Jacob and Juliet brought the other adults to aunt Linda's place, where the body lay lifeless on the ground. Many gasped after seeing his ruthlessly crushed throat; others rejoiced and hugged. The janitor had already killed a few more people who had gone after him in the woods.
Luis Albert had already questioned Jacob and Juliet on the way, and the girl had held her ground perfectly.
"My God," Luis Albert's voice trembled.
"At least we don't have to worry about him anymore," Juliet shrugged.
Jacob could feel from their bond that she was still not that comfortable around the body. However, she had to put up a tough front if she wanted the others to take her seriously.
"How did you manage to…" Luis Albert looked at Juliet with a confused gaze.
"I got stronger, like him. But way stronger. It seems that everyone is getting some upgrades. A few of us have also discovered Mana inside of them, sort like magic. Others seem to have grasped a different force, similar to the fantastic Qi of the Chinese stories. I guess I got a better ticket number than him," Juliet said, pointing her finger toward the body.
Everyone looked at her with reverence. This world was all new, but people had already died. In fact, no one wanted to anger the person who could slay them next nor make an enemy out of her.
Luis Albert nodded slowly. He had confronted Juliet multiple times in the past, and he knew how unrestrained that teenager was.
"I think it's better if we discuss what to do next," Juliet said amidst the silence. "Something tells me that those Demonic Beasts are going to come again tomorrow."
Yeah, something. You show-off.
Jacob had to admit that she looked way cooler than anything he could have said or done would have.
I wish I was a hot and overpowered chick, too, he thought.
Juliet turned toward him, sensing the emotions in his thoughts, and winked at him.
"Yeah, let's get to the town hall. Hey, Linda, are you feeling better? Jacob told me that you were sick" Luis Albert turned toward his aunt and asked.
"Yes, thank you, Principal," she was in the other room, half-pretending half-serious about not wanting to see another corpse so soon.
"Well, people. Let's move the murderer outside, and let's get going" Luis Albert's voice was shaky, and he singled out a couple of people for the job, not volunteering himself.
While a couple of adults got rid of the dead body, Jacob started thinking.
What else, now? Juliet needs training as much as my aunt does. I need to cultivate and find more herbs. Tomorrow we will meet some new beasts. Hopefully, it will only be more Demonic Wolves. But we need to establish a perimeter and get the people closer together.
After reaching the town hall, most people looked skittish or angry.
"Albert! Where is Lucas?!" a soon-to-be widow shrieked.
Luis Albert did not realize that no one had told her and started fiddling with his hands.
"Marie, we were chasing the murderer and Lucas…"
The look on her face slowly turned from anger to despair. It looked like the source of her life had just been cut, and she dropped on a bench with empty eyes.
A few other people just discovered about the new deaths and started crying or shouting, or both.
Juliet stared at him in askance.
Well, no one said it was going to be easy.
He got close to her and whispered: "Don't use force now. We need people close together."
As if Luis Albert had read his mind, he suddenly asked for silence: "People! Please, order! Please! Juliet killed the murderer! We have some important findings to discuss with you! Apparently, monsters like those huge wolves will come again tomorrow!"
Almost everyone had some fear on their faces after those words. Then, however, as it befits a generation of people who did not wholly trust science nor facts, someone started shouting back.
"This is all a government plot! We have become a secret experiment of theirs! They are going to kill us all!"
Holy sh*t. I did not expect that, Jacob was shocked.
More shocking even were the tens of people who started nodding and shouting in agreement.
"This is a simulation of some sort! They must have injected us with something when we got the vaccine!"
"Yes! And sprayed us all over with some airplane chemtrails!"
The discussion had already turned to a circus.
This did not happen in my past life.
In his past life, the wolves had claimed so many lives at the beginning that no one had wanted to argue. But, once again, Jacob saving so many lives without them knowing had turned the tables for the worse.
Thankfully, Juliet seemed to get what Luis Albert did not.
Strength, sadly, is everything.
She went up to the person who had started it all and punched him hard. The middle-aged man fell like a cut tree.
"Shut up, idiots!" she roared, turning to the other boomers.
Now, the guy she had just clocked in the face was probably twice her weight and had a good 15 cm of height over her. However, the man was unconscious on the ground and did not sign that he would be getting up any soon.
Another man went crazy and started shouting right up in Juliet's face.
Isn't that Juliet's step-dad?
She clocked him so strong in the face that Jacob wondered with wide eyes if she had just killed him on the spot.
I guess that's the answer to my question, he thought.
Juliet stared at the others with a feline gaze.
"Anyone else want to say something stupid? My knuckles hurt a bit, but I'm sure I can shut up a couple more of you without a problem."
From what Jacob remembered of his past life, Juliet had always been a scrapper. She got into fights all the time, with no qualms in punching above her weight.
"Good. Now, the world is going to shit. Demonic Beasts and hell's spawn have invaded. More populated places have more monsters, and that's why we are all still alive. All cities have been overrun. People can now apparently acquire superpowers. Some can do Magic, whereas some can do Martial sh*t. All in all, we are fuc**d", Juliet shouted without thinking.
Jacob had explained some to her, but he had not expected she would just say that to everyone. It wasn't a bad strategy, but he wondered how she would justify her knowledge.
"How do you know all this?" none other than Juliet's mom asked that question while trying to nurse back to consciousness her step-dad.
"I just fuc**ng know, and it's none of your damn fuc**ng business. I just got stronger than every other fuc**r here, idiots. We need to survive until you are not all useless sh*ts. So you all go to your fuc**ng places and start seeing if you can perceive any Mana or Qi inside your body. If you can, come back to me, and I may be able to help you. Jacob here is going to be my assistant, and I'll teach him stuff so he can teach you. Our principal is going to round up people before night falls. We need a perimeter manned by men and women who can fight. We'll let you know later what's going to happen. Remember, idiots, cultivate your strength and don't waste time. If you do, you might fuc**ng die tomorrow."
Oh well, that is one way to go about it.
People looked at each other, confused before Juliet made things even clearer.
"Fu*k off! Go to your places and try to become stronger! Anyone who is not Luis fuc**ng Albert, get out right now!"
Jesus, power does weird things to people, Jacob thought.
"Juliet, dear, uhm, thank you?" Luis Albert stuttered. He wasn't sure how to behave around that unruly child who had just become massively powerful. However, if what she said was true, then the chance was his son had just become a powerful fighter himself.
"Now, you two decide where to put people. I'll go to that corner and meditate to become stronger", Juliet bossed Jacob and Luis Albert around. "And no bitc**ng around. I need it to be quite silent. You don't want me to lose my patience like with those two idiots."
I have created a monster, haven't I? Jacob wondered while looking at the smiling Juliet shoot him a kiss, and turning toward a corner of the town hall. Her face and their connection passed him a very clear message: "I have done well, haven't I?"
"Principal, shall we?" Jacob sighed and looked at a reluctant Luis Albert.