After taking a shower and cleaning my armor, I went to the mess hall where I found Renka and her mother. Sitting on the black and blue body that was her husband, he looked like he had fought a gorilla and lost. Knowing who was the likely culprit, I kept my mouth shut as it was important to make a good first impression. Renka's mother was a respectable woman who valued traditional things like a good husband. As for how she agreed to marry Kensei was a mystery for me.
"Hello Mrs. Ma, I am Renka's partner, Victor.", I said introducing myself politely, "Renka speaks highly of your martial arts prowess and leadership at your family Dojo.
"Hmm, it is nice to see that you picked a gentleman Renka. Please Victor, you will be a member of our family one day so it your Dojo as much as it ours.", her mother stated nodding her head in approval, "You are quite the martial artist, and have a knack for combat. I am very happy to have a competent man as my son-in-law, my worries have been eased. The way my husband was talking I might have ended up with a son-in-law that had no talent for martial arts."
'Ouch...that was a sharp jab at Kenichi.', I thought.
"Come now, he is making progress.", Hayato remarked, "He works incredibly hard everyday to get stronger no matter how much hellish training we give him."
"He is hardworking yes, but his aptitude for martial arts is frankly terrible. I am surprised you approved of his relationship to your granddaughter.", Ju pointed out.
"I...I wouldn't say I have approved.", Hayato grunted as he gritted his teeth.
Hayato still felt no man was worthy of his granddaughter, Kenichi hadn't convinced him enough to let them be. Unfortunately for Kenichi he had an uphill battle trying to prove that as the events leading up to Hayato approving him weren't going to happen. The man was going to have to work like hell to do it, but I was sure he could do it for the love of his life.
'You can leave your mother too me, I will take good care of her. Miu should be your only focus kid, go get-', I thought till I saw Miu storm into the room.
Sitting next to her grandfather, she looked super pissed off for some reason. Since no one was asking her what was wrong, I did and she blew up like a powder barrel. Explaining that Kenichi was off flirting with a group of girls all of the men looked at each other like that was hard to believe. Asking her for clarification, she said that some preppy girls were all over him. Telling us that they were complimenting his hard work, and dedication to martial arts she had heard a few of them ask him out.
"See, this is what happens if you don't keep bimbos in line.", Midna laughed, "Miku and company are all over Kenichi as one of the few remaining young men on the boat. Kohta's women almost shot them, yours have already threatened to end them, and most of the other young men don't want to deal with their drama. Kenichi is only acting like a normal teenaged boy with a bunch of girls around him. You going to help him out?"
"Nope, he got himself into this mess he can get himself out.", I said, "The only person I will actively help is Kohta, but he is all good now."
"I am sure this is just a misunderstanding.", Hayato told her, "Why don't we go see him?"
"I don't want to see that jerk right now!", she huffed, "If he can't tell them no, and that he isn't interested it's the same as saying he is interested."
Trying to calm her down, Hayato was at a loss for what to do. Dealing with a teenaged girl's emotions wasn't something in his realm of knowledge, up till now he had just winged it. Doing what he could I decided not to involve myself in helping him. I had my mother-in-law here so it was more important to focus on that. Unlike the two I was sleeping with, she wasn't going to join my harem. It was quite clear she was absolutely faithful to her husband...even though he was an ass for leaving them. I had gotten the clear impression that she would live and die with her husband no matter the cost.
"I hope your trip to the pier wasn't too bad.", I said, "Trekking across China couldn't have been that easy on your group."
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.", she admitted, "With the Umbrella Troops causing all that noise those things hardly noticed us. We ran into a few unsavory groups, but they were quickly dealt with appropriately."
"At least something good came from those morons.", Renka laughed.
"So tell me, have you done the deed with my daughter?", Ju asked with a smirk, "Oh how do you kids put it...have you slept with her?"
Before I could answer Renka tried to talk, but couldn't get the words out. She was too in shock for anything to come out right. Trying to to form a sentence all that kept coming out was gibberish which put a smile on her face.
"You don't actually have to answer dear, I was just teasing you. I haven't been able to see you in a while, and I had to tease you a bit.", Ju said hugging her daughter, "You make sure to take care of her Victor she may be as stubborn as a mule at time, but she has a heart of gold. Also...I expect at least 6 grandchildren from the two of you. Since the world is going to need to repopulate, this is no time for skimping on family size."
"Mother!!", Renka shouted, "This is embarrassing."
"No, what is embarrassing is the fact my husband tried to court one of Victor's women.", Ju stated.
"What was that...", I growled cracking my knuckles, "I thought I made clear that they were off limits, Old Man!!"
"He mistook me for Shigure.", Shizuka told me as she ran over with some snacks.
