter and a pilot to teach me.'' He placed his sword on the side and lied down on the bed with the rest of his equipment on. His legs were way passed the bed and hanging in the air. It was also noisy a bit outside. ''Ugh¡­ This is uncomfortable¡­'' 30 minutes later¡­ ''I can''t take this anymore!'' He got up from the bed and picked up his sword before heading outside the tent. As he was making way outside, a group of children who have been observing Nathan from the tent''s entrance ran away. ''They''re using kids as spies?'' An image of the children he slaughtered back at Corn Town flashed inside his head. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Regarding the kids at the tent''s entrance, unfortunately, he was wrong. The children got word that a very tall man wearing a black-colored set of equipment arrived at the base. They were all curious about what he looked like so they came here to check him out. And when they saw him lying in a bed that was too small for his size and with his equipment on, they concluded that he must be a retard or something. Nathan was finally outside of the tent. ''What was that place did that old pervert mentioned again? Riot¡­ Riot Control Task Force Police Office? Or was it Riot Control Office something?'' He let out a sigh. ''Well, whatever.'' He swept his gaze over his surroundings to look for people that he can ask for directions. He saw a man dressed in civilian clothing passing by and staring blankly at the ground. "Excuse me. Can I as--" The man''s head immediately turned to him and he said, "Are you real? Am I real? Is this real? Is this fake? Believe me when I say that the zombie apocalypse is a government conspiracy!" "What?" The man grabbed onto Nathan and with crazy eyes, he said, "Everything is a conspiracy orchestrated by the government and the elites to control us! They''ve been planting drugs and microchip in our food and medicine for years now and they finally did it! Help me spread the word before it''s too late!" "What the fuck!" Nathan said as shoved the man away. "You refuse to believe? Then I pity you! You have been fooled by the government''s propaganda! Wahahaha!" the man said before walking away. Nathan stared at the man. ''What the fuck was that?'' "Mister, I can help you whatever it is you''re looking for." Nathan looked at his side. He turned to his side and saw a shabby-looking 10-year-old Caucasian girl with icy blonde hair holding a stick. ''So this time it''s a kid, huh.'' "I can help you whatever it is you''re looking for." In the last 8 months of staying here in Womania, he developed a habit of ignoring and avoiding kids due to this country''s political correctness. The kid continued, "But there''s a fee." ''Hmm¡­ Her accent doesn''t seem to be that of a native Womanian,'' Nathan thought and smiled because he noticed something funny. Although he admired the little girl''s bravery for trying to bargain with him, he sensed her fear. ''Do I look that scary? Well, I''m a bit tall now thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood but with the System, the only advantage that height gives is the attack range.'' An image of the children he slaughtered back Corn Town flashed inside his head. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head before asking, "Okay, how much?" "The equipment you''re wearing." Nathan scoffed and said, "Go back to your parents, kid." He walked away. "Wait!" However, he just ignored her and found another person. This time it was a woman dressed in civilian clothing in her 40s. "Excuse me. Can I ask for directions?" The woman looked at Nathan and was taken aback for a quick moment due to his height. "W-What do you want?" "I''m looking for the Riot Police or Riot Control Office -- I''m not 100% of the name." "Oh, the Riot Control Task Force Office. It''s¡­" The woman gave him the directions. *** Nathan was walking down the streets and on his way to Riot Control Task Force Office when he saw a group of religious people preaching about the Iklas religion. "According to the Holy Book that was given by God to the holy prophet Zalimun, those who don''t swear total obedience to the one true God shall not enter heaven and will be thrown into hell and be tortured by the devils for all eternity!" said a man. "Come now and surrender yourself to God and ask for His forgiveness!" said another man. ''Heh~ It''s the crazy brown-Caucasian terrorists.'' Back in Cram City, there weren''t that many brown-Caucasians there. It was mostly black, Caucasians and a huge number of Asians. Meanwhile, here in Burrow City there weren''t that many Asians but had a huge number of brown-Caucasians. As for what makes them crazy, well, if the general trend is that white and black people are racists against each other, and Asians are racists with each other (white-skinned vs brown-skinned), there is one ethnic group that everyone avoids like the plague. This group are the brown-Caucasians. In Nathan''s own opinion, this group is the most racist and violent people on earth. And from what he has observed of how well they view race, it''s like this: brown-Caucasians at the top, Caucasians next, white-skinned Asians, brown-skinned Asians, and black people at the bottom. Now, although Nathan would reluctantly agree that some of them are probably not racists, to him, the majority of them definitely are, especially the ones living in the brown-Caucasian countries. As for how this happened¡­ Back in ancient times, the general population of brown-Caucasians believed in the Iklas religion, while the Caucasians believed in the Trinitian religion. And due to the difference of religion, this led to these two groups waging holy wars against one another for centuries. Fast-forward around the 13th century, although there were still some tensions between the two groups, the era of the Holy Wars declined significantly and was reduced to mostly skirmishes. As time passed, the Caucasians started to invest more in science and philosophy. Meanwhile, the brown-Caucasians continued holding onto their religious beliefs. It was around the 21st century that the difference between the two groups became so drastic. Many Caucasian countries became rich countries (aka first-world countries) but the exchange was the detachment of their people from the shackles of religion which led to the birth of political correctness. The political correctness even reached to the point where it was wrong to refer to God as "Lord" because that would suggest God is male. Nathan remembered hearing such an idea for the first time in Womania and his jaw just dropped because there were actually people who publicly praised the idea. Now, of course, Nathan wasn''t a die-hard religious fanatic that he would kill and die for in the name of religion. But as someone who grew up in a religious country, ideas like that wasn''t something you say in public. As a matter of fact, one trend he noticed was that the richer the country is, the more godless the society is. Sure, some first-world natives may claim they''re religious and all, but it''s at best superficial because they would bend the rules whenever the situation doesn''t fit their personal desires and would argue that some of the rules in religion are "outdated." Meanwhile, for the brown-Caucasians, the reason why some of their countries were able to become first-world countries without losing their religious culture was the discovery of crude oil or black gold. Crude oil in the modern world was the most precious material of all. Without it, the modern world that humans lived in would collapse. Coincidentally, the majority of the countries brown-Caucasians had a huge amount of oil reserves, giving them a huge control in the oil market. Because of this, although some of the brown-Caucasian countries were able to continue to develop economically, even reaching first-world standards, when it comes to moral and traditional values in their society, they were still a little bit stuck in the Middle Ages. In fact, it wasn''t rare to see or hear from the news about buying, selling and torturing of "slaves" in rich brown-Caucasian countries even in the 21st century. And the craziest part is that no influential political leader or government from the non-brown-Caucasian countries would dare to call them out in the international stage in fear that these rich brown-Caucasian countries would refuse to sell oil to them. Now, this is where things get even more complicated to the point of being chaotic. Although no influential political leader and government is calling out the rich brown-Caucasian countries in the international stage for their violations against human rights, this hasn''t stop powerful Caucasian countries such as Iustitia and Regis from invading underdeveloped brown-Caucasian countries with oil reserves under the guise of "freeing" the people from an oppressive government. With this, in some way you can say that the actions of Iustitia and Regis are a necessary evil because it lessens the share of the rich brown-Caucasian countries in the oil market. But at the same time, one can also counter-argue that what countries such as Iustitia and Regis are doing is simply transferring the power to themselves at the expense of the lives of average brown-Caucasian citizens. But the most important of it all is that it has given birth to everyone''s most beloved and favorite religious peaceful group -- the terrorists. 145 Government Shelter 4 Nathan arrived in front of the Riot Control Task Force Office building. It was a two-story building and there were people coming in and out. Some were dressed in System items, while others weren''t. ''Seems a bit busy.'' He stepped inside the building and there were people forming a line in front of the two front desks. ''Hmm¡­ At least it looks clean. But¡­'' Just like outside, it was masked with the body odor coming from the people. But inside here it was concentrated because there was no electricity to turn on the air conditioners so people were sweating. ''Do I have to fucking wait in line as well? Tsk!'' He swept his gaze over the room to find other personnel to talk to. He was only here to ask for the tasks or responsibilities that will be assigned to him so he didn''t want to wait in line. There were two guards on the side. "Excuse me. I just arrived in this shelter about 2 hours ago and I was told by someone named David or something to come here." "David?" Guard A said and looked at the other guard. "If you have an issue to report about, please talk to the front desks," said Guard B. Nathan''s eye twitched. "Look, I''m not here to report an issue. I was told by this tall Caucasian old guy named David or Dave to come here because he will give me my assigned tasks or something." "Oh, you mean Sweet Dave. He''s currently in a meeting at the chief''s office. Please take a seat over there. We will inform you right away once he''s done," said Guard A. Nathan''s eye twitched once again. But after recalling that he was originally supposed to rest, he relaxed. He looked at the seats on the corner. There were a few people sitting. ''Although some of them look clean, I''m pretty sure that all of them stink. No thank you.'' This arrogance of Nathan regarding smelly people came from the fact that he was one of those Asians who produces dry earwax which is both a blessing and a curse. The good side about having such a genetic mutation is that it takes a while for someone like him to produce body odor. In fact, the smell of deodorant on his underarm would still be there even after not taking a bath for 2 days -- it can even last more than 2 days if he didn''t sweat and stayed in a cold climate or air-conditioned room the whole time. As for the downside of having such a genetic mutation, cleaning his ears takes more effort and the process can feel a bit disgusting. In order to properly clean his ear, he needs to pour baby oil on the cotton bud or else it will take him at least 4 cotton buds to clean each ear. And even then, his ears still won''t feel "clean" compared to when he uses baby oil. But on the other hand, the use of baby oil feels disgusting and he really hates it that he would immediately take a bath after cleaning his ears. "I''ll wait outside," Nathan said and left the building. When he stepped outside, he felt more relaxed. He secretly summoned a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from this [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and lit one. Click! "Woooh¡­" He blew a handful of smoke in the air. When people saw him smoking, some of them, especially the women, looked at him with disgust. ''Heh~ It seemed like the people in this country still have a dislike for cigarettes.'' "Woooh..." ''When will that meeting end? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes?'' ''Should I go back inside and ask?'' ''Yeah, I should ask.'' "Woooh..." ''After I finish this stick.'' ''What if it will take longer or worse they don''t know?'' ''Ah whatever... I guess I''ll just look for a helicopter or jet and a pilot in the meantime?'' ''Well¡­ I did see some helicopters earlier but I''m not sure if they''re still working.'' ''As for the pilot, where can I find one?'' "Woooh..." ''Hmm¡­ I wonder if there''s a bar here or something like in the movies or novels where one can go to collect information.'' Nathan chuckled and shook his head. ''A bar? Based on the meal I had earlier, the people here seemed to be tight on food supply. I doubt if they even have a bar.'' ''I guess the best way is to ask that old booty warrior for some information. He seemed to have some connections.'' All of a sudden¡­ "Excuse me, are you Amir''s cousin?" It was a female voice. Hearing Amir''s name, Nathan''s eyes widened for a second before he turned to look at the person. It was a very beautiful Caucasian woman in her late 20s dressed in System items. He squinted his eyes. ''This woman¡­ She seems familiar. But I can''t remember exactly where I''ve met her.'' "I''m sorry. I thought you were the cousin of someone I used to know. But come to think of it, that cousin of his wasn''t this tall so I guess it''s impossible for you to be him. I''m sorry to bother you. Bye," the woman said and left. ''Hmm¡­ This manner of speaking¡­ I remember now. It''s Machine Gun Mouth!'' Nathan thought. "Ida?" Ida stopped and turned around. "Yeah. You''re Amir''s cousin, right? And your name was I think¡­ Nathan? Am I right?" "Yeah. How are you?" "I''m fine. Thanks. How are you? Last time we saw each other was at Amir''s birthday party a couple of months ago. How is he? Are you with him? Where is he?" ''Ah¡­ Still the same machine gun mouth.'' Putting aside Ida''s beauty, it wasn''t hard not to forget her name because a few memorable things happened that day, specifically at the party. "He''s gone." "He''s gone? What do you mean? Is it --" "He''s dead." A sorrowful expression flashed on Ida''s face. "Oh, I''m so sorry to hear that. I didn''t mean to pry. No, I mean -- I shouldn''t have asked." "..." There was a long silence between them that lasted for almost a minute before Nathan sucked his cigarette one last time and flicked it away. "Woooh..." "You know, I''ve been here since the zombie apocalypse began. How long have you been here? And how did you get so tall? I don''t remember you being this tall. Is it a spell or something?" "I arrived here about 2 hours ago. As for my height, I don''t know what you''re talking about. I''ve always been this tall." He didn''t want to talk about the [Artifact] Divine Blood so decided to gaslight her. "Really? Hmm¡­ I''m pretty sure you weren''t this tall. Well, I guess I''m just mixing you up with someone else because of all the stress I''ve been dealing with, thanks to the zombie apocalypse. To be honest, I can''t remember the last time I''ve had a decent sleep." "That''s probably it." "By the way, you mentioned that just got here, right? How did you manage to come here? Where were you when the zombie apocalypse began? Were you here in Burrow City? I''ve been living in this city for 5 months now and..." Nathan was starting to have a headache. ''This woman talks too much,'' he thought. "I was in Cram city and I made my way here with some friends but I was the only one who made it." He did say to the guards back at the South Gate that all his family and friends died so he needed to be somewhat consistent with his story. "I''m sorry to hear that. Well, I --" "Wait! I need to ask you something." Nathan couldn''t take it anymore. If he let her continue leading the conversation, he would die before this mindless chat would end. "What is it?" "Do you know if there are any jet planes here?" "Jet planes? At the airports in this city? There probably is but --" "No, I''m talking about here, in this shelter." "Oh¡­ Um¡­ As far as I know, there aren''t any here. It''s only helicopters, tanks, trucks --" "Are the helicopters here still working?" "I guess. Well, I mean, I don''t know how to fly a helicopter so I can''t say for sure if they still work 100%. But if I will have to choose an answer between yes and no, I would say yes." "Do you know anyone who could fly them?" "Fly them? Yeah, I know someone. He''s a friend of a friend." "A friend of a friend, huh," Nathan said and rubbed his chin. "But I advise you to forget about whatever your planning. Aside from the fact that no one is allowed to take any of the helicopters unless you get the permission of all the leaders in this base, flying is useless because it will only attract those zombies with wings." Nathan thought about the M2 zombies. If he was going to fly back to Muwin to search for his family, now is the time. If he waited until the next Phase, there would be too many M2 zombies and it would almost impossible for him or anyone to fly safely. Nathan flashed a very friendly and warm smile and said, "Don''t worry. I don''t have any plans in taking any of the helicopters here in this city. I just want to meet this friend of yours because I have something to ask about helicopters. Where is he?" "He went out with a group of people to search for food supplies in the city. He''d be back I think around 5:00 pm if nothing goes wrong." "Can you introduce him to me once he returns? I currently have some business to attend so let''s meet later." "Sure. Meet me at the¡­" Ida gave him the time and place for their meeting later. 146 Government Shelter 5 Kacha! Sweet Dave closed the door behind him and started walking. His meeting with the chief just ended and he was on his way to gather some members of the Riot Control Task Force before heading to the blast shelter to provide support to the other groups who were already there. ''Hopefully, we could end everything peacefully.'' As Sweet Dave was making his way to the exit, one of the personnel approached him. "Sweet Dave, sir!" He stopped and turned to the guard, "Carson, you should really stop calling me sir. Sweet Dave is fine or you can just call me David or Dave." "But I owe you my life, sir! If you haven''t saved me from the zombies that day, my family and I wouldn''t be here. Also, you introduced me to my current girlfriend¡­" the man blushed and lowered his voice when he said the last sentence. Sweet Dave smiled and shook his head, "Okay, lover boy, what is it?" "Sir, a very tall Asian guy wearing black came here looking for you but you were in a meeting so I told him to wait. He''s waiting outside of the building, sir." "A very tall Asian guy?" An image of someone he met today popped into his head. "Thanks, Carson. By the way, how''s your family?" "They''re doing fine, sir." "That''s good to hear. Send my regards to your family. I''ll drop by for a visit one of these days to play chess with your grandfather again." "Yes, sir!" Sweet Dave smiled and shook his head once again before heading outside to meet the tall Asian guy looking for him. *** Sweet Dave stepped outside and saw Nathan who was talking to a beautiful Caucasian woman. ''So it''s really Nathan. And that woman... I believe that''s¡­'' He was familiar with this woman because he met and spoke with her a few times a couple of days ago. ''Was it Ida? And she''s one of the people who volunteered to go outside to search for food supplies.'' Seeing Ida leave Nathan, Sweet Dave approached him. "Nathan, you''re already done resting?" Nathan turned to him. "Yeah, somehow. The bed was too small for me though and it was also noisy." "Ah¡­ I see. I''m very sorry about that. I''ll ask some people later if there''s a bed that''s appropriate for your size. Also some clothes as well." "Yeah, sure." As far as Sweet Dave remembers, Nathan wasn''t carrying any bag with him when he arrived here which wasn''t really a surprise. Take for example the S-types zombies. Due to their extreme speed, survivors who don''t have the physical prowess to fight this type of zombie and could only run had to be as light as possible in order to outrun it. "You''re here for the tasks that will be assigned to you, right?" "Yeah." "About that, I have some bad news and good news." "..." "The bad news is, unfortunately, the management has yet to make a decision. I already explained to them that you seem like a capable person. But they wanted to test your skills first to make sure you''re qualified for the job because there''s been a lot of people applying for a position in the Riot Control Task Force that we have no choice but to be a bit picky of who we accept in our organization." "..." "As for the good news, I''m on a mission right now to assemble a team from the available members to provide support to the people who are already at the blast shelter. It''s just guard duty. Our main responsibility is to make sure no one causes any trouble while the other teams try to open the door inside the blast shelter. So if you don''t mind, you can come with us and participate in this mission so I can personally assess your skills and then write a report later about your performance and submit it to the higher-ups to consider your application to join the Riot Control Task Force." Nathan thought about it for a moment. Although he already made an arrangement with Ida in regards to the helicopter pilot, having a second back up plan in case things go south wasn''t a bad idea. "Yeah, sure." "Great! Follow me." *** Nathan and Sweet Dave arrived in front of another military tent and entered. Inside, there were people of different genders relaxing, horsing around, and playing cards and chess. "Alright people, listen up!" said Sweet Dave. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "I need 16 volunteers to help provide support at the blast shelter." "I''ll go," said one and began gearing up. "I''m in," said another one. "Me too." "Count me in." Soon, all 16 slots were occupied. Sweet Dave had a very good reputation due to his kind and fair nature. If there was someone you need help with, as long as it''s for a good cause, he was definitely among the top 10 go-to people in the base to ask help for. And because of this nature of his, many would quickly offer him a hand if he asked for help. After gearing up, they immediately head to the location of the blast shelter which was at the southwestern side of the base. As they were walking... "Who''s the new guy? I''ve never seen him before," asked one of the volunteers. It was an Asian man. Whether it was Nathan''s height or black-colored System equipment, or both, it was impossible not to notice him. And unfortunately, Nathan wasn''t in the mood to answer their questions or even acknowledge their presence so he didn''t respond. In his mind, there was no point in lowering himself to talk to them because he already gathered enough information and connected with enough people that he needed in order to complete his real purpose in coming to this base. Furthermore, none of them caught his eye -- like if they were Chosen Ones, someone who had the White or Black-colored System items, or anyone who might have ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood. Unfortunately, not counting the Chosen Ones because it''s impossible to differentiate them between normal humans unless they show their power or tell someone that they are one, he was only able to spot a few tall people that were a few inches below his height. However, he isn''t 100% sure whether ingesting the [Artifact] Divine Blood will make a person 2.2m tall or if it depends on the individual. What if a child ingested it? Will they grow into 2.2m tall as well? There was also another thing that he wasn''t 100% sure of -- the deathly pale white spots. After ingesting the [Artifact] Divine Blood, 20% of his skin is now covered with deathly pale white spots that he looked like a reversed dalmatian or someone with vitiligo. "His name''s Nathan and he just arrived today," said Sweet Dave. "Just him?" "Yeah," said Sweet Dave. "Can he fight? We don''t need any more newbies. The last two people who joined couldn''t even fight and only ended up causing more trouble," said another one of the volunteers. It was a half-black and half-Caucasian woman, Lisa. "Who here thinks he going to run at the first sign of danger?" said another person. "I bet 3 [Small] Healing Potions," said another person. "I bet he won''t run but he wouldn''t know how to fight," said another one. Sweet Dave didn''t say anything and just let them be. Given his age and life experience, his gut was telling him that Nathan can handle himself so he wasn''t worried at all. As for the others who also didn''t say anything, although they neither like or hate Nathan, a few of them sensed a dangerous air around him so they more or less shared the same opinion of Sweet Dave. *** Sweet Dave and company were walking in the area near the blast shelter. Nathan turned his head to the building where the blast shelter was supposedly at. ''That''s where it is?'' It was just a typical one-story building that was almost as large as a basketball court. If he didn''t know there was a blast shelter there, he would never even suspected it and dismissed it right away as nothing more than just another building. There were people guarding outside and coming in and out of the building. Nathan squinted his eyes, trying to see if he could spot any Chosen Ones, someone who has the White or Black-colored System items, or anyone who might have ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood. ''I really can''t tell...'' Aside from the guards, there was a generator and also a solar panel outside with cables connected to the inside. The grinding sound he heard early stopped and was replaced with occasional hammering and bashing sounds against metal coming from inside the building. Clang! Clang! Clang! Sweet Dave was leading the way to a tent to meet up with one of the people in charge of the operation. They finally arrived at their destination. "All of you, wait here," Sweet Dave said and entered the tent alone. Inside, there was a black woman in her 30s sitting behind a table. She was one of the five leaders of this government shelter ever since the takeover. She was reviewing a document on her hands while listening to a man giving her a report about the situation. "... That''s all the things we''ve gathered so far," said the man. "I see. Inform me right away when there''s new information," the woman said and then signed the document before handing it over to the man. "Yes, ma''am," the man said as he took the document and exited the tent. Sweet Dave stepped forward and said, "I''m here under the orders of the Riot Control Task Force office to provide additional support." "Sweet Dave, thank you for coming. If it''s you then I don''t have anything to worry about," the woman said with a warm smile. Sweet Dave also smiled and said, "It''s always a pleasure working with you, Makeda. And plus, my wife is also here, trying to help break through the blast shelter. Whatever is that you need my team and I to do, we would do our best." Just like Makeda, Sweet Dave''s wife, Sansa, was also one of the leaders in this government shelter. 147 Government Shelter 6 Outside of the tent. Nathan and the rest of the people that Sweet Dave brought were patiently waiting. It has only been a minute since Sweet Dave entered the tent but¡­ "Haaaaaa~" Nathan yawned and then stretched out his arms and neck, causing them to make some popping sounds. Pop! Pop! Pop! ''This is so boring...'' He stared at a group of people doing a quick check on a mobile missile launcher nearby. ''Ah yes¡­ I almost forgot I also need something like that for the Divine Tower to kill that Gold Armored Angel.'' ''But what if I just use a helicopter inside the Divine Tower?'' ''I mean, the space inside of the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger has the dimensions of a tennis court.'' ''And if I were to use a helicopter there, I will also have to get rid of the boxes of food inside it to make space.'' ''But then if I choose a helicopter, falling from the sky could be another issue.'' He thought about the werebat Chosen one who fell from the sky after the Gold Armored Angel cast the [Lock] spell on him. And after falling and breaking his bones, he was burned in flames before getting struck with [Stone Spear]. ''That was a painful way to die. And what if the helicopter explodes while I''m still inside? Unless the special effect of my Black equipment activates, I''m not sure if I would even be able to survive.'' He then thought about the other spells of the Gold Armored Angel and the other armored angels and their immunity. No matter how much he thought about it, it was just impossible to defeat the Divine Tower alone. He needed companions. He started having a headache just thinking about it. ''Ugh¡­ I''ll just think about it later. For now, I have to focus on flying back to Muwin.'' Sweet Dave exited the tent and everyone looked at him. "We have our orders. Our team''s call sign is Foxtrot. The assault teams -- Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta -- are in charge of entering the blast shelter while we are to stand outside and prevent any outside interference. If the assault teams can''t handle their mission, we are to provide them any support we could possibly give." "So it''s the same as usual then," said one of the volunteers. "Looks like it," said another one. "New guy, seems like it''s your lucky day," one of the volunteers said to Nathan. Nathan ignored the person and thought, ''Heh~ Assault teams, huh. I wonder what they look like.'' "Okay, I will be dividing you into groups and assign your positions," said Sweet Dave A few minutes later¡­ Nathan was standing guard at the location he and his group were assigned on. He had two people with him. And as promised by Sweet Dave earlier to him, he gave them a special task to assess his overall skills for his application in the Riot Control Task Force. "Hey, I got my eyes on you. Don''t think I''ll go easy on you just because Sweet Dave personally recommended you. If you can''t keep up, I''ll not only fail you but I''ll also personally teach you a lesson myself that you''ll never forget for the rest of your life," said one of his teammates. It was Lisa and Nathan decided to coin her as Bitch. He ignored her. "Did you hear me?" "Hey, hey, Lisa. Easy on the new guy. He just arrived today. Normally, people would need a day or two to recover from all the horrors outside," said the other teammate. This other teammate was a brown-Caucasian and it was Nur. And due to Nathan''s views about brown-Caucasians, he decided to coin him as Bomber. "Hmph!" said Lisa. Nur smiled and looked at Nathan. "Don''t take it personal. She might be a little cold and rude but she''s actually a softie inside who really cares about people." Nathan ignored him as well and just stared at the blast shelter. If one didn''t know that it''s was a blast shelter, one would dismiss it right away as nothing but an ordinary one-story building which almost as wide as a basketball court. In truth, based on the information shared to them by Sweet Dave, this blast shelter had at least two underground levels and each level had its own blast door. As a matter of fact, the people in charge of unlocking the blast doors were already opening the one in B2. ''I want to see what''s inside¡­'' Unfortunately, he couldn''t due to orders. ''How long will this take? I want to sit down.'' He looked around his surroundings to look for a chair or something. There was a building nearby and it had chairs inside. ''Yup. No sense in torturing myself.'' He began walking towards the building. "Hey! Where do you think you''re going?! Get back to your post!" said Lisa. Just like before, he ignored her. Nur looked at Nathan and then at Lisa. "Do you think maybe he doesn''t understand Regisian?" "Now that you''ve said that, I think I never heard him talk." "Same here." "But if that''s the case, then why is Sweet Dave recommending him to join our organization?" "I have no idea." "But how are we supposed to communicate if this person can''t even understand Regisian? Can you speak Xudonian?" "I don''t think he''s Xudonian. He''s a brown-skinned Asian, probably a Duyinian, Rahinian or whatever." "Sigh... I tell you, Nur, sometimes Sweet Dave is just too kind to the point that many people are taking advantage of him." "Maybe Sweet Dave sees something in him that we don''t see." "This is so fucking annoying!" Lisa said and went over to Nathan to grab him. As she was about to grab him, the ground shook. Grrr¡­ And then it was quickly followed by a large explosion coming out of the blast shelter. BOOM!!! Everyone nearby was blown away from the blast and fell to the ground, including Nathan. Nathan got up and stared at the burning blast shelter. ''What the fuck just happened?'' He then saw a black woman in her 30s and a group of people rushing to the burning building. Sweet Dave rushed over as well. *** When Makeda and her team arrived near the burning building, one of the people who survived the blast when the building exploded got up and went to her. "Ma''am!" "Tell me what happened!" "Ma''am, this information has yet to be verified but the Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta team got caught in the explosion set up by the enemies on B1. In my last contact with the Alpha team via radio, they''ve already opened the door on B1 and found weapons and boxes of food so they requested to have Charlie and Delta carry out the boxes. And then a minute after that message was sent, the explosion happened. I''ve been trying to contact them via radio but there''s no response." Sweet Dave finally arrived at the scene. "Makeda, what happened?" She turned to him but didn''t say anything and was still trying to figure out a proper answer to give because the leaders of the civilian groups were among the people who got caught by the explosion which can destabilize the government system they''ve created ever since they''ve taken over the base. "Makeda, do you know anything about what happened to my wife?" "Sweet Dave¡­ Details of the mission haven''t been confirmed yet. I''ll inform you right away once we have the information. For now, I''m going to send some people to enter the building to investigate." Sweet Dave''s wife, Sansa (aka Sunny), was part of team Charlie. He looked at the others. They all had mixed expressions -- some were confused, some were worried and others were angry. Although Sansa was one of the leaders in the base, the main reason why she had a very good reputation was because of the same qualities that she and her husband share: kind and fair. As long as it''s for a good cause, they would help without a second thought. And just like Sweet Dave, they also had family and friends that were part of the Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta team so some of them were surprised and angry about what had happened. "I would like to volunteer in entering the building," said Sweet Dave. Makeda studied Sweet Dave''s face, trying to see whether she should agree or not. When the zombie apocalypse first began, she remembered how the people around her reacted. Although there were a few who managed to accept the new reality, many people took quite a while to accept it. As a matter of fact, even until now, there some people who are still in denial and pointed out this zombie apocalypse was nothing but a hoax created by the government. Meanwhile, others just lost their minds completely and began wreaking havoc or have committed suicide. And as days have gone by, instead of the situation improving, it was only getting worse because aside from the zombies getting stronger, people are also becoming more and more unfriendly towards each other each day. It even broke her heart to see that children were starting to find it perfectly normal to see violence, which is something that normally a first-world country like Womania shouldn''t find acceptable. "Okay, I give you permission to join." Right after Makeda said that, a group of people covering themselves with thick blankets came out of the burning building. They threw away the blankets and coughed a few times before kneeling down raising their hands up and say, "We surrender! Don''t shoot! DON''T SHOOT!!!" 148 Government Shelter 7 "We surrender! Don''t shoot! Don''t shoot!" said the people who came out of the burning building. They were 5 people -- 4 men and 1 woman. They were all kneeling on the ground with their hands held up in the air. The people that Makeda came with aimed their weapons -- some had System weapons, while others pointed their guns at the people who surrendered. "Don''t shoot! Arrest them!" said Makeda. 8 people from Makeda''s group approached the 5 survivors and pulled out handcuffs. And as they were handcuffing the survivors, one of the men, a black man, struck one of the survivors on the face with the butt of their rifle. Pah! The survivor fell to the ground and was dizzy. "THAT''S FOR MY BROTHER! IF DON''T FIND MY BROTHER ALIVE IN THERE, I''M GOING TO FIND YOU AND TORTURE YOU!" said the man and then proceeded to cuff the survivor. Seeing what the man did, the other people decided to take a cheap shot as well at the other survivors -- kicking and shoving them down to the ground. "Stop! I SAID STOP!!!" said Sweet Dave. Some of the members of Foxtrot, including Lisa and Nur arrived at the scene. As for Nathan, he wasn''t there because of reasons. Makeda''s companions looked at Sweet Dave. Sweet Dave continued, "They''ve already surrendered. There''s no reason to hit them." "No reason? Sweet Dave, I respect you and all, but after all these people have done since the zombie apocalypse, hitting them is the very least thing we should do to them. Also, did you just forget that our family and friends -- even your wife was inside when the shelter exploded? Aren''t you angry?!" said the man who initiated the cheap shots. "Solving violence with violence would only bring more violence. If we give in to our dark desires, how will we be any different from animals and zombies? This isn''t the time for killing each other. We should do better than this!" The man scoffed and said, "Get off of your high horse! You know, I feel so sorry for your wife and the people who follow you. You''re nothing but another old white man who thinks he''s better than everyone else and knows everything about the world. Who are you to tell us what to do, what to think? Go shove that self-righteous --" "The both of you, that''s enough!" said Makeda. Both Sweet Dave and the man stopped arguing. Sweet Dave nodded and left. Makeda turned to one of the members of her team. "Get the medical team to prepare for standby for any survivors." The member nodded and left. "Okay, I need a group of volunteers to enter the building once the fire is put out." Meanwhile, Nathan, who was watching the whole show from afar, resumed heading to the building he had his sights on to pick up a chair. He didn''t bother to go near because there was nothing to see other than the burning building and dead bodies. And most importantly, there could be a second explosion and there are too many brown-Caucasians here, who knows, they might suddenly go crazy and start an explosion of their own. It''s better just to be far away from crowded places because despite his high VIT, he wasn''t willing to gamble his life against a full blast explosion. And plus, it was a waste of potions and clothes. *** It took more than 3 hours before Makeda and the rest were able to put out the fire and enter the blast shelter to investigate and search for survivors. Based on what they''ve discovered, the people who hid inside the blast shelter (aka prisoners) did set up a trap on B1 by using the missiles and some of the explosives kept on B1. They covered it with 40% of food supplies to attract the intruders. However, they underestimated the power of the missiles and explosives that when they exploded. It destroyed the blast door separating B1 and B2 and then spread, destroying more than half of the remaining food kept on the B2 level. The 5 people earlier were the lucky ones, while their other companions either got caught in the explosion or died from suffocation. Nathan was on a corner, sitting on a chair. There were bystanders watching the whole event. He yawned and checked his watch. "Haaaaa~" 5:11 pm. ''Machine Gun Mouth did say that her pilot friend will be returning around 5:00 pm and she will introduce him to me over at dinner at 6:00 pm at that place she mentioned.'' He tried to look for Sweet Dave and spotted him. He was checking one of the body bags and talking to some people. ''Hmm¡­ He seems too busy right now for me to ask him if he knows any pilots¡­'' ''Well¡­ I just hope that all this playing house thingy that I''ve been doing with him won''t be a complete waste of my time or I''ll be fucking pissed.'' ''However¡­'' He swept his gaze all over the area. ''How long will this fucking take? They''ve already investigated everything there is to investigate on that building, right? So what are they even doing?'' He got up and went straight to Sweet Dave. *** Nathan got to Sweet Dave. "Hey, how long is this going to last? It''s been almost 4 hours already." Sweet Dave turned to him and said, "What?" "I said it''s been 4 hours already. Haven''t you guys already investigated enough? What''s the point in delaying things?" Sweet Dave knitted his brows. ''Oh, it''s the guy that arrived a couple of hours ago. I forgot about him.'' Putting aside the stress and problems caused by the zombie apocalypse, his wife just died and many people lost their loved ones during the explosion. Earlier, when the explosion happened, the loss hasn''t completely sunk in him yet. And although he''s usually a calm and collected person, after seeing the burnt corpse of his wife, that''s when he felt the weight of his wife''s passing. And at the moment, he didn''t have the energy to deal with other people''s problems. "We''re still investigating. There''s still --" "They''re already dead. What else is there to do and say? Get over it. You people aren''t the only ones who lost loved ones." Sweet Dave took a deep breath. Although he finds Nathan''s words a bit too insensitive to the point he was tempted to lash out at him, he understood where he was coming from. He let out a sigh and said, "It''s your first day anyway. You have my permission. You''re free to go. I''ll also ask Lisa and Nur to give me a report about your performance and then make a report." "About my performance?" "Don''t worry, I''ll put on a good word for you." Nathan turned and was about to leave but went back, "I need some information about pilots. Do you know anyone who knows how to fly a plane or helicopter?" If Sweet Dave wasn''t preoccupied with the death of his wife, he would''ve suspected that Nathan was planning to steal one of the helicopters in the base and warn him to forget about the idea if he wanted to continue staying in this base. Anyone who wants to take them must get the permission of all the leaders in this base. However, even if he did, things at the moment were in chaos because 4 out of the 5 leaders died in the explosion. Only Makeda was left. "Yeah, I know a few. No, I only know one. The others died from the explosion." "Who is this person who knows? Can you introduce him to me?" "I''ll introduce him later to you over dinner. He''s out right now with a group searching for food supplies outside and will return very soon." ''He''s out? Could he be the same person that Machine Gun Mouth was referring to?'' he thought. "Okay. I will see you later then." Nathan finally left. 149 Government Shelter 8 6:24 pm. The lights inside the base were switched on. Nathan was back in the 50-person rectangular military tent where he and Sweet Dave ate earlier. He was seated at one of the tables, waiting for Ida to come. He was still wearing his Black System equipment. He took off his helmet and placed it on top of the table. There weren''t many people. And the ones that were here were wearing System items, while others weren''t. He checked his watch. ''Where the fuck is that Machine Gun Mouth? It''s already way past 6:00 pm.'' ''Sigh¡­ She did say that the pilot was a friend of a friend so maybe¡­'' ''Well, whatever. She better not stood me up or --'' ''Wait¡­ What if the pilot died? She did mention that he went out with a group to search for food supplies and never once she stated that the pilot was a Chosen One¡­'' ''Ugh... Fuck me sideways¡­ What a pathetic and worthless Chosen One I am. I still need to rely on a non-Chosen One...'' At a table next to him, there were two men having a conversation while eating. "Hey, man, I heard a few crazy things from one of the people in charge of interrogating the government people who surrendered earlier this afternoon." "What kind of crazy are we talking about?" "Like CRAZY." "No offense, but just think about it, the interrogation was made in private so there''s no way the groups in charge would leak it. Any leak would no doubt be fake." "Yeah, you have a point. But you have to know that 4 out of the 5 leaders in this shelter died from the explosion this afternoon. And right now, everything is in chaos because the surviving members are fighting over the position to be the next leader within their respective groups and the remaining leader, Makeda, and her team are doing everything they can to stabilize the situation." "..." "Well, if you don''t believe me, then that''s okay. I won''t force you." "Hey, I never said that. Come on, tell me what did you hear?" The man scoffed and then said, "So you''re interested after all." "You''re the one who brought up the topic first." "Fair point. Did you know that the billionaires and all the important people around the world are planning to go to the space station to get away from the zombie threat? As a matter of fact, a few have already escaped to space. They''re even planning to build a mega space station that could accommodate about 5 million people. They''re letting the Xudonians build it because they''re the fastest." "Yeah. Well, I have another one which is even crazier." "Shoot." "They found God." "Huh? I''m not sure I understand." "They found God." "Okay¡­ And?" "Hey man, scholars have been debating since the beginning of time whether God is real or not. The fact that God revealed himself at the start of the zombie apocalypse made a lot of people go crazy. I remember when that time happened I was checking my social media and people were posting like crazy." "Hold on for a minute. Didn''t we have this discussion before? Although some are saying it''s God, others are claiming it''s the devil or something else who is claiming to be God. And according to their logic, those who don''t think it was God that time, God is supposed to be this being that represents unconditional love and yet He unleashed this zombie apocalypse upon us." "Yeah, we already have the discussion and I still think it was really God that talked at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. But that''s not the point here. The point here is that one of the information they got from the interrogation is that they found God and He''s in Mt. Makanalah at the country of Aleahil." "At Aleahil?" "Yeah, it proves a lot of things, right? But it also messes up a lot of things." "Did they speak to Him?" "That I don''t know. Even those government people that surrendered this afternoon don''t know." "Holy shit, man. If the first story I already have my doubts because it was too crazy, this second story is just on another level." "Yeah, really crazy, right? When I first heard it I had the same reaction as you." All along, Nathan was quietly listening. ''Heh~ What a very interesting piece of information if they were true.'' ''Aleahil, huh. That''s a brown-Caucasian country.'' ''And as far I can remember, that being who was claiming to be God didn''t mention what religion He was representing.'' Although both the Trinitian and Iklasian religion originated in the brown-Caucasian country Aleahil, they have different stories. In the Trinitian book, the prophet Amos traveled the desert alone for 30 days and 30 nights without any food and water. And when he was about to die on the 7th day from dehydration and hunger, that''s when he was visited by a holy being. The holy being revealed to him that he was called Filius and was one of the three gods of this world. The other two were Pater and Telum. Pater is the main God or something like a creator. Meanwhile, Telum was something like the will of Pater. And after Filius revealed himself to the prophet Amos, He passed Telum to him to let him survive, attain enlightenment and have the power to perform miracles. And once the prophet Amos got out of the desert, he went straight to the city of Muqada where Mt. Makanalah was located to offer a prayer because even during that time it was popularly known that prophet Zalimun once met God there and gained enlightenment. And after offering a prayer, he went back to the city to preach the word of the Gods and also perform miracles. Meanwhile, in the Iklasian book, the story goes like this: One night, an angel spoke to the prophet Zalimun in a dream, telling him to climb Mt. Makanalah because God wants to meet him. When he woke up in the morning, he told his wife, Hayati, about the dream and immediately decided to climb Mt. Makanalah. His wife tried to stop him and told him that it was only a dream and nothing more but he didn''t listen and still went to climb the mountain. The prophet Zalimun climbed the steps of Mt. Makanalah for half a day before entering a cave. Inside the cave, he searched for God. And on the 7th day, that''s when he found God. And according the book, when the prophet met God, he was blinded by the holy light and overwhelmed by God''s presence that he could only kneel down and close his eyes as God passed on the holy teachings to him. ''And if more people learned about this information, like Muwinians, I wonder how many Holy Wars would this will lead to¡­'' A man approached him. "Nathan, my friend, are you now ready to eat?" He turned to the man and saw Pietro''s smiling face. He was one of the people in charge of cooking in this base. ''Oh, it''s the weirdo. This is already like the third time he has asked me this¡­'' "And between you and me, it''s best to eat a meal when it''s still hot. But of course, whether it''s cold or hot, it will still be absolutely perfectisimo!" Pietro said and blew a kiss in the air. "Umm¡­ I''m still waiting for someone." "Okay, my friend," Pietro said and bowed before leaving. Finally, Ida arrived and she was accompanied by two people -- one was a brown-Caucasian woman and the other was a black man. All three of them were wearing a complete set of System items. When Ida saw Nathan, she and her companions went to his table. They sat down, removed their headgear and placed them on top of the table. "Hi, sorry about being a little late. We got caught up with some things. Have you already eaten? If you already have, I totally understand. It''s really my fault to begin with. We were supposed to meet here a couple of minutes earlier. I swear that I really tried to come here as fast as I could but I was dealing with too many things --" Nathan listened to her only for a moment before turning his eyes towards her companions, specifically the black person. The black man and the brown-Caucasian woman were studying Nathan as well. They were surprised at first with his black-colored equipment because they''ve never dropped one. But after thinking about it, they dismissed him as one of those narcissists that paint their System items for the sake of fashion, which makes it pointless because the paint will vanish once it''s poured with a [Grade D] Repair Kit. ''So this is the pilot, huh. I wasn''t expecting him to be¡­ black,'' Nathan thought before turning to Ida who just finished talking. "It''s okay. I haven''t yet eaten. I was waiting for you guys." In truth, he already ate before coming here. The food he ate was his from his own stock inside his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. Although Pietro was a great cook because he was able to prepare such a delicious meal despite the minimal ingredients, it couldn''t count as a proper meal for him, considering his new body size. If Pietro could serve him at least 3 meals in one sitting, then it would''ve been enough. "Oh! I''m really sorry for having you wait. I promise I''ll make it up to you next time. Anyways, eating with people does makes the food even tastier," Ida said and then pointed at the black man, "Nathan, this is Ekueme." "How''s it going, fam?" said Ekueme. Ida continued, "And this is Yasmin, the pilot I was talking to you about." It was the brown-Caucasian woman. Nathan knitted his brows and then said, "Huh?" As far as he can remember, the pilot that Ida mentioned to him was a "he", not a "she". But before Nathan could even open his mouth, Pietro again appeared. "Nathan my friend, so these are the friends the beautiful friends that you have been waiting for! Oh¡­ What a beautiful rainbow of races! Such is the beauty of the friendships here in Womania!" Nathan, Ida, Ekueme and Yasmin didn''t know how to react and were left completely speechless. It took about 5 seconds before they snapped out of the trance. "Pietro, we would like 5 servings, please. Patricia will be coming over very soon. Thank you," said Ida. "As you wish, mademoiselle!" Pietro said and bowed before leaving. "I really admire the fact that you can speak to him. Me, on the other hand, I just don''t know how to properly react," said Yasmin. "But guys like him are rare nowadays," said Ida. "True," said Ekueme. "No, guys like him have always been rare," said Yasmin. They chuckled. Nathan finally snapped out of his trance. "Hold on for a minute. Machine-- I mean, Ida, I thought you were going to introduce me to a pilot that''s a friend of a friend of yours...? Correct me if I''m wrong." "Yes. Ekueme is my friend and he''s friends with Yasmin. I''ve met them when I was --" "But didn''t you say the pilot is a guy?" "Excuse me? Did you just assume my gender?" said Yasmin. Nathan looked at Yasmin. ''This person is definitely a woman. There''s no doubt about that¡­'' ''As for her being a pilot¡­ Hmm¡­ Women back in her country aren''t even allowed to drive cars so I highly doubt it if she can even pilot a helicopter¡­'' "Nathan, I''m sorry. But I forgot to mention to you that Yasmin identifies as a man so I address her with a male pronoun. Meanwhile, Ekueme here isn''t a pilot. He''s a doctor, a neurologist to be specific," said Ida. Nathan was mindblown. ''Eh? There are still people doing this political correctness bullshit?'' ''And the black guy is a fucking doctor? What have I been doing with my life?'' He shook his head. ''No¡­ The world is a big place. And with the zombie apocalypse right now, I can''t be choosy¡­'' ''But you have to admit that a brown-Caucasian woman who isn''t even allowed to drive cars back in her country can pilot a helicopter is really fishy...'' He took a deep breath and looked at Yasmin. "Okay, so you''re the pilot. I want --" Pietro arrived with the meals they''ve ordered. "My friends, here are your meals~! Oh, can you guys remove your helmets off the table?" They grabbed their helmets and put them on their laps. Meanwhile, Nathan''s eye twitched as he grabbed his helmet. The urge to slap Pietro or crumple his helmet welled up inside him. Pietro placed the meals on the table. "Bon appetit~!" Pietro said blew out a kiss in the air and bowed before leaving. And right after Pietro and his assistant left, Patricia, the fifth person that Ida was referring to, arrived. "Hey, guys," she said. It was a half-Asian and half-Caucasian woman. She too was wearing a complete set of System items. Ida and the others greeted her. "Babe," Patricia said to Ida and leaned over, kissing her lips before sitting down. Seeing the food at the table, she said, "Perfect timing!" They all began eating happily except for Nathan. He was feeling annoyed and a voice inside his head started speaking. ''Why are you wasting your time with this nonsense?'' ''Aren''t you in hurry?'' ''What happened to I''m a Chosen One and I refuse to bow down to society and society must bow down to me?'' ''Were all those things nothing but bullshit?'' His eyes flashed with a cold glint. "Sigh¡­ You''re right..." he said under his breath and then wore his helmet. "This is truly pointless..." And right after he said that, the air around him suddenly turned cold, causing Ida and the rest to stop eating and look at him. "Nathan? What''s wrong?" said Ida. Nathan stood up and stared down at Yasmin. And with a cold voice, he said, "Listen here. You''re going to teach me how to fly a helicopter or I''ll kill you and everyone that stands in my way." 150 Government Shelter 9 "Listen here. You''re going to teach me how to fly a helicopter or I''ll kill you and everyone that stands in my way," Nathan said in a cold voice. Yasmin looked at Nathan who was standing and looking down on her from his towering height. There was a vibe coming from him that felt familiar to her. Ever Since the apocalypse began and given that she goes out to search for supplies, she had her share of dangerous encounters. And based on her experience, it''s the humans who were the most dangerous. At least with the zombies, they would simply attack and eat you right away. But with humans? Pray that you don''t get capture by those bloodthirsty sick and sadistic ones because they will toy with you before giving you the sweet kiss of death. However, despite all that, she wasn''t one to back down from a fight. The world isn''t what it used to be. Everyone has the System. Age and gender don''t mean anything anymore -- it''s all about courage! As for Nathan''s height? Sure, it gives him the reach advantage. But his size also makes him an easy target. Yasmin got up and said, "Who the fuck do you think you are to talk to me that way?" "You guys take it outside. This is a place for eating," Ekueme said as he dipped his bread in his soup and took a bite. The other people inside the tent chimed in as well. "Hey, take it outside you two." "A meal and a show. This is interesting." "Ever since everyone got the System, some people just started thinking that they''re superman or something." "Yeah, and in the end the guards will take care of them and they will cry for forgiveness." Some people chuckled. "Yasmin, please excuse Nathan. He just arrived here today so he still doesn''t know how things run around here. But he''s applying to be part of the Riot Control Task Force," said Ida. "Oh, so this is the person you''ve told me about this afternoon? Looks like a trouble maker," said Patricia. Yasmin scoffed and said, "Riot Control Task Force? I don''t care if he''s --" All of a sudden, Nathan grabbed her by the shoulder with one hand, raised her up and then punched right through her stomach. Pah! "Ugh!" Yasmin''s eyes widened as she coughed out a mouthful of blood mixed with the meal she just ate. It happened so fast and no one was expecting such a reaction from Nathan that it took everyone inside the tent a surprise. Thud! She lied down on the floor and was still in shock from the pain. He whipped his arm to remove her vomit before staring down at her and then said, "Let me make this clear. I''m not asking, I''m ordering you." She coughed out a mouthful of blood once more. Her face was quickly going pale. "I heard that you go outside to search for supplies so I was assuming you were quite strong and --" he shook his head. "It doesn''t matter. I hope this will serve as a lesson for you not to question my orders from now on." "You!" both Ekueme and Patricia said as they got up and pulled out their weapons. Ida, on the other hand, got up as well but she didn''t pull out her weapon. As for the other diners that knew Yasmin, they too got up and got into a fighting position. Looking at the brave souls standing against him, Nathan rolled his eyes and said, "Sit down or I''ll kill you all." Truth be told, a part of Nathan really wasn''t in the mood to kill because of what happened at Corn Town. However, he was getting tired of wasting so much time from all these talking and waiting. Ekeume and Patricia didn''t take his advice and proceeded to do a citizen''s arrest on Nathan. "Sigh¡­ Isn''t it enough that I show you ants a bit of my power? But if that''s how you want it, then I have no choice," Nathan said and activated [Coward''s Way]. "What the¡­?!" said everyone and stopped. "Where did he go?!" And right after that¡­ Pah! Nathan appeared and Patricia''s head exploded like a watermelon from his punch, bit and pieces of flesh and blood splattered all over the tent. Ekueme was caught in surprise for a moment before he swung his weapon towards Nathan but missed. Nathan summoned a pump-action shotgun from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and aimed it at his face. Bang! His head was blasted away and produced the same effect as Patricia''s head. Seeing Nathan''s prowess, some of the diners who didn''t want to have any part of the fight immediately ran out of the tent. Nathan glanced at Yasmin. She was trying to get up. He swept his gaze at the brave souls who still decided to stay, including Ida. "Get lost before I change my mind." "You! This is murder! You won''t get away with this! Get him!" said one of the people. They all charged towards him except for Ida who was frozen in fear. *** Somewhere not very far from Nathan''s location. Sweet Dave was inside a dining hall. There was a bowl of food in front of him but he only ate 3 bites. He didn''t have any appetite to eat. There were other people eating with him as well, both young and old from all races. There were old people, pregnant women, and people who were either amputated or disabled or both. There were also abled-adults such as Lisa and Nur, and about 75 children. Regarding the children, they were all orphans that he and his friends along with his late wife rescued. Some of them were orphans even before the zombie apocalypse, while the others lost their parents during the apocalypse. Sweet Dave stared at the people, specifically at the children, old and disabled people eating their meals. ''This situation can''t continue going on. We need to think of a solution and quickly act on it¡­'' Aside from the threat that the zombies pose and food shortage, they were other things as well such as the weather, water and hygiene. Regarding the weather, it was already autumn. But the main problem lies when winter comes. Despite having the System, he wasn''t confident if the children, old and disabled people will be able to survive fighting both the cold and hunger. As for the water and hygiene part, due to the fact water has stopped running for days now and the location of their base wasn''t near a body of water, some people haven''t taken a bath for days that a few of them started to develop skin rashes. And if this continues, who knows what kind of other forms of diseases they might develop. With the way things are going on right now, they have no choice but to leave the city and go to rural areas where they will have access to water and also plant and farm animals. However, traveling in such a large group wasn''t an easy task, especially for a group that has many children and disabled people. Aside from the threat of zombies, there were also humans that like to prey on others. And yes, ever since they''ve taken over the base, the leaders were planning to have a meeting about whether to leave the base or not. But it was postponed to focus first on stabilizing things within the base. However, the explosion happened, killing 4 out of the 5 leaders along with their capable underlings, causing all the progress they made to crumble and social tensions within the remaining members to rise. And right now, Makeda, the last remaining leader, was doing her best to stabilize things. Bang! They heard the sound of a gunshot from afar. Sweet Dave and the adults looked at each other. It was then quickly followed by the cries of people. "AHH!!!" "GYAAAHHH!!!" Sweet Dave stood up and said, "I''m going to check what''s happening." The other abled adults got up as well as said, "We''ll go with you." "I want to help as well," said a small voice. Everyone looked at the person with the small voice. It was the kid who tried to scam Nathan. Sweet Dave looked at her and smiled, "Zita, I really appreciate you being brave and wanting to help but leave this to us adults. You can stay here to help keep the others safe. Can you do that for me?" "But I can fight!" "Zita, now is not the time to be stubborn," said Lisa. Zita finally decided to back down. "Nur, Lisa, you guys can come with me. The others, stay here and protect the people here." "Okay." 151 Government Shelter 10 Pah! Nathan just killed the last opponent inside the 50-person rectangular military tent who remained to challenge him. Ida was surprised of how powerful Nathan was. She thought she understood the possibilities of what the power of the System could offer. But what she witnessed now was on a different level. Nathan swept his gaze over at the corpses. He was 100% confident that the other groups will arrive here very soon. ''A little more blood must be spilled¡­'' "You¡­ you''re a Chosen One?" said Yasmin who was resting on a corner. After witnessing Nathan''s strength, how he killed the group of people as if they were nothing, she immediately chose to give up. The part where age and gender mean nothing and it''s all about courage? Unfortunately, she knew exactly what she was dealing with and she didn''t have a death wish. Although there were no Chosen Ones inside this base (as far as she knows), in her trips outside, she encountered two -- an African man and a mixed-race woman. She knew that they get +1 to all stats each time they level up. In addition to that, she also knew that although they only had one skill, it was almost cheat-like. Had Nathan been just another average human, she would''ve not given up that easily. Nathan turned to her and raised an eyebrow. ''Heh~ If she knows about Chosen Ones, then it means there must be Chosen Ones in this base as well,'' he thought. "Then you know what you should do." He turned to Ida who had fear written all over her face. He summoned 3 [Small] Healing Potions from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and tossed them to her. "Heal her with these and keep an eye on her for me. Wait here and make sure she doesn''t do anything stupid or I''ll kill you both. Trust me, I can easily track you both down." Although Ida didn''t know what exactly was a Chosen One, she wasn''t concerned about that at the moment. All she knew was that Nathan was a murderer that happened to be quite powerful. And just like Yasmin, she didn''t have a death wish. Nathan watched Ida picked up the potions and quickly went over to Yasmin to heal her. As she was healing Yasmin, he could hear the sound of the footsteps of another group of people coming. Nathan turned to the entrance. ''The people in this base¡­ I must make them fear me to the point they won''t even dare to lift a finger.'' It was too much of an effort so he decided that he only had to significantly thin out their numbers without touching any of the children and possibly the elderly. And the fact that the people here have access to military-grade guns, and this base had tanks, helicopters and missile launchers, he could only assume that they had more powerful weapons that they haven''t revealed yet so he should kill them as fast as he possibly could before they could use whatever it is and do something crazy. ''And if there''s a Chosen One, then I should definitely kill him as well¡­'' The group that just arrived wasn''t Sweet Dave''s group. It was one of the group of guards patrolling nearby. Before they could even enter the tent, Nathan activated [Coward''s Way] and rushed to them. Whoosh! "AHH!!!" "GYAAAHHH!!!" He appeared right in front of them and cut them down altogether with one swing of his [Grade D] Great Sword. After that, he quickly disappeared and left to search for more people to kill. *** Sweet Dave along with Lisa and Nur arrived at the scene. They saw all the corpses inside and outside the tent. They also saw Ida and Yasmin sitting on a corner and approached them. "Are you guys alright? What happened here?" said Sweet Dave. "Sweet Dave... it''s you. You guys better run and hide..." said Yasmin. "Hey, answer us. What happened here?" said Lisa. "It was a Chosen One¡­" said Yasmin. "A Chosen One?" Sweet Dave and the others wore a confused expression, including Ida and Nur. "Chosen Ones... Chosen Ones aren''t your average humans like you and me. They''re stronger and faster. And as far as I know, although they only have one skill, their skill is almost cheat-like," said Yamin. "Only one skill that''s almost cheat-like?" said Nur. "Yes." "Who cares? He''s just one person, right? And although you say that these Chosen Ones are supposed to be powerful and all, what''s important is that they still can be killed, right?" said Lisa. Yasmin let out a weak smile and said, "Of course, you can kill them. But it''s going to take a lot of effort to take them down." "As long --" "Listen, the most important thing is that this Chosen One that you''re about to face is quite different from the ones I''ve met before. I don''t know why but this one has the power to disappear, summon items and has very high stats that''s comparable to an S2-type zombie -- and those are only the skills that I know of. I don''t know if he probably has more." They all gasped in cold air. They have witnessed the power of the 3m-tall zombies. They weren''t a joke, especially the S2-types who have high STR and AGI, making them quite tough to handle if you''re not prepared. "If this Chosen One is so powerful as you say, how come the two of you were left unharmed?" said Lisa. Yasmin scoffed and then said, "Unharmed? Do you see this?" She pointed at the giant hole on her System armor and shirt that Nathan punched earlier. The wound already closed because of the [Small] Healing Potions. She continued, "The reason why we''re still alive is because he ordered us to stay here and wait for him. Fortunately, I have something he wants," said Yasmin. "So you two are in cahoots with that Chosen One?" said Lisa. "No, we''re prisoners." "That doesn''t even make any sense! The fact that he spared you both just means we should arrest you as well!" said Lisa and then looked at Nur. The two were about to step forward to grab Yasmin and Ida. "No, wait! I''m innocent here. I had no choice too. I was forced to watch over her!" said Ida. Yasmin, on the other hand, didn''t react. "Hold on!" said Sweet Dave. Nur and Lisa both stopped and looked at him. He looked at Yasmin and said, "You mentioned that he ordered you guys to stay here and wait for him because you have something he wants. What exactly does he want from the both of you?" "He wants me to teach him how to fly a helicopter," said Yasmin. "Fly a helicopter?" said Lisa. "I''m a licensed helicopter pilot and I''ve been flying for 4 years." Sweet Dave squinted his eyes and recalled something before opening his mouth, "Is there any chance that this Chosen One''s name is Nathan?" "Yes!" said Ida. They all looked at Sweet Dave. Sweet Dave was thinking about his interactions with Nathan. ''It all makes sense now¡­ The way he carried himself, that dangerous air around him, the way he looks at people as if they were beneath him, and the reason why he asked me if I knew someone who knows how to pilot a helicopter¡­'' Ida continued, "He also mentioned to me that he was applying to be part of the Riot Control Task Force." "Sweet Dave¡­ he''s one of us?" said Nur. "Remember the tall Asian guy I brought with us at the blast shelter? He arrived this morning and I was the one who recommended him to join." "That guy?!" Lisa cried out and then clenched her fists. Nur, on the other hand, was silent for a moment, thinking about his interactions with Nathan, before saying, "Sweet Dave, what do you think we should do?" Sweet Dave swept his gaze over the corpses on the floor as he contemplated the information that Yasmin gave to them. "Although we don''t know everything that''s inside his head, we at least know what his main purpose is. There''s no need to shed more blood. We can end this peacefully by finding him right and giving him what he wants." "Sweet Dave, you can''t be serious!" said Lisa. "Yeah, Sweet Dave. Are you sure it''s a smart idea to give in to a murderer''s demands?" said Nur. "If you guys can suggest a better plan, I''ll be happy to hear it." Lisa and Nur became silent. During the takeover of this government that happened a few days ago, although they were successful, a lot of people from their side died -- for every 1 soldier that was killed, 20 civilians perished. And just this afternoon, 4 out of the 5 leaders and many of their key members died. Sweet Dave turned to Nur and said, "I need you to relay this information to the others right away." Nur nodded and left. Sweet Dave then turned to Ida and Yasmin and said, "I need you both to come with us." "Didn''t you hear what she just said? We''re prisoners! He''ll kill us if we moved!" said Ida. "Yes, but we have a better chance of convincing him and the others to stop fighting and just talk things out before things get even more out of hand if the both of you are with us. Please¡­ I beg you. Too many people have already died for no reason ever since the zombie apocalypse started. I don''t want to see any senseless death anymore." 152 Government Shelter 11 Two young men, a brown-Caucasian and a Caucasian, in their late teens half-dressed in System gear were walking down the street and on their way to the 50-person rectangular military tent to grab dinner. The brown-Caucasian man was in his late teens, had a very warm smile on his face as he softly caressed his new weapon with his fingers. "Omar, stop that. You look like you''re one step away from making love to it," said his companion. "Bohdan, why can''t you just be happy for me? Do you know much I had to pay to get this? I traded 10 [Small] Healing Potions just for this alone. And then 5 [Grade D] Repair Kits for 2 sub-machine gun clips and 5 grenade shells." The weapon that Omar was holding in his hands was a grenade launcher. "You still got ripped off though." "I don''t care even if I have to pay 100 [Small] Healing Potions. With this bad boy with me, I won''t have to fear the Rank 2 zombies anymore, even the D2s when we go out to search for supplies next time." "Man, if the others hear that, they''re going to call you a pussy." Omar scoffed and said, "So what? Can bravery guarantee that I won''t die out there? I rather be a prepared pussy who got ripped off than go out there as an ill-prepared macho man." Bohdan rolled his eyes. "You know what? You guys are too caught up with the power of the System that a lot of you, especially those soyboys and female feminists think that you''re invincible. If you people were born and raised in a country --" Bohdan rolled his eyes once again and said, "Yeah, yeah, we all heard your story a million times already. You were born and raised in Duqa where it''s plagued with war even until now and hearing gunshots and explosions 24/7 is already part of daily life." "Go on, mock me. I don''t care. I will have the last laugh anyway." "It''s not that I''m mocking you. It''s just that your father was a rich businessman there. And before the war started in your country, your family immediately migrated here to Womania. Furthermore, you were only 5 years old when you came here. Forget about experiencing the war, you weren''t even old enough to remember anything." "..." "So as far as everyone is concerned, you''re no different from the native Womanians here. And if you were to ask me, given that we''ve known each other since we were 10, you''re just like any other rich spoiled kid." "Yeah, yeah, Mr. War Veteran." "Hmph!" All of a sudden, they heard some noises from a distance. "AHHH!!!" "NO, NO -- GYAAAH!!!" Tatata! "RUN!!!" They both turned to the direction where the noises were coming from. On a corner, three men appeared and were running away for their lives as if they were chased by the Devil himself and were headed towards their direction. "Looks like someone again lost it and is going wild. Where are the guards in charge of patrolling when you need them?" said Bohdan. One of the three men who was behind the other two tripped. And just when the man was about to get up, a 2.2m-tall man dressed in a black-colored System set suddenly appeared. He grabbed the man with his two hands, raised him up as if he weighed nothing and then ripped him into two pieces. "NO, NO, MER-- AAAAHHHH!!!" Thud! Thud! The tall man dropped the separated body of its victim and then disappeared. Omar and Bohdan''s eyes wide as saucers and their jaws dropped because of what they just witnessed and were lost in a trance. Ever since the zombie apocalypse started, they''ve seen a lot of violence. However, they''ve never seen a person being ripped into two by another person. The two men who were running noticed that Omar and Bohdan were in a trance. One of them shouted, "RUN, YOU IDIOTS!!!" Omar and Bohdan snapped back to reality and were immediately wrapped with fear. Bohdan didn''t say anything and just ran. Omar, on the other hand, ran towards one of the buildings nearby. Right after he entered the building, he immediately dashed to the side to hide and took out a grenade shell from his pocket. His hands were trembling so hard that he was having a hard time reloading it into his grenade launcher. And just right after reloading it¡­ Toof! Boom! Rubble! Due to his panic, he didn''t notice that his finger was on the trigger and he accidentally pulled it, causing it to shoot right up the ceiling, destroying it and him getting covered by all the rubble. *** 6:38 pm. The Main Office. Makeda was behind a desk reviewing and signing mountains of documents. Knock! Knock! Knock! She put down her pen and raised her head. The door of her office was left open and the one who knocked was one of the members of her group who works as one of her secretaries. She was carrying a folder and a mug in her hands. "This is all the information we''ve gathered from the people that surrendered earlier this afternoon at the blast shelter. And I also brought you a cup of coffee," the personnel said as she entered and placed the items on Makeda''s desk. "Thank you." "Leader, please don''t push yourself too much. I know you don''t like to eat anything except coffee when you''re working but you haven''t taken any breaks since lunch break. If you need anything else, don''t hesitate to tell me." Makeda smiled and said, "Thank you so much. But this is nothing, really. I''m perfectly fine." "Okay, leader," the secretary said and headed towards the exit. All of a sudden, a fat man who was covered in sweat, breathing hard and wearing a panicked expression appeared at the doorway. He too was one of the members of Makeda''s group. "L-LEADER! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!!!" "Calm down. What is it?" "There''s an intruder inside the base and he''s killing everyone in his way!" The secretary gasped in cold air. They already had so many problems to deal with and now another problem arose. "An intruder? Was he sent by the government? What are the guards doing?" said Makeda. "Leader, I don''t know if the intruder was sent by the government. But the guards are already on high alert. And from the report I received just a few minutes ago, this person is a Chosen One and he has already claimed at least 50 victims. The report also says that this person seemed to be a little different from the typical Chosen Ones," said the fat personnel. "Chosen One?" Makeda said and knitted her brows. This was the first time she heard about a Chosen One and it sounded like something from a cheap, cheesy young adult novel where for some reason the only person who can save the world is a teenager with a romantic subplot, specifically a love triangle, on the side. "Leader, about these Chosen Ones, we have some information about them," said the secretary. "We do? Why hasn''t anyone inform me about this?" "Umm¡­ Until now, we''ve only heard rumors about them and no one has ever come forward to introduced themselves as a Chosen One so no one really paid much attention to it. But today, one of the people that surrendered earlier this afternoon was carrying a USB that had a record of all the experiments and information they''ve gathered about the System, including the human experiments they''ve done and the existence of Chosen Ones. It''s written in the folder that I just gave you." Makeda reached out for the folder that the secretary gave her just a second ago and opened it. She did a quick read-through, flipping the pages every 2-3 seconds. ''So Chosen Ones are basically people that get +1 to all attributes whenever they level up and only have one skill or spell that''s more powerful compared to the average spells. Moreover, no Chosen One has the same skill or spell¡­'' ''But even with such stats and spell, it''s still possible to defeat one because they lack versatility¡­'' She closed the folder and looked at the fat personnel. "You mentioned that this Chosen One is different from the typical Chosen Ones. How so? And how did you know the intruder is a Chosen One?" "Leader, the information came from Sweet Dave. He said the Chosen One''s name is Nathan and is of Asian descent." "Sweet Dave?" Makeda said and squinted her eyes. ''Sweet Dave has a good reputation among the people here. And as far as I know, he isn''t known to be a liar.'' "Yes, leader. He met two survivors that this Chosen One named Nathan didn''t kill. According to the survivors, the reason why he didn''t kill them was because he wanted one of them to teach him how to fly a helicopter." "Teach him how to fly a helicopter?" "Yes, leader. And most importantly, one of the survivors claimed that this Chosen One is different from the typical Chosen Ones because he could disappear, summon items and his stats are comparable to an S2-type zombie. And these are just the things that we are aware of." Makeda sank bank in her chair, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. ''Could disappear, summon items and is as strong and fast as an S2-type zombie¡­ He also wants a helicopter pilot...'' Makeda encountered an S1 before. Although many find the S-types scary to deal with because of their speed and explosive power, they had a major flaw that can be exploited -- low defense. And even if it was an S2, she would only be a little more worried as long as preparations have been made. ''However, this enemy isn''t a mindless zombie¡­'' ''Isn''t a mindless zombie¡­'' ''Why is this person continuing to attack if he just wants to be taught how to fly a helicopter?'' She recalled the agreement she had with the other late leaders. ''The helicopters, tanks and other things can only be used with the permission of all the leaders in this base¡­'' ''Although I''m the only leader left, the other surviving members of the other groups are trying lay claim on them right now so I can''t just give them away or it will threaten my authority as a leader...'' ''No, I can''t give in to the demands of an enemy. And even with this Chosen One''s powers, he''s only alone and it would be impossible for him to kill everyone...'' "Leader, there''s more." Makeda opened her eyes and looked at him. The fat personnel continued, "It was also Sweet Dave who allowed the Chosen One to enter the base. He even recommended him to join the Riot Control Task Force." "Sweet Dave betrayed us?!" said the secretary. "We''re not sure. The connection between them is still being investigated," said the fat personnel. Makeda mused. She knew Sweet Dave and his late wife Sansa. She even attended a few charity events and met them there before the zombie apocalypse. In her opinion, that couple was the last people you would expect to betray you. They were the type who would always try to look for the most peaceful outcome. However, during this zombie apocalypse, she also witnessed how people changed thanks to the new-found power granted by the System. "Where is Sweet Dave?" said Makeda. "He is currently tracking down the Chosen One. He has also ordered some men to prepare a helicopter and also a platform for you and the other representatives along with the Chosen One to talk and reach an agreement," said the fat personnel. "What?!" Makeda said and got up. "Tell him that he doesn''t have any authority to do that!" Although she had huge respect for Sweet Dave, what he was doing is undermining her authority. And if she doesn''t stop him right now, the other groups would take it as a clear sign that they don''t really have to listen to her. "Tell Sweet Dave to stop right away and gather all abled-men to stop this Chosen One. He is only one person. We should be able to stop him." "Yes, lea--" Whoosh! All of a sudden, a large axe and a 2.2m-tall man donned in a black-colored System set appeared, cutting the fat personnel into two pieces. It happened so fast that he wasn''t even able to let out a scream. Makeda and the secretary stared at their sliced companion and then at the attacker. "I finally found you~" the attacker said with a smile on his face. The two women quickly made their move but the attacker was too fast. He threw his large axe at the secretary, cutting her in half, and then rushed at Makeda, slapping her head. Pah! Makeda''s head exploded like a watermelon, blood, brain matter and other things splattered on the floor, desk and walls. Nathan stared down at the headless corpse. ''I finally got the leader. This would surely disrupt their chain of command, preventing them to make any group decision¡­'' ''But seriously, these people are so weak despite their military-grade weapons. The people I met back at Corn Town were way stronger¡­'' When he said that they were weak, what he meant was that these people were either low-levels (below Level 20) or they didn''t spend that many points on VIT and AGI. Their flesh was too soft and their movements were too slow. It even left him wondering how these people even managed to take this base from the government. ''Well, whatever. The important thing is that I reduce their numbers and break their chain of command because their military-grade weapons are no joke. That explosion earlier this afternoon was a good example.'' He was about to go pick up his [Grade D] Large Axe when his eyes glanced at a folder on top of the desk. He picked it up and started reading a few pages. He raised an eyebrow and then gradually his lips curled up into a smile. ''Well, well¡­ Information about the System, huh. Looks like Lady Luck is on my side tonight.'' He closed the folder and then absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before picking up his large axe. ''Hmm¡­ I just have to kill just a little more before I negotiate with these ants.'' Thanks to the folder, his mood brightened a bit. And by killing just a little more, he meant killing at least 100 abled-adults from the ones he already killed. 153 Government Shelter 12 7:54 pm. The sky turned into darkness and the base was illuminated by electricity coming from both solar and generator. It''s been more than an hour since Nathan started killing. In that short amount of time, he already claimed the lives of more than 200 people, leaving the streets and buildings of the base with dismembered corpses. "NATHAN, I WISH TO TALK TO YOU. LET''S END THIS IN PEACE. THE LEADERS OF THE BASE HAVE AGREED TO NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY A HELICOPTER BUT ALSO GIVE YOU ONE AS WELL. THERE''S NO NEED TO KILL ANYMORE." Sweet Dave was speaking through a megaphone and behind him were Lisa, Nur, Yasmin and Ida who were holding rifles with their flashlights switched on. Because the five of them didn''t exactly know where Nathan was and they knew that not only was he powerful and could disappear but those who encountered him were met with the sweet kiss of death as well, they decided that their safe bet was to stick together and call him out as they follow the trail of corpses. Unfortunately, the information that there was a crazy bloodthirsty Chosen One on the loose inside the base killing everyone that encounters it spread like wildfire. Everyone who didn''t want to die shut themselves inside the buildings. Even some of the kids became aware of the situation and were so afraid. Moreover, the information that it was Sweet Dave who allowed the Chosen One to enter the base was also leaked, leaving Sweet Dave in a dangerous position. Fortunately, there were still some people who supported him so he wasn''t immediately detained. However, he would definitely face an unfavorable ending soon regardless of whether he solves this issue or not. But he didn''t care about that. Despite everything, what mattered to him was the safety of the people in the base, especially the kids and those who need special attention. As long as he could stop this crazy bloodthirsty Chosen One and save the people, he doesn''t care what happens afterward. If they want to kill him or torture him first before killing him for what he did, he would still accept it. "NATHAN, I WISH TO TALK TO YOU. LET''S END THIS IN PEACE. THE LEADERS OF THE BASE HAVE AGREED TO NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY A HELICOPTER BUT ALSO GIVE YOU ONE AS WELL. THERE''S NO NEED TO KILL ANYMORE." Lisa, Nur, Yasmin and Ida stared at the mess caused by Nathan. Their knees buckled and their hair stood up. If a single Chosen One is capable of doing such a thing, how much more if there were two? Yes, they could deal with Nathan with the military-grade weapons inside the base. But that would mean leveling the base which was unacceptable because that would mean not only killing innocent bystanders but also destroying the structures of the base. To sacrifice the lives of many people and the base just to kill a single person was something that many inside the base couldn''t accept. And yes, they also thought about setting a trap or double-crossing Nathan but they eventually decided to drop the idea and just stick with a fair and honest deal. Who knows what other things he''s capable of. "NATHAN, I WISH TO TALK TO YOU. LET''S END THIS IN PEACE. THE LEADERS OF THE BASE HAVE AGREED TO NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY A HELICOPTER BUT ALSO GIVE YOU ONE AS WELL. THERE''S NO NEED TO KILL ANYMORE." Sweet Dave''s call for a peaceful ending landed on deaf ears. There was still no sign of Nathan. "Do you guys seriously think what you''re doing is going to work? We''ve been doing for more than an hour already and it''s like we''re going nowhere. All I''m seeing is more and more corpses," said Yasmin. The others didn''t say anything and stared at Sweet Dave. Seeing no reaction, Lisa continued, "And what we''re doing right now is like we''re calling out a little brat who misbehaving to come out." "Lisa," Nur said with a stern tone. She stopped talking and looked around her surroundings with her flashlight. Although it seemed like she was against Sweet Dave at this moment, in actuality, she wasn''t. She knew he had a kind heart -- she would even go as far as to say that he and his late wife, Sansa, were the kindest people that she knew. And if there was something that she didn''t like about them, it was that they were too kind that they wouldn''t mind even if others would take advantage of them right in front of their face. And because of that, for better or for worse, she will always be loyal to Sweet Dave. Sweet Dave, on the other hand, didn''t say anything and continued calling out through the megaphone, "NATHAN, I WISH TO TALK TO YOU. LET''S END THIS IN PEACE. THE LEADERS OF THE BASE HAVE AGREED TO NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY A HELICOPTER BUT ALSO GIVE YOU ONE AS WELL. THERE''S NO NEED TO KILL ANYMORE." Ida stared at the corpses lying on the street. Although she had witnessed some brutal violence ever since the zombie apocalypse started that was enough to give anyone a lifetime of nightmares and she wasn''t exactly close with Nathan and they only met a handful of times, it still felt surreal to her that someone she knew was capable of doing such a thing. ''Every day the world is just getting crazier and crazier. I don''t know what to do and think anymore¡­'' she thought. "NATHAN, I WISH TO TALK TO YOU. LET''S END THIS IN PEACE. THE LEADERS OF THE BASE HAVE AGREED TO NOT ONLY TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY A HELICOPTER BUT ALSO GIVE YOU ONE AS WELL. THERE''S NO NEED TO KILL ANYMORE." As they continued to follow the trail of corpses and call Nathan out, they suddenly heard a cry for help from behind. "Please¡­ don''t¡­ go! He..lp¡­ me!" "Sweet Dave, hold on! I think I heard something!" said Nur. Sweet Dave and the others stopped. "Please¡­!" "Could it be¡­?" said Lisa. They immediately turned and pointed their flashlights to the location where they heard the voice. They saw a building where half of it collapsed and there a man covered in a pile of rubble with his arm was stretched out and holding onto a person''s leg. Although Sweet Dave and the rest couldn''t clearly see the face of the man under the pile of rubble, they could see the person''s face whom the man was asking help from. It was a familiar face. Well, at least to Sweet Dave, Lisa and Nur. It was the little girl named Zita. The same girl who tried to trade a [Grade D] Wooden Stick for Nathan''s black-colored System items. She was looting System items on the ground -- exchanging the ones in her possession for a much better one and also picking up other items that she could trade in the future. "Zita! What are you doing here?! You should be at the safehouse with the others!" Lisa said and quickly went over. The others went over as well. "I-I came here to help and fight!" said Zita. "Do you have no idea how dangerous it is out here?! There''s a crazy murderer on the loose!" said Lisa. Yasmin and Ida stared at Zita and didn''t say anything. However, they were really amazed that this child had the guts to come out here. As for Sweet Dave¡­ He stared at Zita for a quick moment before turning to Lisa, "Escort her back to the safehouse. We''ll handle things from here." Lisa nodded and approached Zita. Zita took a step back with the items on her arms and she said, "No! Please let me help and fight! I heard about the crazy murderer. He''s a Chosen One. I''m also a Chosen One so I can help! I can prove it to you!" Although she said she was also a Chosen One, they paid no heed to it. And even if they were to take her words seriously, what good was it? She was only a child and the enemy was a bloodthirsty powerful Chosen One who was capable of killing so many people on his own. The zombie apocalypse and the power that the System may have turned the world upside down, but even then there was no way they would use a child to fight. While Lisa grabbed Zita, Sweet Dave and Nur immediately helped the man covered in the pile of rubble. All of a sudden, there was another male voice. "You called for me?" Everyone stopped and turned towards the direction of where the voice was coming from. It was none other than the person they''ve been searching for. The crazy bloodthirsty Chosen One Nathan. Sweet Dave went towards Nathan, leaving Nur all by himself in helping the man trapped under the pile of rubble. As for Lisa, she quickly grabbed Zita on her arms and ran back to the safehouse. There was no way she was going to risk this child''s life. And lastly, Yasmin and Ida who faces were pale as a ghost. "We didn''t have a choice! We were forced to go with them or they would''ve had us killed!" Yasmin quickly said and the fear in her voice was obvious. "It''s true! We were forced to accompany them!" Ida said with a voice that was also wrapped with fear. Nathan swept his gaze on all of them before finally landing on Sweet Dave. "I''m here now. So where''s my helicopter?" "Nathan, the leaders have met and discussed the situation." "Heh~ You guys already assigned new leaders? That was quick." Sweet Dave ignored Nathan''s remark. He heard about what happened to Makeda and her companions. "They have decided to give you the helicopter that you asked for as long as you stop killing. If you don''t --" "Are you ordering me?" Nathan said coldly. "I''m not. I''m just saying that they want to end this right away and as quickly as possible." "Prepare the helicopter and extra gallons of fuel that can fly me at least 12 hours in the open area at the northeastern part of the base. Also, encircle it with children as well -- at least 30. And also, make sure that there are no adults near the helicopter except her," Nathan said and pointed at Yasmin. "Encircle it with children?! We''re already giving you what you want! What else are you planning?!" Nathan scoffed and said, "Do you take me as a fool? What if the helicopter is rigged with explosives and I go near it? So before I could fly away from here safely, I''m going to use them as meatshields." "I swear with my life that the helicopter won''t be rigged with explosives or whatsoever." "Your life? Is it even worth anything? I can easily take it right now." Sweet Dave gritted his teeth. Although he understood Nathan''s concerns, to use the children as meatshields was such a low move, especially for a man. Nathan sneered and continued, "If you refuse to accept my conditions, then it can only mean that you people are really planning to set a trap against me. So what is it? Trust me, I still have plenty of energy left to kill you people. You people are left with three choices: either give in to my demands, continue fighting, or leave this base and face the threat of the zombies outside in the darkness. Choose right now." "We agree to give in to your demands. But at least grant us one condition -- Let me be there with the children. Please." Nathan squinted his eyes. ''What is with this old man''s obsession with children? I knew it, he''s definitely one of those Old Booty Warrior Caucasians that''s common in brown-skinned Asian countries,'' he thought. "Okay. Just you, Booty Warrior." 154 Government Shelter 13 9:56 pm. The northeastern part of the shelter. It''s been almost 2 hours since Nathan and Sweet Dave talked. Sweet Dave and Yasmin were dressed in full-gear along with 30 children who were dressed in civilian clothing standing next to an assault helicopter and gallons of fuel, waiting for Nathan to show up. And among the children was Zita. Although she was one of the few children who volunteered, it wasn''t easy for Sweet Dave and the others to choose who they were going to use as, for lack of a better term, "meatshields." And for some of the children who heard about the news that there was a crazy bloodthirsty Chosen One out on the loose inside the base murdering people, they were told that the Chosen One already left and these children here were told that they were going to meet an important person. Regarding the agreement between Nathan and Sweet Dave, many of the adults were against the idea. Some even accused Sweet Dave that he and Nathan were definitely working together to destroy this base, causing a brawl broke out between the groups that supported Sweet Dave and the other groups who didn''t while they were discussing Nathan''s demands. But after both sides calmed down and they considered the position that they were in, they realized that it didn''t matter whether Sweet Dave and Nathan were working together or not. The Chosen One proved to be a formidable opponent and killing him was easier said than done. The price was just too much to bear so they eventually decided to give in along with three conditions: One - no harm will happen to the children. And if something does happen, Sweet Dave will pay for it. Two - the children won''t be aware that they are being used as meatshields. Three - Sweet Dave and Nathan will be banished from the shelter once the transaction is done. The fact that Sweet Dave was the one who let this crazy bloodthirsty Chosen One enter the shelter left many people to hold a grudge against him. Nevertheless, if sacrificing a helicopter and gallons of fuel was the price to get the Chosen One to stop killing any more of their companions and leave the shelter, as insulting it may be, then so be it. At least, the killing would finally stop and they would continue to survive. And most importantly, this will serve as a very important lesson to all of them in the future of who they welcome inside their base. "Sweet Dave, when is the person we''re waiting for coming?" said one of the children. "Yeah, this is getting boring," said another child. Sweet Dave looked at the children and said, "He''ll be here soon. Don''t worry. After this, you''ll all get a special prize." As for Zita, although she volunteered, she was pouting because Lisa confiscated all of her System items and told her that they will be returned to her once she stops misbehaving. The incident earlier where she was caught by Sweet Dave and the others left many of the adults disappointed in her because she went out without their knowledge when they were all told to stay indoors. And because her items were confiscated, she thought that she could outsmart the adults in getting back even just some of her items by volunteering in this event. ''Hmph! One day I''m definitely going to show them that I''m not a kid anymore and I could do adult things!'' she thought. She was only 10 years old though. All of the sudden, a 2.2m-tall man donned in black-colored System equipment appeared out of thin air. "Well, well... It seems you did your end of the bargain. At least that''s what it seems to be," Nathan said to Sweet Dave. "Everything that you asked for has been prepared," said Sweet Dave. Nathan smiled and said, "I''ll be the judge of that." The reason why Nathan was late was because he did some "preparations." One of those preparations was checking and waiting around the nearby areas if there were snipers, rocket launchers or anything that could threaten his life. And so far, everything seemed safe. And after almost 2 hours of preparation and observing from the shadows, he finally decided to approach Sweet Dave and the others. Nathan then turned to Yasmin. He summoned a pen and notepad from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. He smiled and said, "I''m ready to learn, teacher. And if possible, I would like to request you to make the lesson quick and direct to the point without skipping the important details." "No problem." Nathan and Yasmin went over to the helicopter and the lesson began. As for the children, when they saw Nathan, some of them recognized him because a few of them went to check him out earlier this afternoon when word got out that a very tall man arrived inside the base. However, they were not impressed and thought of him as "stupid" or "dumb" when they saw him lie down on a bed that was too small for his size and wearing his System equipment. "This is the important person we were waiting for?" said one of the children. "Isn''t this the retard from this afternoon?" said another child. "This is boring." "Didn''t they say there was a crazy murderer out on the lose?" "Yeah, but the adults said that they already have taken care of it." "I want to go home already." Zita, on the other hand, stared at Nathan with curiosity. She too initially thought that Nathan was a retard when she saw him lying on the bed with his equipment on which is why she tried to trade her [Grade D] Wooden Stick for his black-colored equipment. But after talking to him earlier this afternoon and then seeing how Lisa carried her and ran as fast as she could as if it was the Devil himself the moment he appeared in front of them, her opinion about him changed a bit. She was also among those children who heard about the rumor that a dangerous Chosen One was wreaking havoc inside the base. She even got to see the dismembered corpses lying on the streets while she was looting. ''Is this person the scary Chosen One that the adults were talking about?'' Speaking of Chosen Ones, when the zombie apocalypse first began and she learned about her status as a Chosen One, she didn''t really pay any attention to it because from where she was from, her country had this cultural thing called "Law of Vante" or "Vanteloven" and one of the core aspects of its teachings is that you shouldn''t think of yourself as someone special or above others. During that time, she and her parents, who are both women, were staying at a hotel here in Burrow City for a weekend getaway. Her parents didn''t let her do anything other than to do whatever they told her to do as they tried to escape from all the chaos. The morning when the sun rose up, she and her parents left the hotel and went straight to the airport to escape back to their home country. However, it only ended up in failure. Everyone had the same idea. And amidst the chaos, one of her parents got caught by the zombies. After losing one of their family members, they then escaped here to this Government Shelter with the help of people that they met along the way. But during the takeover that happened 2 days ago, her only parent left was killed, leaving her all alone. Fortunately, the group that Sweet Dave belonged to took her in along with the other kids who lost their parents or guardians. And during the time between losing her remaining parent and this night, she tried asking people about Chosen Ones. Unfortunately, no one knew about it, while others just ignored her because she was just a kid, causing her to treat it as nothing special and decided to just focus on collecting System items and trading them for better ones so that one day she can go outside and level up. But after hearing about a Chosen One wreaking havoc inside the base and witnessing the corpses littered on the streets, her curiosity about her status as a Chosen One was reignited once again. Also, she was pissed that Lisa confiscated all of her System items. ''I need to ask this person about Chosen Ones!'' she thought. *** 25 minutes later¡­ The helicopter''s engine was switched on and its blades were spinning but it didn''t lift above the ground. The person piloting was Yasmin. The helicopter''s engine was switched off. "Okay, so after the engine is turned on I will pull that lever¡­" Nathan said as he noted down what Yasmin said. "Yes." "What about while flying? How do I move forward, backward and sidewards?" "To move forward¡­" Yasmin started explaining and Nathan began noting down once again. 