Erza's heart was furious, but his facial expression was unfazed.
"Phew."
He exhaled slowly.
"I guess it's time to end this farce. Sigh, you should've listened to yourself rather than taking opinions from poisonous snakes."
Erza stood up and made a jeering comment to Krash.
"Hey!"
"Boss! I was right! This piece of sh*t was pretending!"
The rowdy men got riled up hearing their gang leader insulted.
Multiple gun barrels were aimed at Erza.
Erza glanced at where his relatives were.
'Good. Out of the line of fire.'
They took Erza's defiance because he's unwilling to obey their boss, not because he wanted to protect his 'slaves'.
He could outmaneuver bullets, but his relatives couldn't.
Their safety was his primary concern.
His seemingly simple trick made sure they're out of danger's way.
Erza gave the signal through the radio earbud.
The whole suite blacked out.
"Whoa! What the f-"
In the darkness, the gangster felt their guns were pried away forcefully by an unknown force.
Blink!
When the lights came back up, all the guns pointing at Erza were floating in the air.
While dumbfounded with the phenomenon, electric sparks flew everywhere!
Bzzt!
One by one, the standing gangsters fell, all paralyzed on the floor.
It was like they were tased by an electric taser.
"You b*tch! Traitor! I'll-"
Before Krash finishes his sentence, he felt poking pains on his body.
'Ack! Ack!'
Krash's voice was sealed.
"You sit here like a good boy while we 'take care' of your boys."
In a split second, Erza hit several of Krash's pressure points, disabling his voice and movement.
It was part of the knowledge he gained through martial arts.
Krash witnessed the horror of his gang being taken down.
There were four more men in black.
Each one of them is as powerful as Erza.
'What have I done?'
Krash deeply regretted his actions.
Once the gangsters are all subdued, they are restrained by tight ropes.
Erza and his family released their relatives from their bindings.
They were crying and trembling from the traumatic experience.
"Bring them to the bathrooms first."
They spent the night comforting the relatives.
"Anything?"
Erza asked Bucky.
Gunshots of that caliber would attract Infected.
"26 Infected. Ground Floor entrance."
The surveillance cameras' night-vision showed him.
Erza decides to clean them up tomorrow instead of tonight.
"What do we do with them?"
Mr. Zayf pointed at the gangsters with a frown.
All the gangsters were unconscious, except for Krash.
"Fufu, no worries. I have the perfect plan"
...
The morning sun shines on the earth.
"...in peace, Kuff."
A simple funeral procession ended.
Sobs and prayers accompanied two gravestones on a hotel's rooftop.
They were symbolic tombs for Erza's Second Uncle and Second Aunt.
During the apocalypse, for one to have their bodies buried were a luxury.
'Big brother, I'll make sure your keepsake gets to your sons one day!'
Mr. Zayf looked at his late brother's gold chains.
He swore to inform his two nephews of their parent's departure, no matter how long it took.
"Third brother."
A balding elderly man with teary eyes approached Mr. Zayf.
Ever since knowing about the death of his Second brother, Uncle Yoon resolved his will.
Family relations are a dynamic yet complicated connection.
Sixth Uncle Yoon couldn't bear the guilt of rejecting Erza, his own nephew's plea to save his own siblings.
'Blood is always thicker than water.'
Nonetheless, he has to be responsible for his own wife and children.
If his siblings were his precious nostalgia for the good old times, his children are his future legacy.
Mr. Zayf didn't say anything because he understood his little brother.
'If I were in Yoon��s place, I would do the same.'
But the one most affected by his Second brother's death was his elder sister.
First Aunt Chey cried hysterically, as she couldn't accept her little brother's death.
"Kuff! Sister is sorry! Sister is sorry! I don't want any of father's money anymore! Please, god! Bring him back!! Please! Please!!"
Erza had to put her to sleep when her hysteria got out of control.
"Big sister is fine physically, but mentally.."
Mrs. Numee sighed.
No amount of Cell Energy could heal mental issues, even with Mrs. Numee's Class-9 Healing abilities.
They had a simple breakfast afterward.
"Sixth Uncle, all the supplies are ready. We've warmed up the car's engine."
Erza casually spoke.
Uncle Yoon had decided to seek shelter in the nearest army base.
'I've prepared and told them everything they should know.'
Although the shelters are safe, the environment inside was akin to prison.
It was survival of the fittest.
'Jobs that you knew no longer exists!'
He told them to quickly enroll in the Employment Register. By having work, they could sustain themselves.
'Work hard and treat the authorities kindly. It's okay to bribe them once in a while, as long as you get to lead teams!'
By cooperating with the government and easing their burdens of managing the population, one can rise quickly through the ranks.
"Sixth Uncle, First Aunt, here are my gifts to everyone."
He took out five black pouches.
Inside it was shiny pink pearls they've never seen before.
"Wow! It's so pretty, big brother!"
"Are these candies?"
The bubbly Cousin Wei and slightly plump Cousin Yie spoke.
"Everyone, have you noticed any differences in us?"
Erza waved casually on each of his family members.
"Yes, Big Sister Numee's skin is glowing! Not to mention slimmed down."
"Third brother, what hair dye are you using? Your hair is so black and shiny."
"Yea! How did Big Brother Feera and Bucky grow taller? I thought you stopped growing after eighteen!"