"I see...I see...", I remarked, "Rika, get me a rope!!"
Looking at me with a confused expression Ju and Renka asked what I intended to do. Telling them I was going to make him a punching bag, the two of them smiled and gave their blessing. Tying him up tightly, I hung him by his feet from one of the beams on the ceiling.
"Can't we talk like civilized men!?", he shrieked.
"I warned you about sneaking a peek on people, didn't I? Shigure doesn't appreciate a dirty old man trying to snap a picture of her body. You have your wife here now, focus on her and we won't come back to this.", I chuckled, "Now you might want make sure you pucker up cause this is going to hurt."
Squatting down for better balance, the next thing he saw was the images of over one hundred fists coming for him. Shrieking like a child as he took the blows head on, his wife and children just pointed and laughed. Even the other Master's were laughing at him as this was a long time coming. After a few minute minutes of beating him up, I knocked him out and cut him down. Handing him back to his wife, I said to keep him on a leash.
"Oh I intend too.", she snickered, "Come on dear, time to get you patched up."
Groaning as she dragged him out of the room, all of us chuckled as I took a seat again. Running past Ju and Kensei, Daiyu tackled me and started rubbing her face against mine with a beaming smile.
"I am so happy you are okay!", she said, "Seeing you fight all of those scary things by yourself worried me, but I can see my fear was for nothing."
"We all are happy to see Victor is fine...", Renka stated with an unamused look, "You are a member of a group now, remember that."
"I apologize for cutting in, but my mother wanted to see Victor.", Daiyu informed her, "She wants to get an idea of what the plan is, and how to assist the best."
'I do need to see who among them is from Umbrella Corp so...', I thought, "Let's go take of this."
Leading Renka and I to where her mother was, I was surprised to see that they looked at me with thankful expressions. The last time I met them they looked down on me a a foreigner so this was a welcome change. If I was going to bring Daiyu into my harem I at least wanted to try to make peace with them. Getting a better look at their group though, I realized that there was more going on here than I initially realized.
"All of them aren't your family and servants, are they...", I stated eyeing a group of five.
"What do you mean?", Daiyu asked, "I can confirm everyone in our group is family or worked with our family. We have the maids, butlers, my family, the chefs, and then the-"
"Okay then, I will make this easy.", I said putting a pistol to her mother's face, "Tell me why you have Umbrella people with you."
"Say what!?", she shrieked, "I...I don't know what you mean! I swear we had nothing to do with this nightmare!"
"Victor, what do you mean?", Daiyu inquired, "I swear on my life that we don't know what you are talking about."
"Those five people over there", I stated narrowing my eyes, "three of them I recognized immediately and two I remembered when they went to hide behind them."
"Damn...I guess you are your father's son...", the three women sighed.
"Don't act like I am like that man. I didn't put this world into chaos and abandon my remaining family.", I snapped, "I am nothing like that bastard who would abandon his son to the wolves to further his own career!"
"You know them?", Renka questioned, "Where do you know them from?"
"My friend George over in England sent me information that Umbrella is looking for them, the two ladies in the back were on the team responsible for the virus that started this shit. I assume you want to tell me why you are here with them...Claire, Jane, and Ada?", I pressed the group of women.
"Looks like our cover is blown.", they sighed.
"Wait you aren't the catering team!?", Daiyu's family gasped.
"We lied...ugh I can't believe you honestly fell for that shit.", Ada jabbed, "You didn't even bother checking our ID's or anything."
"Given the circumstances during your arrival we didn't have much time to question you. You came with the food supplies that kept us alive...we just didn't question it.", they admitted.
"Someone better start talking...I don't take kindly to Umbrella trash on my ship.", I threatened.
"Look I am only here because I was being paid very well.", Ada owned up, "Ten million dollars to escort two scientists out of China was easy money. Though in hindsight...now that money is worthless so yeah..."
"Unlike the mercenary we came to escort them away to try, and end this epidemic.", Claire and Jane answered, "We were smuggled in a few days after this started to take them away. Our group is trying to take down Umbrella Corps with their own weapons, these two scientists agreed to help us. Things went south early on after Umbrella caught wind that there were traitors in the China Branch."
"I could have handled it myself.", Ada hissed, "I didn't need your assistance to do my-"
"Enough, so only two of you got out?", I asked rubbing my forehead, "There weren't any other people you could have convinced?"
"That's right sir.", the two scientists meekly replied, "There were others, but no one wanted to upset Mr. Wesker. Umbrella Corp paid a lot of money to augment him into something inhuman. The last people to upset him were ripped in half by him personally."
"You are going to work with Black Label to reverse engineer the Tyrant Virus. We need a cure in case someone gets infected, and any benefits we can extract for the group as a whole.", I ordered them, "Yuko!"
