"And where are you going to go? You're welcome to leave. Besides, this is not the time to discuss this. I'm exhausted and I need to sleep."
Zack smiled again.
"I don't think you're arrogant enough to believe this is the only refuge. I'm sure it won't be long before I find another one that will accept me gladly. As for the other point, I'm afraid more and more problems are always cropping up, so if you're taking a break it's the perfect time to discuss this."
Adam lowered his head, he didn't feel the slightest bit like dealing with this now.
"All right, but not now, we'll talk later."
"Okay, but don't take too long, I'm not willing to keep working for free."
Zack left the room with a triumphant smile. Leonard and Tarin looked at each other for a moment before sighing.
"I'm sure you'll have to deal with more people like him in the future, so you'd better get used to it," said Miguel. "As for the rest, I think you're right this time. Besides, the monstrosity decimated most of the Windwalkers for us, so I think we're good for now."
Adam nodded and then rose from his seat.
"I need to sleep, I'm exhausted. Miguel, check on the status of my team and see if they've improved. Also, I want us to have a ceremony tonight for those who have died, I think we've left that matter unattended for too long."
Miguel nodded.
"Are you going to cremate them?"
"Yes, along with all the corpses we need to get rid of."
"All right, I'll talk to Carlos to get everything ready."
Adam left the flat and headed home without paying attention to anything. When he got to his room, he fell into his bed and promptly fell asleep, not even getting to hear the good news from the system.
[Engineer has advanced to level 13]
[New skills unlocked:]
[Rock Grenade: Summons a chunk of metallic rock that you can throw. It will explode a few seconds after you release it].
[Detection Geophones: You can summon geophones that specialize in detecting the waves generated by other living things as they move through any medium. When used, they automatically connect to a summoned mini-computer with which the user can learn the types of enemies approaching.
Meanwhile, Miguel decided to first visit Noah, who was in the superblock. He knocked on the door of the guard's house and waited patiently. Finally, Noah opened the door and seemed in a better mood.
"I'm glad to see you're better. Did you sleep?"
"Yes, did something good happen?"
"We managed to kill the monstrosity. It was harder than expected, but Adam's plan succeeded."
"Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't have to intervene. But... What's the reason for your visit?"
"Adam wants to have a ceremony tonight to cremate the dead."
Noah looked at Miguel for a while.
"Yes, I think that's fine."
"Any problems?"
"None, it's just that I'm not one for that kind of event, I didn't even attend my father's funeral."
Miguel raised an eyebrow. He wondered if Noah was really all right, since he didn't seem like the same person.
"Well, I don't think you'll regret attending, so I'll see you later."
"As you wish, by the way... I'll be ready again tomorrow. I honestly don't think there could be anything much worse than what I just experienced."
Miguel remembered the monstrosity with a shudder and for a moment thought about telling Noah he was wrong, but quickly dismissed the idea, it wasn't something the Guard needed to hear.
Noah closed the door and Miguel decided that, before he went ahead with what Adam had asked him to do, he should talk to Carlos.
"So their risky plan succeeded again, I just hope they come to their senses."
"Relax, Adam decided to take a break and hold a ceremony for the dead."
Carlos looked visibly relieved.
"I'm glad. I suppose you want me to warn the survivors about such a ceremony."
"That's exactly what I was planning."
Carlos had no problem accepting, but he also wanted to talk to the military man about an important matter that had come to his mind recently, after seeing the death of the monstrosity.
"Can I ask something, Miguel?"
The soldier looked at Carlos with curiosity.
"Of course."
Carlos abandoned his friendly attitude and stared at him.
"What do you think the world will be like in a few years?"
Miguel was speechless, the truth was that he hadn't thought about it for a moment.
"I see a world where your level will determine your position in society. What level is Adam? 10? 15? What do you think will happen if the survivors don't agree with him and try to change their plans?"
Miguel immediately understood where Carlos was going.
"I think Adam is willing to reason with them."
"Just like he reasoned with me? I don't know if you heard, but Adam just imposed his ideas, it's just that this time the majority agreed. What happens when you and Adam don't feel the same way?"
Miguel sharpened his gaze.
"Simple, I'll present my ideas and let him know that I don't agree with him and then I'll obey what he orders me to do."
Carlos sighed.
"I had forgotten that you are from the military. Of course you will obey your superior, but my point is that this is a dangerous path, Miguel. Adam has the power to crush everyone if he so chooses and there is nothing those survivors can do to stop him. I'm afraid everything was fine as long as they didn't realize the situation, but today Tracel proved them wrong."
"Tracel? What did he do?"
Carlos smiled.
"Nothing important. Just as the survivors in the car park were about to flee from that disgusting mass of flesh, he put one of his skills into practice and ordered them to stay at their posts and keep calm."
Miguel frowned and began to speak without thinking much about what Carlos had said.
"I don't see the pro..." Miguel interrupted himself, as he just realized what that meant.
"I see you get the idea. No one is happy about what happened in the car park, I've taken it upon myself to talk to people while you had your meeting behind closed doors. An ability that allows you to order anyone around like that is a double-edged sword, especially right now."
"If I remember correctly, you convinced the survivors of the superblock to go out and fight the zombies when Adam first came here. I understand you worked in the same field as Tracel, so your classes may be similar. You've also done the same as him."
Carlos smiled bitterly.
"It's no use hiding it. Our class is [Leader], I guess it has to do with our positions in politics. The point is that the ability can be used subtly, but Tracel showed his true potential in the car park and many survivors are paranoid. Did they agree to be part of this shelter voluntarily? Or did Adam use an ability without them realizing?"
Miguel closed his eyes for a moment. The situation was worse than he had imagined. That kind of mistrust would have serious consequences sooner or later, especially in such a small shelter.
"Do you have a solution?" he asked.
"Fortunately, yes, but it's not easy. I have the same ability as Tracel, so I understand its use and I also know its inherent weakness. It doesn't work on high level people. The greater the level difference the easier it is to get someone to obey. I imagine that all abilities that affect a person directly have the same interaction."
"But no one is willing to fight zombies."
"That's true, but there is another, much simpler way. My wife helped me discover it by accident. Something so obvious that it has gone unnoticed."
"Another way?"
"She is an interior designer and her class is [Designer]. She advanced a level by simply designing the interior of a house on our computer. I don't know if there's a way for those with a Class like Warrior to advance this way, but it's a start."
Miguel nodded, it made a lot of sense to him. Besides, such a solution would probably give the survivors an incentive to level up, which was certainly a good idea.
"I think we should implement this as soon as possible. I'll talk to Adam and have him explain it to all the survivors. We could even do a live demonstration of how Tracel is unable to command Adam."
Carlos smiled and nodded.
"Well, that's certainly another problem for the mountain that keeps piling up," Miguel sighed before waving goodbye to Carlos.
Carlos watched him as he walked down the corridor. For now his plan had succeeded. Luckily, those in command were so preoccupied with the zombie threat that they were unaware of the unbalanced situation in the shelter. He succeeded in convincing the people in power to give power to others, a thing he thought impossible. He thought about the skill Tracel had used [Authoritative Voice], a useful skill no doubt, but limited. Why should he use it to convince anyone else when he could use his own charisma to do so? Even if Adam was level 20 there was no way he had any protection against anything that wasn't a system skill, let alone Miguel.
Finally Carlos closed the door. He was satisfied with the conversation. Now he hoped that in the shelter there could be more balance, for in that situation he was more certain to gain more power and influence. That night, when he went to bed, he gained two new levels, which only made him feel more confident.