Their relatives flooded them with questions.
"This is the answer."
Erza raises up an Evolution Nectar.
They were skeptical at first.
They even thought Erza was joking with them.
"Take one pearl. Just pop them in your mouth like a sweet."
Upon his suggestion, they swallowed an Evolution Nectar each.
"Oh! I feel energized!"
"What is this? Some sort of revitalizing vitamin?"
They felt power welling up from inside their bodies.
But when he told them the little pearl was extracted from the Infected, they dropped their pouches in surprise.
"Little Erza, what have you done? Aren't those creatures carrying a highly infectious virus?"
Their faces paled.
"What if I told you the little pearls would make you immune to the viruses?"
He started to explain everything about the Evolution Nectars.
The more he went on, the more ridiculous and illogical it gets.
But living, breathing proofs of the Awakened is right in front of them.
Their own relatives!
"With everything I told you, are you guys still firm with your decisions?"
Erza gave one last try.
…
Once the gangsters woke up, they found themselves sleeping on a bed each.
'Ugh, my head.'
Before being wasted by Erza, they were already wasted with alcohol.
After recalling their memories last night, they had chills.
"Hey! Who put this dog leash on my neck?!"
One of the gang members tried to yank off the choker on his neck.
Bzzt!
"Argh!"
His body convulsed.
"Ugh!"
Another gang member that forcefully dismantle the choker fainted while twitching.
The gangsters figured out the contraption around their neck would release electric shock when they want to take it off by force.
They gathered in the corridor.
"Boss! What do we do now?!"
"Help! Ricko and Jenks are totally down for the count!"
Krash had woken up to a bizarre situation.
Ding!
The lift on the 20th Floor rang.
'Human? Zombie?'
The gangsters waited in anticipation.
As the door opened, they saw a teenage girl and a muscular man.
They were Big Mark and Kara.
Although they look normal, the pressure they exuded was abnormal.
Gulp.
The duo's footsteps slowly came nearer.
"Uh-huhu! What a cute girl! Hey, let big brother show you a good tim- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!"
A pudgy, ugly gangster saw Kara and approached her bad intentions.
In return, he got electrocuted.
'What? But Fat Karl didn't try to take off the collar though?!'
It was then they realized, the collar could be remotely controlled.
"Listen up, you scums! I'm now in charge of you sons of b*tches!"
The task to handle and manage the captives were given to both of them.
"You're all now our slaves! If you forcefully take out your collar, you get shocked! If you run away, you get shocked! If you even try to harm us, you get shocked! If you don't follow orders, you get shocked!"
Big Mark's words were law.
"Now get your lazy as* and clean up the mess you made upstairs yesterday!"
The gangsters were fuming in rage. Only their boss can order them around.
"Still standing here like idiots?! Looks like you haven't learned your lesson!"
Bzzt!
"Kraaaagh!"
"S-s-s-stop!! Please, ack!"
"Mommy! Mommy!"
All twenty of them were terribly convulsing.
When the shock stopped, Big Mark made another statement.
"Oh yes! I forgot to tell you! Any of you sh*theads cause any troubles, all of you take the punishments together! Brotherhood is important!"
Stripped of any sort of bravado and defiance, they immediately ran upstairs and started cleaning the Royal Suite.
The gangsters were free labor.
They transported the resources from the cars to the suite, they repaired every broken locks and door, and they even cleaned up the whole hotel.
…
Big Mark's voice echoed from the walkie talkie.
Erza and his family relaxed by the poolside on the 10th Floor.
They had their lunch there.
Erza wasn't a complete sadist.
"Big brother, I still think you're too casual about this! I mean, they tried to kill us!"
Feera was enraged about the gangster's wrongdoings.
He wanted to eliminate them.
"Just say the word, and I'll do it, big bro! With my Psychokinesis, I can-"
"Feera, we have to be rational."
Erza had to interrupt his younger brother.
"Although they did point their guns to us, it is just who they are. It's the apocalypse, and the situation forces everyone to fight for survival."
It's either kill or be killed.
"Say we kill them. What's next? Do we get Evolution Nectars from them? Do they have the resources we need?"
Erza's sermon made Feera think.
'People are only moved by benefits.'
While Feera saw the gangsters as dangerous threats, Erza saw them as opportunities.
'You can get manpower, and you can get information. Not to mention...they could become canon fodders.'
It was a cold and cruel mentality, but that is what makes one stay alive.
"Erza, Big brother Zayf, we're ready."
Five people stood up in the middle of the poolside restaurant.
Erza's relatives have made their decisions.
"Sigh, Yoon. Are you really set on this?"
Mr. Zayf looked at his younger brother.
Uncle Yoon nodded.
They then glanced at a mumbling woman.
"We're going to find her a therapist."
The mumbling woman was their elder sister, Chey.
Her psychological condition has taken a worse turn.
Mr. Zayf closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
The family members then hugged each other, saying their goodbyes.
"Uncle Yoon, we'll escort you up until the checkpoint. Afterward, the army would take care of you."
Erza said with a firm but melancholic tone.
He did not want to part with his relatives but he must respect their decision.
"The cars are ready. We can push off anytime."
Bucky reported to Erza.
He electronically controlled the vehicles to ready its engines via his ability.
"Okay team, suit up and move out!"