While Luke and Lori moved toward the food factory, in the house where Ben and others were staying…
Professor Nina, Ben and the boy whose name was James were in the kitchen, silently eating food. Professor Nina had a worried expression and wasn't focused on eating at all.
Ben noticed this, stopped gobbling down his food, and reassuringly said to the professor, "Don't worry too much, professor. He is strong and knows what he is doing. He will be alright."
Hearing this, James also looked at professor Nina and said in a low voice, "He is right. Sir Luke is very strong. He will return unharmed."
Professor Nina forced a smile at this and nodded. "I know, but I still can't help but worry."
Click!
Just then, the door to Alice's room opened.
She walked out with her sword in her hand and headed toward the exit without even looking at the trio in the kitchen.
Seeing this, Ben hurriedly jumped down from the dining table and blocked in front of her, asking, "Where are you, class prez? Didn't Luke tell you to stay inside?"
Hearing this, Alice gave James a brief glance before turning to look at Ben and indifferently said. "I know what he said. All he wants is that we are not exhausted, so we can move right away when he returns. So, I'll take care to not exhaust myself and only kill some stray zombies to increase my level."
After saying this, she side-stepped Ben and opened the door. But before walking out, she turned around, looked at Ben and others and said, "I also advise you guys to try your best to become stronger and not waste your time. As he said, the zombies and animals are constantly evolving. If we aren't strong enough, we will die sooner or later, even if we have Luke to protect us. After all, he is just one person and can't save everyone at all times."
Saying this, she turned around and walked out, "Close the door properly. I'll be back in a while."
"Alice. Wait." Professor Nina shouted and hurried toward the door.
Alice stopped and looked at her questioningly.
Professor Nina took a deep breath and said, "What you said is right. We should become stronger and not burden Luke. So, can you please help me evolve?"
"No." Alice shook her head without hesitation.
Professor Nina's expression dimmed when she heard this.
Seeing this, Alice explained, "It's not that I don't want to help you, professor but I'm not confident that I could ensure your safety while fighting other zombies."
"Um. I understand." Professor Nina nodded and then said with a smile. "Okay. You take care outside. Act only when it's safe to do so."
Alice nodded in acknowledgement before vanishing at the end of the street.
Professor Nina closed the door before returning to the dining table, her eyes flashing with determination.
James, who was just recovering from the shock of his parents' death and the world's change, went in deep thought after hearing Alice's speech.
…
After more than half an hour, Luke and Lori had arrived near the food factory.
Like before, they didn't encounter many zombies on the way, which made their journey easy.
Since the [Rapid recovery] skill was always working passively, Luke had completely recovered his stamina.
[Stamina: 21]
In front of the factory's main gate stood five men with swords, iron rods and wooden club in their hands. They were laughing and chatting, at complete ease, which was strange because everyone should be concerned and worried about the sudden change.
"They are really here. I hope Julia is here and is alright." Lori worriedly mumbled and increased her pace.
Luke was thinking if it was a good idea to approach the factory openly and wanted to stop Lori, but the five people had already noticed her.
Seeing this, Luke could only sigh and follow her.
"Hey, look." One of the five said when he noticed Lori in the distance.
Others looked in the direction he pointed, and upon noticing two people walking toward them, they tightened the grip on their weapons.
However, when they saw only Luke had a sword hanging on his waist while Lori was completely unarmed and none of them seemed to be injured by the zombies, they visibly relaxed.
When Lori and Luke were 15 feet away from them, a short-haired man who was holding an iron rod raised his hand and shouted. "Stop right there."
The duo stopped.
The short-haired man and others looked at Lori up and down and their eyes brightened up when they saw how beautiful she was.
"Tell me, where do you come from? Are you infected and are you also an evolver like the kid behind you?" The short-haired man asked Lori.
Lori shook her head. "No, we aren't infected. We live in F residential block and I'm not an evolver.
The short-haired man nodded and muttered under his breath, "It's good you are not." He then glanced at his partners and asked, "Didn't boss and others cleared the F block just an hour ago?"
"Yeah. The leader and others went to do it. They also brought some survivors, but how could they have missed them?" The guy with the wooden club said.
"Survivors?" Lori's eyes sparkled with hope when she heard him speak. She immediately took out her daughter's picture and showed it to them and asked, "Was she among the survivors? She is my daughter."
The short-haired man and others looked at the picture. Everyone apart from the wooden club man shook their heads that they didn't know.
The wooden club man, who looked to be around 30 years old and had an overgrown belly and mustache, said, "I think I saw her. She was unconscious."
He then looked at Lori and asked, "So, you are her mother?"
"Yes." Lori nodded, tears appearing in her eyes.
"Okay. You can come with me. I'll take you to her." The wooden club man said, secretly licking his lips.
Slap!
The short-haired man gave him a slap and glared at him. "You stay here. I'll take her."
The wooden club man was enraged but didn't say anything. Other three also kept quiet.
Finally, the short-haired man glanced at Luke and asked, "What level are you and have you learned any skill?"
"I'm level 1 and I don't know what skill you are talking about? Where can I learn it?" Luke put on a puzzled expression.
From their behavior until now and how they looked at Lori, he knew these people weren't good and to save Julia, he might have to fight them, so telling them the truth about strength wasn't a good idea.
Lori raised a brow when she heard this. She knew he has learned more than one skill and was stronger than level 1. But she didn't say anything. As an experienced woman, she could also tell these people were good.
"So you are a level 1 weakling." The short-haired man disdainfully said. He didn't doubt him because getting skill books was not easy, especially for a 'weakling' like Luke.
"If you want to enter the factory, submit your weapon and the things you have taken from the zombie's corpses." The man said haughtily added.