10 minutes later¡­ "Okay. That''s it," Nathan said with a smile at Yasmin as he summoned back his pen and notepad back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Ring. "That''s it?" said Yasmin. "Is there anything else I should be aware of?" "No, I mean, I was expecting you will --" "What? Take you with me?" he said and looked at her as if she said something very stupid. Call Nathan a coward, a person with a persecution complex or whatever negative thing you can think of. But he is an Asian mainlander, a brown-skinned Asian, a Muwinian, his family background is originally from the southern region which is dominated by the Iklas religion and he also spent some time living there between his exile from Latif City and before coming to Womania so he knows all too well what kind of mindset the people who believe in Iklas have. And in his mind, if anyone thinks South Muwinians are scary, to him, brown-Caucasians are on another level, a higher level to be exact. Furthermore, it''s no secret that in the eyes of brown-Caucasians, brown-skinned Asians are considered to be in the second-lowest rank within the hierarchy of racial groups while Africans hold the lowest. Because of these reasons, in no way, shape and form do he want to associate himself with brown-Caucasians. But just to make it fair, for what it''s worth, Muwin is infamously known as the 3rd most racist country in Asia. "Anyways, if that''s all I need to know about piloting a helicopter, then we''re done. Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help," Nathan said and smiled as he gave a subtle bow. He then took a step back and went over to the gallons of fuel. He touched them with his left hand and absorb all of them into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Ring. Some of the kids who weren''t sleepy looked at him with awe, including Zita. Sweet Dave approached Nathan. "You can fly from here. I promise you that no one would shoot you down." Nathan just looked at him and smiled. Sweet Dave continued, "Or you can just make it disappear just like what you did with the gallons." Still holding a smile, Nathan was about to disappear when Zita stepped forward. "Excuse me, mister, you''re a Chosen One, right? I''m also one as well!" 155 Government Shelter 14 "Excuse me, mister, you''re a Chosen One, right? I''m also one as well!" Nathan turned towards the person who said those words. When he saw the person, he raised an eyebrow. ''What''s this?'' Sweet Dave, on the other hand, quickly went over to the person. "Zita, come over here." "Mister, I''m also a Chosen One. Take me with you! Teach me what it means to be a Chosen One!" Sweet Dave and Yasmin''s eyes widened and they almost coughed out blood. "Zita, come now. This isn''t the time to make jokes," Sweet Dave said and tried to cover her from Nathan''s sight. Zita tried to move away from Sweet Dave''s body as she yelled out, "Mister, please! I want to be strong like you!" ''Teach me what it means to be a Chosen One? Heh~ What an interesting kid.'' "Zita, you don''t know what you''re doing. Please listen to me and behave," said Sweet Dave. Yasmin immediately approached Zita to stop her. To her, a man like Nathan was just too dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. However, Zita quickly ran to the side and went straight to Nathan and grabbed his hand. "Mister, these people aren''t letting me go outside and level up! They even took my items away! Please teach me how to become a powerful Chosen One like you!" Seeing Zita holding Nathan''s hand, Sweet Dave and Yasmin were completely horrified and they immediately went over to grab her away. "Stop," Nathan said coldly to Sweet Dave and Yasmin. Both of them stopped. Nathan turned to Zita. ''Caucasian and icy blonde hair with green eyes, huh. And her accent doesn''t like sound like she''s from here. And why does this kid look familiar? Ah, whatever, that''s not important. What''s important is I never expected there to be a Chosen One kid,'' he thought. "You say you''re a Chosen One. But where''s your proof?" "Proof?" she mused for a second and then answered, "When the zombie apocalypse started I saw this bright, white angel and then she gave me a sword." ''Angel?'' He tried to recall what happened to him when the zombie apocalypse first started. ''Hmm... There was that white being and she gave me a [Grade D] Training Sword. And although I don''t completely agree with the word ''Angel'' to describe that white being, it''s probably the closest one.'' "What''s your power?" "I can lift objects like this," she said and lifted a small rock nearby. ''Hmm... Ever since the zombie apocalypse, I''ve never seen such skill,'' he thought. "Then you''re already dead." Nathan squinted his eyes. ''This kid doesn''t seem to be acting.'' He knelt down with one knee and said in a low voice that only he and Zita can hear, "The first thing about Chosen Ones, you can''t tell anyone your power. The more people know about it, the more vulnerable you become." "Okay." Nathan got up. Zita grabbed his hand once again and shook it, "Mister, so you''ll take me with you to teach me how to become a powerful Chosen One? You''re the only Chosen One I know and met." He stared at her face and mused. ''On the next Phase when I enter the Divine Tower, I will be needing pawns¡­'' ''Having strong pawn like a Chosen One would be nice¡­'' ''But this is a kid¡­'' ''Could I even trust a kid to do anything when it really counts¡­?'' ''Anyway, she can lift objects¡­'' ''But what is the range of her powers¡­?'' ''No, that''s not the biggest issue. What about her parents?'' "Where are your parents, kid?" "They''re gone." "Nathan! You can''t be serious! She''s only a child! Just leave her alone!" said Sweet Dave and stepped forward. In a blink of an eye, Nathan summoned a sword from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and threw it at him like a spear. Nathan''s goal was to only hit him in the chest. But the throw was executed poorly because of the sudden movement, causing it to land on Sweet Dave''s right shoulder instead. Nevertheless, the sword''s force was so great for Sweet Dave to handle that it pinned him down on the ground. "Argh!" Sweet Dave cried out. Thud! "Non-Chosen Ones like you have no right to join in in our conversation," Nathan said before turning to Zita. "You said you want me to teach you what it means to be a Chosen One and you want to become powerful as well. But what do I get in return? Don''t tell me you''re expecting me to do it for free just because you''re a kid?" Zita felt her knees go weak. Although she has witnessed violence since the zombie apocalypse happened, and heard about the Chosen One wreaking havoc and see the dismembered corpses littered on the street when she was looting earlier, to witness someone hurt someone over a simple matter was a completely different feeling. And looking at his eyes, they showed no nervousness or remorse at all. Her instincts were going wild and screaming at her that this man in front of her was definitely a cold-blooded killer and she should run. Yasmin rushed over to Sweet Dave to help him. As for the rest of the children, some just stood and cry while the others ran away in fear. "Are you listening to me, kid?" he said as his eyes stared down on Zita. "I¡­" As much as she wanted to run away, she also noticed something that caused her to go against her instincts, making plant her feet on the ground. Ever since the zombie apocalypse began and many people started throwing away civility, she, of course, encountered a number of interesting individuals that one would not normally meet in the previous world that she knows of. Aside from killers, there have been perverts and maniacs who tried to lure her in. Or perhaps they were always there but due to the zombie apocalypse they became brave to step into the light? Fortunately, she was lucky and smart enough to not fall for their tricks. And what she noticed in Nathan''s eyes right now was that there was no lust in them. They were simply telling her that this moment was nothing but a chance encounter and whether she agrees to go with him or not, it held little or no meaning to him at all. ''I''m a Chosen One just like him. If he can be powerful like this, so can I,'' she thought and then clenched her tiny fists. "...I''ll give you anything you want." Nathan smiled and said, "Anything? Are you sure about that?" Zita gulped and then said, "Y-Yes." "Deal. But you''re gonna need to know a few things, kid, if you''re going to come with me." "Okay." "One, it''s going to be a bloody and dangerous journey¡­" "Two, I need someone who''s ruthless and won''t question my orders¡­" "Do you still have the courage to come with me?" Nathan noticed her fists and he said, "Oh, and one last thing. This is going to be the most important, by the way." "W-What is it?" "If I suspect even just a slight hint that you have plans to kill me, I will kill you right away." Zita unconsciously took a step back but returned her foot to its previous position. ''I can''t be scared now. Ever since the zombie apocalypse started, I never met a Chosen One so this is my only chance. I''ll learn from him as much as I can and then leave once the right time comes,'' she thought. "I understand." ''Heh~ She didn''t back down even after I said that? Pretty brave for a little girl. But does she really understands what she''s actually getting into? Ah, I''ll just have to wait and see.'' He swept his gaze at the other children. Some of them continued crying, while others who ran were already far away. ''The situation is getting out of hand.'' He returned his gaze to Zita. "Tell me, what''s your level? Don''t even think about lying. I can easily tell when someone is lying so you should always be honest." ''He has a power that can tell whether a person is lying or not?'' Zita thought and a cold shiver ran down her spine. "L-Level 1." The smile on Nathan''s face vanished and he stared at her with a dumbfounded look. "Eh? Seriously?" "Y-Yes." "..." "Zita¡­ You''re making a mistake¡­ Don''t do something you will regret¡­" Sweet Dave said on the side. Zita turned to him, while Nathan stared at the northern side of the base. Yasmin already pulled out the sword that pinned Sweet Dave to the ground and was helping him get up. "Zita¡­ Come back here, child," said Sweet Dave. "Zita, don''t go with him. Come back here with us," said Yasmin. However, she ignored them and turned back to Nathan. "I''m ready to leave anytime with you, mister." Nathan turned to Zita. "You don''t have anything to pick up, like a bag, belongings or something?" "Except for my System items that were confiscated from me and some clothes at the place I''m staying, I have everything I need with me." She was wearing a sweatshirt, red pants and a pair of sneakers. "I see." He summoned a pair of thermal vision goggles from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and wore them before scooping Zita with his arm. "We''ll pick up some clothes along the way. Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tightly." Zita did what she was told. He sniffed. ''When was the last time this kid took a bath?'' he thought. "Tighter." She tightened her arms around his neck. Nathan turned to Sweet and Yasmin. "Oh, I almost forgot. I left 30 boxes of food and drinks on that building, by the way," he said and pointed at a building nearby. Right after he said that, he suddenly burst out running towards the northern side of the shelter, heading for the northern gate. 156 Outside 10:19 pm. Just about half a mile from outside of the Government Shelter, Nathan, who was carrying Zita on his arms, saw a group of 3m-tall skinless zombies up ahead. There was even an M2 zombie flying above. "Tch!" Nathan made a clicking sound with his tongue and stopped before moving to a corner to hide. He knelt down and then said, "Wait here and don''t make any noises. I''ll take care of those zombies up ahead first." Zita let go of her arms around his neck and nodded. He noticed that her expression was painted with determination and fear. ''This is pretty much expected. Although she''s a Chosen One, she''s only a kid and is still Level 1. Also, it''s dark. Hmm¡­ Should I have waited until the sun comes up?'' He scoffed. ''If I stayed there any longer, those people would''ve more time to think and come up with a plan against me¡­'' ''I need to move as far away from that Government Shelter as soon as possible and find a great spot to do the things I need to do¡­'' He summoned a pair of thermal vision goggles from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and pulled out his [Grade D] Long Dagger from his right thigh. "Take these." Zita took the items from Nathan''s hand. She quickly wore the thermal vision goggles and held the dagger with two hands. He squinted his eyes and stared at her trembling hands. "Don''t be afraid, kid. And wait for my signal." He activated [Coward''s Way] and went out to confront the zombies. *** Nathan was invisible and walking casually in the middle of the road as he counted the zombies nearby. ''One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Four¡­'' ''Okay¡­ So there''s one M2, three D1s, two N1s and four others that I can''t exactly tell whether they''re S or M types because hey, they look the same with that skinny body of theirs...'' He scratched his nose. ''Normally, I would just ignore these monsters during the night. But this time¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I really didn''t expect that I would be bringing anyone with me, let alone a kid¡­'' ''I just hope that Chosen One kid is worth it.'' He entered a 5-story building and went straight to the rooftop. His goal was to kill the M2 first. Aside from the wings of the M2 that gives it the ability to fly and the spells it can cast, Rank 2 type zombies also have the ability to order the Rank 1 types. He discovered this information back at Haven Town during the Night Hunt operation when he fought an M2 for the first time. ''Hmm¡­ I think I can just jump down without breaking my ankles .'' Nathan was now¡­ Level 26: ? STR ¨C 69 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 37 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 34 (+25) ? INT ¨C 34 (+7) Mana: ? 82/82 Special Effects: ? 4% Chance to block any physical attack With his 47 VIT, according to his own experiments, he could jump 5 floors down without breaking his ankles. Of course, this is assuming he landed properly. He also found out that it takes a base VIT of 15 points to safely jump from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor. And once you have a base VIT of 15, he only needs an additional 10 points in VIT with each floor increase. As for the reason for this difference between the initial floor and the rest of the floors, he doesn''t know why. That''s just how it is. He summoned a grenade launcher which he looted from the Government Shelter and aimed it at the M2. It was flying around. ''Stay put¡­ Stay put¡­'' He could use his [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and load it with Magical Bolt. However, aside from it being limited and having a tracking feature that requires mana points to be activated, he deemed it useless because it was only at best good for slowing down the target by inflicting small damage. It''s also important to note that he doesn''t understand its penetrating power and speed. Is it based on the user? If yes, what attribute(s) of the user? And how is a [Grade D] any different from the [Grade C]? Pah! He suddenly face-palmed himself. ''Dumbass!'' He remembered a few details he read on the folder that Makeda "given" him regarding the System. He put down his grenade launcher and then summoned the folder and a flashlight. ''Okay¡­ Where is it¡­ Where is it¡­ Where is it¡­ There!'' According to the folder, if a person with at least 30 VIT suffers an injury on his/her brain and heart, as long as it''s not extremely severe, the person has 10 seconds if it''s the brain and 20 seconds if it''s the heart before he/she dies. And with each increase of the VIT points, the longer the person can last... 30 vit - 10 seconds (brain), 20 seconds (heart) 35 vit - 15 seconds (brain), 30 seconds (heart) 40 vit - 20 seconds (brain), 40 seconds (heart) 45 vit - 25 seconds (brain), 50 seconds (heart) 50 vit - 30 seconds (brain), 60 seconds (heart) ''Eh¡­ I only have 25 seconds and 50 seconds? That''s too low...'' ''Well, let''s see how much VIT the M2 has. If there''s any information about the zombie stats here.'' He flipped a few pages. He had a dark expression on his face. ''Useless¡­'' ''Well, no choice but to do my own experiments as usual¡­'' As far as he knows, the zombie doesn''t have any healing spells aside from the infinite mana of the N2 and M-type zombies. Unfortunately, he was wrong. The M and N2-type zombies didn''t have infinite mana. They had this ability where they can absorb the remaining mana of the human they feed on. He summoned back the folder, flashlight, and the grenade launcher into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before summoning the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and wear on it on his left forearm. He raised his left arm and aimed at the M2 zombie''s head. It was already loaded with 5 Magic Bolts and it requires a 3-second lock-on and 10 mana points to activate its tracking feature. Also, once the Magic Bolt is used, it becomes a normal Bolt but was still part of the System nonetheless. Toof! The moment the Magic Bolt was shot, he lost his invisibility and he quickly activated [Coward''s Way]. The bolt with a blue aura on its tip flew and went straight into the M2''s head. "Roar!" the M2 yelped. Nathan smiled and was about to look at his watch to time the death of the zombie. However, the zombie just came crashing down from the sky and a [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared next to it. ''Eh¡­? So its VIT was lower than 30 points?'' In truth, the M2 was only Level 1 (or technically Level 21) because only the Rank 1s were capable of evolving during the Second Phase. And as for its stats¡­ M2: ? STR - 26 ? VIT - 26 ? AGI - 26 ? INT - 84 The roar of the M2 when it was struck and the noise of its crash attracted the attention of the zombies nearby. ''I feel cheated¡­'' Back in the Divine Tower, Nathan only bought 200 awakened Normal Bolts and 100 Magic Bolts. So far, he already used around 20 Magic Bolts. Although he became so picky with drop items that there are loots that he wouldn''t even bother to pick up because of the lack of space and you could also say he''s one of the very few people around the world that has an [Artifact] grade item, when it comes to items that he really cares about, he still had some of that poor man''s mentality due to his background. ''Sigh¡­ Oh well¡­ At least I learned something new¡­'' ''But¡­!'' ''It still fucking hurts goddammit!'' He summoned his [Grade D] Great Sword before deactivating [Coward''s Way] and jumping down. Thud! Clang! Clang! Clang! "COME AT ME, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING ZOMBIES! COME OVER HERE, YOU FUCKERS!!!" he said as he banged his sword against a lamppost. All the remaining 3m-tall skinless zombies turned to his location and attacked. The three D1s, two N1s and an S1 charge at him, while the other three that turned out to be M1s went into a comfortable distance before throwing spells at him. He activated [Coward''s Way] and charged at the D1s, N1s and S1 first. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! With Nathan''s current stats, these zombies were nothing. Cutting them down was like cutting butter with a hot knife, especially the M1 and S1-types. N1 (Level 3): ? STR - 33 ? VIT - 33 ? AGI - 33 ? INT - 33 M1 (Level 3): ? STR - 18 ? VIT - 18 ? AGI - 18 ? INT - 52 S1 (Level 3): ? STR - 36 ? VIT - 16 ? AGI - 36 ? INT - 11 As for the D1, although it boasts high defense, its speed was very slow that from Nathan''s eyes. Once he starts focusing, the zombie was no different from standing. D1 (Level 3): ? STR - 46 ? VIT - 46 ? AGI - 13 ? INT - 11 Moreover, based on Nathan''s observation, the zombies in the current Phase increase their overall level every 48 hours. And assuming that the Third Phase will happen once the Rank 1 zombies reach Level 11, then he only had around 14 days left to go back to Muwin to search and reunite with his family and do all the preparations he needs before entering the Divine Tower. About 2 minutes later¡­ Nathan had one hand on his side and standing lazily in the middle of the street as he checked his surroundings. Roar! Roar! Roar! He killed all of the M1s except for the D1s, N1s and S1. They were lying on the ground around him roaring and thrashing around. The remaining zombies had their arms and legs chopped off and were pinned down to the ground with his other weapons from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger so they couldn''t move. "So noisy¡­" He continued to look around to see if there were other enemies, zombie or human, he may have missed or is coming. When he concluded that the coast was clear, he shouted, "KID! COME OVER HERE!" 157 Outside 2 "KID! COME OVER HERE!" A few seconds later, he heard the sound of the footsteps of a tiny person. He turned in the direction of where the sound of footsteps was coming from and saw Zita. She had the thermal vision goggles on and was holding the [Grade D] Long Dagger on her hands tightly. ''I don''t remember this kid''s name¡­ Oh well, I can ask about that later. Let''s see first how useful she can be in this first step.'' When Zita finally arrived just a few feet away from where Nathan was standing, her eyes widened and she stopped. She immediately got into a fighting position. "Mister, the zombies!" She was horrified to see dismembered 3m-tall zombies lying on the ground next to him roaring and thrashing around. She couldn''t help but recall her memories of her parents and her escaping the zombies when the zombie apocalypse first began. Fortunately, they were all pinned down with weapons so they couldn''t reach him. Nathan smiled as he studied her facial expression and body posture through the thermal vision goggles he was wearing as well. "Relax, kid. You''re going to end up killing yourself if you''re too jumpy." "..." Nathan went over to one of the zombies and wiggled the [Grade D] Great Sword that was pinning it to the ground. "Look, it''s all safe. See? Come over." In truth, the main source of Nathan''s confidence was the Divine Tears in his possession which can cure a person of the zombie infection. However, if it''s only effective as long as the person hasn''t yet turned into a full-fledged zombie. And he had two in his possession: one he bought back at the Eternal Village and the other he looted from one of the corpses of the people who entered in the Divine Tower. Zita relaxed a bit and approached Nathan and the zombies. "You mentioned that you can lift objects, right?" "Yes," she said and nodded at the same time. "Show it to me again. I want to know more." Zita hesitated. She recalled what Nathan told her back at the Government Shelter: The more people know about it, the more vulnerable she becomes. Tap! Nathan tapped her head as weak as he possibly could. She was after all Level 1 so he was cautious that a mere tap from him might split her skull into two or break her neck. "What are you hesitating for? If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn''t have taken you with me in the first place, let alone do this," he said and pointed at the zombies. With that, although they were in a hurry and it was already late, before he would feed these zombies to her, he wanted to know more about her powers first, even just a little. What if he just blindly increased her level without realizing that she would turn out to be powerful enough to kill him? If he was going to die, he wants to die with a bang, not from a kid''s hands. "Sorry, mister. My skill name is [Lift] and I can lift objects and throw them away." "[Lift], huh." "Yes, mister." "Does it require any mana points?" "I don''t know what''s mana points." Nathan raised his eyebrow. He recalled what those non-Chosen One college students, his first human victims in his human experiments, told him. According to them, mana points will only appear on your Status Chart if you have a skill or spell that requires mana. And when he equipped the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow for the first time, it was also the first time the mana points appeared on his Status Chart. ''Is this kid lying?'' he thought and studied her facial expression. "Can''t you see in your Status Chart? It''s under your stats, right below the STR, VIT, AGI and INT." Zita opened her Status Chart and tried to look for it. Of course, people can''t see each other''s Status Charts. Nathan pretended to wait as he continued to observe her facial expression. Zita closed her Status Chart and said, "I really can''t see it, mister. I''m sorry." "Here, take this and equip it," Nathan said as he removed his [Grade D] Mini-crossbow from his left forearm and gave it to her. When Zita wore it, the crossbow itself didn''t change its size. However, the straps automatically reshaped itself according to the size of her forearm. "Can you see the mana points now?" Zita opened her Status Chart once more and said excitedly, "Yes, yes! I see it already! It''s 24/24! Wow, I didn''t know that!" Nathan squinted his eyes. ''Her excitement seems genuine. So her Chosen One skill doesn''t require any mana, huh. Looks dangerous.'' "Mister, where did you get this item? I have never seen anyone with it. Also, is it a special item that gives you mana points?" ''Is it too early to tell her about the Divine Tower?'' he thought. "It''s just another System weapon where you can loot from the zombies. It uses a Magic Bolt and costs 10 mana points per shot." "10 mana points per shot?!" Zita said with a shocked expression before switching to a dejected one. "I only have 24 mana points¡­" "Yeah, it''s currently useless with you." "Mister, how about you? How many mana points do you have?" Tap! Nathan tapped her head once again, "We''re running out of time. Tell me more about your powers." "Sorry, mister. I forgot about the zombies even though they keep roaring. You did say that it''s safe." Nathan stared at her blankly for a moment. ''This kid¡­ too easy-going,'' he thought. "So, can you lift that sword from that D1 over there?" Zita shook her head and said, "I can''t. It''s stuck on the zombie and at the ground." Tap! Tap! "How about my helm?" he tapped the side of his [Grade D] Black Helm twice. "Can you take it off of my head?" "No, because you''re wearing it so I will have to carry your whole weight." ''Heh~ So it''s like my [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger.'' Although his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger seemed powerful because he only needs to touch an item with the finger in order to absorb it into its storage space, it still had some limitations. One of its limitations is that it can''t absorb an item that''s being worn or held by an enemy that''s still alive. He had to separate the item from the enemy or kill the enemy. "Okay. How about this?" He summoned a [Grade D] Long Dagger from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and held it in his hand. "Like I said, I will have to carry your whole weight." "How about this?" He opened his palm and let the dagger lay on top of his hand. She was able to lift it. "How about twisting the neck of the S1 over there?" Zita shook her head once more and said, "I can only lift things, move them around and throw them." ''Sounds useless. But it''s still too early to judge and her skill doesn''t require any mana,'' he thought. "What''s the heaviest weight you can lift?" "6kg." "6kg for each item?" "Um¡­ I have this thing called Mental Capacity on my Status Chart and the highest is 6kg because my INT is only 12. And if I lift something like that rock over there," she lifted a rock that weighed 2kg in the air, "Now I only have 4kg left." "What if there''s a 5kg rock that you want to lift as well?" She dropped the rock and said, "Then I will have to let go of the first rock so that I can lift it." "What''s the maximum range of your powers? Can you lift things behind you without seeing it?" "Maximum range?" "Hmm?" "What is maximum range, mister?" "Uh¡­ The distance." "Oh, sdistancek? Ssok sit''sk smaximumk srangek. If it''s small things, I can throw them very far." Nathan facepalmed. Pah! ''Ugh¡­ What language was that? Does this mean Regisian isn''t her first language?'' ''Oh fuck¡­'' ''And to top that off, she''s also a kid. And if I combine these two issues, I doubt if she could even answer properly if I ask her about penetrating power and other more technical things.'' ''Oh fuck me sideways¡­'' Nathan removed his hand from his face and looked at her. ''Wait! I almost forgot,'' he thought. "Kid, read to me the description of your skill on your Status Chart." She opened her Status Chart and read it allowed,"Sdescriptionk: Sallowsk suserk stok --" "Stop." ''Oh fuck me sideways a hundred times. So the System writes the information based on your native language? I never considered that or thought about that aspect. System.'' *** Level 26: Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 69 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 37 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 34 (+26) ? INT ¨C 34 (+7) Equipment: [Grade D] Black Helm (14/15): +3 Agi +1 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Armor (14/15): +3 Vit, +1 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (9/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Boots (11/15): +2 Vit, +1 Agi, +1 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi Special Effects: ? 4% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] Description: Grants user complete invisibility. User loses invisibility status upon attack. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. Transformation: ? 20% *** The language in his Status Chart was written in Muwinian. And since he wasn''t equipping a System item that requires mana points, the System didn''t display how many mana points does he have. ''If the System does right the information based on your native language, is it possible to change it? But how? System, change to Regisian language.'' Ding! That familiar bell sound rang inside his head. The words on his Status Chart switched to Regisian. ''Heh~ It worked. System, change to Xudonian language.'' Ding! The words switched to Xudonian. ''System, change to Yeppunian language.'' Ding! [Error!] [Insufficient knowledge of the language.] ''Hmm¡­ So there is a condition or maybe conditions to what language I can change.'' ''System, change to Muwinian language.'' Ding! The words switched to Muwinian. ''System off.'' "Kid, open your Status Chart and tell the System to change its language to Regisian and then read to me the description of your skill." "Okay." Once the language on Zita''s Status was switched to Regisian, she said, "Wow, I didn''t know you can do this." "Kid." "Sorry. Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown." After hearing Zita read the description of her skill out loud, for some reason, Nathan felt like he just violated her. ''Well, come to think of it, I don''t think I ever told anyone about my skill and stats.'' ''Wait, have I?'' He shook his head. ''Now is not the time for some drama. I must focus on learning the ins and outs of her skill.'' ''Hmm¡­ Based on the description of her skill, if I''m going to compare it to the description of my skill, I''m pretty sure it also doesn''t tell the other secret advantages and flaws of it. One has to do some experiments in order to know all of them. At least I now know the basics of her skill.'' "Mister?" Clap! He clapped his hands and then said, "Okay, let''s have you kill these zombies. Let''s start with the D1." 158 Next Chapter Preview "Okay, let''s have you kill these zombies. Let''s start with the D1." Nathan was already standing close to the D1 and he went even closer. Roar! Roar! Roar! The D1 along with the other 3m-tall zombies continued roaring and were thrashing around, trying to get to Nathan. Unfortunately, they couldn''t because their arms and legs were chopped off and they were pinned down to the ground with weapons. When Zita stepped forward, the zombies started to thrash around even harder, causing the weapons that were pinning them down to wobble and loosen their foundation just a little bit. The sight frightened her and she stopped. Earlier, when Nathan called her out, she was so afraid when she saw the zombies. But while she was talking with him, discussing her powers, she forgot about them. And now, her fear returned. "What are you waiting for, kid?" She tightened her grip on the [Grade D] Long Dagger''s handle and continued stepping forward. "Use your power to lift that dagger and kill the D1." The dagger on her hands was less than 1kg. She activated her skill [Lift] and the dagger floated in the air. "Kill it quick before they escape." She turned to the D1 and shot the dagger into its head. Shoo! Tuup! Roar! Clang! The dagger only managed to penetrate the D1''s skull a few centimeters before falling to the ground because it was thrashing around. "Don''t hit its skull, stupid. Hit the neck." "I''m very sorry, mister," Zita said in a panicked voice and quickly activated her skill. The dagger rose from the ground and hovered in the air. Shoo! Tuup! Clang! Roar! Compared to the first attempt, the dagger was able to penetrate a few centimeters deeper but it still ended with the same result. Seeing what happened, Zita continued panicking and did the same thing again. Roar! Shoo! Tuup! Clang! Roar! "Does your skill loses its effect on an item every time you attack?" "No. It''s just that it throwing it makes it stronger." "Can''t you just maintain it?" "I can but it won''t be as strong compared to throwing it." "Do it." Zita lifted the dagger and tried to stab it into the D1''s neck. This time, the force was no different when she was tried to stab the D1''s skull from earlier. "Stop what you''re doing," said Nathan. Zita looked at him. He continued, "It''s useless." Nathan stroke his chin. ''The D1 has high STR and VIT¡­ 12 INT gives 6kg¡­ I can also suspect that 6 points is the attacking power. But when thrown, it doubles the power so it becomes 12 points.'' ''If this child had a very high INT, she would be so OP. And with the currently available items now, the bonus stats of the First Tier [Grade D] would only give her +21 INT, +6 if she were to equip First Tier [Grade C] rings and amulet. She may not be able to lift me up because of my weight, but she can definitely throw things at me and kill me¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ I honestly don''t know if this is a good idea or bad idea. But one thing is for sure, under the right circumstances she can definitely kill me¡­'' ''I wonder what would happen if her INT is so high that it becomes enough to lift me up. Would I still be affected if I was invisible?'' "Mister, I¡­ I can kill it by stabbing it normally." Nathan wasn''t sure what she meant so he said, "Huh? Sure." She picked up the dagger with her hand and turned to the D1 who was roaring and thrashing around like crazy. Although she was afraid to step forward, she didn''t want to be viewed as useless. For 2 days since the passing of her remaining parent, she had been asking Sweet Dave and the others to give her a chance to go out and kill zombies but none of them agreed. And now that she had the chance, albeit it wasn''t Sweet Dave or anyone from the shelter but another Chosen One like herself and who also happened to be powerful, she just couldn''t accept things to end like this. She really wanted to become strong. She tightened her grip on the handle of her dagger and slowly stepped forward. However¡­ The closer she got to the D1, the harder it thrashed around and she could see the sword pinning it down to wobble and lose its foundation further and further. With each step, her fear grew and grew that her whole body started to tremble and her steps became shorter and shorter. Nevertheless, she still continued to move forward. "Kid, we don''t have much time. Hurry up. We still have to get you some clothes and then find a spot to rest for the night," Nathan said with a bored tone on the side. The D1 continued thrashing around. And then¡­ Clang! Roar! The D1 broke free but the sword that was used to pin it down was still stuck on it. And because its arms and legs were dismembered, it crawled its way to Zita like a worm. "KYAAAH!!!" Zita screamed as she fell on her butt and dropped the dagger. Thud! Clang! Seeing that D1 coming right at her, she was left completely petrified. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she wet her pants. She closed her eyes and screamed in Iskaldian, "SMAMAK!!!" And just when the zombie got a couple of inches away from her and was about to pounce its body using its dismembered arms¡­ Bam! "Kid!" Zita opened her eyes and saw Nathan stepping on the D1''s back as he pulled out the sword that was stuck on its body and absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. She wiped the tears off her eyes. Nathan changed his position. He pressed one knee against the D1''s back and held down its head with one hand. "Hurry up and chop off its neck." And just right after Zita grabbed the dagger next to her and stood up, two other zombies nearby was able to break free. Clang! Roar! Clang! Roar! It was an N1 and another D1. Nathan panicked. Crack! Thud! He quickly crushed the head of the D1 with a punch and grabbed Zita before jumping a couple of feet away. With his STR at 69 (+5) points, jumping a couple of feet away was easy. He put Zita down and stared at the D1 and N1 that broke free. ''That was too close¡­'' Normally, he could kill those two zombies. But when those two suddenly broke free while he was scaring Zita, he lost his composure so he did the first thing that came to his mind. ''Well, at least I didn''t forget to grab the kid.'' He looked at Zita who was sobbing and covering her eyes as she cried out, "SmamaK¡­ SmommyK¡­" She was trembling that she could barely stand straight. "Ehem!" he cleared his throat. "Now you know the dangers posed by the zombies. Just always be sure to follow my lead and be quick if you don''t want to die." Zita stopped crying and rubbed her eyes before replying, "Yes, mister¡­" "Well, putting aside the Rank 2s, killing D1s and N1s would be too much for you right now. Probably even the M1s as well because they can cast magic spells. Let''s just stick with the S1s for now. But first¡­" He summoned a set from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. It was only a normal full-STR set that was part of his collection. Level 1-5 Rank 1s drop First Tier [Grade D] items and their bonus stats was only +3. Meanwhile, Rank 2s drop First Tier [Grade C] items so the bonus stats was only +5. And in Nathan''s case, the reason why he had Second Tier [Grade C] accessories which give +6 bonus stats was from his time at the Divine Tower. He had them re-awakened by the Blacksmith at the Eternal Village, while the other rings and amulets were looted from the corpses of the participants who had their rings and amulets re-awakened as well. "Give me back the crossbow and wear this set." Zita unequipped the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and gave it to Nathan. "Wear this as well." Nathan gave her his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Ever since he got the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Ring, he never really had any use with it anymore. But it was still useful in some way because its total available space inside was as big as a 30" x 50" duffle bag. When she touched the items, especially the [Grade D] Spatial Bag, she was surprised to learn about their details given to her by the System. The fear she felt from earlier vanished and she was surprised with the System loots. "Wow¡­" she said as she stared at the bag with amazement. "Wear it now, kid." "Mister, my pants are wet¡­" she said in a small voice. "What?" Her pasty white cheeks turned red and she held her head down before saying, "I said I wet my pants¡­" "Oh¡­" Nathan scratched his nose in guilt. "Uhh¡­ Don''t worry, we''ll drop by a store later to pick up some clothes. For now, wear the items and let''s get you to at least Level 15. Tell me what''s your stats." "Level 15?! Wouldn''t that take long?" "No, it''s easy. Just trust me. Come on, wear it now." She wore the System items and Nathan waited. After she was done, he asked, "Now tell me your stats." "Okay. System." *** Level: 1 Exp: 0% Stats: ? STR ¨C 8 (+28) ? VIT ¨C 9 ? AGI ¨C 11 ? INT ¨C 12 Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (11/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +3 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Str [Grade C] Ring: +5 Str [Grade C] Amulet: +5 Str [Grade D] Spatial Bag Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 6kg/6kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** Zita closed her Status Chart and then said, "My STR is 8 (+28), VIT is 9, AGI is 10 and INT is 12." ''It still really feels like I''m violating her whenever I hear anything from her Status Chart...'' An image of Hae-won lying on the floor naked and crying flashed inside his head. He gritted his teeth and said under his breath, "Fuck! Get out of my head!" "I''m very sorry mister that my stats are so low¡­" Zita said and took a step back." "No, no, no¡­ It''s not that. I''m sorry. I just remembered something which made me said those awful words." "Okay¡­" "Uh... Your STR is 8 (+28) and your VIT is 9, right?" "Yes." ''Hmm¡­ Fortunately, she didn''t reach the 30-point threshold or she will break her bones if she uses her full force¡­'' ''36 point in STR? I think that''s enough to kill an N1. I remember killing N1s for the first time back at Haven Town without outside help. I was also able to kill D1s but it took more effort -- and plus, I was using that [Grade D] Large Axe¡­'' "Wait here. I''m going to take care of the D1s." "Okay." As Nathan was about to leave, he stopped. "There''s also some snacks, candies and drinks inside the Spatial Bag. You can eat them if you want. Just be sure you don''t vomit during the killing." "Okay!" Zita quickly said with excitement and started checking the items inside. Nathan went to the zombies. Whoosh! Whoosh! He killed the zombies that broke free earlier and also retrieved the weapons he used to pin them down. Now, he was bringing over an S1 among the zombies, holding it by the neck with his left hand while his right hand was holding a [Grade D] Sword. Zita was eating a candy bar and choosing food inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. When she saw Nathan coming, she stopped what she was doing and focused on him. He threw the sword on his hand in front of her. Clang! "Use that. It''s easier." "Okay." She activated her skill [Lift] to keep the [Grade D] Long Dagger hovering in the air and then picked up the sword with her two hands. As she carried the sword, she almost tripped. He dropped the S1 on the ground and held it down. "Chop off its head." "Okay." "Remember, aim for the neck." "Okay, mister." She went to the side and raised the sword above her head with two hands. She almost lost her balance again. Nathan squinted his eyes. ''Is this kid a klutz?'' And with all her strength, she chopped down. Whoosh! The S1 was beheaded. Ding! A notification appeared in her head. Nathan, on the other hand, continued observing Zita. Surprisingly, she didn''t vomit from killing the zombie. She instead let go of the sword and started jumping in joy because she jumped a few levels. "Yay~! Yay~! Yay~!" "Kid, calm down. What''s level are you now?" "Level 6~!" "Just a few more then before you reach Level 15 and we can go find a clothing store," Nathan said as he extracted the nucleus on the S1''s head. Normally, he would just take the nuclei of the Rank 2s because their value was higher and he didn''t have much space. But after thinking that he needed strong pawns in the Divine Tower, he needed more funds to pay for their equipment upgrades. Zita quickly stopped jumping. And with a big smile on her face, she said, "Okay~!" Nathan stared at her blankly. ''This kid''s mood swings are so unpredictable. One moment she''s scared, the next moment she''s jumping for joy.'' "Mister, what is that ball you''re holding?" "It''s for the Divine Tower." "Divine Tower?" She recalled the message of the System when the Second Phase happened. "Forget about it for now. Follow me. You still need to kill the rest," he said as he walked towards the remaining zombies. "Okay~!" she said with a big smile on her face. 158 Outside 3 "Okay, let''s have you kill these zombies. Let''s start with the D1." Nathan was already standing close to the D1 and he went even closer. Roar! Roar! Roar! The D1 along with the other 3m-tall zombies continued roaring and were thrashing around, trying to get to Nathan. Unfortunately, they couldn''t because their arms and legs were chopped off and they were pinned down to the ground with weapons. When Zita stepped forward, the zombies started to thrash around even harder, causing the weapons that were pinning them down to wobble and loosen their foundation just a little bit. The sight frightened her and she stopped. Earlier, when Nathan called her out, she was so afraid when she saw the zombies. But while she was talking with him, discussing her powers, she forgot about them. And now, her fear returned. "What are you waiting for, kid?" She tightened her grip on the [Grade D] Long Dagger''s handle and continued stepping forward. "Use your power to lift that dagger and kill the D1." The dagger on her hands was less than 1kg. She activated her skill [Lift] and the dagger floated in the air. "Kill it quick before they escape." She turned to the D1 and shot the dagger into its head. Shoo! Tuup! Roar! Clang! The dagger only managed to penetrate the D1''s skull a few centimeters before falling to the ground because it was thrashing around. "Don''t hit its skull, stupid. Hit the neck." "I''m very sorry, mister," Zita said in a panicked voice and quickly activated her skill. The dagger rose from the ground and hovered in the air. Shoo! Tuup! Clang! Roar! Compared to the first attempt, the dagger was able to penetrate a few centimeters deeper but it still ended with the same result. Seeing what happened, Zita continued panicking and did the same thing again. Roar! Shoo! Tuup! Clang! Roar! "Does your skill loses its effect on an item every time you attack?" "No. It''s just that it throwing it makes it stronger." "Can''t you just maintain it?" "I can but it won''t be as strong compared to throwing it." "Do it." Zita lifted the dagger and tried to stab it into the D1''s neck. This time, the force was no different when she was tried to stab the D1''s skull from earlier. "Stop what you''re doing," said Nathan. Zita looked at him. He continued, "It''s useless." Nathan stroke his chin. ''The D1 has high STR and VIT¡­ 12 INT gives 6kg¡­ I can also suspect that 6 points is the attacking power. But when thrown, it doubles the power so it becomes 12 points.'' ''If this child had a very high INT, she would be so OP. And with the currently available items now, the bonus stats of the First Tier [Grade D] would only give her +21 INT, +6 if she were to equip First Tier [Grade C] rings and amulet. She may not be able to lift me up because of my weight, but she can definitely throw things at me and kill me¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ I honestly don''t know if this is a good idea or bad idea. But one thing is for sure, under the right circumstances she can definitely kill me¡­'' ''I wonder what would happen if her INT is so high that it becomes enough to lift me up. Would I still be affected if I was invisible?'' "Mister, I¡­ I can kill it by stabbing it normally." Nathan wasn''t sure what she meant so he said, "Huh? Sure." She picked up the dagger with her hand and turned to the D1 who was roaring and thrashing around like crazy. Although she was afraid to step forward, she didn''t want to be viewed as useless. For 2 days since the passing of her remaining parent, she had been asking Sweet Dave and the others to give her a chance to go out and kill zombies but none of them agreed. And now that she had the chance, albeit it wasn''t Sweet Dave or anyone from the shelter but another Chosen One like herself and who also happened to be powerful, she just couldn''t accept things to end like this. She really wanted to become strong. She tightened her grip on the handle of her dagger and slowly stepped forward. However¡­ The closer she got to the D1, the harder it thrashed around and she could see the sword pinning it down to wobble and lose its foundation further and further. With each step, her fear grew and grew that her whole body started to tremble and her steps became shorter and shorter. Nevertheless, she still continued to move forward. "Kid, we don''t have much time. Hurry up. We still have to get you some clothes and then find a spot to rest for the night," Nathan said with a bored tone on the side. The D1 continued thrashing around. And then¡­ Clang! Roar! The D1 broke free but the sword that was used to pin it down was still stuck on it. And because its arms and legs were dismembered, it crawled its way to Zita like a worm. "KYAAAH!!!" Zita screamed as she fell on her butt and dropped the dagger. Thud! Clang! Seeing that D1 coming right at her, she was left completely petrified. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she wet her pants. She closed her eyes and screamed in Iskaldian, "SMAMAK!!!" And just when the zombie got a couple of inches away from her and was about to pounce its body using its dismembered arms¡­ Bam! "Kid!" Zita opened her eyes and saw Nathan stepping on the D1''s back as he pulled out the sword that was stuck on its body and absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. She wiped the tears off her eyes. Nathan changed his position. He pressed one knee against the D1''s back and held down its head with one hand. "Hurry up and chop off its neck." And just right after Zita grabbed the dagger next to her and stood up, two other zombies nearby was able to break free. Clang! Roar! Clang! Roar! It was an N1 and another D1. Nathan panicked. Crack! Thud! He quickly crushed the head of the D1 with a punch and grabbed Zita before jumping a couple of feet away. With his STR at 69 (+5) points, jumping a couple of feet away was easy. He put Zita down and stared at the D1 and N1 that broke free. ''That was too close¡­'' Normally, he could kill those two zombies. But when those two suddenly broke free while he was scaring Zita, he lost his composure so he did the first thing that came to his mind. ''Well, at least I didn''t forget to grab the kid.'' He looked at Zita who was sobbing and covering her eyes as she cried out, "SmamaK¡­ SmommyK¡­" She was trembling that she could barely stand straight. "Ehem!" he cleared his throat. "Now you know the dangers posed by the zombies. Just always be sure to follow my lead and be quick if you don''t want to die." Zita stopped crying and rubbed her eyes before replying, "Yes, mister¡­" "Well, putting aside the Rank 2s, killing D1s and N1s would be too much for you right now. Probably even the M1s as well because they can cast magic spells. Let''s just stick with the S1s for now. But first¡­" He summoned a set from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. It was only a normal full-STR set that was part of his collection. Level 1-5 Rank 1s drop First Tier [Grade D] items and their bonus stats was only +3. Meanwhile, Rank 2s drop First Tier [Grade C] items so the bonus stats was only +5. And in Nathan''s case, the reason why he had Second Tier [Grade C] accessories which give +6 bonus stats was from his time at the Divine Tower. He had them re-awakened by the Blacksmith at the Eternal Village, while the other rings and amulets were looted from the corpses of the participants who had their rings and amulets re-awakened as well. "Give me back the crossbow and wear this set." Zita unequipped the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and gave it to Nathan. "Wear this as well." Nathan gave her his [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Ever since he got the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Ring, he never really had any use with it anymore. But it was still useful in some way because its total available space inside was as big as a 30" x 50" duffle bag. When she touched the items, especially the [Grade D] Spatial Bag, she was surprised to learn about their details given to her by the System. The fear she felt from earlier vanished and she was surprised with the System loots. "Wow¡­" she said as she stared at the bag with amazement. "Wear it now, kid." "Mister, my pants are wet¡­" she said in a small voice. "What?" Her pasty white cheeks turned red and she held her head down before saying, "I said I wet my pants¡­" "Oh¡­" Nathan scratched his nose in guilt. "Uhh¡­ Don''t worry, we''ll drop by a store later to pick up some clothes. For now, wear the items and let''s get you to at least Level 15. Tell me what''s your stats." "Level 15?! Wouldn''t that take long?" "No, it''s easy. Just trust me. Come on, wear it now." She wore the System items and Nathan waited. After she was done, he asked, "Now tell me your stats." "Okay. System." *** Level: 1 Exp: 0% Stats: ? STR ¨C 8 (+28) ? VIT ¨C 9 ? AGI ¨C 11 ? INT ¨C 12 Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (11/12) [Grade D] Helm (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Str [Grade D] Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +3 Str [Grade C] Ring: +6 Str [Grade C] Ring: +5 Str [Grade C] Amulet: +5 Str [Grade D] Spatial Bag Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 6kg/6kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** Zita closed her Status Chart and then said, "My STR is 8 (+28), VIT is 9, AGI is 10 and INT is 12." ''It still really feels like I''m violating her whenever I hear anything from her Status Chart...'' An image of Hae-won lying on the floor naked and crying flashed inside his head. He gritted his teeth and said under his breath, "Fuck! Get out of my head!" "I''m very sorry mister that my stats are so low¡­" Zita said and took a step back." "No, no, no¡­ It''s not that. I''m sorry. I just remembered something which made me said those awful words." "Okay¡­" "Uh... Your STR is 8 (+28) and your VIT is 9, right?" "Yes." ''Hmm¡­ Fortunately, she didn''t reach the 30-point threshold or she will break her bones if she uses her full force¡­'' ''36 point in STR? I think that''s enough to kill an N1. I remember killing N1s for the first time back at Haven Town without outside help. I was also able to kill D1s but it took more effort -- and plus, I was using that [Grade D] Large Axe¡­'' "Wait here. I''m going to take care of the D1s." "Okay." As Nathan was about to leave, he stopped. "There''s also some snacks, candies and drinks inside the Spatial Bag. You can eat them if you want. Just be sure you don''t vomit during the killing." "Okay!" Zita quickly said with excitement and started checking the items inside. Nathan went to the zombies. Whoosh! Whoosh! He killed the zombies that broke free earlier and also retrieved the weapons he used to pin them down. Now, he was bringing over an S1 among the zombies, holding it by the neck with his left hand while his right hand was holding a [Grade D] Sword. Zita was eating a candy bar and choosing food inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. When she saw Nathan coming, she stopped what she was doing and focused on him. He threw the sword on his hand in front of her. Clang! "Use that. It''s easier." "Okay." She activated her skill [Lift] to keep the [Grade D] Long Dagger hovering in the air and then picked up the sword with her two hands. As she carried the sword, she almost tripped. He dropped the S1 on the ground and held it down. "Chop off its head." "Okay." "Remember, aim for the neck." "Okay, mister." She went to the side and raised the sword above her head with two hands. She almost lost her balance again. Nathan squinted his eyes. ''Is this kid a klutz?'' And with all her strength, she chopped down. Whoosh! The S1 was beheaded. Ding! A notification appeared in her head. Nathan, on the other hand, continued observing Zita. Surprisingly, she didn''t vomit from killing the zombie. She instead let go of the sword and started jumping in joy because she jumped a few levels. "Yay~! Yay~! Yay~!" "Kid, calm down. What''s level are you now?" "Level 6~!" "Just a few more then before you reach Level 15 and we can go find a clothing store," Nathan said as he extracted the nucleus on the S1''s head. Normally, he would just take the nuclei of the Rank 2s because their value was higher and he didn''t have much space. But after thinking that he needed strong pawns in the Divine Tower, he needed more funds to pay for their equipment upgrades. Zita quickly stopped jumping. And with a big smile on her face, she said, "Okay~!" Nathan stared at her blankly. ''This kid''s mood swings are so unpredictable. One moment she''s scared, the next moment she''s jumping for joy.'' "Mister, what is that ball you''re holding?" "It''s for the Divine Tower." "Divine Tower?" She recalled the message of the System when the Second Phase happened. "Forget about it for now. Follow me. You still need to kill the rest," he said as he walked towards the remaining zombies. "Okay~!" she said with a big smile on her face. 159 Outside 4 Roar! "Make sure to hit it properly, kid," said Nathan. He was holding an N1 that had no arms and legs up in the air with one hand. His fingers were deep inside the zombie''s flesh, holding its spinal column. Zita was standing a few feet away from Nathan and the N1. Floating around her were System weapons such as swords and daggers. She controlled two swords and aimed for the N1''s neck. Shoo! Shoo! Thud! They sliced through the N1''s neck clean and its head fell on the ground. A [Green] Treasure Chest appeared. "Yay~! I''m now Level 15~! Hehehe~!" Nathan threw the headless torso away and then proceeded to look for the N1''s head. Thud! Meanwhile, Zita went over to chest the treasure chest. Nathan, on the other hand, was lost in his own thoughts while extracting [Grade D] Nucleus from the N1''s head. ''So once she throws an item, although it doubles the power and speed, she can''t change the trajectory¡­'' ''But I have to admit, this kid is really dangerous. Her Chosen One powers are definitely no joke. Imagine if she could lift up a hundred weapons and then throw them at a target all at once. And right now she''s Level 15 so her INT is 26. So if she throws them all at once, each item has the power and speed of 26 points! My God!'' ''And to top that off, as far as I can remember, the range of her powers where she can lift items is 10m!'' ''If that''s not scary, then what is?! Those people in the shelter are so stupid to waste the potential of such a powerful Chosen One!'' ''If I will continue to travel with this kid, I should definitely avoid tight places as much as possible¡­'' ''Wait¡­ Can she stop a bullet in mid-air?'' Nathan absorbed the [Grade D] Nucleus inside his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before looking at Zita. "Finally, a [Small] Healing Potion!" she said and then placed it inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. "Kid." Zita turned to him. "Can you stop a moving object? Let''s say, a person throws something at you." "I don''t know." He summoned a nucleus. "I''m going to throw this at you. Try to catch it with your power." "Okay." He threw the nucleus at her but he made sure to only use about 10% of his strength. His STR was 69 (+5) so he was only using about 7 points. She caught it mid-air. ''Heh¡­ So she can, huh,'' he thought. "Give it back to me." She gave him the nucleus using [Lift]. "Concentrate, I''m going to make it faster." He threw it again. This time, he was using 30% of his strength, making it around 22 points. Whoosh! She failed to stop it and it bounced against her chest. "Ugh!" she groaned and then knelt down on one knee as he held her chest with one hand. Of course, he lied. In addition to that, he didn''t dare to approach her because he was also probing what kind of temper she has. "Ouch¡­ It''s so painful," she said as she was rubbing her chest. "Kid, quick, use the Healing Potion." She summoned the potion from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and drank it. "Are you okay, kid? I''m really sorry." "I''m fine¡­" she said as she threw the empty vial away. Still wearing a concerned and apologetic expression, he said, "Oh, thank God. I don''t know if I would be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to you because of my actions. Good thing you''re already Level 15. Just a few levels more and you''ll already be as strong as me." "Mister, can you stop calling me kid? My name is Zita Vestergaard and I''m almost 11 years old. I''m not a kid anymore. What about you? What''s your name?" ''How cute,'' he thought and smiled. "It''s Nathan. But just call me mister or uncle, kid." "I just told you I''m almost 11 years old!" Zita said and then pouted her lips to the side. One of the culture shocks that he learned here in Womania that up to this day he still couldn''t get over with and makes his skin crawl is people calling each other without honorifics. In Asian countries, there is an unspoken caste or strict social hierarchy system where age and economic status are the main basis -- at least for most Asian communities because there are other communities that still value men/boys over women/girls. So having a kid calling an adult by their name is considered very, very shameful in Asia. Zita was still pouting when she murmured under her breath in Iskaldian, "Swhyk scan''tk sthisk soldk sguyk sstopk scallingk smek ''kid''? Ssok sannoyingk." Nathan raised an eyebrow. ''Heh~ Is this kid insulting me?'' he thought. "By the way, I noticed that you don''t sound like a native of this country. Where are you from again?" "Iskaldia." ''Iskaldia, huh? So this is what an Iskaldian sounds like. And as far as I can remember¡­'' Given that he used to work as an editor in The Young Progressives which was more or less a leftist media, he, of course, heard a few things about Iskaldia. However, he has never been there so he only knows a few superficial things such as¡­ ? It''s a first-world country. ? It''s one of the few remaining countries where many pure-bred Caucasians come from. ? It''s supposedly a politically correct country. ? The foreigners there are mainly Caucasian, brown-Caucasian and Africans. ? It''s also one of the Caucasian countries that accepted refugees. And in the case of Womania, although it''s one of the most politically correct countries, it didn''t accept any refugees because in their defense they already have too many foreigners. "Do you people there speak Regisian?" "Our official language is Iskaldian. Regisian is being taught to us in school along with Kylmaian and I''m still learning them both." "I see," he said then thought, ''I have to admit: For a kid her age, her command in the Regisian language is already very good. Is it because she''s white or the level of education there?'' Although Nathan''s proficiency in the Xudonian language wasn''t that great, the main reason why he was able to get a grasp of it right away despite having zero knowledge about it beforehand and only studied it for a few months was because he was an Asian mainlander and Asian languages, in one way or another, share many words with each other. And if anyone were to ask Nathan what''s the most difficult part of learning a new language, it''s the reading and writing. In the case of Asian languages, brown-skinned and white-skinned Asians have a very different alphabet system from each other. As for the Regisian language, although he also took Regisian language lessons to improve his proficiency, the reason why he knew how to speak Regisian in the first place was because not only was it was a minor subject being taught in schools but it was also the most commonly used language in the world that 8 out of 10 people knows some Regisian words. Even if a person doesn''t learn it in school, the person will still be exposed to it from TV, entertainment, the internet, etc. and eventually pick up some words. He raised his thermal vision goggles and summoned a flashlight from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger to study more of her features. Click. ''Pasty white skin with icy blonde hair. And I think she also had green eyes? Or was it blue?'' She was wearing a pair of thermal vision goggles so her eyes were covered at the moment. ''It didn''t cross my mind earlier but I just realized that this kid is actually a top of the shelf whitey-white, like uber white. Even that bimbo of a Chosen One couldn''t compare to her.'' In his 8 months in Womania, another culture shock he learned was that there''s actually different shades of Caucasians. And as racist as this may be, he divided them into 3 groups: ? Half-breed and mixed-breed ? Standard white ? Uber white People like Rose and Kaija were on the half-breed and mixed-breed bracket. People like Ashleigh, Derek, Ida, Sweet Dave and even Walter were on the standard white bracket. Zita was on the uber white bracket. This was a bracket that he was surprised to know about. They have this distinct look and aura or demeanor that only they have and he avoided them like a plague because -- ''Wait, hold that thought for a minute. Is this kid perhaps an albino?'' He thought recalled his interactions with Zita. ''Hmm¡­ Albinos have this weird way of staring and I don''t recall this kid doing that albino-stare thingy.'' ''Yep, this kid is definitely top of the shelf whitey-white or uber white. Hmm¡­ I wonder what the parents of this kid look like, how they act. I bet this kid comes from a long line of colonists and white supremacist Cossacks. Hehehe~'' Back in WWI, a Caucasian country called Kholodnia which was led by Tsar Rasputin I with his Cossack Empire butted heads against the most powerful Caucasian country, Regis, and its fellow colonist allies, including Iustia for world domination. The war lasted from 1914 - 1918 and Kholodnia lost. About 2 decades later, WW2 came. This time around, Kholodnia was led by Tsar Rasputin II, the first son of the late Rasputin I, and teamed up with the white-skinned Asian country Heiwa led by Emperor Miyamoto Uruha with his Samurai Empire, again, for world domination. Kholodnia''s main goal was to conquer Europe and the rest of the Western world. Meanwhile, Heiwa, a country colonized by Iustia, aimed to conquer Asia. The war lasted from 1939 - 1945 and Kholodnia and Heiwa lost. "Mister?" Click. He put away his flashlight and wore back his thermal vision goggles. An image of Walter and his son back in Corn Town flashed inside his head. ''I wonder if Iskaldia still has a slave system. I mean, yeah, I heard that it''s supposedly a politically correct country just like many Caucasian countries, but I also heard there were some conflicts between the locals and the refugees there. Perhaps they were trying to conduct a Slavery 2.0 against the refugees there? I mean, come on, Iskaldia is like one of the few remaining countries where pure-bred Caucasians come from. So¡­ you know, what would you expect? It''s in their blood. But then again, this is the fireworks-loving people that we''re talking about, the brown-Caucasians. But what about the Africans? Yeah, the award-winning group of people. My God, it must be one hell of a party there. You''ve got the torch-parade-loving people, the fireworks-loving people and the award-winning people. What can go wrong? Hahaha~'' "Mister?" ''Thankfully, Womania didn''t accept any refugees but Burrow City still has too many firework-loving people¡­'' "Mister?" "Hmm?" he said and then thought, ''What was this kid''s question again? And oh my God, I went full-racist there for a moment. Good thing no one can hear me. If there is, sorry, sorry. I''ll make it up by talking trash about my people.'' "Mister, I said, I''m now Level 15. Didn''t you say that we''re going to pick up some clothes once I reach Level 15?" "Ah yes, yes. Of course, no problem, let''s go find a shop now to pick some clothes," he said and then walked. Zita walked beside him. ''Hmm¡­ I wonder how fucked up Muwin is right now. I mean, even before that being who was claiming to be God appeared and threw this zombie apocalypse on our faces, people in the North were already the wannabe white people but without the funds. Meanwhile, people in the South are the wannabe fireworks people who still can''t get over the past. I''m really curious how they''re taking it. Sigh¡­ I can''t wait to see how they fucked up the country this time around. And if I were to take a guess, the South is probably taking it much easier. And God save the non-believers there. Many chop-chops and stonings may have already happened. Hahaha~'' 160 Next Chapter Preview 11:30 pm. Somewhere in the heart of Burrow City. Nathan stepped outside of a boutique shop for children and was holding a dismembered S2 and N1 by the neck on each hand. It took him quite a while to find a clothing shop because he has never been to Burrow city so he wasn''t familiar with the city''s layout. Zita was sitting down on top of a car outside and sipping juice as she played with the three [Grade D] Long Daggers, a Sword and an axe floating around her. "Kid." When she saw Nathan, she put down her juice, got up and jumped right in front of him. Thud! "Tada~!" She had a big smile on her face. She was clearly happy with her new-found strength. In fact, all of her fears vanished that she was so relaxed. She even forgot about her wet pants. She also started to think that the adults back at the Government Shelter who prohibited her from going out to level up were nothing but a bunch of worrywarts and the only reason they stopped her and the other children to go out and level up was because they wanted to control them. And the worse part of it all, she also started to forget how her other parent died back at the airport at the hands of the zombies and thought that if her parents just let her level up back then, things would''ve been different. ''I''m going to leave once he sleeps,'' she thought. Thud! Thud! Nathan threw the two zombies on his hands in front of her. Zita sent the sword that was floating around to her hand as she approached the S2 first. She steadied her feet so as to not lose balance and held the sword up with two hands before striking down. Whoosh! Ding! She became Level 21 and a [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared next to the S2. "Did you level up?" "Yes~!" "Good. We were lucky there was an S2." If anyone would hear anyone speak such words, many would spit on that person. Unfortunately, there were people like Nathan who were thriving in the zombie apocalypse because of their powers. "There''s a [Blue] Treasure Chest~!" Also, after spending a short amount of time with Nathan, Zita somehow developed a taste for treasure chests. At first, she was really excited whenever a treasure chest appears. Now, the [Green] Treasure Chest dropped by the Ranks 1s became unappealing to her because there were so many items that they didn''t bother to pick them up. In fact, even the [Blue] Treasure Chests were starting to become unappealing to her as well. "Kill the other zombie first so that we can extract the nucleus right away." Zita pouted and said, "Okay~" Whoosh! She beheaded the other zombie and she didn''t level up. But it also dropped a treasure cheat, a [Green] one. She then let go of the sword on her hand and let it float around her as she quickly went to open the [Blue] Treasure Chest first. It was only a [Double Slash] spellbook. There was a disappointed expression on her face and she said under her breath in Iskaldian, "Strashk." She then went to open the [Green] Treasure Chest in an unenthusiastic manner. It was a [Grade D] Giant Axe. Her eyes shinned. Out of all the weapons they dropped tonight, she never saw this type of weapon. And the largest axe she has seen was the [Grade D] Large Axe that Nathan uses from time-to-time. She immediately tried to pick it up to play with it for a minute before discarding it. When she raised it, she tumbled down along with the axe. Thud! Clang! "Uwu¡­ It''s so heavy~" Nathan just finished extracting the nuclei from the two zombies when he turned to her. "Kid, stop playing --" Nathan stopped what he was saying when he saw the [Grade D] Giant Axe. Back at Cram City, before he entered the Divine Tower, he dropped a [Grade D] Giant Axe but he didn''t bother to pick it up and use it because it was too big for him to carry around so he just stuck with his [Grade D] Large Axe. But now with his new height, thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood he has taken, he was searching for weapons like this. A great example would be the [Grade D] Great Sword which he looted from that fat man back at the Saint Holy Child Hospital. "Mister, take a look at this big axe. It''s bigger than yours." Zita she lifted it from the ground using her skill [Lift] and then grabbed it. She then deactivated her skill on it and tried to swing it. Whoosh! She lost balance and fell to the ground. Thud! Clang! "Uwu~ It''s really so heavy that I can''t swing it properly!" Nathan squinted his eyes. Even before he entered the Divine Tower, he already suspected something concerning longer and heavier weapons. ''So even if you have high STR, if your body''s height or weight or both is lower compared to the weapon, swinging it would cause you to lose balance due to the momentum. Back then, even though my height was 6ft and exercise and I was also getting stronger as I leveled up, I couldn''t tell for sure. But seeing this right now confirms that my suspicion was indeed correct.'' Zita got up, activated her skill, lifted the weapon and grabbed it. She then started swinging it around without deactivating her skill. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! However, her movements seemed so stiff. ''It looks like the axe is the one swinging her instead of the other way around¡­'' Nathan thought. "Kid, stop playing around and give me that axe." "Okay," she said and passed the [Grade D] Giant Axe using her skill [Lift]. Nathan grabbed it and absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. He then took out two flashlights and gave one to her. "Let''s pick some clothes. Remember, be sure to pick up at least 5 shirts, 5 pants, 5 shorts, 5 undies, 5 pair of socks and 2 jackets¡­" He glanced at her chest. "... and 5 sports bras as well." "Okay." Click! "After this, we''ll find a place to rest," he said as he raised his thermal vision goggles and switched on the flashlight before entering the children''s boutique shop. Click! "Okay," she said as she followed behind and did the same thing with her thermal vision goggles and flashlight. Nathan suddenly stopped. Zita also stopped. He turned to her and asked, "Kid, do you already have your ''Lady Business #3''?" "Lady Business #3?" "Your period, your menstruation." Zita''s pasty white cheeks turned red and she held her head down. "Do you understand me?" "Snok¡­" she whispered something that Nathan couldn''t hear. "What?" She raised her head and said, "I said no!" before marching inside the boutique shop in embarrassment. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. ''I guess whether it''s a child or adult and whatever the ethnicity, asking about a woman''s period is and will always be a sensitive topic¡­'' He suddenly remembered back when he was still living with Karen. Aside from doing household work, he was also in charge of grocery shopping. He remembered the first time he bought sanitary napkins for her at a grocery store. He was so conscious at that time when he was at the women''s section because there were people staring and giving him weird looks because he had long hair, a goatee, a muscular body, was 6ft tall and was wearing black. He remembered being so confused with the selection of products because there were too many brands to choose from. And aside from the fact that there were tampons and sanitary pads, the sanitary pads themselves also had two different groups. One group had "wings" while the other group didn''t have any. After 3 minutes of checking out the products, he finally mustered up the courage to grab two packs of sanitary pads with the most beautiful wrapping design -- one with wings and the other without -- and asked one of the salesladies nearby. When he talked to her, he tried his best to look as non-threatening as possible and carefully explained his circumstance to not appear like a creep. She smiled at him and explained to him the difference and recommended him which brand was better. In the end, he bought the brand she recommended and the one with wings. When Karen came home later that day and saw the brand that he brought, she didn''t say anything. But he assumed that he bought the right one because she didn''t say anything and used them. Since then, every time he visits that grocery store to buy groceries and sees that saleslady, they would smile and nod at each other. ''Hmm¡­ I never asked for that woman''s name. I wonder if she''s still alive¡­'' ''Well¡­ At least I won''t have to worry about this kid''s tampons for now but still, I have to pick some if I ever come across just in case.'' He went over to Zita to see how she was doing. 160 Outside 5 11:30 pm. Somewhere in the heart of Burrow City. Nathan stepped outside of a boutique shop for children and was holding a dismembered S2 and N1 by the neck on each hand. It took him quite a while to find a clothing shop because he has never been to Burrow city so he wasn''t familiar with the city''s layout. Zita was sitting down on top of a car outside and sipping juice as she played with the three [Grade D] Long Daggers, a Sword and an axe floating around her. "Kid." When she saw Nathan, she put down her juice, got up and jumped right in front of him. Thud! "Tada~!" She had a big smile on her face. She was clearly happy with her new-found strength. In fact, all of her fears vanished that she was so relaxed. She even forgot about her wet pants. She also started to think that the adults back at the Government Shelter who prohibited her from going out to level up were nothing but a bunch of worrywarts and the only reason they stopped her and the other children to go out and level up was because they wanted to control them. And the worse part of it all, she also started to forget how her other parent died back at the airport at the hands of the zombies and thought that if her parents just let her level up back then, things would''ve been different. ''I''m going to leave once he sleeps,'' she thought. Thud! Thud! Nathan threw the two zombies on his hands in front of her. Zita sent the sword that was floating around to her hand as she approached the S2 first. She steadied her feet so as to not lose balance and held the sword up with two hands before striking down. Whoosh! Ding! She became Level 21 and a [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared next to the S2. "Did you level up?" "Yes~!" "Good. We were lucky there was an S2." If anyone would hear anyone speak such words, many would spit on that person. Unfortunately, there were people like Nathan who were thriving in the zombie apocalypse because of their powers. "There''s a [Blue] Treasure Chest~!" Also, after spending a short amount of time with Nathan, Zita somehow developed a taste for treasure chests. At first, she was really excited whenever a treasure chest appears. Now, the [Green] Treasure Chest dropped by the Ranks 1s became unappealing to her because there were so many items that they didn''t bother to pick them up. In fact, even the [Blue] Treasure Chests were starting to become unappealing to her as well. "Kill the other zombie first so that we can extract the nucleus right away." Zita pouted and said, "Okay~" Whoosh! She beheaded the other zombie and she didn''t level up. But it also dropped a treasure cheat, a [Green] one. She then let go of the sword on her hand and let it float around her as she quickly went to open the [Blue] Treasure Chest first. It was only a [Double Slash] spellbook. There was a disappointed expression on her face and she said under her breath in Iskaldian, "Strashk." She then went to open the [Green] Treasure Chest in an unenthusiastic manner. It was a [Grade D] Giant Axe. Her eyes shinned. Out of all the weapons they dropped tonight, she never saw this type of weapon. And the largest axe she has seen was the [Grade D] Large Axe that Nathan uses from time-to-time. She immediately tried to pick it up to play with it for a minute before discarding it. When she raised it, she tumbled down along with the axe. Thud! Clang! "Uwu¡­ It''s so heavy~" Nathan just finished extracting the nuclei from the two zombies when he turned to her. "Kid, stop playing --" Nathan stopped what he was saying when he saw the [Grade D] Giant Axe. Back at Cram City, before he entered the Divine Tower, he dropped a [Grade D] Giant Axe but he didn''t bother to pick it up and use it because it was too big for him to carry around so he just stuck with his [Grade D] Large Axe. But now with his new height, thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood he has taken, he was searching for weapons like this. A great example would be the [Grade D] Great Sword which he looted from that fat man back at the Saint Holy Child Hospital. "Mister, take a look at this big axe. It''s bigger than yours." Zita she lifted it from the ground using her skill [Lift] and then grabbed it. She then deactivated her skill on it and tried to swing it. Whoosh! She lost balance and fell to the ground. Thud! Clang! "Uwu~ It''s really so heavy that I can''t swing it properly!" Nathan squinted his eyes. Even before he entered the Divine Tower, he already suspected something concerning longer and heavier weapons. ''So even if you have high STR, if your body''s height or weight or both is lower compared to the weapon, swinging it would cause you to lose balance due to the momentum. Back then, even though my height was 6ft and exercise and I was also getting stronger as I leveled up, I couldn''t tell for sure. But seeing this right now confirms that my suspicion was indeed correct.'' Zita got up, activated her skill, lifted the weapon and grabbed it. She then started swinging it around without deactivating her skill. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! However, her movements seemed so stiff. ''It looks like the axe is the one swinging her instead of the other way around¡­'' Nathan thought. "Kid, stop playing around and give me that axe." "Okay," she said and passed the [Grade D] Giant Axe using her skill [Lift]. Nathan grabbed it and absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. He then took out two flashlights and gave one to her. "Let''s pick some clothes. Remember, be sure to pick up at least 5 shirts, 5 pants, 5 shorts, 5 undies, 5 pair of socks and 2 jackets¡­" He glanced at her chest. "... and 5 sports bras as well." "Okay." Click! "After this, we''ll find a place to rest," he said as he raised his thermal vision goggles and switched on the flashlight before entering the children''s boutique shop. Click! "Okay," she said as she followed behind and did the same thing with her thermal vision goggles and flashlight. Nathan suddenly stopped. Zita also stopped. He turned to her and asked, "Kid, do you already have your ''Lady Business #3''?" "Lady Business #3?" "Your period, your menstruation." Zita''s pasty white cheeks turned red and she held her head down. "Do you understand me?" "Snok¡­" she whispered something that Nathan couldn''t hear. "What?" She raised her head and said, "I said no!" before marching inside the boutique shop in embarrassment. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. ''I guess whether it''s a child or adult and whatever the ethnicity, asking about a woman''s period is and will always be a sensitive topic¡­'' He suddenly remembered back when he was still living with Karen. Aside from doing household work, he was also in charge of grocery shopping. He remembered the first time he bought sanitary napkins for her at a grocery store. He was so conscious at that time when he was at the women''s section because there were people staring and giving him weird looks because he had long hair, a goatee, a muscular body, was 6ft tall and was wearing black. He remembered being so confused with the selection of products because there were too many brands to choose from. And aside from the fact that there were tampons and sanitary pads, the sanitary pads themselves also had two different groups. One group had "wings" while the other group didn''t have any. After 3 minutes of checking out the products, he finally mustered up the courage to grab two packs of sanitary pads with the most beautiful wrapping design -- one with wings and the other without -- and asked one of the salesladies nearby. When he talked to her, he tried his best to look as non-threatening as possible and carefully explained his circumstance to not appear like a creep. She smiled at him and explained to him the difference and recommended him which brand was better. In the end, he bought the brand she recommended and the one with wings. When Karen came home later that day and saw the brand that he brought, she didn''t say anything. But he assumed that he bought the right one because she didn''t say anything and used them. Since then, every time he visits that grocery store to buy groceries and sees that saleslady, they would smile and nod at each other. ''Hmm¡­ I never asked for that woman''s name. I wonder if she''s still alive¡­'' ''Well¡­ At least I won''t have to worry about this kid''s tampons for now but still, I have to pick some if I ever come across just in case.'' He went over to Zita to see how she was doing. 161 Outside 6 11:48 pm. Nathan and Zita already left the children''s boutique shop and were currently standing in front of a 10-story building. It was an apartment building with a flat rooftop. "Hide inside the car and wait there. I''ll check this building and the others." "Mister, let me come with you. I''m already Level 21. I''m strong like you!" Nathan stared at her and glanced at the weapons floating around her. "Not now. It''s dark and we''re in a hurry. Go. Don''t forget to check if there''s a zombie inside." Zita pouted and murmured under her breath as she went to the car, "Scheckk sifk stherek sarek szombiesk sink sthek scark? Stheyk sarek ssok sbigk. Stheyk swouldn''tk sfitk sinsidek!" She reached out for the door. It was locked. But with her current points in STR, it was no problem. Crang! She grabbed the handle and forcefully opened the car door before stepping inside. When she turned to where she last saw Nathan, he was no longer there. "Sstupidk soldk smank. She''sk sjustk slikek sthek sadultsk sbackk satk sthek Government Shelter. Sthey''rek sallk sworrywartsk! Sit''sk snotk sthatk sscaryk sherek satk sallk! Sik scank stakek scarek sofk smyselfk!" "Sshouldk sik sleavek snowk¡­?" She tried to look for any sign of Nathan. She could find any and it was so quiet. The only thing she could hear was the occasional roar of zombies from a distance. "Si''llk sjustk swaitk swhenk she''sk sasleepk sjustk stok sbek ssurek¡­" "Sevenk sifk shek scank sturnk sinvisiblek, shek swon''tk sbek sablek stok sfindk smek sifk si''mk salreadyk sfark sawayk!" She yawned. "Si''mk sgettingk ssleepyk salreadyk..." She searched for some candies inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and found a couple of chocolate bars. She took them out including a box of juice as well. *** 30 minutes later¡­ Knock! Knock! Zita turned to the side and saw Nathan standing in front of the car. "Kid, let''s go." She stepped outside and they both entered the building. *** 5th floor corridor. Both Nathan and Zita had a flashlight on their hands. "This will be my room and that one yours," he said and pointed at the other door. "This place still has running water but there''s no electricity so there''s no hot water. Don''t forget to take a bath. I''ll see you tomorrow. Good night." Ka-cha! Chud! Nathan opened the door to his room, entered and then closed it. Ka-cha! Chud! "Sthisk sisk smyk sroomk¡­" she said as she looked around. It was a six-bedroom apartment. She went to check the bedrooms. Out of the two bedrooms, she chose the one with the largest bed. She jumped on the bed and lied down. She looked at the side and there were pictures of people -- a father and a mother carrying a new-born baby on her arms. She felt her chest tighten and tears started to well up in her eyes. "Smommyk¡­ smamak¡­ Sik smissk syouk sbothk¡­" Her parents were both women. Her smommyk was basically the husband and her smamak was the wife. She closed her eyes and rubbed them before opening them and then stared at the ceiling. ''I''ll wait for an hour before leaving¡­'' However, there was a problem. ''I don''t have a phone to see the time...'' She went out of the bedroom and searched for a clock. Fortunately, she found one in the living room. She activated her skill [Lift] and brought the clock to her. ''12:22 am¡­'' She went to the toilet first before returning back to the bedroom with the clock. She laid down on the bed without removing her equipment and glanced at the clock that was floating at her side. ''I will leave at 1:30 am¡­'' ''But where will I go...?'' She never thought of this. Back when she first asked Nathan to take her with him, although she had the desire to become strong, the main reason why she decided to go was because of Lisa who confiscated her collection of System items. In a way, you could say that she did it simply out of spite. But now that she was Level 21, her anger against Lisa and the other adults back at the Government Shelter dissipated. ''Maybe I should just return back to the shelter...?'' ''The adults there weren''t so bad except for Lisa who took away my items...'' ''I also made some friends there with the other kids¡­'' She raised her fist and thought, ''When I get back there, I''m going to show everyone, especially Lisa and that they can''t bully me anymore because I''m so powerful!'' She dropped her first and then glanced at the clock. "Yawn~~~" "Si''llk sjustk sclosek smyk seyesk sfork sak slittlek sbitk sandk sleavek satk 1:30 am¡­" she said and then fell asleep. *** Zita felt someone nudging her shoulder. "Hey¡­" "Hey¡­" "Wake up¡­" She slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was a Caucasian young man in his late teens. "Kyaaah!" Bam! Thud! She jumped away from the bed, bumped against the wall and then fell to the floor. "Swhok sarek syouk?!" The man placed a finger between his lips and whispered sharply, "Shhh! Keep quiet! I''m here to rescue you!" Zita activated her skill, lifted the flashlight and pointed it at his face. The young man was donned in a complete set of System items and had a sword strapped on his back. He had somewhat of a cute face and very kind eyes. "Who are you?!" "Please keep your voice down. My name is Dylan and I''m here to rescue you. I was sent by Sweet Dave." "Sweet Dave?" "Yes." Zita studied his features. "You know Sweet Dave? I don''t remember seeing you back at the shelter." "That''s normal. Maybe you did see me but you just don''t remember me. There are too many people in the Government Shelter after all." "Where is Sweet Dave and the others?" "They''re out searching for you in other parts of the city." "..." "Come, let''s leave now before that man you''re with wakes up." "Where are we going?" "We''re going to the place where Sweet Dave and the others agreed to in case one of us finds you." "..." "Let''s go now," Dylan said and went for the main door. Zita thought about what to do. ''His name is Dylan and he was sent by Sweet Dave. But can I trust him?'' Back at the Government Shelter, although she was lucky that Sweet Dave and the others took her in when she was left all alone after her mama died during the takeover, she met a few people with bad intentions who tried to trick her into luring her going with them somewhere. And with Nathan, although her instincts were telling her to run away because he was dangerous, she noticed that there was no lust in his eyes when she asked him to take her with him and when he also explained to her what it meant to travel with him. His eyes were simply telling her that this moment was nothing but a chance encounter and whether she agrees to go with him or not, it held little or no meaning to him at all. She glanced at the clock. 12:42 am. She shifted her gaze to the door of the bedroom. ''He doesn''t seem to be a bad person¡­'' ''And even if he was a bad person, I''m a Chosen One just like the old guy mister! I can easily deal with him!'' She got up, exited the bedroom and went to where Dylan was. He was at the main door. "Are you ready?" "You said you know Sweet Dave. Do you know what''s my name?" "I¡­ Uh¡­ I don''t know your name. As I mentioned earlier, there are too many people in the government shelter so it''s normal not to know everyone. Even you don''t know me. But that''s not important right now. Let''s go." "..." "Okay, to prove to you I know Sweet Dave: He''s this old and very tall white guy and is one of the leaders of the base. Convinced now?" "Do you know the name of his wife?" "No, I don''t. Come on, we don''t have time to waste." "I-I think I don''t want to go with you." "Fine. If you don''t want to, then so be it. But just so you know, if you do that, you''ll have to wait here longer and risk the lives of Sweet Dave and the others when they come here. Do you want that to happen?" Zita''s face turned pale as she remembered what happened back at Government Shelter. All those corpses littered on the ground. ''I forgot about Mister killing all those people...'' "So what''s your decision? If you say no, I''m leaving you here to go back to Sweet Dave and have them come here. I just hope everyone will be safe when we come here." "..." "But if I were you I wouldn''t waste such an opportunity." Zita hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Okay, Dylan, I will go with you." "Good," Dylan said and then opened the door. Ka-cha! When the door was opened, Nathan was standing outside and smiling. "Hello there, sweetie." 162 Outside 7 "Hello there, sweetie," Nathan said with a smile on his face. Zita''s eyes widened and her face became pale. She took a step back and said, "Dylan!" However, Dylan was surprisingly calm. Nathan looked at Dylan and said, "You did well." "I did what you asked. Tell me now where they are." "The little girlfriend of yours and her sister? First floor, management''s office, inside the toilet." "I swear to Go--" Nathan dashed forward and grabbed Dylan''s jaw. It happened so fast that neither Dylan nor Zita were able to react. "I don''t have the time and energy to lie to lowlifes like you," Nathan said coldly and raised him up. He tightened his grip, causing Dylan to grab onto his wrists from the pain. "So I suggest you keep your threats to yourself, boy," he said and then threw him to the side against a wall. Bam! Thud! Dylan didn''t even look at Nathan and Zita when he got up. He just quickly left. Nathan turned to Zita. "And you¡­" his voice and eyes were cold as ice. Hearing his voice and seeing his stare, Zita was afraid, quite afraid actually. During her time with him in killing the zombies, she never experienced such tone and eyes from him. The closest thing to this was back when she was at the Government Shelter and Sweet Dave was offering the helicopter to him. She remembered how her knees went weak and her instincts going wild and screaming at her to run when he stared at her. But compared to that time, this moment was very different. She could practically feel the murderous intent coming out of Nathan and it was suffocating her and stopping her from moving. "M-M-Mister¡­ I-I d-didn''t--" "Shut your mouth. Just return me the items I gave you." "M-Mis--" "I don''t care about your excuses. Hurry up." She began removing her System items one by one. Nathan absorbed all of the items into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger except for the [Grade D] Spatial Bag. He took out her clothes that they looted from the boutique shop inside of it and dropped them on the floor before absorbing the bag. He then summoned a [Grade D] Giant Axe and dropped it on the floor. Clang! "This is also yours," he said and then disappeared. *** Nathan was climbing the stairs on his way to the rooftop of the apartment building. He initially planned to kill all of them but then changed his mind. He suddenly appeared right in front of them. He knocked Dylan out first and then proceeded to knock out and kidnap the other two. After hiding the two female companions somewhere, he returned to where Dylan was, woke him up and offered him a deal. The deal was, of course, what just happened. And Zita failed. ''Well, what happened wasn''t really a surprise at all¡­'' ''I already had my doubts from the beginning¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ Another failed experiment¡­'' ''Well, at least I learned a couple of things from my interaction with her¡­'' ''One of them is that just because you feed someone EXP, that doesn''t mean they would be loyal to you, even if they''re children¡­'' ''The second is that even with high STR points, a person''s weight still plays a huge factor in choosing weapons¡­'' ''The third one is that traveling with someone who doesn''t have invisibility is such a drag!'' ''Is that how they move?'' ''Every step you have to worry if there are zombies nearby?'' ''And imagine if it''s dark and you don''t have a night or thermal vision goggles¡­'' A shiver ran down his spine. ''If I were to travel with such people in the future, it''s best to have great numbers¡­'' *** Ka-cha! A door was opened. Nathan finally arrived on top of the rooftop. There were three reasons why he chose this 10-story building. One - it had a flat-surfaced rooftop. Two - it wasn''t too tall for him to jump at the other buildings nearby in case there was an emergency and he needed to do a quick escape. Three - it had running water. He summoned an assault helicopter from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and stared at it. "This piece of shit cost me a lot of space." Back when Sweet Dave was waiting for him near the helicopter and the other things that he demanded, aside from checking the area if there were any traps, he also stole another helicopter and some fuel for himself. In his mind, who knows, the helicopter they offered him could be rigged. However, the price was heavy and it broke his heart. Due to the helicopter''s size, he had to give up a lot of things inside his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. Among them was the 30 boxes of food and drinks. And instead of giving those boxes of food to some random person, he decided to give them to Sweet Dave because whether he denies it or not, he did treat him well and he also made the deal happen. Nathan took out a flashlight and the notes he wrote down during the time Yasmin was teaching him how to fly a helicopter. Although he was invisible right now, it didn''t make the light coming from the flashlight invisible. Initially, his plan was to do this during the day. But since he no longer had Zita with him, he didn''t have to anymore. He could easily escape and move to another area in case there was an emergency. "Okay¡­ Time to review the parts¡­ Ouch! I''m too big! Fucking useless helicopter!" He carefully slid inside. The last thing he wanted to do is accidentally break it. "So this part here is called the cyclic and it''s used for¡­" *** 20 minutes later¡­ ''Okay, I think I understood it. The only thing left to actually fly it¡­'' He stopped rubbing his eyes and stared at the controls. ''I''m seriously going to fly back to Muwin with this?'' He chuckled and then started laughing. "Heheh¡­ Hahaha¡­ BWAHAHA!" He shook his head. ''This is crazy¡­ I don''t even know how to drive a car and yet here I am, preparing to fly a helicopter from Womania to Muwin¡­'' ''Out of all of the things I did since the zombie apocalypse began, this is probably the craziest one in my opinion¡­'' ''Shit!'' Pah! He facepalmed. ''I forgot to pick up an inflatable boat in case this helicopter crashes in the middle of the ocean!'' ''Sigh¡­ Really¡­!'' He massaged his temples. ''Wait¡­ Is having two boats enough? ''Again with the space¡­'' He stopped massaging his temples. ''There''s also another problem¡­'' ''What if the helicopter explodes mid-air?'' He started to search for a parachute inside the helicopter. 5 minutes later¡­ He had a dark expression on his face. ''There''s no parachute¡­'' He scoffed. ''And even if there was, do I even know how to use it?'' He scratched his nose. ''Sigh¡­ I think I''m going to fucking die on this trip.'' ''Should I go back and take Yasmin with me?'' ''No, no, no¡­ What''s even the point?'' ''Wait! What if there''s a giant sea monster in the middle of the ocean?'' ''All my strength and speed is worthless underwater!'' ''Oh fuck me sideways I''m so dumb and useless, really dumb and useless, really, really dumb and useless. Nathan, you''re so dumb and useless¡­'' He started massaging his temples once again. ''Ugh¡­ I''m starting to have a headache from all this thinking¡­'' He then began slamming the back of his head against the pilot''s seat. Bam! ''Dumb¡­'' Bam! ''Useless¡­'' Bam! ''Du--'' He stopped. He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. ''Please, lady luck, I know I keep on asking for favors but please give me all the luck in the world¡­'' ''I seriously need it¡­'' ''I really, really need it...'' He took out a world map. *** 5 minutes later¡­ Nathan was sitting on the pilot''s seat like a lifeless corpse and staring at the world map. ''I''m afraid to fly¡­'' ''I''m seriously having second thoughts¡­'' ''I mean, what if all of my family is already dead back in Muwin...?'' ''Wouldn''t it be a waste of time to go there...?'' ''Yeah, it''s a pointless effort...'' Pah! He facepalmed and said under his breath, "And for God''s sake, I''m Asian! A full-blooded brown-skinned Asian! We''re not daredevils! We are the type who just chills in the comforts of our home! And if we ever do something crazy, it''s a calculated risk where the chances of success are higher!" "Or is that just me?" "Oh God and Lady Luck... please help me¡­" Pah! He slapped himself. Blood trickled down his lips. "Pull your-fucking-self together, you cowardly dumbass useless piece of shit and just do it!" Inhale¡­ Exhale¡­ Inhale¡­ Exhale¡­ "Okay, I will search for an inflatable raft first¡­" "No¡­ I can''t. I''m not familiar with the layout of this city and it''s dark¡­" "Even if I can turn invisible, there are too many factors that need to be considered. I was very lucky that that boy Dylan and his companions were too stupid not to set a trap. Even with all my powers, just one very unlucky accident could cost me my life." He glanced at his watch. 1:12 am. "Yeah, yeah¡­ I just search for an inflatable raft once the sun rises." "In the time being, since my mind is already overwhelmed with details regarding the helicopter''s controls, I''m going to read something else for a bit to clear my head from this issue and then take a quick rest and then review them again over breakfast to refresh my memory." He summoned the folder he "received" from Makeda. "Let''s see¡­" He began reading. 163 Outside 8 Zita''s POV¡­ 20 minutes earlier. Zita was on a corner all alone inside the room Nathan assigned to her. She had nothing but the clothes she was wearing, the clothes on the floor, a flashlight, and some System weapons that she looted a while and brought with her and the [Grade D] Giant Axe that Nathan returned to her. She tried to wait for Nathan to return and tell her it was all a joke and he didn''t mean anything he said. Unfortunately, that didn''t happen. The man named Dylan didn''t return either. ''I''m scared¡­'' Now that she was all alone and free, it finally dawned on her how dark, scary and lonely the city actually was. If not for the occasional roars of zombies from a distance, she would''ve already thought she was the only person in the world. She rubbed her face and got up. ''Should I just wait here until the sun comes up or should I just go back to the shelter right away?'' She thought about it for a moment. ''I can''t stand being here and I can''t let Sweet Dave and the others worry about me any longer.'' ''I can easily go back by just following the trail of zombies that we killed along the way.'' She picked up the flashlight and then lifted the [Grade D] Giant Axe and the other weapons above the ground using [Lift]. She didn''t bother with the new clothes lying on the floor and she quickly made her way out of the apartment building *** Zita was out in the streets and was already a dozen meters away from the apartment building. She was holding a flashlight and the System weapons were floating around her. ''I could also pick up the items that we didn''t pick up as I head back to the shelter.'' All of a sudden¡­ Clang! She quickly pointed her flashlight in the direction of where the noise came from. A trash can was toppled over by two cats and they were scavenging for food. The moment they saw the light coming from the light pointing at them, they quickly ran away and disappeared into the darkness. ''Those kitties scared me!'' She turned around to take a final look at the apartment building she came out from and she saw something. ''What''s that? Is that¡­?'' On the building''s rooftop, she could see a helicopter and a beam of light flashing around from time-to-time. She shook her head. ''No. Even if it''s the stupid old guy, I won''t return to him. And plus, he doesn''t like me anyway.'' *** A few minutes later¡­ Zita was still walking down the streets all alone with a flashlight on her hand and the weapons floating around her. She stopped. ''This isn''t it¡­'' Unfortunately, when Zita and her parents came here, they were only here for a weekend vacation. And unlike her parents, it was her first time visiting this country and she barely even get to explore the city when the zombie apocalypse happened. And now here she was, all alone in a lightless city that''s infested with zombies. ''This doesn''t look like the street where we visited the boutique shop earlier and I don''t see any of the System items that we didn''t pick up¡­'' ''I need to go back and try the other street¡­'' But as soon as she said that, she suddenly heard some noise: a piece of metal being pushed, rocks falling, heavy footsteps and low growls. Crang! Rubble! Thud! Roar... Thud! Thud! Roar... Thud! When she pointed her flashlight in the direction, she saw it was a group of zombies led by a D2. D2 Stats: ?STR - 62 ?VIT - 62 ?AGI - 21 ?INT - 11 The light coming from her flashlight bounced against the D2''s white scales, causing them to shine like diamonds. And before she could even react, they already saw her because of her flashlight and roared before running towards her. Roar! Roar! Roar! "KYAAAH!" Zita screamed and tripped as she tried to turn and run away. Three S1s were leading the charge, behind them were two N1s, and then the D2 and an M1. The M1 immediately began throwing spells the moment it got in range. [Fireball]. Zita got up and looked behind her. Seeing the zombies coming, she panicked and threw all of her weapons at them all at once. Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! From that attack, two S1s and one N1 got hit and immediately died. The four remaining zombies were still coming at her. She picked up the flashlight and ran as fast as she could. Boom! A [Fireball] landed the spot she fell earlier and exploded. "Smamak, smommyk!" Maybe it was because she was still a child or she didn''t have any experience in fighting because Nathan spoon-fed her her EXP, or perhaps both. But right now, although she was Level 21, all she can think of was to run. Thanks to the flames created by the [Fireball], she noticed up ahead a shop with its shutters almost half-opened up, just enough for an adult to crawl inside. She head there. When she got inside, she immediately went to hide behind a counter and switched off her flashlight. The S1 was the first one who came in after her. Bam! Crang! The S1 that was 3m tall slammed its body against the half-opened shutters and tore it apart as it tried to force its way in. Roar! "Kyaaah!" Zita screamed as she shut her eyes and covered her ears. Roar! Bam! Crang! Roar! Next came the N1. Both zombies were now slamming their bodies against the shutters and tearing it apart. Finally, the D2 and M1 came. Bam! Craaang! Rubble! D2 just came charging in, destroying the entrance. And during its explosive entrance, it accidentally crushed the S1 and N1, but they were still alive. The M1 came in as well. The S1 tried to grab the D2''s ankle. "ROAR!" the D2 roared in annoyance. It grabbed the S1, ripped off its head and throw its body parts away. Riiip! Thud! Thud! The N1, on the other hand, crawled its way inside. Zita, who was hiding behind the counter, tried to be quiet as possible by covering her mouth. "Roar!" the D2 roared once again. This time, it ordered the M1 to search near the counter, while it and the N1 will search on the other side. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Roar¡­ The M1 got close to the counter and Zita could hear its low growl. Memories of her "smommyk" getting attacked and eaten by zombies at the airport flashed inside her head so she closed her eyes. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ The M1 was getting even closer. Zita then remembered her time at the government shelter, especially how she cried when she saw the body of her "smamak" wrapped with a body bag after the takeover. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ And finally, she remembered her time with Nathan. She opened her eyes. ''I can kill them!'' She tried to look for a weapon but she could find any. Her only weapon was this flashlight and her¡­ fists. The M1 already beside the counter and it leaned over. Pah! Zita delivered a jumping uppercut onto the M1''s jaw and it fell to the ground. Thud! She stared at the M1 and could feel her adrenaline rush kicking in. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to land a clean blow. The D2 and N1 heard the noise and immediately turned to see what was going on. They saw the M1 lying on the floor and Zita jumping over the counter and heading outside of the store. Roar! The D2 roared before chasing Zita. It took a shortcut by bulldozing anything that stood on its way, including the wall. The N1 recovered from some of its injuries and got up before joining the case. The M1 also got up and immediately chased Zita as well. *** Zita, turned her flashlight on and was running towards where she killed the other zombies just earlier to look for her System weapons. Behind her was the D2 followed by the M1 and N1. Up ahead, she saw one of the N1s. There was a sword stuck on its chest and its head was sliced open by an axe, the [Grade D] Giant Axe to be specific. There was also a [Green] Treasure Chest but she ignored it. When she reached a distance that she deemed enough for her skill [Lift] to be able to affect the weapon, she immediately activated it. The giant axe rose from the ground and she turned around. She continued running as threw the axe at the M1 who was about to throw a magic spell. Whoosh! The axe sliced through the M1''s upper torso into two and it immediately died. The N1 overtaken the D2 and was now the closest to her. She ran around the corner to lead them in a circle so she can pick up her axe near the M1''s corpse. Roar! Roar! When she was close enough for her powers to affect the axe, she quickly activated it and threw it at the N1 and D2 who were closely chasing her. Whoosh! The axe landed on the N1''s face and it was split open, killing it immediately. Meanwhile, the D2 got close and pounced on her. Roar! She tried to evade it but she wasn''t able to and instead tripped. Fortunately, she was only a child so her body was small and the D2 was 3m tall. The zombie wasn''t able to properly grab her and sink its teeth against her flesh. She managed to slip under the D2''s arms and the zombie crashed against the pavement and into a nearby bus. Bam! Rubble! Crang! Zita''s quickly crawled away from the D2. Her hair and clothes were a mess but she didn''t care. She quickly got up and picked up her flashlight before running towards where the axe landed. When she saw the weapon, it was half-stuck on the N1''s face. She grabbed it and then quickly activated her skill. The D2 got up and searched for its target. When it saw its target, it immediately charged. She threw the axe and shouted, "SLEAVEK SMEK SALONEK SANDK SJUSTK SDIEK SALREADYK!!!" Whoosh! Thud! The D2 was stopped on its tracks. Zita''s eyes were as wide as saucers. The axe only managed to get stuck on its chest a few centimeters. The D2 grabbed pulled out the axe off its chest and threw it right back at her with full force. Zita jumped on the side. Whoosh! Ka-clak! Thud! The axe miss. It went through a glass window, shattering it completely before landing on a concrete wall and getting stuck. Zita looked at the axe and then at the D2 coming at her. She then tried to pick anything within her surroundings using [Lift] and threw them at the D2. Pang! Bam! Pang! Bang! Pang! Unfortunately, the D2 was like an unstoppable tank, slapping and bulldozing anything blocking its path. She felt helpless but she still managed to get up and ran away. ''HOW DO I KILL THIS THING?!'' The D2 stopped and roared to the top of its lungs. "ROOOAAARRR!!!" Several roars were then heard from a distance. Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Hearing the other roars, Zita panicked and thought, ''IT''S CALLING MORE ZOMBIES!!!'' And at this moment, there was only one person that came into her mind. ''I MUST GO BACK TO MISTER!'' 164 Outside 9 Nathan was sitting at the helicopter''s cockpit with a flashlight in hand and reading the folder that he "received" from Makeda. Unfortunately, there were some parts that were too complicated for him to understand. If he was a scientist or at least someone who had a medical background, he could understand it. He flipped a page. ''Hmm¡­ I already know this part.'' It was the part about the 30-point threshold regarding the stats. He flipped another page. ''Heh~ Interesting¡­'' ''A person has an average of 10 VIT which gives him/her between 80 -100 years of life. But with each point increase in VIT, it gives that person an additional 1 year in his/her lifespan?'' ''Heh~ I have 37 (+10) VIT so that gives me an extra 37 years.'' He flipped another page. ''Another interesting topic¡­'' ''20 VIT increases a human''s natural recovery by 2. And 30 VIT by 3. So it''s by 10 points¡­'' ''So with my VIT, my natural recovery is at least 4 times faster than that of an average human¡­'' He flipped another page. ''It seems to be about regenerating limbs¡­'' ''A human can regenerate lost limbs if he/she has at least 51 points in VIT?'' An image of Amir as a human dog flashed inside his head. Tch! He made a clicking sound with his tongue and he quickly tried to erase the image inside his head. He flipped another page. ''This topic... I already read this earlier¡­'' It was about the brain and heart and how many seconds until the human dies after suffering from a physical trauma if not healed. He flipped another page. ''Hmm¡­ About the healing potions from the System.'' ''Let''s see¡­ Hmm¡­ Yeah, healing potions can repair broken bones and skin tissues. I already know this.'' ''However, healing potions can''t regenerate severed limbs or bones. It can only cover the wound. Yeah, sounds about right.'' He recalled back when he got shot with a sniper rifle on his right cheek in Haven Town. And even though he was able to heal that wound with the help of the [Small] Healing Potions, the right side of his face remained hollow and he needed Ashleigh''s help to recover the lost bones on his cheek. ''Hmm¡­ the Antidote potion of the System¡­'' ''I have at least 13 of these with me but I never got to use them. Let''s see what does it do¡­'' ''Heh~ Cures poison, simple diseases and infections¡­'' He flipped another page. ''This section is a combination of healing potions and regeneration concerning inborn disabilities and deformities¡­'' ''If a person was born blind, he/she will remain blind¡­.'' ''If a person was born lacking one arm, he/she will remain the same¡­'' ''If a person is born with a mental disorder, he/she will remain as a person with a mental disorder¡­'' He flipped another page. ''Wow¡­ They have information about the Divine Tears. However, there''s nothing about the [Artifact] Divine Blood. Interesting¡­'' ''I''m really surprised that they were able to gather all this information.'' He flipped another page. As he read, his eyes widened and he almost dropped the folder. On this page was a list of known Chosen Ones in Womania with their picture and information. There were 12 names on the page. A few of them he even recognized. ''Ashleigh von Hiedler. 21 years old. Student at Womania Academy of Fine Arts. Skill name [Heaven''s Treatment]. Allows the user to heal any wound, diseases and even repair lost limbs with the cost of 20 mana points¡­'' ''Derek Giuntoli. 30 years old. Architect at Rossi Architects Without Borders. Skill name unknown. Allows the user to greatly increase STR and VIT but sacrifices AGI. Requires no mana and cooldown...'' ''Rose Haven. 24 years old. Chief Financial Officer at Haven International Realty. Skill name unknown. Allows the user to transform the body into white crystal that boosts defense and can also alter the shape of arms and legs. Requires no mana and cooldown...'' ''Harry Gamberini. 28 years old. Lawyer at Bianchi LLP. Skill name unknown. Allows the user to slow down targets within his vision. Requires no mana and cooldown¡­ And finally¡­ His eyes widened as he read the information. ''Nathan Makhad. 24 years old. Editor at The Young Progressives. Skill name unknown. Allows the user to be invisible even against thermal imaging. Loses invisibility when attacking and possibly with any physical contact. Requires no mana and cooldown...'' He gritted his teeth and thought, ''How?! Where did they get this information about me?! Was it that bitch Rose?! Was it that bimbo Ashleigh? Was it that booty warrior Derek?! Was it someone from Red Dust?! Who?!'' ''Shit¡­ shit... shit¡­ SHIT!'' "FUCK ME SIDEWAYS!!!" he shouted and threw the folder against the helicopter''s windshield. Pah! He facepalmed. ''Sigh¡­ I''ve been so careless¡­'' Although Nathan wasn''t exactly a very smart person, he was at least aware that the main reason why he was thriving in this zombie apocalypse was his skill [Coward''s Way] which allows him to do sneak attacks. Nathan doesn''t care if you''ve been practicing martial arts for 50 years or 100 years. If you can''t detect your enemy, let alone see where their attacking is coming from, you will get hit. Those action movies and documentaries where a martial artist is blind, blindfolded or closing their eyes and is able to block an attack? Complete and utter bullshit! Nathan is Asian and martial arts is their thing! If Nathan had a Dollar for every Asian guy he met in Muwin trying to "demonstrate" some form of martial arts to him, he would be a millionaire already. He glanced down at the folder on the floor. ''No, I shouldn''t be surprised that they have this¡­'' ''After all the killings and destruction I''ve done, it would be more of a surprise if they didn''t have this¡­'' ''I can''t stay here any longer, especially after knowing this¡­'' ''I really have to leave¡­'' ''And when I get to Muwin I should stay low and not use this power as much as possible if there are witnesses¡­'' All of a sudden, he started hearing roars of zombies and their heavy footsteps. Roar! Roar! Roar! Thud! Thud! Thud! ''Hmm¡­ It sounds like nearby¡­'' Roar! Roar! Roar! Thud! Thud! Thud! ''And they''re getting closer¡­'' He then heard someone''s voice. "MISTER!!! HELP ME!!! I''M SORRY!!!" It was Zita''s voice and it sounded like she was so afraid and about to cry. Nathan ignored her cries and picked up the folder to continue reading. Roar! Roar! Roar! "MISTER!!! HELP ME PLEASE!!!" This time, Zita''s voice became more desperate. Images of the things he did back in Corn Town flashed inside his head. He closed his eyes for a moment and then cursed under his breath, "Fuck!" He got out of the cockpit, deactivated [Coward''s Way] and jumped to the rooftop of the nearest building. *** Zita was running as fast as she could and there were tears flying from her eyes. Behind her were 7 zombies. Fortunately, there were no other Rank 2s other than the D2 that has been chasing her from the beginning. "MISTER!!! HELP ME PLEASE!!! I''M SORRY!!!" she screamed once more and was almost out of breath. And just when she was about to finally give up¡­ Bam! She saw Nathan jumped from the rooftop of the 10-story apartment building to the rooftop of another building. Bam! After that, he jumped to the ground. A sense of relief washed over her and she ran towards Nathan. Nathan also ran in her direction. When he got to her, he intercepted the zombies. He summoned his [Grade D] Great Sword and started cutting them down. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! And finally the D2¡­ He swung his sword against the zombie''s waist. Whoosh! The zombie was sliced into two and it came crashing on the ground. He quickly rushed to where the upper torso landed and chopped off its neck. Whoosh! He unsummoned his sword and began extracting the [Grade C] Nucleus inside the D2''s head. He absorbed the nucleus into his [Artifact] God Spatial Finger and got up. All of a sudden, someone hugged him by the waist. Thud! "Huhu¡­ Mister¡­ I''m sorry¡­ Huhu¡­ I''m so sorry¡­ Huhu¡­ Si''mk sreallyk ssorryk¡­ Huhu¡­ Spleasek sdon''tk sleavek smek¡­ Huhu¡­ Si''mk ssok sscaredk¡­ Huhu¡­" she said as tears and snot ran down her face. He looked at her and felt his chest tightened a little bit. He could feel her body trembling as she bawled her eyes out. He placed his hand on top of her head and softly caressed it. "Si''mk sreallyk ssorryk¡­ Huhu¡­ Spleasek sdon''tk sthrowk smek sawayk¡­ Huhu¡­ Spleasek¡­ Si''mk ssok sscaredk¡­ Sik sreallyk samk¡­ Huhu¡­" ''I can''t believe I was seriously holding a grudge against a little kid. When did I become so pathetic?'' he thought. "There, there. Stop crying. The zombies are all dead. You''re safe now." Zita unwrapped her arms around his waist and then grabbed the hem of his shirt which wasn''t covered by his [Grade D] Back Leather Armor and wiped her tears and snot on it. Seeing what she did, Nathan chuckled. He waited for her to finish wiping before kneeling down in front of her. She continued crying as she rubbed her eyes and sniffled. "Huhu¡­ Si''mk sreallyk ssorryk¡­ Huhu¡­" He squinted his eyes. ''She wasn''t this dirty when I left her earlier. She really must''ve been through hell...'' "Huhu¡­ Sik spromisek sik swon''tk sbek sbadk skidk sanymorek¡­ Huhu¡­ Sjustk spleasek sdon''tk sleavek smek sherek salonek¡­ Huhu¡­" ''Wait, what was this kid''s name again? Si-- She-- Sha¡­w-- Raw-- Wawaw -- No, I think it started with a z. So Zi-- Za-- Zxa-- Zab-- Zac¡­ku-- Za¡­bu-- Zahaku -- Wait, that sounded like Heiwan. Ziii¡­r¡­l..a-- Zita! Yes, Zita!'' he thought. "Zita, listen to me." "Huhu¡­" Zita stopped rubbing her eyes for a moment and looked at Nathan. "You can wait here with me until the sun rises. I can''t bring you back at the Government Shelter at this hour because people might mistake you for a zombie or something and accidentally kill you." "Huhu¡­ Mister, I don''t want to go back... Huhu¡­ I want to stay with you¡­" "I''m sorry but --" "Please, mister¡­ Huhu¡­ Please don''t leave me. Huhu¡­ I promise I won''t be a bad kid anymore¡­ Huhu¡­ I promise I''ll follow whatever you say¡­ Huhu¡­ I promise I won''t get mad if you call me a kid¡­ Huhu¡­ Spleasek sdon''tk sleavek smek salonek¡­ Huhu¡­" ''She''s still in shock. Talking to her would be pointless,'' he thought. "Come, let me take you back to your room so you can take a bath and rest." "Please, mister¡­ Huhu¡­ Please don''t leave me¡­ Huhu¡­ I really promise that I won''t be a bad kid anymore. Huhu¡­ I promise si''llk sfollowk swhatk syouk ssayk --" He scooped her up in his arms and said, "Yes, yes, yes¡­ I know. Don''t worry. I promise I won''t leave you. Let''s just go back to your room, okay? We''ll talk about this in the morning." Zita wrapped her arms around his neck and continued crying, "Spleasek sletk smek sstayk swithk syouk, mister¡­ Huhu¡­ Sik --" "Yes, yes, yes¡­ I understand," Nathan said and rubbed her back. "Don''t worry, you''re safe now. No zombie is going to hurt you now that I''m here. I promise you that." "Huhu¡­" Nathan entered the apartment building with Zita in his arms. 165 Flying To Muwin 7:30 am. Nathan wasn''t wearing his System items except for the ring, amulet, boots and the [Artifact] Gold Spatial finger as he prepared breakfast in the kitchen. Some of the food that he was preparing needed to be cooked so he was using a portable gas stove, while the others were MREs. The MREs was among the boxes of food he had taken from the Saint Holy Child Hospital. Last night, he only slept for less than 3 hours because he had to prepare things while Zita was asleep. As someone who used to exercise regularly before the zombie apocalypse, he preferred to sleep at least 5 hours a day for a calmer and clearer mind and a more energized body. But with the current VIT he has, it was enough for him to function properly. Ka-cha! Zita stepped out of her room. Her hair was a mess and she was rubbing her eyes. The room that she slept in was one of the bedrooms inside the apartment that Nathan chose for himself. Last night, due to her near-death experience with the zombies, she was too afraid to sleep alone inside her own apartment so she asked to sleep in Nathan''s apartment. Nathan didn''t mind and agreed. Last night, the main reason why he decided for them to have separate apartments in the first place was to be able to do that test with Dylan. "Breakfast is ready. Have a seat." "I can help, mister," Zita said and approached Nathan. He turned to her and said, "It''s okay. Just grab a seat." "Okay," Zita said and took a seat at the dining table. Nathan grabbed a few plates and other eating utensils and then placed them on the table along with the food. He wasn''t exactly sure what Zita eats so he prepared a generic Caucasian kid breakfast he could think of that was available in his stock. Her meal consisted of two slices of bread and a glass of chocolate drink which were taken from his MREs. There were also 4 slices of cheese, a bowl of cereal, and a jar of peanut butter. Nathan''s meal, on the other hand, was 3 cups of rice, corned beef, mushroom soup and a cup of coffee. There were also two bottles of water and an opened can of pineapple for dessert. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have any fresh vegetables or fruits because they''re already started to rot in the food markets that he came across. "Let''s eat. If you don''t like the food, just tell me," he said and then started eating. Zita was amazed at the meal presented to her. In fact, last night, it was the first time in days she has eaten candies. Moreover, traveling with Nathan outside the Government Shelter gave her this some sort of bubble of peace and relaxation which is both a weird and scary feeling because once you stay away from him, that bubble would immediately pop and quickly reveal to you the sad and scary reality of the world they currently live in thanks to the zombie apocalypse. Nathan noticed Zita not eating. "Is the meal not to your liking? Don''t be afraid to be honest." Zita shook her head and said, "No, it''s fine." She grabbed the glass of chocolate drink and poured it into her bowl of cereal. "You don''t have to finish all of them if you can''t." "Okay." "Also, you can have some of my food if you want. Don''t be shy. I have a lot." "I''m fine with this." Nathan resumed eating. "Mister, is there a spellbook that makes me sinvinciblek like you?" "What?" "Sinvinciblek, like how you can be gone." "Gone?" Nathan thought about it for a second. "You mean like disappear or invisible?" "Yes." "As far as I know, Chosen Ones like us can''t learn other spells or skills aside from the one that we''re given." "Okay." There was a 30-second silence before Zita asked another question. "Mister, what''s your full name? You haven''t told me your full name yet. My name is Zita Vestergaard." Nathan swallowed the food in his mouth and then answered, "Nathan Mahkad." "Makhad? It sounds like a last name of a brown-Caucasian. There are many of them there back in Iskaldia. I always see them on the TV. But you don''t look like them." Nathan swallowed his food and then said, "It''s because I''m Asian, not brown-Caucasian." "You''re not Xudonian?" "Asia is a continent, Xudonia is a country in Asia, a Xudonian is from Xudonia. I''m Muwinian from Muwin which is also an Asian country." "Oh¡­ You''re the first Muwinian I know." Nathan didn''t answer and just continued eating. "Why do Muwinians and brown-Caucasians have the same last name but don''t look the same?" Nathan swallowed his food and then said, "I don''t know. It just happens." "Why are you so tall? The Asians I''ve seen weren''t tall at all. What did you eat to get so tall? Are all Muwinians tall like you?" Thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood that he drank, aside from the bonus +30 stat points on a single attribute and his new body size, 20% of his skin is also covered with these white spots but they''re aren''t like a Caucasian person''s skin. It was close to greyish or deathly pale as if he was a corpse. Furthermore, there was also "Transformation: 20%" written on his status chart. Whatever it meant, he could only guess. ''It''s best that she doesn''t know everything,'' he thought. "Just genes." "What are those white spots on your skin?" "Genes." "And what is that gold finger on your left hand?" "Kid, it''s bad manners to talk while eating. Finish your meal first." "Okay." A few minutes later¡­ Nathan was smoking and sipping coffee as he glanced at Zita who was still eating. She already finished her bowl of cereal mixed with the chocolate drink and was currently eating pineapples. ''This kid is a slow eater. Well, she is a girl after all.'' As for the second-hand smoke, well, he could care less about it. There''s the System stats and potions anyway. Zita finally finished eating and was drinking from a bottle of water. Nathan tapped his cigarette on top of a cup that he used as an ashtray. "Zita." She put down her bottle of water and looked at Nathan. "About last night --" Zita''s face immediately turned pale and looked like she was about to cry, "Mister, I really want to go with you. Please don''t leave me. I promise will be a good kid. I promise I''ll follow whatever you say. I promise I won''t get mad if you call me a kid. I want to be strong like you and I feel safer with you¡­ Huhu¡­" "Wait, wait, please don''t cry. This is a very serious matter. You can''t just cry whenever things don''t go your way." Zita wiped the tears off her eyes with her hands. "Ehem!" he cleared his throat. "As I was saying, last night, you were under so much stress so I had no choice but to calm you down." Her eyes were red and she was trying so hard to hold back her tears. Nathan looked away and rubbed his temples. ''Ugh¡­ This is going to be a headache. I already had a speech prepared but I don''t think it will work.'' He stopped rubbing his temples secretly glanced at her. A single tear ran down her cheek and she quickly wiped it off. ''Dammit. Whatever. I''ll still use the speech I prepared,'' he thought. "You mentioned last time that your parents already passed away. Do you have siblings? What about your other relatives?" "I''m an only child. My relatives, they''re all at Iskaldia..." ''There''s no way I''m going to I''m going to waste my time to go to Iskaldia just to deliver this kid to her relatives,'' he thought and sucked his cigarette. "Look, kid. The path I''m taking is going to be a bloody and dangerous journey and what you experienced last night is nothing compared to what I will be experiencing in the future. I can drop you back at the Government Shelter today and you will be safe there. I''ll also give you a set of equipment and some weapons and potions so you won''t be afraid." "Mister, why can''t I just go with you? I believe it''s safer to be with you because I''ve never seen anyone kill the zombies so easy." Nathan scratched his nose and then said, "You don''t understand, kid. I''m going back to my home country, Muwin, to find my family. It''s an Asian country so there won''t be that many white people and it''s nothing like Iskaldia or Womania. Do you know what third-world country or developing country, corruption and racism are? As a matter of fact, come to think of it, my home country, Muwin, is I think the 3rd or 4th most racist country in Asia." "Yes. Third-world country and developing country is a country where there are many poor people. Corruption is being a bad leader or politician. And racism is being bad to people who have a different color from you." ''Hmm... Not bad for a kid. At least she gets the gist of it,'' he thought. "Then you understand the dangers. Aside from the zombies, you''ll also deal with people. Let me tell you, kid, dealing with zombies is so much easier compared to dealing with humans. And if they''re Chosen Ones, it''s even harder. And there''s also the Armored Angels which are way more dangerous than anything else. Trust me, kid, you''re better off here in Womania with Sweet Dave and the others." "What are Armored Angels?" "They''re from the Divine Tower." "You''ve entered the Divine Tower? Wow¡­" That night when the Second Phase started, everyone received the message from the System regarding the Divine Tower. "Don''t be amazed. The Armored-Angels aren''t what you think they are. They will kill you and killing them is no easy task." "Do they have wings?" "Yeah." "Can they f--" "Enough about that." "I still want to go with you, mister." Nathan stared at her as he sucked his cigarette. He could see the determination and excitement in her eyes. It was clear that she really wanted to go with him no matter what and there''s no way he could change her mind, especially after he mentioned about the Armored Angels and Divine Tower. "Sigh¡­ Just don''t blame me if you come to regret your decision later." "I won''t, mister~. I promise~," she said with a smile on her face. "Sigh¡­ Okay. Go prepare now. We''re leaving for Muwin and the flight would probably last around 12 hours max so be sure to take a bath, brush your teeth, comb your hair and also use the toilet." "Okay~" Zita said and grabbed her plate. "Don''t worry about that. I''ll do that. Just go prepare." "Okay~" she said and ran back to her room to grab some things. ''Ugh¡­ I feel like I aged a couple of years from that conversation.'' It''s been a while since Nathan had to "properly" deal with children. During his time here in Womania, before the zombie apocalypse, he avoided them like a plague in fear of the political correctness culture of this country. And during this zombie apocalypse, he really let himself go from the shackles of society. If he didn''t like someone, kill. If he wanted something, kill. If he was happy, kill. If he was sad, kill. If he was bored, kill. Life was just bloody simple -- well, at least for the most part. *** Nathan and Zita were both inside an assault helicopter and wearing headphones so that they can talk to each other during the flight. As for their stats and items¡­ *** Level 27: Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 70 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 38 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 35 (+26) ? INT ¨C 35 (+7) Equipment: [Grade D] Black Helm (15/15): +3 Agi +1 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Vit, +1 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +4 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +2 Vit, +1 Agi, +1 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi Special Effects: ? 4% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] Description: Grants user complete invisibility. User loses invisibility status upon attack. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. Transformation: ? 20% *** Level: 21 Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 28 ? VIT ¨C 29 (+2) ? AGI ¨C 31 (+1) ? INT ¨C 32 (+28) Mana: ?120/120 Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Tiara (15/15): +2 Vit, +1 Int [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor (15/15): +3 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Int, +1 Agi [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Boots (15/15): +4 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Int [Grade C] Ring: +5 Int [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Int [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 1% Chance to block any magical attack. ? 1% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 29.9kg/30kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** Nathan also gave Zita all of his [Small] Mana potions, some potions including his home-made Healing Packets, dagger strap, handgun strap, a handgun, bullets, 2 hand grenades, thermal vision goggles, battery-free night vision goggles, food and snacks including one slice of Cake from the Eternal Village, a quiver, and 80% of his remaining bolts, both the normal and magical ones. She was playing with a few bolts using [Lift], trying to see if there was any obvious physical difference between the Normal Bolt and Magic Bolt. He glanced at her and thought, ''Hmm¡­ I guess the normal bolts would be a good weapon for her with her Chosen One skill. She could probably make a tornado of bolts and rain them down on her enemies.'' He looked away and checked their surroundings. ''No zombies in sight, not even M2s.'' Last night, while Zita was asleep, he did a lot of preparation -- cleaning off the zombies nearby, finding an inflatable boat, etc. which gave him some extra time to hunt for more items and potions for Zita. ''Okay, this is it. I''ve already made the necessary preparations. There''s no turning back now¡­'' He put away the world map and his notes. ''I just have to make sure I don''t pass by the powerful countries¡­'' He switched the engine on. Tutututututututututu¡­ The helicopter lifted above the ground and flew to the horizon. 166 Flying to Muwin 2 An assault helicopter was flying over a vast ocean. "...so not only do you have to be aware of what stat build compliments your Chosen One skill the best, but you also have to be aware of the 30-point threshold." Nathan was explaining some aspects of the System to Zita. It''s been more than 2 hours since they left Womania. And fortunately, they haven''t encountered any problems such as M2s or military air crafts. "Be sure to write this information down so you won''t forget it because it''s very important." He gave her an extra notepad and pencil earlier. "Okay, first is STR." Zita immediately started writing down. Although she didn''t really want to write what Nathan is saying, she had no choice because she didn''t want to anger him like she did last night. "STR, which covers your physical strength, can''t be more than 30 points of your VIT or your bones will break if you use your full force when attacking¡­" He waited for her to finish writing. "Next is AGI which covers your movement speed. It can''t be more than 30 points of your VIT and INT. If your VIT is too low, you will feel your joints ache if you move all of a sudden or too fast. And if your INT is too low, there will be a delay with your reactions when you''re moving too fast because your eyes and brain can''t keep up with all the information your eyes is seeing and then send it to your brain to process them and then have your brain send signals to the part of your body that you want to move¡­" "INT, which covers your Mana points and increases your brain''s processing power to help you see moving objects in slow motion. The lower the AGI of your opponent, the slower they will appear in your eyes once you concentrate. And most importantly, as you have already guessed, this is the most important attribute or stat for your Chosen One skill. And in regards to the 30-point threshold, the attribute that you should balance it with is VIT or else you will start having headaches once you concentrate. And the wider the gap, the more painful the headache will be that it will even lead to nosebleeds..." "Did you get all that I said?" "Yes, mister." "Good. Next is about injuries¡­" Zita flipped to a new page. "[Small] Healing Potions can only heal wounds. It can''t regenerate lost limbs or bones." "Mister, if there is a [Small] Healing Potion, does that mean there''s also a [Big] Healing Potion? And how different are they?" "Wow¡­ Mister, tell me more about the Divine Tower. What''s it like there? And tell me also about the Armored Angels." "Next time. Let''s stick with System items and effects first." Zita pouted her lips to the side. "Okay, continuing on, although healing potions can''t regenerate lost limbs or bones, if you have at least 51 points in VIT, you can regenerate lost limbs or bones. And as for how much time that will take, it depends on how much VIT you have and the wound." Zita wrote what Nathan said. "Now let''s talk about inflicting damage¡­" "Once a person has at least 30 VIT and suffers an injury on his/her brain and heart, as long as it''s not extremely severe, the person has 10 seconds if it''s the brain and 20 seconds if it''s the heart before he/she dies..." "And with each increase of the VIT points, the longer the person can last¡­" "30 VIT gives you 10 seconds if the injury in the brain and 20 seconds in the heart¡­" "35 VIT gives you 15 seconds if the injury in the brain and 30 seconds in the heart¡­" "40 VIT gives you 20 seconds if the injury in the brain and 40 seconds in the heart¡­" "Basically, the bottom line is, in every 5-point increase in VIT starting with 30 points, you get an additional 5 seconds in the brain and 10 seconds in the heart." "Be very sure to write that down." "Okay," Zita said as she was writing. "So if you''re going to kill someone, the quickest and safest way is to cut off the head¡­" "However, right now, given that the Rank 1 zombies -- these are the D1s, M1s, N1s and S1s who are by the way are only Level 3. You can kill the M1s and S1s, including the S2s and M2s -- who are locked in Level 1 -- by just shooting them in the head because their VIT is below 30 points..." "Did you write all that down?" "Yes," she said as she was writing. He waited for her to finish. Once she was done, he said, "Next is¡­" In the end, he taught her many things, such as what are the conditions to get infected by the zombie virus and what are the symptoms, how long does it take for an infected person to turn into a zombie, how much VIT is needed to jump from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor, the Repair Kits, the difference of bonus stats between First Tier and Second Tier items, the special effects of Black and White-colored items, and many more, including a few things about the Eternal Village and Divine Tower. However, he didn''t tell her about the [Divine Tears], [Divine Stone] and the [Artifact] grade items such as the Divine Blood and Gold Spatial Ring. Although Zita was only a kid, everyone has been granted with the System. And most importantly, she was also a Chosen One like him so her strength wasn''t a joke. Under the right conditions, she could kill him. And in his mind, it would be so pathetic if he died at the hands of a kid. *** An hour later¡­ Zita was eating a sandwich when she saw something floating on the horizon. "Mister, what is that?" Nathan squinted his eyes. It was a stingray-like creature. Although it appeared to be small from where they were seeing it, he knew that up close it was a massive creature, wider than a football stadium. And as for its name, according to the folder that he "received" from Makeda, each Divine Tower that appeared was guarded by such creature. And the people who were able to get close to one when it was still alive, the System informed them that it was called Q which they dubbed as "Queen". Although one has to approach a zombie at least 5m for the System to inform the user the details of a creature, when it''s already dead, the System won''t provide any information. ''What is the meaning of this? Back when I exited the Divine Tower, the Queen that was guarding the tower was already lying on the ground dead. In fact, the only reason why that bimbo and her companion escaped because I was more interested in finding out if this zombie dropped a Gold Chest or something but I found nothing.'' ''Could this be another one that humans failed to kill?'' "Wow, it looks so beautiful," said Zita. "Kid, remember the Q or the ''Queen'' zombie that I told you about?" "The zombie that looks like a giant stingray floating next to the Divine Tower and drops giant eggs of Rank 1 and Rank 2 zombies?" "Yes, that''s the one." Zita''s face immediately turned pale. Nathan glanced at the fuel gauge. The pointer was pointing at the second bar. ''Fuck, I forgot to look keep tabs on the fuel and we encountered this Q zombie in the middle of the ocean and there are no islands nearby for us to land in case we need to refill. I just hope there aren''t any M2s nearby because I don''t know how to use the weapons of this assault helicopter,'' he thought. "Kid, be prepared to use the crossbow, Magic Bolts and the Mana potions at any moment. There might be some M2s nearby." He summoned the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and passed it to her. "Y-Yes, mister," she said as she quickly put her sandwich away, received the weapon and prepared the rest of the items. Nathan changed the direction of the helicopter, moving it farther away from the Q-type zombie. 167 Flying to Muwin 3 An hour later¡­ Nathan was piloting the helicopter and saw a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. The island had nothing else but a speedboat anchored by the shores, a tent and remnants of a bonfire. ''Why are there no people coming out? Are they waiting to ambush us?'' He glanced at the fuel gauge. It was almost close to empty. ''I have no other choice.'' "Kid, wear your thermal goggles and see if there''s anyone around." Zita summoned out her thermal goggles from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and wore it. "I don''t see anyone." ''Is there really no one? If only Zita can pilot this helicopter and then I can jump down to check,'' he thought. "Kid, we''re going to land. Be sure to hold on tight." Although he made sure not to land on the tents or the sea, he wasn''t confident with his landing skills. The helicopter slowly descended from the sky. Despite the strong winds coming from the helicopter''s propellers, for some miracle, the tent wasn''t blown away. When the helicopter finally landed, Nathan switched off the engine. He summoned his sawed-off shotgun and gave it to Zita. "Hide in the back. If anyone besides me approaches, don''t hesitate to shoot. Just make sure not to damage the helicopter. Do you understand me?" "Yes, mister." Nathan stepped out of the helicopter. He stood out in the open and swept his gaze around his surroundings. He waited for a minute or two. ''Still not coming out, huh.'' His eyes bounced between the speedboat and tent. He decided to check the speedboat first. He was about to activate [Coward''s Way] but decided not to when after realizing that even if he was invisible, his legs would form a hollow surface and make splashes on the water. ''Hmm¡­ How am I going to handle this? There''s no way I''m fighting in the water.'' Although the System gives a person superhuman strength and magical abilities, they were still bound by the law of physics and human limitations such as the need for oxygen, food, water and rest. Splash! Splash! Splash! He looked at the speedboat. It was painted in white and had four engines. He grabbed the rope that was tied to its anchor out of the sand then tried to absorb it along with the speedboat into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. It got absorbed. ''Hmm¡­ So there was no one there. If there was, I wouldn''t have been able to absorb it.'' He resumed sweeping his gaze around his surroundings. He head for the tent. When he entered the tent, he was immediately greeted with a foul stench. "Ugh--!" he immediately covered his mouth. There was a dried-up corpse of a man lying on the floor holding a gun with its brains blown out. And beside the corpse, there were a bunch of things, including an empty bottle of medicine. ''I don''t know when did this person die but one thing is for sure, the heat accelerated the decomposing process.'' His eyes wandered around until they landed on the letter that laid on top of a cooler and was held in place by an angel figurine. He grabbed the letter and stepped out. He opened it and read it¡­ To anyone reading this, I chose to write this letter in Regisian because although it isn''t my first language, it is the most common language in the world -- at least during the time I was alive. My name is Pierre Janovich and I''m 57 years old. I was born with multiple disabilities and the only family and person that I know and loved was my dear mother Pascala. Ever since I can remember, I''ve always been bullied that I grew up to be a person with very low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts have always been with me. Fortunately, my dear mother was always there to support me so I never really drown myself with such thoughts and was able to keep on living. But a year ago, one of my greatest fears finally came true. My dear mother passed away and I was devastated. I remember in her last moments as I sobbed and held her hand tightly, she smiled at me and told me that I have to be strong and continue on living because life is beautiful and worth living. I remember saying yes to her but I knew in my heart I was lying. And perhaps she also knew I was lying but she still hoped. My dear mother was my pillar of strength, my only reason why I was able to survive all this time, my raison d''etre. Nevertheless, I did my best to keep my promise. But just a year after my dear mother''s death, I realized I couldn''t keep it anymore. And to my surprise, I even started to resent my dear mother and blame her for what I am. There were times I would find myself cursing her for bringing me into this world. I would ask: Why didn''t she just abort me or perform euthanasia on me if she knew from the start I was only going to suffer? But despite all that, I still didn''t have the guts to take away my life. Was it because I still love my dear mother and still want to keep my promise? Or was it because I was simply afraid? But then a couple of days ago, God revealed Himself and unleashed the zombie apocalypse. To tell you honestly, when that happened and I saw people around me dying and suffering, it brought me a sense of satisfaction that I never experienced in my entire life. To know that many people were suffering more than I brought me extreme joy. But then something happened¡­ I met someone, a very beautiful and lovely 21-year old woman named Maelle. I don''t know what kind of love I felt for her or if it can even be called love because despite my age, all I know was my dear mother''s love. Nevertheless, I still like to think it was love. We met in the morning, separated in the afternoon, met again in the evening, talked and then made love to each other that night, and then the next morning I saw her die. And what''s really painful is knowing that in the last moments of her life, I could''ve saved her but I didn''t. When did I become like this? When did I become so pathetic? When did I become such a monster? I have become something that even I would find disgusting and unacceptable. If my dear mother was alive and she saw what I''ve become, although she would never show it because of her very kind heart, I know deep inside she too would find me disgusting. So I packed a few things, stole a speedboat without any plans whatsoever and traveled across the sea until I found this island. When I was still a kid, I used to sit on a corner and read about the adventures of Sinbad so I''ve always wanted to sail the sea. For 2 days and 2 nights I stayed here and thought about everything -- my past, my present and my future. And on the final night, when the Second Phase happened, that''s when I finally made my decision. I know many would see my decision as a cowardly act but this is the only solution I can think of from stopping myself from becoming even worse than I already am. To you reading this, I would like to thank you for taking your time listening to the pathetic and selfish thoughts of this old man. And please forgive me for my poor Regisian. I think I may have butchered a couple of words and sentences. P.S. I don''t know what year you''ve found me but please accept the canned goods that I have brought with me. When I took them from the factory I used to work at right before the zombie apocalypse, they were just processed and have an expiration date of 10 years. I don''t know about the water though. There''s also some System items and a speedboat. There are few gallons of fuel inside its storage space of the speedboat. And if I could ask a little favor, if you ever get a chance to visit my mother''s grave at Tous les Saints Cemetery in Artistein. Her name is Pascala Janovich. Can you tell her I''m very sorry? Although I will stand by my decision no matter what, I don''t think I''ll ever get the chance to go to heaven and talk to her to say to her I''m sorry. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Pierre. Nathan folded back the letter and stared at the vast ocean and sky. He didn''t really know what to say. ''I guess some people just have their own way of dealing with things, regardless if you will understand them or not...'' ''And his mother is buried at Artestine? How the fuck did he reach here? That''s like in Europe and we''re here in Oceania¡­'' And then he remembered that the speedboat had 4 engines. ''He must''ve driven it like crazy.'' He stared at the letter for almost a minute before absorbing it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and then went over to the helicopter. "Kid." Zita popped her head over the window. "It''s safe. You can come out." She stepped out of the helicopter. "Mister," she said as she presented the sawed-off shotgun. "Ah yes." He took the gun and absorbed it. "Mister, there''s no one around?" "Yeah," he said as he went over to the side of the helicopter to refill its fuel tank. "What''s inside the tent?" "A corpse and it''s already rotten." "Shouldn''t we bury it?" "Bury? We could. But with the way how the corpse looks and smells, who knows what kind of disease you might catch from touching it." "Okay," Zita said and then went away to do Lady Business #1 and check the around area as well. After Nathan was done refilling the fuel tank, his eyes looked for Zita. She had her shoes and socks off and was walking along the shores, kicking the water and picking up sea creatures and empty seashells with [Lift]. ''Heh~ So she can pick things up even though they''re under the water?'' He turned to the tent and stared at it. After a couple of seconds, he said under his breath, "Yeah¡­ I guess I have time to do that¡­" He went inside the tent to check the System items. After he took the potions, he immediately poured gasoline on the body and inside and outside of the tent before lighting it with fire. As Nathan stood and watch the flames burn the tent, Zita went beside him. She glanced at his face from the side and said, "Mister?" He didn''t look at her and his eyes were locked on the burning tent when he asked, "Aren''t you hungry?" "I just ate a sandwich a while ago. I''m still full." "No, you should eat. Let''s eat after this. We need to maintain proper nutrition at all times, especially you who is a growing lady." She was about to pout her lips but stopped herself from doing so and just said, "Okay." He didn''t say anything after that. Zita turned to the burning tent. Both of them watched in silence. *** 30 minutes later¡­ A helicopter''s propellers began spinning. Tutututututututututututu¡­ The helicopter lifted above the ground and resumed its journey to Muwin. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? True_Sheol ? Ramvox ? Yerby7213 ? zukidoto ? Meilstrem ? Nathan_Shi ? Nsss710 ? Muman125 ? Onkit_Pal ? Marc_Gaborieau To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II Ch. 30 - 34 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2020: ? 168 History of Muwin In brown-skinned Asian countries, the definition of racism is a bit different compared to the rest of the world. Take for example Caucasian countries. The racism there is MOSTLY based on a person''s ethnicity which is why one will see things like white pride, black pride, Asian pride, etc. There''s even hyphenated nationalities like Womanian-Muwinian, Regisian-Muwinian, and etc. Meanwhile, in brown-skinned Asian countries, racism is MOSTLY based on economic status or religion, or both. Although they also have terms like Muwinian-Xudonian, Muwinian-Womanian, etc., the average people there don''t use these terms nor do they even think about it. To them, you''re either a foreigner or a local -- nothing more, nothing less. And the way they differentiate between a local and a foreigner is MOSTLY by language and accent. The reason behind this is history. 2.4 million years ago during the ice age period, humans left Africa and migrated all over the world. When the ice age period ended and around 4,000 years ago, white-skinned Asians (mostly Xudonians) and some brown-Caucasians began traveling around Asia via boats and discovered the "would-be" brown-skinned Asians countries that the world knows today. They are referred to as "would-be" because at the time these places were not countries and were nothing more than a group of islands inhabited by the natives who were short dark-skinned people living a nomadic lifestyle. Some of these islands didn''t even have any humans living there.. The Xudonians and brown-Caucasians who came there not only established fair business relationships (at least most of the time) with the natives of the land but also built communities, shared their culture and inter-bred with them. One of things they shared was religion -- Iklas and Renasitur. The natives, of course, also had their own religion but it was more like paganism or shamanism. And then around the 16th century, this is when the Caucasians came and it was unlike anything that the world has seen. Unlike the white-skinned Asians and brown-Caucasians who came before them and assimilated with the natives, the Caucasians came with the main purpose of colonizing them. And aside from Asia, they also colonized Africa and many brown-Caucasian countries. Furthermore, instead of establishing a fair business relationship with the countries they colonized, it was a very one-side one -- 80/20 in favor of the Caucasians. So all of the resources (gold, spices, food, slaves, etc.) around the world were concentrated in Caucasian countries. And thanks to this long history, brown-skinned Asian countries today have 5 identifiable ethnic groups: ? Natives (a.k.a. aboriginals) ? Natives mixed with white-skinned Asian blood ? Natives mixed with brown-Caucasian blood ? Natives mixed with Caucasian blood ? Hybrids -- this group is a combination of 2, 3 or 4 of the ethnic groups previously mentioned. And the most common combination are natives mixed with white-skinned Asian blood or with brown-Caucasian blood. And in Nathan''s case in Muwin, he is part of the "hybrid" group and they dominate the entire country. So in brown-skinned Asian countries, identifying a person''s nationality based on skin isn''t really reliable so they mostly differentiate foreigners and locals based on language and accent. And before one would think that this type of racism is "better" because they''re not looking at a person''s skin, think again, because they''re very, very strict with it. Not only one must have a full-grasp of the language, they also must speak in a native-level accent because the locals can they tell right away when a person is faking an accent or not. As a matter of fact, they even have this term "fake-foreigner" for people who are technically Muwinians but doesn''t have the full grasp of the language or doesn''t have a native-level accent, or both. But if Nathan was born and raised in such a diverse environment, why was he surprised to see the different types of non-Asian people when he first arrived at Womania? First of all, full-bred aboriginals aren''t commonly seen in brown-skinned Asian cities. One would have to go to the province or in very rural areas to see them. And plus, there are some obvious differences between a full-bred aboriginal and a full-bred African. Secondly, there is also a huge difference between a half or mixed-breed and a full-bred Caucasian, brown-Caucasian, white-skinned Asian and African. Thirdly, despite brown-skinned Asian countries having such a diverse population, there is still an imbalance of ethnic group representation within its population. Take for example Muwin. In the north, the majority of people there have aboriginal, Xudonian and a little Regisian blood in them. Meanwhile, in the south, most of the people there have a combination of aboriginal and Xudonian blood in them. And lastly, there''s colonialism. Even until today, former colonies are still dealing with some issues from that bygone era along with new issues that arose in post-colonialism. Speaking of colonialism, in the case of how Regis conquered Muwin, the Regisians first landed on the shores of the northern region of Muwin 300 years ago. They were able to conquer the entire northern region within 5 years. However, expanding down to the south was a different story. The thing about brown-skinned Asian countries, a lot of them have the worst land formation in the world. They have a tropical climate, many of their lands consists of mountains and volcanoes covered with thick jungles inhabited by dangerous animals and insects, and some of their lands are separated by sea. Thanks to these features, these countries are easy to invade but hard to control which makes them a perfect breeding ground for separatist groups. When the Regisian colonizers were trying to conquer the southern region of Muwin, it was a huge headache for them because the natives would either just escape to the seas or deep into the jungle and would hide there for days, weeks and sometimes even months to regroup before attacking the bases the Regisians built. The colonizers tried many things to conquer the southern region. Regarding the natives who were hiding in the jungle, one of the things the colonizers did was sending out their own troops to hunt down the natives hiding in the jungle. But it only ended up failure because they weren''t used to jungle warfare compared to the natives. Another thing they tried was to use North and South Muwinians against the South Muwinian rebels. But before using them, they converted the Muwinians under their rule into the Trinitian believers to solidify their hold on them. In the end, although the didn''t fully conquer the southern region of Muwin, the country still ended up under the rule of Regis for 250 years. And after 250 years of colonization, Regis finally granted Muwin its independence. But right after the country finally gained it''s independence, its people immediately came across an issue. It was the matter of where will the ruling government of the country be located. When it comes to economic progress, the northern region was way ahead because that was where their Regisian overlords established their main base during their rule in Muwin. But in the eyes of the south Muwinians, the north Muwinians were weak people who got conquered and bowed down to the Regisians. And despite the country finally being free, they viewed the newly established government there at the north as nothing but a puppet of state of Regis and therefore don''t want to have any part of it. It also didn''t help that the first prime minister of Muwin was a half-Muwinian half-Regisian man who grew up and studied in Regis so his accent was definitely that of a Regisian native. This disagreement eventually led to a few civil wars in the first 30 years within the 50 years since Muwin gained its independence. Fast-forward to the present, although the relationship between the two regions became stable, the country didn''t end up getting divided and the north was unanimously chosen as the location for the ruling government, there were still some tensions between the two regions and a few Muwinian-Iklasian separatist groups who still dreams to divide the country. Of course, Muwin wasn''t the only brown-skinned Asian country that underwent civil wars after gaining independence and stabilized. As a matter of fact, 90% of all former colonies went through some sort of civil war and stabilized while the remaining 10% either are still in the process or have completely thrown away their culture and fully embraced a Western or Caucasian ideology. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Rexxar1 ? Yerby7213 ? Ramvox ? Tense_Beagle ? darklord12332 ? Marc_Gaborieau ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Pillastre ? IrandompersonI To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades By the way, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 35 - 39 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2020: ? 169 Arriving In Muwin It was a cloudy morning. The helicopter was still flying across the ocean. And from a distance, the islands of Muwin were visible, including the island of Kulerga where Latif City was located. Zita was sitting on the right side of the cockpit and looking over her window. Although she has heard about Asia, it was mostly about the white-skinned Asian countries such as Heiwa and Xudonia. Moreover, this was her first time in Asia so she was filled with curiosity. ''So many islands¡­'' she thought. Nathan, on the other hand, felt his chest tightened a little bit and had butterflies in his stomach. ''I''m back¡­'' ''I really can''t believe it¡­'' ''Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that I would fly a helicopter by myself from Womania to Muwin when I don''t even know how to drive a car¡­'' ''And most importantly, there''s also¡­'' Ever since he was exiled from Latif City 3 years ago, he never set foot back there -- not only in Latif City but the entire island of Kulerga itself where the city he was born and raised in was located. Even after he was "invited" or "asked to come back" by the people that he knew and was living there, he still didn''t. In his mind, what else was there to come back to? Before going to Womania, he lived around the country. He had the luxury to do so because he was working online. And of course, to be able to afford such a lifestyle and save money at the same time, he lived in neighborhoods that were between lower-income middle class and slums. So whether he wanted it or not, he got to see and experience the good and bad sides of living in a brown-skinned Asian country like Muwin. And as for living outside of Muwin like in Womania¡­ First of all, it''s important to note that Nathan has no intention of living in Womania or in any foreign country for life. He also has no intention of romanticizing poverty or whatsoever. To him, in terms of living standards and job opportunities for average foreigners and non-foreigners, first-world Caucasian countries are no doubt hands down the best of what the world has to offer. Anyone who says otherwise is a complete moron. However, when it comes to other things, he has a few personal reasons that make him not want to live in a foreign country. His first reason is being a foreigner. To him, living in a foreign country is like staying in a hotel. Sure, there will be some things or luxuries offered in a hotel that won''t be offered in your own home. However, hotels would never feel like a "home" because they are not designed that way in the first place. And by the end of the day, even if the sun begins rising from the West and setting down on the East, you''re still a guest. His second is the anti-male and thottery trends disguised as gender equality in first-world countries. Now, maybe Nathan is just too much of a misogynist and a bitter person but that''s just how he feels. But then again, he''s only 24 years old and he only lived in Womania for 8 months and it''s the only foreign country he had been to so maybe if he had more time to live and explore, his views might change. As for his other reasons, he rather keep it to himself because they''re too controversial. Anyways, his end goal was always to save enough money and then come back to Muwin. But as for where in Muwin he will stay once he returned, he never made a decision yet. He glanced at his watch. It was based on Womania''s timezone but he knew that Muwin''s timezone was 4 hours behind. So if he were to count the time, it would be around 9:00 am. "Mister, there are so many islands. Which island are we going to land on?" "See that large island between the two islands over there?" Zita stretched out her neck to look for it. Nathan pointed and said, "Those three islands over there." "Yes, I see them." "That large island in the middle is called Kulerga and one of the cities there is called Latif City. That''s where I grew up." "Kulerga¡­ Latif City¡­" said Zita. Compared to the rest of the cities in Muwin, on paper, Latif City is officially considered to be on the low-tier city bracket. But in actuality, it''s between the mid and low-tier bracket. But thanks to the fact that it was considered to be on the low-tier bracket on paper, there weren''t that many foreigners willing to come and live in this city. So if you''re a local there, one can actually live there without really having to deal with or think about issues like racism and such because the ratio between foreigners and locals is 1:150 and the official population of the city on paper was around 100,000. Well, at least this is what he knew before he was exiled from this city and that was 3 years ago. The helicopter was getting closer to Latif City. He saw a beach nearby and decided to land there in case an M2 will attack them in mid-air. And given that he doesn''t really know how to use the weapons of the assault helicopter, he could crash-land on the beach if push comes to shove. ''Fuck!'' Up ahead Nathan saw two M2s coming to welcome them. "Kid, be prepare to use the crossbow, Magic Bolts and the Mana potions!" "Okay!" Zita pulled out the [Grade D] Mini-crossbow and some bolts from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Nathan''s eyes searched for the buttons to activate the weapons of the helicopter. ''Where was it again? Where was it again?'' He summoned his notes to make a quick review. ''Here!'' He began reading it. He put it down and thought, ''Okay, to use the minigun, I have to do this.'' The minigun was located below the nose of the helicopter. He searched for the M2s and focused on one of them. Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! The minigun began firing. He missed and the two M2s drifted apart. One went to the left and the other to the right. ''FUCK THESE RANK 2 ZOMBIES!!!'' He maneuvered the helicopter to turn left. Briiiii!!! "Mister, the other M2 is coming!" "I know!" Briiiii!!! He still missed. The M2 that he was aiming for was evading the bullets. ''FUCK THIS!'' This time, he used the other weapon of the helicopter -- rockets. They were located on each side. And unfortunately, he didn''t really understand how to properly use it. Nevertheless, he still launched them. Powrrr! Powrrr! He missed. ''HIT GODDAMMIT!'' Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! "Mister, the other zombie!" "WAIT!" Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! "YEAH!" The M2 that he has been aiming for since the beginning finally got hit. It got hit starting from the belly up to the face before falling from the sky and into the ocean. "MISTER!" "Com--!" Craaannnggg! The sound came from behind at the right side. Zita looked at the back. "MISTER, AN [Ice Spear] ENTERED!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I''m on it!" he said and then thought, ''DAMN, THIS IS SOOOOO HARD!!!'' He maneuvered the helicopter away, trying to distance it from the other remaining M2 before facing it. Boom! "KYAAAHHH!!!" Zita screamed and closed her eyes. "SHIT!!!" The entire outer layer of the helicopter was engulfed in flames because of the [Fireball] that was thrown by the M2. Fortunately, although the flames of the [Fireball] spell spreads, it had a time limit on how long its flames will last which was 2 seconds. But then¡­ Bam! Pscht! "ROAR!!!" "KYAAAHHH!!!" Zita screamed and closed her eyes once again. The M2 got on the right side of the helicopter and broke through the window glass. It reached its arm inside and was trying to grab Zita. "ROAR!!!" "KYAAAAHHH!!!" Zita screamed and was just randomly slapping the M2''s arm away while closing her eyes. Unfortunately, her STR was only 28 points while the M2''s VIT was 26 points so there wasn''t that much difference. "KID, STOP SCREAMING AND SHOOT IT WITH THE CROSSBOW OR PUNCH IT!!!" "ROAR!!!" "KYAAAAHHH!!!" "KID!!!" Nathan then noticed that the M2 was about to throw a spell inside. He immediately summoned his sawed-off shotgun and aimed it at that M2. Bang! "Roar!" the M2 yelped as it was blasted away. "KYAAAAHHH!!!" Zita still had her eyes closed randomly slapping the air. "KID!" "KYAAAAHHH!!!" He summoned back his sawed-off shotgun, placed his left hand on the controls and then used his right hand to grab her left arm. "Zita, calm down!" "KYAAAHHH!" He shook her and said, "I said calm down!" She finally calmed down and opened her eyes. He let go of her arm and focused on driving. "Pull yourself together..." He maneuvered the helicopter, making it descend and head straight to the beach. "...because we''re not yet out of the--" Craaannnggg! The helicopter shook. "KYAAAAHHH!" "Zita, would you please just calm down?!" Zita immediately stopped. ''I swear to God, this kid has done nothing but scream! Now what''s going on?'' Craaannnggg! The helicopter shook once again. ''What the hell is really going on?'' What Nathan didn''t know, the M2 that was shot by the sawed-off shotgun didn''t die and it was above them, hitting the propellers with [Ice Spear] and [Stone Spear] spells. It finally stopped. And just right after a few seconds. Bam! Pscth! "ROAR!!!" It was the M2 again. And this time it was on the left side of the cockpit, on Nathan''s side. "You again?!" Nathan noticed the wounds from the shotgun shell on the M2''s upper right chest and neck. "ROAR!!!" When the zombie tried to reach out for him, he summoned a dagger. "Annoying piece of shit!" he said and stabbed it on the M2''s forehead. "Roar!" the M2 yelped and let go before falling from the sky and into the ocean. Nathan resumed descending and heading straight for the beach which was separated by a fence from the road and buildings. And up ahead, he noticed right away a horde of zombies waiting for them. His expression darkened. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? heindel ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? ratking ? Muman125 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2020: ? 170 Arriving In Muwin 2 As the helicopter was descending and heading straight for the beach which was separated by a fence from the road and buildings, Nathan noticed up ahead there was a horde of zombies waiting for them. His expression darkened. He pulled back the helicopter but continued descending down to the surface of the ocean. "Kid, can you swim?" "..." "Zita, can you hear?" Zita turned to him and said, "Yes." "Can you swim?" "Yes." Braaang! He kicked the door on his side open. "Jump out of the helicopter and get in the speedboat," he said as he stretched out his left hand outside and summoned the speedboat. SPLASH!!! The speedboat made a big splash as it landed on the ocean. He turned to her. She was staring in horror at the zombies up ahead. She hasn''t even begun to unbuckle her seatbelts. "Kid, what are you waiting for?!" She turned to him. "Unbuckle your seatbelts and jump and get on the speedboat! Go!" She looked like she was about to cry. Nathan collected himself before flashing a confident smile and said, "Don''t worry, I won''t abandon you and I definitely won''t die. Just wait for me here. I''ll take care of those zombies real quick." Seeing his confident smile, some of her worries dissipated. She then quickly unbuckled her seatbelts, removed her headphones and open the door on her side before jumping into the ocean. Splash! After Zita jumped, Nathan''s confident smile vanished and the helicopter resumed moving forward. He summoned 4 Healing Packets and pocketed them inside his mouth. ''Fuck me sideways¡­ I hope my plan is going to work...'' When he got to an acceptable distance from the zombies, he stopped. He also noticed some Rank 2 zombies within the horde. "EAT THIS!!!" He began sweeping and raining down all of the zombies with bullets and rockets. Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Powrrr! Powrrr! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Boom! Boom! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Powrrr! Powrrr! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Boom! Boom! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! A number of zombies got caught by the blasts and bullets. Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Powrrr! Powrrr! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Boom! Boom! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! *** The zombies'' side¡­ ROAR!!! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! Powrrr! Powrrr! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! ROAR!!! Boom! Briiiiiiiiiiii!!! ROAR!!! Seeing the raining rockets and bullets, the Rank 2 zombies that survived roared and ran to escape from the carnage, ordering some of the zombies to do the same as well. "ROAR!!!" an N2 roared. "ROAR!!!" a few D2s, N2s and S2s replied with a roar. The D2s and D1s started picking up things to throw at the helicopter. One D2, in particular, picked up a steel bar. And as they were picking up things to throw, the helicopter stopped firing. *** Nathan''s side. He was sitting behind the cockpit and said, "Fuck! I ran out of bullets and rockets!" He swept his gaze at the destruction he caused. "There''s still more¡­" He could see some D1s throwing things at him but they couldn''t reach him. And all of the sudden¡­ Pscht! Craaannnggg! "WHAT THE FUCK?!" A steel bar broke through the front window glass and shot past a couple of centimeters from his right ear before getting stuck inside the helicopter. ''No other choice¡­'' He unbuckled his seatbelt before charging the helicopter to the remaining zombies. *** Seeing the helicopter charging, the D2s and D1s continued throwing things while the N2s roared and ordered the M1s to bombard it with spells. Pscht! Craaannnggg! Pang! Boom! Pscht! Boom! Pang! Craaannnggg! Boom! The helicopter crossed over the fence separating the beach and crash-landed on the road where many zombies were gathered. Craaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg! Pew! Pew! Parts of the helicopter''s propellers flew away, slicing and hitting some of the unlucky zombies. And as soon as the helicopter stopped moving, the N2s and M1s stopped bombarding it with spells and then charged with the other zombies to rip the helicopter apart to find whoever was inside. ROAR!!! Roar!!! Roar!!! Crang! Bam! The sound of zombies roars and metal being ripped apart echoed throughout the wind. "ROOOAAARRR!!!" one of the N2s roared. They already ripped apart the helicopter bare but there was no one inside. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! On a corner, Nathan was holding to weapons, a [Grade D] Long Sword and a [Grade D] Giant Axe, chopping down every single zombie near him as fast as he could. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! He was blinking in and out, only appearing when he cuts down a zombie. The N2 who roared just a while ago saw what was happening. "ROOOAAARRR!" it roared once again and threw a [Stone Spear] spell towards Nathan. The rest of the zombies stopped and shifted their focus to where the spell landed. When they saw Nathan, they roared before running towards him. Whoosh! Whoosh! He just cut down two zombies when he raised his head to search for the next target. There were at least more than 40 zombies coming at him. He smiled before activating [Coward''s Way]. He decided he was going back to basics -- the hit and run strategy that he used when the zombie apocalypse first started. *** 10 minutes later¡­ Clang! Clang! Nathan was covered in dirt, blood and guts as he dropped his [Grade D] Morning Star and [Grade D] Short Sword on the ground. His weapons were already close to breaking point, only 2 or 3 points in durability left. They were his 3rd set of weapons that he used during the battle. He knelt down, spat at the Healing Packets on his mouth to his hand, absorbed them back and then took a few deep breaths. "Haa¡­ Haa¡­" He summoned a bottle of water, opened it and took a few sips. Gulp¡­ Spit! He tasted zombie blood mixed with dirt on his lips. Gulp¡­ Spit! Gulp¡­ Gulp¡­ Gulp¡­ "If there''s something I hate about fighting zombies, they would fight to the death non-stop. At least with humans, sometimes they would give you time to breathe." He removed his helmet, put it on the side and then poured the rest of the water on his head and body. He checked his body if he had any bite marks or wounds. ''Hmm¡­ Looks like I''m good.'' He scoffed. ''Of course, I''m good. When it comes to open-space land battle, I don''t think anyone can match me at this point.'' ''But in the air¡­'' His expression darkened. ''Looks like traveling in the air would be a thing in the past once the Third Phase happens. Even though I''m no expert in piloting helicopters, those M2 zombies definitely have air superiority¡­.'' He grabbed his helmet and wore it. He then picked up the two weapons and summoned them back before getting up and checking his surroundings. There was destruction all over, a horde of zombie corpses and a dozen treasure chests. He stared at the helicopter. ''Well¡­'' It was like a skeleton. At least 80% of its covers and parts were ripped off. He swept his gaze at the zombie corpses. ''Ugh¡­ Extracting the Nuclei will be a hassle. I''m gonna need that kid''s help.'' He turned towards the ocean where he dropped the speedboat and Zita. He crossed the fence separating the beach from the road and buildings and activated [Coward''s Way] before getting into the water and swim to the speedboat. Although he has never encountered or heard about a water-type zombie, he just wanted to be sure. As for Zita''s safety, at that time when he asked her to jump, unfortunately, the possibility of a water-type zombie or a zombie that could swim didn''t cross his mind. *** Zita was sitting on the floor at a corner. Her hair and clothes were wet. She had her arms wrapped around her legs and she had a scared and worried look on her face. ''I hope mister is okay¡­'' ''If not. Then I¡­ I¡­'' She felt so useless, especially when thinking about what happened inside the helicopter earlier. Despite her power, her stats and items, instead of helping, all she did during that time was scream and close her eyes as she aimlessly slapped the air. ''Mister¡­ please be okay.'' Thud! "Kyaaahhh!" she screamed when she suddenly heard that noise. "Kid, it''s only me," Nathan said as he appeared and climbed over the speedboat. Water was pouring down all over his body as he headed for the steering wheel of the speedboat. She got up and said, "Mister¡­ are you alright¡­?" He sat down behind the wheel and was trying to understand the controls when he answered, "Of course. If I can''t even survive from a horde of zombies then I might as well kill myself right now and forget about entering the Divine Tower again when the next Phase happens." Hearing Nathan answer, some of her guilt dissipated. She even starting to think that maybe he didn''t really mind what happened earlier. Vrooom! The speedboat''s engine roared to life. "Kid," Nathan said and looked at her. "Yes¡­?" "I don''t blame you for what happened earlier because you''re still a kid." Nathan recalled the times he panicked in the early stages of the zombie apocalypse. The first time was when he got slapped by a D1. The second time was when he got shot with a sniper rifle on his cheeks at Haven Town. But if he were to make a rough guess when did he start to learn how to keep his panic levels at an acceptable level whenever he experiences pain, it was after he was bombarded with bullets and fireballs at the Divine Tower. So if a grown man like him could panic, how much more for a kid like Zita who is a girl, a child that comes from a first-world country, and less than 24 hours ago was only Level 1? He continued, "However, you''re a Chosen One like me. Although we have different powers, you''re still as powerful as me in your own way. But if you don''t face your fears and act accordingly, even if you have the highest level, the highest stats, the best items, and the most powerful Chosen One skill, it''s still all going to be useless and you will definitely die. Trust me, those zombies are nothing if your enemy is a Chosen One or the Armored Angels." Zita didn''t say anything. "And as scary as this may sound, there will be times that I won''t be able to shoulder all of the responsibilities so I''m going to need you to learn how to pull your own weight. We''re partners you and I so we have to help each other. We''re lucky today that Lady Luck was on our side." "I''m very sorry, mister. I promise I will do better next time." "Good," he said and then drove the speedboat to the beach. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Pillastre ? Daoist535645 ? LUCKVICK ? Muman125 ? Naufal_Arc ? Rexxar1 ? Marc_Gaborieau ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? ShiroAya ? darklord12332 ? Elizabeth_P ? Amilcare ? Viwnsncie To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 40 - 42 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2020: ? 171 Arriving In Muwin 3 Zita''s face was pale and she was keeping herself from vomiting. Suup! Crack! She was holding a dagger and stabbing it into a zombie''s head as she cracked it open. Nathan was sitting on a bench not far away with a cigarette on his right hand and a bottle of water on his left. He watched her extract and gather Nuclei from the zombie heads. All of them. This was one of the ideas he thought of on how to eliminate her fear of the zombies. As much as he wants to continue their journey now, she would only be a liability at this point. And plus, this is Muwin, a third-world country. As much as he was proud of being an Asian and he feels comfortable here because it''s his home country, he wasn''t going to bet on the mindset of the people here. He was born and raised here so he knows all too well what kind of mindset the people here have. He saw Zita slid her tiny hands into the zombie''s head and took out a Nucleus. Spit! She spat on the side and wipe her mouth with her arm before sending the Nucleus to the pile of Nuclei that she gathered. "Kid, better hurry up. We don''t have much time. You still have to open the treasure chests next and then we still have to eat lunch after." She went to open another zombie head. Nathan swept his gaze around the area. The place where they landed was in Fleu Town which was located 4.5km away from Latif City. It wasn''t his fault though -- at least according to his logic. First of all, it was his first time flying a helicopter, and seeing Kulerga from the sky and trying to find Latif City was a bit hard. If he had more time, he could''ve landed in the right location. But he was welcomed by the M2s and then things happened and he was forced to land here. However, if he were to be honest, there was some part of him that didn''t mind their current situation because it''s been 3 years since he was exiled from Latif City and he never set foot here ever since, not even on the entire island of Kulerga. So it gave him a little more time to prepare mentally. ''Damn it''s so hot.'' He raised his head and looked at the sky. It was cloudy but there was no wind. ''I forgot about the weather here in brown-skinned Asian countries. Wearing these System items is too hot. I''m going to die from dehydration.'' The attire he was wearing was for a country like Womania that has 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. *** An hour later¡­ Zita was finally done with extracting all of the Nuclei. She was thirsty from all the spitting she had done and the weather also caused her to perspire a lot. She was after all an Iskaldia where it''s cold almost 80% of the year. She also felt like crying and at the same time was angry because of what Nathan made her do. That extracting chore was really disgusting. ''This is so yucky!!!'' she thought to herself. "You''re finally done. Good. I was getting hungry," Nathan said as he casually walked towards the small mountain of Nuclei that she gathered. She looked at him but didn''t say anything. He absorbed it and then said, "Now let''s check the treasure chests." "Okay¡­" They gathered all the treasure chests. There were blue ones and green ones. "Open the [Green] Treasure Chests first. And remember to sort the items by type." On the side, there were 5 cloths laid out on the ground. One cloth for the potions. Another for the weapons. Another one for the spellbooks. Another one again for the rings and amulets. And the last and final cloth which was the largest was for the helmets, armors, gloves and boots. "Okay." She opened the first one and inside was a [Grade D] Repair Kit. She placed the [Grade D] Repair Kit on its designated cloth. Nathan was observing on the side. On the second treasure chest, inside was a spellbook. On the third treasure chest, it was a [Grade D] Small Healing Potion. On the fourth treasure chest, it was a [Grade D] Ring. On the fifth treasure chest, it was an equipment that looked like a loincloth. When Nathan saw Zita taking out the loincloth and bringing it over to its designated cloth, he said, "Kid, wait. Give me that." Zita gave him the loincloth and resumed opening treasure chests. When he touched the loincloth, the System informed him that it was a [Grade D] Loincloth (Male) (15/15): +2 Agi, +1 Int and it was an armor-type item. ''What the fuck?'' Back in Womania, he knew for a fact that the only reason why he gained so many loots was because he killed a lot of zombies... and people. ''What is this? I never encountered this kind of item back in Womania. The armors I''ve looted there were Leather Armor, Heavy Leather Armor. And inside the Divine Tower, from fighting the angels, they drop Black and White Heavy Leather Armor.'' He glanced at Zita and squinted his eyes. This time, the item she took out from the treasure chest looked like a transparent sheet with a tribal tattoo printed on it. "Kid, give me that one as well." Zita looked at Nathan and thought, ''I don''t understand this mister. If he''s just going to take the items right now, what''s the use of laying out the cloths? Couldn''t he just open the treasure chests by himself and make them disappear like he usually does?'' Nevertheless, she still gave him the sheet. When Nathan touched it, the System informed him that it was a [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (15/15) +3 INT and it was also an armor-type item. It was a rectangular transparent sheet that was as large as a book and the tattoo design was color dark green. He squinted his eyes and thought, ''Another item that I''ve never seen in Womania.'' He stared at the two items on his hand and thought about it for a second. ''If what I suspect is true, then -- No,'' he shook his head, ''It''s still too early. I must conduct more research before making a conclusion.'' He placed them on their designated cloth. Zita continued opening the remaining [Green] Treasure Chests. She got potions and spellbooks. Nathan decided to investigate the spell books as well in case there was a difference. They were [Fireball] and [Sword Stab]. ''Still the same spells. No difference here. But inside the Divine Tower I was able to loot a... I think it was [Summoned Skeleton]? Or was it [Skeleton Warrior]? I can''t remember. Anyways, that was a spellbook I''ve never seen outside the Divine Tower and I traded it with that military guy.'' And on the last [Green] Treasure Chest, Zita got a [Grade D] Kris Sword. When Nathan saw it, it immediately caught his interest. "Kid, please hand that over to me," he said with a somewhat impatient tone. Zita gave it to him. When he got it, he smiled and immediately gave it a few swings. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Zita, on the other hand, continued opening treasure chests. This time it was the blue ones. Nathan stopped and then began reciting a monologue from one of his favorite video games of all time, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. To him, it has the most epic intro ever. And no matter what anyone says, although part 2 is better in many aspects, including the story, in terms of intro, part 1 was simply unbeatable. "Kain is deified¡­" "The clans tell tales of him¡­" "Few know the truth¡­" "He was mortal once as were we all¡­" "However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brethren¡­" "I am Raziel, firstborn of his lieutenants¡­" "I stood with Kain and my brethren at the dawn of the Empire¡­" "I have served him a millennium¡­" "Over time we became less human and more divine¡­" "Kain would enter the state of change and emerge with a new gift¡­" "Some years after the master our evolution would follow¡­" "Until I have the honor of surpassing my lord¡­" "For my transgression...'' "I earned a new kind of reward¡­'' "Agony!" Unfortunately, that''s all he can remember. ''Sigh¡­ What is that company who created this legendary game franchise doing?! There was already a part 4 and they even released a demo but they canceled it!'' ''If you can''t make a part 4, at least make a remake just like the other classic legendary games! For the love of God, even that little dragon game had a remake!'' ''But this game, this epic legendary game that has so many fans waiting...!'' ''Oh why, oh why?!'' ''A legendary game franchise wasted for nothing!'' ''And now we''re in a zombie apocalypse¡­'' ''Sigh... I have no choice but to finally accept the fact that such a future will never ever happen¡­'' ''R.I.P. Legacy of Kain¡­'' When he turned to Zita, she caught him staring at him and she immediately looked away and continued opening the treasure chests when their eyes met. ''Hey, don''t look away like that! That was¡­ That¡­ I just got carried away¡­'' ''Dammit...'' With his back hunched over, Nathan walked towards the cloths, put down the [Grade D] Kris Sword and then silently sat on a corner in shame. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Rimuru ? darklord12332 ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Pillastre ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Amilcare ? ratking ? Naufal_Arc (You''re the closest to getting into the top 3 Power Immortal Seats! Go! Go! Go! You can do it!) ? Nathan_Shi To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for December 2020: ? 172 Arriving In Muwin 4 Nathan was reviewing the System items laid on the cloths. And among the items, there were 4 items that he has never seen back in Womania. [Grade D] Loincloth (Male) (15/15): +2 Agi, +1 Int [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (15/15) +3 Int [Grade D] Kris Sword (12/12) [Grade C] Arm bracelet (15/15) (+4 Str, +1 Vit) ''Hmm¡­ The design of these System items remind me of traditional brown-skinned Asian weapons and armors.'' ''As for the potions, rings and necklaces, they''re no different from the once back in Womania¡­'' ''If this is the case¡­ If the drops here are different¡­ Then perhaps each continent or probably even sub-continent have different drops?'' ''The possibility of it being a sub-continent is strong because as far as I know, the design of these 4 items very specific to traditional brown-skinned Asian design.'' He glanced at Zita who was sitting nearby and was eating a candy bar. ''This kid likes sweets and junk food too much. Well, she''s a kid after all. Can''t blame her. But still¡­'' He also noticed that her hair and face were wet from perspiration. The sky was cloudy but there was no wind. "Kid, don''t you feel hot?" Zita turned to him and said, "It''s okay." "You''re armor is only +3 INT, right? You''ll feel cooler with this armor. It also gives +3 INT," he said and he picked up the [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo. "I''m fine." "Kid, do you see yourself? You''re all wet. Not only are you going to stink and suffer from dehydration so you will be wasting water, you''re also going to get sick." "Okay," Zita said as she got up. And as she was about to activate her power to get the item¡­ "Wait. We still have to do something first." Zita knitted brows in confusion. "I just thought about it. Since you''ve been extracting Nuclei in order to remove your fear of zombies, the next thing you need to do is to remove your fear of pain." She knitted her brows even further and said, "Remove my fear of pain?" "Well, have you ever experienced getting shot? It really stings¡­" "What do you mean, mister?" "Have you ever experienced getting impaled by the ice and stone spears or any weapon? It really hurts¡­" Zita was still confused. "Have you ever experienced getting slapped or punched so hard in the head? Not only does it hurt but you will feel a bit dizzy¡­" She now was starting to understand a little bit what Nathan was trying to say and her face was starting to get pale. Her face was now completely pale. "So you will have to experience pain today," Nathan said with a warm smile and summoned a handgun. She stared at him in horror. ''Ugh¡­ Too bad I threw away my silencer¡­'' he thought. "Don''t worry. Remember our talks in the helicopter about how many seconds does a human have if he/she gets hit in the brain or heart? Look." He aimed the handgun on the side of his head and pulled the trigger. Bang! The bullet went inside his head and caused blood to splatter. He massaged the side of his head where the bullet entered and then shook his head. "Ugh¡­ Mother-- I can never get used to getting shot in the head. I remember that bitch Rose shot me with her magnum. It really makes your head spin." He then shot himself in the heart. Bang! "Although it stings, it''s more tolerable. Anyways, given that I have 45+ VIT, I have 25 seconds for my injury in the brain and 45 seconds in the heart before I die." He summoned 5 [Small] Healing Potions and drank them all before looking at Zita. She was so afraid of Nathan that she took a step backward. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she said, "Mister¡­ What you--" Nathan squinted his eyes and said, "Kid, I thought you promised me that you would do better next time?" "I¡­ I¡­" She wanted to refuse but then she remembered what happened to her parents, the time when all alone and being chased by zombies, and also at the helicopter. "Yes," she said and held her head down. He smiled and approached her. "Don''t worry, I won''t hit your head and heart -- and also your neck. Oh, I almost forgot." He summoned a face towel and folded it like a rope before handing it over to her. "Put this between your teeth. You might bite your tongue and end up choking yourself to death." Her hand was shaking as she took the face towel. She placed it between her teeth. When she looked at Nathan, her eyes were filled with fear and looked like she was about to cry, begging him not to do what he was going to do. However, he just said, "Make sure to bite it well. It will all be over soon," and then thought, ''I hope she won''t turn into a masochist after this.'' He aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. Bang! She was shot in the middle of her chest and the impact made her take a step backward. Bang! Another step backward. Bang! Thud! The third bullet caused her to take another step but she lost her balance and fell to the ground. But despite all that, Nathan didn''t stop. Bang! Bang! Bang! "AAAHHH!!!" she screamed in pain as bullets were filling every part of her body except for her head, heart and neck. Bang! Bang! Bang! "St --" Bang! Bang! "--op¡­" Bang! Click. "...please¡­" she said weakly. Tears were flowing from her eyes and blood was coming out of her mouth. Nathan reloaded the handgun and resumed firing. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! *** Nathan was standing and looking down at Zita who was covered with bullet holes laying on the street half-dead and twitching from time to time. Her clothes, her skin and the street were painted with her own blood. He crouched down. Pat. Pat. He patted her cheeks and said, "Kid, are you still there?" Her mouth was half-open and her face was almost blue. The face towel that she was biting a while ago was lying on the street next to her face and soaked with her own blood and saliva. And her eyes, tears were flowing from them and were opened but her pupils were unfocused. Pat. Pat. "Hey, that''s not enough to kill you. Look at me." Her eyes managed to turn to him. Nathan couldn''t help but notice the anger on them. He squinted his eyes and said, "Hey, don''t be stupid and look at me like that. We''re in a zombie apocalypse and sooner or later you''re going to experience pain. And plus, didn''t you say to me that you would do better next time? This is training. So don''t focus your anger on me." Her eyes looked away. "Anyways, this is why if you''re going to kill someone, the quickest and safest way is to cut off their head because this is going to happen. In a way, you can also take it as a sign of showing mercy to your opponents, assuming that they don''t survive, of course." Sniff. Nathan sniffed and thought, ''Ahh¡­ She did Lady Business #2.'' He summoned 5 healing potions and fed them to her. "Cough¡­ Cough¡­" she coughed as her wounds were being healed. Although the healing potions cured her wounds, it doesn''t replenish blood loss. And after her wounds were healed, she didn''t look at him as she sat up weakly. "Now that you know what pain is, you have nothing to be afraid of anymore. And if you feel like getting scared or start panicking, think about this moment. Do you understand me?" "Yes¡­" she said but still refusing to look at him. "Good. You know, I''m very sorry. It really breaks my heart to hurt you and I know you really hate me right now. I too would feel the same if I was on your place. But understand this: I had no choice but to do this. If this was before the Second Phase, no problem. We can take it slow. But we''re already in the Second Phase, the zombies that we''re facing are the 3m-tall ones and they''re also getting stronger by the day. And I also said a while ago, zombies are nothing compared to Chosen Ones like you and me and most importantly the Armored Angels." "Yes, mister." "Good, good. I''m so glad that you understand. You know what, I''m very thankful that I have you, a bright, brave, kind, beautiful, and powerful Chosen One like you as my traveling partner. I really am. Promise," Nathan said with a very kind tone. Zita finally turned to him. Although there was still a little anger in her eyes, when she saw Nathan''s kind and warm expression, most of it vanished. "Okay..." "Thank you," he said as caressed her head softly like she was the most precious thing in the world. "That means so much to me. I''m so glad you understand. Thank you so much." "..." "Now go to the beach and wash off. Don''t worry, I''m going to give you some water, and soap and shampoo to wash off the seawater. You still have some extra clothes inside your spatial bag, right?" "Yes." "Good. And while you''re at it, I''m also going to cook something delicious while you take a bath at the beach: corned beef, cheese and canned vegetables wrapped with dough and coated with cheese and deep dried partnered with apple juice -- not cold though, I''m sorry. You''re gonna need some food to recover from all that blood you lost. Come on, let''s go," he said and helped her get up. "Okay," she said and went to the beach. Looking at her backside, he thought, ''Wew¡­ I''m glad I was able to convince her. I really thought she was going to attack me. I would''ve had to kill her right there and then.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Biatrice ? Daoist535645 ? Naufal_Arc ? LoliHunter420XX (Ah... A man of culture... *bows in respect*) ? darklord12332 ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Yerby7213 ? Passs3rby ? Pillastre ? ratking To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 43 - 45 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2020: ? Chapter 173 - Heading To Latif City 1 hour and 30 minutes later¡­ Nathan and Zita were walking in the middle of the street and on their way to Latif City. The sun was high up in the sky and its rays were violently piercing against everything it touches. Also, there was no wind. ''Fuck me sideways¡­ Was it always this hot in Muwin?'' Nathan thought. After living in Womania for 8 months, he more or less already adapted to that country''s climate. ''Also, what happened to the weather? Just a few hours ago when we came here it was cloudy¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I''ll probably take me a day or two for my body to adjust...'' ''But why do I feel I won''t be able to?'' Although he was a brown-skinned Asian and was born and raised in Muwin so he was confident that his body will eventually adapt to this country''s climate, he was, after all, wearing a System set from Womania and no genetic mutation could fight such heat. Zita, on the other hand, although she traded her [Grade D] Heavy Leather Armor for the [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo and was wearing a fresh set of clothes after taking a bath, she was still sweating -- a lot. As for how the [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo is worn, one simply just had to plaster it on their chest and it will merge with the skin, covering the chest area. Continuing on with the sweating, aside from the fact Zita was used to the climate of Iskaldia which is a cold country, the clothes she was wearing weren''t designed for a tropical country like Muwin. In brown-skinned Asian countries, the thickness of the fabric of their clothes was thinner. But despite the crazy heat, she didn''t care. She was more interested in observing her surroundings because it was her first time in Asia. She was looking at the buildings, vehicles and other things. Firstly, the buildings. The buildings reminded her a bit of Regisian architecture but combined with a foreign one. Moreover, the buildings looked like they were designed for "small people". Back in Iskaldia, the average height of men there was 6''0" and for the women was 5''10" so the doors and windows are usually bigger. Meanwhile, in Muwin, the average height of men was 5''7" and the women was 5''5". And in Asia, both Muwinians and Xudonians hold the title for the tallest Asians. Secondly, the vehicles. There were too many motorcycles and the cars looked "old-fashioned" or "backwards" to her. Continuing on about vehicles, she was surprised to see a strange-looking design of vehicles in Muwin. In truth though, it was just a Tuk-tuk which is typical in brown-skinned Asian countries. And lastly, the trash. Although they were currently in a zombie apocalypse so it''s understandable that the city was messy, she couldn''t help but notice trash bags and building materials were lying on the road and looked like they''ve been there for months. Back in her country, environmentalism was a big thing so maintaining cleanliness was quite strict. "Kid." Zita turned to Nathan. "There''s one zombie up ahead. Show me how you will kill it," he said and went to the side. "Just me?" "Remember what we talked about back at the helicopter. And if you feel afraid, remember the pain that you felt earlier. You have nothing to fear anymore." "..." "And most importantly, don''t forget that you''re a Chosen One just like me. YOU ARE POWERFUL." "..." "Remember all those things. Now go kill that zombie," Nathan said and lit a cigarette. "Okay..." Zita said before turning her head to the zombie that was a dozen meters away. The first thing she noticed was the zombie''s skinny frame. ''It''s thin. It has no wings. So it''s either an M1 or an S-type zombie...'' ''If it''s an M1 or S1, I can kill it right away with one headshot...'' ''But if it''s an S2, it will take a while... ''So which is it?'' ''Mister also said that I also have to use my Chosen One power to my advantage...'' ''My advantage is range!'' She summoned 100 Bolts from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag, let them hover around her with [Lift] and then approached the zombie. When the zombie saw Zita approaching, it roared and then charged at her right away. ''Mister said INT covers Mana points and increases the brain''s processing power. And if you focused or start concentrating, it helps you see moving objects in slow motion...'' Her INT was 32 (+28). She focused her senses at the zombie. ''This zombie is moving a bit faster so it''s an S-type zombie...'' ''And based on its speed, it''s an S1...'' The zombie continued charging. She readied the Bolts around her and waited until the zombie was in range. When the zombie was around 13 meters away, she threw 20 bolts at it all at once. Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Roar! Thud! The 20 bolts shot right through the zombie''s body, causing it to yelp as it crashed and died. Zita smiled and then turned to Nathan. When she saw his face, she was surprised to see him disappointed. "Kid, why did you throw it? Were you even thinking?" "Mister¡­ I don''t understand. I killed it, right?" "Yeah, you killed it alright. But what you did was more than overkill." "I''m sorry, mister..." Zita said and looked down. "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to be mad. It''s just that we''ve already discussed that the M2 and the Level 3 S1 and M1 can be killed with just one headshot in the head." "..." "Also, as far as I can remember, your INT is around 60 points. So even if you don''t throw it, the power and speed is already at 30 points. And even with just that 30 points alone, that''s already more than enough to pierce an S1 and M1''s skull, let alone their flesh." "..." "And the worse part of your overkill is that you used 20 Bolts and threw them all at once just to kill one zombie. Now you have to manually find those 20 Bolts and pull them from the ground." "..." "Here''s the thing: You''re lucky that there was only one enemy. What if you were facing multiple enemies and you''ve thrown all of your weapons? What would you do then? Ask your enemies for a time out because you need to find your weapons and then pull them out manually one by one because they''re stuck?" Zita remembered her fight with the D2 and its goons back at Burrow City and said, "I''m very sorry, mister..." "It''s okay. What''s important is that you learn from this experience. Your main goal should always be how can you kill your enemies in the quickest and most efficient way." "Yes, mister..." "Now go search for those 20 Bolts and don''t forget to extract the Nucleus." Zita went to search for the bolts and pull them from the ground manually one by one and then extract the Nucleus. *** A few minutes later¡­ "Kid, zombies." There was a D2 along with two M1s, one N1 and two S1s. It was obvious that it was a D2 because of its white scales. The zombies didn''t notice them. And this time around, Nathan didn''t go to the side. "Do you know what to do?" "Make sure to kill them in the quickest and most efficient way." "What else?" Zita knitted her brows and thought about it for a moment before answering, "I''m not sure." "If I''m with you and there''s a D2, N2 or S2, let let me deal with them and while you deal with the rest." "..." "And if I''m not with you, try to avoid them if they haven''t noticed you yet." "..." "But in case they do notice you and I''m not with you, make sure to always kill the Rank 2 or the leader first." "Okay." "Good. Okay, I''m going in. But this time, I''m not going to use my invisibility so that you will learn the pattern of my attack and you will know how to back me up in future battles." "Okay." "Be sure to take out the weak ones first." "Okay, mister." Nathan summoned the [Grade D] Kris Sword and placed it over his shoulder. He had a confident smile on his face as he casually walked over to the zombies. "Hey, hey!" The moment they saw him and were about to charge at him, Bolts already came flying in towards the two M1s, one N1 and two S1s. The two M1s and one of the S1s immediately died from a headshot. As for the other S1, the Bolt only managed to pierce its jaw and got stuck. Meanwhile, the D2 and N1 came charging at Nathan. He was still wearing a confident smile on his face as he drew his sword to the side. "Hit it right, kid!" he said as he engaged with the N1 and D2. Whoosh! Whoosh! He cut off one of their legs each. Zita shot another Bolt the S1. Wooh! This time around, it hit its head and it finally died. Pah! Nathan kicked the N1 and said, "Kill this!" before going for the D2. The D2 was crawling its way to him and he chopped off one arm and kicked it away. "Hurry up, kid, and use this!" he said as he summoned [Grade D] Morning Star and threw it near her. Zita lifted the [Grade D] Morning Star and threw it against the N1''s head. Crack! Its head was split open like a watermelon. Whoosh! Nathan chopped off the other leg of the D2. "Kid, kill this one as well." Zita tried to lift the [Grade D] Morning Star on the N1''s head but it was stuck so she went near it to pull it out. After pulling it out, she let it hover around her using [Lift]. Whoosh! Suuup! Nathan chopped off the remaining arm of the D2 before pinning it to the ground with the [Grade D] Kris Sword and pressing his weight against its neck using his knee. "Kid, use your dagger to kill this. Make sure to throw it. Let''s see how much VIT does a D2 have." Zita pulled out her [Grade D] Long Dagger from her right thigh and threw it at the D2''s head using [Lift]. Wooh! With her INT at 32 (+28) which gives her 60 points penetrating power, she was able to penetrate the D2''s skull. And to no surprise, it was still alive. The zombie roared and struggled. But with its arms and legs chopped off, the kris sword stabbed into its back and pinning it down to the ground, and Nathan pressing his knee against its neck, it had no chance of escaping. "Now let''s see how long will it last," Nathan said as he stared at his watch. "10 seconds¡­" "15 seconds¡­" "20 seconds¡­" "25 seconds¡­" "30 seconds¡­" "35 seconds¡­" "40 seconds¡­" Right after he said 40 seconds, the zombie stopped struggling and finally died. And also¡­ "Yay~! Mister, I leveled up!" She was now¡­ *** Level: 21 Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 29 ? VIT ¨C 30 (+2) ? AGI ¨C 32 (+1) ? INT ¨C 33 (+28) Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Tiara (15/15): +2 Vit, +1 Int [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (15/15): +3 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Int, +1 Agi [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Boots (14/15): +4 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Int [Grade C] Ring: +5 Int [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Int [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 1% Chance to block any magical attack. ? 1% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 28.5kg/30.5kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** "Congratulations, kid." Zita quickly opened his Status Chart to see her new stats. And while she was busy checking her Status Chart, Nathan said, "40 seconds, huh. 30 VIT gives you 10 seconds if the injury in the brain and 20 seconds in the heart. And every 5-point increase in VIT starting with 30 points gives an additional 5 seconds in the brain and 10 seconds in the heart. So if it''s 40 seconds in the brain, then this means the D2 has 60 VIT. Kid, did you get what I said?" Zita closed her Status Chart and then said, "Yes, mister." "Good. Now go pull out the Bolts that you used from the zombies'' heads and take out their Nucleus as well," he said as he pulled out the long dagger from the D2''s head and returned it to her. "Okay," she said and pouted her lips to the side as she went to fetch her Bolts. Nathan smiled and shook his head. ''This kid''s mood swings are really unpredictable.'' He extracted the nucleus from the D2''s head and then absorbed it. After doing so, he glanced at her. While walking, she almost tripped. However, instead of continuing to walk immediately, she paused for a moment as if trying to take a breather or something. Nathan squinted his eyes. She resumed walking. ''And also a klutz.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Diemon_Jigz ? ratking ? Marc_Gaborieau ? NIGHTSTAR18 ? Naufal_Arc ? darklord12332 ? Pillastre ? Len_Kagamine_0920 ? Lelouch10Niichan To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? https://www.*******.com/Immortal_Shades And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 46 - 48 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2020: ? Chapter 174 - Latif City The sun was still up. And compared to a few hours ago, it got even hotter. Although Nathan''s watch was based on Womania''s timezone, if he were to count the time difference, it would be around 1:30 pm already. There was a billboard on the side with a picture of some brown-skinned Asian guy around the age of 40 smiling and surrounded by some ads with two captions. One was written in Muwinian: Mwelcome Mto Latif Mcity! And the other was in Regisian: Welcome To Latif City! Looking at the smiling man, Nathan scoffed. Upon entering the city, it was a total mess. On the streets alone, there were many abandoned and broken vehicles, trash and corpses -- both humans and zombies. Meanwhile, on the side, it was nothing but broken down buildings and looted shops. "Kid, wear your thermal vision goggles." She didn''t answer. He stopped and turned to her. When he saw her, she was still walking but covered in sweat, her skin red from the sun''s rays and looked like she was in a daze. "Kid." She didn''t respond. "Hey, kid." Zita finally stopped and turned to him. "Mister?" "Are you okay?" "Yes, mister." "You sure?" "Yes." "Don''t forget to keep yourself hydrated." "Yes, mister." "Now." "Yes, mister," she said and summoned out a bottle of water from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and took a couple of sips. Gulp¡­ Gulp¡­ After she put the bottle away, Nathan said, "Put on your thermal vision goggles. Your INT is higher than mine so you''ll be the scout." "Okay," she took out her thermal vision goggles and wore them. ''Now where should I go first?'' ''Is there a Government Shelter here?'' As far as Nathan can remember, Latif City never really experienced that many major disasters. Sure, there were the occasional typhoons, flooding, landslides, and volcanic eruptions which is typical in brown-skinned Asian countries and weak earthquakes partnered with weak tsunamis. However, as far as he could remember, here in Latif City, it never came to the point where people would have to go to evacuation centers. He scrambled his thoughts. ''If I were to make a bet, the possible locations could be the public schools and the sports center stadiums...'' ''And if were to based it on movies, especially with alien and zombie movies, the go-to sites would be malls and prisons...'' ''The neighborhood where I grew up is near the heart of the city and there''s two large public schools nearby: Latif High School and Latif State University Campus 1...'' ''There''s also the city''s sports center stadium, Brown Sports Complex...'' He stared at the abandoned and broken motorcycles. ''It would be nice if I could ride one but I don''t think it can support my weight.'' Although Nathan doesn''t know how to drive a car, a motorcycle is a different thing. However, his skill level in driving a motorcycle was the same as his skill level in piloting a helicopter. ''What the f.u.c.k am I thinking? Riding a motorcycle? Even that guy -- I can''t remember his name, all I remember he was Rose''s cousin -- got into an accident from riding a car.'' ''God damn¡­ This heat is killing me and making me not think straight. And what on earth happened? Just think morning when we first arrived here it was cloudy. But right after we had breakfast it started becoming nothing but blazing hot.'' ''I think I should switch my set. But the bonus stats and special effects¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ F.u.c.k me sideways.'' ''Anyways, I''m going to check my home first because it''s on the way to the two public schools. Or better yet, I hope I encounter some people so that I can ask for some information.'' *** Whoosh! Nathan killed two zombies. Zita, on the other hand, was pulling out the bolts from the heads of three zombies that she killed. They were now in the street where Nathan''s house was located. ''Although there''s been some changes, the place still looks a bit familiar¡­'' he thought as he swept his gaze at the buildings. 3 years ago, before he left, there were already some houses that were offering for tenants to rent. However, this time around, the number increased. Some houses were even specifically renovated to be able to accept more tenants. ''Well, this neighborhood is close to the heart of the city and Latif State University is also nearby so it makes sense. But still¡­ too many strangers¡­ This, in turn, will lead to --'' Between the time of his exile here in Latif City and going to Womania, he lived around the country. And one thing he noticed in living in to rent places was that¡­ ''-- the lack of a strong sense of community.'' ''If there wasn''t a zombie apocalypse, I wouldn''t be surprised if one day I came back here and I won''t recognize 95% of the people here.'' He thought about the places he lived in Muwin before going to Womania. He thought about the neighborhood he lived in Cram City at Womania. ''Well, what''s the point of thinking about this? There''s a zombie apocalypse.'' He continued walking. He saw Vincent''s house. It was surrounded by high walls about 10ft tall with sharp glass shards on top and two red gates -- a small one and a big one. One can also still see the exterior of the second floor of the two-story house that was designed like a villa from the high walls. He continued walking down a few more houses. This time, he saw Karen''s house. It was also surrounded by walls about 6ft tall but the bottom half was cement and the other half was white grills with pointy edges so the exterior of the house was visible. One could even see the garden and a swing at the front. The gates, a small and big one, were white grill gates. The small gate was open and between the gates, there was a signboard hanged that read: We Are Accepting Female Tenants. Please Inquire Inside. The house itself was a one-story building that featured an average north Muwinian house. The north Muwinian household design is a combination of Regisian, Xudonian, Muwinian-Trinitian architecture. Meanwhile, in the south, it''s a combination of Xudonian and Muwinian-Iklasian architecture. And in the case of Latif City, technically, there is no central region in Muwin. Kulerga, where Latif City is located, is positioned between the northern and southern regions of Muwin. Nathan resumed walking. And just after two houses down the road, it was finally his house, or to be precise, his parents'' house. It was surrounded by walls about 6ft tall with sharp glass shards on top and had two green gates -- a small and big one. Just like Karen''s house, there was also a signboard that read: Accepting Female Tenants Only. Please Inquire Inside. ''Hmm... I wasn''t expecting this. Isn''t father still in the force and my mother selling beauty products? I''m also sending some money every month...'' ''Well, I guess it''s because it can be lonely...'' He went over to the small gate and tried pushing it. Brrr¡­ ''Hmm... not locked...'' ''Maybe my parents were able to escape¡­?'' "Kid, this is my house," he said before pushing the gate even further and then entering. In front of the house, there was a garden of vegetables on the left side and a mango tree on the right side. There was also a pot of plants on the way to the front door. Meanwhile, the house itself was a one-story building and its design was an average north Muwinian house. He looked at the side and thought, ''My father''s motorcycle isn''t here¡­'' The front door and the windows were closed. He went to the front door and grabbed the doorknob. Ku-chud! It was locked. "Mother? Father? Anyone here?" Thud! It sounded like someone or something behind him was dropped. When he turned around to see what it was, he saw Zita lying on the ground. He rushed over and held her in his arms. Pat. Pat. "Kid," he said as he patted her cheeks. She was unconscious. On top of that, she was cold as ice and sweating like buckets that her clothes were so wet. "Kid." Pat. Pat. She didn''t answer. He carried her to the front door and kicked it open. Bam! Inside, the first part of the house was the living room. He didn''t bother removing his shoes as he stepped inside and he headed straight to the sofas. He let Zita lie down at the largest sofas and then patted her cheek once again. Pat. Pat. "Kid." She still wasn''t responding. ''Her skin is red from the sun¡­'' ''She''s so cold¡­'' ''But clothes are wet from perspiration...'' ''Perhaps she was bitten?'' He tried to check if she had any bite marks. ''I can''t find any¡­'' ''No¡­ even if she healed her wounds with the System Potions, she can''t be infected because it takes about an hour for a person infected by the zombie virus to turn into a zombie. And most importantly, she should be burning with a fever, not freezing.'' Thanks to the "experiments" he did at the first few days of the zombie apocalypse back at Womania, he definitely knew what the symptoms are. ''What am I supposed to do? I''ve already brought her this far and this is her performance? Everyone has the System and isn''t she supposed to be a Chosen One? So her base VIT should be high. It''s one problem after another with this kid¡­'' Images of what he did back in Corn Town flashed inside his head. He closed his eyes shook his head. ''F.u.c.k! Get out of my head!'' He opened his eyes. ''I need to think of something¡­'' He stared at her face and noticed something. ''Hmm¡­ I wasn''t able to notice before because her skin was red from the sun''s rays but her lips look a little pale¡­'' ''Could it be¡­?'' ''I mean, yeah, she lost a lot of blood from that training I did to her and the Healing Potions can''t replenish the blood that was lost. Also, it''s her first time here in Muwin and she''s white so she''s most likely not used to the climate here. But to counter those two things, I made sure to feed her and always kept her hydrated¡­ ''Maybe she''s just helplessly useless?'' Unfortunately, if Nathan had at least even just half a brain, he would quickly realize that despite the fact that the System allows humans to reach superhuman feats, by the end of the day, Zita was still a child. She doesn''t have the kind of mental fortitude that a.d.u.l.ts have. ''Hmm¡­ I have some tablets here for fever but I don''t know how to forcefully feed it to an unconscious person. And given that she''s still a kid, she might choke or something¡­'' He massaged his forehead. ''Ugh¡­ This is giving me a headache¡­ Think¡­ Think¡­ Thi--'' He stopped massaging his forehead. ''The potions!'' He summoned a [Small] Healing Potion and then slid his hand behind her head and lifted it as he poured the potion into her mouth. "Kid, wake up and drink this." After she had a few sips of the potion, some of the redness of her skin dissipated but her body was still cold. She was also still sweating and her lips remained a little pale. However, she managed to open her eyes just a little and mumbled weakly, "Smamak¡­?" Nathan squinted his eyes. "Drink more, kid," He let her finish the rest of the potion. It was the same -- it only helped in reducing the redness of her skin. Meanwhile, the coldness of her skin, the sweating and her somewhat pale lips remained. ''It seems the healing potion isn''t working that much....'' ''It is for curing wounds after all, not fever or sickness...'' He summoned another potion. This time it was the [Antidote]. "Drink this, kid," he said as he let her drink it. Her coldness and sweating stopped, but the color of her lips remained the same. She slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar environment, she was confused. "How are you feeling, kid?" She turned at Nathan and said, "Mister?" "You collapsed, kid." Hearing what he said, she immediately tried to sit up and said, "I''m fine, mister. And I''m sorry I --" Nathan helped her sit down but cut her off, "Don''t worry. It''s okay, it''s okay. You have nothing to apologize for. Rest here for a while. You don''t have to force yourself. But first, you have to change. Your clothes are so wet." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Marc_Gaborieau ? ratking ? Pillastre ? Swiftescape ? darklord12332 ? Naufal_Arc ? June_Daybreak ? William_Shore ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Heartfilia21 ? Viwnsncie ? YeOldeDaoist ? LoliHunter420XX ? YASDASKAFRZ ? Alex_Simms ? Maria_Diez ? Virenrajj ? This_Deity ? PSYcho_72 ? LickSuckEatMyBut To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 49 - 53 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 175 - Latif City (2) "Don''t worry. It''s okay, it''s okay. You have nothing to apologize for. Rest here for a while. You don''t have to force yourself. But first, you have to change. Your clothes are wet," said Nathan. Although Zita didn''t say anything but based on her expression, he could clearly see that she was depressed about what had happened. In her mind, ever since she started traveling with Nathan, she kept on struggling to keep up. And just when she thought she was finally able to, she collapsed, destroying the confidence she built. Nathan scratched his nose and then said, "I''m going to check around the house to see if there''s anything dangerous. In the meantime, you change clothes. You do still have clothes with you, right?" "I have a pair of u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and sports bra left inside my spatial bag¡­" "I see. Here," Nathan said and summoned some of her clothes from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. Because the space inside the [Grade D] Spatial Bag was only 30" x 50", Nathan had to carry some of her things for her. "Also," he summoned a face towel and alcohol, "wipe yourself with alcohol using this face towel. You can do that, right?" "Yes." "And make sure not to wipe or wash your face with alcohol. It''s bad for the skin. You''re growing a lady. Just use water." "Okay." "Good. I''ll go check around. Remember, if someone else comes, whoever it is, as long as it''s not me or I''m not with them, even if he/she says claims that they know me, don''t you dare trust them and hit them right away like you''re going to kill them. If they''re still alive after you hit them, good, you can ask them questions. If they''re dead, well, then they can only curse their own luck for being so weak. Do you understand me?" "Yes." "Make sure to always put around some Bolts lying near you." "Yes, I will." "Now." Zita summoned some Normal Bolts from her spatial bag. "Don''t put them together. Spread them all over." She used [Lift] and scattered them around the living room. Call Nathan paranoid, but to him, it was always better to be prepared than sorry. And given the performance she has shown him so far, he wasn''t taking any chances. *** Nathan decided to check the rooms first and was headed to his room. Aside from the living room, a bathroom, and the kitchen and dining room which were merged together, the house had 3 other rooms -- his parents'' room, his room and the storage room. He sniffed. The smell that he grew up with was still there and it reminded him of many memories. ''Even after 3 years, the smell hasn''t changed¡­'' He arrived in front of his room and the door was closed. Ku-chud! It was locked. Kraaag! When the door opened, the first thing that greeted him was the smell. It smelled of a woman''s perfume. It was a bit too sweet for his nose that he rubbed his nose to stop himself from sneezing. He squinted his eyes before entering. Upon entering, he was surprised to see that it didn''t look anything like his room. On the side where his bed used to be, there was a double-deck bed. And based on the blankets, bedsheets and pillowcases, they were that of a female''s taste. He looked at the desk. There were also some books and papers suggesting that whoever lived here is or are college students. He then recalled the signboard he saw earlier posted outside the gate: Accepting Female Tenants Only. Please Inquire Inside. ''This is no longer my room. No point in staying any longer¡­'' He left the room and proceeded to check his parents'' room. Unlike his former room, his parents'' room wasn''t locked and the door was left opened so he entered. Ka-cha! Upon entering, he was greeted with a nostalgic scent and it made him feel a little uneasy, causing him to smile. Although he grew up inside this house, his parents'' room was a part of the house he rarely went inside to because of his father. His father didn''t want him to come and play inside here because this is where he keeps his handgun whenever he was off-duty. And of course, he wasn''t allowed to play with the rifle as well. If he was ever caught playing with it, even just with the box, he would get a slap in the head from his father. He swept his gaze around the room. Some of the drawers were pulled open and there were clothes and bags of different sizes lying on the floor and on the bed. ''Looks like they were in a rush when they left¡­'' ''This doesn''t look like a robbery. If it was, my former room wouldn''t be locked and it would''ve been left like this as well. And I also don''t see any blood stains or destruction¡­'' ''At least I know they were still alive when they left¡­'' ''The question now is where did they go¡­'' ''I still have to check the storage room though. Maybe I can find clues there or something¡­'' Ka-cha! He opened the door and entered. There were many cardboard boxes filled with memories of this house. He also saw the steel case where his father used to keep the rifle was open. And its locked was opened using a key. ''My parents were definitely alive when they left¡­'' ''Again, the question is where did they go¡­'' ''I don''t even know if we have a Government Shelter like in Womania¡­'' ''My best bet, for now, is the public schools and the sports center stadiums. There''s the public college, Latif State University''s Campus 1, and the high school I went to, Latif High School, both of which are nearby...'' ''And there''s the sports center stadium, Brown Sports Complex, next to Latif High School¡­'' ''If I can''t find anyone there, I hope I can encounter someone to ask for information¡­'' He left the storage room and returned to the living room where Zita was. *** Zita was already done wiping herself and changing her clothes. She was currently looking at the pictures posted on the wall. There was a picture of Nathan when he graduated kindergarten, a picture of when he graduated elementary, a picture when he graduated high school, and lastly, a picture of him graduating from college. ''I didn''t know mister used to have long hair.'' In the photo where Nathan graduated from college, he had long hair and it was tied in a knot. As for Zita''s hair, it''s icy blonde and the length was right below her shoulders but she tied it in a ponytail so that it doesn''t bother her when she''s fighting. Zita noticed that there were also pictures of two other people, a man and a woman. The man was in a police uniform while the woman was in civilian clothing. She concluded that they were Nathan''s parents because there was a picture of the 3 of them together and in that photo they looked old enough to be his parents. "Kid." She turned to him. "I''m going out to check if there''s a Government Shelter nearby. You stay here in the meantime to recover. You still have some food with you and also Healing Potions and an Antidote, right?" Zita''s faced immediately became worried and she said, "Mister, please don''t leave me. I''m okay already. I can go with you." "No, you can''t." She ran to him, grabbed his hand and begged, "Please, mister, I promise I''m okay. Please don''t leave me." Nathan let out a sigh inside his head before putting on a very kind and warm expression and kneeling down. He softly c.a.r.e.s.sed the side of her head and said, "Zita, you don''t have anything to worry about. I''m not going to abandon you or anything. I promise you that." Poke. He poked her nose with his finger and continued, "It''s just that you really need to rest." "But --" "No buts. You know what, I don''t mean to scold you or anything but do you realize how know how lucky we were? This may sound cold but I''m so thankful that you didn''t collapse during a fight. Just imagine how dangerous it would''ve been if we encountered a group of enemies and in the middle of the battle you collapsed?" Zita held her head down in silence and her expression told him everything she was thinking. "Look, I mentioned to you before that you and I are partners and that there will be times that I won''t be able to shoulder all of the responsibilities so I''m going to need you to learn how to pull your own weight, right?" "..." He raised her chin and said, "Right?" She looked into his eyes and replied, "Yes¡­" "However, I think you didn''t fully understand what I meant when I said those things." "..." "You see, being partners, we should communicate, we should be aware of each other''s health, feelings, etc. What happened today can''t happen again. If one of us isn''t feeling well, we should talk about it or else it would affect our performance, or worse, even cost us our lives. I really just can''t stress how lucky we were today. I mean, yes, it was unfortunate that you collapsed and I feel so bad about it that my heart aches every time I think about it but we were so lucky you didn''t collapse while we were fighting." "..." "Keep in mind we are in a zombie apocalypse and everywhere we go is filled with dangers so it''s very important to keep ourselves in our best condition at all times. And the best way to do that is we communicate with each other, be honest with each other. So if you''re not feeling well, like you have a headache, stomachache or whatever ache-ache that is -- even if you''re infected with the zombie virus, tell me, because I will help you. And if I''m not feeling well, I will also tell you. " "..." "So please, don''t be afraid to tell me if you''re not feeling well." "Mister, you can also help someone who is infected with the zombie virus?" "Ah..." he said thought, ''Dammit. I slipped there. This is why I hate talking too much. Shit, how am I supposed to escape from this? Shit, shit, shit! F.u.c.k me sideways!'' and continued, "Um¡­ I¡­ Just know that I can help you in case you get infected with the zombie virus. However, the price isn''t cheap because it will cost me my life and I will become very weak and I can only do it once. So it''s kinda like a last resort thing. So if possible please be careful not to be infected." "So Chosen Ones can cure people infected with the zombie virus?" she said and then thought her smommyk who turned into a zombie. ''Why do I feel like I''m only digging a deeper hole here?'' he thought. "No, it''s not like that. It''s just that I have a special power that only I can do." "Can you cure my smommyk who turned into a zombie?" "Sorry no. It only works on people who have yet to transform into a zombie. Once they become a zombie, I can''t do anything with that anymore." Hearing what Nathan said, she felt heartbroken and then said, "Okay¡­" ''I think that went well,'' he thought and then stood up. He patted her head and said, "So now that you understand things, I have to go now check if there''s a Government Shelter nearby. I''ll be back right away. About an hour. I promise. You stay here in the meantime to recover." "Okay, I will wait for you to come back, mister." "Good girl." "..." "And given that the front door is broken, once I leave, be sure to close it and block it with something. Like this sofa," he pointed at one of the sofas in the living room. "I will lock the gate once I leave." "Okay." "And also, remember what I said earlier: if someone else comes, whoever it is, as long as it''s not me or I''m not with them, even if he/she says claims that they know me, don''t you dare trust them and hit them right away like you''re going to kill them. If they''re still alive after you hit them, good, you can ask them questions. If they''re dead, well, then they can only curse their own luck for being so weak. And don''t forget to scatter Bolts or anything that you can use to kill around the house in case someone else besides me comes." "Mister, what if it''s your parents?" "My parents?" Nathan said and raised an eyebrow. "These people on the picture. They are your parents, right?" Zita said and pointed at one of the pictures hanging on the wall. Nathan turned to the wall where the pictures were hanged. "Ah right," he said and then thought, ''I didn''t notice those pictures when I came here. I totally forgot about that those are plastered there.'' He turned back to her and said, "Of course. If it''s them, don''t hurt them." Zita smiled sweetly, knowing that she was able to "contribute" to the discussion. "However, if you notice something odd about them or they''re with someone suspicious, just hide, don''t reveal yourself to them. But if they already noticed you and things get nasty, always prioritize your safety, kid." Zita knitted her brows and said, "Mister, I don''t understand." "Just know that sometimes things can get¡­ a little complicated. And if you find yourself in such situation, it''s best to prioritize your own safety. No one can blame you. Even I won''t blame you. Just know that we only have one life and you''re a Chosen One. If I were you, I''d rather be the aggressor than the victim. Think about that while I''m gone." Zita was still wearing a confused expression and answered, "Okay." "By the way, you still have some food with you, right? Don''t eat too much and take it easy with the candies and junk food. Once I come back I''m going to cook you something, okay?" "Okay." "Also, don''t forget to lock the back door." "Okay." When Nathan exited the house, Zita closed the front door and blocked it with a sofa. Nathan locked the gate from inside and activated [Coward''s Way] before climbing over outside the wall. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 49 - 53 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 176 - Latif City (3) The sky started to become gloomy once again. Meanwhile, down on earth, the scars inflicted by the zombie apocalypse seem to mirror its gloomy atmosphere. The streets were devoid of life save for the zombies and their occasional roars. In addition to that were the abandoned vehicles, half-broken and looted buildings, and trash lying on the ground. Bam! An abandoned car made a loud noise as if it was stepped by something heavy, causing a few nearby zombies to turn in its direction. Unfortunately, they couldn''t see anything out of the ordinary so they chose to ignore it. Of course, the "thing" that caused that loud noise was Nathan. He was invisible and running at full speed, on his way to where Latif High School, Latif State University Campus 1 and Brown Sports Complex were located. His first stop was Latif High School because it was the closest. ''My God, the feeling between traveling alone invisible versus traveling with someone without invisibility just can''t be compared¡­'' ''Traveling alone with invisibility is just more free and relaxed¡­'' ''I literally have nothing to worry about¡­'' ''I really miss this feeling¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I hope that kid''s really worth it when the time comes we need to enter the Divine Tower¡­'' A few minutes later¡­ Nathan was standing in front of the main gate of Latif High School. The school had 3 gates and each gate was divided into two sections -- a larger gate for vehicles and a smaller gate for people. The first gate or main gate is where people can enter and exit the campus. But for vehicles, it''s only used for entering. The second gate is used for vehicles to exit. And lastly, the third gate, it''s where people can enter and exit the campus. But for the vehicles, only school vehicles and special guests are allowed. ''Hmph! My alma mater¡­'' The gates were left opened and he entered. He entered the Main Building first but didn''t bother to check the rooms. Instead, he went through it to see what''s behind. And what''s behind the Main Building is¡­ To the West were the Trinitian Chapel and the Juniors Building. To the East the Gym, Clinic and Sophomores Building. To the South were the Canteen and Freshmen Building. And in the middle were the ball field used for football and softball games, and an open-air basketball court used for basketball and volleyball. There were also bleachers on the sides. Nathan swept his gaze around the area. There were about 12 zombies loitering around the ball field. ''Doesn''t look like it was used as an evacuation shelter¡­'' ''The ball field is empty and its grass is unkempt¡­'' ''Well, aside from the unkempt grass, it looks like nothing much has changed ever since I graduated from here¡­'' ''God, I feel old¡­'' ''Is this what it''s like to visit the school that graduated from?'' ''I mean, I never bothered to pay a visit to the schools I''ve graduated from except for getting a transcript¡­'' He shook his head. ''What the f.u.c.k is wrong with me? Why am I getting all sentimental all of a sudden? There are many far more important things I have to deal with right now.'' ''Anyways, back to the reason why I came here in the first place. Just to be sure, I have to check the rooms...'' ''Who knows, I might find a person or two camping here¡­'' He searched around. Nathan was invisible and walking along the corridors of the Sophomores Building on the second floor. Up ahead, there was an S1 zombie standing in the middle of the corridor. He casually went up to it and summoned a [Grade D] Kris Sword. Whooosh! Thud! Thud! The head of the S2 fell from its body and rolled over the floor. Nathan immediately activated [Coward''s Way] and summoned back his sword into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before resuming his search. He didn''t bother extracting its nucleus. ''Hmm?'' He stopped because he noticed something inside one of the classrooms. ''Let''s see.'' He entered the classroom. Inside, there was a makeshift tent made out of blankets and had two mattresses and pillows inside. There were also and some empty bottles, pots, canned goods, wrappers and other things like used batteries, a broken rechargeable lamp and touchpad, and etc. on the side. He approached the tent and crouched down. His eyes wandered around before he noticed a print on the blankets, mattresses and pillows. Property of Latif High School Clinic. ''When I checked the clinic earlier, it was ransacked and there were a few missing items. So this is where they went¡­'' He summoned a [Grade D] Long Dagger from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and used it like a stick. ''No bloodstains or any forced entry that could suggest there was a struggle¡­'' ''However, it looks like whoever was or were camping here left for good¡­'' ''The only thing worth using here are the blankets, mattresses and pillows¡­'' ''But who knows what kind of disgusting people used them¡­'' He summoned back his dagger, got up and then resumed checking the rest of the buildings. 20 minutes later¡­ Nathan stepped out of the Freshmen Building. It was the last and final building of the campus. ''There''s no one¡­'' ''Back at the Chapel and two classrooms at the Sophomores Building I was able to find some sign of human habitation but they looked like the people who lived there left for good¡­'' ''There was no bloodstains or any sign of struggle or a battle whatsoever¡­'' ''No point in staying here any longer...'' ''On to the next location¡­'' He left Latif High School and went to Latif State University Campus 1 which was just next door. *** Nathan was walking along the hallway of one of the buildings in Latif State University Campus 1. He didn''t attend college here and it was also his first time here so he didn''t know the layout of the campus and which building is which. Nevertheless, he decided to check them¡­ His eyes wandered around as he passed by the classrooms. ''Look cheap¡­'' ''Not all classrooms have an air-con¡­'' ''What the f.u.c.k¡­ They''re still using wooden chairs here?'' He felt pity for the people here. ''Well, it is a public college after all and the tuition fee is free here¡­'' ''So I guess it''s understandable¡­'' ''But still¡­'' ''I mean, I can understand the not having an air-con, only ceiling and electric fans. But wooden chairs full of vandals and so worn out that they looked like they going to break in any second? Seriously? If they can''t even afford those plastic chairs, can''t they at least repaint them?'' He shook his head and thought, ''Corruption at its finest¡­'' 30 minutes later¡­ Nathan exited a building. ''This is the last building here in this school¡­'' ''It''s just like back at my alma mater¡­'' ''Just zombies and abandoned makeshift camps...'' ''But at least I was able to find some medicine and vitamins at this school''s clinic¡­'' ''I already have a lot of medicine with me but no vitamins. It''s better to have more than less, especially with that kid with me¡­'' Rain began pouring from the sky. Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! ''Hmph¡­ Great. Just my luck! Thank you, Lady Luck. You really love me¡­'' ''I''m going to get wet and my invisibility would be useless under the rain¡­'' An image of Zita collapsing flashed inside his head. ''I hope that kid would not be too stupid to relax because it''s raining¡­'' ''She doesn''t have invisibility and it makes it harder to detect sounds because of all the noise that the rain is making¡­'' He shook his head. ''No point in worrying about that¡­'' ''If she can''t even survive if something like that happens then that''s her fault¡­'' ''Time to check the last location -- Brown Sports Complex¡­'' Brown Sports Complex was closer to Latif High School. However, between the Brown Sports Complex and Latif State University Campus 1, the latter was closer to Latif High School. ''Sigh¡­ Please, please, please, let me finally find some good news or anything useful¡­'' *** The rain continued pouring when Nathan arrived in front of the Brown Sports Complex. Although he was invisible, the rain pouring down on him gave his location away, making him look like a 2.2m-tall silhouette of a man. Because of this, he had to kill the zombies he encountered along the way just to be sure. He swept his gaze at the gates of the building. They were large steel pipes -- some were as large as an a.d.u.l.t''s forearm while the others were as large as an a.d.u.l.t''s t.h.i.g.h. Even the D2 zombie who had 62 points on STR and Nathan himself with 70 (+5) would have a hard time breaking them. The Brown Sports Complex is actually an indoor basketball court. However, it''s also used as a volleyball court, cheer dance competition, martial arts competition, mini-concerts and many more. ''The main gate is locked¡­'' He decided to check the other gates. After one minute¡­ ''All the gates are locked¡­'' ''In addition to that, all the passageways are suspiciously covered with boxes and tarpaulin. Normally, those passageways give outsiders a peek of what''s happening inside¡­'' Growing up, Nathan watched some of the events held at the Brown Sports Complex. Some were for school requirements while others were for entertainment. He also used to pass by this building because there were many street food stalls near the area. There was also a public swimming pool, football field, race track, tennis court and gym nearby, and not to mention the two schools -- Latif State University Campus 1 and Latif High School. Because of these things, the street food stalls here were actually pretty good, making it a great place for buying cheap but tasty snacks and also a popular dating spot for students and people who don''t want or can''t spend that much. And of course, he, Karen, Vincent and Nikki also used to spend some time here as well. ''There only two ways I can enter -- either find a thin wall and destroy it, or climb over to the rooftop and find a passageway or make one¡­'' ''I''ll try to check if there''s a thin wall first¡­'' He circled around the building. He found a back door and grabbed the doorknob. Ku-chud! ''Of course, it''s locked¡­'' He summoned a dagger from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and destroyed the lock. Krang! He pushed the door. Thud! The door only managed to nudge a few centimeters. Tsk! He was about to forcefully open it but stopped. Although it was raining so it was noisy, if he forcefully pushes it open, it could still make a loud noise which could attract unnecessary attention which he didn''t want to. Also, what if his parents and relatives: Amir''s father, mother and sister are here? He didn''t want to cause them any trouble. ''No choice but to climb¡­'' He circled around the building once more to find an ideal spot for climbing. He found it and he immediately started climbing. When he got to the rooftop, he found a couple of things that caused his lips to curl up into a smile. There were empty cans, bottles of beverages, buckets and folding chairs. ''There''s really people here.'' He saw a door and grabbed its doorknob. Ka-cha! It wasn''t locked. He entered and found a staircase leading downwards to another door. He closed the door behind him before climbing down the stairs and opened the other door. Ka-cha! He found himself inside a booth where the announcers and technical staff will be stationed. It was on the top floor, giving them an overlooking view of everything happening at the basketball court. He approached the windows to see if there were really people inside this sports complex. When he reached the window, his eyes became wide like saucers. "What the f.u.c.k¡­?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? ratking ? Swiftescape ? Naufal_Arc ? darklord12332 ? Muman125 ? PSYcho_72 ? ShinGreyrad ? Pillastre ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Ramvox ? PSYcho_72 ? Maria_Diez ? Maou_Sama_1774 ? Elizabeth_P ? ThatMaskedWarrior ? K_Out To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 54 - 58 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 177 - Sports Complex "What the f.u.c.k¡­?" Nathan said as he looked through the window from the booth. Down below at the basketball court, there were tents and other things moved to the corners. And in the middle, there was a group of corpses, humans and zombies, shaped into a "Y" formation. As a brown-skinned Asian who was born and raised in Asia and given that this "Y" formation was made here in Muwin and during the zombie apocalypse that was unleashed by the being claiming to be God, Nathan concluded that this formation made up of corpses represented the holy symbol of the Trinitian religion, the holy trinity -- Pater (the main god or something like a creator), Filius (the being who revealed himself to the Prophet Amos), and Telum (something like the will of Pater). Images of what happened in Corn Town flashed inside his head, causing his knees to go weak and take a few steps backward as he covered his face with his hand. He stared down at the floor. His eyes peeking between his fingers. And a voice started speaking inside his head. ''You''ve failed once again¡­'' ''You really are useless, aren''t you¡­?'' ''Shut up.'' ''Well, it''s really not a surprise as all. You''ve always been useless whenever it counts¡­'' ''Shut up!'' ''What are you going to do this time? Kill everyone? Oh wait, there''s no one to kill. Or are you going burn down the whole city this time?'' "I SAID SHUT UP!" The voice stopped and he shook his head. ''I won''t accept this.'' ''I refuse to.'' ''I mean, if I really think about it, although my parents aren''t super religious, their religion is Iklasian, not Trinitian.'' ''And plus, when that being claiming to be God revealed itself, He didn''t say what specify what religion he came from.'' ''He only revealed himself to unleash this zombie apocalypse.'' ''So there''s absolutely no way my parents are there, let alone join in something like that.'' ''Also, it''s not like this is the only place survivors could seek shelter from the zombie threat.'' ''Yes, yes, yes¡­'' ''Very correct¡­'' ''That''s definitely an excellent logical explanation¡­'' ''It truly is.'' Satisfied with the answer he gave himself, he resumed his calm composure. ''I still have to go down and check for clues.'' ''Ever since I arrived here in Muwin, they are the first human bodies I''ve seen.'' He went to the door leading down to the basketball court. *** Outside on one of the corners where the tents were located. There was a topless man humming to himself while barbecuing a large piece of meat on a [Grade D] Spear that he used as a skewer. "Hmm~ Hmhmhmm~ Hmm~" Aside from the pair of pants he was wearing, he had System items on. He had a [Grade D] Earring, Tribal Sparrow Tattoo, Armband and Leg Bracelet. Meanwhile, for his System Accessories, he was wearing two [Grade D] Rings and a [Grade C] Amulet. He noticed that the meat that was facing the fire seemed to be cook already so he twisted the skewer, flipping the meat on the other side. Psss¡­ Juice from the meat dripped to the firewood and made sizling sounds. He grabbed a knife and sliced a small piece from the side of the meat that seemed already cooked. He placed the sliced piece of meat inside his mouth and chew. ''Hmm¡­ Not bad. But the meat is indeed chewier compared to the meat of the N1 and especially the S1, M1 and¡­'' He looked at the side where there were a bunch of chopped and carved up corpses, both human and zombies, piled up together, forming the shape of a "Y" formation. There was also some meat on the corner that he personally set aside and hanged to be consumed in the future. ''...human.'' He sliced off another piece of meat and then chew it inside his mouth. ''Hmm¡­ At least the good part is that although I already ran out of rice, the D1 has so much meat¡­'' He continued chewing. ''But it really is chewy though.'' ''This is going to make my gums sore.'' ''Hmm¡­ I wonder if the D2''s meat is harder.'' He smiled and shook his head. ''Of course, it''s harder. Why wouldn''t it be?'' ''I just need to make sure to increase my STR with the help of the System items when I get the chance to try D2 meat.'' Gulp! He swallowed the meat. ''But I have to say, out of all the meat I''ve tried, human meat was the best, especially if it''s a young woman¡­'' He thought about one of the corpses he kept inside the tent. He licked his lips and thought, ''Well, it would be a waste to destroy that s.e.x toy but carving a little meat won''t be too bad, right?'' ''Maybe just one b.r.e.a.s.t? The fats on that part of the body taste really good, especially if it''s fried.'' ''Wait, do I still have cooking oil?'' ''Whatever, I''ll play with her body one last time before cutting it.'' He was about to touch himself when suddenly someone behind him spoke in Regisian. "Looks like you''re cooking something nice." *** Nathan was looking at the large piece of meat skewered on a spear and being barbecued by the topless man. ''Hmm¡­ He looks like around his early 30s¡­'' ''And that meat¡­ Looks like a t.h.i.g.h of¡­'' He looked at the pile of chopped and carved up human and zombie corpses and also noticed the meat that was hung on the side. He returned his gaze at the man and the meat being barbecued. ''Heh~ What an interesting diet.'' Back in Womania, during the first few days of the zombie apocalypse and he was conducting his "experiments" to see what extent can a person catch the zombie virus, one of the things he tried was feeding the participants zombie meat, both raw and cooked. The topless man got up and turned to him before asking in Muwinian, "You! How did you get inside?!" Hearing what the topless man said, Nathan couldn''t help but smile and thought, ''Oh, I forgot. This isn''t Womania. I don''t need to speak Regisian anymore¡­'' ''And his accent, I never thought I''d be happy to hear a real Muwinian accent¡­'' Based on the man''s accent, Nathan concluded he was in the lower-middle class. The topless man made a quick review about Nathan''s appearance as well. He was surprised to see that the person was 2.2m-tall (or around 7''2"). In Muwin, the average height of males is 5''6" and the women is 5''4". He was 5''7" himself. And although everyone has the System so height and weight don''t really matter that much anymore, he still couldn''t help but be a little intimidated by Nathan''s height. He also couldn''t help but notice Nathan''s "costume". Unfortunately, the man wasn''t aware that some countries had different drops. Because of this, he concluded that he was one of those weaboos. Furthermore, he noticed that Nathan wasn''t carrying any weapons or bag. ''This kid, should I take him out with just my spell or¡­ No, given that he came up to me without any weapons means he has something he''s confident about. In these dark times, no one in their right mind would approach a complete stranger unarmed. Yeah, he really must have something and I can''t take any chances,'' he thought and his eyes wandered around to search for his weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon. Aside from the knife he used for cooking, the rest of his weapons, both System and non-System were inside the tent. Nathan''s smile became wider and he replied in Muwinian, "Don''t even think about it. You''re the first person I''ve met since I''ve arrived here. So as much as possible I don''t want any bloodshed. I just want information. That''s all." ''But of course, if I find out that you have done anything wrong against my parents or relatives, well¡­'' he thought. When the man heard Nathan''s accent, he couldn''t help but notice that although it sounded a little stiff, he was no doubt a native speaker. He also noticed that he sounded like someone who came from a lower-middle class background. Unlike in the West, Asian societies have this unspoken strict social hierarchy or caste system which is mostly determined by two things: economic status and age. ''You just want information? Hmph! Does this weaboo take me as a fool? And why did he spoke in Regisian earlier? Is he one of those self-hating Muwinians who thinks speaking in Regisian could mask his poor background?'' the topless man thought. In regards to brown-skinned Asian countries, another strange thing about their societies is that there are some natives who would rather speak in Regisian or any foreign language that''s currently popular in the mainstream media to boost their "social status" or something like to brag about their intelligence. As a matter of fact, whenever two people with such mindsets will argue, they would suddenly speak in Regisian. It''s really weird. And here in Muwin, such people are commonly found in the northern region, especially among Muwinian-Trinitians. The topless man appeared to relax and then flashed a friendly smile before answering, "Information? If that''s all you want, then I don''t mind telling you everything you want to know. I too don''t want any bloodshed as well. But can I go to my tent to wear proper clothes, and also get an extra plate, glass and food for you? It''s been a while since I''ve talked to a new person and I want to at least give you a proper welcome." Nathan didn''t say anything and continued wearing a big smile on his face. "It''s just inside that tent over there. It will only take a second," the topless man said and pointed. Nathan''s eyes glanced at the tent that the topless man was pointing. The tent''s door was half-opened so he couldn''t see that much what''s inside. "Sure, no problem." "Thank you," the topless man said with a very kind smile as he gave a quick slight bow before heading to the tent. And just right after he turned his against Nathan¡­ Suuup! "Ugh!" the topless man g.r.o.a.n.e.d and felt like something went through his c.h.e.s.t from the back. He looked down. He saw a blade of a spear was protruding out of his c.h.e.s.t. Blood trickled down from his lips. He tried to turn around so that he can break the spear or something and then throw a spell. However, before he could even do it, he was lifted above the ground. "AHH!!!" he screamed in agony as his body slid a few inches down the spear''s bladd. "Didn''t I tell you not to even think about it?" Nathan said and sneered. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 54 - 58 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 178 - Sports Complex (2) "Didn''t I tell you not to even think about it?" Nathan said and grinned. The topless man was about to summon a spell but Nathan whipped him away from his [Grade D] Spear. Bam! The man crashed to the side. Nathan just stood and waited patiently for the man to get up. The man covered his wound with his palm as he got up and then stared at Nathan. ''Where did that weapon come from? I swear to God I didn''t see him carry any weapon. Is it a spell I''ve never seen before?'' Nathan rolled his eyes and then said, "Like I said, you''re the first person I''ve met since I''ve arrived here. So as much as possible I don''t want any bloodshed. I just want information. That''s all. So come here without any fuss and answer my questions. Not too close though. I don''t want to catch any diseases from you, thanks to your diet." ''This weaboo! I swear to God I will get you for this!'' he thought and then wore an expression that looked like he already admits defeat and would do what Nathan says before answering, "Okay. But sir, I have a hole in my body and I''m bleeding. I migh--" "Shut up and just do what I say or I''ll add another hole." The man slowly walked towards Nathan and stop about 3 meters away from him. "First of all, I will give you Healing Potions for your wound. But that''s only after you''re done answering my questions. So don''t even bother lying or else you will bleed to death by the time I''m satisfied with your answers." "Okay, sir..." "Do you know anyone by the name Nazul Mahkad and Nadia Mahkad?" The man shook his head and said, "No, sir." "Are you sure? Try to remember. Nazul Mahkad, my father, he looks like --" Nathan stopped and thought, ''Oh my God¡­ I just realized that I don''t have any pictures of my parents inside my wallet and I didn''t even bother to bring my wallet with me...'' ''I think I left it at my apartment at Cram City¡­?'' ''Well, putting aside the fact that I didn''t even bother to bring my wallet, the pictures of my parents at all at my phone and I threw it at Amir''s grave¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ Oh my God... Such an epic fail¡­'' ''No, no, no. Hold on. Do people even still carry pictures of their family in their wallet? I mean, who does that when there''s a smartphone and you can either just them on your phone or upload them on the internet?'' ''Yeah, yeah¡­ This isn''t my fault¡­'' ''But still¡­ I shouldn''t have thrown my phone back at Corn Town¡­'' Nathan continued, "--umm¡­ About Nazul Mahkad, my father, he looks like me but older. Around 50 years old. Normal build. But he''s also shorter than me. Maybe around 5''11". He''s a policeman with short hair, clean-cut, typical of police officers." "I don''t remember seeing someone like that." "Are you sure? Try to remember." "I really don''t remember, sir. I promise you. As God as my witness." "Where there any police officers here?" "Police officers? Uh... Yeah, there were two. One was a retired officer and was already 90 years old, while the other was still on the force but around 30 years old. Both of them male." "What about my mother Nadia Mahkad. Around 50 years old as well. Also normal build. Her height around 5''4". And you could say -- Ah never mind. Just tell me if her name rings a bell." "It doesn''t, sir. Sorry." Nathan squinted his eyes and studied the man''s face. ''He doesn''t look like he''s lying. Even the tone of his voice, I can''t pick up any subtle hints that he could be lying¡­'' ''But then again, this is Muwin, a brown-skinned Asian country. There are so many actors here¡­'' "What about --" Amir''s family also live in Latif City but they were in a different neighborhood. From his parents'' home to the house of Amir''s family, it would take 10-15 minutes to drive, depending on the traffic, or about an hour if he were to walk. Nevertheless, he needed to try. "-- a man named Abbas and Amira Fassad? They''re in their 50s, a good-looking couple and they look rich. Abbas is around 5''9" while Amira is 5''6". Although they''re Muwinians, they have a Western accent, Womanian to be exact." "Sorry, sir, their names don''t ring a bell either." "What about their daughter? Her name is Aena, around 21 years old, 5''5" tall, slim, and brown skin. She''s also beautiful. Also has a Western accent." "Sorry, sir --" "You''re really useless, aren''t you? Are you sure you''re not just bullshiting me?" Nathan coldly said. The man immediately started kowtowing a few times profusely as he said, "I''m very sorry, sir. I didn''t mean to. I swear to God. It''s just that the names and the description of the people that you mentioned just don''t ring any bells." "So it''s my fault now? Is that what you''re trying to say?" The man started kowtowing profusely once again as he said, "No, sir! I wouldn''t dare! It''s just that --" "Enough!" Nathan said and stared intently at the man''s face. ''Ugh¡­ This is such an epic fail¡­ Oh¡­ F.u.c.k me sideways¡­ I can''t tell anything. I seriously can''t. This is getting me nowhere¡­'' ''Oh, I almost forgot! I have pictures of my parents back at my parents'' house. Should I go back to my house and grabbed a picture there and show it to him?'' ''Ugh¡­ I feel lazy¡­ I don''t want to go back¡­'' ''And plus, this guy doesn''t seem like he''s lying¡­'' ''Wait! I know what to do.'' "That "Y" formation made up of corpses over there. You did that?" The man struggled to find an answer, "Uh¡­ That¡­" "Speak clearly." "There used to be around 300 people here seeking shelter. But they all gone crazy¡­" "Explain properly." "Sorry, sir," the man kowtowed and continued, "There were a lot of religious people here and they suddenly decided that it was God''s will to turn themselves into zombies or just commit suicide. They believe it''s what God wanted. You know, because God unleashed this zombie apocalypse. And they managed to convince the others to join with their idea." "Ha? What? How? Ah, never mind. So you''re the only survivor?" "No, there were others who didn''t want to take part in it and left immediately once things got a little... intense." "And what about you?" "I volunteered to be the last one and to make sure that I will pile up the bodies into the Trinitian symbol. I used to work in a funeral parlor so I managed to convince them¡­ somehow¡­" Nathan squinted his eyes. ''That last part. I can tell there''s more to that story he isn''t sharing. But it doesn''t matter. Nevertheless, I''m sure there''s no way my parents would be that crazy to join such a thing, especially my father. So the next is --'' The man''s face was becoming pale from his wound. He coughed and said weakly, "Sir, I think I''ve already lost a lot of blood. Can I heal myself now? You don''t have to give me any Healing Potions. I have some inside the tent." Nathan rolled his eyes and said, "Quit your drama. You''re not going to die from such a superficial wound. Or do you want me to add another hole right now?" The man didn''t say anything and only God knew what was going inside his head. "Are there Government Shelters here, like something set up by the government for civilians to seek shelter from the zombie threat?" "Government shelter? Yes, sir, I heard the government was setting a shelter at Fort Yano." "Fort Yano?" "Yes, sir, it''s --" "I know where it is. Only at Fort Yano? I mean, the only government shelter here in Kulerga is in Fort Yano, nothing in each city?" "It''s the only proper shelter I know of, sir. Of course, when the zombie apocalypse first happened, each city tried setting up their own shelters but that didn''t work -- as far as I know, sir." "Hmm¡­" "However, I''m not sure if Fort Yano still exists, sir. It''s been days since I heard anything from the smartphone and radio. Unfortunately, we don''t have access to electricity so I wasn''t able to charge my phone or any of the phones here and I also ran out of batteries for the radios." "Fort Yano, huh¡­" Nathan said as he massaged his growing goatee. Back at Divine Tower, the Chosen One Burning Fighting Fighter made showered him with [Fireballs], burning all of his hair and skin. Fortunately, there was the System Healing Potions or else it would''ve taken him weeks or possibly even months to recover from his wounds. But for his hair, especially his long hair, unfortunately, the Healing Potions can''t do anything with that. He had to grow them back naturally. "Sir, when the zombie apocalypse first happened, it was pure chaos. Some went to the police and government officials to ask for help, some locked themselves inside their homes, some left the city, and others decided to --" Nathan wasn''t listening as he was lost in his own thoughts. ''Hmm¡­ So I have to go to the military camp Fort Yano¡­'' ''Although I''ve never been there, I at least know where it is¡­'' ''It''s located near the mountains outside of Kelurga City and Nabe City¡­'' ''It''s another walking marathon¡­'' An image of an unconscious Zita flashed inside his head. ''I can''t travel tonight or else that kid might lose consciousness again¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ That kid is just one problem after another¡­'' ''I really hope she''s worth all this effort I''m giving¡­'' ''Oh shit, I forgot about my promise to that kid I will come back within an hour. I think it''s been almost 2 hours already¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ I have to go back¡­'' ''F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' ''And¡­'' He looked at the topless man who was still talking. "-- I remember what the person first came here, he was --" ''Hmm¡­ Although I suspect he wasn''t being completely honest with the Trinitian symbol made up of human and zombie corpses, he doesn''t seem to be lying about my parents and Amir''s family¡­'' ''If I can''t find them there at Fort Yano, I can only assume they''re dead¡­'' ''And after that, I''m going to the south region to see if my relatives there are okay¡­'' " -- then everything ended up like this," the man finally ended his story. "I see," Nathan said. "Sir, I''m already starting to get cold and I''m about to lose consciousness. Please let me heal my wound already¡­'' Nathan got up and then summoned two [Small] Healing Potions. "Thanks for the info," he said as he tossed the potions to the man before activating [Coward''s Way]. As for the man''s eating habits, he could care less about it. He had no intention of playing hero after all. As long a person doesn''t get in the way of his d.e.s.i.r.es, goals, etc., then everything is okay. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Rexxar1 ? Swiftescape ? Naufal_Arc ? Pillastre ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Rowan_3555 ? Cant_read ? Shikla ? DarkSchneider ? DururuXl ? Tincho_6287 ? Heartfilia21 ? LuizEduardo ? Tense_Beagle ? DaoistRCHEdV ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? Man_ish To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 59 - 68 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 179 - Waiting A couple of minutes later¡­ The sky stopped raining. Nathan and Zita were done cooking and currently seated at the table. "For now, let''s just stick spoon and fork," Nathan said and grabbed pair of spoon and fork. Thanks to the history of Muwin, the people in this country have two eating styles -- spoon and fork, and hands. "And plus, based on the dishes we prepared, spoon and fork is the ideal way." "Okay," Zita said and grabbed her spoon and fork as well. "Also, don''t forget to balance out your meals. Be sure not to skip the vegetables. You''re a growing lady after all. You need to eat vegetables for that beautiful skin." Zita''s eyes widened. She originally intended to stick with rice and the ground pork with vegetables only. "Mister --" "You''ve never eaten a Muwinian dish before, right? I''ll teach you how to eat this," Nathan said as he picked up the bowl of rice. "Okay¡­" she said dispiritedly. "First, you put some rice on your plate," he said and scooped some rice to his plate before putting the bowl down. "..." "Next," he grabbed the bowl of vegetable soup, "You add some soup and vegetables on your rice. Make sure you don''t add too much soup. Just enough to not make it watery." He put down the bowl of vegetable soup and then said, "You don''t need to crush the vegetables or mix them together if you don''t want to. In my case, I prefer not to. Unless it''s fried rice. Hmm¡­ I think I''ll cook fried rice tomorrow." She didn''t say anything and just stared at the small mountain of vegetables on Nathan''s plate. "Next," he grabbed the bowl of ground pork with vegetables and took two large scoops, "this here, take a few scoops and put them at the side. They are like -- Um¡­ How do I say this? Although this is the main dish, the way we brown-skinned Asians, especially Muwinians, eat this, well, I guess you could say they''re like appetizers to counter the tastelessness of the white rice. The same goes for the vegetables." "..." "Speaking of white rice, kid, don''t ever tell an Asian that you love eating fried rice over plain old white rice. If you want to be friends with Asians, tell them that a meal without white rice is not a real meal. Trust me, they will love you for that." "..." He placed down the bowl of ground pork with vegetables. "And then --" With the help of his fork, on his spoon was 50% rice, 25% was vegetables and 25% was ground pork. " -- this is how you eat it," he said and placed it inside his mouth. "..." "Got it?" "Yes¡­" "Now let''s eat. Come on, you really need it because you''re a growing lady." "Yes¡­" *** A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan was already finished eating and was drinking a glass of water. Zita, on the other hand, she already finished eating the rice and pork on her plate. However, she still had some vegetables remaining and she was struggling to finish them. He took a few sips before putting it down. "If you just did what I showed you earlier, you wouldn''t have that problem." Zita scooped a piece of vegetable with her spoon and placed it inside her mouth. Her face looked like she was about to cry and vomit at the same time as she chewed until finally swallowing it. Gulp. Nathan chuckled and said, "And plus, the colder the vegetable gets, the worse its tastes get." After he said that, he couldn''t help but smile as he recalled a memory of how his father trained him to eat vegetables. Just like most Asian kids, he too had to learn the hard way to eat vegetables. "Kid, let me tell you two techniques that I''ve learned on how to eat vegetables." "First technique: You can add more rice and meat. But if you''re already full, well, of course, this technique will be hard to pull off." "..." "The second technique: Now this one, it can be a little tricky to do and needs a little practice. You can swallow them in one go with the help of water. But be careful that you won''t vomit or choke." He remembered one time trying this technique and failed. He vomited all over the table. And of course, he got slapped in the head by his father. Zita''s face looked like she was just half-step from breaking into tears already. Nathan smiled and said, "So which technique do you prefer?" "Mister¡­ Huhu¡­ I''m already very full¡­ I can''t eat anymore¡­ Can I finish this later? Huhu¡­" "No, finish it." "Huhu¡­" She scooped a spoonful of vegetables, put it inside her mouth and then quickly drank water to push it down her throat. "Elk¡­" she made a choking sound and water dripped from her lips. She put down her glass and wiped the water and saliva that fell from her mouth and running down to her chin. Nathan let out a sigh and said, "Well, it is your first time eating a normal Muwinian dish and you''re still a kid. Don''t finish it." When she heard Nathan said that, the expression on her face brightened immediately and she put down her spoon and fork. "But next time you have to finish your meal whether you like it or not, okay?" The bright expression on her face immediately vanished. "And plus, do you know why despite having the System and having more than 30 points in VIT you still collapsed? It''s because you''re not healthy. I wonder what your parents have been feeding you. And you just kept eating the candies and junk food that I gave you. Having a proper diet is very important, especially during these dark times. What are you to do if you''re going to collapse again because of malnutrition and it will be in the middle of the fight? Call a timeout? Do you think the enemy, especially the zombies will stop? Has that possibility ever crossed your mind?" She held her head down and stared at the remaining vegetables on her plate. "Always remember to keep your body in top condition. Because even if you have the highest level, the best items and even the most powerful spell or skill, if you can''t perform well because your body isn''t in top condition then it''s all useless." Her eyes started to water and she sniffled. She grabbed her spoon and fork and was about to scoop another spoonful of vegetables. "You don''t have to eat that anymore. Any more of that and you''re going to vomit for sure." She stopped and looked at him. Nathan saw the tears gathering in her eyes. "Ugh¡­" he massaged his forehead for a moment and then looked at her, "I''m sorry for what I said. I truly am. Please forgive me. That was such a mean thing for me to say, especially about your parents. Again, I truly am sorry. Please forgive me. Um¡­ You can stop eating that already. Just go to the living room and play or something. I''ll wash the dishes." "Okay¡­" she said as she put down her spoon and fork and then stood up to leave. Nathan stared at her as she left her seat and head for the living room. ''Ugh¡­ F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' ''What I did, that was uncalled for¡­'' ''My God¡­ Ever since this zombie apocalypse has happened, my temper has been --'' ''Oh shit! I forgot that there''s no electricity and this kid is from a first-world country¡­'' ''And even if she''s one of those rare first-world kids who would rather go outside and play, it''s not like I can let her do that, not with the zombie threat and other things lurking around. Especially during the night¡­'' ''Reading a book with just an emergency light or candle is also out of the question. She would only destroy her eyes¡­'' "Kid, wait." Zita was already near the living room when she stopped and turned to him. "Um¡­ While I''m washing the dishes, can you maybe be cover the windows with blankets or something? Although there is a wall surrounding the house so people can''t see through the windows if there''s anyone inside even if we have the emergency lights on, it''s better to be safe than sorry. There''s got to be some blankets inside the rooms. Use the Bolts as nails. And take this flashlight with you. Thanks." Nathan summoned a flashlight and placed it on top of the table. "Okay," she said before grabbing the flashlight on the table using [Lift] and leaving. Nathan then proceeded to clean the table and wash the dishes. ''And come to think of it, I need to find a solar panel or generator or something¡­'' ''Yeah, I could find one at the local appliances shop¡­'' ''If not, there''s got to be a generator in the vulcanizing shops¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Rexxar1 ? Swiftescape ? Naufal_Arc ? Pillastre ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Rowan_3555 ? Cant_read ? Shikla ? DarkSchneider ? DururuXl ? Tincho_6287 ? Heartfilia21 ? LuizEduardo ? Tense_Beagle ? DaoistRCHEdV ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? Man_ish To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 59 - 68 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 181 - Waiting (3) Nathan just finished washing the dishes and was wiping his hands with a piece of cloth. After doing so, he went to the living room to see how Zita was doing. When he got there, he found her sitting at one of the sofas and playing with some Bolts. He swept his gaze at the windows. Each window was covered with two blankets and was nailed with Bolts. ''I guess it''ll do¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I never thought it would be this hard to travel with someone who doesn''t have invisibility, not to mention a little girl¡­'' ''Well, at least she did a good job with the windows¡­'' He went over to one of the sofas and sat down. "Good job with the windows. Did you also cover the ones inside the room?" "Yes." Nathan smiled and said, "Good." Zita went back to playing with the Bolts. Silence. A minute passed. Still silence. Nathan massaged his forehead. ''Ugh... This is awkward¡­'' ''I mean, last night we didn''t get to experience this because she left and then returned. And when she returned she immediately went to bed¡­'' ''And then at the helicopter, well, we talked about --'' He stopped massaging his forehead. ''Yeah, we can talk about the System.'' He was about to open his mouth but stopped. ''Wait! What else is there to talk about? I think we already covered everything back in the helicopter¡­'' ''I don''t want to be like a broken record¡­'' ''Okay, so what other things can we talk about aside from the System?'' ''Maybe about her family?'' ''No, no. I already messed up back at the dining table¡­'' ''I don''t want to remind this kid about her parents¡­'' ''How about playing cards?'' ''Ugh¡­ I don''t have any cards with me¡­'' ''And I don''t think there''s any cards here¡­'' ''But I think we have a chessboard here¡­'' ''Yeah, I remember we used to have a chessboard here¡­'' ''I will have to find it though...'' ''I just hope it''s still here and pieces are complete¡­'' "Kid, do you know how to play chess?" "No." "Checkers?" "No." Nathan didn''t say anything and just stared at her as he thought, ''Sigh¡­ Kids these days¡­'' "I''m sorry, mister..." "No, no, no. You have nothing to be sorry about. It''s okay. You''re a girl after all. It''s normal that you don''t know how to play chess or checkers." "..." "Wait here. I''ll go look for the chessboard. I''ll teach you once I get back. Be sure to keep your ears open for any sign of an intruder." "Okay." Nathan finally left to search for the chessboard. *** A couple of minutes later. Nathan was heading back to the living room with the chessboard on his hand. He found it under the bed of his parents. "Kid, come here. I''ll teach you how to play checkers first. It''s easier," he said as he sat down on the floor next to the coffee table. Zita put down the Bolts she was playing with, stood up and then sat opposite to him. "Can you bring the emergency lamp a bit closer?" he said and pointed. She turned to the emergency lamp that Nathan was pointing and moved it using her skill [Lift]. "Hmm... How about letting it hover on top of us? I mean, if that''s not stressful on you and it might fall or something," said Nathan. "It''s okay. As long as I don''t fall asleep, it will never fall," Zita said as she moved the emergency lamp and let it hover above them. "Okay, let me teach you how to play this game¡­" He started explaining the rules¡­ *** One game later¡­ Tap. Nathan captured the last piece of Zita''s units with a pawn. "Game over, kid." It was her first time playing this game, he didn''t make any of his pieces as "Kings". Zita didn''t say anything and her eyes were staring at the board, trying to remember everything that Nathan did. "Do you understand the game?" She raised her head and looked at him, "Yes, mister." "One more game?" "Yes!" "Okay, in the next game I''ll let you go first." *** The second game later¡­ Tap. "Game over, kid." Just like the previous game, Nathan won and didn''t make any of his pieces as "Kings." Also, Zita was again staring at the chessboard, trying to remember everything that Nathan did. And compared to the previous game, this time, her eyes were a little intense. She pouted her lips to the side. "One more?" She raised her head and looked at him. "Yes, one more." Nathan smiled and said, "Okay. I''ll still let you go first." *** The third game later¡­ Tap. "Game over again, kid." Nathan captured Zita''s last piece with his "King". Unlike the other two games, Zita was already starting to get the hang of it so Nathan had to be a little serious. Zita was pouting her lips to the side as she stared at the chessboard. Her eyes were also a little more intense compared to the second game. Nathan smiled and said, "On--" She raised her head and cut him off, "Mister, can you have more than 2 Kings?" "Yeah, as many as you want. As long as your piece can get to the end of your opponent''s row." "One more game." "Sure." As they were arranging the pieces¡­ "If you want, you can have 1 free King or you can take 2 pieces of my pieces at the start of the game." "No, I don''t need it. I can beat you fair and square. Just you watch. And mister, don''t go easy on me." Nathan smiled and said, "Okay." Zita pouted her lips to the side and was murmuring under her breath. *** Three more games later¡­ Tap. Nathan captured Zita''s last piece. In these 3 new set of games, Zita lost all of them. And this time, she was staring at the chessboard with so much intensity that Nathan was starting to get a little worried already. In the first and second game, she was able to make 1 King. In the third game, she was able to make 2 Kings. And yet, she still lost. Nathan glanced at his watch. 8:30 pm. "Kid, I think we already had enough." She raised her head and said, "Mister, one more! I think I will finally beat you this time!" He chuckled and said, "Keep your voice down, kid." "Sorry, mister." "It''s okay. I understand where you''re coming from. But this will be the last game. After that, you have to take a bath, drink your milk and then go to bed because we have to leave early in the morning to go to Fort Yano." "Okay." *** The seventh game later¡­ Tap. Zita''s expression was of disbelief. In this final game, she was able to make 3 Kings. However, she still lost. "Okay, go take a bath now. Remember, tie your hair and don''t get it wet. You''ve already shampooed your hair for 2 days straight now. You can only shampoo your hair 2-3 times a week or else you''re going to destroy your hair." "Okay..." "Be sure to use the face towel to scrub. Do you know how to use a face towel?" "Yes, I know." "You already have your towel and extra clothes with you, right?" "Yes." "Okay, go. And don''t forget to bring one of the emergency lamps." "Yes, yes," she said and pouted her lips to the side. A few minutes later¡­ Zita stepped out of the bathroom and wearing a set of new clothes. "Kid, come here." She went to the kitchen where Nathan was drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette. When she approached him, he pressed his nose close to her. Sniff. Sniff. "Good, you smell good. Even your hair still smells good. Now go drink your milk and then brush your teeth. And after that, drink 1/4 glass of water because you might wake up with a sore throat in the morning." There was half a glass of milk on the table. Although it was only half a glass, Nathan made sure to put a least 2 spoons of powdered milk. He made it half a glass so that even if she drinks 1/4 glass of water after brushing her teeth, she won''t have to wake up in the middle of the night to do Lady Business #1. Zita drank the glass of milk. After that, she brushed her teeth and then drank 1/4 glass of water. "It''s time to go to bed. You''re going to sleep at the ''small room''." Nathan decided to dub his former room as the "small room" and his parents'' room as the "big room". "Okay," she said and went to her room. When Zita left, Nathan checked the back and front door if they were locked. He also checked the windows to make sure they were closed and covered with blankets. Furthermore, he added some simple traps that would make noise in case someone would forcefully enter the house. He then washed his face brushed his teeth before heading to the living room. He summoned two pillows and two comforters and laid them down on the floor. Thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood that he ingested and changed his body to 2.2m (or around 7''2"), it was hard for him to find a bed his size, especially here in Muwin where the average height of males is 5''7" and 5''5" for the females. He didn''t activate [Coward''s Way] nor did he unequip his items. In his mind, given that Zita didn''t have invisibility and was a kid, he was going to be the first line of defense. However¡­ ''My God¡­ It''s so f.u.c.k.i.n.g hot!'' Back in Womania, the fall season was right around the corner so it was already starting to get cold. But here in Muwin, it was a tropical country and there were only two seasons -- very hot and very wet. And in the case of the "very wet" season, there are times it can be very cold and there also times it can be humid. And right now, it was the latter. ''First thing I''m going to do tomorrow is to find a generator and a rechargeable fan. This heat is just crazy!'' He glanced at the door of the small room. It was open and he could Zita lying down at one of the beds. ''Ahh¡­ I also forgot about a mosquito net in case I can''t find a rechargeable fan¡­'' ''Well, I just hope she can get some sleep tonight. Even if just at least 6 hours¡­'' He sniffed. ''This house still smells the same...'' About 2 hours passed before Nathan finally fell asleep and dreamt about a certain memory¡­ ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Rexxar1 ? Swiftescape ? Naufal_Arc ? Pillastre ? Marc_Gaborieau ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Rowan_3555 ? Cant_read ? Shikla ? DarkSchneider ? DururuXl ? Tincho_6287 ? Heartfilia21 ? LuizEduardo ? Tense_Beagle ? DaoistRCHEdV ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? Man_ish To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 59 - 68 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 182 - Recall 13 years ago. Nathan, 11 years old. Latif City, Kulerga, Muwin. Nathan was on his bed inside his room when he suddenly opened his eyes. The light coming from the sun through the windows blinded him he had to shut his eyes once again. Outside of his room, he could hear the muffled sound of the TV coming from outside his room. He finally opened his eyes. The first thing he checked was the weather outside his window. He glanced at the clock on his bedside. 7:52 am. His eyes widened. ''I only have 8 minutes left or else father will get angry! Also, Karen must be waiting for me already!'' He quickly got out of his bed. And before leaving the room, he fixed it first. Ka-cha! Nathan opened the door, went straight to the bathroom to do his morning routine. And given that he only had 8 minutes before 8:00 am, he did his routine as fast as he could. On his way there, he glanced at the TV in the living room. No one was there except for the morning news program being broadcasted from the TV. ''Looks like father didn''t come home last night. If he did, he would be sitting on the sofa and drinking coffee. Also, given that I woke up almost 8:00 am and even though it''s summer vacation, he would scold me.'' He finally arrived at the kitchen. On top of the dining table, there were 3 plates covered with other plates. There was also a glass of milk that was covered with a saucer. He went to the cupboards to grab a plate and a pair of spoon and fork. He grabbed a seat at the dining table, placed his eating utensils and opened the 3 plates. One plate had rice, the other had eggs and hotdogs, and the last one had vegetables. He made sure to take from all 3 plates or else he would get scolded. 10 minutes later¡­ Nathan was washing his dishes when his mother, Nadia, came in from the back door. She was carrying a basket of clothes. "You''re done eating?" "Yes, mother." "Did you eat your vegetables and drink your milk?" "Yes, mother." Nadia went to the living room to iron and folded the clothes there on the floor as she watched TV. After Nathan was done washing the dishes, he rushed to the front door. "Mother, I''m going to Karen''s house." "Make sure the two of you won''t go too far." "Yes, mother," he said as he stepped outside, looked for his slippers and wore them. Outside the front door, he went to his bike. He grabbed it and pushed it along with him as he opened the gate¡­ Ka-gang! He pushed it. Brrr¡­ ¡­and then closed it. Brrr¡­ Nazul was wearing a police uniform and riding a motorcycle. Seeing his father coming, Nathan opened the gate once more so that his father can enter. Brrr¡­ Nazul slowed down the motorcycle and stopped beside the gate. "It''s still so early. Where are you going?" "I''m going to Karen''s house, father." "Make sure not to cause any problems." "Yes, father." Nazul revved his motorcycle and entered the gate. Nathan closed the gate before hopping on his bicycle and then heading for Karen''s house. Karen''s house was surrounded by 6ft-tall walls. The bottom half was cement and the other half was white grills with pointy edges so the exterior of the house was visible, allowing people to see the garden and a swing in front of the house. Karen''s father, Kristoff, was outside the house wearing a government employee''s uniform and doing a quick check on his motorcycle. Karen''s parents work for the government at the local municipality. Nathan stopped right outside Karen''s gate which was made up of grills. "Good morning, uncle Kristoff. Is Karen already up?" Kristoff turned to him, smiled and said, "Oh Nathan, good morning too. Yeah. You guys going to the pet shop again?" "Yes, uncle." Kristoff turned to his house and called out, "Dear, we''re almost late. We might get stuck in traffic." "Coming!" a woman responded from inside. It was Karen''s mother, Krishna. "Also, tell Karen Nathan is already here." "Coming!" Krishna said once again. Kristoff smiled and shook his head before turning back to Nathan. "Do you want to come inside to have a drink or something while you wait for Karen?" Nathan shuddered for a quick moment before answering, "Thanks, uncle, but I just ate breakfast. I''ll just wait here." Unfortunately, there was someone inside the house he didn''t like to see. "Well, okay," Kristoff said and then glanced at his watch before deciding to open the gate and then moving the motorcycle outside. Finally, Krishna came out the front door along with the maid who was carrying a bag of folders filled with papers. "Make sure to keep an eye on Kara. Don''t let her play with anything dangerous. Last time we had to rush her to the hospital because she swallowed one of her toys." Kara was Karen''s younger sister and she was 3 years younger. "Yes, ma''am," said the maid. Nathan looked at the maid who looked like she just graduated from high school. ''Oh, they already have a new maid?'' Nathan thought. Two weeks ago, while Kristoff and Krishna were at work, they received a frantic call from their maid that Kara swallowed a piece of clay. Fortunately, Kara didn''t choke but they still sent her to the hospital just in case. And of course, because of the incident, they fired the maid right away when they got to the hospital. And while they were looking for a new maid to hire, Krishna asked one of her cousins who was still in college to babysit Karen and Kara. Nathan turned to Karen''s mother who was heading to her husband. "Good morning, auntie Krishna." "Oh, good morning too, Nathan. Give me the bag," she said. The maid passed her the bag. Kristoff got on the motorcycle and switched the engine on. Krishna sat at the back. "Goodbye, sir, ma''am. Please take care," the maid said and smiled. "Make sure not to let the kids play with anything dangerous, especially Kara," Krishna said. "Yes, ma''am." Kristoff revved the motorcycle and off the went. Nathan and the maid were left alone. The maid looked at him and asked, "Oh hello, little boy. Who are you? Are you waiting for someone?" "I''m Nathan and I lived over there," he said as he pointed at one of the houses down the road. "Ah¡­" "I''m waiting for Karen." "I see. Would you like to come inside and wait for her? She''s still brushing her teeth." "No, I''ll just wait --" "Oi, look who''s here. It''s lover boy #2!" a female voice suddenly said. Nathan frowned and looked at the opposite side of where the sound of the female voice came from. A female was standing outside of the front door of Karen''s house and was chewing gum. Her name was Lisa, 18 years old and was the cousin of Krishna. Lisa smiled and said, "Why are you not looking to the person who''s talking to you? Don''t tell me you don''t like being called Lover Boy #2 and want to be Lover Boy #1?" The maid threw Nathan a puzzled look and said, "Lover Boy #2?" Hearing what the maid said, Nathan''s cheeks turned red. In this period of his life, as far as romance was concerned, his mind was still too underdeveloped to handle or understand such intricate feelings. All he knew was that he really enjoys hanging out with Karen and Vincent. And because of this, whenever Lisa teases him about being Lover Boy #2, he just gets annoyed and embarrassed. "Auntie Lisa, stop it!" Karen said as she came out of the front door. Lisa pinched Karen''s cheeks and then said, "You''re going to have one very exciting romantic situation when you grow up." "Eww~!" Karen said as she pushed away Lisa''s hand. "Lover Boy #2, where are you going? You''re not going to get the girl if you keep acting like that," Lisa said and smiled. Nathan paddled his bike a couple of feet away from the gate of Karen''s house and was already close to the edge. Karen grabbed her bicycle and pushed it outside the gate. Once she got outside the compound of her house, Nathan immediately paddled away. "Nathan, wait!" Karen said as she quickly got on her bicycle and immediately started paddling. Lisa and the maid were smiling as they watched the two kids bike away. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Tincho_6287 ? Pillastre ? Swiftescape ? Man_ish ? SliskusMaximus ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? Dannyboy204 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 69 - 73 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 183 - Recall (2) Nathan and Karen were biking and on their way to a pet shop. "Karen, we''re going to pass it!" "What?" "I said, we''re going to pass it!" "Oh yeah. Get ready!" "Yeah!" On the way to the pet shop, there was this house that many kids and a few a.d.u.l.ts were afraid to pass by on. Nathan and Karen saw the scary house up ahead and they were a couple of feet away from it. The wall surrounding the house had the same design as the wall at Karen''s house -- 6ft-tall walls with the bottom half covered with cement and the other half grills with pointy edges so the exterior of the house was visible. "ROOOFFF!!!" "ROOOFFF!!!" Two a.d.u.l.t Dobermans came barking thunderously. "Gyaaahhhh!!!" said Nathan. "ROOOFFF!!!" "Kyaaahhh!!!" said Karen. "ROOOFFF!!!" "Bike faster!!!" Unlike the common dogs found here in Muwin, the bark of a Doberman was louder and fuller like thunder, able to send most of the locals, especially the kids, to a fright. Nathan and Karen finally arrived at the pet shop. The pet shop was just a small, normal pet shop that sells freshwater fishes, baby turtles, hamsters, birds and rabbits. They parked their bikes on the side and then rushed to the shop. "Good morning, uncle Han and auntie Helen!" the two said excitedly as they entered. "Oh, Nathan and Karen. Good morning too," Helen, who was behind the counter counting money, said. Han, on the other hand, was dropping a pinch of fish food pellets on one of the aquariums when he turned to them. "Good morning, too." Nathan and Karen immediately approached Han. "Uncle Han, we''re ready," they both said. "Okay. Uh¡­ I left some vegetables on top of the boxes near the cages. Be sure to distribute them fairly, okay?" "Okay~!" they both said and rushed to where the vegetables were. When they found the vegetables, they immediately divided them between themselves and then went to the cages where the rabbits were kept. "Eat, eat, come on," Karen said as she shoved a vegetable between the cages and in front of a rabbit''s mouth. The rabbit sniffed the vegetable for a moment before it started biting. The same went for Nathan with another rabbit. "They''re so cute~!" said Karen as she patted the rabbit''s head with her finger. "Yeah." During the school year, they only get to do this on the weekend along with Vincent. But given that it was currently summer vacation, they were able to do this every morning. And as for whether they get paid for doing this, well, the only two "payments" they get are -- they get the privilege to feed the rabbits and hamsters and also pet them for a few minutes. *** A couple of minutes later¡­ "Thank you, uncle Han and auntie Helen!" said Nathan and Karen as they exited the pet shop. "Okay, we''ll be expecting you guys again tomorrow," said aunt Helen. Outside, they were heading to their bikes when Nathan said, "What do you want to do today?" "I want to buy soda." "Soda?" Nathan checked his pockets. After checking all of his pockets, his face paled and he said, "I forgot to bring my wallet and also ask for money from my mother." Ching! "Haha~ I have mine here," Karen said as she jingled her wallet. Nathan pouted and said, "I woke up late so I was in hurry. Let''s do something else." "Eh¡­ But I''m thirsty." "Wait, let me go back to the house and get my wallet," he said and gabbed his bike. "Forget about that. I''ll just treat you." "But do you have enough money?" "Yeah," she said and then opened her wallet. When she unzipped her wallet, her face turned pale and she said, "Where''s my M¡ê100.00?!" Nathan knitted his brows and said, "You lost your M¡ê100.00?" "I remember having a 100 and a 20 bill and some coins. Now I only have M¡ê20.00 and some coins!" "Maybe you dropped it while we were biking?" "This wallet has a zipper. How will it fall?" "Maybe it fell when you opened it," Nathan said and then swept his gaze on the ground. "No, it must be aunt Lisa. I''m sure of it. I remember her asking me last night if she could borrow M¡ê100.00." "Ugh¡­ That auntie of yours¡­ Well, I guess I just have to go back and get my wallet." "No, I don''t like to wait. Let''s just buy ice water and pick some fruits from the chico tree." "I don''t know if there are any ripe ones right now." "There are." "I don''t think --" "I said, there are," she said sternly. "Okay¡­" *** A few minutes later¡­ Nathan and Karen were climbing a chico tree. The chico tree was right beside the road and next to a canal. Nathan reached out for a fruit and plucked it. This was his fourth chico fruit. The other 3 were inside his pockets and he didn''t have any space left. He looked at the other side and saw Karen plucking a chico fruit as well. "Karen, I already have enough. How about you?" "I need one more." "Here, take mine," he offered one of the chicos inside of his pocket. "No, I can get my own." "Okay, I''m going down now." *** A few minutes later¡­ Nathan and Karen were sitting on the grass under a shade eating chicos. They also bought 2 ice waters and some junk food that were all kept inside a plastic bag. "See? What did I tell you? They''re ripe, aren''t they?" said Karen. Nathan took a bite from the chico fruit, spat out the seed and then said, "Yeah, I guess." Up ahead, there was a family of "scavengers" coming their way. "Plastic! Bottle! Metal!" the father said as he was pushing a wooden wheeled cart filled with empty plasic and glass bottles, and scrap metals. The mother was walking on his side and b.r.e.a.s.tfeeding a baby. There were also there children walking beside the cart and looking if there were any empty plastic and glass bottles, and scrap metals lying on the ground. "Plastic! Bottle! Metal!" Nathan and Karen just stared at them. The three kids also stared at Karen and Karen, but their eyes were locked on the food they were eating. And after the family passed by, Karen said, "Vincent is coming back today, right?" "I think so. He did mention that he and his family will be spending a week in Heiwa." "When do you think he''s coming?" "I don''t know. Maybe the same as last year?" "Last year''s summer he and his family went to Regis, right?" "Yeah." "So maybe he will arrive in the afternoon at around¡­ um¡­ 4:00 pm?" "Yeah, I guess so." Nathan suddenly remembered that today was the climax of the battle between the MC and boss of one of the anime shows he was following. After he finished eating the chico fruit, he grabbed one of the ice waters from the plastic bag. The "ice water" is basically a small plastic bag filled with water, sealed and then kept cold inside a refrigerator. Compared to bottled water, ice water was way cheaper. If the smallest bottled water costs M¡ê10-12.00, ice water costs M¡ê1-2.00, depending on the size. Nathan punctured the ice water with his teeth before sipping. After taking a few sips, he washed his hands with the remaining water and then said, "So, what do you think we should do when Vincent comes back?" "I don''t know. What do you think?" "I also don''t know. Maybe give him fruits?" "Yeah, let''s do that." "We can also tell him about all the crazy things we did while he was away." "Yeah, good idea!" This time, it was Karen who grabbed an ice water from the plastic bag. After taking a few sips, she said, "Hey, wanna hear a scary story?" "What scary story?" "Last night, while I was on my bed, I heard my mother and auntie Lisa talking about this gay man who put a man''s peepee on his mouth." Nathan''s face turned pale and subconsciously pressed his legs together. "Why would a gay person do that?" "I don''t know. I was hoping you would know the answer because you''re a bot." Nathan shook his head and said, "All I know gay people act and dress like girls. I have never heard that they also do that" "Oh¡­ So you don''t know. Maybe Vincent knows. Let''s ask him when he comes back from vacation." "Yeah." Unfortunately, in Muwin, given that it was a conservative country, when it comes to s.e.x, putting aside the fact that parents don''t talk to their children anything about s.e.x, the s.e.x education being taught in schools was very, very vague. It''s only around high school that the s.e.x education becomes a bit more detailed. However, it''s still a bit vague and also pointless because by that time the students are already more or less aware about s.e.x. And combine that with their strong libido, the adventurous and rebellious spirit of teenagers, and the stigma of s.e.x in a conservative society, it''s a recipe for disaster. Karen looked at the clear blue sky and said, "I can''t wait for Vincent to come back this afternoon." "Yeah, me too¡­" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Tincho_6287 ? Pillastre ? Swiftescape ? Man_ish ? SliskusMaximus ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? Dannyboy204 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 69 - 73 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 184 - Recall (3) 4:22 pm. Nathan and Nadia, his mother, were in the living room sitting at the sofas and watching TV. As for Nazul, Nathan''s father, he was still in the bedroom sleeping because had a very long and stressful night last night. The show being aired on the TV was a white-skinned Asian drama dubbed in Muwinian. Nathan doesn''t watch dramas. He was waiting for the drama to end by 4:30 pm because that''s when the anime show starts 4:30 - 6:00 pm -- 3 anime shows, 30 minutes each day. Today was a special day. The anime show on the 5:00 - 5:30 pm time slot will be featuring the climax of the fight between the MC and the final boss. All of a sudden¡­ Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! "Good afternoon!" a female voice said. Someone was knocking outside of the gate and it was followed by a greeting. It was Karen. Nadia peeked through the windows. Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! "Good afternoon!" She looked away and returned her gaze at the TV. "Go open the gate." Although Nathan felt a bit annoyed, he didn''t dare to show it or else. If he did, the best scenario would be him just getting a spanking. The worst one, he won''t be allowed to watch cartoons for at least a week. He got up and went for the front door. Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! "Good afternoon!" "I''m coming!" Nathan said as he was trying to search for his slippers outside of the front door. He found them and wore them before heading to the gate. Kraaang! Brrr¡­ He unlocked the gate and then pulled it open. He saw Karen standing with her hands behind her back with a big smile on her face. "What''s up?" he asked. "Guess what." "What?" She pulled someone from the side and then said, "Tada!" "Tada!" the person said with a big smile on his face. It was Vincent. Nathan''s eyes widened and he smiled before saying, "You''re back!" "Yeah! Come on, let''s go to my house. I have some new toys." Nathan was about to agree but stopped and then said, "But the anime shows¡­" "Let''s just watch it at my house." "Uh¡­" Of course, Nathan has tried watching at Vincent or Karen''s house. However¡­ When it comes to Karen''s house, most of the time Kara will be watching children''s cartoons or else she will cry. Meanwhile, in Vincent''s house, it''s a hit and miss. Although Karen and Vincent also enjoy watching anime shows, they weren''t that really interested in it. It''s at best just a passing thought to them. They would rather do other things because there were too many toys to play with at Vincent''s house. Karen grabbed Nathan''s arm and said, "Come on! Let''s go already!" "Yeah, come on!" said Vincent. Seeing their excited faces, Nathan finally surrendered and said, "Let me ask permission from my mother first." "Okay, hurry up!" said Karen. Nathan rushed back to his house. "Mother, Karen and I are going to Vincent''s house." "Vincent?" she said as she looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Didn''t he and his family went on vacation?" "Yeah. He just got back today." "Don''t bother them. Let them rest. They should be very tired from their trip." "They''re already here. Look, Vincent is outside the gate waiting for me." Nadia peeked through the window. Karen and Vincent noticed Nadia peeking so they waved and said, "Good afternoon, aunt Nadia!" "Oh hello, the both of you. Vincent, when did you arrive?" "Just now, aunt Nadia." "Aren''t you tired from your trip?" "No, auntie. I''m fine. Can we play with Nathan, auntie?" Nadia turned to Nathan and said, "Be sure to come home before dinner." "Yes," Nathan said and then rushed to Karen and Vincent. Vincent''s house was a two-story house designed like a villa surrounded with high walls about 10ft tall with sharp glass shards on top and two red gates -- a small one and a big one. They had two cars, one each for his parents, a German Shepperd, two maids and a small swimming pool. Nathan, Vincent and Karen removed their slippers before entering the house. Upon entering, they saw Vincent''s mother talking to one of the maids. Vanessa noticed them coming in so she waved at them as she said sweetly, "Oh hello, kids!" "Good afternoon, aunt Vanessa," Nathan and Karen stopped for a moment and greeted respectfully before following Vincent. If Nathan was going to describe Vincent''s mother, she was a perfect beauty -- inside and out. Moreover, just with the way how she talks and moves, one could immediately tell she grew up in a rich family and was definitely a well-educated and classy woman. It was so obvious that one couldn''t help but feel a little self-conscious when talking to her. And another thing that Nathan noticed about her is that she always smell great. "Where are you guys going?" "We''re just going to my room and play, mom," said Vincent said as he made his way to the stairs. "Do you guys want some snacks?" "Mom!" Vincent said with an irritated tone. "Okay, honey," Vanessa said and smiled. Ka-cha! Vincent opened the door to his room. It was a large room, at least twice the size of Nathan''s room. There were many toys, a TV set and also an air-con. Putting aside the toys and TV set, Nathan''s house didn''t even have an air-con. As for Karen, only her parents'' room had an air-con and some nights she would sleep there. "Look, my dad bought me this," Vincent said as he went over to a box near the TV set and started opening it. Nathan read the name printed on the box. ''PlayerConsole 3¡­'' Karen went over to Vincent and said, "Don''t you already have this?" "No, this is different. The one that I have is PlayerConsole 2 or PC2. This is PC3." "They aren''t the same?" "No, they''re not. You can''t play PC2 games on the PC3. But on PC3 you can play PC1, PC2 and PC3 games." "Oh¡­" "My dad even bought me 10 games and 2 extra controllers," he said as he gave the plastic bags filled with the PC3 games to Karen. "Oh¡­ Cool¡­" she said as she checked the cases of the games. "Nathan, help me disconnect the PC2 from the TV." "Umm¡­ Can we watch anime first?" said Nathan. "Just watch later. Let''s try this new toy first," said Karen. "But --" "Come on, it''s not like we won''t be able to watch anime," said Karen. Nathan was starting to feel a little annoyed. "Let''s just turn on the TV while we set things up," said Vincent. "Great idea!" said Karen. "Okay," said Nathan and then turned on the TV. He immediately went to the channel where the anime shows he was waiting for were going to be aired. It was a commercial break. ''It''s okay. The show I''m waiting for is the second one. Maybe we can pause the game for a moment and watch it,'' Nathan thought. "Hey, come on, help us," said Karen. "Look, I''m already disconnecting the PC2," said Nathan. *** 5 minutes later. The PC3 was connected to the TV and they were playing. To be exact, Vincent and Karen were playing while Nathan was watching on the side with a bored look on his face. The game they were playing was a robot fighting game. "Shoot! Shoot! Why is this robot not shooting?!" said Karen. "Haha~! I got you now!" said Vincent. Nathan yawned and then thought, ''I should''ve just stayed at home and watched anime.'' Karen''s character finally died. She put down the controller and said, "This game is boring!" "You''re only saying that because you lost~!" Nathan yawned once again. "Nathan, your turn," said Vincent. "Be sure to defeat him!" Karen said to Nathan. "I''ll try," Nathan said as he grabbed the controller. About a minute later, Nathan had the same ending as Karen. "Looks like I''m going to end up being the undefeatable champion!" Vincent said with a big smile on his face. "This is unfair. Unlike you, we can''t practice like you!" said Karen. "This is a new game. What practice are you talking about?" said Vincent. "No, what I mean is --" "Here," Nathan said and gave the controller to Karen. She took the controller and said, "Whatever. Let''s change the game!" Nathan got up, went to Vincent''s bed and sat down. "But we just started," said Vincent. "I said let''s change the game!" said Karen. "Okay, which one?" She pointed at one of the CD cases and said, "That one." Vincent grabbed it and switched the game. This time it was a racing game. And just like the previous game, the result was still the same. "This game is boring!" "Is that what you''re going to say with every game?" Vincent said and smiled. Karen got up, gave the controller to Nathan and said, "Defeat him!" "Yeah, I''ll try." "No, do it!" "Okay, okay!" Unfortunately, it was the same result as well. Karen took the controller from Nathan and then said, "Change the game!" "Which one this time?" She pointed at another CD case and said, "This one!" "Are you sure? It''s --" "I said this one!" Vincent switched the game. "Where''s my character? Why can''t I choose?" Karen said as she kept pressing the [Start] and [X] buttons on the controller. "This is a single-player game..." said Vincent. "Why didn''t you tell me?" "I tried but you didn''t let me." "..." "Here," Vincent said as he gave his controller to her. Seeing Vincent gave the Player 1 controller to Karen, Nathan immediately thought, ''I can use this opportunity. They can play here together while I go home and watch anime. I just hope father is still sleeping because if he''s awake and is watching TV, I won''t have any chance to take it from him.'' He got up and said, "Guys, I think I''m going to head home already. I''m going to watch anime." Both of them turned to him and said, "What?" "I really want to watch anime. Today is the final fight," said Nathan. Karen put down the controller and said, "Nathan, don''t go. Vincent just got back today." "Yeah, Nathan. Don''t be like that. I just got back today and I really missed you guys and I was hoping we could spend some time together." "It''s not like we can''t do this tomorrow," said Nathan. Vincent got up and said, "Well, if you really want to go, let''s go to my mom first. She bought some souvenirs for you guys." "Uh¡­ Do I really have to talk to your mom? Can''t you just hand it over to me here?" "My mom has it. Come on," he said as he went over to the door. "Uh¡­" Karen put down the controller, got up and said, "Since Nathan is going home, I''m going home as well." Vincent turned to Karen and said, "You''re also leaving?" "Yeah. It''s not like I can win against you anyway. It''s boring." "Okay, since both of you want to go home, then I can''t do anything about it¡­" Nathan suddenly felt bad. