As the stronghold leader of the Ice Wing Stronghold put pressure on his shoulder wound, Tris turned away from him. Once again, she entered the house through the window and seated herself on the table.
She reached out for one of the drumsticks and started eating as if the scuffle didn't just happen a couple of seconds ago.
As for the stronghold leader, he staggered towards the broken window, stole a glance at Tris who single-handedly beat him up, and he sat down, joining her for a meal.
Amaya, Kazuichi, and Sano had no idea why there was bad blood between the two, but they didn't bother asking questions. Besides, they were hungry, so they opted to eat first before dealing with what was next.
Honestly, Kazuichi was well aware that the leader of the Ice Wing Stronghold was a Hybrid, and he also knew that the stronghold leader could've easily defeated Tris in a match.
He chose to get a one-sided beating though, which perplexed Kazuichi a little bit.
"Pardon the late introduction, the name's Cerulean Bluelock. And yes, that's my real name." Cerulean said out of nowhere before eating a drumstick. "And sorry about that pitiful display back there. I didn't retaliate, right? Let's just forget about the past, Tris." He gestured, extending his hand towards Tris who was still eating as if there was no tomorrow.
"I don't trust you... and I can't. How am I supposed to trust you when you ambushed me plenty of times?"
"As I said, let it be. It's not like you died or anything." Cerulean heaved a sigh. "Look, if I wanted to, I'd have locked you up right here, right now. But no, I want to come to peaceful terms with you and your group."
"For what? To coerce us into joining your shelter? I'm sorry, but we already joined a shelter." Tris shot him down before he could even say his case.
Meanwhile, Kazuichi and the others remained quiet. They were too hungry to speak, and it's not like Cerulean gave off a threatening vibe.
Since Cerulean wasn't getting through to Tris, he just let her be. By now, the group was busily eating, and he also savored the food with them.
Finally, there was peace and quiet. Well, not really since Cerulean would wince from time to time due to the throbbing pain in his shoulder. The stab wound was deep, but it was bearable.
"Where's the other two? You know, that red-haired guy and that woman? I thought you were inseparable?" Tris asked out of nowhere, mentioning two other identities who were supposed to be with Cerulean.
That's when the atmosphere in the room shifted, and Cerulean's expression became somber. With a sigh, he answered Tris's prodding question. "They're not here anymore. They died."
Tris felt a tad bit guilty for asking the question, and she hung her head as she expressed her condolences.
In the past Cerulean's group harassed her, asking her to join their stronghold and giving her ultimate choices. They were even the ones behind Tris's hardship. Plenty of times, they were the root cause of hordes attacking Tris, and there were moments when Tris almost died.
Then again, at the end of the day, she was still alive, and they helped her transform into a formidable survivor despite being uninfected. Her growth was thanks to their harassment, but that didn't mean that she already fully forgave them.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tris let out as she put a mouthful of rice in her mouth.
"That's why we were gathering strong individuals like you. The powers are shifting in this country, and the strongest would come out on top." Cerulean began. "My friends were killed... because they sacrificed their lives to save mine. I don't even know if my life was worth it, but I'll certainly avenge them."
While Cerulean was having a monologue about how he'd avenge the death of his Hybrid friends, his gaze landed on Kazuichi, who was doubtfully eyeing him.
He could tell that Kazuichi was gauging his power level as a Hybrid, and it gave him the chance to explain himself.
Quite frankly, Kazuichi was just looking at him since he was speaking. He wasn't particularly questioning the potent Hybrid scent that emanated from him.
"You're probably wondering why? And as a fellow comrade, and also to express my heartfelt apology to my good friend Tris here, I would explain things to you."
"What we know about the outbreak... is completely off. The zombie virus didn't start from a biological weapon or something like that... but rather, it came from..."
"It came from a meteorite."
Kazuichi's pupils slowly dilated as Cerulean started explaining things. However, the moment he mentioned the word meteorite Kazuichi's face shifted to an indifferent expression.
"Yeah, right, everybody knows that, Cerulean-san." Kazuichi interrupted his explanation. "But the virus proliferated through humans, and now they're steadily taking over the world. The first virus came from the meteorite, but it had reproduced via human infection."
"Yes, that was the gist of it. I know everybody knows that." Cerulean outright defended himself before Kazuichi could continue his interruption. Once again, he cleared his throat and continued.
"What you know was the general knowledge of how the virus was introduced to our world. But recently, I found out that there wasn't one, but many meteorites. Also, some Hybrids were getting these meteorites and using them on themselves. It gives them more power, provided that they'd be able to rein in the sheer amounts of virus they forcefully intake."
"Some Aberrants were directly influenced by the meteorite, that's why they were formidable and sentient, and these are the Hybrids' targets. They kill them and harvest the small meteor inside them. They would then use it on themselves, absorbing them and becoming even stronger."
"This knowledge is becoming more and more common... so it wouldn't take long before we see Hybrids who were as powerful as Omega Zombies. Think about it... it's possible right?"
Cerulean's words bore down on the group. He really told them valuable information which they never encountered before.
"But what can we do about it?" Kazuichi asked. If everyone was bound to do it, then there was no stopping it, right?
"Simple. We hoard as much meteorite pieces as we could. Will you help me?" Cerulean promptly answered before he inevitably asked for their assistance.