Walking over from the lab, I told her to take the two of them to the lab. Telling her where they were from, I said to make sure no one killed them as we needed them alive. Turning to the other three I holstered my weapon then sighed.
"You going to work with us, or am I dropping you off at the next stop?", I inquired.
"We will work with you.", they answered, "You are obviously capable of taking on the undead so it-"
"I am completely immune to them.", I told them, "They can't infect me."
"Say what now...", Daiyu's group gasped.
Explaining the circumstances around my family, and what my mother did they understood now how that happened. Telling them to go get some sleep for now, I watched them leave. Claire and Jane were trustworthy...Ada was a wildcard as she could be bought easily with money. That said money kind of meant jack shit now that there was no economy. Sighing, I put a marker on her to make sure she didn't go anywhere I didn't want her to be.
Turning my attention back to Daiyu's family, they now understood where I stood with killing them. Having had a gun in her face, her mother was much more amicable now. Telling her I intended to follow the coast up around the Koreas, China, and Russia our goal was to eventually end up somewhere along the Alaskan coast. We had vast mountains separating us from the majority of the continents population so we could have a bit of a breather.
"Wouldn't it be better to be in a warmer climate?", she questioned.
"Nowhere is one hundred percent safe at the moment. Alaska has a natural mountain barrier, a low population respective the population, and we have an abundance of resources there. Yes the winters will be brutal, but we have some degree of safety. If we had an aircraft carrier I could see making a floating island, but we don't have one.", I answered.
"I understand...", she said looking their homeland.
"It should go without saying, there is no room for nationalism now. There is no more China, USA, Russia, or any country for that matter. If you have traditions you want to continue I won't stop you, but don't cause problems for others with them.", I told them, "All of us are trying to survive, we are all part of a single group from many different backgrounds."
Understanding my point, they thanked me for saving them which was a welcome surprise. Discussing their lodging for the time being, they did look thankful to be sleeping on a more substantial bed in place of a mat. Showing them to their rooms, they got settled in and immediately went to bed. Having been running on a few hours of sleep they were understandably exhausted. Even Daiyu looked noticeably exhausted at this point, and was having trouble standing up straight.
Checking in with Saya who was at the helm, I made sure she was alright before getting Daiyu settled. Wanting me to share the bed with her, I promised too this evening. At the moment I needed to check in with George, and finish plotting our path to Alaska. Understanding my explanation, she asked for a kiss to help her sleep which I gave her. Closing the door to the captain's quarters, I walked into the wheelhouse to call George.
"Seeing as you are calling me you made it out alive.", he laughed.
"Yes, we made it out of the port without any troubles.", I chuckled, "I got a favor to ask of you, Daiyu's group had a few people with ties to Umbrella with them. They snuck in during the beginning of the outbreak. Can you run a background on Claire Redfield, Jane Valentine, and Ada Wong?"
"Redfield...she wouldn't happen to be related to Chris Redfield would she?", George asked.
"Yep, she is his little sister.", I advised.
"He's the leader of an anti-Umbrella guerilla group in the States. They may be the people he's looking for at the moment, I will ask around.", he agreed, "Daiyu happy to see you?"
"You could say that.", I chuckled.
"Made her wait an awful long time.", he snickered.
"Oh shut up.", I laughed, "Things calmed down?"
"Fuck no, some giant fucking creature broke through the streets of Edinburgh. The place is a fucking warzone now, the national guard managed to push it back for the time being. We now have enemies at the front and rear, and things are becoming ever increasingly tense here.", he sighed, "My women are taken care of though which is all I care about."
"Thanks man, I feel the love.", I said.
"Good because you are annoying fucker.", he sniped with a laugh, "Try not to die out there, and good luck. I will give you a buzz when I get the information for you."
Ending the call I yawned, and walked over to Saeko and Mikoto. The two women were busy watching the horizon for enemy ships. Asking them how it looked, they said that the few ships they saw had been giving us a wide berth so it appeared Daiyu's assistance was paying off. Taking a seat, the two of them sat on my lap while continuing to survey the area.
"Victor, I have the completed list of our supplies.", Kyoko stated coming up with Yoko and Yuriko.
"Everything looking good?", I questioned.
"Yes, everything is in order.", she answered, "Everything is accounted for, and cataloged accordingly."
"Good job, I really appreciate your hard work...all of you.", I said.
Giving them each a kiss, they sat next to us to take a breather. Once we were out on the open ocean my other lovers all came over to relax. Leaving the ship on autopilot along the route I plotted, we enjoyed a few hours of peace. The ride wasn't as choppy as the ferry so it was relatively comfortable for all of us.