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Swiftescape ? Yui_Saotome ? Shikla ? Biatrice ? Kakero_aze ? Pillastre ? Easton_Kimbrough ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? DururuXl To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 74 - 78 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 185 - Recall (4) Nathan suddenly felt bad. This isn''t what he was expecting to happen. He was hoping Karen would stay and accompany Vincent while he goes home and watches anime. He glanced at Vincent and could see the sad expression he was wearing. He scratched his nose awkwardly and said, "Uh¡­ I think I change my mind. I''m just going to stay here before dinner." Vincent looked at Nathan and a happy expression appeared on his face. Nathan then turned to Karen and asked, "What about you?" "Well, since you decided to stay, I''m going to stay as well." "Vincent, didn''t you say that you have some new toys? Is this the only new toy you have?" said Nathan. "Oh, my dad also bought me another ball and an electric scooter," said Vincent. "You mean another football ball?" said Karen. "Yeah." Unfortunately, unlike Vincent, Nathan and Karen weren''t big fans of football. "What''s an electric scooter?" said Karen. "Remember that cartoon movie we watched where the main character was riding that thing that looked something like a motorbike but you had to stand on it and you said it was very cool?" "Oh yeah, I remember!" "Yeah, my dad bought me one like that." "Wow!" Nathan and Karen said. "Yeah, but it can only carry one person¡­" "Well, you guys can play with the scooter or whatever. I''m just going to watch anime here," said Nathan. "Okay," they both said and left. The climax of the fight between the MC and the final boss was being aired. "Oh, great timing!" *** A couple of minutes later¡­ The time was now 5:40 pm and the third anime was being broadcast. ''The episode today is a bit boring¡­'' Nathan glanced at the door. ''Vincent and Karen haven''t returned yet¡­'' He returned his gaze at the TV. He glanced at the PC3. ''Well¡­'' He decided to check the PC3 games. He grabbed one of the CD cases. ''Looks ugly¡­'' He grabbed another one. ''Looks like for kids¡­'' And another one. ''Dinosaurs? Nah¡­'' ''A vampire game, huh¡­'' ''And it looks cool¡­'' He also noticed the print on the cover. ''Five-in-one pack and remastered version¡­?'' The first two games were originally released on the PC1 platform, while the rest was on the PC2 platform. ''Let''s try this.'' He switched the channel to video, turned on the PC3 and then inserted the disc. On the main menu screen there were five games to choose from. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2. Blood Omen 2. Legacy of Kain: Defiance. ''Let''s choose the first one.'' He highlighted Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen and then pressed X. On the game''s menu screen, he chose New Game and the screen played the intro. A few seconds into the intro¡­ ''Why is it so ugly? ''The cover on the CD case looked so cool¡­'' His character was inside of what looked like a tavern. The first thing he noticed was the medieval aesthetic of the game. There was also the voice acting which was dubbed in Regisian. Although he couldn''t understand it completely, the VA''s voice combined with the Shakespearean style dialogue sounded like a dark haunting spell that he couldn''t help but be captivated by it. ''Although it looks ugly, I really like the voice¡­'' He tried to move around and swing his sword. ''Hmm¡­'' ''The controls...'' He pressed down and exited the tavern. Outside the tavern, he encountered a couple of enemies. He swung his sword like crazy. He was able to kill two. However, the enemies seemed endless and he eventually died. ''What''s going on?'' ''Why is it so hard?'' ''What a stupid game.'' He was about to exit the game when the second intro played. ''Huh? There will be an intro every time you die?'' ''Annoying...'' The second intro was about how the character became a vampire. The second intro finally ended and the second gameplay began. This time, his character was now a vampire and he was inside a crypt or mausoleum. ''Now this looks cool.'' On the first gameplay, the game screen featured a medieval aesthetic. But now, the main character was a vampire and the game screen featured a Gothic medieval aesthetic. He continued moving around until he found an enemy. It was a skeleton. He swung his sword and the enemy died. ''He moves faster now¡­'' ''But the controls are still¡­'' He moved around more until he found more enemies and he killed them. However¡­ ''The controls are really hard!'' ''But it looks and sounds cool though¡­'' He exited the game and went back to the main menu. This time, he highlighted Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and then pressed X. At the game''s menu screen. ''Wow¡­ Looks cooler and scarier compared to the first one¡­'' He chose New Game and the intro began. "Kain is deified¡­" "The clans tell tales of him¡­" ''Wow¡­ What is this?'' From the beginning of the intro until the end, his mouth was left open. ''This game is so cool!'' Compared to the prequel, this game was superior. ''Now let''s see about the controls¡­'' He was about to move the character around when the door suddenly opened. Ka-cha! "Hello, Nathan my dear, do you want to join us for dinner? Karen''s joining us." Nathan turned his head to the door and saw that it was Vincent''s mother, Vanessa. He paused the game and then turned to her. "Oh hi, aunt Vanessa¡­" "It''s been a while since you three have been together so I thought: Why not let you guys have a nice dinner together?" Nathan glanced at the window and noticed that it was already getting dark. "I''m sorry, aunt Vanessa." "I can call your parents to ask permission for you if you want." "I''m really sorry, aunt Vanessa, but I already promised my mother I''m going home before dinner." "Oh, I see. No problem." He put the controller down and got up. "I need to go home now, aunt Vanessa." "Okay." Vanessa moved away from the door to let Nathan pass. When he stepped out of the room, she said, "Oh, I almost forgot." Nathan looked at her. "I bought some souvenirs for you and your parents. Please bring them with you." "It''s okay, aunt Vanessa." "Please, I insist." "Uh¡­" "Come on, don''t be such a shy kid. You know that I see you like my own son," Vanessa said as she smiled and lightly pinched his cheeks. Nathan blushed and then looked down before saying, "¡­Okay." She pinched his cheeks again and said, "Such a cutie~!" *** A few minutes later, Nathan came home with some gift bags. "What''s that and where did you get those things?" said Nadia. "They are souvenirs from aunt Vanessa," Nathan said as he handed them over to her. She took a quick look at what''s inside before putting them on the corner. "Did you say thank you?" "Yes." "Good. Let''s have dinner. Your father will be joining us shortly. He''s still cleaning some things inside the storage room." "Okay." *** At the dining table. Nathan and his mother were already eating but his father was still inside the storage room. "Mother, can you tell father to buy me a PC3?" "PC3? What''s that?" "PlayerConsole 3 or PC3. It''s a videogame console." "Videogame console? So it''s a ting-tong game?" "No, it''s not like the arcades. It''s a computer that you connect to the TV." "A computer? I don''t think we have money for that. And even if we do, I''m not sure if your father will even agree to buy you one because it might affect your studies" "But I''ve been doing well in school anyway. I was even among the top 10 in my class. Please, mother. Please?" "..." "I promise I will study even harder. I really promise!" "Okay, I''ll try to talk to your father." "Thank you! But can you just tell him after dinner?" "Okay." "And don''t forget to tell him about my grades and how I was among the top 10 in my class!" "Yes, yes, I''ll tell him that. Don''t worry." "Thank you!" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Swiftescape ? Yui_Saotome ? Shikla ? Biatrice ? Kakero_aze ? Pillastre ? Easton_Kimbrough ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? DururuXl To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 74 - 78 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for February 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 186 - Recall (5) Nathan was inside his room lying on his bed and reading a book. Although his eyes were reading the words written on the pages, his mind was elsewhere and felt like there were butterflies in his stomach. Thoughts about how his mother is going to convince his father to buy him a PlayerConsole 3 or PC3 plague his mind. And in case she isn''t able to convince him, he also thought of many scenarios on how he was going to convince his father. He also thought about how amazing that vampire game was. He finds it so amazing that he couldn''t help but have this strong urge to go to Vincent''s house just so he can play it. Ka-cha! The door of his room was opened. "I told your father and he wants to talk to you," said his mother. Nathan put down his book and got up from his bed before asking, "Did he say yes?" "He wants to talk to you," his mother said before going away to do the remaining household chores and taking a bath. Nathan gulped. His father was in the living room seating at one of the sofas and watching the news. A news anchor was talking. "After almost 10 months of planning, Prime Minister Abed Ikbar finally signed the Free Education Bill which affects all state-owned schools earlier this afternoon and spoke in front of a live audience to talk about the bill." The TV screen switched to Prime Minister Ikbar. "In this day and age, a person''s greatest weapon is education." The screen skipped. "When I first proposed this bill to my advisors several months ago, they immediately told me that it''s impossible, we don''t have the funds to support such bill, our country''s budget will collapse¡­" "When they told me that, to tell you the truth, I cursed at them -- I really did. I told them I don''t care, find a way to make it work or I''ll find someone else who can¡­'' "Although this may hurt our country''s finances today, the long-term benefits will definitely outweigh any possible short-term benefits." "And so after months of planning, my advisors finally came up with a plan. It''s a 4-phase plan which will take at least 4 years¡­'' "In the first phase, all public schools from kindergarten to elementary will be completely free. For high school, the tuition fee will be cut by 50%. And for college, it will be 25%¡­" "In the second phase, the tuition fee for high school will be cut by 25%. And for college, 25%¡­" "In the third phase, it will be another 25% for both high school and college¡­" "And on the fourth and final phase, another 25% for college, making all public schools completely free by then." The screen skipped once again. "With this bill, I hope that a decade from now we will have many educated citizens who can compete on the international stage and our people will no longer have to leave our country in search for greener pastures¡­" ''Thank you, my beloved fellow citizens and God bless us all." The screen switched back to the news anchor. "According to the Spokesperson of the Prime Minister, Frederick Ong, phase one of the Free Education Bill will come to effect before this year''s school year starts¡­" "And on other news¡­" Nathan went to his father and said softly, "Father..." Nazul glanced at him for a second before looking away and said, "Your mother told me that you want a ting-tong game. She also told me that you deserve it because you were among the top 10 in your class." "Yes, father. The ting-tong is not like the arcade. It''s called PlayerConsole 3 or PC3. It''s a computer that you connect to the TV." His father didn''t say anything. "Father, will you buy me one?" "Why do you want this ting-tong? It''s useless. It''s a distraction to your studies. It will make your brain stupid and you will be spending all day inside the house. Didn''t I buy you a bike? Why can''t you just play with that?" "But father, the bike is different. It can''t be compared to the PC3. And plus, father, I was top 10 in my class. I promise you that I will study even harder if you buy me it. I will study really hard that in this coming school year I will make sure I''ll be among the top 3 in my class. And then in the following year when I enter high school, I''ll make sure that I''ll be in the First Section." His father turned to him and said, "First section?" "Yes, father. I promise that I will get to the First Section when I enter high school." "Come here." When Nathan heard that, his heart sank and his knees started to become weak. He already knew the answer. He held down his head and stared at the floor as he stepped closer to his father. Pah! Nazul slapped the side of his head. "Sometimes I don''t know if the tutor we hired for you is actually working. Despite having a tutor, you''ve never been in the First Section. Has it ever crossed your mind what will happen if you have a distraction like this ting-tong?" Nathan didn''t say anything and continued holding his head down and staring at the floor. In Asian societies, there is this unspoken social hierarchy or caste system. At an early age, whether the child is aware of it or not, they''re already exposed to it. One example is the school system. Putting aside the difference in the quality of education between private and public schools, starting in kindergarten, there''s already a divide. Usually, there will be two sections and they are called First Section (aka Section 1) and Second Section (aka Section 2 or Last Section). In the First Section, that''s where the smart, rich and good-looking students are gathered. Meanwhile, the remaining students will be in the Second Section. Of course, the school will also balance out the number of students in the class based on the total number of students. Moving on to elementary, the divide will be greater because there will be 2-4 sections. Moreover, from here on, a student''s placing will be based on his/her test scores. But of course, there will always be "special cases" where a student gets to be in the First Section because of "other" reasons. And then on high school, it''s even greater, especially in public schools in the cities where there will be 5-10 sections. And if you''re assigned in the 10th section, well¡­ Fortunately, in college, the system where students are divided among sections is no longer there. However, considering the years that the students have been exposed to such a system, it''s already ingrained in their psyche, regardless of whether they''re aware of it or not. And on top of that, add in the difference in the quality of education between private and public schools, one can already imagine what kind of mentality these people have developed. Furthermore, this divide is just one of the factors contributing to the unspoken social hierarchy or caste system in Asian societies. In Nathan''s case, although he was among the top 10 in his class, he was only at the Second Section. And this is already with the help of a tutor and he was attending a semi-private elementary school. "So explain to me how will you be able to study even harder and get to the First Section while also having a distraction like a ting-tong?" "I''m sorry, father¡­" "And where did you get this idea to buy this ting-tong?" "..." "From Vincent? From Karen?" "It''s --" "Has it ever crossed your mind that they''re rich and we''re poor? Isn''t that obvious to you? Or do you also need a tutor for that?" Nathan held his head down even further. "What, every time their parents buy them a new toy we should buy you one as well?" "..." "Use your brain." "..." "We are poor and the only thing your mother and I can give you is education so study hard. Don''t copy Vincent or Karen. They''re rich and we''re poor." "Yes, father." "Go back to your room." "Yes, father," he said and then immediately headed back to his room. When he got to his room, he closed the door and slid back to his bed. He picked up the book he was reading earlier and tried reading it again. However, the words seem to just fly over his head. Nevertheless, he still tried reading. A few minutes passed and finally put down the book. ''If father won''t buy me a PC3, then I will just save my recess money once the school year starts...'' ''I also have to buy my own TV¡­'' ''Yes, yes¡­'' ''Although it will probably take me a long time, I will eventually have enough money to buy them¡­'' ''Yeah, I can do this¡­'' As he was feeling confident with his plan, he suddenly thought of a problem. ''Wait, where will I put them?'' He scrambled his thoughts. After he did that, instead of figuring out a solution, he thought of more problems only. ''Even if I secretly hid them inside my room, they will eventually find it¡­'' ''Maybe at Karen''s house?'' ''At Vincent''s house?'' He shook his head. ''None of the things I thought of were good ideas...'' His heart sank. ''Looks like I can''t have my own PC3¡­'' ''I can only play at Vincent''s house¡­'' ''Why was I born in a poor family?'' His heart sank even further. He felt the pain on the side of his head that his father slapped. He clenched his jaw and his hands formed a fist. ''This is so unfair!'' ''I hate you guys -- mother, father, everyone! I just want a PC3! That''s all!'' ''I HATE YOU GUYS!!!'' ''YOU''RE ALL USELESS!!!'' He relaxed his jaw and hands. ''I need something that I can do without relying on anything¡­'' He thought about the anime shows, especially the second one that featured the boss fight this afternoon. He got out of his bed and started doing push-ups. ''One¡­'' ''Two¡­'' ''Three¡­'' Unfortunately, the push-ups he was doing incorrect. He had his b.u.t.t up in the air that by the time he was on his 7th push-up, his body was positioned like an inverted "V". "Te---eee---en...!" Right after he did the final push-up, he sat down on the floor to catch his breath. "Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Haa¡­ That was hard¡­" He felt his muscles, especially on the shoulders and triceps, tighten and burning. He flexed his right bicep. ''Needs more¡­'' He went back to do another set of push-ups¡­ *** Thud! All of a sudden, Nathan heard a door being closed, causing him to open his eyes. Splash! It was then followed by the splashing sounds of running water. His surroundings was dark but not completely because of the dimmed light coming from the emergency lamp located between the kitchen and living room, and found himself lying down on the floor with a make-shift bed made of comforters. Splash! He turned his eyes to the bathroom where the splashing sound of running water was coming from. The door was closed but he could see the faint glow of light coming from below the bathroom door. Splash! He glanced at his watch. 3:04 am. The splashing sound of running water stopped and the door of the bathroom opened. Ka-cha! Zita came out with an emergency lamp on her hand. Nathan didn''t say anything and silently watch her return to her room. When she got back to her room, he rubbed his eyes with his fingers. ''Ugh¡­ Why did I dream about that?'' ''Annoying¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Pillastre ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Swiftescape ? DururuXl ? Mr_Puppeteer ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Godscry21 ? Dante_Reyes ? Phlyline1 ? Tense_Beagle To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 79 - 83 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 187 - To Fort Yano 6:01 am. Nathan was at the kitchen preparing breakfast. Zita stepped outside her room and went to the kitchen. Nathan looked at her. Her hair and clothes were a mess and she looked tired. "Take a seat. Were you able to get some sleep last night, kid?" "Yes..." she said as she took a seat and then yawned. ''Yeah, right. Well, it was hot last night. I really need to get a solar panel or generator and also get a mosquito net and rechargeable fan,'' he thought. "Today, we''re heading to Fort Yano. Be sure to minimize eating any candies and junk food so that in the afternoon you will be able to take a quick nap," he said as he summoned pots of food from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. Just like the [Grade D] Spatial Bag, the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger also had a Time-freeze effect inside them. Although both items don''t allow any living being to enter their storage space, anything that''s placed inside them won''t be affected by time and will remain just as they were before entering. Because of the effect of Time-freeze, Nathan mostly cooks in bulk. And last night, the food that they cook was served for breakfast -- ground pork with vegetables, vegetable soup and rice. When Zita saw the vegetables, she immediately became alert and stared at them like they were some powerful formidable enemy. She honestly thought she was going to have fried rice just as Nathan promised her last night. Or if not, maybe cereal or bread, just like her first breakfast with Nathan back at Burrow City in Womania. "Kid, what do you want for a drink? Milk, chocolate or milk chocolate?" Nathan said as he sat down. Zita''s face immediately brightened and she said, "I want chocolate!" Nathan summoned a large bottle of chocolate drink. She grabbed the bottle, opened it and poured herself a glass. "Be sure not to drink too much. You might upset your stomach." "Yes." She planned to use it in helping her shove down the vegetables. "Also, be sure to finish your food, especially the vegetables. Eat them like I showed you last night," Nathan said as he grabbed the pot of rice and started scooping from it. "Yes." "And always remember this: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so don''t ever skip it or eat less. Always eat a full breakfast. And given that you''re a growing lady and we''re in a zombie apocalypse, it''s even more important." "Okay." *** A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan was already done eating. He was drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette as he stared at Zita who was on the last spoon of her meal. Right after she placed the food inside her mouth, she immediately grabbed her glass of chocolate milk and took a few sips to help her push the food down her throat and into her stomach. "Ahh¡­" she said as she put down the glass. Nathan smiled and shook his head. "Mister, I''m done!" she said proudly and smiled. He chuckled and then said, "Yeah, good job. Take a quick rest before washing your body -- Just your body, not hair, okay?" "Okay~" "Also, don''t forget to do Lady Business #2. You''ve drank at least 3 glasses. That might upset your stomach. I''ll also let you drink some medicine just in case." "It''s okay. I''m used to drinking bottles of chocolate milk." "Eh¡­? Really?" "Yes. Sometimes I would even drink 4 bottles of chocolate milk in one seating." "Wow¡­" Nathan was genuinely shocked because he was like most Asians who are lactose intolerant. Drinking more than two glasses of milk or chocolate in one sitting is a surefire way for him to upset his stomach and cause him to spend a few trips to the toilet. "Well, if you say so. But just to be sure, rest for at least 30 minutes, okay?" "Okay~" she said as she grabbed her plate. "Don''t worry about that. I''ll take care of those things. Just rest in the living room or at your room." "Okay~" "Oh, I almost forgot." He summoned a bottle of vitamins and gave it to her. Zita received the bottle and read it. "Take one tablet." "Okay," she said before taking one tablet and leaving the kitchen. *** 30 minutes later¡­ Nathan was in the living room resting when Zita came to him. She was carrying a towel and a new fresh set of clothes. "Mister, there''s no tissue paper¡­" she said in a low voice that it was almost inaudible. "What?" She held her head down and blushed as she said, "I said, there''s no tissue paper at the toilet¡­" "Huh? Why would you need tissue paper, kid?" "Because¡­" she couldn''t continue saying it. First of all, there was no tissue paper to begin with inside the bathroom. Nathan has never given her tissue papers except for the wet wipes inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and she has already used all of them for Lady Business #1. Nathan thought about it for a moment and then said, "Oh! Oh, I forgot! Oh my God, I''m so sorry." "..." Nathan quickly got up and said, "Let me show you how to use the toilet here in Muwin." Zita''s face became even redder and she said, "I''m already almost 11 years old. I know how to use the toilet." "No, no, no. We brown-skinned Asians have a different toilet. It''s unique to the rest of the world because we don''t normally use tissue." "You don''t use tissue?!" Nathan scratched his nose and said, "It''s easier if I just show you at the bathroom." *** Ka-cha! Nathan opened the door of the bathroom and entered. Zita, on the other hand, was standing outside and confused. The bathroom was narrow -- 4ft in width, 10ft in length and 8ft in height. Behind the door, there were 4 hooks. In the middle of the bathroom, there was a Western-style toilet seat that was facing to the right side of the wall. And on the wall where the toilet bowl is facing, there was a semi-spray hose hanging. At the end of the bathroom, on the left side, there was a showerhead on top and a faucet at the bottom. And underneath the faucet, there was a basin with a dipper inside it. And lastly, on the left side of the wall between the toilet seat and faucet, there was a 3-layered standing shower caddy where the soap, shampoo and other washing products were located. "Come inside." Zita cautiously stepped inside. He scratched his nose and thought, ''Now how do I explain this without sounding and looking like a pervert?'' "Kid, just remember, ding-a-ling is your first hole and ding-a-lang is your second hole. Got it?" "Okay¡­" "Remember, this is a very important lesson. Many foreigners who came here without researching about brown-skinned Asian toilet etiquette have suffered from this." "Okay..." "Do you see those hooks hanging behind the door?" Zita turned around to looked at hooks before turning back to Nathan and nodding. "When you''re going to do your ding-a-lang business, you first have to remove your pants/shorts/skirt and u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and hang them on those hooks. If you can''t reach them because of your height, you can always leave them outside. No one will judge you because you''re a kid." "Okay..." "Okay, imagine I''m you and I''ve already removed my pants and u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r," he said and sat at the toilet seat. "I will seat here and do my business. After I''m done doing my business, I will pick up this hose with my right hand. Remember, always the right hand, okay?" "Okay, mister." He grabbed the semi-spray hose hanging on the right wall where the toilet bowl was facing. "First, find a way to spray your ding-a-lang twice to wash away the ''excess'' that''s hanging ariund the outer layer of your ding-a-lang without having to get up. In my case, this is how I do it." Still sitting at the toilet bowl, he spread his legs and then guided the hose between his legs and underneath his balls. And of course, he didn''t spray himself because he didn''t want to get wet. "After that, pick up the soap on the shower caddy with your left hand. Once you pick it up, spray your left hand with water and lather up." On this part, he actually did the things he said. Psssh! Lather¡­ Lather¡­ Lather¡­ He returned the soap to the shower caddy. "Once you''re done lathering your left hand, you have to move forward from the toilet seat. Just give enough space behind you for your left hand to slip under so that you can lather the outer layer of your ding-a-lang. Remember, only the outer layer of your ding-a-lang." He performed this part as well. Well, half of it because he didn''t touch his ding-a-lang with his left hand. "And as you lather your ding-a-lang, you also spray water." This time, he didn''t spray water but he had the spray hose on his right hand behind him on top of his left hand. "Again: Only the outer layer of your ding-a-lang." Nathan would admit that he isn''t really a good guy, but the last thing he wanted was to accidentally teach a kid about anal fingering. He wouldn''t know how to continue living with such shame. "Okay, mister." "Good. Once you''re done. Repeat it. You have to do it at least twice. No one wants a dirty ding-a-lang." "Okay." He repeated the part where he lathered up his hands with soap and pretended to wash his ding-a-lang. "Once you''re done, return the spray hose and then wash your hands, especially your left hand. Be sure to wash your hands at least twice." "And once you''re done, you flush." "Mister, what about wiping?" "Wiping? No need to wipe." "Why?" "Why would you need to wipe? You just washed yourself with soap and water. And plus, it''s just water." "..." "Anyways, after flushing, you can wear the clothes you hanged earlier on the hooks. And after wearing them, you open the door and then wash your hands again. Who knows what kind of germs you may have picked up from the flush handle and doorknob." ''There''s more?'' she thought. Nathan smiled and said, "I know what you''re thinking. Don''t worry, this is a brown-skinned Asian country. We have all the water in the world and there''s so much soap. There''s really no need to worry about it." ''That''s not what I was thinking,'' she thought. "Okay, mister." As a brown-skinned Asian mainlander, it''s really hard for people like Nathan to go travel. In fact, as racist, ignorant and vain as this may sound, growing up, he honestly thought that everyone in the world washes the same. It was during his time when he was taking Xudonian-language lessons when he started to realize that that wasn''t the case. One day, he came in a bit too early and there was another class still using the classroom where his class would be held so he decided to wait somewhere peacefully. At the spot that he has chosen, a group of female foreigners from different nationalities arrived and started chatting with each other in Regisian. The foreigners didn''t notice him and thought they were alone. Although Nathan didn''t have any intention of eavesdropping, in his mind, he came there first so there was no way he was leaving. And plus, they were in his country so it''s the foreigners who should adjust, not him. And to his surprise, their topic was about how to use the Muwinian toilet. It really caught him by surprise because never in a million years would he have thought that foreigners would question how Muwinians or brown-skinned Asian countries use the toilet. He honestly thought that everyone in the world washes the same. And so he listened. All of them said that they''ve asked other foreigners they knew living or have lived here in Muwin and even the Muwinians that they knew. But there was one foreigner that really caught his attention. She was a white-skinned Asian and complained that she tried the Muwinian style for a week but then had to stop because she developed rashes. As to why she developed rashes, Nathan isn''t a dermatologist or something so he can''t say with full confidence the real cause. But based on their conversation, never did they once mentioned soap. And as far as he could remember, they only mentioned water, tissue paper, tissue wipes, and one of the foreigners who suggested using a towel. Nathan remembered being so confused and at the same time also torn apart. He was torn between whether to go to them and explain how to use the toilet or not. But of course, he didn''t. First of all, he wasn''t a dermatologist or whatsoever. What if the reason why they didn''t mention soap was because it was just common sense? But if foreigners really don''t use water and soap, then how do they clean themselves then? He was also confused about who were the Muwinians that these female foreigners asked. Did they ask Muwinian trolls? Or Muwinians who weren''t born and raised here? He also thought that maybe he was in a prank video so he looked around but couldn''t find anyone filming. And most importantly, he didn''t want to lose face. Even if he was a dermatologist and had the guts to go to them to teach them, no matter what logic he would use to justify his actions, he would still look like a pervert who likes to listen and join in private conversations of women. His reputation was more important than educating them. And then later that night, when he came home, he immediately began researching about the "toilet etiquette" of other countries. And although the research made him realize that brown-skinned Asian countries had a different way of cleaning themselves, it led to his laptop showing him things that cannot be unseen. Thank you internet search engine. And the saddest thing of it all, there wasn''t any clear-cut step-by-step guide of the toilet etiquette of brown-skinned Asian countries for foreigners. "Remember the steps, okay? I''ll leave now. Don''t blame me if you''ll get sick because you ate your own poop or get skin rashes," said Nathan. Zita''s face turned pale and she said, "Why would I eat my own poop?" Nathan just smiled and left. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Pillastre ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Swiftescape ? DururuXl ? Mr_Puppeteer ? Zatiel_Reyes ? Godscry21 ? Dante_Reyes ? Phlyline1 ? Tense_Beagle To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 79 - 83 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 188 - To Fort Yano (2) Three zombies standing outside in front of a hardware store. Wooh! Wooh! Two bolts came flying and penetrated the S1 and M1''s heads, killing them immediately. The Rank 1 zombies were now [Level 4]. Only 12 days to go before the Third Phase. As for the third zombie¡­ It was an N2. It looked at its companions in confusion. And when it turned its head to look around what killed them¡­ Whoosh! Nathan was already in front of it and he cut off its legs with a [Grade D] Kris Sword. Thud! "Roar!" the zombie yelped as it fell to the ground. It got into a position where it can leap to its target with the use of its arms. Whoosh! Pah! Nathan chopped off its arms before kicking it, making it lie over its stomach. Suuup! He then pinned it down to the ground with his sword. "RO--" "Shut up." Crack! The N2 was about to roar in order to call out for backup but Nathan summoned a [Grade D] Large Axe and violently shoved the head of his axe on its mouth, shattering some of its teeth, dislocating its jaw and pushing its head down to the ground. Nathan turned to her and noticed her serious expression. He scoffed and then said, "Kid, what did I tell you about keeping a cool head during battle? You''re still too tense. And plus, you''re the range type and I''m the melee type. You don''t need to be so eager to come close right away after I kill a zombie. Take your time and be cool about it, okay?" Zita relaxed her face and then said, "Okay." "Finish this," he said before pulling out the axe and holding it on top of his palm. "Roar!" The N2 continued to roar and struggle but it couldn''t get up because of the sword pinning it down to the ground as well as its lack of arms and legs. Zita activated her skill [Lift] and lifted the axe up in the air. "Roar!" She positioned the axe on top of the N2''s neck and then threw it down like a guillotine. Whoosh! The axe chopped off the head of the N2 and got stuck on the asphalt. A [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. "Hahaha~ Very nice, kid! Very nice!" he said as he grabbed the axe and sword, pulled them out and absorbed them back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. "Really?" "Yeah, it looked very cool! I wish I could do that!" he said with a big grin on his face She smiled. "Don''t extract the nuclei just yet. Wait here outside and watch out for any enemies. If they''re too many, shout and find me right away. I''ll check if there are enemies inside," he said and entered the hardware store. "Okay~!" Inside the store, Nathan swept his gaze at the surroundings. ''Looks like it''s been already looted...'' ''But I still have to try if there''s a solar panel and generator¡­'' ''I seriously need them¡­'' A few minutes later¡­ ''Sigh¡­ Nothing¡­'' ''F.u.c.k me sideways why didn''t I think of getting them back at Womania?'' He went for the exit. Outside, he found Zita waiting patiently and looking out for any enemies. "Kid, any enemies?" She turned to him and said, "No. Mister, I found this cool item from the [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t." When he touched it, the System informed him right away that it was a [Grade C] Leg Bracelet (20/20): +3 STR, +2 AGI and was under the footwear category. ''Hmm¡­ Another System item I''ve never seen before. There really are some differences between the drops at Womania and here in Muwin,'' he thought and then tossed it away. Clang! As far as he was concerned, because it was [Grade C] with a durability, it only gave +5 bonus stats so it''s a First Tier item, and the zombies don''t drop [Grade C] Repair Kits, it was trash. "Kid, go extract the nuclei." "Okay," she said and then pouted her lips to the side as she went to pull out the bolts and nulcei. Nathan raised his head and stared at the sky. Although it was already 10:30 am, fortunately, the sky was cloudy and there was a soft breeze in the air. ''With the pace that we''re traveling, we''ll arrive at Fort Yano around mid-afternoon¡­'' ''Of course, this is assuming that everything goes well¡­'' ''But if it was just me, I could''ve already reached there before noon¡­'' Fort Yano was located in the mountains outside of Kelurga City and Nabe City. And at the moment, they were at the south outside of Nabe City. They need to exit Nabe City from the north and then walk a few kilometers to get to Fort Yano. *** Nabe City. Nathan and Zita were walking down the streets. The city was considered to be half a step away from being a mid-tier city bracket so compared to the Latif City, there were more buildings. Nathan swept his gaze at the buildings. ''Looks like they''ve also been looted...'' As for Zita, she was busy comparing the architecture and vehicles from Latif City and from her home country. She was still fascinated by how the houses are built for smaller people and also the design of the tuk-tuk. Several steps later, Nathan then saw a convenience store. It was a place that held a certain memory of his past. ''Heh~ This store still exists?'' When they graduated from high school, Vincent got a car from his parents as a graduating gift. That summer, Vincent finally had his driver''s license. And with the help of Vincent and Karen''s parents, Nathan was able to get permission from his parents to go on a road trip for 2 days to Kelurga City with Vincent, Karen and Nikki. It was around 7:00 pm and they were already on their way back to Latif City when they decided to stop by that convenience store because Karen and Nikki wanted to use the toilet. The car was parked in front of the store and he and Vincent decided to sit and wait on the sidewalk. Ever since that night Vincent turned down Karen''s confession and then Nathan confessing to Karen, they never talked about it. When they saw each other the next day, they just acted as if nothing happened and silently accepted the fact that from thereon the couples will Vincent-Nikki and Nathan-Karen. But that night, with the girls inside the store at the bathroom and the fun road trip they experienced, Vincent and Nathan decided to talk about it and make sure that there won''t be any bad blood or awkwardness between them. And of course, after they had that conversation, the next day, Vincent and Karen talked about it. And then after that, all three of them talked about it. Nathan shook his head. ''F.u.c.k me sideways.'' ''Since yesterday ever since I came here I''ve done nothing but reminisce about stupid things.'' Several steps further¡­ Zita stopped and said, "Mister, a zombie." "Hmm?" He stopped and searched for the zombie. A dozen meters away, there was a zombie standing all by its own. However, they couldn''t tell whether it was an N1 or N2 because they both looked the same, at least when it comes to physical appearance. Nathan resumed walking towards the zombie and said, "Come, you take care of it." "Okay," Zita said and followed behind him. "By the way, regarding your powers, I thought about something I want you to try." Zita looked at him. "I was thinking maybe you could do this¡­" He gave her a quick explanation of what he wanted her to do. *** Zita was walking towards the zombie and trying her best to look calm and collected. Behind her was Nathan who was casually walking a couple of steps behind her with a truly calm and collected demeanor. There was also something that looked like a snake, or cobra to be specific, flying around Zita. The "cobra" was actually made up of System items. The head was a [Grade D] Double Axe, while the body was made up of a hundred Normal Bolts. She glanced at the "cobra" before returning her gaze at the zombie. ''I''m a range type so I don''t have to get close to the zombie¡­'' ''I also have to take my time and be cool about it when I approach the zombie and kill them¡­'' ''And most importantly, I''m also a Chosen One like mister!'' ''And when I become cool as mister, I will ask him to stop letting me get the nucleus from the zombie heads. Didn''t he way we''re partners? I''m already pulling out the Bolts after every fight anyway. And plus, it''s just so yucky¡­'' When she was about 11 meters away, just a meter away within the range of her powers, the zombie noticed her. It didn''t throw any spell and instead charged at her. "Roar!" With that, Zita immediately already made a rough guess what type of zombie it was. When the zombie was 8 meters near her, she controlled the cobra to attack. Whoosh! The cobra passed through the zombie''s right leg, chopping it off and causing the zombie to lose its balance and crash to the ground. The zombie landed about 5 meters near and the System informed her that it was a [Level 4] N1 zombie. ''I was correct! It really is an N1!'' she thought and smiled. And its stats are: ? STR ¨C 34 ? VIT ¨C 34 ? AGI ¨C 34 ? INT ¨C 34 Of course, the System doesn''t inform the owner about an individual''s stats, be it zombie, human, etc. Despite losing its leg, the N1 still continued charging, crawling its way towards her with its arms and remaining leg. Zita continued controlling the cobra. This time, she took separated two Bolts from its body and stabbed them on the N1''s eyes, blinding it. Wooh! Wooh! "Roar!" the zombie yelped but it still continued crawling towards her. "Kid, trying to push it away to another direction." "Okay." Zita flipped the double axe. Instead of the two blades serving as the cobra''s head, this time it was the other end was the serving as its head, transforming it into a "blunt snake" Pah! "Roar!" The blunt snake bashed the side of the N1''s face, causing the zombie to roll over and change direction. "Hahaha~!" Nathan laughed seeing the N1 charging in the wrong direction. But after hearing Nathan''s laugh, it quickly turned in his direction and crawled to him. But just after about a few feet of crawling, it suddenly stopped moving and fell to the ground. Thud! "Eh..? It died already?" said Nathan. Zita turned to him and said, "Mister, I''m sorry." "Well, I guess the when you stabbed its eyes, you stabbed too deep so it already had a few seconds to live. Next time, don''t stab it too much, okay?" Zita nodded and said, "Okay." "Good. Just remember that not only is this is a good practice for controlling your power, but isn''t it also fun?" As far as what Nathan knows and observed regarding Zita''s power, when she''s using [Lift] on an object, the power and speed are based on half of her total INT points. But when she throws it, it uses the total amount. Right now, her total INT was 33 (+28) which makes it 30.5 points of attack power and speed when she''s controlling it, and 61 points of attack power and speed when she throws it. And with Nathan''s VIT only at 38 (+10), she could easily chop off his head. "Fun? I don''t understand, mister." "Well, once you''re able to kill zombies without breaking a sweat, things can get a little boring so it''s good to be creative once in a while." "..." "And trust me, kid, when the time comes that you''re already bored with killing zombies creatively, you''ll eventually want to "play" with something else," he said and smiled. Zita knitted her brows and said, "Okay¡­?" Still holding a smile on his face, Nathan said, "You''ll eventually know sooner or later. Go extract the nucleus." "Okay," she said and pouted her lips to the side before going. "Deactivate your skill as well. Always keep in mind that one of the weaknesses of a Chosen One is that the more people know about your power, the more vulnerable you become." "Okay," she said and returned the Bolts inside her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. But as for the [Grade D] Double Axe, she carried it on her hand. ''Even though mister is so strong and says the right things. Sometimes he''s such a worrywart. And keeps on repeating things. I''m already almost 11 years old. I know when it''s dangerous and when it''s not. I can also kill zombies on my own already!'' ''Except for the D2...'' ''That''s where I need mister''s help a bit¡­'' ''But one day when my level is so high I can kill all of them easily on my own!'' When she got to the corpse of the N1, she grabbed one of the Bolts stabbed into its sockets. ''Ew¡­ So yucky¡­!'' And just when she was about to pull it away¡­ "Mboys, mlooks mlike mwe mhave msome mguests!" an unfamiliar male voice said in Muwinian. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Swiftescape ? Pillastre ? Phlyline1 ? oose ? DururuXl ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Daoist6AMILD ? NIGHTSTAR18 ? Luzi_Preant To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 85 - 89 there (I honestly didn''t notice that I also uploaded Ch. 84 last week). With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Biatrice T Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 189 - To Fort Yano (3) "Mboys, mlooks mlike mwe mhave msome mguests!" a male voice said in Muwinian. Zita and Nathan turned their heads to the location of where the voice was coming from. A couple of meters away, there was a van and a man in his late 20s casually walked out from the side before stopping in the middle of the street. Bam! Another man in his mid-20s jumped from the roof and landed on top of the van before crouching down like he was some sort of Spider-Man or something. "Myeah, myeah, mlooks mlike mit~! Mdon''t mtell mme mthey''re mlost? Hehe~! Mbut mholy mf.u.c.k! Mthat mguy''s mhuge!" the man said and then licked his lips. Thanks to the [Artifact] Divine Blood that Nathan ingested, his height was 2.2m (or around 7''2") which is very rare to see here in Muwin where the average height of men is 5''7" and the women is 5''5". Zita immediately ran to Nathan''s side and said, "Mister...?" They couldn''t help but notice Zita'' accent. "Mforeigners?" another man said behind Nathan and Zita. He had a beard and was also in his late 20s. "Mlooks mlike mwe''re mgoing mto mneed ma mtranslator," said another man who was also behind Nathan and Zita. He had long hair and was in his early 20s. "Myeah, myeah, mwe mdon''t mwant mto mbe mrude mto mour mguests~! Hehe~!" the man on top of the van said and then licked his lips. "Mso mwho''s mgoing mto mtalk mto mthem?" said the man in his early 20s behind Nathan and Zita. "Hello, how are you? I''m fine, thank you! Hehehe~!" the man on top van said and licked his lips. The man who appeared and spoke first from earlier flashed a very warm smile and said in Regisian, "Hello, my friends, are you guys lost?" Zita grabbed onto the hem of Nathan''s shirt that was coming out the bottom of his [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Armor and said, "Mister, what should we do¡­?" Nathan looked at each of them. ''Just four?'' he thought and his lips curled up into an amused smile. The first thing he noticed was their attire. But before that, he decided to coin them with nicknames. The first one would be "Leader". The second one who landed on top of the van and likes to lick his lips would be "Licker". The third one behind them and with a beard would be "Beardie". And the last one with the long hair would be "Long Hair". Going back to their attire, all four of them were topless and wearing normal pants and shoes. But what really caught his attention was what he assumed are System Items that they were wearing. In terms of the body armor, all four had the [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo on their c.h.e.s.t. In terms of the helmet, Licker had a Bandana wrapped around on his forehead, while the rest had a pair of Earrings. Normally, he wouldn''t pay any attention to the earrings. But given that none of them were wearing something like a helmet except for Licker who was wearing a Bandana and it''s quite strange that 3 grown men would wear matching earnings, unless of course, they''re part of a white-skinned Asian boy band group, he could only assume that that was the helmet here in Muwin. In terms of the gloves, Leader and Licker were wearing Armbands on their forearms. Meanwhile, Beardie and Long Hair, had an Arm Bracelet wrapped around one of their biceps. In terms of the shoes, only Licker was wearing a pair of pants that was trimmed a few inches right above the ankle so Nathan was able to notice what looked like a [Grade D] Leg Bracelet that he looted and threw away back at the Hardware Shop. In terms of weapons, they carried Kris Swords, Kris Daggers and a Small One-handed Axe. And lastly, for the accessories such as Amulet or Necklace and Rings, they more or less looked the same as the ones back in Womania. ''Hmm¡­ Looks like they haven''t been inside the Divine Tower¡­'' ''They don''t have the spatial bag or any of the Black or White colored equipment¡­'' ''Unless of course, the drops of the Divine Tower here are also different¡­'' Pah! Licker slapped his t.h.i.g.h and said, "Hahaha~! Mlooks mlike myou''re Regisian misn''t menough mfor mthem mto munderstand~! Mlook! Mhe''s mjust msmiling mat myou! Mhe''s mridiculing myour Regisian! Hahaha~!" "Mor mmaybe mthey mcan''t mspeak Regisian mand mspeak ma mdifferent mlanguage?," said Long Hair. Leader didn''t say anything and was studying Nathan and Zita''s attire. With Zita, other than the [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo, the rest of her equipment are System items that he has never seen before and they were painted with either black or white. And as for Nathan, all of his equipment were things he has never seen before and they were all painted in black. ''Are these two foreigners a bunch of weaboos who like to cosplay and shit?'' ''Hmm¡­ These two aren''t carrying any bags so they must''ve camp somewhere nearby¡­'' ''But how many are they?'' ''Maybe it''s just them?'' ''Also, the guy doesn''t any weapons on¡­'' ''A brawler type?'' ''Weaboos¡­ Gotta give it to them. They have such strong imaginations¡­'' ''Nevertheless, everyone has to follow the rules¡­'' "My friends, where are you staying? This section of the city is owned by us. If you want to stay here, you have to pay or else¡­" the Leader said and there was a cold glint in his eyes as he smiled. Nathan was still holding an amused smile when he looked at Zita and patted her head softly. Pat¡­ "Kid, looks like you''re gonna learn today the joy of cutting a person''s flesh. You take care of the two behind us while I take care of the two in front. Don''t forget about your powers and don''t hesitate, okay?" Poke! He poked her nose before turning to Leader and Licker. When they heard Nathan''s accent, although it was a little stiff, they could immediately tell that he was a native of Muwin and someone in the lower-middle-class bracket. "Heh~ Mlooks mlike mhe''s mone mof mthose mself-hating mAsians. Mpathetic! Hahaha~! said Licker. "Mso mthey mwant mto mfight?" said Long Hair. "Msome mpeople mjust mdon''t mknow mwhen mto mfight mand mwhen mnot mto mfight," said Beardie. As for Leader, he flashed a condescending look a Nathan and said, "Mare myou msure mthis mis mwhat myou mwant?" Pop! Nathan didn''t answer and just moved his head to each side, causing his neck to make popping sounds. Licker pulled out his dagger and licked its blade before saying, "Mhe mwants mthe mhard mway. Msomething mthat mi mreally mlike mit! Mi mjust mhope mhe mwon''t mshit mhimself mwhen mi mstart mcutting mhim!" "Mgo measy mon mthe mkid," Leader said to Beardie and Long Hair. "Mokay," said Long Hair. Meanwhile, Beardie just nodded. "Kid, remember your power and don''t hesitate," Nathan said and then¡­ Vooom! He suddenly burst out charging towards Leader and Licker. Seeing his speed, they were all caught in surprise at first but they quickly calmed down and then chuckled. ''How much points did this weaboo spent on his AGI? This crazy motherf.u.c.ker!'' Leader thought. Although there were impressed with Nathan''s speed because he was faster than an S2, they were also disappointed. They knew about the 30-point threshold and it''s not like people can increase their level like crazy due to the overall level of the Rank 1 zombies which is currently Level 4 (or Level 14 to be specific) right and the fixed level of Rank 2 zombies (which is technically Level 21). Because of these things, they concluded that his STR was quite low, maybe only 10 points, because he had to add some points in VIT and INT in order to function properly with that kind of speed. ''Looks like he really was a brawler after all. I''ll at least give him that. Not everyone has that kind of guts. But that''s all he has going for.'' Nathan didn''t pull out any weapons and he didn''t have any visible weapons that he could pull out from his body. ''Let''s see what you''re capable of, weaboo. Try your best not to disappoint me,'' he thought and smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt before charging as well. Vooom! Leader''s Status Chart was... *** Level 26: Exp: % Stats: ? STR - 30 (+5) ? VIT - 25 (+6) ? AGI - 25 (+6) ? INT - 10 (+10) Mana: ?40/40 Skill(s): ? Level 1 - Fireball ? Level 1 - Ice Spear ? Level 1 - Stone Spear ? Level 1 - Sword Stab ? Level 1 - Dagger Stab Attention: You have 1 extra Skill Point available. *** Also, he had the highest level among the 4 of them. "Tch!" Licker, on the other hand, clicked his tongue in disappointment. Given Nathan''s height, he was expecting him to be the VIT type. But now that Nathan has revealed to them that he''s was idiot who spent almost all of his points on AGI to the point he was faster than an S2, with just a one or two fatal cuts, he wouldn''t be surprise if Nathan would already die. Seeing Nathan and Leader charging at one another, everyone waited in anticipation, including Zita. When they were about to collide, Nathan quickly reached out for Leader''s neck with his right hand. Leader''s AGI and INT were lower so it took quite a while for him to react and reach out for Nathan''s neck as well. But despite that, he didn''t care. He was confident that he could take a couple of blows from the giant Nathan so he still had a smile on his face. And just when Nathan''s fingers touched Leader''s neck, due to the two of them coming from the opposite direction and neither side stopping from their momentum, his fingers slid into Leader''s flesh and bones like it was up of butter until his entire hand went through, decapitating Leader. Pah! Thud! Tang! The headless corpse of Leader went crashing and rolling on the ground before finally hitting a lamp post and then stopped. The same went for Leader''s head which was locked in a smile and it rolled over under a tuk-tuk''s tire. Everyone, including Zita, was staring wide-eyed and their mouth open. Nathan, on the other hand, was standing with a very disappointed look on his face as he stared at his right hand that was covered in blood and bits and pieces of Leader''s neck. Fortunately, he was wearing [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves. "Sigh¡­ I really thought he was strong because he was so confident and he even had the guts to charge at me¡­" He flicked his hand. Splat! The blood and flesh of Leader''s neck scattered on the asphalt. "I guess no matter what place, what race, ants will always be ants after all..." He turned to Licker who was still crouching down like some sort of Spider-Man on top of the van with a Kris Dagger on his hand and his face in full and utter disbelief. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Swiftescape ? Pillastre ? Phlyline1 ? oose ? DururuXl ? The_Jeffrey69OOO ? Daoist6AMILD ? NIGHTSTAR18 ? Luzi_Preant To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 85 - 89 there (I honestly didn''t notice that I also uploaded Ch. 84 last week). With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Biatrice T Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 190 - To Fort Yano (4) Licker, who was still crouching down like some sort of Spider-Man on top of the van with a Kris Dagger on his hand, was speechless of what he just witnessed that his brain was still trying to process what just happened. And when he saw Nathan turn towards him and they locked eyes with each other, he felt a cold chill ran down his spine. He knew that look. It was a look of a person staring at a dead man. He raised his right hand to conjure a spell. Vooom! "MSHIT, MIT''S MA PROPHET!" Long Hair shouted. Beardie, on the other hand, charged at Zita who was standing with a lost and confused expression written on her face. The spell that Licker was conjuring was [Fireball]. But seeing Nathan already very close to him, he canceled the spell and decided to turn and run away. "Mjust mour mluck!" said Licker. He was able to take two steps and was about to jump off the van when he felt something grab his ankle, causing him to land face-down on top of the van. Bam! "Mwhere mdo myou mthink myou''re mgoing?" Nathan said and sneered. Licker tried to get up and cut Nathan''s hand with his dagger. But before he even got the chance he was thrown to the side against a thick brick wall and then fell to the ground. Wooh! Crack! Thud! "Blergh!" Licker coughed out blood and felt several of his bones were broken, some of which were even protruding out of his skin, that he couldn''t move, not even his hands. "Mstay mthere mand mbe ma mgood mlittle mdog," Nathan said as he pointed at him with a finger before turning to Zita, Beardie and Long Hair. When Nathan saw the trio, he raised an eyebrow and said in Regisian, "Kid, really? Seriously? Are you f.u.c.k.i.n.g kidding me?" Beardie was holding a Kris Dagger against Zita''s neck. Zita was wearing an expression that was a mixture with fear and confusion. Long Hair was holding a Kris Sword and standing between Nathan and the two. Nathan closed his eyes and shook his head. ''This kid¡­ Sigh¡­ I guess this is probably the end for her¡­'' ''What a stupid kid¡­'' ''Such a waste¡­'' "Don''t move and surrender!" said Beardie. "Mit''s¡­ Mit''s ma Prophet¡­ Mit''s ma Prophet!" Long Hair murmured to himself and he tried to steady his hands. "Mwhat mthe mf.u.c.k mare myou mwaiting mfor, myou mdumbass? Mkill mhim!" Nathan opened his eyes and looked at Long Hair. His face was written in fear and he was gripping the handle of his sword so tightly that his hands turned white. Nathan''s lips curled up into a smile. He spread his arms wide open and then started walking towards him in a casual manner. "Myou mheard mwhat myour mcompanion msaid. Mwhat mare myou mwaiting mfor? Mcome, mkill mme." "Mi msaid mdon''t mmove!" Beardie said and pressed the blade of the dagger against Zita''s throat and her face became even more fearful that she started to wet herself a little bit. However, Nathan just continued walking. Long Hair, on the other hand, charged at Nathan. "HAAA!" When he got to a comfortable range, he activated one of his spells, [Sword Stab], and aimed for Nathan''s neck. Tap! However, Nathan easily evaded it and grabbed one of Long Hair''s wrists. Crack! Tang! Nathan crushed Long Hair''s wrist, causing dropped his sword and cried in agony, "UWAAAH!!!" Nathan rolled his eyes and grabbed Long Hair by the neck, squeezing just enough to silence him and then raising him up in the air and then said, "Mwhat ma mbaby. Meven mthe mkid mdidn''t mscream mlike mthis. Myou mshould mbe mashame mof myourself." "Ugh¡­" Long Hair was gasping for air. Pah¡­! Pah¡­! Up in the air, Long Hair''s arm with the broken wrist was flailing, trying to slap Nathan''s arm away. Meanwhile, his other hand was holding onto Nathan''s hand that was depriving him of oxygen. Seeing Long Hair desperately gasping for air, Nathan sneered and that downstairs he became a little hard. "MDROP MHIM! MI MSAID MDROP MHIM!!! MI MSWEAR MTO MGOD MI''LL--!" Beardie shouted and pressed the dagger against Zita''s throat even deeper that her neck started to bleed a little bit. Feeling the pain on her neck and mixed with the emotions that she was feeling right now, she started to cry and call out. "SMAMAK! SMOMMYK! HUHU¡­! SHELPK SMEK! HUHU¡­!" Pah! "Ugh!" Nathan g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Long Hair kicked him in the groin. Angered, he grabbed one of Long Hair''s leg with his other hand and then ripped him apart into two from his stomach. Craaack! Riiip! Splash! Drip¡­ Drip¡­ The sound of bones and muscles tearing apart echoed through the wind and the blood and guts of Long Hair fell to the ground. Thud! Nathan dropped the two separated limbs of Long Hair. Surprisingly, despite being ripped apart from the stomach, Long Hair was still alive. "Heh~" Bam! Crack! Nathan delivered a vicious stomp on Long Hair''s head that his skull cracked open and its contents spilled all over the asphalt. Spit! Nathan spat on Long Hair''s corpse before turning to Zita and Beardie. Beardie was still holding a dagger against Zita''s throat but wasn''t pressing it anymore. Zita, on the other hand, stopped crying and calling out for her parents. Both of them stopped moving and were staring at Nathan like he was some kind of monster, something even worse than the zombies. In Beardie''s case, ever since the zombie apocalypse began, he has seen his fair share of violence, both from humans and zombies. However, seeing Nathan, the level of violence he showed, it was different. It was on a totally different level. For starters, he has never seen a human being rip another human being apart and not even blink an eye. Meanwhile, in Zita''s case, she too witnessed her fair share of violence. And that night when Nathan was causing havoc at the Government Shelter in Burrow City, although she has seen the death and destruction laid out by Nathan, she was never seen him actually kill a person. The closest thing she has seen Nathan hurt another human being in person other than herself where she received "training" was when he struck Sweet Dave with a sword for interrupting and threw Dylan against a wall for threatening him. And speaking of Dylan, there was also the time how Nathan looked at her for "betraying" him. As for the death of Leader, well, in her mind that was just an accident. But for Licker and especially Long Hair, it was just pure brutal savagery that if not for the fact Nathan looked human, anyone who witnessed it would''ve already consider him as a monster. Seeing Zita still being held hostage by Beardie, he rolled his eyes and then said, "Kid, what are you doing? Are you dumb or are you stupid? Didn''t I tell you to remember about your power and not hesitate?" Hearing Nathan''s barrage of questions, she snapped out of her trance, albeit only half. Her eyes began to well-up and she said, "Mister¡­ Help me¡­ Huhu¡­" Beardie snapped out of his trance as well. He pressed the dagger against Zita''s throat once again. "Mister¡­ Huhu¡­" "MLook, mman -- Mno, mi mmean, Sir Prophet, mi mdon''t mwant many mtrouble manymore. Mi mpromise mi mwill mrelease mthis mchild mif myou mpromise mto mlet mme mgo mas mwell." Nathan squinted his eyes and titled his head to the side. "Mcome mon, Sir Prophet! Mneither mof mus mwant mthis! Mdo myou mwant mme mto mkill mthis mchild?! Mdo myou mwant mher mblood mon myour mhands?! Mthink mclearly! Mcome mon! Mplease, Sir Prophet!" "Mister, I''m afraid¡­ I don''t want to die¡­ Huhu¡­" Nathan''s lips curled up into a smile in amus.e.m.e.nt, causing him to chuckle before answering, "Kid, stop crying and cool your head. Think about your POWER and look around you. There are many TINY things here you could use to THROW." ''If this kid still can''t understand something that simple and obvious, then there''s nothing more I can do¡­'' ''She''ll be better off dead because things will only get worse as time passes¡­'' ''The whole world has already become a place where only the strongest and most cunning will be able to survive¡­'' ''To continue living with a stupid head will only prolong your suffering¡­'' Zita calmed herself down and thought about what Nathan just said. Beardie wasn''t really sure what Nathan and Zita were talking about but he knew that if he doesn''t get Nathan to promise him to let him go as soon as possible, he was going to die. He pressed the dagger against Zita''s throat even further that she started to bleed a little once again. "MI MSWEAR MTO MGOD MI MWILL --" Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Ding! Pew! Pew! Pew! Ding! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Ding! Pew! About a hundred of tiny stones and other things suddenly came shooting towards at the three of them from all directions, passing through them and causing liters of blood to splatter in the air, especially Beardie who''s entire body was quickly filled with holes. In addition to that, the special effect of the Black equipment also activated which caused the ''ding'' sounds. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? Biatrice ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Yerby7213 ? Daoist6AMILD ? Pillastre ? Shikla ? Zatiel_Reyes ? DururuXl ? Kelv_Anne ? Luzi_Preant ? Daoist379312 ? LuhNell ? GLIVGYFY ? Badz_Baddy To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 90 - 94 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 191 - To Fort Yano (5) Thanks to the attack the Zita did, all three of them were covered with holes on their body. "Blergh!" they all coughed out blood. Beardie had the most holes on his body, next was Zita, and the one with the least holes was Nathan. Noticing that Beardie was distracted from his wounds that his hold against Zita weakened and he dropped his dagger from her throat¡­ Vooom! Pah! Nathan immediately charged forward and stabbed his fingers into Beardie''s mouth and went through the back of his head. Thud! He pulled his hand back out of Beardie''s head and caught Zita from falling down along with Beardie. Looking at Zita on his arms, he couldn''t help but notice that her face was so pale. Putting aside the holes on her clothes which was also soaked in blood, there were also holes on her neck, arms and legs. "Smamak¡­" she said weakly. "Shh¡­ Talk later." He summoned five [Small] Healing Potions from his [Artifact] and fed them to her. When her wounds were healed, he put her down and then summoned another five pieces of healing potions to heal himself. ''How many healing potions have I used since I''ve been with this kid?'' ''Too costly!'' "Mister¡­" Zita called out softly that it was almost a whisper. He turned to her. She was already standing. "Hmm?" "I''m sorry¡­" she said and held her down while she cast her gaze strangely at the corpse of Beardie. He shook his head mentally. ''No, she''s a kid and this is an investment¡­'' ''You need to spend some to get more¡­'' He flashed a very kind and warm smile. Pat. He raised an eyebrow and said, "What''s wrong, kid? Do you need more potions?" She was still holding her head down when she said, "No¡­" "Kid, your performance in this fight was very embarrassing. Considering your power, you, all of people should be the last one to be held as a hostage. In fact, there shouldn''t any be any possibility for that to even happen and yet it did. It''s just mind-blowing." "..." "Also, don''t ever do that kind of attack ever again. Not only were you committing suicide, but you were also committing friendly fire. Learn how to use your power properly." "Okay..." "Come, the battle isn''t done yet," he said and went to where Licker was. However, he noticed that she wasn''t following him so he stopped and turned to her. "What''s wrong, kid?" "Hey, look at me." She slowly raised her head. Nathan couldn''t help but notice that she was struggling to keep eye contact with him as if she was afraid of him. "Is there a problem, kid?" She took a step back. Nathan raised an eyebrow. Realizing what she did, she took a step forward and then said, "Nothing, mister¡­" "Come, there''s still one last thing that we should do," he said and resumed heading to Licker. *** He was lying on his stomach on the sidewalk and next to the thick brick wall. He was bleeding and had several broken bones, some of which were even protruding out of his skin. Compared to a while ago, he couldn''t move. But now, thanks to the little rest, he could somehow move his right hand. However¡­ ''Curse our luck¡­!'' ''I didn''t think we''ll end up fighting with a Prophet¡­!'' ''I need to get the healing potions on my pocket or else¡­'' He tried to move his right hand but the pain on his right elbow and shoulder were just too much. "ARGHHH¡­!" he g.r.o.a.n.e.d and gritted his teeth before returning his right arm to its previous position. "Haaa¡­" "Haaa¡­" "Haaa¡­" ''This isn''t looking good¡­'' ''I''ve lost too much blood that already I''m starting to lose consciousness¡­'' ''But I still need a little more rest¡­'' Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Thud¡­ He suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming his way. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ Thud¡­ "Kid, this is another part of your training," a man said in Regisian. Licker''s eyes immediately widened before closing them. *** "Kid, this is another part of your training." Zita followed behind him in silence. Nathan looked at Licker''s body. Although he wasn''t "moving" and had his eyes closed, Nathan could still notice the subtle movement of his back from breathing. It also didn''t help that he was topless, making it even more visible. But what made him confident that Licker was still alive was because earlier he specifically threw him away just to maim him and so that he could let Zita kill him later as a form of training. He chose him because he was the most annoying one among the four. ''Heh~ Still playing dead? What a great actor!'' he thought. "Kid, listen up. First of all, you always need to make sure to cut off their arms so they can''t cast spells like [Fireball], [Ice Spear] and etc." Whoosh! Chud! "WAAAHHH!!! MF.U.C.K MYOU!!!" Licker screamed in agony because his right arm was chopped off with an axe. "Because they can play dead and surprise-attack you like this one." Licker was about to cast a spell with his other arm. Whoosh! "WAAAHHH!!!" Nathan cut off the other arm. Licker wiggled in pain on the ground before turning to Nathan and said, "MWHAT MELSE MDO MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MWANT?! MYOU MALREADY MWON MAND MI MSURRENDERED!!!" "Normally, when I want to ask for information, I would try my best to keep the ''interviewee'' with less wounds -- or if possible, no wounds at all, so that they can experience more pain once I start to interview them. Because if they''re already injured, they wouldn''t be so cooperative because they already developed some numbness to the pain and their mind aren''t stable." "MF.U.C.K MYOU! MWHAT MDO MYOU MWANT?! MTEL--WAAAHHH!!!" Nathan summoned back his axe and then summoned a sword. Suuup! He impaled Licker the sword, pinning him down to the ground on his stomach. "You also need to pin them down." "MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MBASTARD!" "Continuing on, the more severe their injury before you even interview them, the more uncooperative they are because in their mind they''re already dying anyways." "MWHAT MTHE MHELL MDO MYOU MWANT, MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MBASTARD!?" "Of course, you can heal them with healing potions. However, when that happens, you need to give them at least 12 hours to recuperate before you interview them." "MWHY MAREN''T MYOU MANSWERING MME, MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MBASTARD?!" "So my point is that that approach is only good if you''re not in a hurry. Also, in my opinion, not only is it a waste of potions and you also need to completely heal them -- except for the arms, of course, but you also have to make sure they won''t commit suicide. Because trust me, they will." "MAREN''T MYOU MASHAMED MSPEAKING MREGISIAN MWITH MTHAT MLOW-CLA.S.S MACCENT MOF MYOURS?!" "It''s actually quite surprising, really." "MNO MMATTER MHOW MMUCH REGISIAN MYOU MSPEAK, MYOU''LL MSTILL MBE MA MPATHETIC MSELF-HATING MASIAN MLOSER!" "But then again, I''m still a rookie and I have yet to interview that many people. So I could be wrong." "MI MDON''T MCARE MIF MYOU''RE MA PROPHET. MLOOK MAT MHOW MPATHETIC MYOU MSOUND, MYOU MPATHETIC MSELF-HATING MASIAN MLOSER! HAHAHA~!" Nathan turned to Zita. "But for this specimen, well, since we''re not here for information, we''re in a hurry, and he''s already severely injured and I have no intention of wasting any potions on him, I want you to kill him. Come, before he bleeds to death," he said before summoning a [Grade D] Long Dagger, holding it by its tip and offering it to her. Zita was looking at Nathan with pure terror and she took a step back. "MLOOK MAT MME, MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MPATHETIC MSELF-HATING MASIAN MLOSER MBASTARD PROPHET!" Nathan knitted his brows and said, "Kid, what''s that look on your face?" "MHEY, MI''M MTALKING MHERE!" Nathan turned to Licker. Pah! He slapped his head. Of course, he didn''t use his full strength. He just enough to make him dizzy for a moment. "Noisy," he said before turning back to Zita. "Mister¡­ Can''t we¡­ Can''t we just let him go?" "Huh?" "He''s already¡­" "Kid, did you just forget what about happened? Not only were we ambushed by these weaklings but you, an overpowered range-type Chosen One, got hostaged by them. If you don''t think that''s so embarrassing and pathetic, then I don''t know what is." "But mister¡­ That''s a --" "A human being? A person?" He scoffed and continued, "Kid, weren''t you there when I started killing people at the government shelter in Burrow City? Didn''t I tell you that traveling with me is going to be a bloody and dangerous journey? So what kind of logic are you operating with?" "I¡­" "Wait, don''t tell you were expecting we were just going to kill zombies and Armored Angels, and then when it comes to humans we''ll just let them go once they surrendered? Or were you expecting me to do all the dirty work? What happened to being partners and pulling your own weight? Please tell me, please do, because I''m really confused about what kind of logic are you operating with here." "I¡­ I¡­" she said and looked away. Nathan''s expression turned serious and with a cold voice, he said, "Kid, listen closely: You either take this dagger and kill him or we''re going our separate ways. Although you''re a Chosen One like me, we''re in a zombie apocalypse and the last thing I want to do is to bring along someone useless with me." She returned her gaze back to him. "Choose right now." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? Biatrice ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Yerby7213 ? Daoist6AMILD ? Pillastre ? Shikla ? Zatiel_Reyes ? DururuXl ? Kelv_Anne ? Luzi_Preant ? Daoist379312 ? LuhNell ? GLIVGYFY ? Badz_Baddy To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 90 - 94 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for March 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 192 - To Fort Yano (6) "Choose right now," Nathan said coldly while wearing a serious expression and holding the [Grade] Long Dagger by its tip. Zita''s eyes were bouncing between the dagger on Nathan''s hand and the mutilated, bleeding and semi-conscious Licker impaled to the ground. Her body trembled and her mind was raced to make a decision. ''This isn''t what I want¡­'' ''But mister¡­'' ''This isn''t what was supposed to happen¡­'' ''But mister said¡­'' ''This isn''t¡­'' ''But¡­'' Nathan was about to put the dagger away and then activate [Coward''s Way] when he noticed Zita''s right foot taking a step forward. Thud¡­ She took another step. Thud¡­ Thud¡­ With each step she took, Nathan''s expression softened bit by bit until she finally reached him and Licker. Thud¡­ Her hand trembled as she slowly reached out for the dagger on Nathan''s hand. When her hand fully grasped the dagger''s handle, Nathan''s lips curled up a bit, forming into a little smile and he let go of the dagger''s tip. Still trembling, Zita stared at the dagger on her hand before slowly turning her sight to Licker who just recovered from Nathan''s slap earlier. When he saw Zita holding a dagger, he immediately begged in Regisian, "Please no! Please don''t do it! I''m sorry!" Nathan got up and went to the side. "PLEASE NO! I DIDN''T MEAN TO DO IT! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I''M VERY SORRY!" "Just think about it, kid. If our situation was in reverse and we were on the losing side, do you think they will show mercy to us?" "THAT''S NOT TRUE! WE HAD NO INTENTION OF HURTING YOU BOTH! WE JUST WANTED TO SCARE YOU THAT''S ALL!" "Pffft¡­" Nathan was trying so hard to hold back his laughter because he didn''t expect that Licker could actually speak Regisian properly. "The mere fact that they were willing to hurt us, even hold a knife against your neck and cut you just for encountering them already says a lot." Zita proceeded to step forward, going to Licker. "NO PLEASE! PLEASE DON''T BELIEVE HIM!" When she reached Licker, she crouched down and aimed the dagger at his neck. "PLEASE NO! I HAVE FAMILY THAT''S DEPENDING ON ME! I HAVE TWO LITTLE SISTERS! IF I''M GONE, NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THEM! PLEASE DON''T DO IT!" Zita hesitated. Nathan sneered and said, "Kid, don''t tell me you''re actually going to believe his story?" "PLEASE BELIEVE ME! I WILL EVEN LET YOU MEET MY SISTERS AND YOU CAN BE FRIENDS WITH THEM! PLEASE DON''T KILL ME! Huhu..." Tears began flowing from Licker''s eyes. "Please have mercy¡­ Huhu¡­" "I promise I will never do anything like this again¡­ Huhu¡­" "Just let me go back home to my family, please¡­ Huhu¡­" Seeing Licker''s tears, Zita couldn''t help but feel bad. ''He''s already so hurt¡­'' ''He''s going to die¡­'' ''Why can''t we just leave him¡­?'' "Kid, what are you waiting for? Hurry up already," said Nathan. Hearing Nathan''s voice, her mind quickly tried to make a justifiable reason. ''When mister shot me yesterday, he mentioned that the quickest way to kill your enemy is to cut off their head as a sign of showing mercy¡­'' ''Yes, he''s already hurt and he''s going to die...'' ''Killing him won''t make any difference¡­'' She closed her eyes to calm herself down. And when she opened them, they were filled with determination and she set her sights on Licker''s neck. Licker noticed the determination in Zita''s eyes. "MYOU MF.U.C.K.I.N.G MLITTLE MBITCH MWHORE! MI MWILL -- Elk! Suuup! Zita stabbed the dagger into his neck and began doing a push-pull motion as she pressed it down to cut off the head. Suuup¡­ Suuup¡­ "Elk¡­ Elk¡­!" Licker tried to wiggle his way out as best as he could while he made choking sounds. However, he was too weak from his wounds and there was also the sword pinning him down to the ground. "Umph!" hearing the choking sounds and feeling the bone and flesh against her dagger of a human, an urge to vomit suddenly welled up inside Zita. Nevertheless, she forcefully stopped herself from vomiting and closed her eyes as she continued to separate Licker''s head with the dagger. Suuup¡­ "Elk¡­" Suuup¡­ "Elk¡­" Suuup¡­ Clang! The blade of the dagger touched the asphalt, causing Zita to open her eyes. Licker''s head was finally separated from his body and she was staring blankly at it. Only God knew what was inside her head. Clap! Clap! Clap! Nathan was smiling as he was clapping his hands. "Bravo, kid. Bravo. You''re on your way to be a powerful being." Seeing no reaction from her, he approached her. And just when he was about to pat her on the head¡­ "Blergh!!!" Zita suddenly vomited to the side, almost hitting his boots. Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Blergh!!!" He waited until she stopped vomiting. "Blergh!!!" And as he was waiting, he started to think about his first time killing a human. ''Hmm¡­ I think the first time was those college kids who tried to assault me¡­?'' ''My memory¡­'' ''All I can remember is that they attacked me first and so I captured them¡­'' ''And at that time, my sole purpose was to use them as guinea pigs for my experiment to learn about the System and the zombie virus, not kill them¡­'' ''Yeah, I had no intention of killing them¡­'' ''I was forced to kill them actually¡­'' ''And when I got back to where I left them, I found them half-dead¡­'' ''The useless trashes tried to commit suicide by burning themselves and only one was left unharmed, a woman¡­'' ''That woman¡­'' ''What was her name again¡­?'' ''Her names eludes me¡­'' ''Or maybe I never asked it¡­?'' ''I really can''t remember¡­'' ''Anyways, what I do remember is being pissed so I stabbed them in the head -- just the half-dead ones, of course -- with a sword just in case they were still alive and will get revenge in the future¡­'' ''As for the remaining woman whose name eludes me or maybe I just don''t know because I didn''t ask, well, I think I let a zombie bit her to know how long does it take for a human to turn into a zombie¡­'' ''Yeah, they were my first victims¡­'' ''Although they attacked me first, at least I was kind enough to kill them for a really good purpose¡­'' Spit! Spit! Zita was done vomiting and was now spitting out the residue of her vomit inside her mouth. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Hey, stop that," Nathan said. He summoned a face towel and knelt down in front of her before wiping her face and hands with it. "Zita, you''re a growing lady. Always remember that a lady must not only always look and smell good, but also act elegant. Especially in your case, given that you''re a Chosen One, you need to always look presentable. So don''t ever let anyone see you vomit and spit, okay?" Zita didn''t anything and was just staring at Nathan with a blank face. "Speaking of looking presentable, you know, I used to know this Chosen One and her name was Rose. If you saw her, you will definitely say wow. She just has this presence, demeanor or aura that when she walks in a room and you see her, even if she wasn''t doing anything special or you don''t know her, you will instantly know in your gut that she''s someone very important and very competent. She was like this¡­ uh¡­ ball of confidence as if nothing can break her or put her down. And as an added bonus, she''s also quite beautiful, but that''s beside the point." ''Unfortunately, she was a power-hungry stupid bitch who bit more than she can chew¡­'' "Anyways, my point is, I want you to be like her." ''Wait, I''m not jinxing her for saying this, aren''t I? Ah whatever¡­'' "Be someone that whenever people look at you and without you doing anything, they would immediately know that you''re someone very special or superior. So be confident, be presentable, be elegant, be proud of yourself. You are a Chosen One and no one in this world can top that. Remember that." Zita continued not anything and staring at Nathan with a blank face. "Sigh¡­ Don''t feel about killing trash or lowlifes, kid." He wiped his hands with the face towel before throwing it away and summoning another one. He wiped her face once again. "If it makes you feel better, just know that this is Asia and we Asians have the highest number when it comes to race population. So killing a few Asians, especially trashes like these, is nothing. You really don''t have to feel bad about it." In Nathan''s own twisted and biased logic, one of the major problems he believes that''s causing poverty in Muwin is overpopulation. With that, he decided to divide the people into two groups -- smart and dumb. For the smart ones, they will only have 1 or 2 children on average -- some won''t even have children and will instead adopt. Meanwhile, the dumb ones will have at least 4. Now, what Nathan could never understand in a million years is why do some people choose to have children when they can''t even properly provide for them. They even have the audacity to commit crimes. And when caught, they would blame the economy, the government and other things but never themselves. And in Muwin''s case, although it''s a religious country, about 10 years ago, the government is not only offering free education but has also launched family planning programs. The tools or contraceptives are even free. One just needs to go to their local city/town hall and register. And if "it''s" already there, there''s the extreme measure -- abortion. The Muwinian government also tried to implement a two-child policy law. But it never came to pass because the human rights groups in the country went against it and were back by the United Nations (UN). And every sane non-Caucasian country knows that the last thing they want is to be "saved" by the major UN members such as Regis and Iustia. So what exactly is the problem here? What kind of help do these people actually want? Is there even any point in helping them when they don''t even want to help themselves? This is just one of the biggest mysteries in Muwin that Nathan could never understand. Nathan again wiped his hands with the face towel before throwing it away. But this time around, he didn''t summon another face towel and instead went to fix her hair. He didn''t untie her ponytail but just combed the strands to the back of her ears. "So, Zita, don''t feel bad about it, okay? Just know that I''m very proud of you because you''re on your way to becoming a powerful being just like me." Poke. He poked her nose with his finger. Zita still didn''t say anything and continued staring at him with a blank face. Looking at her facial expression, he squinted his eyes. ''Looks like she''s still in a state of shock¡­'' He glanced at his watch. 11:05 am. ''Well, it''s still a little early for lunch but there''s no other choice¡­'' ''And oh, I almost forgot. I also need her to take a short nap because she wasn''t able to get enough sleep last night¡­'' Pat. Pat. He patted her cheeks and said, "Zita, stop being useless and pull yourself together. Didn''t you say you want to become strong? Do you remember what happened back at the helicopter? What about when I filled your body with bullets?" Some semblance of clarity appeared in Zita''s eyes. "Being strong doesn''t mean just having a high level, high stats, powerful skill or spell, and the best equipment. It''s also about having a strong mind, the ability to make tough decisions. This isn''t a game, a cartoon or a movie where everything is just going to be sunshine and rainbows. This is real life and we''re in a zombie apocalypse and we''re also in a third-world country. Something bad is going to happen whether you like it or not. And when that time comes, you should be smart and cold enough to do something. I already told you many times that traveling with me is going to be a bloody and dangerous journey, didn''t I?" Zita finally gained full clarity. "So pull your-f.u.c.k.i.n.g-self together because you''re my partner and I don''t want to see you die for stupid and low reasons." "Yes, mister," she said in a serious tone. Nathan flashed a very warm and kind smile and cupped her right cheek. For the first time, Zita couldn''t help but notice the scent of blood on his gloves. "Good, good. Just know that I''m very proud of you because of what you''ve done. It was very brave of you. I can''t stress how proud I am of you. And to commemorate this achievement for doing your first kill, let''s have a ''fun'' meal." "Okay." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? PSYcho_72 ? zlBlade ? Muman125 ? NYXLOGOS ? Pillastre ? James_Black_2558 ? Shikla ? Naufal_Arc ? Kwen_Sama ? DururuXl ? Badz_Baddy ? TheAntiSimp ? Luzi_Preant ? Yui_Saotome ? NS710 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 95 - 99 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 193 - Timeout Nathan and Zita were inside a two-story office building seating on a table near an open window for some fresh air and light. On the table, there were two MRE packs as well as two plates and bottles of water. The MREs were food items he looted back at Saint Holy Child Hospital in Womania. Nathan grabbed one of the MREs and read the name printed on its package. "Menu 6: Beef Stew With Rice, huh¡­" He flipped the package. At the back, there was a list of the items inside the package. He looked at Zita and asked, "Zita, what''s yours?" Zita grabbed hers and said, "Menu 4: Chicken Stew With Rice." "Oh, chicken stew. You like chicken?" "It''s fine..." "Wanna swap with mine? It''s beef." "I''m fine with this..." "Okay, let''s try them, shall we?" Nathan began to open his MRE and Zita followed suit. "Okay¡­" Nathan said as he laid out the items inside his MRE on the table. And aside from the flameless ration heater, he had¡­ ? A pack of beef stew with rice ? A pack of dried nuts ? A pack of dried cranberries ? A pack of instant coffee ? A pack of instant melon juice ? Two empty packs for the coffee and melon juice ? And other small packs for the tissue, wet wipes, spoon, bubblegum, sugar, toothpick-floss, hot sauce, and matches. Zita did the same as well with hers. The items inside her MRE were the same except for two items¡­ ? A pack of chicken stew with rice ? A pack of instant gr.a.p.e juice "Have you ever tried eating MREs?" said Nathan. Back in Womania at Burrow City, on their first breakfast together, although some of the food items he used was from the MREs like the slices of bread and a glass of chocolate drink, this was the first time she was going to eat an actual MRE meal. "No¡­" Zita said and shook her head. He grabbed the flameless ration heater and said, "This is where you''re going to heat your main dish. You just have to add water but don''t overfill it." He grabbed his beef stew with rice package. "This is my main dish. Don''t unwrap it. Just put it inside the package and then add water. Remember, don''t overfill it." He placed the main dish package inside the flameless ration heater and added water from his bottled water. "Next, close it. Just fold it and then leave it. It''s hot." About 5 seconds passed, the flameless ration began making sizzling sounds. Psss¡­ "How many minutes should I wait?" asked Zita. "Oh, I forgot about that. Usually about 10 minutes. Just read the instructions on the package of your main dish. There''s also a list of instructions at the heating pack." "Okay," she said and then checked to read the instructions before doing what Nathan did. Psss¡­ "While we''re at it, let''s try some of the other items," he said before grabbing the pack of dried nuts and ripping it open. Munch¡­ Munch¡­ "Hmm¡­ Not too much taste as expected. How about yours?" Zita grabbed hers and opened it. Munch¡­ "How''s it?". "Doesn''t have any taste." "Haha~ True. It needs more salt. Luckily, I have some." He summoned a bottle of salt from his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and then sprinkled it on his package of dried nuts. Swish¡­ Swish¡­ Munch¡­ Munch¡­ "There, the taste has improved¡­ somewhat. Try it." Swish¡­ Swish¡­ Munch¡­ Munch¡­ She didn''t say anything. However, looking at her expression, Nathan could tell that for her, the taste didn''t improve. ''This kid¡­'' ''She hasn''t smiled since then¡­'' ''Did I break her¡­?'' ''Was it too soon¡­?'' He shook his head mentally. ''It doesn''t matter¡­'' ''We''re already on the Second Phase and the overall level of the zombies is [Level 4]¡­'' ''Time waits for no one¡­'' ''I had no other choice¡­'' ''Right now I need to make her feel comfortable first before pushing even further¡­'' ''It was her first kill after all¡­'' He flashed a smile and said, "Let''s try the drinks." This time around, he just grabbed the package for the instant juice and ignored the empty package that''s used for mixing the drink. He summoned two glasses and placed them on the table. Clink. Clink. "I have here instant coffee and melon flavor juice. What about you?" Zita checked hers. "Instant coffee and gr.a.p.e juice¡­" "Oh, which one do you like? Not the coffee though because you''re still young. Just the juice." Zita pouted her lips and move it slightly to the side, not because of annoyance but because she was thinking. Seeing her pouting, Nathan couldn''t help but let out a smile. ''Heh~ It looks I was worried for nothing¡­'' ''This kid really has unpredictable mood swings¡­'' ''But just to make sure, I have to make her more comfortable first¡­'' "So which one do you prefer?" "Umm¡­ I''ll just stick with gr.a.p.e juice." "Okay." They started mixing their own glass of juice. And after mixing, they tasted it. Sip. Sip. Clink. Clink. Nathan put down his glass and said, "Well, that was sweet. It would''ve been better if it was cold." Zita, on the other hand, had a sour face as she put her glass down. "Hahaha~ What''s wrong? Tastes bad?" In truth, it tasted like those cheap instant juice drinks where you''re not even sure if it''s even safe to drink. "It''s fine. But I think I''ll just stick with water," she said as she grabbed a bottle of water a took a few sips. "Oh, perfect timing. It''s already 10 minutes." The food packs that they were heating on their respective flameless ration heater were already done. "Careful, it''s hot," Nathan said as he unfolded his flameless ration heater, took out the beef stew with rice package and opened it before pouring it into his plate. Zita did the same. "This is it¡­?" Nathan said as he poked the beef stew with rice on his plate with his spoon. ''Although it smells good, the appearance is like¡­ it looks like poop or some dog food¡­'' He noticed that Zita was looking at his food and looked like she had the same reaction as he did. He smiled and said, "Well, at least it smells good so I guess it''s good¡­ Probably." He scooped a bite. Munch¡­ "Umm¡­" Munch¡­ Gulp! ''My God, this is poison!'' ''The only passable quality is the smell!'' ''The appearance and taste is utter crap!'' ''I didn''t accidentally eat an MRE made for dogs, didn''t I?'' He grabbed the beef stew with rice package and also the main package. ''There''s no sign here that reads it''s made for human or dog¡­'' ''My God¡­ People actually eat this?'' He looked at Zita who was staring at the chicken stew with rice pack on her plate. ''Looks good and also has a good smell.'' Zita scooped a bite. Munch¡­ Munch¡­ Her facial expression was normal. "How''s it?" "It''s fine." "Eh¡­? Really?" "Yeah. But it needs more salt," she said before grabbing the bottle of salt and sprinkling it on her food. Swish¡­ Swish¡­ Munch¡­ Munch¡­ Nathan continued to observe her as she scooped another bite. ''Hmm¡­ Looks like she lucked out with her meal¡­'' ''Or maybe because this meal is made for Caucasians?'' Having lived in Womania for 8 months, he couldn''t help but notice the difference between Womanian and Muwinian meal. Yes, each country has its own traditional dishes. But what Nathan is referring to is the taste of the dishes. In Womania, there are restaurants that offer Asian dishes. However, the Asian dishes that''s popular, common and cheap in Womania are made for a Western taste. And there was no way Nathan was going to waste his hard-earned money on expensive meals. However, at the same time, he doesn''t mind spending money on cigarettes which are quite expensive, especially in first-world countries like Womania. So go figure. Nathan looked at his meal. ''Well, I''m a man. I can''t be too picky with food¡­'' He continued eating his meal. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? PSYcho_72 ? zlBlade ? Muman125 ? NYXLOGOS ? Pillastre ? James_Black_2558 ? Shikla ? Naufal_Arc ? Kwen_Sama ? DururuXl ? Badz_Baddy ? TheAntiSimp ? Luzi_Preant ? Yui_Saotome ? NS710 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 95 - 99 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 194 - Timeout (2) Nathan finished eating his meal and was lighting a cigarette. Click! "Wooo..." He blew out a white cloud as he put down the lighter and watched a hummingbird land on an electrical wire nearby. "Wooo..." The bird made a few chirping sounds before flying away. He turned to Zita who just finished eating her protein bar and was drinking water. "Zita." She looked at him. "This isn''t me nagging or kicking you while you''re down and I for one really hate it when people lecture me during or right after a meal. I''m also not trying to be overdramatic. However, there is no time so I have to be blunt." Truth be told, if Zita was a boy and considering the fact that they aren''t blood-related and they''re in a zombie apocalypse, Nathan would''ve dealt with her in a very, very different manner. He would''ve been colder, harsher. Despite his experience in life, even living in Womania for 8 months which was a super liberal and politically correct country, and also the sick and evil things he has done ever since the zombie apocalypse happened, at his very core, his views about life, in general, is still that of a brown-skinned Asian, a Muwinian to be exact -- conservative. It had its advantages and also its disadvantages. And for brown-skinned Asian cultures, boys and men aren''t to be babied. They are supposed to be men. "Listen, you have to let go of your first-world mindset or sensibilities." "Okay, I understand." "I don''t think you really understand. Do you know what does sensibility means?" Zita thought about it for a moment before answering, "It''s how you feel." "Yeah, something like that or about how you view and react to the things around you. "You see, a person from a third-world country has a totally different mindset from a person who comes from a first-world country. "For starters, Asia has the highest population when it comes to race. Living in a third-world Asian country will have reality slap you so hard in the face just to tell you that not every life is created equal and human rights is a luxury. "Um... Let''s see... Uh... Did your parents ever take you to one of those Slum Tours?" "Slum Tours?" Zita said with a confused expression. "Snok -- I mean, no." "Hmm..." Nathan s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette to think about another approach. "Wooo¡­ Well, you''re from Iskaldia, right? That''s a first-world Caucasian country and you look like the ideal child of every white person with your icy blonde hair and green eyes. And if I were to judge you from your demeanor, I''m going to bet that you grew up in a decent and loving family. And to top that off, you''re also a Chosen One. I don''t know what did you do in your previous life to have so many blessings, but the only thing lacking from you is if you were born a man and you would''ve had the world by the balls. "I''m sorry. I know that was very ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e for me to say considering what happened to your parents. But I had no choice but to say those things in order to stress out how privileged you actually are and how helplessly oblivious you are about how the world really works because you''ve been living in a bubble within a bubble." "No, mister. I''m not stupid. My parents taught me well and I go to a good school and I have good grades. Even though I''m only almost 11 years old, I know of a lot of things about the world and a lot of my teachers and people told me that I act m.a.t.u.r.e for my age." "You really think so? Then explain to me how was it a smart idea for a kid your age to ask a complete stranger to take you with him and even go to another country just because you want to become strong." "That''s¡­" Zita said and then became silent. "Don''t confuse academic smart and street smart because they are two different things. Also, there are different types of intelligence. "Being academically smart is just like being a well-trained monkey or parrot. And in third-world countries, just being academically smart and hardworking doesn''t guarantee you a successful life. You need more than those two things to survive here. "Just to give you an idea, did you know that Muwin is among the top 5 ric.h.e.s.t brown-skinned Asian countries and within the top 50 in world rankings? But don''t be fooled by those titles because in reality it''s survival of the fittest here, a dog-eat-dog world due to the fact that brown-skinned Asian governments are so corrupt, only second to Africans and tied with brown-Caucasians. "Okay, since you say you''re smart, let me test your logic. Don''t worry. It''s just a simple question. That''s all. "Let''s say you''re the smartest mathematician that has ever lived. On top of that, you''re also one of the most musically gifted person in the world. However, you''re born in a poor family and the society you live in is run by criminals -- the politicians, policemen, etc. -- who are always on the lookout to prey on others. And when I say ''prey,'' I mean they will really use you for their own personal gains, regardless of whether you like it or not. You have no control over it. You''re literally under their mercy. "Now, tell me, what are you going to do in order to survive in such an environment? Tell me. I''ll wait." Zita thought long and hard until finally answering, "I¡­ I don''t know¡­" "See? Exactly my point. And it''s not like you''re going to teach them math or entertain them with your musical talents, right? "That, Zita, is the world that we in the developing or third-world countries live in. When I say that just being smart and hard-working isn''t enough to survive here because you need more than those two things due to the fact it''s literally survival of the fittest here, it''s simply a fact. "And in my case, well, I took the easy way out. I went to another country, a first-world country to be exact, because it was the only way I could see myself earning money quicker. "Now, going back to how is it a smart idea for a kid your age to ask a complete stranger to take you with him and even go to another country just because you want to become strong, well, all I can say that you''re extremely lucky I''m not a sick bastard who''s into torturing children. Do you think you can stop me if I were one? You''d be lucky if I just killed you right away. What if I decide to torture you for days, weeks or months and then sell you? What are you going to do within that time period? Commit suicide? Trust me, kid, I know a few ways to keep you from committing suicide. "But hey, let''s say I was really a sick bastard who''s into torturing children and you had to fight. Tell me, in your heart of hearts, do you honestly think you stand a chance against me if I was your enemy?" Zita shuddered as she recalled the battle from earlier. Despite her very young age and severe lack of fighting experience, even she could tell that those men that they encountered earlier were severely outmatched by Nathan. But what really frightened her was the level of brutality that he has shown, especially how he dealt with Long Hair. "No¡­" she said almost like a whisper. "Trust me, kid. Here in third-world countries, if you don''t know how to play the GAME here or refuse to play the GAME, the crocodiles, sharks, wolves and foxes disguised in sheep''s clothing here will devour you. And we have PLENTY of those kinds of people here who wouldn''t think twice to take advantage of you." In his mind, if only they could just settle all their differences and love and respect one another, 99.9% of the problems in the world would just disappear. Unfortunately, as Nathan got older, he realized that life wasn''t as simple as that. During the time between his exile from Latif city and before going to Womania, he lived around the country. He had the luxury to do so because he was working online. And of course, to be able to afford such a lifestyle and also save money at the same time, he lived in neighborhoods that were between lower-income middle class and slums. So whether he wanted it or not, he got to see and experience the good and bad sides of living in a brown-skinned Asian country like Muwin. He learned that there are times doing the right thing is wrong, there are times that doing the wrong thing is right, and there are times that things are simply what they are. In the beginning, he, of course, tried to distance himself from all the negative sides. But he quickly realized that such an approach was impossible because whether he likes it or not, as an average person with an average background, if he wanted to live in a society and enjoy its benefits, he also had to deal with the disadvantages that come with it. So he continued to soldier on. And the more he knew about the world, the more confused and disgusted he got that the only saving grace that''s keeping him from being insane was his grandfather''s advice. Whether his grandfather''s advice was correct or not, he doesn''t know. But at the very least, it made him financially stable. And in the world before the zombie apocalypse, if there was anything he was absolutely sure of, it was that money talks. To anyone who says money can''t buy happiness, Nathan would dare that person to try saying that to a starving and shivering homeless person and ask if they''re happy. "But of course, I''m not saying first-world countries are these utopias or something because I''ve also seen some crazy and sick things there. However, first-world Caucasian countries are the best of what the world has to offer, especially when it comes to women and children''s rights. Anyone who says otherwise is a complete moron." "Mister, what is utopias?" "Utopia is something like paradise or heaven." "Oh... So it''s sheavenk." "Sheavenk, huh... Anyways, if you just step outside of the first-world bubble and live like how the rest of the world lives, just be in their shoes and see things from their perspective, you will quickly realize that living with dignity and a clean conscience while climbing the socio-economic ladder is a privilege that only a select few can actually have. Moreover, there are places in this world that don''t need a zombie apocalypse to be considered a hellhole." "Socio-economic ladder?" "Um¡­ My point is, there are kids way, way younger than you who have no choice but to grow up as fast as they could if they want to survive and have a good life." "Okay¡­?" "Some of them can even be so unlucky. If they are caught by criminal syndicates, they will be maimed or worse, by their own parents or family members, in order to be used as professional street beggars. "One of the things they would do is destroy your eyes but not completely, just enough that you would have a hard time on your own. Or will have the kid deliberately jump in front of a moving car or truck to get hit so that they can sue the driver or the company that the driver works for for money. "Can you imagine your own parents or family doing that to you?" "No¡­" Nathan s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette and then chuckled as he recalled other few funny memories he had here in Muwin. "Wooo... Kid, have you ever witnessed a mother put a price tag on her own baby?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? Naufal_Arc ? PSYcho_72 ? NS710 ? Shikla ? xerosama1 ? Pillastre ? zlBlade ? Badz_Baddy ? NYXLOGOS ? Chris_Howitzer ? Ram_Thomson ? ButtMuncher168 ? Dante_Reyes ? Smith_Weston ? TheAntiSimp ? Luzi_Preant ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Memnochthejew To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 100 - 104 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 195 - Timeout (3) "Wooo... Kid, have you ever witnessed a mother put a price tag on her own baby?" Zita didn''t say anything. "Did you know that here in brown-skinned Asian countries male mixed babies with Caucasian blood or white-skinned Asian are the most expensive, starting at around M¡ê15,000 or around ¡ê333 or WOM$429? "Well, to be exact, people that are 30+ years old prefer the ones with Caucasian blood. Meanwhile, the ones who are 30 years below want babies with white-skinned Asian blood. "As for the cheapest, it''s female dark-skinned babies. And if she has afro hair, it''s even cheaper. As a matter of fact, in some cases, no one would even want to buy her. "Have you ever seen a 14-year old girl video chatting with an old white man in a computer shop in the middle of the night to ask for money while her grandmother quietly sits on the side, out of frame? "Did you know that a person''s life here is also M¡ê15,000? And this is just the city price and if you''re not friends with the hitman. "And if the target is a foreigner, it''s even cheaper. It''s so cheap in the province that there are people who are willing to kill a foreigner for a case of beer which only costs M¡ê500 or drugs worth of that amount. "Have you ever seen a face of a girl who just graduated high school being forced against her will by her parents to marry a complete stranger for the dowry? And out of desperation, she would swallow her pride and beg you to take her away with you even if it means she had to work for you as a maid for free?" "But mister, isn''t there any police? Why not call them for help?" "Call the police? Weren''t you listening? I just told you that in brown-skinned Asian countries it''s survival of the fittest here, a dog-eat-dog world, and there are far too many crocodiles, sharks, wolves and foxes disguised in sheep''s clothing here. And that includes the politicians, policemen and etc." "I''m sorry..." "Anyways, these are just some of the few things I can tell you that I have personally witnessed. There are far more sickening things out there that you wouldn''t expect to even exist because it goes way beyond human morality. I swear to God, it''s not my intention to scare you and I really wish I was lying. But unfortunately, this is the reality that we people outside of first-world countries lived in before the zombie apocalypse." Nathan s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette and blew out a white cloud as he stared outside of the window in silence. "Mister, is everyone outside of first-world countries bad people?" He smiled and said, "Of course not. There are good people. However, most of them are poor and are susceptible to bullying because they refuse to play with the actual rules of the world. "There are even some people who despite living in third-world countries, still have no idea how the world around them actually works because they lived in such a sheltered environment that they turned into idealists who are so out of touch with reality -- You should really avoid these types of people at all cost by the way because their naivety or sense of justice will only bring you down. "And given that we''re currently in a zombie apocalypse, it''s just a much safer and logical approach to just assume that everyone is a potential enemy. Unless, of course, you have the power to read minds or see the future which I doubt both of us have. Or do you?" "But what if..." Zita wanted to ask more but stopped herself. Nathan smiled as he s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette one last time before fl.i.c.k.i.n.g it away outside the window and then turning at her. "Wooo¡­ I know it''s a hard pill to swallow. But don''t worry, you will get used to it in no time. You will eventually learn the art of embracing madness. That is the way of living here. "Just always be sure to remember this important rule: Things like kindness, mercy and playing hero are luxuries that only the strong can have. And in your case, you''re really in no position whatsoever to have such luxuries. You can''t even survive on your own outside with the zombies." "What about you, mister? You''re so strong¡­" "Strong?" Nathan said and then scoffed. "I''m still far from being strong. And even if I was, I''m not in the business of saving people nor do I have any plans of entering such business. If you want someone to play hero with you, go find somebody else. Not me. I have far more important things to do. "And plus, didn''t I already tell you back in Burrow City that traveling with me would be a bloody and dangerous road? Have you even been listening to all the things I''ve told you so far? Because it seems more and more to me that you haven''t." Zita''s face became pale and she quickly said, "I''m very sorry, mister. I didn''t mean to forget about the things you''ve told me." Nathan squinted his eyes as he looked at her. ''My God¡­ This kid¡­ Was it really a smart idea to bring along a Chosen One kid with me? Yeah, she''s a Chosen One but she''s also a kid. And I already brought her with me here in Muwin so I don''t think there''s any turning back now. But if this kid continues to act stupid, I don''t think I should be held accountable if she dies because of her own stupidity nor do I have to risk my life. But, if she decides to leave me -- Yeah, that would be the best scenario. She could even take all the items in her possession with her. I won''t mind this time. I promise.'' "I see." Zita sensed the disappointment in Nathan''s eyes and tone. "I''m really sorry, mister. I really am. I --" ''My God¡­ What the f.u.c.k was I f.u.c.k.i.n.g thinking? I really should stop letting my emotions influence my decisions. This would be the first and last time I would agree to take a kid with me, even if it''s a Chosen One. Sigh¡­ Stupid, stupid Nathan. Nathan, why the f.u.c.k are you so stupid? Things would''ve been much better if she was a brown-skinned Asian. Yeah, that would''ve saved me from a lot of problems. No, scratch that, I would have zero problems if she was one. Perhaps I could trade her with a brown-skinned Asian Chosen One? I guess -- No, no, no, hell no, that would be too cold even for me. That''s just ice-cold. F.u.c.k you, Nathan. F.u.c.k you for having such sick thoughts. Haven''t you already done enough back at Womania?'' "-- remember everything." ''What was this kid saying again? Ah, whatever.'' He flashed a very warm and kind smile and then said, "I see. Don''t worry about it. Look, Zita, I already promised to take you under my wing so don''t worry. I understand. I really do. Even though you''re a Chosen One like me, you''re still a kid so you''re bound to make mistakes and you just lost your parents. So I''m the one here who''s being so ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e with your feelings. "However¡­" Nathan''s expression became serious. "The fact still remains that we''re in a zombie apocalypse. And as much as this breaks my heart to say this to you, we have to put aside our feelings and act smart." "Mister, I promise that from now on I will listen to everything you say and won''t forget any of it." Nathan''s face went back to the very warm and kind smile and he said, "I really appreciate that. Thank you for understanding. And to be honest, Zita, I actually feel so lucky to have such a bright, strong, brave and understanding partner like you. I really do. So thank you once again." "Okay¡­" "Anyways, going back to the things I said to you that you need to let go of your first-world mindset, if you want to continue traveling with me, you have to be cold and ruthless. If you have to lie or step on people to get ahead, do it. If you have to kill to survive, do it. If you feel bad about doing these things, learn how to shut your feelings down and deal with them later during your downtime. Can you do these things for me so that both of us will survive and continue in becoming stronger? "Yes. I promise to let go of my first-world mindset and do those things that you mentioned so that I won''t bring you down and we''ll become stronger." "Thank you," Nathan said as he flashed an even warmer and kinder smile. "I will really do." "I''m very confident that you certainly will," he said and then gently patted her head. Pat. Pat. He got up from his chair and said, "And for what it''s worth, if you think being in a brown-skinned Asian country is really scary, wait till you get to the African and brown-Caucasian countries because they''re in a higher f.u.c.k.e.d up level, especially the ones that''s plagued with war. If you''re a woman there and even worst a foreign woman, well¡­ all I can say is may God be with you. "Now let''s hope that we get to encounter some people along the way so that you could practice killing, okay? But before that, I need you to take a short nap first. Based on the look of your face, I can tell you weren''t able to get enough sleep last night." "Okay, mister¡­" Pat. Pat. "Go to sleep. I''ll stand guard and wake you up in about 2 hours." "Okay¡­" she said and got up from her seat. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? Naufal_Arc ? NS710 ? Shikla ? xerosama1 ? Pillastre ? zlBlade ? Badz_Baddy ? NYXLOGOS ? Chris_Howitzer ? Ram_Thomson ? ButtMuncher168 ? Dante_Reyes ? Smith_Weston ? TheAntiSimp ? Luzi_Preant ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Memnochthejew To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 100 - 104 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 196 - Timeout (4) "Wooo¡­" Nathan was sitting in front of a desk as he s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette and then blew out a white cloud before putting it on a cup. On top of the desk were System items he looted from the men he and Zita fought a while ago. Some of them still even had blood on them. Nathan picked up one of the items. It was a pair of earrings and the System informed him about its details. ''Hmm¡­ [Grade D] Earring (12/15) +3 STR¡­'' ''And it''s helmet type¡­'' He placed it down and picked up another item. ''This is one is from the Licker guy and it''s a [Grade D] Bandana (14/15) +2 AGI, +1 STR¡­'' ''It''s also a helmet type¡­'' He placed it down. ''These two items¡­'' ''There were definitely no drops like these back at Womania¡­'' ''Outside of the Divine Tower I was able to loot [Grade D] Helm, [Grade C] Full Helm, and both [Grade D] and [Grade C] Tiara¡­'' ''And inside the Divine Tower, putting aside the equipment being sold at the shop, the drops of the Armored Angels were the same [Grade D] items, only different color: black and white along with their own special effect¡­'' He was about to pick up another item when he heard Zita rustling on her bed so he turned to her. He looked at her and squinted his eyes. ''Is she having a hard time sleeping¡­?'' Fortunately, the sky was a little cloudy today so there wasn''t that much heat. But given the fact that Zita was used to a cold country, it was still too hot for her and the building had no electricity. ''Even though she can''t sleep, this is still a much-needed rest for her because she wasn''t able to sleep properly last night¡­'' ''The last thing I want is for her to collapse in the middle of the fight¡­'' ''Also, she could use this downtime to digest all the information I''ve given to her¡­'' ''I''ve already planted the seed in her heart and mind¡­'' ''It''s now left to her whether she''d let it grow or not¡­'' He resumed checking the items. But before that, he grabbed his cigarette and s.u.c.k.e.d it once before blowing out a white cloud and putting it back on the cup. "Wooo..." He picked up an item. ''[Grade D] Arm Bracelet (9/15) +2 STR, +1 VIT¡­'' ''It''s a glove type¡­'' ''Didn''t see this back in Womania¡­'' He placed it down and picked up another item. This time, it came as a pair. ''[Grade D] Armbands (14/15) +3 AGI¡­'' ''Also a glove type item¡­'' ''Didn''t see this one in Womania either¡­'' He placed them down. ''The rest I''ve already dropped when I first got here -- the Tribal Sparrow Tattoo which serves as an armor and the Leg Bracelet which serves as shoes¡­'' ''There''s also the Loincloth (Male)...'' ''So there has to be a female version of it as well...?'' ''Anyhow, it also serves as an armor but none of them has it¡­'' ''Figures¡­ Even I would be too ashamed to wear it¡­'' ''But wouldn''t that mean you won''t have to worry about washing it because you can just use a Repair Kit potion and it will be good as brand new?'' ''But still¡­'' ''It''s still definitely embarrassing¡­'' ''And a waste of Repair Kit potion¡­'' ''As for the accessories and potions, they''re more or less the same found in Womania¡­'' ''There''s also the weapons¡­'' ''Putting aside the small one-handed axes, the swords and daggers sport a Kris design¡­'' He swept his gaze at all the System items at the table. ''Hmm¡­ There really is a difference between the drops here in Muwin and back in Womania¡­'' ''Well, given the climate here, it would be stupid to wear the items drops of Womania¡­'' ''As a matter of fact, I can even feel that my undershirt is a bit wet¡­'' ''But I have no other choice¡­'' ''Not only do each of my Black-colored equipment give me a 1% chance to block any physical attack, but its bonus stats are that of a Second Tier, giving me +4 stats¡­'' He picked up one of the potions. ''Sigh¡­ These weaklings weren''t carrying that many potions¡­'' ''There''s only one Antidote¡­'' ''And the rest are just [Grade D] Repair Kits and a handful of [Grade D] Healing Potions¡­'' ''Well, I can''t blame them¡­'' ''What else should I expect?'' ''Weakling, ant, trash or whatever will always be the same¡­'' ''But I should''ve at least ask them where their base is¡­'' ''I mean, they weren''t carrying bags, only pouches¡­'' ''They don''t even have a [Grade D] Spatial Bag which means they haven''t been to the Divine Tower -- judging also from the color of their equipment because it''s neither Black nor White¡­'' ''That Leader guys also mentioned that this section of the city is owned by them and if we want to stay here, we have to pay or suffer the consequences¡­'' ''If I knew where their base is, I could''ve gone there and asked for some ''compensation'' for the physical and psychological damage their members did to us¡­ Hehehe~'' He shook his head. ''Nah¡­ I don''t have the time¡­'' ''Maybe next time after I reach Fort Yano and reunite with my parents¡­'' ''Yeah, definitely next time¡­'' ''I''m pretty sure it''s just near here and easy to spot because there won''t be that many zombies loitering around the area¡­'' He smiled evilly. ''And oh, I almost forgot¡­'' ''What was that ''Prophet'' they were talking about?'' ''I mean, they kept calling me Prophet¡­'' ''What was that about?'' ''Prophet¡­'' He massaged his growing beard. ''Prophet¡­'' ''Oh shit, I forgot about my cigarette!'' When he saw his cigarette at the cup, only the b.u.t.t remained and it was already dead. ''Ugh¡­ F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' He resumed musing. ''Prophet¡­'' ''Prophet¡­'' ''Why Prophet¡­?'' ''What is a Prophet¡­?'' ''Well, Muwin is a religious country¡­'' ''So it must have something to do with that¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ I should''ve asked them about it¡­'' ''Anyhow, if I were to make an educated guess, maybe being Chosen One here has some importance because of its religious implications?'' ''Well, Muwin is a religious country after all and there was that being in the beginning who claimed to be God and is also responsible for the zombie apocalypse and the power of the System¡­'' Right after Nathan said that, he immediately thought about Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones, Chosen Ones whom he encountered back inside the Divine Tower in Womania and were "employed" by the Womanian government by attaching a remote-controlled bomb around their necks. He also thought about the folder he "received" from Makeda back at Burrow City in Womania, revealing the list of known Chosen Ones and their power. And lastly, he thought about the biggest weakness of Chosen Ones. ''Chosen Ones only have one skill or power. And the more people know about your skill or power, the more vulnerable you become¡­'' ''Also, which religious group does this status of being a ''Prophet'' belongs to...?'' ''Trinitian or Iklasian...?'' ''And if both, which group gives me more benefits...?'' ''Too many questions, so little answers¡­'' ''I can''t risk it¡­'' ''I really can''t¡­'' ''For now, I''ll make sure Zita and I to keep our identity as Chosen Ones or Prophets or whatever and gather more information before deciding¡­'' ''The last thing I want is to end up like Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones¡­'' ''This is a third-world country after all¡­'' ''Human rights is almost nonexistent here¡­'' ''Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones¡­'' ''To be Chosen Ones and yet nothing but slaves¡­'' ''What a sad and pathetic existence¡­'' ''Very, very sad and pathetic¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? Naufal_Arc ? PSYcho_72 ? NS710 ? Shikla ? xerosama1 ? Pillastre ? zlBlade ? Badz_Baddy ? NYXLOGOS ? Chris_Howitzer ? Ram_Thomson ? ButtMuncher168 ? Dante_Reyes ? Smith_Weston ? TheAntiSimp ? Luzi_Preant ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Memnochthejew To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 100 - 104 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 197 - To Fort Yano (7) 2:10 pm. Roar! Roar! Roar! A group of zombies led by an S1, followed by an N1 and then a D2 were charging towards Nathan who had a casual expression on his face as he took his sweet time walking towards them. ''Hmm¡­ I wonder what weapons I should use this time¡­?'' Roar! Roar! Roar! ''I guess I''ll go with that weapon. It''s been a while since I''ve used it¡­'' Roar! Roar! Roar! Nathan summoned a [Grade D] Large Axe. Pah! He slapped the S1 away and its head exploded. A [Green] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. The next one to leap at him was the N1. He made a quick sidestep before gripping the axe with two hands and then chopped down. Whoosh! Bam! Bam! The N1''s body separated into two from its waist and crashed a few feet away from him. Although it was still alive, it was quickly bleeding to death. Nathan ignored it focused on the D2. The D2 stopped and was about to roar to call out for more companions. "RO--!" Wooh! A Bolt came flying and penetrated the D2''s mouth, canceling its roar. Nathan smiled and took a quick glance at Zita who was behind him. "Nice throw," he said before turning back to the D2 and throwing his axe. Wooh! The axe landed on the D2''s c.h.e.s.t, penetrating a couple of inches deep into its flesh and blowing it a few feet away from where it was standing before finally landing on the ground. And before the zombie could stand up, Nathan rushed to it while summoning a [Grade D] Great Axe. Whoosh! He swung his axe down the D2''s throat. He summoned the two axes back to his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before turning to Zita and see how she was doing. Roar! Wooh! An M2 that was flying up in the air threw an [Ice Spear] and Zita easily evaded it. With her INT points at 33 (+28), once she focused her senses or start concentrating, she could see the movement of [Ice Spear] in a slower motion and then avoid it. The M2 was about to cast another spell but Zita activated [Lift], picking up a few large stones that were a large as an a.d.u.l.t''s fist and then threw them. Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Pah! Pah! Three stones managed to hit the M2. One stone hit the main bone of its right wing, another hit its right arm, and the last one hit its left shoulder. "Roar!" the zombie yelped as it lost its balance up in the air and was falling down. Wooh! Right after the M2 fell to the ground, Zita immediately threw one of the Bolts hovering around her on its head, killing it immediately and a [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. Ding! A message popped inside her head, telling her that she leveled up. However, instead of celebrating right away as she would normally do, she scanned her surroundings first. During her "nap time", she, of course, wasn''t able to sleep and instead used it to think about everything that has happened so far, including all the information Nathan has told her. Up ahead, there was an N1 charging towards her. She activated [Lift] and picked up a few items on the ground, stones, broken shards of glass, etc. Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Pah! Whoosh! Whoosh! Pah! Pah! Bam! The things that she threw, she specifically targeted the legs and arms of the N1, causing it to lose its arms and legs before crashing to the ground about 7 meters away from her. While the N1 was lying on the ground, all bloody and mutilated, she pulled out her [Grade D] Long Dagger from her t.h.i.g.h, lifted it, positioned it on top of the zombie''s neck in a chopping manner and then threw it down like a guillotine. Whoosh! Thud! The dagger cut right through the N1''s neck and penetrated a couple of centimeters of the asphalt. A [Green] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. Zita scanned her surroundings once again. Seeing everything was clear, she decided to check her Status Chart. However, she didn''t summon the Bolts hovering around her back into her [Grade D] Spatial Bag just in case. ''System.'' *** Level: 22 Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 30 ? VIT ¨C 31 (+2) ? AGI ¨C 33 (+1) ? INT ¨C 34 (+28) Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Tiara (15/15): +2 Vit, +1 Int [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (15/15): +3 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Int, +1 Agi [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Boots (12/15): +4 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Int [Grade C] Ring: +5 Int [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Int [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 1% Chance to block any magical attack. ? 1% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 27kg/31kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** After checking her Status Chart, she then proceeded to pick up the System items and also extract the nuclei. Nathan, on the other hand, seeing that Zita was done killing her share of the zombies and was now picking up the items, went to the side and wait for her to finish. There was a bench and he sat there as he observed her. ''Those attacks¡­'' He scratched his nose awkwardly. ''Did I just create a monster¡­?'' ''I mean, don''t get me wrong, I''m really happy that she now knows how to use the non-System items around her to her advantage¡­'' ''But at the same time, I''m getting a little worried¡­'' ''Putting aside the fact that the items she throws are now getting blurry for my sight, what she did back there was beautifully brutal¡­'' ''She could easily chop off my limbs if she wanted to¡­'' ''Once I get my hands on another [Artifact] Divine Blood, I''m definitely going to use it for VIT. No questions asked. VIT it is. Really VIT¡­'' ''F.u.c.k AGI...'' ''Well, not so much...'' ''I also have to focus on my INT...'' Kru... Kruuug¡­ The sky let out a low growl of thunder. Nathan raised his head and stared at the sky. ''It''s cloudier compared to 2 hours ago¡­'' ''And it looks like it''s going to rain¡­'' ''Well, I hope it won''t¡­'' ''I just hope we''ll reach Fort Yano before 5:00 pm¡­'' "Mister, these are the items. The rest were just trash," said Zita. Nathan turned to her. She already put away her Bolts. And right now, the Nuclei along with a [Grade D] Repair Kit and a sword he has never seen before were hovering around her. "I see," Nathan said raised his left hand. Zita sent the items towards his left hand, specifically to his index finger which was actually the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger underneath the [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Glove. Nathan absorbed all of the items except for the weapon, grabbing it. ''[Grade D] Pandat, huh...'' ''Another traditional brown-skinned Asian weapon...'' He stood up and gave it a few swings. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! ''Based on its design, it feels like a two-handed weapon...'' He absorbed the item. "Let''s continue. We''re almost out of Nabe City. After that, about 5km away, we''ll finally reach Fort Yano." "Okay~!" *** 2:27 pm. Outskirts of Nabe City. Wooh! Wooh! Two Bolts went flying into an M1 and S1 zombies'' head. Seeing that there were no other enemies around, Zita proceeded to extract the Bolts and Nuclei. Nathan swept his gaze around as he waited for Zita to extract the materials. Up ahead, he saw a mother duck with her ducklings. "Mister, here," Zita said as she passed the Nuclei to him. He absorbed them right away and then said, "Kid, looks like Lady Luck is on our side." "Huh?" "Look over there," Nathan said and pointed. Zita turned to where he was pointed and saw the mother duck with her ducklings. "Wait over here," Nathan said and activated [Coward''s Way]. When he reappeared, he had his hand gripping onto the mother duck''s neck. Quack! Quack! The mother duck quacked and flapped its wings as it tried to get away. Meanwhile, its ducklings also quacked but remained close to their mother. Crack! Nathan tightened his grip around the animal''s neck. When the mother duck died, he absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. He turned his eyes to the ducklings who started moving away from each other, trying to search where did they mother go. ''Hmm¡­'' He grabbed each of them and snapped their neck before absorbing them as well. All the while, Zita just stared at Nathan in silence. Although her face didn''t show it, her eyes gave away what she was feeling inside. Monster. After Nathan was done, he turned to her and said, "Zita, let''s go." Zita followed him in silence. "Zita, we''re in a zombie apocalypse. Food is scarce. Tell me, what good is mercy when you''re weak and hungry?" She thought about her experience back at Government Shelter in Burrow City. Although the people there were still able to eat, it was just enough to not keep the people there hungry. At first, when her smamak was still alive, although they already lost her smommyk at the start of the zombie apocalypse when they tried to escape to the airport to fly back to Iskaldia, she still hasn''t realized how important food was because aside from the food that was given to them by the management of the shelter, her smamak will also find ways to get more food for her. It was only then when she also lost her smamak during the takeover that she finally realized the sacrifices that her smamak made. Yes, Sweet Dave and his group provided her food and shelter. However, it still couldn''t be compared to when her smamak was still alive. Also, the food that was given to her was just enough to fill her small stomach. Needless to say, ever since she started traveling with Nathan, she experienced the complete opposite. With him, her problem was that he always makes sure that she eats on time and well even when she''s still full. She also never thought that one of her greatest challenges would be vegetables. "I understand, mister." Pat. Pat. "Very good," he said and patted her head. All of a sudden, rain began pouring. Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! "Ugh¡­ F.u.c.k. Come on, let''s find some shelter," Nathan said and ran towards the nearest building. Zita followed suit. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Badz_Baddy ? PSYcho_72 ? zlBlade ? Ira ? Smith_Weston ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Heartyss ? supercat_12000 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 105 - 110 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 198 - To Fort Yano (8) Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Nathan and Zita ran inside a convenience store to take shelter from the rain. In actuality, it was just one of the shops of a two-story building. The building itself had three stores on the first floor and two on the second. On the first floor, the first store on the left was the convenience store, in the middle was a money-transferring shop, and on the right was a boutique shop. Meanwhile, on the second floor, there was a massage parlor and a computer shop. Nathan stared outside. Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! The rain became heavier and it was now partnered with strong winds. ''Typhoon¡­?'' ''Well, it''s rainy season...'' ''Sigh¡­ Normally, I wouldn''t mind getting wet in the rain. But the last thing I want is Zita to catch a cold or something and collapsed -- again...'' ''Yes, there''s the Antidote from the System but having a naturally healthy body is just different from one that just recovered with the use of the System Potions¡­'' "Zita, wait here. I''ll check if there are any enemies. Don''t let your guard down. The rain covers noise so you won''t hear the enemy coming. Be sure to keep a very watchful eye." "Okay." Nathan didn''t use [Coward''s Way] as he proceeded to check the store. In his mind, in case there will be an enemy, given that he was the a.d.u.l.t and Zita was a child and assuming the enemy isn''t sick in the head, they would target him first. Nathan swept his gaze as he looked around the convenience store. ''All the food and most of the basic essentials have been taken¡­'' When he reached a corner, he saw two shelves tumbled down to the floor along with some items and a large hole on a wall. He squinted his eyes. ''Hmm¡­ Based on the size of the hole, a D1 or D2 must''ve charge right through this wall and a fight broke out¡­'' ''However, I don''t see any blood stains or body¡­'' He massaged his growing beard. ''This doesn''t add up¡­'' ''Where is it¡­?'' He shook his head. ''Who cares? It''s not like we''re to stay here forever.'' ''We''re only here to take shelter from the rain until it stops.'' ''However, given that there''s a hole here, that would mean we would have to watch out for two entrances. The main entrance and this hole.'' ''Totally not safe.'' ''Hopefully, the other shops are still intact.'' He went back to Zita. When he got back to her, he found her at the entrance staring intently outside in case there were enemies nearby or coming. Pah! He face-palmed. ''This kid¡­'' Hearing the slap, Zita turned to him. "Zita, I appreciate you watching out for any enemies. However, what you were doing was very stupid because of two things," he said as he went over to her. "Relax. Don''t get so worried. Just know your two mistakes." Zita relaxed her facial expression and said, "Okay¡­" "Your first mistake: Why are you standing in front of the entrance? Are you trying to be a bait or something? Find a spot where you can hide and also look outside. She looked down. "Your second mistake: Didn''t I give you thermal goggles? Use it. Use every item I gave you. I didn''t bring you along to be a porter. Those items are to be used, not kept. You only have one life. And on top of that, you''re also a Chosen One. So you''re really special. Don''t be afraid to use the items I''ve given you. They are there for you to increase your chances of surviving, not carrying." "I''m sorry, mister." Pat. Pat. He smiled as he patted her head. "It''s okay. What''s important is that you learned something. Come on, raise your head. If you keep looking down you''re going to turn into a hunchback. Do you want that to happen to you?" Zita raised her head. "No." "Good. Let''s move to another shop. There''s a hole at the back so it''s not safe." "Okay." *** Nathan and Zita passed by the money-transferring shop that was located between the convenience store and the boutique shop. Looking at the money-transferring shop, Nathan suddenly felt this sense of irritation. Although the money-transferring shop would seem to be an ideal place to hide, the entrance was a see-through glass and the counter looked like there wasn''t that much space. However, that wasn''t the cause of his irritation. ''Sigh¡­ I worked and worked, even went to another country so that I can earn money as quickly as possible to secure a better future¡­'' ''But thanks to this zombie apocalypse, all that effort and money saved went to waste¡­'' ''Well, at least I became a Chosen One and got out of the endless rat race¡­'' ''So I guess in a way you can consider it as a blessing in disguise¡­'' ''Yeah, definitely a blessing¡­'' ''I''m happy this zombie apocalypse happened...'' Nathan and Zita entered the boutique shop. Just like the money-transferring shop, its walls were also see-through glasses. However, given the mannequins and the clothes hanging by the walls, it more or less covered what''s inside that one had to get close to the glass walls and peer through in order to see the interior of the shop. ''Hmm¡­'' Nathan swept his gaze on the interior of the shop. It was painted in bright pink and was organized in a way where everything was visible, save for the storage room and the locker room for the employees. In regards to the changing rooms for customers to try the clothes on, their feet would be visible. And speaking of the clothes, most of the items inside the shop catered to female pre-teens and teenagers. Nathan turned to the long couches where customers can sit and wait. "Let''s wait here until the rain passes," he said as he went to sit on one of the couches. "Okay," Zita said and did the same, but her eyes were glued to the clothes, accessories and etc. "Do you want to pick out some clothes?" Zita turned to him, her eyes sparkling. "Go pick some new clothes. Get as many as you want. I''ll carry them. After all, the clothes that you have were made for a climate like in Womania, not for a tropical country like Muwin. Go now. I''ll stand guard." Zita''s eyes lit up even brighter and she got up. "Okay~!" "Be sure to try them out first, okay? You see, size L in Asia is size M in Western countries. Remember that. So you better try them on before keeping them. Also, just pick the clothes within this room." "Okay~!" she said and went out to pick out some clothes. Truth be told, before Nathan went to Womania, he used to wonder why a majority of Asians, especially the men, in Western countries look stupid. And by stupid, he meant they look like kids wearing oversized clothes for a.d.u.l.ts. But when he got to Womania and shopped there, he finally figured out the reason. There, he got to experience for the first time in his life the trouble of having to find a clothing shop, be it offline or online, that specifically cater to Asian bodies. Although Nathan has an above-average body because he exercises and diets, he was neither ugly nor handsome, rich nor poor. So the last thing he wanted was to destroy his image by wearing clothes that made him look less presentable. Nathan looked outside the glass walls of the shop. Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! ''I hope this rain won''t last long¡­'' He glanced at Zita who was still busy picking out clothes. "Don''t forget to pick out some slippers or sandals as well." "Okay~" He returned his gaze at the rain outside. ''I just realized something¡­'' ''In all honesty, before I decided to travel with this kid, this thought never came across my mind until now¡­'' ''It never occurred to me what would I do once I''m traveling with my family and we had to find shelter for the night or something but there are no available buildings¡­'' ''I seriously never thought about this possibility¡­'' He knitted his brows. ''Hmm¡­ Maybe it''s because I was so focused on my own Chosen One skill and my identity as a man?'' He glanced at Zita who was happily busy picking out clothes. ''It never even occurred to me what if there was no toilet nearby and we needed to use one¡­'' ''What, just hold it in and wait until we find one?'' ''I mean, as a man, I wouldn''t mind doing my business anywhere¡­'' ''It''s just acceptable¡­'' ''As simple as that¡­'' ''But a woman?'' ''A little girl?'' ''A female Chosen One?'' An image of Zita with her pants and u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r down squatting and relieving herself on the side of the road flashed inside his head. ''Oh my God, f.u.c.k no!'' ''Never!'' ''Like hell I''m going to let that happen!'' ''Over my dead f.u.c.k.i.n.g body!'' ''I would literally die from shame!'' ''Zita would also die from shame!'' Despite his experience in life, even living in Womania for 8 months where it''s a super liberal and politically correct country, and also the sick and evil things he has done ever since the zombie apocalypse happened, at his very core, Nathan''s views about life in general, like gender, is still that of a brown-skinned Asian, or a Muwinian to be exact. It had its advantages and also its disadvantages. ''But¡­!'' He closed his eyes and held his head down in complete and utter defeat. ''Sigh¡­'' He opened his eyes. ''Had I thought about this issue before, I would''ve brought along an RV with me before coming here to Muwin...'' ''There were so many RVs there in Womania¡­'' ''But here in Muwin? Not just in Muwin, in all brown-skinned Asian countries, there is no RV culture here¡­'' ''Oh wait, I think there is one¡­'' ''Yeah, the homeless people with their wheeled crates that they push around or their bicycle rickshaws¡­'' ''That''s the closing thing to an RV culture here¡­'' ''There''s also the sea gypsies or nomads¡­'' ''But they live in boats so that doesn''t really count¡­'' ''Oh my God¡­'' ''I''m really, really -- I mean, despite all of my powers, I can''t even properly provide for a single person¡­'' ''Even just provide a proper toilet¡­'' ''No, forget about the toilet, even just a roof over our heads¡­'' ''If this not so sad, embarrassing and pathetic, then what is?!'' ''Tell me!'' ''Ugh!'' ''Nathan, why are you so stupid?'' ''Why are you so useless?'' He held his head down even further. ''Sigh¡­'' ''You wasted an opportunity back at Womania, you dumbass¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ What if I just cut down a small house and carry it around inside my Spatial Finger?'' ''Yeah, that would be a good idea¡­'' ''But what about the bathroom, the water pipes, the plumbing?'' ''Well, I guess I can get those portable toilets¡­'' ''But how do I clean those?'' ''I seriously have no idea¡­'' ''Also, brown-skinned Asians have their own style of using a toilet¡­'' ''Compared to water, the use of tissue paper should only be for emergencies because it''s limited¡­'' ''As for the soap, well, there''s bound to be soap!'' ''This is Muwin after all...'' ''There''s also the issue about the electricity and electrical wirings¡­'' ''I really need to find a generator or solar panel soon¡­'' He massaged his forehead. ''Ugh¡­'' ''Oh my God¡­'' ''F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' ''My head is starting to hurt¡­'' ''The more I think about it, the more complicated things seem to be¡­'' ''Lady Luck, if you can hear me, please, give me some blessings¡­'' ''I seriously, seriously need it¡­'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Badz_Baddy ? PSYcho_72 ? zlBlade ? Ira ? Smith_Weston ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Heartyss ? supercat_12000 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 105 - 110 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 199 - To Fort Yano (9) 2:22 pm. Kruuu¡­ Kruuug¡­ The sky stopped raining but remained cloudy along with cold winds and some occasional growls of thunder. Roar! Splash! A group of about 10 zombies led by an S2 and N2 were rushing towards Nathan and Zita. Nathan had two weapons on his hands, [Grade D] Long Sword and [Grade D] Large Axe, as he casually walked forward to meet the zombies. Zita, who was now wearing a pink tracksuit with a hoodie, was casually walking behind him on his right side with some Bolts and Daggers hovering around her. Roar! The S2 was the first to reach them and it immediately lunged attack at Nathan. Its hands stretched out forwards ready to grab him and its mouth spread wide open, ready to plunge its teeth against his flesh. Whoosh! Before the zombie was even able to reach Nathan with its fingers, a dagger suddenly came flying from above and then downwards, chopping off its head in mid-air. Pah! Nathan slapped the headless S2''s body away in mid-air with his axe before crashing to the side. "Zita, I''m going in," he said before bursting forward in full speed. Vooom! Roar! Whooosh! Whooosh! Roar! Whooosh! Whooosh! Nathan was blinking in and out with [Coward''s Way] and the blades of his weapons made whistling sounds in the air with every swing. Roar! Wooh! Suuup! Roar! Wooh! Suuup! Roar! Meanwhile, every time a zombie was cut down by Nathan and their head was still intact, Zita would immediately throw a Bolt at it. Pah! Nathan slapped an N1''s jaw with his axe and its head turned to the side at a very unnatural angle. Suuup! A Bolt came flying and penetrated its head from the back. Whoosh! Pah! Nathan activated [Coward''s Way] before doing a spinning attack, slicing the N1 into two from its waist with his sword and then slapping its upper torso away with his axe. Thud! The upper torso of the N1 landed to the side. Seeing what happened, Nathan smiled and thought, ''Hehe~ It worked. That was my first time doing it. I thought I would trip and fall.'' As he was celebrating with the move he just made, the other Rank 2 zombie of the group, a D2, came near him and was about to lunge at him. Bam! A huge rock was thrown at the zombie''s face, stunning it for a moment. ''Nice back up!'' Nathan thought and smiled. Clang! Clang! He dropped the [Grade D] Long Sword and Large Axe on his hands and then summoned a [Grade D] Great Sword. He gripped the sword with two hands and then swung it like a baseball bat towards its t.h.i.g.hs. Whoosh! Thud! Both of the D2''s legs were chopped off and it fell to the ground. He moved to its side and then impaled it with the sword, pinning it to the ground. Suuup! Nathan looked around to see if there were other zombies left. ''So this D2 was the last, huh.'' Zita picked up the [Grade D] Large Axe on the ground using [Lift] and then chopped off the D2''s head with it like a guillotine. Whoosh! Ding! "Yay~! I level up again!" Zita said and jumped for joy. And seeing that there were no more enemies, she checked her Status Chart. *** Level: 23 Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 31 ? VIT ¨C 32 (+2) ? AGI ¨C 34 (+1) ? INT ¨C 35 (+28) Equipment: [Grade D] Long Dagger (10/12) [Grade D] Kris Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Kris Dagger (11/12) [Grade D] Dagger (12/12) [Grade D] Tiara (15/15): +2 Vit, +1 Int [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (15/15): +3 Int [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves (15/15): +3 Int, +1 Agi [Grade D] White Heavy Leather Boots (10/15): +4 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Int [Grade C] Ring: +5 Int [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Int [Grade D] Spatial Bag Special Effects: ? 1% Chance to block any magical attack. ? 1% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Lift] Description: Allows user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters. Target with higher INT compared to the user are immune. Power, speed and Mental Capacity based on user''s total INT. No mana required and no cooldown. ? Mental Capacity: 25.4kg/31.5kg Status: ? Chosen One Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. *** "Congratulations, kid," Nathan said as he pulled out the [Grade D] Great Sword from the D2''s body. "Mister, I''m now Level 23. What about you? Am I close to your level?" ''Eh? She''s already Level 23? I thought she was Level 22? I need to keep tabs on her level.'' "What''s your level by the way? You never told me." ''Should I tell her my level? Hmm¡­ This kid is getting more and more dangerous by the minute. Well, she''s a Chosen One after all. She''s supposed to be powerful. Why would I even bother taking her with me if she wasn''t? But still, the more powerful she gets, the more worried I''m getting. I''m seriously losing grip on the situation¡­'' Zita titled her head to the side and said, "Mister?" ''I¡­ I think I should change my approach? Yeah, I don''t think I can keep her from the dark too much anymore, especially after everything I''ve taught her.'' "Ah¡­ Me? Level 27." "27?" she said and then pouted her lips to the side before murmuring to herself, "Just 4 more levels to go¡­" ''Ugh¡­ I seriously hope I''m making the right decision. But I have no choice. I only have less than 10 Divine Stones with me and I don''t know how many will enter the next Divine Tower. It could be just me and my team or could be many. By the very least, I need powerful and dependable killing-machine allies, especially for the Gold Armored Angel¡­'' *** Nathan was standing in the middle of the road and Zita was picking up the items and extracting the Nuclei. He swept his gaze at the mutilated zombie corpses. ''This is weird¡­'' ''Fort Yano is supposed to be about 4km from where we''re standing but the number of zombies is only increasing¡­'' ''In fact, aside from the lone zombies that we''ve encountered, this is already the fourth group that we''ve encountered since leaving that building where we took shelter from the rain¡­'' ''Shouldn''t it be the opposite like in Womania?'' ''Hmm¡­'' he thought as he rubbed his growing beard. ''Maybe Fort Yano has fallen from the zombies¡­?'' "Mister, all the drops were trash except one." Nathan turned to Zita who had a [Grade D] Repair Kit and some Nuclei hovering around her. "I see," he said and stretched out his left hand. Zita flew them over to his hand and they all disappeared. "Come, let''s continue." *** At some random three-story building. Roar! Roar! Roar! A group of survivors wearing System items while some were dressed in a soldier uniform, medical staff and civilian clothing were running along a hallway while being chased by a group of zombies. One of the men dressed in a soldier uniform carrying two heavy machine guns stopped in the middle of the hallway and began firing. "TAKE THIS!!!" Tatatatatatatatata! Tatatatatatatatata! The zombies leading the chase were riddled with bullets, causing them to come crashing and falling on the floor. Seeing the zombies falling, they all stopped. "HAAAAAAAA!!!" Tatatatatatatatata! Tatatatatatatatata! The highest ranking officer of the group of soldiers turned to the people who were dressed in medical uniforms and civilian clothing. "GO TO THE SECOND MAIN OFFICE AND REGROUP WITH THE REST! WE''LL HOLD THE ZOMBIES FROM HERE UNTIL BACK UP ARRIVES!" The Second Main Office was located on the second floor and they were currently on the first floor. "SMITH! TORRES!" Tatatatatatatatata! Tatatatatatatatata! "SIR!" "SIR!" "ESCORT THESE GUYS BACK!" "CAPTAIN PARO, LET ME STAY AND FIGHT! I''M YOUNG AND HAVE NO --" Torres grabbed Smith''s sleeve and yanked it. "WHAT THE F.U.C.K ARE YOU DOING?! THIS ISN''T THE TIME TO QUESTION ORDERS! LET''S GO!" Torres let go of Smith''s sleeve and turned to Capt. Paro. "Sir, please have this," Torres said as he gave Capt. Paro a rifle clip. After that, Smith and Torres escorted the rest to the Second Main Office. Click! Click! The man who was firing with two heavy machine guns ran out of bullets. And although there were many zombie corpses lying on the floor, a new wave came pouring in. Roar! Roar! Roar! Tatatata! "ABU, GET BACK! LOVE, SUPPORT!" Capt. Paro said as he began firing, taking down a few of the nearest zombies. Tatatata! Love began firing as well. "ROAR!!!" Among the sea of zombies, a D2 roared to the top of its lungs before rushing forward, bulldozing and pushing away everything that stood on its path. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Each step the D2 made was like a thunderous drum that got louder and louder the closer it got. Abu dropped the two heavy machines on his hands. Thud! Thud! He took out two hand grenades and pulled out their pins. Clink! Clink! "HERE''S MORE, YOU MOTHERF.U.C.KERS!!!" he said as he threw the two grenades. The first grenade, he threw it behind the D2. The second grenade, he waited for a second before throwing it at the D2. Boom! Boom! The first grenade blew up a bunch of zombies. Meanwhile, the second grenade blew the D2 away, causing it to lie down on the floor. Some of the white scales of its body got blown away from the blast, revealing its skinless body, making it look like a D1. Tatata! Love continued firing. "ABU, GET BACK AND RELOAD!" said Capt. Paro. "I don''t have any ammo left, captain! Even my handgun!" Abu said as he pulled out a [Grade D] Kris Dagger on his right t.h.i.g.h. Tatata! "Here, take this," Captain Paro said as he gave him his Desert Eagle. "I''m good, captain. I still have this my and spells." "Just in case." Tatata! "Okay," Abu said and took it before sliding it behind his back. The D2 got up and resumed charging. Abu threw a [Stone Spear]. Wooh! Suuup! The [Stone Spear] penetrated the D2''s head but that didn''t stop it from charging. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! And behind the D2 was an endless sea of zombies¡­ ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? zlBlade ? Yui_Saotome ? Ervio_Shit ? Shikla ? ratking ? Badz_Baddy ? NYXLOGOS ? supercat_12000 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for April 2021: ? Biatrice T ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 200 - To Fort Yano (10) Smith and Torres were leading the volunteers and climbing the stairs to the second floor. When they got to the second floor and passed by the windows¡­ Pscht! Pscht! Roar! Roar! Roar! Three zombies, an N1, S1 and M2, came breaking and entering through the windows. The N1 and S1 charged immediately, while the M2 began casting a spell. Given the situation right now, Smith and Torres didn''t really care about the EXP and just fired. Tata! Tata! Tata! Tata! The S1 and M2 who had less than 30 points in VIT immediately died when they were shot in the head. As for the N1, they tried to slow it down by shooting its face and knee but it continued charging. "LET ME HANDLE IT!" one of the volunteers said and charged. When he got near the N1, he cast a spell. [Double Slash]. Whoosh! Whoosh! Given that the Rank 1 and Rank 2 zombies were 3 meters (or around 9''8") tall and the average height of the people here in Muwin was only 5''7" for the men and 5''5" for the women, when it came to the D-types and N-types as well as the Rank 2 zombies who have more than 30 points in VIT, the non-Chosen Ones would usually cut it down or severely injure them first before delivering the final blow. The volunteer severely damaged the N1''s leg, causing it to lose its balance and tumble down to the floor. And just when the volunteer was about to deliver the final blow¡­ Roar! Roar! Pscht! Pscht! Roar! Roar! Roar! Another set of zombies came breaking in. Caught in distraction by the arrival of the new group of zombies, the N1 grabbed the volunteer''s left ankle and bit down with full force. Crack! Thud! "ARGH!!!" the volunteer screamed in agony as he fell to the floor. The N1 was griping and biting so hard that its teeth caused the bones of his ankle to crack. Chack! Chack! Suuup! Chack! "GET THE F.U.C.K OFF ME!!!" the volunteer said as he hacked and stabbed the N1''s head. Chack! Chack! Torres pulled out his [Grade D] Kris Dagger and began hacking the N1''s neck. "Stun grenade! Look away!" he said before throwing it. All of the survivors looked away. Bang! Roar! Roar! The zombies roared in annoyance from getting momentarily blinded by the stun grenade. "HELP ME CARRY HIM!" Torres tried to grab the injured volunteer up. "No, just leave me alone! I''m already infected! Just go!" said the volunteer. Aside from the huge chunk of flesh of the volunteer''s left ankle that was bitten off, leaving the bone completely exposed, it also had a crack so he was unable to get up. "No, it''s not over yet!" Torres said and then chopped off the left leg of the volunteer, right above the ankle. Whoosh! "MOTHERF.U.C.KER!" the volunteer said and bit down his lip. "SOMEONE HELP ME CARRY HIM!" Torres said as grabbed the volunteer and pulled him up. Another volunteer immediately came forward and went to the other side. The zombies were now almost recovering from the effects of the stun grenade. "JUST KEEP PUSHING UNTIL WE REACH THE MAIN OFFICE!" They resumed heading to the Second Main Office. Pscht! Pscht! Roar! Roar! Another set of zombies came breaking in. "F.U.C.K! HOW MANY ARE THERE?!" said one of the volunteers. "JUST KEEP PUSHING!" said Torres. Tata! Tata! Tata! Woooh! A volunteer threw an [Ice Spear]. Whoosh! Another volunteer cast [Sword Stab]. Finally, they got to the door of the Second Main Office which was a double-door. Some of the volunteers immediately went to the door and found it locked and felt like something heavy was blocking it from the other side that they couldn''t even push it. Bam! Bam! Bam! They began slamming their fists against the door. "OPEN THE DOOR! IT''S US!!!" Roar! Tata! Roar! Tata! Whoosh! Suuup! Roar! Tata! Smith and Torres along with the other volunteers, on the other hand, stood behind to kill the incoming zombies. Tata! Roar! Click! Whoosh! Smith ran out of rifle bullets so he threw his rifle away and pulled out his handgun. Thud! Roar! Bang! Bang! Roar! Tata! Bam! Bam! Bam! "OPEN THE DOOR!!!" "PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!!!" Roar! Tata! Roar! Bang! Roar! Whoosh! Tata! Bam! Bam! Bam! "OPEN THE GODDAMN F.U.C.K.I.N.G DOOR!!!" Ka-cha! The double door was finally opened by two women. "HURRY UP!" one of the women said. One was dressed in a medical uniform, while the other was dressed in civilian clothing. Both of them were wearing System items. The volunteers along with Smith and Torres immediately went inside before closing the door and barring it with furniture and whatever they could find to block it. As for the injured volunteer, he was immediately put to the side to be treated by one of the women who opened the door. Bam! Bam! The door shook and made loud sounds. "PUSH IT!" one of the volunteers said and pushed the door. The rest of the volunteers along with Smith followed suit. Inside the room, all the windows were barred with wooded planks and covered with cloth. There were old people, women and children on a corner, hugging each other and sobbing. There was a woman dressed in a soldier uniform sitting behind a table and talking to a radio. "Base 3-C to HQ. Do you copy? Come in. Over." The radio only made static sounds. "Base 3-C to HQ. Do you copy? Come in. Over." Still nothing but static sounds. "Base 3-C to HQ. Do you copy? Come in. Over." The radio made some cracking sounds before a reply came through. "This is HQ. Over." "This is Second Lieutenant Nerih Nihma of the Armed Forces of Muwin, Platoon Squad 11 stationed at Base 3-C. We''ve sent a message 5 minutes ago that a horde of zombies was coming our way and requested for support. Requesting to change that request to an immediate extraction mission. Over." "Negative, lieutenant. Support is coming and will arrive in T-minus 5 minutes. Over." "Negative, HQ. The zombies are already right at our doorsteps. We need immediate extraction. Over." "Continue to defend, lieutenant. Support will arrive in T-minus 5 minutes. Over." "You don''t understand! The zombies are literally next to us already! We won''t last that long! Please, we have children here with us! Please send us a helicopter for immediately extraction!" "Lieutenant, your orders are to continue to defend until support arrives. It will arrive in T-minus 5 minutes. Godspeed. Over and out." "NO, WAIT! HQ, WE NEED IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION!" There was nothing but static sounds. "HQ, DO YOU COPY?!" Still static sounds. "HQ, DO YOU COPY?!" Still the same. "HQ!" Bam! "DAMMIT!!!" Nerih said as she slammed her fist against the table. Everyone looked at her. "Why can''t they understand?! Why?! They --!" "Grandmother, are we going to die?" a child asked. The old woman forced a smile and c.a.r.e.s.sed the child''s head softly as she said, "Don''t worry, my grandson. Help will come soon." Hearing the grandmother and grandson''s conversation, Nerih decided to stop talking any further. Meanwhile, the rest of the civilians just stared at the duo in silence knowing what was to come. Torres stepped forward and to clear the depressing tension in the room. "Everyone, there''s nothing to worry about. Captain Paro, Abu and Love are on the first floor holding down the zombies. Just with Captain and Abu alone, those two are unkillable. They''re veterans. They''ve survived far more dangerous situations compared to this a number of times. They''ll surely hold the zombies out until backup arrives. And plus, we''re also here to protect you guys. There''s really nothing to worry about. We''re all going to survive this." Bam! Roar! Right after he said that, one of the windows inside the office was forcefully opened by an M2. "KYAAAAHHH!!!" the civilians screamed. Torres was about to deal with the M2 when¡­ Bam! "AHHH!!!" Roar! Roar! Roar! This time, the door of the Second Main Office was forcefully swung open by a group of zombies led by two D2s, causing the furniture and the volunteers blocking the door to be blown away. "KYAAAHHH!!!" the civilians continued screaming in horror as the zombies began rushing towards all of the people inside the room. *** Several buildings down the road, Nathan and Zita were hiding inside a building and watching looking through their binoculars. In Zita''s case, she was using her thermal goggles. Nathan, on the other hand, was using a normal pair of binoculars. Roar! Boom! Roar! Tata! Roar! Tatata! Bang! Roar! Boom! Roar! They were observing a three-story building that''s currently being swarmed by a horde of zombies of no less than 150. Some zombies pushing and shoving each other away to get into the building, while others decided to climb over the walls in order to get inside through the windows. There were also six at least M2 zombies flying above and circling the around building, trying to see if they can catch their prey from the windows. Nathan and Zita both tried to see who were the poor souls inside the building trying to fight off the hoard. Unfortunately, there were just too many zombies blocking the windows. Nathan moved his binoculars to checked out the rest of the area. ''Military tanks and trucks¡­'' ''There''s also some rifles, medical equipment and sandbag walls on the ground¡­'' ''So this was some sort of a military post?'' He put down his binoculars. "Haha~ What a bunch of weaklings. Can''t even kill a horde of zombies. Pathetic." In Nathan''s mind, although a group of at least 150 zombies would be a bit dangerous even for him, it was more about being too much of a hassle. He was confident that he could kill them one at a time with his hit and run tactics, just like what he did back at the beach when they first arrived here in Muwin. Zita put down her thermal goggles and looked at him. He let out a sigh and then said, "Looks like our trip to Fort Yano is going to be delayed by a little bit." "Mister, we''re going to help them?" She recalled Nathan telling her back at lunch that he has no intention of playing hero whatsoever so she was confused. Nathan looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Help? Zita, do I look that bored with life? Don''t be stupid. We''re taking a detour to avoid that horde of zombies. That''s all." The building that''s currently being swarmed by the zombies was right beside the main road and the shortest route to Fort Yano. "Oh, okay¡­" "And plus, use your brain. Even if we decide to help, before we could even finally kill all of the zombies, those weaklings inside the building would''ve already been long dead. It''s not like we could lure all of the zombies towards us now, do we?" "I''m sorry¡­" "It''s okay. As long as you learn something. Anyhow, it''s a pointless effort. Just let nature take its course. The strong will survive and the weak will die. It''s as simple as that." "..." "Sigh¡­ Too bad we couldn''t have you practice killing more lowlife humans. Oh well, maybe we''ll find some on our way to Fort Yano. The fact that such a thing like this happened means there''s bound to be some survivors we''re going to meet along the way." "..." He sneered and then said, "Pray that they''re lowlifes who will attack us immediately." Zita shuddered as she saw Nathan''s face. "Come, let''s go," he said and then left. As for the possibility that his family could be among the survivors in that building fighting for their life, that thought never crossed his mind. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? zlBlade ? Shikla ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? PSYcho_72 ? Luzi_Preant ? Phlyline1 ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? ExtractedBullet ? TheAntiSimp ? StarIight To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 111 - 115 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 201 - To Fort Yano (11) Nathan and Zita were walking along the road of an alternate route to the military barracks, Fort Yano. Fort Yano itself was located near the mountains outside of Nabe City and Kelurga City. The road they were currently taking was away from the main road and they were in a neighborhood where it felt like a maze because there were too many intersecting roads -- some had asphalt, others were just cement and the rest was just plain dirt. In addition to that, their sizes also differed -- some were two-ways, others one-way, and there were also ones that were hard to spot and only the residents could detect. This type of road setup was common in brown-skinned Asian neighborhoods. Fortunately, Nathan grew up in Muwin so he had no problem navigating his way through such roads. And even if for some miracle he lost his way, he could always climb to the tallest building or tree to get a view of the neighborhood''s layout. Zita sniffed and said, "Mister, what''s that sweet smell?" Sniff. Nathan sniffed as well. He pointed at a nearby tree and said, "It came from that tree. Its flowers are called Muwinian Jasmines." Zita turned to the tree that Nathan was pointing. This time, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. She opened her eyes and said, "They smell so good." "Zita, heads up. Zombies." Zita immediately turned to where Nathan was looking. Up ahead in the middle of the road a dozen meters away, there was a group of zombies. The group consists of a D1, two N-type zombies, and two other zombies that could either be M1 or S-types. In regards to the D1 and D2, not only were they easy to tell apart from the other zombies because of their larger frame, but when it comes between the D1 and D2, the D1 was skinless just like the rest of the zombies while the D2 was covered in white scales on its body. As for the N-type zombie, they''re also easy to tell apart from the other zombies because they feature a normal size body frame. However, when it comes between the N1 and N2, it was impossible to tell them apart unless one gets closer by at least 5m so that the System can inform the person what Rank of N-type zombie is it or have the N2 cast a spell. And lastly, for the M and S-types, aside from the M2 that has wings, the M1, S1 and S2 had the same body type -- a skinny frame. "The road is too tight. Letting them come to us is too dangerous. I''m going to use my invisibility and charge at them and kill them right away. Just wait here. But be on high alert just in case," Nathan said and summoned two weapons, a [Grade D] Short Sword and [Grade D] Long Dagger, before disappearing. When it comes to killing zombies, for the most part, Nathan was confident with his fighting prowess. However, there are still a few things that would make him worry when facing them. To him, not only does it lessen the effectiveness of his Chosen One skill, [Coward''s Way], but at the same time, he isn''t really a tank-type like Derek and Rose. His stats are¡­ Level: 27 ? STR ¨C 70 (+5) ? VIT ¨C 38 (+10) ? AGI ¨C 35 (+26) ? INT ¨C 35 (+7) Just with the zombies alone and not even counting the virus, one lucky blow from a D2 or S2 could seriously injure him. "Okay," Zita said as she summoned a couple of Bolts and four daggers and let them hover around her using her Chosen One skill, [Lift]. Nathan lost his invisibility when he cut down one of the zombies. He didn''t waste his time and immediately activated [Coward''s Way] before moving on to the next. Whoosh! On Nathan''s second kill, the three remaining zombies finally noticed him. Roar! Roar! Roar! They roared before charging at him. *** "Mister, look!" Zita said excitedly while holding an item from the [Green] Treasure C.h.e.s.t. ''Heh~ A shield? So there''s also a shield here? It''s been a while since I dropped a shield.'' Back in Womania, one of the things Nathan noticed in regards to the drops was that there were some items that had a lower drop rate. When it came to spellbooks, the melee-type spells had a lower drop rate compared to the range-type. When it came to potions, it was the Antidote Potion that had a very low drop rate. And when it came to equipment, it was the shields. "Give it to me." Zita sent the shield to Nathan using [Lift]. When he touched it, the System informed him that it was a [Grade D] Iron Shield (15/15). ''This design¡­ I''ve never seen this kind of design back in Womania¡­'' ''Well, it is based on historical brown-skinned Asian shields after all¡­'' The shield had a rectangular design about 3ft in length and 1ft in width with some slight curves on the side. ''Hmm¡­ Also, not many people use shields. As a matter of fact, as far as I can remember, the last time I saw someone using a shield was that bimbo of a Chosen One and some of her companions.'' ''Oh, I almost forgot. There''s also that Scimitar. I''ve killed so many zombies but I only dropped a Scimitar once and that was in the morning of the first day of the zombie apocalypse. Ever since then, even among the people I''ve encountered, I''ve never seen a Scimitar...'' ''Wait, how did I lose that Scimitar again...?'' ''Was it during the time I got slapped by a D1...?'' ''Ugh¡­ I seriously can''t remember¡­'' ''Ah, whatever. What''s important is what to do with this shield¡­'' He held it on top of his palm and lifted it up and down. ''Probably weighs around 3-4kg?'' ''I should probably keep this for Zita just in --'' Boom! Boom! Nathan and Zita suddenly heard some cannon sounds from a distance and they looked at each other. "Mister?" "Probably from the building that we saw earlier swarmed by zombies? Whatever it is, it''s not any of our concern. We''re about 3km away from Fort Yano. We should just go directly there rather than go back and get caught in the crossfire." "Okay." "Also, do you remember our biggest weakness as Chosen Ones?" Zita thought about it for a moment and then said, "Yes. The more people know about our power, the more vulnerable we will be." "Very good. So as much as possible we should avoid showing people our powers or telling them we''re Chosen Ones. If they know, we should kill them unless unnecessary." Right after he said that, Nathan suddenly thought about the man he met back at the Brown Sports Complex. ''Well, he was the first Muwinian I''ve met since I came here so I was feeling generous¡­'' ''And plus, he did provide me vital information¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ I just hope that decision wouldn''t bite me back in the future¡­'' ''Please, Lady Luck¡­ Please¡­'' "And Zita, if someone asks about what skills you have?" "I''m saving all of my Skill Points for some powerful spell or skill." "Good, good," he said and then absorbed the [Grade D] Iron Shield into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. "Mister, look," Zita said as she was holding another item. It came from the [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t. Nathan squinted his eyes as he stared at it. ''What the f.u.c.k is that? Is that what I think it is?'' he thought. "Give it to me." Zita sent it to him via [Lift]. When he touched it, the System informed him what it was. [Grade C] Full-body Loincloth (Female) (20/20): +4 INT, +1 AGI. ''Heh~ So this is the female version of the loincloths¡­'' ''I''ve never thought about this, but given that there''s the Loincloth (Male) and Full-body Loincloth (Female), can the opposite gender wear it?'' ''I mean, there''s bound to be some perverts out there who like to cross-dress, right...?'' He shook his head. ''I''ll think about that later...'' He absorbed the [Grade C] Full-body Loincloth (Female). "Mister, here," Zita said and then sent him the Nuclei. He absorbed them. "Okay, let''s continue," he said and then walked. "Okay~" she said and followed. Nathan stopped and turned to her. "How''s the durability of your items? Do you need Repair Kits?" Zita stopped and said, "They''re still fine. My shoes have the lowest -- 9/15." "Oh¡­ Just don''t forget to repair them once they reach 3 points, okay?" he said and resumed walking. "Okay~" she said before pouting her lips to the side and resumed walking. *** Nathan and Zita finally exited the maze-like neighborhood and arrived at a two-way steel bridge. Below it was a ravine with a river. And at the other end of the bridge, there were three papaya trees on the side of the road. Nathan''s eyes shined and he made a beeline for them. With his long strides thanks to his newfound height partnered with his AGI, Zita immediately got left behind. Zita was caught in surprise with Nathan''s sudden burst of speed and was about to run to catch up to him but stopped herself when she saw him stopped by the papaya trees and started plucking their fruits. She pouted her lips to the side in annoyance and decided to go to the corner of the bridge to look at the river. When she got there, her eyes widened. Between the height of the bridge and river was a 10ft difference. On the left side of the ravine were poor-looking houses that looked like they belonged to a slum. Meanwhile, on the right was the river bank with large stones and thick bushes. It was also the side where the papaya trees were located. And on the riverbank, there was a brown-skinned Asian boy about 10 years old or so fishing with a fishing rod. Seeing a kid close her age, she raised her hand and was about to call and wave at him but stopped herself after remembering what Nathan said earlier and the face he made. She placed her hand down and turned around. "What are you doing?" "Kyaaah!" Nathan was right in front of her. He raised one eyebrow as he studied her facial expression before moving to the side to see what was she looking at. Zita grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away. "Mister--!" Down the riverbanks, he saw a brown-skinned Asian boy holding a fishing rod and looking at them. When their eyes locked into each other, the boy immediately ran away into the thick bush with his fishing pole. Zita let go of his hand and held her head down. "Mister¡­ I¡­ I¡­" Nathan turned towards her and smiled. Pat. Pat. He patted her head. "Don''t worry. I''m not that sick that I would kill a child. I just want to talk to him to get information. That''s all. Zita raised her head and looked at him. It was the very kind and warm smile that he always shows her. ''Perhaps mister really doesn''t plan to do anything bad¡­?'' ''Even back at the Government Shelter in Burrow City, I don''t think he hurt any of the children¡­'' ''Yes, I''m sure of it...'' ''He doesn''t --'' Poke! He poked her nose. "Come, wherever his base or camp is, it shouldn''t be that far from here." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Also, I''m sorry it took me long to post new chapters. My body crashed down and I got sick because I was stressing over this neighbor of mine. As a matter of fact, even until now I still feel a little weak and I have this massive headache. You see, it started way back in February 2020. A new neighbor, an old man and his daughter, came living in our neighborhood, right beside my house. Now, this is going to sound mean but I really don''t know what proper or softer words to use to explain these people. Their background is that they grew up in the mountains so you can call them country bumpkins or uncultured people. Again, I''m really sorry. I really don''t know what proper or softer words to use. But then again, I will admit that I''m heavily influenced by my hatred right now. When they first came to live here in February 2020, the old man only had 2 roosters. But then fast forward to 1 year and 2 months later, they now have 5 roosters and 5 ducks. And the craziest part, they are rearing 5 roosters and 5 ducks in a freaking residential area located in the city! Seriously, every f.u.c.k.i.n.g day from 4:00 am to 6:00 pm his roosters would be crowing non-stop, especially during 4:00am-6:00am and 4:00pm-6:00pm because that''s when they''ll be crowing like crazy. Now, you must be wondering how did it get to this? Why did it last for 1 year and 2 months? Why didn''t I act sooner? Well, as I mentioned earlier, when this family first arrived, they only had 2 roosters. However, what I also failed to mention is that this old man isn''t rich just like me, he''s a dialysis patient, and from what I gathered, some of the roosters he''s rearing aren''t his. He''s getting paid to rear some of them. And on top of that, there is the covid situation where many people lost their jobs and are in desperate need of income. Because of this, I tried to be patient with him because I understand the position he''s coming from. So every time I find his roosters too noisy, I would go and talk to him to move the roosters away from my room which he will do. That''s how much I tried to be civil with him. However, he would just repeat the same mistake or cause another problem every 3-4 weeks. Moreover, he''s just increasing the number of his pets. Oh, did I forget to mention that when he first started living in our neighborhood he only had 2 roosters but now has 5 roosters and 5 ducks? So about 2 months ago I finally had enough of it and decided to send a complaint letter to our local municipality regarding my neighbor. And last week, after constantly going to the municipality office for weeks to get an update regarding my complaint, the officials in my local municipality finally decided to act. An official came to our neighborhood last week to talk to the old man. The old man said he''ll do something about it. However, of course, he didn''t do anything. After that, we were supposed to attend a meeting yesterday (Monday) to talk about the issue but the old man made some excuses that he was busy so the meeting was canceled and moved to another date. Our meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday). Hopefully, we can finally resolve this issue. Now, you must be wondering where are my other neighbors? Why is it just me complaining? Well, here''s the kicker. The owners of the next house that''s beside the other end of the old man''s house are currently in the US so I''m basically alone on this one. Well, why not just move? Well, I own my house. I''m not going to move or sell my house because of a noisy neighbor. And plus, the neighborhood I''m currently living in is near the heart of the city. So 20, 30 years from now, it will be expensive. But if the noise issue doesn''t get resolved, well, I guess have no choice but to move away and let someone rent my house. I''ve been enduring this old man for 1 year and 2 months already and it has really taken a huge toll on my health. Seriously, not a day goes by that I don''t stare at the samurai sword inside my room and imagine these wild, wild fantasies. Anyways, that''s all I want to say as to why I got sick and wasn''t able to post any new chapters. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? zlBlade ? Shikla ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? PSYcho_72 ? Luzi_Preant ? Phlyline1 ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? ExtractedBullet ? TheAntiSimp ? StarIight To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 111 - 115 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 202 - To Fort Yano (12) A young brown-skinned Asian boy of around 10 years old or so carrying a fishing rod was running through the thick bushes and making his way back to where his parents were located. ''I didn''t expect to see people there!'' ''That old man in black was very tall and scary!'' ''He was taller than father!'' ''But that small girl in pink was cute though¡­'' When he finally got out of the bushes, he arrived at an open field surrounded by some trees and a rough pathway enough for a single car to pass. In the middle of the field, there was an RV. Right in front of the RV, there were some chairs and tables. And on the left side was a 6''4" tall Caucasian man in his early 40s wearing a black sleeves shirt, cargo pants, running shoes and System items while chopping wood with an axe. Chop! Chop! The woman saw him and said in Muwinian, "Brandon, did you go to the river? How many times do I have to tell you not to go alone? And plus, that there are no fishes there. It''s too shallow. You don''t even have a proper bait. Stop wasting your time. You should do more useful things like help your father chop wood." The man stopped chopping wood and looked at the woman. "Clara dear, it''s fine. Let him explore. At least he''s trying to do something productive," he said in Muwinian. The woman looked at him and said, "What productive are you saying, Ernest? There''s no fish there. How is it any productive? Tell me because I''m having a hard time seeing it." Ernest looked at Brandon. "Looks like your mother is in a bad mood again. How about lending me a hand before her temper worsens and then you and I find some fruits nearby, big guy?" he said and winked. Clara scoffed and rolled her eyes before saying, "And don''t play with the gun inside! It''s dangerous!" Ernest smiled and shook his head before going back to chopping wood. Chop! Chop! *** Inside the thick bush, Nathan and Zita were watching. When Nathan first saw the RV, his eyes immediately shined. He wasn''t expecting to see an RV in Muwin. In Asia, there was no RV culture, especially in brown-skinned Asian countries because of their land formation. Unlike the other countries, brown-skinned Asian countries are made up of tiny islands. And unfortunately, a majority of their islands aren''t interconnected with bridges because their government is so busy with filling their own pockets with the money that was supposed to be used for building infrastructure to generate more jobs or just make the life of the citizens easier. So the only way to travel between the islands was either by plane or boat. Going back to the RV culture, in brown-skinned Asian countries like Muwin, the closest thing to an "RV culture" here was the homeless people living inside wheeled crates or bicycle rickshaws. ''Heh~ This is my first time seeing an RV here in Muwin¡­'' ''And even if there were actually RVs here in Muwin, I wasn''t expecting to encounter one right away, especially here in the province¡­'' ''Looks like Lady Luck is on my side and the kid will now have a proper CR... Hehehe~!'' He turned to Zita who was looking at the man and woman near the RV. Her eyes were particularly locked on the man because he was the first Caucasian she has seen ever since she arrived here in Muwin. "Zita." She turned to him. He smiled and said, "Let me show you how to take something in a ''fun'' way." "Take something in a ''fun'' way? What do you mean, mister?" For some reason, she couldn''t help but recall the time when Nathan mentioned about getting bored with killing zombies creatively and will eventually want to "play" with something else. "You''ll see," he said and grinned. Pat. Pat. He patted her head and continued, "I''ll also be speaking in Regisian so that you will understand what''s going on. That way, you will know what to do in the future once we try to take something again in a ''fun'' way." He stepped out of the bush. ''What is mister going to do...?'' ''And what did he mean by ''take something in a fun way''...?'' ''Will it be like back then...?'' ''But mister said he just wanted information...'' ''However, if they attacked him¡­'' She shuddered. ''I hope they won''t attack¡­'' She finally decided to step out of the bush as well. *** Ka-cha! Brandon opened the side door of the RV and stepped out. "Hello, there!" someone suddenly greeted. Brandon, Clara and Ernest all stopped what they were doing and turned to the direction where the voice came from. The first thing they noticed was the 2.2m-tall (or around 7''2") brown-skinned Asian man dressed in what looked like medieval fantasy leather equipment painted in black. However, he wasn''t carrying any weapons. He had one hand up and was waving along with a very warm and friendly smile plastered on his face as he made his way to them. The next thing they noticed was the icy blonde-haired little Caucasian girl walking behind him wearing a pink tracksuit with a hoodie, a tiara, a pouch around her waist, a pair of black-colored gloves and white-colored boots, and a dagger strapped on her right t.h.i.g.h. When Brandon saw the two "visitors", his eyes immediately widened. As for Ernest and Clara, they had a surprised expression at first but then had different reactions after that. In Clara''s case, after recovering from her surprised reaction, she immediately turned to Brandon. "Mgo mback minside!" However, Brandon didn''t do what she ordered him to do because he was busy thinking about something else. Ernest, on the other hand, after recovering from his surprised reaction, his eyes immediately bounced between the two visitors and their surroundings to see if there were others. They specifically chose this spot to park their RV because, aside from the vegetation, it also wasn''t too far nor too near the road and there was also a river nearby for water, making a not-so-bad quick hiding place from humans and zombies. ''Is it just these two...?'' ''How many are they...?'' ''It''s only been an hour since we''ve got here so I haven''t yet finished setting up the traps in case of uninvited guests...'' ''Damn...'' He continued bouncing his gaze between the visitors and their surroundings but more on the latter this time. ''If only Perry was still alive, he would''ve spotted these two right away and start barking...'' ''Unfortunately, he was killed two days ago by a group of intruders...'' ''I don''t see anyone else apart from these two....'' ''And strangely enough, the man isn''t carrying any weapons...'' ''But based on his attire, he''s probably one of those kids who like to cosplay...? ''Even if fancies himself as some sort of a medieval brawler, it would still be very hard to kill the zombies, especially the Rank 2s...'' ''Or perhaps he''s one of the Prophets¡­?'' ''No, it can''t be...'' ''Why would a Prophet even bother to come here and do such a thing when they can live a luxurious lifestyle back at Fort Yano...?'' ''We have nothing special apart from the RV and a few potions...'' ''Unless, of course, he''s¡­'' He looked at Zita. ''This kid doesn''t look half and she looks like she''s about the same age as Brandon...'' ''Maybe these people¡­'' Since he couldn''t spot any other visitors, visible that is, aside from the ones right in front of them, Ernest looked at Brandon. "Mbig mguy, mremember mwhat mwe mtalked mabout? Mlisten mto myour mmother mand mgo minside," he said before smiling and winking at him. Brandon remembered their talk. But right now, he was feeling very guilty because he knew that the only reason how these two visitors got here was because of him. And if anything bad happens to them, just like what happened to their pet dog, Perry, it will be all his fault. Because of this, he wanted to stay so that he can "help" just in case. Seeing Brandon not moving, Clara went over to him and grabbed his arm. "Mwhat mare myou mwaiting mfor? Mgo!" she said before shoving him to the door of the RV. Brandon finally went inside the RV and closed the door. Thud! Ernest and Clara turned to their unexpected visitors. "Mhello, mthere, mfriend," said Ernest. "Msir, mwhat mbusiness mdo myou mhave mwith mus?" said Clara. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Naufal_Arc ? Shikla ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? zlBlade ? PSYcho_72 ? TheAntiSimp To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 203 - To Fort Yano (13) "Mhello, mthere, mfriend," said Ernest. "Msir, mwhat mbusiness mdo myou mhave mwith mus?" said Clara. Nathan just smiled and titled his head to the side as he studied the couple. He looked at Ernest first. ''Heh~ A booty warrior¡­'' ''And based on his accent¡­ Iustian.'' ''Also, he''s wearing System items.'' Ernest was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, cargo pants, and a pair of running shoes. And as for his System equipment, he had a pair of Earrings on his ears, a Necklace around his neck, an Arm Bracelet around his bicep, and two Rings on his fingers. Next was Clara. ''This woman¡­'' ''Definitely Muwinian¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ Even without makeup, she still has that look¡­'' ''That look of a bar girl or p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e¡­'' And just like Ernest, some of the System equipment that she was wearing were visible. He then looked at the RV behind them. ''That boy from earlier doesn''t look half¡­'' He returned his gaze at Clara. ''So a single mom¡­?'' ''A divorcee¡­?'' ''A widow¡­?'' ''Ah, whatever¡­'' ''The important thing is¡­'' ''Is that boy the only kid¡­?'' ''Hmm¡­'' While judging the appearance of the couple, two topics also popped inside his head. Topic #1 - Brown-skinned Asian countries are generally conservative societies. Although brown-skinned Asian countries are generally conservative societies, if one were to look closely at the top 5 ric.h.e.s.t brown-skinned Asian countries, and on in this case, Muwin, specifically among Muwinian-Trinitians communities in the northern region, there is a growing movement there that''s all too familiar in first-world Caucasian countries. That, of course, is everyone''s favorite movement -- feminism. And if one is knowledgeable about Asian cultures, one would quickly realize that feminism in Asian countries is far scarier compared to feminism in Caucasian countries. The thing about Asian countries, specifically in brown-skinned Asian ones, there is this cultural practice where a man''s money isn''t just his money. His parents, his wife, and his wife''s parents also have a share in it. Now, as a man, of course, you have every right to put down his foot and say that you don''t want to have any part of such cultural practice. However, doing so is a 101% guarantee that you''re going to end up alone. It doesn''t matter even if you''re the most handsome or ric.h.e.s.t man in the world. If you won''t adhere to this cultural practice, sooner or later, you''re going to be alone. And on top of that, being alone in a developing or third-world country is very hard, especially if you''re a foreigner. It isn''t like the first-world countries where the economy is more or less stable and there are social welfare programs to help people get back on their feet. In countries like Muwin, although there are social welfare programs, the help being offered is very limited. It''s so limited that it''s no different than giving a single glass of water to a person traveling a vast scorching desert on foot. Fortunately for Nathan, given that his roots are from the southern region of Muwin and his family''s religious background is Iklasian, he has the option to marry a Muwinian-Iklasian woman. Yes, there are some issues about human rights within the Muwinian-Iklasian community. Also, Muwinian-Iklasians in general would never agree for their women to date or marry a Muwinian-Trinitian, let alone a foreigner. If that happens, the best scenario would be the woman only being disowned by her family. Meanwhile, the worst scenario would be Honor Killings for both the man and woman. However, from Nathan''s perspective, as sick and unfair as it may be for the women, at least on his part he knows that he would be marrying a "proper" woman despite it being done through a barbaric method such as arranged marriage. Also, it isn''t like it''s all gloom and doom for the Muwinian-Iklasian women. First of all, the way how the arranged marriages work, it isn''t like Nathan could just be standing in the middle of the street, sees a woman, falls in love with her, decides to follow her home, knocks on the front door of the woman''s house, and asks her parents if he could marry their daughter and the dowry. If he did that, before he could even ask about the dowry, either the woman''s family will beat him up before kicking him out of their property or shoot him for harassment and trespassing. The arranged marriage is actually a very long, tedious and expensive process. And this is how it works: Firstly, the man must know the address of the house of the woman''s parents. Once he knows the address, he has to go to the local Iklasian church of the community and ask the head priest there to act as a mediator to go to the woman''s parents'' house and tell her parents that he wants to marry their daughter. Now, regarding the identity of the head priest, the older and more influential he is, the better. Because if not, nothing is going to happen. But let''s say the head priest is old and very influential, especially in the local community, and agrees to the mediator. He then will bring along his fellow priests with him to go talk to the woman''s family. And if the woman''s family agrees, both parents from the woman''s and man''s side will have a meeting, and the location is usually at the Iklasian church where the head priest acting as the mediator is from. In that meeting, with the head priest present and acting as the mediator, both families will assess each other''s background -- economic status, religious background, reputation in the community (this is why there are Honor Killings in Iklasian communities), and etc. However, of course, the woman''s parents have the high ground here. They have the final say. Also, the ones who will be making the decision from the woman''s family depends on the family. It could be 50/50 or 60/40, in favor of her parents and the remaining is hers (this is also why eloping is common among Iklasian communities). But let''s say the meeting ended with the woman''s family interested in marrying their daughter to the man. What will happen next is that there will be 2-3 meetings more which could last for weeks before the final decision could be made of whether the woman''s family will agree to have their daughter to be officially engaged with the man or not. This is because in these 2-3 meetings, assuming that the woman doesn''t know the man, she will have the chance to meet him and his family in person with the head priest present. Moreover, both families will discuss the dowry and other things. But let''s say nothing went wrong at the man and woman got engaged. The next thing that will happen is that there will be a 6-12-month engagement period. Also, this is the most important period of it all. Firstly, the groom must offer gifts to the woman and her family on a weekly basis. Secondly, the groom and bride aren''t allowed to kiss, touch or even be alone together. There must always be a chaperone. And lastly, the most important one out of the three, this is the time period where both families will be closely observing and investigating each other if they''re really fit for one another, both for the bride and groom and also the families. If one party decided that they aren''t fit for each other within this 6-12-month engagement period, then they can cancel the engagement. Also, the gifts that the groom gave to the woman and her family can''t be taken back. But let''s say they were no hiccups, everyone got along, and the groom and bride got married. At the wedding, the groom will officially give the dowry to the bride''s parents. And now about the married life. Yes, male family members have the right to "discipline" their female family members. However, it''s not like they can just hit them without any proper reason. Because if the woman, for example, a wife, is being abused without any proper reason by her husband and her family hears about it, there will be an all-out clan war with guns blazing, machetes clashing, and divorce. As for the police, this is Muwin, a third-world country. Only the military can stop them. The police won''t even bother interfering and will only deal with the aftermath. Anyways, this is the reality of arranged marriages of Iklasian communities -- at least for most cases. This is why here in Muwin, Muwinian-Trinitians and foreigners can''t just date, let alone marry Muwinian-Iklasian or Iklasian women in general, especially the "proper" Iklasian women. This is also why Nathan won''t even bother messing with brown-Caucasian women. What about Aena, Amir''s sister? Well, as far as Nathan was concerned, she was a Westernized Asian, not a Muwinian-Iklasian. Continuing on, this is another reason why despite the issues of human rights in Iklasian communities such as Honor Killings, marriages here usually last a lifetime because it isn''t just about two people getting together, but two families merging as one which has been carefully assessed by both sides and strictly upholds the teachings of the Iklas religion. So yeah, this is why Nathan''s end goal, at least after his break up with Karen and before the zombie apocalypse as an average man, was to marry a "proper" Muwinian-Iklasian woman. Topic #2 - International couples Nathan admits that he used to feel disgusted whenever he sees foreign men dating Muwinian-Trinitian women and the disowned Muwinian-Iklasian women who survived Honor Killings. But thanks to his experience living in St. Augustine City (the capital city of Muwin which is located in the northern region) and also living in Cram City at Womania for 8 months, his opinion about it more or less changed. Truth be told, before he went to Womania, he used to hear stories that the dating scene for Asians in Western countries is very, very brutal. But when he got there and lived there for 8 months, based on what he has experienced, it wasn''t really the case -- well, at least for him. Now, of course, he didn''t dare to mess with brown-Caucasian and uber-white Caucasian women because he just didn''t want to deal with any unnecessary drama or risk his life. Also, it wasn''t like he was constantly looking for dates. He was busy with work and other things after all. But putting those two racial groups aside, based on his dating experience in Womania, yes, there was that subtle racism where Asian men aren''t exactly considered as "manly" and "threatening" which allowed him to get away with a lot of things there that he would normally not get away with here in Muwin so it wasn''t really a bad thing. But in general, as far as his success rate in pulling women there goes, it wasn''t any different from what he would''ve experienced in Muwin. But then again, maybe it''s because he was 6ft tall. Maybe it''s because he has a good physique due to the fact he exercises and diets. Maybe it''s because he''s a foreigner. Maybe it''s because his main job is a progressive and liberal editor so it''s attractive to women living in a super politically correct country. Or maybe it''s all of the above. However, if there was one thing that really surprised him there, it was that it was easier for him to pull in non-Asian women compared to the Westernized Asian and mainland white-skinned Asian (aka white-skinned Asians born and raised in Asia) women. But what has this got to do with the interracial dating scene here in Muwin? Well, here in Muwin, around 80% of the local women that African, brown-Caucasian and Caucasian men usually end up dating and marrying are what the locals would label as "low-class", "3rd /4th tier" or "leftover women" which from an Asian standard are women that''s anywhere between the modern/liberated/Westernized Asian women, gold diggers, bar girls, p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, single moms, scammers, and from uncultured or poor backgrounds. So as far as Nathan is concerned, if these African, brown-Caucasian and Caucasian men want to marry these "leftover" women, by all means, let them. Because if one would really think about it, not only are these foreign men taking one for the team by dating and marrying these women, but they''re also helping the economy so it''s a win-win for all parties. Except for the local men who are at the bottom of the society, of course. But what about the white-skinned Asians? Now this is where things get really interesting. Thanks to the unspoken caste or strict social hierarchy in Asian societies, there is this very unbalanced dating ratio between brown-skinned and white-skinned Asians. Not counting the Asians who grew up outside of Asia because they have a different mindset compared to the mainland Asians, it''s very rare for a mainland white-skinned Asian woman to consider dating, let alone marry a mainland brown-skinned Asian man. In fact, in every 100 brown-skinned Asian man and Caucasian woman couples around the world, there''s only one mainland brown-skinned Asian man and mainland white-skinned Asian woman couple. That''s how rare it is. Whereas, the kind of mainland brown-skinned Asian women that mainland white-skinned Asian men can pull are 50/50 - some are from the middle-class while others are from the low-class. With this, whether Nathan is aware of it or not, if one would consider these things, they could understand some of the psychology behind his actions towards Rose, Akane and Hae-won back in Womania, his strong preference towards Asian beauty, and realize how bitter and pathetic he actually is. It also shows how divided Asia is between brown-skinned and white-skinned Asians. Noticing Nathan wasn''t responding and remembering that he greeted them in Regisian earlier, Ernest decided to switch Regisian. But before that, given that Nathan came forward to them without carrying any obvious weapons, he put down his axe and said, "Hello there, friend. What can we help you with?" This time, Nathan finally replied, "Ah, yes. But first, can I ask for a favor? Can we stick with Regisian? My companion doesn''t understand Muwinian and I don''t want her to feel left out." Ernest and Clara glanced at Zita. Judging from her physical appearance alone, with her icy blonde hair, green eyes and facial features alone, she was definitely 100% Caucasian. To be exact, an uber white. They returned their gaze to Nathan. Based on his accent, he was definitely a native Muwinian speaker and was somewhere in the lower middle-class bracket. However, his accent was a little stiff. "Sure, no problem," Ernest said and smiled. "Yes, of course. Please, have a seat. I''m preparing some snacks. Where are you from, by the way?" Clara said and smiled. Nathan looked at Clara. ''I''ve always wondered about this. How come whenever a low-class woman like this dates or marries a foreigner with a Western accent, they always try to force a Western accent? It''s not like they''re in another country or something. They''re just in Muwin. And what''s really funny, it only happens with Western accents, especially Regisian and Iustian, never other accents...'' He ignored Clara simply because she was a woman and looked at Ernest. He smiled and said, "Thank you. Can I ask if you know anything about Fort Yano?" "Do you want to sit down?" said Ernest. "Answer my question," Nathan said, still with a smile on his face but there was a small hint of coldness in it, especially in his eyes. The air around them immediately turned awkward. Clara had a worried expression on her face and her eyes were bouncing between Nathan and Ernest. The same went for Zita. This was, after all, the second group of people she and Nathan encountered, not counting the ones that were trapped inside the building. "Fort Yano? It''s about 2.5km from here and it''s currently serving both as a military base and shelter from the zombie threat at the same time." "Are there any other shelters aside from Fort Yano?" "In the first week of the zombie apocalypse, the Muwinian government set up shelters in each city here in Kelurga. A few days later, I''ve heard some of them fell from the hands of the zombies, while others I''m not sure." "Is Fort Yano is like the main shelter or something?" "Here in Kelurga? I believe so." "You mentioned that Fort Yano is only 2.5km from here. How come you''re not there?" "It''s¡­ Uh¡­" "Don''t even think of giving vague answers. I want clear and straightforward answers." "Although Fort Yano is serving as a shelter from the zombie threat, the law there is more or less too unstable and it''s only a matter of time before shit is going to hit the fan. And given that I''m a foreigner, I am fully aware that Muwinians hate it when outsiders try to interfere with their country''s politics. Because of these reasons, I decided that I rather take my chances here outside." Nathan raised an eyebrow. ''Even at the expense of your family''s safety¡­?'' ''Well, this a Westerner after all¡­'' ''These people, especially Iustians, value freedom so much even at the expense of everything else¡­'' "Do you know anything about Prophets? What are they? How they are treated?" "Prophets?" Ernest said and thought for a moment. "From what I''ve gathered and I haven''t personally met one, they''re God''s chosen people or something. Although they only have one skill or spell, it''s a bit overpowered. Each Prophet has their own skill or spell. I also heard but I''m not 100% sure that they get +1 stat to all four attributes every time they level up." ''F.u.c.k me sideways¡­ Does this mean everyone here knows about Chosen Ones? I mean, just this random guy that I met knows it, not to mention those lowlifes who ambushed us! F.u.c.k! F.U.C.K! F.U.C.K!!!'' he thought. "I see. You mentioned that they''re God''s chosen people. So they aren''t being treated badly?" "About that, it''s a bit complicated. For the most part, they''re living luxuriously under the government''s care. But in exchange, they have to help in fighting the zombie threat. However, I believe, and this is just my conspiracy theory though, that that''s not the only thing they have to do." Nathan squinted his eyes. ''Another thing that Westerners loves -- conspiracy theories¡­'' Ernest continued, "But there are also some people who are specifically aiming for the Prophets because in their mind Prophets represent God''s will or something and they want to vent out their frustration on them for unleashing this zombie apocalypse. I don''t really understand their chain of thoughts, but that''s how they see it." ''Hmm¡­ Can I really trust everything this booty warrior said to me¡­?'' ''My biggest issue here is the fact that this Iustian would rather risk being here outside rather than being in Fort Yano¡­'' ''Is it really that bad there¡­?'' ''Or is it just the freedom-obsessed Iustian in him¡­?'' He looked at Clara. ''No point in asking this woman I guess¡­'' ''But I must say, I''m quite surprised¡­'' ''Westerners are mostly seen as nothing but ATM machines¡­'' ''Once they ran out of money, the woman and her Muwinian family will stop giving a damn about the foreigner¡­'' ''And now that money is pointless because of the zombie apocalypse, this foreigner is definitely useless already¡­'' ''But this woman still stuck with him¡­'' ''Strange¡­'' ''Maybe she was already alone with her son even before the zombie apocalypse¡­?'' ''Or maybe she lost all her Muwinian family members¡­?'' ''What about her friends¡­?'' ''Maybe she''s dumb¡­?'' ''No, a mother''s instinct is to protect her child¡­'' ''Well, at least most of the time¡­'' ''Maybe because she''s a bar girl or p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e...?'' He returned his gaze at Ernest. "Well, as far as I remember, that kid didn''t look like a half-breed¡­'' ''And these people don''t strike me as Chosen Ones either¡­'' ''The booty warrior said it himself, the Chosen Ones are living a luxurious life under the government¡­'' ''But in exchange, they have to be under this government''s beck and call...'' ''And brown-skinned Asian governments are a complete joke...'' ''They''re so corrupt that even a blind man could see it...'' ''But then again, there''s the freedom-obsessed part of him as an Iustian...'' ''There''s also the conspiracy theorist in him...'' ''Ugh¡­ So many things to consider¡­'' ''Well, at least the information he mentioned so far has more or less matched with what that person back at the Sports Complex has told me¡­'' ''It has given me somewhat a rough idea on what it''s like there¡­'' Nathan smiled and said, "Ah, I see. Thank you so much for the information. It was very helpful. I really appreciate it. As a matter of fact, I appreciate it so much that I''m going to offer you a very good deal that you can''t refuse." "Oh, it''s okay. You don''t have to thanks us," Ernest said and smiled. "No, no, no. Please let me. I insist." "Really, it''s okay. We''re just happy to help." "I really insist. So listen up. Give me this RV. And in exchange, we won''t kill you guys," Nathan said with a very warm and kind smile on his face. Ernest and Clara weren''t sure if they heard Nathan correctly so they knitted their brows and said, "What?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? Naufal_Arc ? Mario_Orduno ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? PSYcho_72 ? Tense_Beagle ? Phlyline1 ? Mohammad_Alibrahem ? Cant_read ? NS710 To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 116 - 120 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 204 - To Fort Yano (14) "What?" Ernest and Clara said. Still holding a very warm and kind smile on his face, Nathan said, "You heard me." Ernest and Clara started looking at him with a murderous glare. Nathan''s warm and kind smile switched to an amused one. "I really don''t want to kill you guys because you''ve been very helpful. So I strongly suggest you take the deal." "Stand behind me," Ernest said to Clara as he stepped forward. Nathan shook his head and chuckled before turning to Zita. "You take care of the woman and I''ll take care of the --" Pew! Ernest pulled out a handgun with a silencer behind his back and fired. The bullet went straight to the side of Nathan''s head but the special effect of the Black equipment activated so it stopped when it touched him and fell to the ground. " -- man," Nathan said before turning to Ernest and Clara with a grin on his face. Both were looking at him with a surprised expression. "What in the he--" Vooom! Nathan suddenly charged forward, causing Ernest to cut what he was going to say mid-way and pull the trigger once again. Woooh! "AHH!!!" Thud! A stone came flying and shot through Ernest''s hand, making a hole in the center of his hand and knocking the gun away. Thud. Nathan grabbed him by the neck with his right hand and raised him up. "Ugh!" Ernest gasped for air and he grabbed onto Nathan''s wrist. Nathan glanced at the hole on Ernest''s hand. ''Heh~ The kid is learning. Very good.'' He looked at Ernest''s face. "Well, I did tell y--" Ernest suddenly performed a standing armlock technique on him. However¡­ To his surprise, Nathan''s arm wouldn''t budge. It was hard as a rock. Nathan smiled at him. Ernest did a flying armbar this time -- he raised his legs up in the air, locked them around Nathan''s arm and began not only bending it but also dragging Nathan to the ground using his weight. However¡­ Step. Nathan simply moved his right leg forward, stopping them from falling to the ground. Nevertheless, Ernest still continued to bend Nathan''s arm. Unfortunately, the result was the same -- it was still hard as a rock. "Are you done playing? I can feel your private area pressing against my arm. It''s disgusting." Nathan noticed the incantation on Ernest''s hand so he quickly raised his arm up in the air and violently swung down with full force. Whoosh! Bam! "Blergh!" Ernest coughed out a mouthful of blood when his body was slammed to the ground after being whipped away from Nathan''s arm. He also broke several bones, including his spinal cord that he could barely move, let alone stand, and was struggling to breathe. Seeing the situation, Clara raised her hand and aimed it at Nathan. Zita noticed the incantation on Clara''s hand. And without really thinking about it, she immediately activated her skill and raised her hand forward¡­ Woooh! Thud! A stone came flying and penetrated right through Clara''s head, leaving a hole at the center of her forehead and she fell to the ground. She was dead. ''Eh¡­?'' Nathan thought and blinked a few times as he stared at the corpse of Clara. He turned to Zita who had her hand raised forward. ''Why did she kill the woman? I didn''t say kill. I just said take care.'' Zita had a horrified expression on her face after realizing what she did. She pulled her shaking hand back and stared at her palm. ''I killed¡­'' ''I killed another¡­'' ''But --'' "Cla¡­raaa¡­!" Her thoughts were interrupted by Ernest''s voice and she looked at him. "Cla¡­ raaa... mget¡­ mup¡­!" Ernest had one hand shaking and reaching out for Clara as he continued to call her name out. "Mget¡­ mup¡­! CLA¡­ RAAA!!!" Tears began flowing from his eyes. Watching Ernest''s dramatic performance, Nathan chuckled. "Sigh¡­ This is getting out of hand. Well, I did tell you to take the deal -- twice. So you guys have no one else to blame but yourselves." Ernest looked at him with a murderous glare. "I''LL¡­ F.U.C.K.I.N.G... KILL YOU¡­!!!" he said as he aimed his hand at Nathan to cast a spell. Nathan rolled his eyes and summoned his [Grade D] Great Sword. Whoosh! "AHHH!!!" Ernest screamed in agony as his hand was chopped off. Nathan looked at the distance as he massaged his growing beard with his other hand. "Hmm¡­ I think there was a saying that goes, ''Regrets are only at the end''?" He looked at Ernest. "The structure of the sentence sounds awful. Sorry, translation issue." Ernest continued staring at him with a murderous glare. "I SWEAR... WITH--" Nathan''s lips curled into a smile and he said, "With your life that you''ll kill me? Get in line. You''re not the first person to say that to me." Ka-cha! The door of the RV swung open and Brandon came out with a hunting rifle. Nathan looked at him. "Heh~" Meanwhile, Ernest''s eyes widened. "Brandon¡­!" Brandon looked at Ernest and Clara. But when he saw Clara, his mother, especially the hole at the center of her forehead and her eyes staring blankly, his eyes widened and tears immediately began welling up. "MI MWON''T MFORGIVE MYOU!" he said and then aim the rifle at Nathan. ''That expression¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I really had no plans of killing any of them...'' ''I just wanted to injure them and then teach me how to use the RV before taking it...'' ''But Zita¡­ '' ''Ah, whatever...'' "What do you think you''re going to do with that, boy?" he said and smiled. Seeing Brandon aiming the rifle against Nathan, Ernest quickly said, "Brandon¡­ mbig mguy¡­ mdon''t¡­!" He then turned to Nathan. "Please¡­ take the RV¡­ Just let the boy go¡­ I admit¡­ I made the wrong decision¡­ Please¡­ have mercy¡­ Please¡­ Please¡­" he said with tears in his eyes. Nathan glanced at Ernest who was begging and desperately forcing himself to move and reach out to his leg with his remaining hand. ''Hmm... Looking at this booty warrior, I don''t think he will seek revenge¡­'' He then glanced at Brandon. ''But this kid¡­ It''s a different sto--'' Bang! Nathan felt a burning sensation on his right shoulder which was then quickly followed by a severe aching pain. He looked at the bullet hole on his [Grade D] Black Leather Armor and moved his right shoulder. He returned his gaze back to Brandon. "Ouch¡­?" Seeing Nathan''s reaction, he quickly reloaded. ''Hmm¡­ Although Zita messed up the plan by killing the mother, I think I can still salvage this situation for another purpose¡­'''' He turned to Zita. "Zita, what are you waiting for?" Zita looked at him. She was still wearing a horrified expression and trembling. "Are you waiting until finishes all of his bullets or right after he kills me?" "Mister¡­ I --" "We''re going to have a talk right after this. So finish it now!" Hearing their conversation, Ernest''s eyes widened and he begged profusely, "NO! PLEASE NO! JUST KILL ME INS--" Suuup! Whoosh! Nathan plunged the tip of his [Grade D] Great Sword''s blade deep into Ernest''s mouth and then swung it to the side, leaving half of the head almost decapitated. "Noisy." Brandon just finished reloading and was about to raise his rifle when he saw what Nathan did to Ernest. "NOOO!!!!" he screamed and aimed his rifle at Nathan. And just when he was about to pull the trigger... Woooh! Bam! Thud! Zita raised her hand forward and activated [Lift] on Brandon, pushing him away and slamming his body against the RV and dropping his rifle before falling to the ground. "Zita, watch it. Don''t destroy the RV." Zita watched Brandon slowly trying to get up. "And finish him properly." ''I don''t want to kill anymore¡­'' "Remember what I''ve taught you." ''Smommyk...'' ''Smamak¡­'' Brandon finally got up. "What are you waiting for, Zita?" ''But¡­'' Zita''s activated her skill once again. This time around, she summoned a Bolt from her [Grade D] Spatial Bag. Still shaking, she held out her palm and lifted the Bolt to the sky. She closed her eyes. Woooh! Suuup! A Bolt penetrated his head from above so that it won''t hit the RV. Thud! Brandon''s body fell to the ground. "Finally," Nathan said as he stared at Brandon''s corpse. He turned to Zita. She had her hand raised forward and her eyes closed. ''As far as I know, she doesn''t need to hold her hand out in order to manipulate the items using her Chosen One skill¡­'' ''Just thinking about it is already enough¡­'' ''There''s also that eye-closing¡­'' ''So many unnecessary movements...'' He went towards her and knelt down in front of her. ''She''s shaking...'' ''Sigh¡­ Not again¡­'' Pat. Pat. He patted her head and said, "Zita, open your eyes." She slowly opened her eyes. "What are you doing? Don''t tell me you''ve developed a new hobby? You now have to stretch out your hand when you''re using your power? I can''t believe that you''re actually regressing instead of improving. Remember: Subtle and sudden attacks are what''s important." Zita''s eyes were bouncing between Nathan and the two people she killed. "Mister... the¡­" Poke! He poked her nose, causing her to focus her eyes on him. "You have nothing to be guilty of. We gave them two chances, remember? And plus, they attacked first. It was self-defense on our part and you were simply protecting me. We''re partners, remember? It''s normal that we protect each other. So you absolutely have nothing to feel guilty of." Zita didn''t say anything and just stared at him. He flashed a very warm and kind smile and then began to softly c.a.r.e.s.s her head as if she was the most precious thing in the world. Stroke. Stroke. "Just know that I''m really proud of you, Zita. You''re really a powerful being now just like me. But just be sure to drop that weird hobby, okay? It''s really worthless and will only get you killed. Remember: Subtle and sudden attacks only." She still didn''t say anything and continued staring at him. ''Looks like she''s still hasn''t recovered from the shock¡­'' ''So every time she kills a person I will have to do this skit..?'' ''Ugh¡­ I''ll deal with this later¡­'' ''For now, time to check my new loot!'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? NS710 ? zlBlade ? Pillastre To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 205 - To Fort Yano (15) Nathan stepped inside the RV. "What the f.u.c.k¡­?" Upon entering, he was immediately dissatisfied with the ceiling because he had to bend his head and neck down several inches. He was 2.2m or around 7''2" after all. ''I don''t know what''s going to snap first, my neck or my back. This is just too uncomfortable¡­'' he thought as he swept his gaze around. This was Nathan''s first time entering an RV and he knew close to nothing about RVs. ''Hmm¡­ So the front or near the driver''s seat is like the dining and living room, huh¡­'' ''In the middle is where the kitchen and the bathroom are¡­'' ''And at the back¡­'' He went to the rear side of the RV. ''Two single beds¡­'' ''No matter what angle, both of them too small for me...'' ''Looks like I''ll be still be sleeping on the floor as usual¡­'' ''However...'' He let out a deep sigh of relief. ''Wew¡­ Good thing there was no second child¡­'' ''The boy was definitely a full-blooded Muwinian...'' ''And given that the woman was also a full-blooded Muwinian while the man was Caucasian, I was worried that there was a baby or something...'' ''It would''ve been so awkward to --'' Images of what happened in Corn Town flashed inside his head. He shook his head to erase them. ''Anyways, what''s important is that I no longer have to worry about finding a proper place for Zita to sleep in case there aren''t any...'' ''It also has a bathro-- Wait! Why kind of toilet does it have?'' He went to check the bathroom. Ka-cha! Ka-cha! ''Heh~ So the bathroom and toilet are separated, huh?'' ''Also, thank God it''s a Muwinian-style toilet!'' ''Hahahaha~! Lady Luck is definitely on my side!'' ''Wait¡­ Does it have water? I mean, how do I refill it?'' ''Also, how do I clean the toilet, like empty its tank?'' ''Ugh¡­ This is why I really had no plan to kill the previous owners because I wanted to ask them how to use it...'' ''But Zita¡­ She¡­ So I had no choice but to --'' He shook his head. ''Doesn''t matter anymore. What''s done is done. I just have to figure out things myself¡­'' ''Maybe there''s a manual here...?'' ''Yeah, I bet there''s one here, especially if it''s a Caucasian. They love their manuals...'' ''I''ll just look for it later because I need to reach Fort Yano before nightfall...'' He checked his watch. 3:58 pm. ''About 2 hours left...'' He stepped outside. When he got outside, he touched the RV with his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. ''Ugh¡­ I also have to sort my items inside this Spatial Finger again¡­'' The total amount of space inside the [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger was as large as a tennis court. At the moment, he was already using about 60% of its space. Most of that was thanks to the speedboat he got from the dead man who committed suicide on that deserted island and the boxes of food items he looted from Saint Holy Child Hospital. And as much as possible, Nathan would like to have around 40% of available space in case of an emergency. He absorbed the RV, the tables, chairs and also some of the items of the dirty kitchen that the previous owners set up before turning to Zita. Zita was staring at the corpses, especially Brandon and Clara''s, with a half-daze look on her face. ''She''s still at it? My God, this kid¡­'' "Zita." She looked at him. "Let''s go," he said and then walked away. Zita took one last glance at the corpses before following Nathan. *** Nathan and Zita were walking down the road and already about half a kilometer away from that family of three that they killed. Nathan secretly glanced at Zita who still had a half-dazed look on her face. ''She''s still in shock?'' Tch! ''What an annoying kid.'' "Zita." She stopped and looked at him. "What I''m about to tell you, you can either use your heart and throw an emotional tantrum and cry about racism and injustice all you want, or you can use your brain and make a logical decision." She didn''t say anything and just stared at him. "But before that, I need you to keep in mind about three things first. "Number one: Under no circ.u.mstance should you say these things in public. And if you are to say these things in private, be sure to only say these things to trustworthy people. "Number two: I didn''t create these things. It''s simply a by-product of the world we live in -- it''s basically a, ''Don''t hate the player, hate the game,'' kind of situation. "Number three: I''m not going to talk about nationalities, only races. I will also be ignoring the Westernized Asian -- meaning Asians who are born and raised outside of Asia or have adapted non-Asian values -- and also half-breeds or should I say, mixed people." In brown-skinned Asian countries, thanks to their history, they have 5 identifiable ethnic groups: ? Natives (a.k.a. aboriginals) ? Natives mixed with white-skinned Asian blood ? Natives mixed with brown-Caucasian blood ? Natives mixed with Caucasian blood ? Hybrids -- this group is a combination of 2, 3 or 4 of the ethnic groups previously mentioned. And in Nathan''s case and here in Muwin, he is part of the "hybrid" group and they dominate the entire country. So in brown-skinned Asian countries, identifying a person''s nationality based on skin color isn''t really reliable so they mostly differentiate foreigners and locals based on language and accent. However, the "half-breeds" that Nathan is referring to are the first-generation half-breeds where one parent is a Muwinian and the other is a full-fledged non-brown-skinned Asian foreigner. "Did you understand me, Zita? If you''re confused about anything, you can ask me." "I understand." "Good. With that being said, let me begin... "Here in Asia, we have this stereotype that good foreigners go and live in white-skinned Asian countries. Meanwhile, the bad foreigners -- and when I say ''bad foreigners'', I mean losers, criminals, and rejects of the society types, the kind of people that you just don''t want to associate yourself with -- go and live in brown-skinned Asian countries. "But of course, not all foreigners that come to brown-skinned Asian countries to either visit for vacation or start a new life here are bad. Just a majority of them are, sadly... "So firstly, we have the Caucasians. They are stereotyped as racist, entitled and immoral. And when it comes to being immoral for the men, they are viewed as individuals who sleep with gays, transgenders and children -- basically, Booty Warriors for a more kid-friendly description. "Next we have the brown-Caucasians. They are stereotyped as racists, violent and terrorists. "Next we have the white-skinned Asians. These people are stereotyped as top-of-the-line premium-grade racists. They are involved with illegal drugs and scams. In addition to that, they''re also involved in human trafficking or kidnap and ransom but usually with their fellow white-skinned Asians only. "Next we have the Africans. Now, for this group, we''re going to divide them between Africans who were born and raised in Africa and Westernized Africans. "For the real Africans, we don''t really have any beef with them, to be quite honest. "I think it''s probably because African and brown-skinned Asian countries are both third-world countries. And here in Muwin, we also have the same religions. "So when real Africans come here, they know what to do and what not to do, what to expect and what not to expect, because we more or less are operating on the same frequency. "But if I have to mention a bad stereotype about them, I think it''s¡­ Uh¡­ I guess just avoid chatting and doing any business with them? Ever heard of the African Prince Scam? It''s really hilarious." Zita knitted her brows. "And oh, watch out for their fake money as well. Always think twice when accepting money from them. "Now for the Westernized Africans. These people are stereotyped as racist and violent crybabies. God forbid you insult these people, even if it''s by accident, because they will immediately pull out the race or victim card on you. "Seriously, sometimes I can''t help but wonder if they even know that other races have been colonized and enslaved too during the colonial era. "Anyways, lastly, we have the brown-skinned Asians. "And oh my God¡­ These people¡­ They are shameless two-faced bastards." "Shameless two-faced bastards?" said Zita. "Remember what I told you about living in a developing or third-world country that there are so many crocodiles, sharks, wolves and foxes disguised in sheep''s clothing here, and that you also have to learn the art of embracing madness?" "Yes." "You see, because of that and because we''re also Asians -- Wait, hold on, first of all, ever heard about Asians being ''submissive'' and ''docile''? "Submissive and docile?" "Do you know what those words mean?" "No." "Oh... Let''s see... Uh... Something like good followers, someone who is quiet or won''t speak up, well-behaved... Uh... What else? Hmm... Obedient." "Oh, okay. I understand now. "So have you heard about the stereotype that Asians are submissive and docile? "No," she said and shook her head. "Heh~ Really? Well, you''re still a child after all. Anyways, don''t believe that stereotype because the truth is, it''s actually far more sinister. "You see, when it comes to white-skinned Asians, as much as possible, they would try to limit showing their emotions. Meanwhile, for brown-skinned Asians, they would try to limit showing their real emotions. "Keep these two differences in mind: White-skinned Asians limit showing emotions, while brown-skinned Asians limit showing real emotions. "So Zita, the moment you start thinking that Asians are ''submissive'' and ''docile'', you''ve already lost the mind game because you will never see it coming once they decide to stab you in the back. "Anyways, going back to brown-skinned Asians, because developing or third-world countries have so many crocodiles, sharks, wolves and foxes disguised in sheep''s clothing here, and that you also have to learn the art of embracing madness, one of the most important skills you need to learn when living in a brown-skinned Asian country is to wear a mask. "And we brown-skinned Asians have mastered it. "We''ve mastered it so hard that when it comes to real-life-on-the-spot-acting, you can never outact or outperform a brown-skinned Asian. Some would even throw out their pride just to fool you to the point that you will start to feel second-hand embarrassment and give in." Zita knitted her brows. Nathan chuckled as he recalled a few memories. Zita then pouted her lips to the side. "Listen here, Zita, if a brown-skinned Asian starts telling you a sob story about themselves or about their family members or something even though you''ve just met each other or you''re not even close to begin with, ignore them and walk away. Seriously, just ignore them and walk away immediately -- run if you have to, because they are trying to scam you. No doubt about that. "And don''t even think about calling them out for it, especially when you''re on their turf, because they would have the audacity to get angry at you because you caused them to lose face by calling out their bullshit. "Trust me, I''ve heard and seen foreigners here in Muwin beaten or sometimes even killed for causing a brown-skinned Asian to lose face. "Life is very cheap here, Zita, especially the life of a foreigner. "And once they''re done using you or they found out that you have nothing to give, they will throw you right away on the side without even blinking and have the audacity to get angry at you for wasting their time. "It''s really funny and embarrassing at the same time. Hahaha~!" Seeing Nathan laughing, she was taken aback a bit. "Mister, you''re a brown-skinned Asian¡­ So you --? Tink. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? zlBlade ? Shikla ? darklord12332 ? Novo ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? NS710 ? Pillastre ? Tense_Beagle To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 206 - To Fort Yano (16) "Mister, you''re a brown-skinned Asian¡­ So you --?" Tink. Nathan lightly flicked Zita''s [Grade D] Tiara "Are you trying to say that since I''m a brown-skinned Asian I''ve been tricking you? Use your head, Zita. If my plan was to trick you, why would I tell you this information? Wouldn''t it make more sense if I didn''t tell you these things?" Zita rubbed the section of her tiara that Nathan flicked. "Zita, tell me honestly, do I look stupid to you? Is the word ''Stupid'' or ''Idiot'' written on my forehead? We''re partners, remember? We should have each other''s backs. And to ensure that, we must have complete trust with each other so lying to each other is a no-no." Zita stopped rubbing her tiara. "Anyways, the reason why I told you about those stereotypes is for you to understand that what we did back there wasn''t something worth stressing over because chances are they''re nothing but lowlifes or bad people. "And plus, don''t forget, Muwin is a third-world country and we''re currently in a zombie apocalypse. "Furthermore, they should be thankful that we were even kind enough to tell them at least twice to accept the deal that we offered to them. But they still refused and even attacked us first. It''s not our fault if they''re too stubborn and stupid." Zita knitted her brows because even though some of the things Nathan said sounded correct, there were some things that she doesn''t agree with. In addition to that, there was also the racism part. Just with the stereotypes that Nathan mentioned about Caucasians alone, as a Caucasian herself, in her mind, she was certain that her parents, her grandparents, her extended family and friends were definitely not racist, entitled and immoral. "But mister, the things you said, it was so racist." "Yeah, hence the reason why I told you the disclaimers earlier." "But still, mister, I don''t really think it''s fair to judge people like that. And like my smommyk always say, no one is bad, we''re all good. It''s just that everyone is unique which can cause misunderstandings so we should sit down and talk about it so that we can understand one another. Also, my parents, my grandparents and --" "Look, Zita, I''m not denying that what I said wasn''t racist. I''m fully aware that it is racist. Which again, is why I told you the disclaimers first before I told you the stereotypes. So I understand that you''re offended and what you''re trying to do. But I already told you many things back at lunch so you just have to piece things together with the things I''ve told you right now." Zita became quiet. "But if you still can''t understand what I''m trying to say, then I''ll give you a quick summary to think about. "Throw away your first-world mindset because Muwin is a third-world country. "In third-world countries, it''s survival of the fittest here. There are many crocodiles, sharks, wolves and foxes that are disguised in sheep''s clothing here that will devour you. "So instead of being offended about the stereotypes that I mentioned, think of them as guidelines or something like a survival gadget or tool that can help you to identify potential dangers, because the last thing you want to do here, if you want to survive, is to operate based on feelings. "And oh, I think I also mentioned this to you back in Burrow City before we left Womania that Muwin is like the third or fourth most racist Asian country. "So if you combine all these factors and add in a zombie apocalypse? What do you think is the sanest thing to do here in Muwin? "So be cold, be ruthless. If you have to lie or step on people to get ahead, do it. If you have to kill to survive, do it. If you feel bad about doing these things, learn how to shut your feelings down and deal with them later during your downtime." "But mister, you also said that not all foreigners that come here are bad," said Zita. ''Oh my f.u.c.k.i.n.g God, this kid is stressing me out! F.u.c.k!'' Nathan thought. "Yes, I did mention that." "So --" "So now you''re going to try to argue what if they were good people, is that it?" "Yes¡­" "Well, given that they''re already dead so we can''t ask or interview them and there''s also nobody else around that we could ask about them, all we can do right now is to argue between ourselves whether they''re good or not. And in this case, you''re claiming they''re good, while me I''m claiming they''re bad, correct?" "Yes." "But do you know why I''m still going to win the argument?" "Huh?" "I''m asking you why I''m certain that I will still win our argument. Come on, tell me. I want to see if your brain actually works." Zita thought for a moment before finally answering, "Because you''re older and you''re from here?" "It''s because my argument is backed up by statistics." Zita knitted her brows. "Zita, if there is something in this world that humans can trust, it''s numbers. No matter what, 1 + 1 will always be 2. It will never be 1, 3, 4, 11 or whatever. It will always be 2. "And on this case, given that I was born and raised here in Muwin, I''m well-aware of the stereotypes here. And let''s be brutally honest here, stereotypes just don''t pop out of anywhere. Each one has some grain of truth in them or is based on some truth. So with that, regarding our argument, my stance is the one that''s more believable." Although Zita more or less understood what Nathan just said, she still wouldn''t back down. "But mister, what about the boy? He was only a boy. Did we really have to kill him?" "Only a boy?" Nathan said and smiled. "Zita, use your brain. You''re about the same age as that kid. Don''t you think you''re getting arrogant just because you can kill a couple of zombies on your own now?" "Arrogant? Me?" Nathan let out a sigh and shook his head. "I really didn''t want to point this out. But it looks like I have no other choice. "To be honest, I really had no intention of killing that family at all. My only goal was not only to extract information but also force them into giving the RV to me. "I needed the father or mother to teach me how to use the RV because I have zero knowledge of how to use it. "However, I was forced to kill them because you killed the mother which came to me as a surprise because I remember specifically telling you to ''take care'' of the mother, not ''kill'' or ''TAKE CARE'' of the mother. The ''take care'' was just to rough up a person, not kill. So if there''s anyone here to blame, it''s you." Hearing what Nathan said, her eyes widened. "Just think about it, Zita. If my goal was to kill them all along, why would I even bother to offer them that deal, let alone offering it to them at least twice? You know that I could''ve easily just killed them right from the start, right?" "But mister before we came out you said to me that you''re going to show me a ''fun'' way to take things," said Zita. "Well, yeah," said Nathan. "So it wasn''t my fault, because I was just following what you''ve said." "Well, you''re still a kid and Regisian isn''t your first language after all. So I''m also partly to blame for assuming that you could understand the difference between ''take care'' and ''TAKE CARE''. So please accept my apology," he said and gave a slight bow. After hearing Nathan admitting that he''s also to blame and even saying sorry along with a slight bow, Zita regained some of her confidence back. "So mister, since you didn''t really want to kill them because you wanted to ask them to teach you how to use the RV and you''re also so strong, couldn''t we at least let the father and son live?" "Let the father and son live?" Nathan said and face-palmed. Zita was taken aback by Nathan''s reaction. "Zita, did you see the look of the boy''s eyes when he saw what you did to his mother? Ever since the zombie apocalypse started, I''ve killed a few people already. And the eyes he showed me, well, he may not get revenge now because that booty warrior will stop him. But in the future, I guarantee you that he will definitely get revenge. "And the scariest opponent of all is the one who is obsessed and has nothing to lose. "And I for one have no intention of living a life constantly having to look over my shoulder because of some stupid decision I''ve made in the past due to mercy." "But if it''s like that, then we shouldn''t have tried to take their things in the first place. None of this would''ve happened if we didn''t¡­" said Zita. "Hold that thought for a moment. And my second point, remember when I said you''re getting arrogant just because you can kill a couple of zombies on your own now?" Zita knitted her brows. "Try to think about it this way, Zita: What if in the future you encounter a kid about your age who doesn''t have any problems killing people, regardless of their age? Tell me, who do you think will win? And take note, it doesn''t even have to be a fair fight. Only an idiot would expect a fair fight. "Well, you''re only 10 years old and you''re a girl so it can''t be helped. Your fighting experience only started when the zombie apocalypse began and was mostly against the zombies and with me on your side. "But trust me, Zita, if you''ve been in a street fight -- I mean, first of all, let me tell you this: Before the zombie apocalypse, although I''m not a professional or trained fighter or a soldier and whatnot, I''ve been in street fights before. And I also didn''t win all of them. So with that being said, all I can say is, when it comes to street fights, there are no rules. It''s literally free for all. "Don''t believe what you see in the movies, dramas, cartoons, games or whatnot. Those things are called entertainment for a reason. "A real street fight is quick, dirty, chaotic, spontaneous, and it can easily turn into a do or die situation, especially when weapons are involved. "Which is why I insisted earlier to you to drop those unnecessary movements and focus on subtle and sudden movements only. "And then after a fight comes regret. Regret will always come after, unless you''re a psychopath or sociopath yourself, or someone with nothing to lose. "And here in third-world countries, there are a lot of people who have nothing to lose. "And if you add in the fact that we''re currently in a zombie apocalypse, and also the fact that you and I are Chosen Ones and about weaknesses? "Also, that booty warrior also mentioned that are also some people who are specifically aiming for the Prophets because the Prophets somehow represent God''s will or something and they want to vent out their frustration on them for unleashing this zombie apocalypse. "So just try to imagine for a second a kid your age who will pretend to be your friend while he secretly gathers information about you. And once he gathered enough information about you and you turn your back on him or let your guard down -- Boom! That''s when he will attack. "So let me ask you again, Zita: Who do you think will win? You who has yet to decide whether to take your opponent''s life or not because of your feelings, or your opponent who has decided right from the start to kill you? And if your opponent is also a Chosen One?" This time around, Zita had nothing to argue back and could only so hold her head down and cast her gaze on the ground in silence. "I guess that possibility never crossed your mind, huh?" She continued casting her gaze at the ground in silence. "And as for your question that we shouldn''t have tried to take their things in the first place, well, Zita, have you ever stopped to wonder for a moment why do I have so many items? "Just take the gloves and shoes you''re wearing for example. Aside from being Second Tier items because they give +4 bonus stats, they also have a special effect. There''s also that knife strap on your right t.h.i.g.h. Furthermore, there''s the thermal goggles, the food -- especially the candies and junk food that you love -- and many more. "Tell me, Zita, where do you think I got all of these items? Do you think I just looted them up from the zombies or the Armored Angels? Or maybe they just happened to be lying on the ground and I picked them up? Or perhaps you thought I traded them with people?" Nathan leaned over to her ear. "Let me tell let you in on a little secret. At least half of the items I have, I took them from people. And if they refused, I kill them." Zita''s eyes widened. Nathan''s lips slowly curled up into a smile. He leaned back, placed his finger under her chin and raised her head, forcing her to look at him. "So what are you complaining about, Zita?" he said and released her chin. Zita opened her mouth and was about to give an excuse¡­ "You''re not going to give me the I-didn''t-know-so-I''m-innocent excuse, are you? Zita, don''t tell me you already forgot how I got the helicopter?" he said and grinned. Images of what happened at the government shelter in Burrow City flashed inside Zita''s head. She closed her mouth and returned her gaze to the ground. Pat. Pat. Nathan patted her head. "Zita, don''t forget we''re in a zombie apocalypse and you''re my partner. Didn''t I tell you that the road we''re traveling is going to be a bloody and dangerous one? So don''t be surprised that things like food and shelter won''t always be available and we must always be ready to grab every opportunity that appears. Because of these things, even if you don''t agree with everything I do, even if you will hate me for it, I will always prioritize your safety even if it''s at the expense of others. I rather have you be the aggressor than the victim." He knelt down on one knee in front of her and lifted her chin with his finger. And this time, he was wearing a very warm and kind expression on his face. "So don''t feel bad about killing those people, okay? "We''re in a third-world country where it''s survival of the fittest here and we''re currently in a zombie apocalypse. "And don''t forget about the stereotypes that I told you about here in Asia. "Also, this is Asia. We have the highest number when it comes to race population so killing a few is nothing." ''Meanwhile, you Caucasians have the lowest number...'' ''Which makes you more exciting to kill because it feels like killing endangered species...'' ''But I won''t tell you that because it''s too dark~'' ''Sigh... Why isn''t dark humor popular...?'' ''I honestly believe that people would be more happy and grateful in life if dark humor was the norm...'' "That man, Zita, was most likely just a booty warrior or a reject back in his home country. Meanwhile, that woman was nothing but a cheap who-- I mean, a low-class woman. Their deaths are not even worth stressing about. "In fact, I would even bet that if you ask anyone here about what happened, they would definitely agree that it what purely self-defense on our part. They would even point out that we were too kind or pushovers because we gave them at least two chances to take the deal. So it''s not our fault that they''re too stupid and stubborn to accept it. We are actually the victims here to tell you the truth. "And as for the kid, well, think about it as a blessing in disguise: He was for your training in preparation for future enemies that are around your age. "And most importantly, don''t forget that you and I are Chosen Ones. Everyone else is nothing but tools to us and they should be grateful that we would even lower ourselves to look at them, let alone interact with them." Zita blinked her emerald eyes a few times, trying to process everything that Nathan has told her to justify the killing of that family. No matter how much she thinks about it, she and Nathan were definitely in the wrong, especially the last part which goes against her core values as an Iskladian. Back in Iskaldia, they have this cultural practice called Law of Dante. And one of its main core values is that you should never think of yourself as better than anyone. However, at the same time, she had to admit that they were in a zombie apocalypse and Nathan was the only person whom she knew who could take on zombies and humans like they were nothing, giving her not only a strong sense of security as long as she was with him, but also the impression that maybe his way of thinking was the correct and proper one. He removed his finger from her chin. "But if you still can''t get over the guilt of killing people, well, since you''re still a child so such ideas and emotions are too complex and heavy for you to handle, just think about it this way: I forced you." "Forced me¡­?" said Zita. ''This kid is only going to get stronger and stronger whether I want it or not so I have no other choice but to plant more seeds¡­'' Nathan thought. "From now on, whatever bad things you''re about to do or think you shouldn''t do but you have no choice but to, just blame it on me. Blame everything on me. You will have nothing else to worry about, no guilt or whatsoever. All of it will be mine. Don''t worry, I''ll carry that burden for you because you''re my partner. And in return, we should never betray each other and keep each other alive. That makes things easier, right?" Poke! He poked her nose. "So what do you say, Zita?" Zita stared at Nathan''s face that was wearing a very warm and kind expression. She clenched her fists and then unclenched them. "Okay..." she said softly. Hearing her answer, Nathan''s expression brightened even more and he began gently stroking her head as if she was the most precious thing in the world. Stroke. "I''m very proud of you for making the right decision, Zita." Stroke. "As a matter of fact, in my entire life, even myself included, and this is the honest truth, I have never met anyone your age aside from you who is already this amazing." Stroke. "So brave¡­" Stroke. "So strong¡­" Stroke. "So intelligent¡­" Stroke. "So wise¡­" Stroke. "So understanding¡­" Nathan covered his mouth with his hand and tears began welling up in his eyes. "You''re really one of a kind, Zita." He sniffled as he wiped off the tears on his eyes with his finger. "Which is why I feel so very happy because I''m blessed to have such an amazing partner like you! So thank you, Zita! Thank you so much for being such an amazing and one-of-a-kind person!" he said with a voice that sounded like he was about to cry. All of a sudden, he and Zita heard the sound of a truck engine from a distance. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 207 - To Fort Yano (17) 4:02 pm. There was a convoy of three vehicles running down the road at a semi-slow pace. On each side of the vehicles, there was a soldier carrying weapons, both System and non-System, while jogging at the same pace as the vehicles. The vehicle leading the convoy was a six-wheeler armored military vehicle with a heavy machine gun mounted on its top. And behind the heavy machine gun, there was a soldier looking through a pair of binoculars. The vehicle in the middle was a six-wheeler military truck with its tarpaulin at the back removed, revealing a group of people of different ages dressed in civilian clothes seating. And the vehicle at the rear end of the convy was an eight-wheeler commercial truck. Just like the second vehicle, its back had no covers, revealing a number of items, such as appliances, food and etc., and also two men dressed in a different set of uniform sitting and talking while smoking a cigarette. Inside the first vehicle. "Captain Lu, I swear to God, if you were there, even you would be laughing your a.s.s off. That comedy duo is really hilarious. Hehe~" said the driver. Captain Lu smiled and said, "Since you''re the one saying that, then it must be true." "Once we get back to Fort Yano, let''s bring the whole squad there." "Tonight?" "Yes, captain. They perform every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night. They start at 8:00 pm and end at 9:00 pm." "Oh, so it''s a one-hour show?" "Yes, captain. And the nice thing about their performance is that as much as possible, they try to use new material." "Wow, that''s quite impressive. Sure, let''s go there tonight." "Nice! Also, captain, there will be a lot of beautiful girls there. And with you there, we''ll surely attract all of the girls to our table. Those bastards at the other platoons will surely be pissed! Hahaha~!" Captain Lu just smiled and shook his head. Aside from having a face that was very easy on the eyes, Captain Lu was only 24 years old. Before he decided to join the military 3 years ago, he was already a holder of a 4-year college degree. Thanks to this, right after he completed the basic training for the military for 3 months, he was immediately eligible to apply for a higher rank and receive training. The radio suddenly made crackling sounds and then said, "Captain. Spotted two unidentified targets. A.d.u.l.t male in black and a little girl in pink. 30 meters north. Over." It was the soldier behind the turret on the first vehicle. Captain Lu grabbed the radio. "Young, what''s their status?" "They don''t seem to be hurt but aren''t moving either. They''re just standing at the side of the road." "All units, prepare for contact." A series of replies came¡­ "Roger that, captain." "Roger that, captain." "Roger that, captain." *** Nathan and Zita were standing at the side of the road and waiting for the convoy. "Zita, remember what we talked about, okay?" "Yes. We shouldn''t reveal that we''re Chosen Ones or Prophets. And if someone asks why I don''t have any skills or spells, I will tell them that I''m saving my skill points." "What about how many skill points a person gets?" "At Level 1, you get one free skill point. At Level 5, you get another skill point. And from thereon, you get one skill point after every five levels." "Good. How many minutes does it require to recover a single mana point? "Every 4 minutes." "Very good. What about the stats?" "At Level 1, you don''t get any free stat points. But after that, every time you level up, you get 2 free stat points." "Very good again. And if someone asks you about your stats?" "I won''t tell. Also, I will only reveal 50% of my strength so that when the time comes that I will have to fight them, they will be caught in surprise." "Excellent. And if someone asks about why we have different items?" "I also won''t tell. But if I get into a situation where I have no choice to tell, I will just say that I got them from killing a zombie." "What a very smart lady," Nathan said and smiled before proceeding to pat her head. Pat. Pat. When the convoy was about 10 meters away from Nathan and Zita, two soldiers, specifically the ones who were jogging by the side of the first vehicle, came to them. While the two soldiers were still a couple of feet away from Nathan and Zita, they couldn''t help but noticed a few things. The first thing they noticed was Nathan''s height. Although Nathan was obviously a brown-skinned Asian, in Muwin, the average height was 5''7" for the men and 5''5" for the women. The second thing they noticed was that Zita was Caucasian because it was rare to see a brown-skinned Asian man with a Caucasian kid here in the province. In Muwin, any place that''s outside St. Augustine City which capital city of Muwin located in the northern region and also outside of high-tier cities is considered the province. The third thing they noticed was the "costume" that Nathan and Zita were wearing, especially Nathan who was in complete medieval leather costume. This caused them to drop their guard by at least half and assumed Nathan was either an idiot or he and Zita are foreigners. As to why they assumed he was an idiot, in Muwin, the climate here is tropical so there are only two seasons: very hot and very wet. Which is why it takes a very special kind of idiot to wear what he was wearing, not to mention medieval costumes aren''t even part of their culture. Yes, Muwin was colonized by Regis, but they have their own traditional costumes, weapons, armors, etc. that''s specifically made to wear in a tropical climate. The two soldiers finally got to Nathan and Zita. Seeing them up close, they were left puzzled about something. In Nathan''s case, they couldn''t see the System headgear, Earrings or Bandana, on him. He was instead only wearing a black-colored metal helmet. As for the other items, they concluded it was covered by his costume. The only visible System equipment on him was the chain of the Amulet around his neck. Meanwhile, in Zita''s case, she too had no Earrings or Bandana. However, instead of a helmet, she was wearing a tiara. ''Nowadays, it''s rare to encounter people outside without a complete set...'' they thought. This caused to let them to drop their guard even more. The convoy stopped but drivers didn''t turn off the engines. "We are the Armed Forces of Muwin. Who are you and what''s your business?" one of the soldiers said in Regisian. They assumed Nathan and Zita were foreigners because they were too embarrassed to acknowledge that an idiot like Nathan is a Muwinian. It also helped that it was rare to see a brown-skinned Asian man with a Caucasian kid here in the province. Nathan made a quick review of the two soldiers'' attire. ''Although some of their System items are hidden by the uniform, judging from their Earring, Necklace, Rings and Armband alone tells me that they haven''t been to the Divine Tower¡­'' ''But just in case, I need to be careful. These are third-world soldiers after all¡­'' With third-world cops and soldiers, their equipment is inferior, the pay is low, and there''s also the rampant in-your-face corruption that even a blind man could see it. Because of these factors, there really isn''t that much incentive for cops, soldiers and normal citizens to trust each other and follow the law. Everyone is just in this state where they consider the laws as nothing more than guidelines than actual rules that need to be followed. As a matter of fact, in the southern region of Muwin, especially among Muwinian-Iklasian communities, the police are no different from security guards in the eyes of the people there. It''s only the soldiers that the people there are fearful of and respect. Nathan wore a friendly but not too friendly expression, just enough, and combined it with a semi-worried expression as well. "Msir, mwe''re msurvivors mheading mto Fort Yano mto mseek mshelter..." When the two soldiers heard Nathan''s accent, although it sounded a little stiff, there was no doubt that he was a native speaker and was in the lower middle-class bracket. They were also sad to know that he was actually a Muwinian. "Mdo myou mhave many mother mcompanions?" "Mno, msir. Mit''s mjust mme mand mthis mlittle mgirl," Nathan said and placed his hand on top of Zita''s head. The two soldiers'' eyes bounced between Nathan and Zita. "Mjust mthe mboth mof myou?" "Myes, msir. Mit''s mjust mus." For some reason, they couldn''t help but find another thing suspicious. Putting aside the fact they still think Nathan was an idiot because of his attire, what they found suspicious is that they weren''t carrying any bags except for the small pouch of Zita''s waist. Normally, they wouldn''t find this strange at all because they''ve met some survivors on the road carrying nothing except for the clothes on their back and whatever belongings they could carry on their hand while running for their lives from the zombies or from someone. In fact, some of the people who were currently in the second vehicle were like that. However, for these two, they were too clean. Just way too clean. They didn''t look like they just came from a dangerous situation at all. As for the possibility that they just took a bath, the two soldiers dismissed it because someone who just took a bath would''ve had a strong "soapy" or "shampooey" smell. And neither Nathan nor Zita had that, not to mention that Zita would''ve had wet hair. A radio from one of the soldiers at the back suddenly made crackling sounds. "Mhey! Mth mcaptain mis masking mwhat''s the hold up," one of the soldiers at the back said. "Myou''re min mluck. Mwe''re mon mour mway mto Fort Yano mright mnow mas mwell. Mboth mof myou mcan mhop mon mthe mtruck min mthe mmiddle," one of the soldiers interviewing Nathan and Zita said. "Mreally?!" Nathan said before flashing a happy and thankful expression and bowing his head a few times. "Mthank myou, msir! Mthank myou!" The soldier looked at his companion and said, "Mescort mthem mto mthe mtruck. Mi''m mgoing mto mreport mthe msituation mto mthe mcaptain." "Msure," the other soldier said before turning to Nathan and Zita, "Mplease mfollow mme." While Nathan and Zita were following the soldier to the second vehicle, Captain Lu stepped out of the first vehicle. "Nathan? Mis mthat¡­ mis mthat myou?" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 208 - To Fort Yano (18) "Nathan? Mis mthat¡­ mis mthat myou?" Captain Lu said after stepping out of the vehicle. Hearing his name being called, Nathan turned to the person who called out his name. Looking at the man''s face, his brows knitted together before switching to a shocked expression after recognizing who it was. ''Vincent?'' "Nathan, mis mthat myou?" Captain Lu said as he went over to Nathan. When Captain Lu was inside the vehicle and saw Nathan through the window, he wasn''t sure if it was really him or not, because of the height and also the helmet he was wearing. But when Nathan and Zita were being escorted to the second vehicle and they passed by his window, that''s when he got a clearer look and decided that I was really him. "Myou''re Nathan, mright? Mit''s mme, Vincent." Staring at Captain Lu''s face, Nathan shocked expression turned into something that was a combination of different expressions -- calm, confused and surprised. A thousand thoughts also came flashing in his head, causing his eyes to blink and his fists to close and open a few times. He regained his composure. ''I wasn''t expecting this¡­'' ''To meet this guy¡­'' ''Or one of them¡­'' ''How long has it been since I last spoke to them¡­?'' ''3 years¡­?'' ''I remember imagining at least a million scenarios on how we will meet¡­ ''And a billion scenarios of how I will react¡­'' Nathan closed his eyes. ''I guess no matter how you prepared you think you are --'' He took a deep breath and exhaled. ''-- life will always find a way to catch you unprepared¡­'' He opened his eyes and wore a friendly expression. "Vincent, mit''s mbeen ma mwhile. Mhow''ve mbeen?" Vincent''s expression brightened and he said, "Mso mit mreally mis myou!" He was about to give Nathan a hug but he was too tall. Nathan was 2.2m tall or around 7''2" while Vincent was 5''7". He instead grabbed onto Nathan''s arm and said, "Mhow mare myou?! Mi mmean, mi''m mgood. Mhow mare myou? Mit''s mbeen myears msince mwe''ve mseen mand mtalked mto meach mother. Mi''m mreally mhappy mto msee myou mand mi''m mglad myou''re msafe." Nathan continued wearing a friendly expression and said, "Myes, myes. Mi''m malso mhappy mto msee myou mand mi''m malso mglad mthat myou''re msafe." Seeing Nathan''s expression and hearing his reply, Vincent''s excited expression immediately vanished and he let go of Nathan''s arm. Given that he and Nathan were childhood friends, he knows a lot about Nathan''s personality and he could tell when he was being genuine or not. And most importantly, he also hasn''t forgotten what happened 3 years ago. "Mi''m mglad mto mhear mthat¡­" "Mcaptain! Ma mgroup mof mzombies mapproaching mfrom mthe mwest!" the soldier who was behind the turret suddenly said. Roar! Roar! Roar! Seeing the zombies coming, Zita immediately looked at Nathan. ''Mister has that bored look...'' ''So it''s nothing worth worrying about...'' "Mgo mto mthe msecond mvehicle mnow!" someone suddenly said. Nathan and Zita looked at the person who said it. It was the soldier who was ordered to escort Nathan and Zita to the second vehicle. "Nathan, mgo mto mthe msecond mvehicle mand mjoin mthe mcivilians. Mwe''ll mtake mcare mof mthis." Nathan looked at Vincent. ''Dammit¡­'' ''I really don''t want to have anything to do with this person...'' ''But I have no choice...'' ''I mean, given that we''re in a zombie apocalypse, he''s a soldier with a rank and Fort Yano is managed by the government, the smartest thing to do is to use him¡­'' One of the things that Nathan used to do in the first year since that incident where he was exiled from Latif City was to secretly binge-watch those popular online videos among men. The one where a poor, hardworking and loyal man is dumped by his girlfriend or traded for some other guy who is rich and successful. And then some years later down the road, their paths will cross. It will be at a party thrown by the company that the girlfriend''s current "rich" and "successful" boyfriend works for. And at the party, when the girlfriend and her current "rich" and "successful" boyfriend meets the CEO of the company, it will be revealed that it is her ex-boyfriend. And to really rub it on the woman''s face, the ex-boyfriend is also dating a woman who is not only a kind person but is also far more beautiful than her. And to really, really rub it on the woman''s face one last time, the current boyfriend will talk about the story of how the CEO used to really love a girl with all his heart but she dumped him because he wasn''t rich and successful without knowing that it was actually her. Pure male fantasy at its finest. Now, because of this, Nathan, of course, also used to fantasize about how he, Vincent and Karen will accidentally meet one day. And in that scenario, of course, he was richer and more successful than them. And both of them, especially Karen, will be full of regrets. After all, according to philosophers, success is supposedly the best form of revenge. ''Sigh... No matter how prepared you think you are, life will always find a way to catch you unprepared¡­'' Nathan didn''t answer and just went to the second vehicle directly. After Nathan and Zita finally left, Vincent turned to the zombies coming. "Young! Mis mthis mthe monly mzombies mcoming mour mway?!" "Myes, msir!" the soldier behind the mounted heavy machine gun on first vehicle said. "Mall munits, Formation #1!" A series of replies came. "Mroger!" "Mroger, captain!" "Mroger that!" "Mso mwhose mturn mis mit mnow?" said one of the soldiers. "Mour mturn," said another soldier. Three soldiers formed a row and began firing at the zombies. Tata! Tata! Tata! The soldier behind the turret fired as well. Tatatatatatata! A number of zombies came crashing to the ground. Vincent and two other soldiers had their System weapons out and waited. When half of the zombies were down, Vincent shouted, "Mcharge!" He and the two other soldiers charged.. Suuup! Chak! Whoosh! Suuup! Vincent and the two soldiers were hacking and slashing any zombie that came on their path. For the M1 and S1 type, they would stab its head. Meanwhile, for the N1 and Rank 2 zombies, they would decapitate it. Chak! Pah! Vincent cleaved open an N1''s skull with his [Grade D] Kris Sword and pulled his weapon away by kicking it by its shoulder. An injured N2 nearby got up and immediately conjured a spell, aiming for Vincent. Tata! Two bullets landed on the N2''s face, not only stopping it from casting a spell but also blinding it. Vincent immediately ran to the N2. Tata! Thud! The N2 was shot on its right knee, causing it to get down on one knee. Vincent grabbed his sword''s handle with two hands and swung it hard like a baseball bat against the N2''s neck. Whoosh! Thud! Thud! The N2''s head and body fell to the ground and a [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared right next to the body. *** At the second vehicle. The second vehicle was a six-wheeler military truck with the tarpaulin of its back removed. It had a group of people from different ages dressed in civilian clothing seated there and they were watching how Vincent and his men were killing the zombies. Some were amazed, while there others held a neutral reaction. And as for Nathan and Zita, although there were already next to the truck, they haven''t climbed in yet and were also watching how the soldiers were dealing with the zombies. Zita glanced at Nathan''s face. ''Mister has that bored or disappointed look on his face again¡­'' She return her glance at the zombies. ''I think it''s because they look like they''re too serious¡­'' ''They''re also too noisy...'' ''Mister said that you should be calm and be quiet when killing the zombies¡­'' ''They''re all doing it wrong¡­'' ''Or at least not like how mister and I kill the zombies¡­'' ''They''re taking too lon--'' "Zita." She turned to Nathan. "Let''s get on top of the truck already. You first." "Okay." Nathan helped Zita climb at the back of the truck with the help of two passengers, a brown-skinned Asian man in his mid 20s and another on his early 30s, who were already aboard the truck. When Zita got on the back of the truck, the first thing that Zita noticed was that it was a bit crowded. ''Where am I going to sit...?'' There were benches on each side and were almost full. And on the floor, there were also people seating and laying down. Although they don''t seem to be injured, some were semi-conscious while the others were completely unconscious. A woman holding a child on her arms seating on the bench on right side scooted over to give her some space to sit. "Come sit here, dear," the woman said in Regisian. Zita didn''t move and just blinked her eyes a few times. "Mthanks," Nathan said to the two men when he finally got on top of the truck as well. "Mno mproblem," the two men said. When Nathan saw the setup on top of the truck, he had the same reaction as Zita. ''Is this safe...?'' ''I mean, those people laying down and unconscious, are they infected or something...?'' ''And they also have a funky smell...'' "Let her sit here," the woman holding a child on her arms said to Nathan. Nathan made a quick evaluation regarding the woman''s appearance. ''A bit dirty but looks rich and healthy...'' "Zita, you can sit next to that women over there," he pointed at the vacant space next to the woman holding a child on her arms. Zita looked at Nathan said, "Mister?" "Go now." "Okay¡­" Zita said and then went over. ''Looks like I''ll be standing¡­'' he thought as he grabbed onto the rails where the covers would''ve been placed. And just right after Zita sat down, some of the passengers began clapping their hands and cheering. Clap! "Yay~!" Clap! "Wooo!" Clap! ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 209 - To Fort Yano (19) Clap! "Yay~!" Clap! "Wooo!" Clap! Some of the passengers were clapping their hands and cheering, while others just looked on. Nathan was one of those people who just looked on. Vincent whipped the blood off of his sword before sweeping his gaze around the surrounding. There were two [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.ts and three [White] Treasure C.h.e.s.ts. "Young, mstatus mreport!" "Myes, mcaptain! Mall mzombies mhave mbeen mneutralized, mno mnew mzombies mapproaching, mand mno mcasualties mon mour mside, msir!" the soldier behind the heavy machine gun mounted on the first vehicle said. Meanwhile, on the side were the two soldiers who accompanied Vincent in charging and hacking the zombies¡­ "Sigh¡­ Mstill ma mlong mway mto mgo mbefore mi mreach Level 27. Mi mgot mfour Rank 1s mand mone Rank 2. Mit mwas man S2. Mhow mabout myou?" "Mdamn¡­ Mso mlucky. Mi mgot msix mbut mthey mwere mall Rank 1s. Captain Lu mgot mthe mother Rank 2." "Haha¡­ Mdon''t mworry, mthere''s malways ma mnext mtime. Mwho mknows, mmaybe mwe''ll mencounter manother mgroup." "Nah¡­ Mwe''re malready mclose mto mthe mcamp. Mand meven mif mwe mdo mencounter manother mgroup, mit mwill mbe Silas mand mthe mothers'' mturn mto mhack mthe mzombies." "Lol¡­ Mdid myou mjust mforget mwhy mwe mtook man malternate mroute mgoing mto Fort Yano minstead mof mthe mmain mroad? Base 3-C mwas mattacked mby ma mhorde mof mzombies mand --" "Chua, Kalid, mhave mthe Hawkers mcollect mthe mloots," Vincent said before heading back to the first vehicle. The two soldiers made a salute and said, "Myes, msir!" Chua turned around to the third vehicle and made a hand signal. The two Hawkers who were dressed in a different uniform climbed down the vehicle and immediately took out the Treasure C.h.e.s.ts and the nuclei. *** Nathan watched the two Hawkers extracting the nucleus from the zombie heads. ''Heh~ So they''re taking the Nucleus...?'' ''Does this mean they''ve been to the Divine Tower...?'' ''However, I have yet to see a Black or White colored equipment, let alone an [Artifact] item or someone who has ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood¡­'' ''But then again, simply touching a Nucleus will allow the System to inform you that it''s used for trading inside the Divine Tower¡­'' ''But assuming that they''ve been to the Divine Tower, doesn''t this mean they have an [Artifact] as well...?'' ''Should I be concerned...?'' Nathan looked at his left hand, specifically his left index finger, which was covered by his [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Gloves. ''Just take for example this [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger of mine...'' ''Just with the bonus stats alone, which is +5 to all attributes, it''s already very OP...'' ''And if you consider it''s special effect¡­'' If I knew someone who has an [Artifact], I would definitely take it from that person, dead or alive -- well, dead is better because anyone who is able to survive inside the Divine Tower and get the [Artifact] or the two [Artifacts] is definitely a formidable opponent or someone with extreme luck¡­'' ''They''re really better off dead¡­'' ''There''s also the deathly pale white spots that cover at least 20% of my skin¡­'' ''Putting aside my new height, after I ingesting the [Artifact] Divine Blood, these deathly pale white spots appeared on my body, another tell-tale sign that I''ve been inside the Divine Tower¡­'' ''There''s also that Transformation: 20%¡­'' ''What the f.u.c.k am I transforming to...?'' ''Anyways, I don''t know what will happen if you killed someone who ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood¡­'' ''Will the bonus stats transfer to the killer?'' He formed a fist with his left hand. ''Ugh¡­ Not only am I starting to have a headache from all this thinking but I''m also having second thoughts in going to Fort Yano¡­'' ''Should I go or should I not go?'' ''I have too many valuable items with me¡­'' The second vehicle started moving and Nathan, who was standing, almost lost his balance. Fortunately, his right hand was holding onto one of the rails where the covers for the back of the truck would''ve been attached. Nathan swept his gaze around his surroundings. The Hawkers were done picking up the loots and the entire convoy resumed its journey back to Fort Yano. ''I really have to make a decision...'' ''Will I go to Fort Yano or not...?'' ''I mean, I have too many valuable items with me¡­'' ''And it''s not like I just picked these things up¡­'' ''How many times did I almost die inside the Divine Tower just to have these things¡­?'' ''That time when I was bombarded with bullets and [Fireballs]¡­'' ''That time when the bitch Rose was filling my head with her magnum bullets...'' ''That time when she almost decapitated my head...'' ''There are many more...'' ''However¡­ I also need to go to Fort Yano to see if my family is there¡­'' ''F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' ''Think...!'' ''Think, f.u.c.ker...!'' ''Think, you goddamn stupid f.u.c.ker...!'' ''A disguise...!'' ''Yes, I need a disguise...!'' ''For my [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger, at least it''s covered by my gloves¡­'' ''For my height¡­ There''s nothing I can do with that¡­'' ''And for my white spots, well, it covers 20% of my skin¡­'' ''I don''t know how to cover for this¡­'' ''Maybe I can just use the excuse that I have that skin disease where you have white spots¡­?'' ''I can''t remember the name though¡­'' ''I think it was vertilo, vertigo, velinqioust...? ''Wait, why do I feel like I''m making up words...?'' ''Anyways, as long as it starts with the letter v..." ''That should cover it for now...'' ''Cover?'' ''Cover¡­'' ''Cover¡­...'' ''Makeup!'' ''Yes, makeup!'' ''Oh shit¡­ I don''t have makeup¡­'' ''I mean, I''m not gay so why would I even have one with me¡­'' He looked at the passengers. ''I can''t tell if anyone here has makeup...'' ''Well, I can ask...'' ''But when will I have the chance to put it on...?'' ''Well, I just have to find one when I reach Fort Yano¡­'' ''I also have to make sure that no one would find out that I''m wearing one because I will literally die from embarrassment¡­'' ''It''s social suicide here in Muwin...!'' ''What about baby powder...?'' He scanned the items inside his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. ''Of course, why would I even have one...?'' He looked at Zita. She was having a conversation in Regisian with the woman holding a child on her arms and sitting next to her. ''Hmm... that booty warrior said that Chosen Ones or Prophets are treated well...'' ''They''re living a luxurious life under the government''s care...'' ''However, in exchange, they have help in fighting the zombie threat¡­'' ''But let''s say it''s true...'' ''Can I really trust them when they find out that I have an [Artifact]...?'' ''Just with the stats alone, it''s already OP...'' ''Not to mention Chosen Ones are also targeted but some people who just want to vent out their anger and frustration to that being claiming to be god for unleashing this zombie apocalypse...'' ''But then again, at the same time, I can also take their [Artifact]...'' ''That is if they even have any...'' ''But what if my parents or family is there and they hold them hostage...?'' An image of a dead Amir as a human-dog lying down on the floor with its head cracked open and brain matter scattered all over the floor flashed inside his head. He shook his head and looked away. He saw a puddle of mud. ''Hmm... If not makeup or baby powder, what about dirt?'' "Excuse me, are you Muwinian?" a person suddenly asked in Regisian. Nathan turned to the person. It was a man in his early 30s and he was also standing just like Nathan. ''This guy¡­ Wasn''t he one of the men who helped Zita in climbing over to the truck earlier?'' "Myes," Nathan replied in Muwinian. "Oh, I see. Nice to meet you. I''m Duke. And that there," he pointed at the woman who was holding a child in her arms and talking to Zita, "is my wife, Dhalia, and my daughter, Delilah." Nathan squinted his eyes. ''Why is this person speaking to me in Regisian, not Muwinian?'' he thought. "Ah¡­ Mi msee. Nathan." "Nathan? Good name. Can I ask how tall are you?" "Maround 2.2m." "Around 2.2m, huh. So at least more than 7 feet?" "Msomething mlike mthat." "Are you a professional basketball player or a celebrity or something?" "Mno." "Oh, I thought you were one because of your height." Nathan didn''t answer. "By the way, how many years have you been living in abroad?" "Huh?" Duke flashed a knowing smile and said, "Well, you see, I can tell by your accent. Although you''re definitely a native speaker, it''s a little stiff. And if I were to guess what country you''ve been to¡­ Womania, right? And that little girl you''re with, she''s Iskaldian, right?" "..." "Haha¡­ I''m right, right? Well, I''ve been living in and out Muwin for many years. So I''ve been exposed to many people. Met so many people from different walks of life." ''My accent is a little stiff...?'' "And if you were to ask me, it''s just better to live outside of the country, especially in first-worlds. "In countries like Muwin, you can work and work all your life like a horse. But the money you can save? Unless you have the devil''s luck, you have a high-paying job, or you''re someone who''s already born rich, the money money you could save worth pennies only. "But in first-world countries, it doesn''t matter which background you came from. You can work, even simple jobs, and can still actually save some money. "You know what I''m talking about, right? So I can''t blame you for wanting to live in Womania. "As a matter of fact, when the zombie apocalypse happened, my family and I were just here for a short vacation. Our home address is back at Wellington Street, St. Maria City, Regis. We just moved there like a year ago." ''Maybe it''s because I''ve been living in Womania for 8 months and I just returned yesterday...?'' "And you know what, I''m pretty sure that if we were in Regis, things wouldn''t have reached like this. The zombie threat would''ve dealt and contained already right from the start. Don''t you agree? I mean, you''ve lived in Womania. That''s also a first-world country like Regis. I''m sure that country is already free of the zombie threat. Sigh¡­ We were at the wrong country when the zombie apocalypse happened." ''And oh my God¡­ he''s one of those people¡­'' Here in the northern region of Muwin, people like Duke wasn''t rare. The reason behind this is because Muwin was colonized by Regis for 250 years and it''s been 50 years since it got independence. During the 250 years of Muwin under the rule of Regis, the northern region was completely conquered while the southern region wasn''t. Because of this, the two regions developed two very opposite mentalities. The north developed a colonial mentality. The south developed an anti-colonial mentality. In fact, the Trinity religion was one of the tactics used by the Regisians to tighten their control over the natives in the northern region -- basically, forced-conversion to the Trinitian faith. Another tactic was the first and last names. Which is why today, northerners typically had Regisian first and last names. And when Muwin finally gained its independence from Regis, the country undergone a few civil wars within the first 30 years since its independence. Now, although 50 years have already passed since Muwin finally gained its independence and there are no more civil wars anymore, there are still some tensions between the north and south, or to be specific, between Muwinian-Trinitians and Muwinian-Iklasians. The thing about Asians, they are very family oriented. And because of this, the elders have such a huge influence in the society. So 50 years is peanuts because there are literally still Muwinians walking around alive and kicking when Muwin was still a colony of Regis. Take for example Nathan''s grandfather, Sakhr, from his father''s side who was 90+ and is a Muwinian-Iklasian. He has definitely seen and been through a lot -- colonialism, WWII, and the civil wars in Muwin. This is one of the reasons why Muwin is infamous for being the third or fourth most racist country in Asia. "Sigh¡­ If only Muwin was still part of the Regis Empire, we wouldn''t have to suffer like this. And not only that, we would''ve also been a first-world country a long time ago already..." said Duke. Nathan looked away. ''Oh my God, please stop talking to me and just leave me alone already...!'' Given the issue about the deathly pale white spots on his body and also the fact that Zita was with him, Nathan didn''t want to cause any trouble at the moment. At least with him, he could always just disappear and run away if ever things become too much to handle for him, just like that night when he left Haven Town after falling out with Rose, Ashleigh and Derek. But now that he had Zita with him, he had no choice but to be a little more careful with his temper. The other passengers heard everything what Duke said. Some were looking at them in disgust while the others in pity, because one was a self-hating Muwinian while the other was a grown man wearing a leather medieval costume in a tropical country. Prrr¡­ Pshhh¡­! The truck shook and made some exhaust sounds. The convoy started moving slowly. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 210 - Arriving In Fort Yano The convoy started moving slowly. Nathan poked his head to the side to see what was happening up ahead. A few meters away from the convoy, although Fort Yano wasn''t yet visible, there was another group of vehicles waiting in line in front of a checkpoint to be inspected by men dressed in soldier uniforms. ''This feels like being in the south¡­'' When Muwin was still a colony of Regis, there were many Muwinian freedom fighter groups in the country, especially in the southern region where it wasn''t completely conquered by the Regis. But when Muwin was finally free from the shackles of Regis 50 years ago, this led to a power vacuum among the Muwinian freedom fighter groups which then resulted in a few yet violent civil wars in the first 30 years since the country gained its independence. Most of the civil wars in the country were between the Muwinian government established in the north versus the south. In terms of economic progress, the northern region, especially St. Augustine City which is now the capital city of Muwin, was way ahead because that was where the Regisian overlords established their main base during their rule here in Muwin. But in the eyes of the south Muwinians, the north Muwinians were weak people who got conquered and bowed down to the Regisians. And despite the country finally being free, they viewed the newly established government at the north as nothing but a puppet of state of Regis and therefore don''t want to have any part of it. The Muwinian government in the north began labeling those who refuse to recognize their rule as "rebels" and "terrorists". And within the years since Muwin got its independence, there were several bombings, kidnappings and firefights conducted by these "rebel" or "terrorist" groups: New Muwinian Freedom Fighters (NMFF), New Liberation Muwinian Army (NLMA), Muwinian-Iklasian Army (MIA), and a few more others. There are even international ones such as Neo-Liberation Army (NLA) and Iklasian State of the World (ISW). Fast-forward to the present, at least before the zombie apocalypse, although the threat of these "rebel" and "terrorist" groups have been greatly reduced, especially in the northern region, because the Muwinian government beefed up the security and the countless peace talks being initiated on each side, there were still some places in the south, specifically in provincial areas, that bombings, kidnappings and firefights would still occur but it was very rare. "Looks like we''re already here in Fort Yano. We must be currently on its outskirts," said Duke. Nathan looked at him. ''This annoying self-hating coconut shit stole my brainstorming time...'' Although there were houses and other buildings at the side of the road, most were trees. Fort Yano was, after all, located near the mountains outside of Nabe City and Kelurga City. ''F.u.c.k, what should I do with my white spots...?'' His eyes turned to the mud on the side of the road. ''Should I..?'' He shook his head. ''If I get down now, the people, especially the ones at the checkpoint area would be suspicious and things could go south real quick¡­'' ''And if use [Coward''s Way] before going down, the people then would know that I have the power to disappear which will make me even more suspicious¡­'' ''Not only that, so far, I have yet to encounter someone who could disappear like me...'' ''With that, assuming that they''ve never seen anyone who could disappear, they would suspect that I''m a Chosen One or a Prophet¡­'' ''And given that I''m not yet 100% sure with the information I''ve gathered so far about how Chosen Ones are treated here, I don''t want to reveal that information about me yet, especially when I have Zita with me¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ And speaking of being invisible, I remember back at the Divine Tower when I fought that bitch she threw something at me that looked like was something to deal with invisible beings¡­'' ''Does this mean that there''s an invisibility spell book?'' ''I mean, call me vain, but I''m not that so vain to assume that the Divine Tower would specifically create an item just to counter my skill¡­'' ''Ugh¡­ I should''ve checked the items at that Magic Shop¡­'' ''But I was in a hurry that time¡­'' ''The next time I enter the Divine Tower, I would definitely check it¡­'' ''I''ll also check the Tavern¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ For now, I have no choice but to just say that I have the skin disease vertilo, vertigo, velinqioust or whatever that name was¡­'' 4:22 pm. ''I have to make it work¡­'' *** About 5 minutes later, it was finally the convoy led by Vincent to be inspected. Soldiers accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs came to inspect the vehicles. There were also soldiers with inspection mirrors. "Mall mclear!" one soldier said. "Mall mclear mhere mas mwell!" another soldier said. "Mclear!" another soldier said. A soldier standing beside a booth near the entrance of the checkpoint signed a doc.u.ment and gave it to Young, the soldier behind the heavy machine gun mounted on top of the first vehicle in Vincent''s convoy, and then said, "Myou''re mgood mto mgo, msoldier." Young received the doc.u.ment and then gave a salute. "Mthank myou, msir!" Tap! Tap! He tapped the roof of the vehicle and said, "Mwe''re mall mclear!" Vrooom¡­ The convoy resumed moving. *** About 50 meters away, the convoy arrived at an area where all the convoys are parked. There were also tents, some were open-air, others weren''t. Vincent''s convoy parked at an area and everyone started getting off of the vehicles. Nathan was the first to climb down the second vehicle. As for Zita, because people were rushing and pushing each other, she wasn''t able to go down right away. "Zita, just stay where you are. There''s no need to rush." She looked at him and nodded. A group of people came to the second vehicle. Some were dressed in soldiers uniforms, others in medical uniforms carrying stretchers and wheelchairs, and the rest in Hawker uniforms. A woman in soldier uniform with two other soldiers standing beside her stepped forward. "Mmay mi mhave myour mattention, mplease. Mall mnon-personnels mor mcivilians mwho maren''t minjured, mplease mgather min mfront mof mme. All non-personnels or civilians who aren''t injured, please gather in front of me." "Mplease mhelp mme! Mmy mhusband mis munconscious!" one of the passengers who remained at the back of the second vehicle said. "Mi mneed mhelp mtoo!" another passenger said. The people dressed in medical uniforms went over to help them. When Zita finally climbed down the vehicle, she immediately rushed to Nathan''s side. After reuniting with Zita, he led them to gather in front of the woman in soldier uniform. "Manyone mis minfected mwith mthe mzombie mvirus, mplease mstep mforward. Mdo mnot mwait muntil myou mturn minto ma mzombie mand mcause mmore mproblems. Mplease mbe mcooperative. Mwe mpromise mto mdo mour mbest mto mhelp myou min many mway mwe mcan. Anyone who is infected with the zombie virus, please step forward. Do not wait until you turn into a zombie and cause more problems. Please be cooperative. We promise to do our best to help you in any way we can," the woman in soldier uniform said. Everyone who was standing in front of her looked at each other. "Mwe mwill mgive myou ma mminute mto mdecide. mPlease mthink mabout mit mcarefully. Mand mplease mnote mthat mwe mwill mdo mour mbest mto mhelp myou. We will give you a minute to decide. Please think about it carefully. And please note that we will do our best to help you." "Nathan," a male voice said. Nathan looked at his side and saw it was Vincent. "Mit''s mreally mgood mto msee myou magain. Mif myou mever mneed mhelp, mcome mfind mme." "Mdo myou mhave minformation mabout mmy mparents mor many mof mmy mrelatives?" "Mi''m mvery msorry, mbut mno. Mwhen mthe mzombie mapocalypse mfirst mhappened, mi mwas mstationed mat mthe msouth. Mas ma mmatter mof mfact, mit''s monly mbeen mthree mdays msince mmy mrequest mto mbe mtransferred mhere min Kulerga mwas mgranted mand mi mfinally mmoved mhere mjust mtwo mdays mago. Mbut mi''ll mtry mto mpull msome mstrings mto msee mwhat mi mcan mfind." "Mi msee. Mthank myou," Nathan said and flashed a friendly and grateful smile. "Mthere''s malso manother mperson mwho mcan mhelp¡­" "Mwho?" "Karen¡­" Crack! When Nathan heard the name, the friendly and grateful smile on his face cracked for a quick moment before returning back in place. "Mshe''s mworking mat mthe mlocal mgovernment''s moffice mso mshe mdefinitely mhas mmore mstrings mto mpull mthan mi mdo." "Mi msee." "Mi''m msure mshe mwill mdefinitely mhelp." "Mi msee." "Mi''ll mhave msomeone minform mher mright maway mthat myou''re mhere. Mif mi mcan''t, mthen monce mwere mdone mwith mthe mquarantining, mi''ll minform mher mmyself mright maway." "Mquarantining?" "Mwell, mfor mus mpersonnels, mwe mjust mhave mto mgo mquarantine mfor mone mhour mand mten mminutes. myou mmight mnot mknow mthis mbut ma mperson minfected mwith mthe mzombie mvirus mwill mturn minto ma mzombie mafter mone mhour." "..." "Mand min myour mcase, mgiven myou''re ma mcivilian mand mit''s myour mfirst mtime mhere, monce ymou''re mdone mquarantining, myou mwill mthen mhave mto mfill mup msome mforms mand malso mbe minterviewed. Mand mafter mthat, mthey mwill mdecide mwhether myou''re mfit mto mremain mhere min Fort Yano mor mnot." Although Nathan was still wearing a friendly and grateful smile on his face, underneath, he was getting worried, especially at the part where Vincent mentioned about being interviewed. If it was just him, no problem. But Zita? "Mwait, mhold mon. Myou mmentioned mwe mwill mbe minterviewed. Mwhat mkind mof minterview? Mwhat mare mthe mquestions? Manswer mme!" Because Nathan raised his voiced, everyone looked at him, especially the woman soldier. But because he was standing next to Vincent who was also wearing a soldier uniform and the insignia on his uniform says that he was a captain, they dismissed it as nothing but a civilian that was about to freak out. Nathan calmed himself and said, "Vincent, mplease manswer mme. Mwhat mkind mof minterview mwill mthey mbe mconducting mand mwhat mare mthe mquestions?" "Mcalm mdown. Mit''s mjust ma msimple mone. Mthey mwould mask mabout myour mlevel, mstats, mskills, metc. Mthen mthere''s malso mthe mpsychological mtest mto mdetermine myour mmental mstate. Myou msee, mbecause mof mthe mzombies mand mthe mpower mgranted mby System, msome mpeople --" Nathan was no longer listening and he stared at the ground, lost in his own thoughts. "Manyways, myou mreally mhave mnothing mto mworry mabout. Mbecause mthe mtruth mis, malthough meveryone mhas mto mundergo mthat minterview, mit''s mvery rare mthat msomeone mwon''t mbe mallowed mto mstay mhere. Mmostly, mit''s monly mafter mthey''ve mstayed mhere mand mcommitted ma mcrime mthat msome mpeople mhave mbeen mbanished mfrom mhere." Nathan raised his head and looked at Vincent. "Mis mthere ma mway --" "Mplease mfollow mme," the woman in soldier uniform said and walked. Seeing the non-personnels and civilians, walking, Vincent said, "Nathan, myou mneed mto mgo mnow. Mi malso mhave mto mgo mso mthat mi mcan msend msomeone mto mtell Karen mthat myou''re mhere mand mask mher mto mhelp mus mfind myour mfamily." "Mwait!" "Mdon''t mworry. Mit''s mjust ma msimple minterview. Meven mafter mthree myears, myou''re mstill ma mworrywart. Mlet''s mcatch mup mlater," Vincent said before jogging away to join his men who were also on their way to be quarantined. Nathan didn''t move and just watched the people walk away to do whatever business they had to do. Seeing the passengers going away, Zita looked at Nathan. "Mister?" Nathan didn''t respond. His mind went to overdrive to figure a way to avoid the interview. One of the soldiers nearby noticed that Nathan and Zita weren''t following the passengers. "Mhey, myou! Mwhat mare myou mdoing?" Seeing the soldier, Zita recalled her experience back at the Government Shelter in Burrow City. "Mister, what are we going to do?" she said and had a worried expression on her face. Nathan finally finished thinking and noticed a soldier walking towards them. "Mthe mboth mof myou, mdon''t mmove mand mstay mwhere myou mare!" the soldier said and then grabbed his radio. "Mattention mall munits min Base 2-B. Mi mhave mtwo mpossible minfected mpersons. Ma.d.u.l.t masian mmale, mabout 7ft, min mblack, mand ma mcaucasian child, mgirl, mabout 4.5ft, min mpink." Nathan turned to Zita. "Zita, remember when I said to you that sometimes things can get a little complicated, and if you find yourself in such a situation it''s best to prioritize your own safety?" "Yes." "This is one of those times. We''re leaving," he said and then scooped her up on his arms. Vooooooom! He ran at full speed. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 211 - Leaving Fort Yano Nathan wasn''t invisible as he carried Zita on his arms with her arms wrapped around his neck and ran through the forest at full speed. Although there were houses and other buildings at the side of the road in Fort Yano, most were trees because the military camp itself was, after all, located near the mountains outside of Nabe City and Kelurga City. Zita had her eyes closed because of the sudden burst of speed made by Nathan. She opened her eyes. ''I can see things¡­'' Back in Womania when Nathan first carried her on his arms and ran as they leave the government shelter in Burrow City, her vision was blurry and the only thing she could see what Nathan. But now, because of her level and the items she had on, she could see her surroundings. ''Mister is really fast¡­'' ''It''s like he has more than 50 points in AGi¡­'' ''But how is that possible if he also has high VIT and very high STR¡­?'' ''Isn''t there a 30-point threshold¡­?'' ''Maybe mister''s level is very high¡­?'' ''But he said that he was Level 27¡­'' ''Maybe he lied to--'' Boom! Nathan stepped on a landmine and it exploded, but he didn''t lose a leg. Instead, the explosion just caused him to lose his balance and roll on the grass while still maintaining his arms wrapped around Zita. Riiinnnggg¡­ Nathan''s ears were ringing as got up. There were leaves and dirt on his face and body. He shook his head a few times before glancing at Zita on his arms. "Zita, are you okay?" Her ears were also ringing. She could hear Nathan speaking but the ringing sound on her ears was drowning the words coming out of his mouth that she could barely hear it, let alone understand it. "Zita, are you okay?" She blinked and shook her head a few times. "Zita, are you okay?" Although she could still hear some ringing sounds, she could now more or less hear and understand what Nathan was saying. "Yes, mister. It''s just that my ears¡­ I can''t hear properly." "That''s fine. It will eventually go away." He looked behind him and saw the small crater made by the landmine. ''Good thing Muwin is a third-world country¡­'' ''They''re military weapons are a bit behind¡­'' He looked up at the sky. ''I don''t hear helicopters¡­'' He looked back at the small crater. ''I don''t think they''d be crazy enough to follow me here in this landmine-infested forest¡­'' ''It''s not I''m some kind of high-ranking or special wanted criminal or something¡­'' ''In their eyes, I''m just some poor infected schmuck running away -- No, a dead man needlessly struggling¡­'' ''However, if for some reason they''re really adamant in chasing and capturing me, I can only assume that they will be waiting for me at the end of the forest or somewhere there aren''t any landmines anymore¡­'' ''If that''s the case¡­'' He summoned 10 Healing Packets. He gave 5 pieces to Zita. "Keep these inside your mouth. They''re healing potions. If you ever get injured, tear them open with your teeth. Don''t worry about swallowing the plastic wrapper. You can always vomit them anyway afterward."'' When the liquid inside the [Small] Healing Potion is removed and placed on another container, the System is unable to identify it. "Okay," Zita said and kept the packets inside her mouth. Voooooom! Just after a few steps¡­ Boom! Another landmine exploded. Just like from the first explosion, Nathan lost his balance and rolled over with Zita on his arms. However, instead of pausing to ask if she was okay, he just got up and continued running. Boom! This time around, Nathan didn''t lose his balance and continued running. *** Boom! There was an explosion and it was coming from the jungle near the foot of the mountain, causing some of the soldiers to turn in its direction. "What do you think that is?" one soldier said. "Beats me. Could be an animal or a zombie that wandered into the minefields. I don''t know," another soldier replied. Boom! There was another explosion and it seemed to be getting closer to their direction. "Another explosion. Could it be?" "If it''s a zombie or zombies, doesn''t matter. We''ll easily take care of it. In fact, I bet people here are hoping it''s a Rank 2 for that juicy EXP." "Speaking of EXP, I''m almost Level 25 now. How about you?" Boom! The explosion was getting even closer. "Almost 25? Weak," the soldier said and scoffed. "I''m already 26. " The other soldier scoffed and said, "At least my items have better stats than yours. Also, I have both range and melee spells." "What did you say?!" "What, you want a piece of me?!" "You two sissies stand down!" a higher-ranking soldier said. The two stood in attention and said, "Yes, sir!" "We just came back from killing those zombie bastards at Base 3-C and you two sissies still have a lot of energy left, huh. Very impressive. Once we get back at the camp, I''ll have the both of you jog inside the camp for 10 kilometers as a reward!" The two didn''t say anything. "I''m not hearing the answer I want to hear! Or are you two sissies telling me you''re not satisfied with the reward?!" "No, sir! We''re thankful for the reward, sir!" "Okay, since you two sissies are really thankful and I''m also feeling generous, I''ll make it 20 kilometers!" "Thank you, sir!" "What?" "THANK YOU, SIR!!!" The other soldiers chuckled. The officer smiled and said, "That''s more I like it! After that, I''m going to treat you two sissies a case of beer!" The two soldiers smiled and said, "THANK YOU, SIR!!!" Boom! The explosion this time was just several meters away from the convoy. Although the vehicles of the convoy didn''t stop, some of the soldiers did and they were waiting in anticipation. Some of them already pulled out their System weapons, while others were ready to throw out a spell any moment. And if one would look closely at their eyes, all they could see were l.u.s.t for EXP. They suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming their way. Thud.....! Thud....! Thud...! Thud..! Thud! Whoosh! A 2.2m-tall man donned in black and holding a child in pink on his arms came bursting out of the trees. And before soldiers could even react, the man in black with the child in pink on his arms already leaped over the soldiers and one of the vehicles and landed at the other side of the road. Bam! Thud! Thud..! Thud...! Thud....! Thud.....! Upon landing, the man in black didn''t stop and resumed running until he disappeared into the buildings. The soldier also couldn''t help but notice that whoever that man or thing was, he or it was at the very least as fast as an S2. "What the f.u.c.k was that?" one of the soldiers said. No one answered. One soldier went to a high-ranking officer and gave a salute. "Sir, requesting permission to pursue whatever that thing was." "Stand down." "Sir, it came from the minefields that we set up. It could be related to --" "I said, stand down, soldier. Whoever or whatever that thing was, it''s none of our concern at the moment." "Yes, sir!" He glanced at where the man in black with the child in pink on his arms disappeared before resuming marching. *** Inside one of the vehicles¡­ There were three people sitting at the back of an armored vehicle. One was a 60-year-old brown-skinned Asian man reading a Trinitian holy book. Another was a 19-year-old half-brown-skinned Asian and half-African girl chewing bubblegum while listening to music with her headphones. And the last one was a 27-year-old brown-skinned Asian man looking through the windows. "Guys, did you see that?" the 27-year-old man said as he continued to look through the windows. Neither of the two responded. The teenage woman just continued listening to the music blasting on her headphones. The old man, on the other hand, flipped a page and continued reading. "That guy was fast. At the very least he''s as fast as an S2. No wonder those mines didn''t do shit. Or perhaps he has a skill that makes him invulnerable to such things," he said and then turned to the two. "Do you think he''s a Prophet like us?" Noticing the gaze of the man, the teenage woman looked away in annoyance. Meanwhile, the old man glanced at the man. "If he is, then God will certainly see to it that he will cross path with us and join our flock," he said and then went back to reading. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? TheAntiSimp ? zlBlade ? pea_one ? Pillastre ? Badz_Baddy ? Kamil_R ? Darth_markentof ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Shikla ? Yerby7213 ? Tense_Beagle ? Kelv_Anne ? Top_Dawg To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 121 - 130 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for May 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 212 - Leaving Fort Yano (2) Nathan was running through a neighborhood while still carrying Zita on his arms. He glanced behind him. ''No one is following...'' ''Am I really on the clear...?'' ''No...'' ''I still need more distance just in case...'' He returned his gaze forward Up ahead, there were two zombies. ''D1 and an N-type zombie...'' ''I don''t have time for this...!'' He changed his direction. Roar! Roar! Unfortunately, the zombies noticed him and they roared before chasing him. Nathan ignored them and continued running at full speed. The two zombies were no match against his speed that the distance between them was only growing by the second. "ROAR!" the N-type roared. Roar! Roar! A series of roars came from a distance but in different locations. "Tch!" Nathan made a cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound with his tongue as he heard the roars. "Mister, there''s an M2 up in the air behind us!" Zita said in a somewhat muffled voice because she had five Healing Packets inside her mouth. Her head was over Nathan''s left shoulder so she was able to see the zombie. ''F.u.c.k me sideways...!'' Nathan cursed inside his head. He decided to find an open space where he could fight all the zombies. *** Roar! Roar! In less than a minute, there were already eight zombies chasing them. Fortunately, Nathan was also able to find an open area. It was a park. He rushed to the middle of the park before putting Zita down. He didn''t bother talking, let alone discussing anything with her. He just turned around and rushed to the zombies immediately. Clap. He finally got to the zombies. Roar! Roar! Whoosh! Whoosh! He cut down two S1s and one [Green] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. However, he didn''t stop and immediately activated [Coward''s Way] this time around before charging to face the remaining zombies. Whoosh! He cut down an N1 and lost his invisibility before activating his skill once again. An N2 threw a [Stone Spear] where Nathan was last seen. Whoosh! A blade of a sword sliced through the N2''s neck and a [Blue] Treasure C.h.e.s.t appeared. Roar! An N1 pounced at Nathan. Woooh! Suuup! Thud! A Bolt came flying and shot through the side of its head in mid-air, causing its leap attack to change trajectory and land on the ground. Wooh! Wooh! Wooh! Suuup! Suuup! Suuup! Nathan was above to finish the N1 when Zita shouted, "Mister, above you! Watch out!" An M2 up in the air with a bolt stuck on its neck threw a [Fireball] at him. Nathan rolled over to the side to avoid the [Fireball]. Boom! The [Fireball] hit the grass and exploded, spreading its flames around the area of its explosion for a few seconds before finally disappearing. Nathan ignored the M2 and went for the other zombies. The M2 was about to throw another spell when¡­ Wooh! Suuup! "Roar!" the M2 yelped as it was struck in the head with a Bolt before it began falling from the sky. Bam! It finally landed on the ground. Whoosh! Nathan just finished killing the last D1. He summoned his weapons back into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and went to Zita right away who was about to go and open the treasure c.h.e.s.ts. "Come on," he said as he scooped her in his arms. "Mister, my Bolts. I haven''t yet --" "Forget about it," he said and then ran. Voooooom! *** Nathan and Zita arrived in front of a three-story office building. He put her down before summoning a pair of thermal vision goggles and wore it. He looked around his surroundings. ''Still no one¡­'' ''I still don''t hear helicopters either¡­'' He removed his thermal vision goggles and summoned them back before turning to Zita. "Stay behind me and keep your eyes peeled and your ears open," he said before entering the building. "Yes, mister," Zita said and followed suit. Roar! About a dozen meters away from Nathan and Zita were standing, a zombie came out from the side of a building and roared before charging. Roar! Roar! Roar! It was followed by another group of roars. Nathan and Zita stopped and looked at the zombie coming at them. ''Skinny¡­ And based on its speed, it''s an S1...'' Nathan thought. The other zombies that roared earlier came into vision as well and were behind the S1. "Wait here," Nathan said as he summoned a [Grade D] Great Sword this time around and then charged at the zombies. He wasn''t invisible. So when he got close to the S1, the zombie immediately lunged at him. Roar! Nathan activated [Coward''s Way] and sidestepped before cutting the S1 down. Whoosh! He lost his invisibility and activated it once more before dealing with the other remaining zombies. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Nathan finished killing the zombies and there was a [Green] Treasure C.h.e.s.t. ''I really don''t have time for this...!'' he thought as he looked at the zombie corpses and the c.h.e.s.t. He summoned back his sword and decided to open the c.h.e.s.t because he didn''t want it to attract any attention. When he opened it, his already irritated expression became worse. It was a [Fireball] spellbook. He picked up the spellbook. "Piece of shit item!" he said as he tossed it inside one of the buildings. He jogged back to Zita and they entered the building. *** Inside the building¡­ Nathan and Zita were walking along the main hall on the first floor as he swept his gaze around. He was walking too fast and combined with his long strides that Zita had to jog from time to time to keep up with his pace. On the right side was the reception area and also a door that looked like a storage room. Ka-cha! He opened a door. ''Nothing but cleaning materials...'' ''Looks clear...'' Ku-chud! He closed the door to the left side of the main hall. On this side of the first floor, there was a lounging area and also two toilets, one for each gender. Ka-cha! He opened the door of the male CR. Sniff. ''Smells bad but looks clean...'' Ku-chud! He closed the door. Ka-cha! He opened the door of the female CR. Sniff. ''Why do female bathrooms always smell better...?'' Ku-chud! He closed the door. ''No one here...'' ''No cracks on the wall¡­'' ''No bloodstains as well¡­'' ''There hasn''t been any fight here -- yet¡­'' ''Well, at least the foundation of the building is still strong and there will be no unecessary elements in case a fight breaks out here¡­'' He made his way to the staircase. *** On the second floor. They were walking along a corridor. ''This floor has its own toilet, huh,'' he thought as he glanced two doors with a toilet sign. Ka-cha! He opened the door of the male CR. Sniff. ''Still the same...'' Ku-chud! He closed the door. Ka-cha! He opened the door of the female CR. Sniff. ''Seriously, no joke, why do female bathrooms always smell better...?'' Ku-chud! He closed the door and resumed walking along the corridor. ''Looks clear,'' he thought as he passed by a meeting room that had a see-through glass wall. He and Zita finally arrived at the final room on the second floor. It was the largest room on the floor. There were at least ten desks and there was one small room with see-through glass walls which served as the office of the manager''s office. Nathan swept his gaze at the desks as he made his way to the manager''s office. There were piles of doc.u.ments and half-filled coffee mugs on top of the desks. Ka-cha! Nathan opened the door of the manager''s office. ''Looks good...'' He turned to Zita. "Wait here and prepare your weapons." "Okay," she said as she entered before summoning a couple of Bolts and let them hover around her. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Thud! Thud! Thud! Nathan summoned a couple of weapons as well and dropped them on the floor inside of the office. "Use these. No matter what happens, don''t step outside. And if someone appears other than me, do not hesitate to kill them. Also, shout to call me. Do you understand me?" Zita looked at the weapons on the floor. "Yes, mister..." "Zita, I repeat: Do not hesitate to kill. I''m serious. This is no joke. Whatever they look like, human or animal, as long as it''s not me, kill them. Do you understand me?" She looked at him, nodded and then said, "Yes, I won''t hesitate to kill." "Good. I''ll be back in 5-10 minutes," he said before closing the door and activating [Coward''s Way]. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yerby7213 ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Mat4d ? Novo ? Shikla ? Novel6589 ? TheAntiSimp ? Gossen_Di_Vietri ? Pillastre ? zlBlade ? Tense_Beagle To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 131 - 135 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for June 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 213 - Leaving Fort Yano (3) Nathan was invisible and standing on the rooftop of the office building where he left Zita, surveying his surroundings like a hawk. He had his thermal vision goggles on and would lift them up from his eyes from time to time. He was aware that his skill [Coward''s Way] when activated can''t be detected by thermal vision. Because of this, he decided to rely on normal sight from time to time just in case there was an enemy or enemies coming that couldn''t be detected by thermal vision. There was also the fact that in case the enemy was a Chosen One, he could only guess what kind of power they have. For all he knows, they could have a tracking-like power or something. Surveying his surroundings, he saw an M2 from afar flying and it landed on top of one of the houses. In another direction, he also saw a D2 accompanied by three other zombies -- an N-type and two others with a skinny frame which could either be an M1 or the S-types -- walking down the street. He glanced at his watch. 4:52 pm. ''It''s almost 10 minutes already and no one has appeared¡­'' ''Or maybe I just couldn''t notice it¡­'' ''Also, Zita hasn''t shouted¡­'' He recalled what happened back at Fort Yano. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. ''F.u.c.k...!'' ''Stupid...!'' ''F.u.c.k...!'' ''Idiot...!'' ''Nathan, why are you such a f.u.c.k.i.n.g stupid idiot...?!'' ''Forget about the fact that you didn''t gather enough information about Fort Yano, like how to enter or even the powers of the Chosen Ones there, but even without that, you should''ve already guessed it right from the start that such a thing would definitely happen if you used your brain...!'' ''I mean, do you honestly thinking that you can just waltz in a camp managed by the government or military...?!'' ''This isn''t like the movies that everyone aside from the main character and a few characters aren''t dumb...!'' ''This is real life...!'' ''You''re not the only one who can use his brain, you stupid f.u.c.k...!'' ''What happened to your experience in Haven Town...?!'' ''What about in the government shelter in Burrow City...?!'' ''What about your experiments...?!'' ''To top that off, you''re with someone who doesn''t have invisibility like you and is a f.u.c.k.i.n.g kid...!'' He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. ''Sigh¡­'' ''Seriously, what was I thinking¡­?'' ''No, seriously, what in God''s name was I f.u.c.k.i.n.g thinking¡­?'' ''I seriously didn''t think this through¡­'' ''F.u.c.k me sideways¡­'' He stopped massaging his forehead and opened his eyes. ''Yeah, I know what''s this¡­'' ''I''m certain of it¡­'' ''Although not all of my plans went as I expected them to be, it can''t be denied that I''ve experienced far too many victories¡­'' ''This, in turn, led to me to be this relaxed and overconfident that I started ignoring the red flags even if they''re right in front of me¡­'' ''Stupid, stupid¡­'' ''Such a simple logic and I failed to even consider it¡­'' ''I should never forget that the only reason why I was able to survive and be where I am right now is because I used my brain¡­'' ''Well, at least for the most part¡­'' Images of what happened in Corn Town flashed inside his head. He closed his eyes once again and took a deep breath and then exhaled before opening them. ''Looks like I have to do something like a Haven Town 2.0 at Fort Yano¡­'' ''Hopefully, it won''t end like Haven Town¡­'' ''I must be really stupid if I stepped into a trap, get electrocuted and then blackmailed again...'' He summoned back his thermal vision goggles into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before going back to Zita. *** Zita was sitting at a corner inside the manager''s office and was watching the corridor leading to the large room where all the desks including the manager''s office were located with a serious expression on her face. There were a couple of Bolts hovering around her and also different kinds of weapons lying on the floor. Nathan''s face before they decided to ran from Fort Yano flashed inside her head. ''I don''t think I''ve ever seen mister that worried that he had to run away¡­'' ''He even almost got hit by that M2¡­'' ''Ever since I''ve been with him, he either has that bored or relaxed look on his face whenever we encounter something dangerous¡­'' ''No, I think I already saw him worried one time¡­'' ''I think it was when we were riding the helicopter and faced the M2s¡­'' ''But at that time he didn''t run away¡­'' ''He killed them and then also killed the zombies that were waiting for us at the ground¡­'' ''I wonder what did that other mister said to make mister decide that we should runaway¡­'' ''I couldn''t understand what they were saying because they were speaking in another language¡­'' Nathan suddenly appeared in the corridor and was walking towards her. Seeing him, her expression relaxed a bit and her eyes brightened. She got up from her seat but she didn''t exit the office and instead waited for him to come to her. Nathan finally arrived in front of the office and then opened the door. Ka-cha! "Anything happened while I was away?" Zita shook her head and said, "No." "I see. Hand me over the weapons that I dropped earlier, please," he said and raised his left hand forward. Zita activated [Lift] and sent the weapons to him. They all got absorbed into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger. "Put some of your Bolts back to your Spatial Bag but just leave a few -- no, two with you and hold them in your hands. Let''s go," he said before turning around and walking away. "Okay," Zita said before summoning back most of her Bolts into her [Grade D] Spatial Bag and leaving two Bolts, holding one on each hand before stepping outside the office. Nathan grabbed a chair and then went to a corner where he could see the corridor from afar and was far away from the windows as possible. Zita did the same and sat right night to him. Sitting next to Nathan, she secretly took a quick glance at his face. Perhaps it''s just her or maybe it''s simply what children do. But ever since she started traveling with Nathan and given that there was a zombie apocalypse and he happened to be the strongest person she has ever met so far, whenever she gets into a situation where she wasn''t sure of, she would look at his face to look for answers and act according to the expression on his face. Needless to say, without being aware of it, she was also starting to understand a little bit of the subtle hints on Nathan''s face when he''s angry, worried, bored, amused, relaxed and even lying. ''Mister looks like he''s still a bit worried but seems more relaxed now. Was it really that dangerous, whatever it was back in that Government Shelter?'' A minute passed before she finally opened her mouth. "Mister, what are we going to do next?" "Huh?" Nathan was caught off guard. Aside from keeping a sharp eye in case an enemy appears, he was also thinking about many things, like how he will infiltrate Fort Yano and find his family there. "Are we going to stay here for the night?" He looked at her. ''Stay here for the night? Does it even matter if the enemy is a Chosen One with a tracking skill? But still, I have to make a move regardless,'' he thought. "No. We''re going to move to another location just to be safe." "Okay." Another minute passed and Zita opened her mouth once again. "Mister, why did we have to leave that Government Shelter?" "You mean Fort Yano?" "Yes." "Something happened that we had no choice but to leave." "..." Nathan glanced at his watch. 5:01 pm. "Once it gets dark, we''re going to move." "Where?" "Somewhere safe." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Novo ? Jayjayrelic_Relic To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. This Lowly Shameless Immortal has recently posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 131 - 135 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for June 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 214 - Returning to Fort Yano The sky was covered in darkness and neither the moon nor stars were visible, only clouds. Nathan and Zita were walking down the road of a neighborhood and were on their way to find a place to stay about 2.5kms away from Fort Yano. Nathan was wearing thermal vision goggles. Zita, on the other hand, was also wearing a pair of thermal vision goggles but she was currently using its night vision mode. There was a reason for this. Nathan wasn''t yet confident with Zita''s fighting prowess during the night. Moreover, as far as he was concerned, they were currently in a "dangerous" situation at the moment due to what happened back in Fort Yano. Because of these things, he had her use night vision mode in order to avoid unnecessary problems like friendly fire. With thermal vision, although it gives the wearer a clear distinction between things with heat and things without heat, things don''t have that many details. And with the things with heat, they are mostly just silhouettes. Meanwhile, for the night vision, although it doesn''t give the wearer a clear distinction between things like thermal vision, it offers more details. The two continued walking down the street when Nathan suddenly stopped. "Zita, I see 5 zombies up ahead. I''m going in. Remember what we talked about," he said and then activated [Coward''s Way] before charging. Zita stopped and nodded before looking around to see if there were other enemies nearby. In addition to reduce unnecessary problems like friendly fire, Nathan also told her to not do anything that much. As much as possible, he would do all the killing and she will only assist him when the situation really calls for it, like maybe dealing with an M2. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! He opened it and found a [Small] Healing Potion. As for the Nucleus, he only extracted the one from the Rank 2, which was an S2. "Zita, let''s go," he said and then walked. Zita rushed up to him and walked by his side. *** A few minutes later¡­ Nathan and Zita were standing in front of a small shabby-looking house made of wood. Its exterior wasn''t painted and it had various posters plastered on it. "This is perfect," Nathan said as he stared at the house. Looking at the house, Zita knitted her brows in confusion and thought, ''This one?'' In Nathan''s mind, putting the fact that the house looked like it can easily be bulldozed by an N1, let alone a D2, the reason why he chose this house was not only because it was nothing but small shabby-looking house made of wood which makes it not too catchy, it didn''t have any walls surrounding it and it had a spacious lot that the next houses were at least 10 meters away from it. And as an added bonus, it also had its own water pump outside. As for Zita, the thought about a D-type zombie bulldozing the house with one charge definitely crossed her mind. But putting that aside, appearance-wise, the house looked too ugly and dirty. Krang! The house didn''t have a doorknob and only had a padlock which Nathan pulled out. "I''ll check inside and you wait here outside. Also, switch to thermal vision mode," he said and then entered the house. "Okay," she said before turning around, switching her goggles to thermal vision mode and then sweeping her gaze around her surroundings. *** Inside the house, Nathan was immediately greeted with the smell of old, rotten wood mixed with the smell of used clothes that hasn''t been washed for weeks. The smell of the used clothes came from the two-person bed which was located on the left side beside the entrance. The house didn''t have a traditional living room. Meanwhile, on the right side of the entrance a mirror. Next to the bed was the cabinet. And next to that was the kitchen along with the dining table and the bathroom. Nathan made his way to the bathroom. He chuckled and shook his head. ''Brown-skinned Asians¡­ Sigh¡­ The front door doesn''t have a doorknob but the bathroom has one¡­'' Ka-cha! He opened the door. ''Eh~? An old-school Muwinian bathroom, huh¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ I don''t think I taught Zita how to use this an old-school Muwinian toilet¡­'' He glanced at his watch. 6:38 pm. ''Hmm¡­ I think it''s time I head there already¡­'' Ku-chud! He closed the door of the bathroom and went to Zita who was still outside. "Spot anything?" She turned to him. "No." "I see. Go inside and closed the door. I''ll check the area if there''s anyone nearby. Be sure not to let your guard down," he said before activating [Coward''s Way]. *** A couple of minutes later¡­ Nathan and Zita were sitting on the table and eating MREs. There was no light and they were both currently wearing a battery-free pair of night vision goggles. Nathan finished eating his meal and grabbed a cup of coffee. Zita, on the other hand, was eating a protein bar from her MRE. "Zita, I need you to stay here and wait for me while I go to Fort Yano." Hearing what Nathan said, Zita quickly swallowed the food inside her mouth. She was about to open her mouth and speak-- "While I''m away, don''t step outside, don''t make any noise and don''t turn on or make any light. And if you find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to leave this house, come back here when the sun rises. I will be waiting here until you return, no matter what. And oh, I almost forgot, don''t forget to kill anyone or anything that isn''t me." "Mister, can''t I go with you to Fort Yano?" "I''m sorry, but no. What I''m going to do is just a quick recon mission. I''ll be back in one-two hours." "But¡­" "Don''t be afraid. Keep in mind that you''re a Chosen One like me and you''ve already killed lots of zombies and a few people. If you really think about it, your enemies should be the ones afraid of you, not the other way around." "Okay¡­" "And plus, you know what''s my power, right? I mean, us Chosen Ones in general, right? We all have our own skill or power so we have our own ways of fighting, our own strengths and weaknesses. In my case, my power works best when I''m alone doing recon missions like this or assassinations. You, on the other hand, you''re¡­ uh¡­ you''re the range type who can deal massive damage and kill multiple enemies at once." "Mister, what''s a recon mission?" "Oh¡­ Uh¡­ How do I explain this? Uh¡­ Let''s see¡­ Hmm¡­ Let''s just say I''m going to Fort Yano to gather information to find my parents. And if I''m lucky, I''ll be able to find them right away." "Okay..." "And if they''re still alive, I''m going to find a way that we''ll stay together -- you, me and my family, and no one is going to stop me from making that happen." "Okay¡­" "I promise you that, Zita. No one can stop me. The thing that happened this afternoon, I wasn''t thinking properly so we ended up in a very bad position that we had no other choice but to run. But now? Hmph! Trust me, this is my forte. If you only knew about the recon missions I did in the past, it''s not me you should be worried about, it''s the entire camp." "..." "The thing you saw back at the Government Shelter in Burrow City? If not for the fact I needed a pilot, I would''ve slaugh--" He stopped talking after realizing that Zita must''ve had friends there. "Ahem! I have to go now," he said and then stood up and head for the front door. When he stepped outside, he looked at Zita who was still sitting at the dining table. "Zita, can you please close the door and barricade it with something?" He destroyed the padlock earlier after all. Zita got up and went for the door. "Oh, I almost forgot." He stepped inside and then summoned several weapons and dropped them on top of the bed. Clang! Clang! Thud! Clang! Clang! Thud! "Use these and don''t forget to scatter your Bolts around the house. I''ll also scatter some of the Bolts in my possession outside the house." He then also summoned two pairs of thermal vision goggles. Thud! Thud! "Remove that night vision goggles on your head right now and wear the thermal vision goggles inside your Spatial Bag. And don''t forget to use the thermal vision mode." "Okay," Zita said and did what Nathan told her. Next, he summoned three packs of MREs and a bunch of junk foods as well as two cans of warm soda. Pat. Pat. He patted her head. "I need you to stay awake so be sure to keep eating candies until I get back, okay?" Zita nodded and said, "Okay." "Good girl. And don''t forget: Do not step outside, do not make any noise and do not turn on or make any light. And if you find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to leave this house, come back here when the sun rises. I will be waiting here until you return, no matter what. And most importantly, kill anyone or anything that isn''t me," he said and then exited the house. "Yes, mister. I won''t forget those things." He looked at Zita one last time. ''I hope there wasn''t a Chosen One who has a tracking skill and placed it on us...'' ''That''s the only thing I''m concerned about...'' He flashed a very warm and kind smile. "Close the door now. I''ll see you in one or two hours from now." "Okay," she said and then closed the door. Ku-chud! Nathan activated [Coward''s Way]. He then scattered a few Bolts in his possession around the house. In addition to that, he investigated the surrounding area one more time before heading to Fort Yano. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Zack_Kenway ? Shikla ? Yui_Saotome To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for June 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 215 - Fort Yano "50% diluted Healing Potions for only 98 RT! Cheapest price you''ll ever find and the quality is guaranteed! Come buy right away!" Full [Small] Healing Potion for only 197 RT here! This is the cheapest price! Come buy it right away before it''s too late! We also sell Repair Kits for only 145 RT!" Come see our collection of System Equipment! We have +1, +2 and +3 stats! We also have +5 [Grade C] accessories and [Grade D] weapons!" Nathan swept his gaze around his surroundings as he walked along the southern road within the compounds of Fort Yano. ''This is my first time in Fort Yano...'' ''But then again, why would I even come here in the first place...?'' ''Nevertheless, I never thought it would be this big...'' ''It''s like a small town¡­'' There was electricity and there was light all around, from the lampposts, buildings and stalls. He wasn''t invisible and switched some of his equipment to the drops of Muwin. With that, his Status Chart shows¡­ *** Exp: % Stats: ? STR ¨C 70 (+7) ? VIT ¨C 38 (+8) ? AGI ¨C 35 (+21) ? INT ¨C 35 (+9) Equipment: [Grade D] Earrings (13/15): +2 Agi + 1 Str [Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (10/15): +1 Str +1 Vit +1 Agi [Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Boots (13/15): +2 Vit, +1 Agi, +1 Int [Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats [Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi Special Effects: ? 1% Chance to block any physical attack. Skill: ? Level X [Coward''s Way] Description: Grants user complete invisibility. User loses invisibility status upon attack. No mana required and no cooldown. Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats. Transformation: ? 20% *** Unfortunately, the bonus stats of the Muwinian equipment were a bit scrambled. After all, they were all from the people he killed, which also explains why their durability was already chipped. As for his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger, given that he wasn''t wearing gloves, he wrapped his left hand with bandages. And lastly, regarding his white spots, putting aside the fact he would rather die than wear makeup, given that it was night, he didn''t bother covering it with dirt. In his mind, Zita wasn''t with him so his hands aren''t tied anymore. If things went south, he could either get down and dirty as well or just run away to fight another day. "Sir, sir, I noticed that you don''t have any weapon with you. I''ll sell this to you for only 145 RT. It''s durability is still 100%! Very cheap!" Nathan glanced at the weapon. It was a Kris Dagger. ''145 RT...?'' ''Forget about the fact I don''t know the prices, I don''t even know what''s RT...!'' He continued walking, making his way through the sea of people. "Tall sir, tall sir, come check out my items!" "75% diluted Healing Potions here for only 175 RT!" "Spellbooks! Spellbooks! Melee and range spellbooks!" "Full healing potions for only 194 RT each!" "+1 items for only 45 RT each!" "Weapons, weapons, weapons for sale! Come buy!" "Buying System items!" After several bumps and shouting from people, Nathan finally managed to exit the busy southern road of Fort Yano and arrived at the central. He let out a deep sigh of relief. ''My God, I forgot how noisy, packed and aggressive Asian markets are...!'' He looked at his surroundings. He was currently at the central. There was music playing, street food stalls, and tables and chairs. However, there was less aggression. Some people were busy buying food, while others were eating and drinking at the tables. There were also kids and teenagers carrying trays, baskets and styrofoam boxes with cigarettes, bubblegum, candies, peanuts, fruits, and etc. inside of them. Sniff. Sniff. ''This smell¡­'' He swept his gaze at the street food stalls and his mouth started to water. There was chicken, fish, exotic animals and other street food dishes that were steamed, fried and roasted. Before the Caucasians started colonization the whole world, Asian nations already had their own weird and exotic dishes. They also colonized each other. But when Caucasians came, it was on a whole ''nother level which pushed a lot of things to the extreme. First of all, the main goal of the Caucasian colonizers was the extraction of resources -- the 80/20 rule. As for integration, they cared little about that. Under the 80/20 rule, with the annual resources generated by each colonized country, 80% will be sent to the colonial overlord country while the remaining 20% will be distributed among the colonized countries. Because of this 80/20 rule, many of the citizens of colonized countries were left with two choices: die from starvation or find other sources of food. In the case of Asian countries, although they already had weird and exotic dishes even before the Caucasian colonizers came, the 80/20 rule pushed the development of their exotic dishes by tenfolds, with Xudonia and Muwin on the lead which led them to continue to grow, making them the tallest among the Asian countries. As a matter of fact, during WWI and especially WWII, many citizens from colonized countries, especially the ones with no or limited exotic dishes, died from starvation because their colonial overlords pushed the 80/20 rule even further, making it 90/10, in order to fund the wars and feed their own troops. And after Asian colonies gained their independence and their economies grew, although they still have weird and exotic dishes and some Asians refuse to eat them because they want to adhere to the "universal" standards, there are still some Asians, especially brown-skinned Asians who just don''t give a f.u.c.k. Is it because of pride like how black people use and own the N-word? Or is it because brown-skinned Asians are still third-world countries? Or is it both? It''s hard to say. Gulp. Nathan swallowed. ''Ever since the zombie apocalypse, most of the food I''ve eaten was nothing but processed, canned and MREs¡­'' ''I want to eat¡­'' ''But -- I don''t have any money!'' ''Well, there was that RT that people have been saying¡­'' An image of Zita sitting alone in the dark at the shabby house he left her flashed inside his head. He shook his head. ''Now is not the time...'' He glanced at his watch. 7:34 pm. ''It''s already been 30 minutes since I left her there...'' ''Got to do what I came here to do...'' ''First thing I need to do, given that it''s already night so the government office must be already closed by this time, I have no other choice but to ask soldiers about Vincent''s whereabouts¡­'' ''Sigh¡­ I really don''t want to have anything to do with him but he''s the only lead I have right now to make things quicker...'' He swept his gaze at the people around and then chuckled. ''I never thought I''ll miss seeing a crowd where the majority are brown-skinned Asians¡­'' ''Also, it looks like it''s not illegal to wear System items and even carry weapons¡­'' Most of the people were wearing System items and also carrying weapons, both System and non-System. He also noticed another thing. ''Their faces looked a bit more relaxed¡­'' ''Maybe it''s because of the food and drinks around¡­?'' ''Or perhaps --'' A man approached him. "Hey bro." Nathan glanced at the man. "Are you looking to trade items for some Ration Tickets? My rate is only 20% less. I also take non-System items, as long as it''s useful." ''Ration Tickets...?'' ''Is that perhaps the RT I''ve been hearing...?'' "No thank you." Putting aside the fact that Nathan wasn''t sure of the market price, this is Muwin, a brown-skinned Asian country. Even without the zombie apocalypse, there are already full of scammers. "I also sell some cigarettes. It''s 5 RT a stick or 90 RT a pack." "No thank you." "Alright," the man said and then walked away. Nathan swept his gaze again at the people. ''Hmm¡­ Did I make the wrong decision to run away this afternoon¡­?'' An image of Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones with metal collars around their neck flashed inside his head. He shook his head. ''No¡­ I couldn''t risk it¡­'' ''Especially with Zita with me¡­'' He looked at the people wearing government and soldier uniforms. ''I think I need to first get even just the basic knowledge of the layout of this camp and how things are being run here first before asking these people about Vincent¡­'' He left the central to look for a place with lesser people. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hi, sorry that it''s been a while since I''ve posted. I was regrouping -- reviewing the chapters I''ve written and also doing research, but mainly the former. About the chapters I''ve written, I admit I alienated a lot of my audience due to their racist and s.e.xist nature. Now, this isn''t me trying to justify or downplay that the things I''ve written in the story weren''t racist and s.e.xist. They really were. They were just downright racist and s.e.xist, and I f.u.c.k.e.d it up a lot. I just want you to know where I''m coming from so please hear me out for a reason. Just with the racism aspect alone, back at Volume 1: Chapter 123 I think mentioned that I tried to avoid or downplay any racism as much as possible (there was even no mention about brown-Caucasians in Volume 1). But starting from that chapter, I couldn''t keep it up anymore because there were a lot of things that didn''t make any sense and needed explanation or the story would end up turning into a "good guys just for the sake of being good and bad guys just for the sake of being bad" kind of thing. I also couldn''t keep relying in shock factor anymore like what I''ve been doing in the earlier chapters of Volume 1. Another issue is Nathan himself. And there are two major issues I have with him as an MC: #1 - His Chosen One power. #2 - His personality. Aside from his Chosen One power, he is cautious and selfish. And if push comes to shove, you and I know very well that he will always prioritize his own safety above all others no matter what the cost. I really shot myself in the foot when I created Nathan and decided for him to be the MC. I really should''ve gone with Derek as the lead because he''s the stereotypical brave, courageous and kind (but not to the point of idiocracy) MC. Or perhaps Ashleigh or Harry. As for Rose, well, I don''t know how to write a character like her as the MC. I think she''ll be no different from Nathan. I mean, sure, there will be some differences here and there. But overall, they''re the same. Anyways, so I figured that I really needed to start providing context to make sense of things, why characters or groups are doing what they are doing, and what''s influencing their actions and opinions, especially when I get to Volume 3. However, the problem here is that due to my obsession with explaining things or world-building to make sense of things, I overstepped it and a lot of racism came out. There were so many below-the-belt things that I''ve mentioned and it was just really disgusting. And the things I''ve written here, they were really eating up my conscience that more than half of the time the thought about dropping this book would cross my mind because it''s really mentally draining and exhausting due to all the negativity I''ve written. But basically, what I''m trying to say here is that the reason why I took a break was to learn how to find a sweet spot -- the spot where I''m able to give you, the reader, an understanding of where the characters or groups are coming from or what''s influencing their views, opinions and actions without being too racist or s.e.xist while at the same time still able to give a dark story, especially what I plan for Volume 3. I mean, I don''t want to give too much spoilers. But the racist and s.e.xist things I''ve mentioned in the story, even the boring cultural things, right now, most of them don''t make any sense, but in the future chapters, especially in Volume 3, they will make sense. They''re all connected. Just trust me with this. And as cringey as this may sound, it also made me realize why writers need editors or beta readers, or why TV shows and movies hire sensitivity-coaches-or-something (I can''t remember the proper job title name). With that, I think -- no, scratch that. I like to believe that I finally found that sweet spot. I''m very sorry for offending many people due to the racist and s.e.xist things I''ve mentioned in the story and also not being able to post these past few weeks. I hope you can forgive me. Thank you and sorry once again. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Shikla ? Pillastre ? Yerby7213 ? PSYcho_72 ? TheAntiSimp ? Kelv_Anne ? Tense_Beagle ? ANGELOF_DARKNESS To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, this Lowly Shameless Immortal posted the draft of Volume II: Ch. 136 - 140 there. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 216 - Fort Yano (2) Nathan swept his gaze around his surroundings as he walked along the western road within the compounds of Fort Yano. ''Unlike the places I''ve been to, this place looks less crowded...'' ''But there''s still too many people¡­'' ''Also, it''s a bit darker¡­'' Compared to the southern road and the central, this place had less light. There were people walking down the road, some going to the central area, some coming from the central area, some going to who knows where, and others just standing along the road talking and laughing. There were also kids playing on the road. "A giant!" one kid said as he pointed at Nathan. "Watch out! He''s going to get you! Run!" another kid said and ran. "Kyaaah!!!" the other kids shouted as they run with laughter. Nathan ignored the kids and continued walking down the road. He looked at the left side of the road. ''Looks like a military compound of some sort¡­'' ''Hundreds of tents and most of them have similar designs¡­'' ''People of different ages¡­'' ''Civilians¡­'' ''And all of them look Asians¡­'' ''Hmm¡­ Looks like a refugee camp for Muwinians¡­'' He then noticed something. ''Heh¡­ I never thought I''d be happy to see this¡­'' There was a small, simple store made up of wood on the side of the road. In front of the store, there were two benches, one on each side, and men sitting down while smoking and talking. ''This is something you don''t see in Womania...'' He stared at their faces. ''They look like people from the lower-middle class and below¡­'' Nathan continued walking down the road until he encountered a small procession. In front of the procession, a brown-skinned Asian man was carrying a large symbol of the Trinitian religion, which was a "Y" shape wood, and was being followed by at least 100 brown-skinned Asians. They were reciting one of the prayers of the Trinitian religion in unison. "Holy Father Pater, you are the creator of this world¡­" "You along with Filius and Telum rule this world and are the Holy Trinity¡­" "Forgive us for our sins, Holy Father¡­" "Bless and guide us, Holy Father¡­" "Even if we are not worthy¡­" Several steps down the road, he encountered another religious group. However, this time, it was a group of Iklasians. A group of brown-skinned Asians was gathered in front of a small stage which was located in the middle of the sea of tents. At the bottom of the stage, there were the followers who were sitting on chairs and benches while listening. Meanwhile, on top of the stage were the men sitting down on chairs while one was standing and talking to a microphone. "You and I should not be afraid or lose faith in God just because of this zombie apocalypse¡­" "If He really abandoned us, He wouldn''t have given us the System¡­" "This is His test to us His believers¡­" "We should follow the steps of the Great Prophet Zalimun¡­" "Even when people mocked and laughed at him while he spread the word of God to the people of Aleahil, that some even attempted to kill him, never did he once stop in doing the task that God gave him¡­" "He knew that he was carrying a very important task¡­" "A task that outweighed everything else in the world¡­" "He also knew that God will never abandon him¡­" "Once he dies, he will be welcomed to heaven where his fellow Iklasian brothers and sisters, the Holy Prophet Zalimun, the angels and God are waiting for him..." "It will be an eternity of bliss..." "So how could he be afraid and lose faith?" "And so should you! God is the greatest!" "God is the greatest!" the crowd chanted. "God is the greatest!" the speaker said and passed on the mic to another speaker before sitting down. There were still people along the road. He looked at their faces. ''Is it just me or are the people here a bit more relaxed¡­?'' ''Back in Womania, the people I''ve seen in my apartment building, the mall where Harry set camp, Corn Town, and the government shelter where I met Zita, their faces were more or less stressed out¡­'' ''I think the only relaxed faces I''ve seen was at Haven Town¡­'' ''But here in Fort Yano¡­'' ''Is it because it''s already been weeks since the zombie apocalypse happened¡­?'' ''Or is it because this is a third-world country so people here just have a high tolerance for hardsh.i.p.s¡­?'' He chuckled. ''Does that mean we''re m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts...?'' He continued walking until he reached the end of the western road. ''It''s the exit¡­'' There was a gate being guarded by soldiers. ''Hmm...'' ''Not yet...'' He turned around and head back to where he came from. *** Nathan was walking down the road when... "Pssst!" He ignored it and continued walking. "Pssst!" He still ignored it. "Pssst! Tall guy!" He finally stopped and turned to the direction where the noise was coming from. At a corner not touched by the light and covered in shadows, a man stepped forward, revealing half of his face. "Do wanna score something? Drugs, women, men, anything, you name it." Nathan raised an eyebrow as he stared at the man. It was a skinny brown-skinned Asian man in his mid-20s and looked at bit dirty. "Anything, huh?" Nathan said as he massaged his growing beard. Hearing Nathan''s answer, the man smiled and moved closer. "Yeah, anything. As long as you can pay. Quality is guaranteed and my prices are fair." Seeing the man closer, Nathan noticed that the man''s eyes were high as a kite. He also had a foul smell. "I want information about this place layout -- the buildings, how things are being run here, who runs this place, etc. I also need information about some people," said Nathan. "Heh~ That''s what you want? I have some people you can play with -- the hardcore shit. You can torture them for a bit while you f.u.c.k them. Or they can torture you while they f.u.c.k you. Whatever is your kink, except for killing." Nathan flashed an impatient expression. "Everyone has their own fetishes, you know." Nathan began walking away. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" Nathan stopped and turned to him. "Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood. A bad habit of mine," the man said and offered a bow. "So information, huh. Sure, but it will cost you. 100 RT for each question. But if the question''s answer is too broad or hard, it will cost you more. How''s that? Do we have a deal?" "Yeah, we have a deal." "Good, good, good¡­" the man said and then held out his hand. "Payment first. And oh, I also don''t mind if you pay with System items as long as it''s good. You can also offer food, cigarettes or whatever but the quality should be good." Nathan looked around his surroundings. There were a few people passing by. There were also some bystanders just standing and talking. ''Not a good place,'' he thought. "I''ve been walking around for hours. Do you know a place where we can sit and talk?" "Like a shop or something?" "Not a shop. The questions I want to ask are quite s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e. Somewhere more... private." "Private, huh," the man said and looked at the ground. Nathan stared at him impatiently. "You think of me as a fool?!" the man said as he raised his head before suddenly attacking with his fists. Pah! Thud! Nathan summoned a [Grade D] Sword and slapped the man away on the face, causing him to fly a few feet away before landing on the ground. Everyone nearby looked at Nathan and the man. ''Ugh... I summoned a weapon from my [Artifact] and attacked out of habit...!'' However, no one bothered to help. They just watched with either curiosity or amus.e.m.e.nt, or both as if such a thing was a common occurrence. ''Looks like I have no choice but to play this out...'' He approached the man and noticed that there was a cut on his left cheek. He kicked him on the stomach but only used about 30% of his strength. Pah! "Ugh¡­!" the man g.r.o.a.n.e.d and curled into a ball. "You piece of drug addict shit! You tried to scam me! And when I called you out for it you suddenly attacked me!" Pah! Nathan kicked the man on the back. "Ugh¡­!" "What now, huh?!" Pah! This time around, Nathan kicked the man on the head and he lost consciousness. Spit! Nathan spat on the man and then said, "Piece of shit drug addict lowlife!" He looked at the bystanders. "What?! What are you f.u.c.kers looking at?! Never seen a piece of shit lowlife drug addict being kicked around for scamming someone?!" Some looked away and went back to minding their own business, while others continued staring at him. And to the ones who continued staring at him, some of them sneered. Vooom! Nathan suddenly rushed to the closest person who was sneering. And before the sneering person could even react¡­ Pah! Nathan slapped the man with his sword and he fell to the ground. "You like sneering?! Do you think you''re a model of a toothpaste commercial?!" Pah! Bam! He started kicking and stomping on the man''s face. And just like the previous man, he only used 30% of his strength. Pah! "Come on, show me your beautiful smile!" Bam! "Stop covering your face!" Pah! "It''s too late to be shy now!" Bam! The sneering man was so powerless from Nathan''s kicks and stomps that he was immediately rendered bloody and unconscious. Some of the other bystanders finally decided to help. Others even pull out weapons -- blades. "Hey, you f.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard! Do you think you can just --" one said as he rushed up to Nathan and grabbed his arm. Pah! He was slapped so hard with the sword that a few teeth came flying from his mouth and he immediately lost consciousness. Another man rushed forward and tried to stab Nathan. Pah! The man with a dagger was stunned for a bit and staggered two steps backwards. And before he was even able to recover, Nathan got to him and kicked his right knee to the opposite direction. Pah! Crack! "AHHH!!!" the man screamed in agony as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Pah! "Noisy!" Nathan said as he kicked him on the chin and he lost consciousness. There were two other bystanders nearby who were about to throw a spell. "Stop!" said another bystander. "He attacked someone in public with so many witnesses, he''s already a dead man! Leave him to the authorities!" "Prrrt!" There was a sound of a whistle from a distance. The two who were about to cast a spell stopped and ran away. Nathan looked at the direction of where the whistle was coming from. He could see two men in some sort of uniform running towards his location. He looked at the four people lying on the ground. He scratched his nose. ''Well¡­ this is awkward¡­'' ''I think I may have overplayed it a little bit¡­'' ''But what can I do¡­?'' ''When I saw these bunch of lowlife ants answering sneering at me, I just couldn''t help myself¡­'' ''But at least I was able to control my strength and didn''t kill them¡­'' ''Yeah, it''s not a complete failure...'' he thought and smiled before running away as well. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Shikla ? Pillastre ? Yerby7213 ? PSYcho_72 ? TheAntiSimp ? Kelv_Anne ? Tense_Beagle ? ANGELOF_DARKNESS To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 217 - Fort Yano (3) Nathan was currently walking along the eastern road within the compounds of Fort Yano. On the left side of the road, there was the familiar tents that he has seen at the western road. However, unlike there, there were also buildings here being used to house people. Nathan stared at the faces of the people. He also saw some beautiful women. ''From their demeanoer, looks like middle class¡­'' ''Heh~ So there''s already a class divide between the residents here in Fort Yano..?'' ''As expected of Asians¡­'' Two beautiful women heading to the central passed him by and the scent of their shampoo brushed against his nose. ''The smell of a real brown-skinned Asian woman¡­'' He turned his sights to the right side of the road. There were closed shops and stalls. Sniff. Sniff. He sniffed and squinted his eyes as he looked at them. Aside from some plastics, there were also rotten vegetables and fruits lying on the ground. ''This smell and look¡­'' In Nathan''s 24 years of life, even before the zombie apocalypse, he had encountered many mysteries here in Muwin, both supernatural and non-supernatural. But for this non-supernatural mystery, this isn''t exclusive to Muwinians only, it applies to all brown-skinned Asians. Among the non-supernatural mysteries that Nathan could never wrap his head around is this very strange relationship that brown-skinned Asians have with personal hygiene and public hygiene. As far as he was concerned, no race can out-clean a brown-skinned Asian when it comes to personal hygiene. Yes, it''s such a bold claim, but Nathan doesn''t care. Just how they use the toilet is already a testament of their obsession with personal hygiene. Given the climate in brown-skinned Asian countries and the fact that their countries are abundant with water, the people here have evolved into a culture that takes a bath at least 2 times a day. Some would even take a bath 3 or 4 times a day and no one would bat an eye. They would instead praise you for it. It''s only when someone takes a bath 5 times a day that the people would start to think that it''s a little weird. This obsession that brown-skinned Asians have regarding personal hygiene is so strong that if you smell bad or weird, they would tell you right away straight at your face without any reservations whatsoever. Some would even blatantly cover their nose right in front of you and not consider it as a rude gesture. In fact, the idea of taking a bath at least twice a day is so ingrained in brown-skinned Asian culture that they even have an inside cultural joke among themselves on how to justify when someone is more beautiful or handsome than them. They would say¡­ He/She/You''ve only beaten me with a few baths. Or¡­ Just a few baths more and I will be as beautiful or as handsome as you/him/her/insert-name-of-person. Furthermore, because people here usually takes a bath at least twice a day, the beauty trend here is not to wear any makeup at all, just a pinch of baby powder. But if you''re the type who likes or has to wear makeup because of work-purposes, it should be light as possible or make it look like you''re not wearing makeup at all, or else you will be branded as a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. So if you walk down the streets of brown-skinned Asian countries, you will definitely see the real faces of the people here. So what about public hygiene? Now this is where things just don''t make any sense. Given that brown-skinned Asians are so obsessed with personal hygiene, one couldn''t help but assume that they would definitely also be obsessed with public hygiene, right? Unfortunately, that''s not the case. Air pollution? Noise pollution? Such terms are so foreign and alien to mainland brown-skinned Asians that their minds couldn''t comprehend it. Or even if they are able to comprehend it, they would just immediately forget about it later or just not care at all. Others would even get angry if you scold them or call the police on them for violating air and noise pollution laws. Yes, brown-skinned Asian nations have air and noise pollution laws¡­ As for how is this even possible, this lack of concern of mainland brown-skinned Asians regarding public hygiene? Unfortunately, even Nathan himself who was born and raised in a brown-skinned Asian country doesn''t know either. It was like if real life was an MMORPG and brown-skinned Asian was one of the available characters to choose from and peronal and public hygiene were skills, they already spend all of their stat points on personal Hygiene and left nothing for public hygiene. And in Muwin''s case, despite the fact that it''s among the Top 5 ric.h.e.s.t brown-skinned Asian countries, they still have such poor public hygiene. This just one of the biggest mysteries here in Muwin or in any brown-skinned Asian country that Nathan will probably never find the answer to in his lifetime, especially now that they''re in a zombie apocalypse. Nathan continued walking and there were two people, a man and a woman, closing down a stall. The woman was carrying plastic bags of meat and putting them on the passenger''s seat of a bicycle rickshaw. Whatever that meat was, Nathan couldn''t tell because the plastic bags weren''t the see-through type. ''So this is the public market after all¡­'' Up ahead, on the right side of the road, there were a few buildings. On one of the buildings, there was a group of people of about 70 gathered in front of it. ''A rally at this time of the night¡­?'' Nathan continued walking until he got close but didn''t stop walking. There was a man in his late 20s dressed in civilian clothing and holding a megaphone, while standing behind the entrance of the building and in front of the group of activists. "Just because we''re in a zombie apocalypse, that doesn''t mean we should live like animals!" "While the elites at Block A are living in luxury, us, the normal citizens living in the other blocks don''t even have enough bathrooms and toilets that some of us have even have to go to the forest to relieve ourselves!" "We demand for more proper food, shelter and clothing from the government!" "Yeah!" the crowd of activists said and raised their fists and the signs that they were holding. Nathan looked at the building that the activists gathered in front of. Outside the entrance of the building, there were two armed soldiers standing on guard. There were also few soldiers inside but it was hard to really tell how many. ''Heh~ The government office building still open at this hour¡­?'' ''It''s a miracle¡­'' ''I''ve always thought that brown-skinned Asian government officials and employees were nothing but corrupt, useless and lazy parasites...'' In brown-skinned Asian countries, when it comes to work ethics, they adopted the "work to live" mindset. First of all, when Asians mention the "West", that usually refers to all Caucasian nations. But for this case, the "West" will be referring to Iustia and the countries around it, while "Europe" will be referring to Regis and the countries around it. Most brown-skinned Asian nations were colonized by the Europeans, mainly by Regis, so they adopted the "work to live" mindset. On the other hand, most white-skinned Asian nations were colonized by the Westerners, mainly Iustia, and thus they adopted the "live to work" mindset. In European nations, the average working hours per day is 8-12 hours and that covers 1-2 jobs. And although brown-skinned Asian nations also work 8-12 hours per day, that only covers 1 job. Meanwhile, in Western nations, they work 12-15 hours per day on average and that covers 2-3 jobs. White-skinned Asian nations also work 12-15 hours per day, but that covers 1-2 jobs. And in Nathan''s case, although he had taken Xudonian language lessons to boost his portfolio due to the fact Xudonia has one of the largest economies in the world, there was no way he was going to work for a company owned by a Xudonian and based in Xudonia, or any company owned by white-skinned Asian and based in a white-skinned Asian. There are two reasons why: The work culture and racism. When it comes to work culture, white-skinned Asian work culture is so stressful that they''re even infamous for having their own citizens dying due to overwork among developed countries. They also have the highest suicide rates among the developed nations. On the other hand, when it comes to racism, the thing is, Asia is a very divided continent between brown and white-skinned Asians. In white-skinned Asian nations, this is the hierarchy among foreigners there: ? White-skinned Asian ? Caucasian ? Brown-Caucasian ? Westernized African ? Westernized brown-skinned Asian ? Mainland African ? Mainland brown-skinned Asian Meanwhile, in brown-skinned Asian nations, the hierarchy among foreigners is: ? Mainland brown-skinned Asian ? Westernized brown-skinned Asian ? Mainland African ? Caucasian ? Westernized African ? White-skinned Asian ? Brown-Caucasian And despite the fact brown and white-skinned Asians have so many similarities and their countries right next to each other, there''s just this huge divide between them. In fact, if an outsider attacked, invaded or nuked one group right now, the other group won''t even care. Mainland Asians hate and discriminate each other so much that won''t even view it as an attack against all Asians in Asia. In their eyes, brown-skinned Asian problems are brown-skinned Asian problems and white-skinned Asian problems are white-skinned Asian problems. That''s it. There''s nothing in-between. Nothing more, nothing less. And in the entire history of Asia, there was never an incident where all mainland Asians banded together to fight a common enemy or celebrate together. Not even once. Nada. And when it comes to being the Top 5 most racist countries in Asia: On the #1 spot is Xudonia. Both the government and the people of this country are such a blast to be around and deal with. On the #2 spot is Yeppun. Although the government mostly spends its time hating on Xudonia and Heiwa so it doesn''t really get that much attention internationally, their people, on the other hand, are such a blast to be around and deal with. And for the #3-5 spots, it depends on who is being asked -- nationality, age, gender, socio-economic background, etc. Their answers could consist of Heiwa, a white-skinned Asian nation, or Muwin, Rahin or Raanee, all of which are brown-skinned Asian nations. But for the countries in the #1 and #2 spots, Xudonia and Yeppun are very, very consistent that one can always count on them for occupying those spots. Nathan noticed something about the buildings. ''CCTV cameras¡­'' He recalled what happened back at the western road. ''I don''t remember seeing any CCTVS there¡­'' ''Or perhaps I just didn''t notice it¡­?'' ''But still, even if there was, they would see that I wasn''t the one who attacked first¡­'' ''And there were witnesses¡­'' ''Moreover, it was only a shady drug addict and it looked like there were many poor people there¡­'' ''Even before the zombie apocalypse, the Muwinian government gives zero f.u.c.ks about its citizens unless there''s something to be gained¡­'' ''I doubt they''ll suddenly develop a conscience now that we''re in a zombie apocalypse¡­'' He then looked at the faces of the activists. ''So typical¡­'' ''A majority of them are below 30 years old from different economic backgrounds, but most of them are college-age students¡­'' ''Meanwhile, for the older ones, they look like they came from the middle class¡­'' Nathan continued walking. *** On a building next to the one the activists were rallying, it was also opened and had armed guards patrolling in and out the building. A group of five men dressed in civilian clothing and wearing System items came out of the building. "Our luck was good today! Hahaha~!" one of the men said as he counted the Ration Tickets on his hand. "Yeah, we were lucky that we were able to drop 3 Healing Potions, 2 Repair Kits, and 2 Antidotes. Just with the Antidotes alone, each cost 500 Ration Tickets. Meanwhile, the Healing Potion cost 200 RT and Repair Kit 150 RT each," said another man. "Yeah, and we also dropped a few equipment! I wish every day our drops was like this!" said another man. "Idiot. If the drop rate is always like this, the prices will drop -- supply and demand. Basic marketing, you idiot," said another man. "Hmph!" The man being called an idiot scoffed and then turned to the leader of their group. "Leader, let''s go and grab a few drinks. I heard that there''s a comedy show tonight at the gym." The leader was looking at the group of activists. He noticed a 2.2m-tall brown-skinned Asian man walking on the side of the road and making his way through the activists. "Leader?" "Yeah, sure," the leader said and then resumed walking. The members looked at the activists and sneered. "These people¡­" "Yeah, some just don''t know how to compromise with reality." "Nothing but spoiled brats if you ask me." "True that. Look at them, they''re either kids or from rich backgrounds. Can''t they just go out and earn a living like us, especially those men?" "A bunch of cowardly men." They all chuckled except for the leader who didn''t say anything or react and just continued walking. *** Nathan passed through the activists and was already far away from them. He saw a store on the left side of the road. Unlike the store he saw back at the western road, the store here was made up of cement instead of wood and had more goods to offer. The front of the store was divided in half, horizontally. The upper part had grills with a small square about 2x2" in the middle for larger items to pass through. Meanwhile, the bottom part was pure cement. It also had two concrete benches, one on each side. And behind the store was a house of some sort. ''Hmm¡­ I wasn''t expecting to see a house here¡­'' ''The owner of that house and the store must be one person¡­'' In front of the store, there was a man in his mid-20s wearing a soldier uniform sitting at one of the benches and chatting with two beautiful ladies who were in their late teens behind the grills of the store. Nathan stopped and squinted his eyes. ''This guy¡­'' ''He looks familiar¡­.'' ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Readtillyoubleed ? Pillastre ? Kelv_Anne To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 218 - Fort Yano (4) "Lyka, I don''t remember saying that. Don''t make me look bad in front of Daisy," the soldier said with a grin on his face. Lyka discreetly kicked Daisy''s leg and said, "Daisy, back me on this. Didn''t he say last time he was going to get each of us a laptop once he goes out for missions?" Daisy smiled and said, "I can''t exactly remember. He may or he may have not." Lyka looked at the soldier with a smile and said. "James, how are you going to impress Daisy if you can''t even keep your promises?" "The f.u.c.k, I seriously can''t remember making that promise. Even Daisy isn''t sure if I made a promise like that or not," said James. "It doesn''t matter if she can''t remember it or not. What matters is that I remember it and you failed to deliver. And don''t forget: Daisy and I are best friends and we share everything. If she''s happy, then I''m also happy. If she''s sad, I''m sad." "So if you mean if Daisy and I become an item, you''ll become my woman as well?" James said and flashed a huge grin. "You pervert!" said Lyka. Daisy smiled and said, "Oh, the both of you stop it. A customer is coming." A brown-skinned Asian woman and a white-skinned Asian man stepped in front of the store and they both reek of liquor mixed with some other funky smell. "Good evening," said Daisy. "Good evening, too. One large bottle of gin, five cans of black soda, two bags of cheese ch.i.p.s, and two packs of cigarettes -- menthol and vanilla flavor, please. Thank you," said the woman. Lyka got up to gather the items. Daisy, on the other hand, was computing the items. "We ran out of large bottle of gin! Only medium and small bottles left!" Lyka said from the back. "Sorry, no large bottle of gin left, medium and small bottles," Daisy said to the two customers. The woman turned to the white-skinned Asian man and spoke to him in crude Regisian, "Regshe regsay regno reglarge regbottle reggin. Regno regstock. Regonly regmedium regand regsmall regleft." "Regonly regmedium regand regsmall regbottles regleft?" the white-skinned man said before cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue in annoyance and then murmuring in his native language Xudonian, "Thisxh f.u.c.k.i.n.gxh stupidxh countryxh. Nothingxh everxh goesxh rightxh here. There''sxh alwaysxh anxh issuexh. It''sxh --" "Hey you!" James said and then got up. "What the f.u.c.k are you saying, huh?!" The brown-skinned Asian woman and the white-skinned Asian man looked at James. When they saw his soldier uniform, the man quickly shut his mouth. The woman, on the other hand, quickly bowed her head a few times and said in Muwinian, "I''m very sorry, sir. Please forgive him. He''s just a little drunk. He didn''t mean to be rude. He''s not always like this. Please forgive us." James ignored the woman and stood in front of the man. He looked at the man''s face, burning it into his memory, and then said, "I asked you what you are saying." The man looked away. Pah! James slapped the man in the face and said, "I said I asked you what you were saying." The man slowly turned his head to face James. "What, are you angry that I hit you?" James said and then spread his arms wide open. "Come on, have a swing at me." The woman quickly went to the man''s side, yanked his arm and said in Regisian, "Li Wei! Regstop regdo regthis! Regcontrol regand regrelax regand regjust reganswer reghis regquestion! Regif regyou regdo regnot regdo regthis, regyou, regme, regeveryone regwill regbe regbig regtrouble! Regyou regwant regthat?!" Hearing what the woman said, for some miracle, Li Wei cooled down and came to his senses a bit. "Very, very sorry, sir. I drink too much, I drunk. Not happen again. Very sorry," he said in Muwinian and bowed. "So you know to speak Muwinian after all, huh. Both of you, show me your IDs," said James. They both took out their IDs and gave it to him. James first checked Li Wei''s ID. "Li Wei Cheung from Xudonia¡­ 32 years old¡­ Level 4¡­ And you haven''t left the camp since you came here, huh." Next, he checked the woman''s. "Linda Blake, Muwinian, 23 years old, Level 1¡­" "I''m very sorry, sir. We promise this won''t ever happen again," Linda said and bowed. "Very, very sorry, sir. Please forgive," said Li Wei and bowed a few times. James gave back their IDs and said, "Remember this, Li Wei or whatever your name is: This is Muwin. This is not your country. You are a guest here. If I ever see you making any problems again, I''ll personally make sure that you will be put in prison or kicked out of this camp. Do you understand me?" "Yes, sir. Very, very sorry, sir. Promise no happen again. Very, very sorry. Thank you, thank you," Li Wei said and bowed a few times. "And you," James said as he turned to Linda. "You''re a disgrace to us Muwinians!" "Sorry, sir," Linda said and bowed her head. "The both of you scram! I don''t want to see your faces ever again!" "Thank you, sir," the duo said and bowed before leaving. After the two left, James went back to the bench and sat down. "I know that this isn''t the right thing to say. But I think you did the right thing. Although we didn''t understand what he was saying, you could tell from his tone that he was insulting us," said Daisy. "Ugh¡­ These arrogant foreigners. If this was the south, these foreigners wouldn''t dare to be this arrogant because the locals would''ve immediately been dealt with the first sign they start to misbehave," said Lyka. "But on a side note, I must say you were so cool back there. I think just developed a crush on you because of that," she said and smiled. James gasped and said, "Are you telling me that all this time you didn''t have a crush on me?!" "Dummy!" said Lyka. Daisy, on the other hand, just let out a soft chuckle. James smiled and said, "Anyhow, not all the foreigners here are bad. They''re just people like us -- there are good ones, bad ones and ones that are in the middle. In fact, I have a few foreign friends myself. It''s just our luck that we bumped into one that was a bad apple and was also drunk." "He was drunk?" said Lyka. "Yeah, the both of them actually. They reek of liquor and had some funky smell on them," said James. "I smelled it too," said Daisy. "But still, don''t you think it''s so arrogant of them to behave like this? They''re visitors and yet they dare to act like this. If it were my choice, I''d get rid of all the useless foreigners. Our country is poor and we''re already dealing with so many problems. And given that we''re now in a zombie apocalypse, the last thing we need is to add more problems like dealing with arrogant foreigners like that one," said Lyka. James shook his head and said, "That''s something you should never ever do no matter what. Just know that there are also Muwinians in other countries. If we treat the foreigners here badly and word gets out, we would be putting our fellow countrymen in other countries in danger." "But aren''t there many brown-skinned Asians in other countries being treated badly as well even before the zombie apocalypse, especially in white-skinned Asian and brown-Caucasian nations? There are many videos online and even reports. And plus, who''s to say that Muwinians aren''t being mistreated in other countries right now, especially now that there''s a zombie apocalypse?" "So you want to fight fire with fire? An eye for an eye? Is that it? That kind of mindset will only breathe in more hatred, an endless cycle of hatred. Someone has to be the bigger person. And plus, why would you lower yourself to their level? Aren''t you an educated person?" Lyka became silent. "James has a point, Lyka. Sometimes you can be too emotional," said Daisy. "Okay, okay. I will admit that what I said was wrong. But don''t you think that he might come back to get revenge? I mean, our store is just right beside Block C where the foreigners are at. And just like you said, foreigners are people like us too -- there are bad ones, good ones and the ones in the middle," said Lyka. "Now that you mentioned that, I think you also have a point. I''m now starting to get worried too," said Daisy. "I know, right?" said Lyka. "Don''t worry, in my 2 years as a soldier I''ve met a lot of people -- good and bad, loudmouths, people who just happened to be killers because of circ.u.mstances, and just hands-down straight-up killers. And based on what I''ve observed from that person, all I can say is, he won''t do anything bad. Trust me, I''ve met actual hands-down straight-up killers before. Once you meet them and they let out this¡­ Uh¡­ some kind of a murderous intent, even without words, just with their eyes alone, the way they look at you, you''ll know right away in your gut. Trust me, that Xudonian was just a bad drunk. That''s all." "But still, what if? Can you guarantee that? And plus, things wouldn''t have turn out like this if you didn''t confront him," said Lyka. Daisy didn''t say anything and just stared at James. "I promise you he won''t. Like I said, he was just a bad drunk. That''s really all there is to it. Don''t worry, I''ll report him to HQ later so that they''ll keep an eye on him. So the next time he tries to do something stupid, he''ll be arrested immediately and be tried at court to be accessed to whether he''s fit to continue staying here in Fort Yano or not. And plus, you know that I always visit here during my free time to talk to you guys so there''s really nothing to worry about." "Okay¡­ Thank you, James¡­" said Daisy. "Thanks I guess¡­" said Lyka. "Haha~ Damn, that was such a heavy topic. So¡­ It''s almost 8:00 pm and your shift will finally end. Let''s go to the central to grab some food and drinks. My treat. There''s also a comedy show at the gym which will start at 8:00 pm. It''ll sure be fun." "A comedy show? Who''s performing?" said Lyka. "It''s --" "You there," a male voice suddenly said. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Readtillyoubleed ? Pillastre ? Kelv_Anne To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 219 - Fort Yano (5) "You there," a male voice suddenly said, interrupting James and the two women. The trio turned towards the direction where the voice was coming from. It came from a brown-skinned Asian man who was in his mid-20s, about 2.2 meters tall, sporting a crew cut, and wearing civilian clothing along with System items. ''So tall...!'' Daisy and Lyka thought. As for James, when he saw Nathan, his eyes became wide as saucers and he said, "It''s you!" James was actually the soldier named Young -- it was his last name. Moreover, he was also the spotter of Vincent''s (aka Captain Lu) convoy from this afternoon. Although he never got to interact with Nathan, he heard that he was an old friend of Captain Lu. In addition to that, Nathan was very tall, was wearing a black-leather medieval costume in a tropical country, and he was also there when Nathan ran away with Zita. So it wasn''t hard not to forget about someone like Nathan. And because Nathan ran away with Zita this afternoon, it made them suspect that either he or Zita or both of them were infected. So James immediately scanned him with his eyes. ''He doesn''t seem to be carrying any obvious weapons¡­'' ''Where is the kid he was with¡­?'' ''What happened to her¡­?'' ''When did he return¡­? ''How was he able to enter after that incident¡­?'' ''Once the clock hits 1800, no one is allowed to enter and leave the camp...'' ''The only way you can enter and leave is to get a special pass...'' ''But it''s really hard to get one¡­'' ''And in his case, given that incident this afternoon, if he tried to enter again, there would be many questions waiting for him¡­'' ''But then again, we arrived here around 1630 so he had a lot of time to come back before 1800¡­'' ''We also didn''t tell the officials that Captain Lu and this guy were old buddies¡­'' Nathan glanced at Daisy and Lyka before returning his gaze at James. His lips curled up into a smile and he said, "Come with me. I need to ask you about a few things." However, James didn''t stand up. Nathan was still wearing a smile when his eyes immediately turned cold and he said in a very calm manner, "Come with me or I''ll rip apart those two pretty girlfriends of yours with my b.a.r.e hands." Right after hearing what Nathan said, the two women felt their throats went dry and a shiver ran down their spine, causing them to also subconsciously lean back. There was just something about the way Nathan said those things partnered with that eyes and smile of his that made them feel as if a knife was held against their necks. As for James¡­ ''This feeling¡­'' he thought as he stared at Nathan''s face. Just like the other two, he too felt a chill ran down his spine but his throat didn''t go dry nor did he subconsciously leaned back. He was, after all a soldier, and has been serving for 2 years so he had more mental fortitude than the average citizen. ''It''s been a while since I got this feeling from someone¡­'' He got up and looked at Daisy and Lyka. "I''m just going to have a quick chat with this guy. I''ll be back right away to pick you guys up." "Okay¡­ See you soon¡­ Take care..." both of the women said with a worried tone. He went to the side, turned to Nathan and said, "Let''s go." Nathan chuckled and said, "Lead the way. Somewhere private. I''ll walk behind you." James began walking and Nathan followed closely from behind. *** James was walking to an area where the closest visible person, other than the giant who was walking behind him, was several meters away. As tough as James is, right now, he couldn''t help but have this jumpy feeling on his gut that he didn''t dare to do anything that will make Nathan suspicious of him. "This place is okay," Nathan said and stopped. James also stopped and then turned around. "What do you want?" Nathan smiled and said, "Where is Vincent?" "Captain Lu? I think he''s --" "I don''t want wishy-washy vague answers. I want direct and straight answers." "Look, man, whatever is that yo--" "Shut your mouth," Nathan said with a cold voice. "Let me make this clear to you. You only have two options here: Cooperate or die. And trust me, if you picked the latter, I will break your arms and legs, bring you over to those two girlfriends of yours, rip them apart with my b.a.r.e hands right in front of you, and then kill you." James became silent. "Tell me where''s Vincent." "This afternoon, I heard them talking about going to the gym tonight to watch a comedy show. It starts at 1900 hours." "Where is this gym?" "It''s at the central, near Block D." "Block D?" ''He doesn''t know where Block D is? When newcomers arrive here and they''re granted permission to stay, they would be given the basic layout of the camp,'' James thought. "When the zombie apocalypse began and the government decided to make Fort Yano an evacuation center, apart from the government''s office and military compound, they assigned four blocks -- A, B, C and D. Block D is located southwest of the camp. It used to be the grounds where we used to hold military drills." "Tell me about the other Blocks." ''Hmm¡­ I can''t help but suspect that he must''ve entered the camp illegally,'' James thought. "Block A is located northeast and that''s where the elite stays -- politicians, government employees, VIPs, etc. Block B and C are located southeast. "Block B is where the foreigners and Muwinians with foreign spouses are staying. "Meanwhile, Block C is where the rich people are staying." "And Block D is for the poor citizens?" said Nathan. "Average citizens to be exact." ''Hmm¡­ Based on my parents'' economic background, I''d say they''re in Block D. But father is a policeman so maybe they are in Block C. And as for Amir''s family, they''re probably also in Block C,'' Nathan thought. "So Block A is for the elite, huh. Is that where the Prophets are staying?" "Prophets? Yeah." "How many Prophets are working for the government?" "I don''t know. I don''t have access to that kind of information." Nathan didn''t say anything and just stared at James'' face. "But what I do know is that there are groups of Prophets working for the government and they''re moved around the country to wherever they''re needed." ''There are groups of Prophets and are being moved around the country?'' Nathan recalled his experience of fighting the M2s while riding a helicopter and also seeing that Queen or Q-zombie when he crossed the ocean in order to come here to Muwin. "How many Prophet groups are there?" "I don''t know." "But there are Prophets currently staying here?" "Right now, based on what I''ve heard, there are currently three Prophets here." "And you''ve met them, or at least seen them?" "I''ve never met them nor did I get the chance to fight alongside them in combat." "What about their powers?" "I don''t know their powers." "You''re pretty useless, aren''t you?" "All I can tell you is that they were sent to a rescue mission with a battalion this afternoon at Base 3-C." Nathan didn''t say anything and just raised an eyebrow. "You could ask the soldiers who were part of the mission what their powers are but I''m not 100% sure if they''ll talk because of the gag order placed on us. And even without the gag order, only the officers and a select few are allowed to witness their powers." "Let''s go back to Vincent. You said he was going tonight to the gym to watch a comedy show, right?" "Yes, at the central, near Block D. The show starts at 1900 hours." "Is there anything particular that I need to know about it?" James knitted his brows for a moment and then said, "I don''t think there is." "How is the security there? Is it tight? Is it a private party or event? Is there an entrance fee? Will there be any special guests attending?" "As far as I know, it''s just a normal event that happens three times a week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 1800-1900 hours. As for the security, it''s just normal. And I think there''s an entrance fee but I''m not sure how much. Maybe 10 RT?" "This ''RT'' that you mentioned, what is it?" "RT is Ration Tickets and it''s the money used here. You can exchange System items for Ration Tickets at the Government Trading Facility right beside the Main Government Office which is located at the northeast." "I see." ''These questions of his, it looks like he really didn''t come here legally¡­'' James thought. "Earlier, you asked for that man and woman''s ID. Do you have an ID?" "Yeah." "Show it to me." James took out his ID from one of his pockets. Nathan confidently walked towards him and took the ID. The ID was 3 inches in width and 5 inches in length, almost like a punch card. In front of the ID, the upper half had the owner''s picture along with the name, age and nationality. And the bottom half had a special sticker issued by the government that reveals the owner''s level and stats. Meanwhile, at the back of the ID, it had another special sticker that covers the entire space and features a 31-day calendar. Looking at the ID, Nathan smiled and thought, ''So I really made the right decision after all...'' He then looked at James. "Tell me how does this work. What use is it?" ''This confirms it. Once you enter that camp for the first time, you will be issued an ID after being quarantined and interviewed,'' James thought. "The ID serves as identification. Do you see that sticker below in front of the ID?" Nathan looked at the sticker and reviewed James'' Level and Stats. Level: 24 ? STR - 25 ? VIT - 21 ? AGI - 21 ? INT - 20 ''The ID only shows the owner''s level and base stats...'' He flipped the card. ''No mention of the bonus stats and spells...'' James continued, "Although people are cautious about revealing their level and stats and the government is also worried about not being able to control powerful individuals with nefarious intentions, the government thought of a way for people to reveal their stats that is as a win-win for both parties." "Heh~ Really now." "There are jobs being offered here set up by the government. And most of the government-issued jobs have a level and stat requirement." Nathan flipped back the ID and reviewed James'' Level and Stats once more. "Take for example the Hawkers. The main stats that a Hawker must have are STR and AGI. Their job is to accompany convoys outside and must be able to carry and move things as quickly as possible. "Another example are the Miners. Fort Yano is located near the mountains and the government is in need of people who can dig tunnels in the mountains. And the main stats that Miners must have are STR and VIT." "Why are they digging tunnels in the mountains?" said Nathan. "Well, this isn''t a secret after all. And if you asked me, I think it''s a smart, logical decision," said James. "The government made a prediction that in the next Phases, aside from the rank of the zombies increasing, based on the M2, the N-type monsters will eventually develop wings as well. And when that happens, it would be much safer to have a base where the zombies with wings won''t be able to use their flight advantage." Nathan flipped the ID once again and said, "What about this other stamp?" There was another special sticker at the back of the ID. It covers almost the whole space and features a 31-day calendar. "That one, in order for the government to further prevent powerful individuals with nefarious intentions from entering Fort Yano, everyone can only enter and exit the camp once a day from 0600-1800 hours. On top of that, for every three enter and exits an individual makes, he/she has to update the front sticker of his/her ID. And every month, the owner must also replace the sticker at the back." Nathan scoffed and said, "Are you seriously telling me that no one is allowed to enter and exit the camp from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am?" As far as Nathan was concerned, this was Muwin, a third-world country. They''re infamous for their in-your-face corruption that even a blind man could see it. The laws here are more like guidelines rather than actual rules that need to be followed. "Of course, you can enter and exit the camp from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. But you will need a special pass and it''s hard to get one unless you have a high-ranking official backing you or if you''re one." "Ah... I see. Thanks for all the information you''ve given to me. You''ve been quite helpful." "So what''s going to happen now? Are we good?" Nathan flashed an amused smile and said, "Oh, we''re good. But we''re not done yet. There''s still phase two¡­" ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Sorry for not being able to post these past couple of weeks -- No, scratch that. I haven''t been posting properly these last two months. I know, yeah, you must be thinking, "What''s this stupid author''s reason this time around?" Well, I''ve been very busy with work. I got swamped with so much things. Also, I''ve already mentioned this to the Immortal Patrons last month (or I think it was the first week of July?) that I will be traveling due to my work. And next week, I''m going to travel. So for those who plans to be an Immortal Patron for August, please don''t for now. I''ll probably be as busy just like this month, July, with all the paperwork, moving and new work environment. But I promise to try my best to try to write and post new chapters. By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? ExtractedBullet ? darkgu_00 ? Kelv_Anne ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? TheAntiSimp ? DemoKingX ? Shikla ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Phlyline1 ? Tense_Beagle ? Daniel_Anderson_4208 ? DKYMuffinman ? Godscry21 ? Badz_Baddy ? Swiftescape To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. And at the moment, I posted the "Chapter Drafts" of Volume II: Chapters 141-147 there. Again, for those who plans to be an Immortal Patron for August, please don''t for now. I''ll probably be as busy just like this month, July, with all the paperwork, moving and new work environment. But I promise to try my best to try to write and post new chapters. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 220 - Fort Yano (6) 8:11 pm. Fort Yano, Central. Inside the gym. Vincent and his platoon team were sitting at one of the tables. There were tons of food and drinks on the table and each soldier had a woman beside them. On the stage, there were two men dressed in gowns and wearing wigs singing a song with a live band behind them. "Hey, hey, marry me, Marcky~~!" "Hey, hey, marry me, Marcky~~!" "Hey, hey, M-A-R-C-K-Y~~!" "Hey~~!" Clap! Clap! The crowd offered a round of applause. "Thank you very much, ladies and gentleman. Thank you for coming in this wonderful evening," said one of the performers. "Yes, yes, thank you very much for coming, people," said the other performer. "And for those who don''t know us yet, I am Chevy!" "And I''m Chika!" "And we are the Chevy-Chika Duo!" both of them said. Clap! Clap! The crowd offered around of applause once again. "Chevy, what is this I heard that you used to work at a bar?" said Chika. "A bar?" said Chevy. "Before the show started, I was talking with Ma''am Jessible at the back. She mentioned to me that before you decided to become a comedian, you used to work at a bar." Chevy turned to the crowd and said, "Yes, that''s true, ladies and gentlemen. Before I decided to become a comedian, I used to work at Bar Termine in Kelurga City for 4 years." "Oh, I know that bar. It''s quite famous and expensive." "Yes, it''s owned by a foreigner." Muwin was one of those brown-skinned Asian countries that allow foreigners to set up a business in the country. However, there are a lot of conditions attached. This is mainly because of Muwin''s colonial past. "What was your work there?" "Waitress." "Waitress? You, a waitress? Are you sure you weren''t a cook or delivery boy there?" "Hello? Look at my beauty. It''s waitress material." "Eh¡­ Are you for real?" "Why?" "I just can''t believe that someone would hire you as a server." "Hmph!" Chevy harrumphed and flipped his hair. "In fact, when I was working as a waitress there, many customers would leave me tips because of my beauty, especially the foreigners. And the foreigners that leave me the highest tips are Regisians and Iustians." "Eh¡­? Really? Are you sure they weren''t giving you money because they were afraid of you?" "Huh? What makes you say that?" "Because you have a face that looks like a snatcher." "You!" Chevy said and shoved Chika. Toink! There was a background sound effect. "Okay, okay, I believe you!" said Chika. "Hmph! Do you know that foreigners like women like me? Dark, s.e.xy and mysterious~" Chevy said as he did a s.e.xy grind and then flipped his hair. "You''re not even a real woman, though." "You!" Chevy said and shoved Chika. Toink! "I''m just kidding!" said Chika. "You really have a low opinion of me, don''t you?" "That''s not true. And plus, like I said, I was just kidding." "Well, guess what, do you know that even though I look like this, I''ve been to abroad?" Chika flashed a shocked expression and said, "You went abroad?! There are actually countries that would accept you?! "What do you mean by that?!" Toink! Toink! "Hey, hey, stop it! Stop it! I''m going to trip from my heels!" said Chika. Chevy stopped shoving Chika. "Seriously, why are you so quick to being physical?" said Chika. "This really confirms it. You really look down on me just because you''re more good-looking than I am. Don''t you know that you''ve only beaten with a few baths? If you didn''t take a bath for a week, you''d look just like me." "Oh God forbid. If that happens, I don''t think I can go on living." "See?" "Anyhow, you know I''m just being a good friend, right?" "A good friend? This is what a good friend does?" "Oh, tell me, what do want, a friend who lies or a friend who''s honest? "¡­" "And plus, the fact that we can be honest and joke about each other just proves that we''re close." "..." "Am I right or am I correct?" "Yeah, I guess you''re rig -- Hey, wait a minute. Isn''t right and correct the same?" "Don''t worry about the details," Chika said and waved his hand. "Okay, so tell me, what countries have you been to? You said you''ve been to abroad, right?" "Malkia." "Oh, Malkia. That''s an African country, right?" "Yes, yes. It was such a beautiful country -- the city, the people, the land, everything. Very vibrant. I even got to go meet those tribes you see in the National Geographic channel." "Heh~ Really?" "Yes~! And to be honest, I would''ve become their queen there if I stayed there permanently. As a matter of fact, even when I first landed at the airport, everyone turned their heads and looked at me and wanted to take pictures with me." "Are you sure they weren''t looking at you because they were confused and thinking, ''Why is there a monkey walking around and dressed in clothes?''" "You!" Toink! Toink! Toink! "Hey! Hey! Stop! I''m seriously going to trip! You''re seriously so physical!" "So stop insulting me." "I mean, come one, just look at you. Wouldn''t they mistake you for some rare species of a monkey and then hunt you down?" "You!" Toink! Toink! "I''m just kidding! I''m just kidding!" Chevy stopped shoving Chika, folded his arms together on his c.h.e.s.t and said, "You''re already starting to hurt my feelings." "Aw~ I''m sorry," Chika said and hugged Chevy, "You know that I don''t mean anything I say. Please forgive me. I love you, bestie~!" "Okay, okay..." Chevy said and leaned his head over to Chika''s head. "You know that I also love you, bestie, so I can''t stay mad at you forever." "Thank you, bestie~!" Chika said before stepping away. "Come on, tell me what other countries have you visited?" "Yeppun." "Oh wow... I heard that it''s very nice there. It''s clean, super modern and the people there are very fashionable." "Yes, yes. Even the men there are very fashion conscious. They''re so fashion conscious that it''s acceptable for men to wear makeup there." "Really? Wow." "But did you know, when I got there, even the Yeppunians were blown away by my beauty?" "Eh¡­? Sorry, Chevy, you''re my best friend and all, but this, I have to be honest. I just can''t see it happening, because when it comes to beauty and fashion trends here in Asia, Yeppunians are the ones who are leading it. The standard of beauty is so strict there that people there would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to look beautiful." "See? This is what I''m talking about. I just forgave you and now you''re insulting me already." "But Chevy --" "Let me tell you what happened." "Okay." "So I went to visit one of the plastic surgery clinics there. And when I entered, I went straight to the information desk and said --" "Wait, you went to check out a few of the plastic surgery clinics there?" "What? You think I can''t afford it? I have money, you know." "Really now. If that''s the case, then why are you still ugly?" "You!" Toink! "Ouch!" "Let me finish my story, okay? You keep interrupting me," said Chevy. "Okay, okay, sorry." "So I visited a plastic surgery clinic, went straight to the information desk and then said: Make me even more perfect. I don''t care how much I have to pay. I will even pay 10 times the amount!" "Wow!" "Of course!" Chevy said before flipping his hair and flashing a smug expression. "Do you know what the woman at the information desk said?" "What did she say?" "She said: Ma''am, we''re very sorry. We don''t perform miracles here. The church is just a few blocks down the road." "..." "And to make sure, I even went to 10 other clinics and they all said the same thing!" Chevy said and then looked at Chika. "See? What now? You keep insulting my beauty when -- Toink! This time, it was Chika who shoved Chevy. "Ouch! Why did you push me?" "Oh my God, Chevy. I thought you were just ugly. But stupid as well?" "Who are you calling stupid, Chika? Don''t you know that those employees were basically saying that I didn''t have to go through plastic surgery because I''m already so perfect and the only thing left for me to do is to go to the church and thank God for blessing me with such beauty?" Chika placed her hand on Chevy''s shoulder. "Chevy¡­" Chika''s lips started to quiver, unable to say the words and instead just hugged him. "Chika?" "Shhh¡­ It''s okay, Chevy. Starting from now I will believe everything you say and not judge you anymore..." "Chika? Chika, why do I have this feeling like you feel sorry for me?" "Shhh¡­ It''s okay, it''s okay¡­." The duo broke the embrace and bowed as they said, "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!" Clap! Clap! Clap! The crowd gave a round of applause. "And now let''s sing another song for our audience, Chevy." "Yes, Chika." "Hit it!" Griiinnnggg! The live band started performing. "When I first saw you I approached and said hello~~" "You were the most beautiful thing that I have seen on Earth~~" If in the southern region of Muwin people they have a strong stance against the LGBT community to the point they would openly discriminate and sometimes even attack its members, here in the north or among the places where the Trinitian religion was dominant, people tolerate the LGBT community but they don''t really "accept" them. As long as they don''t step over the line or be a nuisance, everything was good. In fact, whenever a person from the LGBT here in Muwin would try to raise awareness about their plight, they would immediately be shut down with: "Muwin is a third-world country. The country has far more important issues to solve compared to your identity crisis issue." Muwin is after all a conservative country. Vincent grabbed his mug of beer from the table and took a few gulps. Gulp. Gulp. Clink. He placed his mug back on the table and then picked some food. "Mr. Captain, you didn''t like their performance?" a woman beside him and had her hand on his l.a.p said. The woman was one of the employees of the event. The gym where this event is being held was a multi-purpose gym originally used for sporting events and other indoor programs. But ever since the zombie apocalypse which gave humans the power of the System, the officials here in Fort Yano banned the use of the gym for sporting events because it only caused injuries among the participants and there was also property damages. "It''s good," said Vincent. The woman moved her hands deeper between Vincent''s t.h.i.g.hs, pressed her lips near his ear and then whispered, "Why is it always the hottest ones who don''t like to talk or doesn''t talk much?" Vincent smiled and said, "That''s not true." "Captain, they''re pretty funny, right?" said one of the soldiers. It was the soldier behind the wheel earlier this afternoon who invited him to attend this event. "Yeah." "And to think that they do this 3 times a week and try their best not to use the same material as much as possible on each performance, I think it''s pretty impressive. I wonder why they weren''t famous before the zombie apocalypse. Or perhaps they were but not that famous." "You''re a fan of this type of comedy?" The soldier scratched his head and said, "To tell you the truth, captain, I used to do stand-up comedy back in college but it didn''t get anywhere. It was just more of a hobby, nothing serious at all." "I see. Maybe one of these days you could perform. From what I remember, you seem to have a good sense of humor." "Haha¡­ I don''t know about that, captain." "Hey, where''s Young, by the way?" said another soldier. "He said he was going to visit that chick at Block B and will catch up," another soldier answered. "He''s probably boning her right now. Hahaha~!" said another soldier. "Speaking of the devil, look who it is!" one of the soldiers said. Vincent and company turned to the direction where the soldier was looking. "Young, you''re late! Where have you been?" One soldier got up, went over to James, put his arm around his neck and said, "Young, come sit and drink! "Not now," said James. "Waitress!" One of the girls on their table got up and went over to the bartender to get some drinks. "So, were you able to score?" James pushed the soldier''s arm around his neck and made his way to Vincent. When he got to Vincent, he saluted and said, "Sir, there''s someone who wants to meet you and he''s waiting outside." "Hmm?" "His name is Nathan." ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? ExtractedBullet ? darkgu_00 ? Kelv_Anne ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? TheAntiSimp ? DemoKingX ? Shikla ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Phlyline1 ? Tense_Beagle ? Daniel_Anderson_4208 ? DKYMuffinman ? Godscry21 ? Badz_Baddy ? Swiftescape To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times* Chapter 221 - Fort Yano (7) Nathan, Daisy and Lyka were sitting in silence at one of the tables out in the busy streets of the central. There were food and drinks on their table which was sponsored by James but they were barely touched. The entrance of the gym where the comedy show was supposedly was also visible. Nathan swept his gaze on the crowd. ''I don''t see my father, mother or any relative¡­'' ''Hell, I don''t even recognize anyone here¡­'' ''Are they really here¡­?'' ''Or are they somewhere else¡­?'' ''Or are they dead¡­?'' An image of a dead Amir as a human-dog lying down on the floor in front of him with its head cracked open and brain matter scattered all over the floor flashed inside his head. ''I will probably know soon when Vincent arrives¡­'' This time around, an image of a half-n.a.k.e.d 21-year old Karen lying beside him in the bed and smiling flashed inside his head. It''s been years since he saw her, be it online or offline. He doesn''t even know anything about her whereabouts ever since that the incident happened because he cut all communication. Any attempts from Vincent and her to reach out to him or from a third party, he would immediately just either block it or cut it off. He opened his eyes and resumed looking at the crowd. He saw a man walking around and carrying a styrofoam box on his shoulder. "ICE CANDY! ICE CANDY! BANANA, MANGO, COCONUT ICE CANDY!" ''Too many short and slim people¡­'' ''Very different from Womania¡­'' ''People are taller and bigger¡­ ''And speaking of slim¡­'' ''This is...!'' The people around Nathan were sitting on plastic chairs. But for him, he was sitting on a steel chair. Earlier, he tried to sit on a plastic chair but it made some foreboding sounds that he immediately requested for a chair that could support his weight. He was, after all, now 2.2m or around 7''2" which was a far cry from the average height here in Muwin which is 5''7" for men and 5''5" for women. ''Is this what fat people feel in Asian countries...?!'' ''I feel bad about myself and at the same time a bit discriminated¡­'' He saw a cute woman with colored hair passed by. ''Ah yes, there''s also a lot of women in Womania with colored hair, tattoos and piercings¡­'' Another culture shock he noticed in Womania was colored hair. Now, before he arrived in Womania, whenever he sees women with colored hair, he used to assume they were just simply fashion-conscious. And when it comes to hair with the colors blue, green and purple, in his head, they were fashionably-eccentric people which is still quite cute. But thanks to his experience Womania, whenever he sees a woman with colored hair now, especially if it''s blue, green and purple, his first thought would be to assume that that person is part of a certain social justice group. He continued looking at the women. ''Well, at least they''re not heavy with makeup¡­'' Here in Muwin or in any brown-skinned Asian country, due to its tropical climate, the beauty trend is to wear no makeup at all -- just a pinch of baby powder. But if the woman likes to wear makeup or has to wear one because of her job, it has to be light or make sure it looks natural. Because if not, she''ll be branded as a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. So when walking down the street, one will get to see the real faces of women here. However, never ever trust their pictures on social media, though. Just like any other Asian woman, Muwinians women are also addicted to filtering their pictures even to the point where it doesn''t make any sense anymore because they look inhuman. And speaking of inhuman, there''s also plastic surgeries. Here, people with plastic surgeries are the b.u.t.t of the joke, especially if it''s a man. Take Muwin for example. It''s a religious and conservative country, and is dominated by two religions: Trinity and Iklas. And to most Muwinians, having plastic surgery is like spitting on the face of God. However, at the same time, they don''t mind poisoning and jacking up their bodies with whitening pills, injectables, soaps and lotions. So yeah, so much for spitting on the face of God. ''Wait, what about these two¡­?'' Nathan turned to the two women. ''No makeup. Very nice¡­'' ''Black hair, no visible tattoos and normal piercings¡­'' ''Cute faces, too, especially the one on the right¡­'' ''The one on the right is also whiter¡­'' ''But I think I prefer the left one...'' ''She looks like the loud, wild and outgoing type...'' ''Definitely not the girlfriend type, just the type you hang out and to have fun with...'' An image of a 21-year old Karen flashed inside his head once again. This time around, she was casually walking right in front of him while looking at him and smiling sweetly. He closed his eyes and shook his head. ''Dammit¡­ What''s going on with me tonight...?!'' He opened his eyes and focused again on the two women. ''Looks like they''re still in their late teens¡­'' ''Or maybe early 20s...?'' ''No, definitely late teens¡­'' He looked at their clothes. Given that Fort Yano was near the mountains, it was a bit cold. The woman on the right was wearing a one-piece slim-fit black mini-dress sweatshirt, exposing her legs. Meanwhile, the woman on the left was originally wearing a jacket but she removed it, revealing a tank top and mini-shorts. ''Don''t they feel cold with that outfit...?'' He then secretly glanced at something from the women on the left. Nathan doesn''t know if this is a man thing, an Asian man thing, or just him being a huge creep. Whenever a woman wears something that exposes their armpits, he couldn''t help but secretly peek at it to see if it''s shaved or not and dark or not. ''Hmm¡­ I can''t see it¡­'' ''Wait, I just realized that these two are the first real Muwinian women that I''ve interacted with¡­'' "The both of you," said Nathan. "I didn''t catch your names. What was it again?" "Daisy¡­" the woman on the right said. "Lyka¡­" the woman on the left said. Nathan squinted his eyes. ''So the one on the left is Lyka, huh¡­'' ''Anyways, they seem afraid of me...'' ''Is it because of what happened earlier or my height...?'' ''Or is it both¡­?'' Before the zombie apocalypse, here in Muwin, he was used to people getting intimidated by him. Given the average height of brown-skinned Asians, especially the ones from the mainland, and also the beauty standards here, Nathan, who was 6ft tall, works out, was sporting long hair and a goatee, most of the time, Muwinian women were afraid of him so he had to go the extra mile to make them lower their guard. Meanwhile, for the men, they tend to want to be his friend, there were a few annoying ones, usually short ones, who like to "test" him to prove how manly they are. However, when he got to Womania, it was very different. There, his 6ft height was common, his goatee was crap, and Asians were just slimmer or had a smaller skeletal frame compared to the other races so the people there weren''t intimidated by him. Moreover, although Womania was one of the most politically correct countries in the world, there was still that subtle racism, prejudice or whatever you want to call it where Asian men aren''t really considered "manly" or "threatening" which allowed Nathan to get away with a number of things that he normally wouldn''t get away with if he was here in Muwin. It was such a strange experience for him. Nathan flashed a warm and kind smile and said, "I see. Nice meeting you both." "Same here¡­" both of the women said. Nathan chuckled because their faces still wore a frightened and worried expression. "Where are you guys from?" "Kelurga City, the both of us¡­" said Daisy. "Hmm... Now that you mentioned it, yeah, I can hear it from your accent. I''m from Latif City, by the way." A young girl of about 10 years old carrying a basket filled with food items and whatnot approached them. "Sir, cigarette, bubblegum, candy, peanut?" Zita''s face flashed inside Nathan''s head. "No thank you," he said with a warm and kind smile. "Ma''am, cigarette, bubblegum, candy, peanut?" "No thank you," both of the women said as well. The young girl went to another table. "Sir, ma''am, cigarette, bubblegum, candy, peanut?" ''Hmm¡­ Now that I think of it.'' Nathan discreetly put his left hand under the table and summoned a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. After doing so, he raised them up and lit one stick. Click! "Wooo¡­ Want some?" he blew out a cloud of white smoke and then said as he offered the pack and lighter to them. "No thank you," both of the women said. Nathan smiled. ''Heh~ I was expecting the one called Lyka was a smoker...'' He put down the pack and lighter before pulling the bamboo ashtray close to him. "Are you both in college?" "Yeah, I was taking Business Marketing¡­" said Daisy. "IT..." said Lyka. "Oh, very cool courses." Another seller approached them. This time it was an old woman in her 60''s. "Sir, ma''am, tobacco?" Nathan looked at the basket of leaves on her arms that was filled with native tobacco. He flashed a warm and kind smile and said, "No thank you, ma''am." The two girls did the same as well, "No thank you, ma''am." The old woman left and went to another table. "Sir, tobacco, sir?" "You?" said Daisy. "Hmm? My course?" said Nathan. "I''ve already graduated years ago. Journalism." "Masters?" "Nope. I just went working right away after I graduated." "So you''re a journalist? I thought you were a professional basketball player or something because of your height. How tall are you by the way?" said Lyka. "Around 7''2"." Of course, Nathan measured his new height. "Are your parents also tall? How about your siblings?" "My parents are of normal height and I''m an only child." "What news publication are you or were you working for?" said Daisy. "Yeah, you must be a reporter. Did you get to interview famous people?" said Lyka. Another seller came to them. This time it was a man in her 40''s carrying a basket with fruits that were already cut into pieces. "Sir, ma''am, guava, mango, papaya." "No thank you," the three of them said. "Reporter? Interview famous people?" Nathan said and smiled. "I rarely did that -- the interviewing. It''s mostly just me being given already gathered information and I just need to write them in a news article format. Well, that was how I worked at the beginning of my career until I became an editor." "What TV station you worked for?" said Daisy. "It was mostly international online news publishing sites. Mainly about women''s rights." "Women''s rights?" both of the women said in astonishment. ''Gotcha...!'' he thought. "Yeah, women''s rights from all around the world, especially from countries where cases of abuse against women and children are quite high. I''m sorry, let''s change the topic. You see, as a journalist, once in a while, you sometimes come across very disturbing and s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e information. And in my case, it''s about the abuses that women and children suffered from. It''s really heartbreaking. I can''t even understand how people could commit such crimes or why such things could even exist. Let''s not talk about it. It will only dampen your mood if I told you the things I''ve seen." "Oh, come on. Please tell us!" said Lyka. "Yes, please!" said Daisy. ''Haha~ Stills works like a charm¡­'' He was about to open his mouth and talk when he saw Vincent and James coming. "I''m sorry, ladies. But it looks like we have to postpone our conversation for the time being." Vincent and James saw Nathan and the others. There were also four chairs on their table so James left Vincent to go to the shop owner to ask for an extra chair. When the two women saw Vincent, their eyes shined. Perhaps it was universal, but according to scientists, women find men in uniform s.e.xy. And in the case of Vincent, not only was he young, wearing a soldier uniform and had a proper posture that soldiers normally do, but he also had a face that was quite easy on the eyes. But of course, when it comes to the face, he still couldn''t be compared to Amir. That guy had a face that belongs to a cover of a romantic novel and was already photoshopped by a professional. Vincent finally arrived in front of Nathan. However, he didn''t say anything nor did he take a seat. He just stood there and stared at Nathan. Only God knows what was going inside his head. Nathan remained in his seat and didn''t say anything. He just stared at him as he s.u.c.k.e.d his cigarette a blew a cloud of white smoke. "Wooo¡­" After what felt like an eternity, one of them finally broke the silence. "Nathan, it''s good to see you again. I''m glad you''re safe." "Wooo... Yeah, me too. Please have a seat." Vincent grab the vacant chair and sat down. He sat between Nathan and Daisy. He looked at the two women and gave them a smile and a quick slight bow as he said, "Hello." "Hello, too," both of the women said and they too gave a smile and a quick slight bow. "Want a smoke?" Nathan said. "No thank you." "Do you know where my family is?" "This afternoon, after you left and I was done quarantining, I immediately went to Karen to tell her that you were here and you were searching for your family." "Wooo¡­" "She wasn''t sure about your family''s whereabouts but she told me she would look onto it right away. Like I said this afternoon, she works for the government." James finally arrived with a chair and sat between Nathan and Lyka. Nathan made a quick glance at James before ignoring him. "Wooo¡­" he blew a white cloud as he pressed his cigarette on the bamboo ashtray. "So basically, you don''t know anything?" "Right after I talked to Karen, I went to go search for them myself but didn''t find anything because I just arrived here two days ago. But I''m sure Karen already knows by now." ''Yeah, you went searching all right. That''s why you were at the gym watching a comedy show,'' he thought. "I see. Thank you." "We can go see Karen now if you want." Nathan stared at Vincent. He looked at how they were seated. James and sitting between Nathan and Lyka. Meanwhile, Vincent was sitting between Nathan and Daisy. He also looked at the people around them. And after almost a minute, Nathan finally said, "Okay." They both got up from their seats. James also got up. Vincent looked at him and said, "Young, stay here and accompany these two." "But sir --" "That''s an order." James saluted and said, "Yes, sir!" Vincent turned to Nathan and said, "Let''s go." He began walking and Nathan followed from behind. ********************************************* Author''s thoughts: Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. To the people who voted with their power stones, this Lowly Shameless Immortal would like to thank these Power Immortals: ? Yui_Saotome ? ExtractedBullet ? darkgu_00 ? Kelv_Anne ? Saiki_Kusuo_Black ? TheAntiSimp ? DemoKingX ? Shikla ? Jayjayrelic_Relic ? Phlyline1 ? Tense_Beagle ? Daniel_Anderson_4208 ? DKYMuffinman ? Godscry21 ? Badz_Baddy ? Swiftescape To the ones who want to help this Lowly Shameless Immortal in his path to immortality in writing his First Immortal Book, you can consider becoming an Immortal Patron by supporting him at P-a-t-r-e-o-n: ? *******.com/Immortal_Shades There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal''s "chapter drafts" for $5 a month. Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits. With that, this Lowly Shameless Immortal want to give his special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for July 2021: ? §£§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Û §£ ? Teltaios Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times*