"We meet again, young man," Ben said as he smiled at Erix before looking at Erix's cut-off leg. Then shaking his head with a wry smile, he continued, "It seems you had a rough journey."
'Tsk, I can easily reach Phoenix City if this brat can tame another flying monster or give me this one,' Ben thought as he looked at Erix with an annoyed glint deep in his eyes.
"Did you meet another group of people on the way? Or heard any fighting sound by any chance?" General Tark asked after exchanging a greeting with Toshin and his wife.
"Another group? Did you send people to rescue me?" Toshin asked with a surprised expression.
"Yeah. Judging from your tone, it seems that you didn't encounter them," General Tark said before he put his hand on Toshin's shoulder. "Go and rest for now."
"Marlo, lead them to Bunker A."
'Heh, he is already calling shots,' Rin thought as she saw General Tark arranging things.
"As for you…."
After briefly glancing at the giant Eagle behind them, General Tark turned to Erix, Rin, and Isabella. "Do you three plan to leave again?"
"Nope. We'll have a bit of rest. We need that, as you can see," Erix said with a plain smile.
"Your balance is superb. Standing straight without swaying even a bit."
Lieutenant Polly said as he was impressed by Erix, who stood on one leg without trouble or swaying.
"It's a basic thing for those who seriously learn martial arts. I wonder if the military also teaches about having a good balance?" Rin said with a smile.
"Ahem… You are welcome if you plan to stay here. Tony, show them their place as well.
"Fortunately, we have enough space for people to sleep," General Tark said after a fake cough and glanced at a soldier for some signal.
"We also saw a working jeep since you traveled here on that. Would you mind showing us that vehicle?" a soldier asked with a smile after getting General Tark's signal.
"We'll talk about that after we take some rest," Erix said as he stretched his arms. "You see, we are pretty tired and also need treatment. Can we finish that first?"
"Sure, haha. Soldier, please lead them to Bunker A," Ben said with a gentle smile.
"Erix, are we really going to do it?" Isabella whispered while walking left side of Erix.
"Of course," whispered Rin, who was walking right side of Erix, snickered.
The soldier at the front heard some whispers but couldn't listen to them properly.
"Relax, don't worry too much about it," Erix said in a low voice to Isabella.
...
People inside the military thought they were safe, but the danger was soon approaching the base.
No. It was already there, but just not on the surface.
Over a hundred pairs of red eyes sparked in darkness, longing for food and blood.
On the other hand, mutated creatures were devouring zombies and other animals while proliferating in the city.
Many people were still alive at various spots in the city, trying their best to survive after finding a safe base.
Most of them were moving towards the military base while carefully proceeding and killing monsters to grow strong.
...
"You guys have a lot of power, right? Should we go out and attempt to kill zombies as well?"
People gathered around Erix, Rin, and Isabella in the hall of Bunker A, looking on with curiosity and hope.
Aaron was sleeping in a room while Toshin was resting with his family in a different room.
The bodyguards were also resting in another room.
Unlike Erix, Toshin has been in persistent pain since his leg was severed. Fortunately, a few doctors present on the base treated him.
Erix, however, declined the treatment because he was aware that he would not benefit from regular medical care and didn't want to expose his unique body structure—a hybrid Zombie.
He wasn't in pain because he was a half-zombie, and his wound wasn't bleeding either, so he was fine. But to move at his full capabilities, he wanted to regenerate his leg quickly if possible.
"I heard a group went out to get strong. If they return safely, I want to join them."
People surrounded Erix, Rin, Isabella, and others as they asked questions and talked to each other.
They all wished for a way out and desired some hope of survival because they were all in a grave situation and thought the world was ending.
"Did anyone among you kill a zombie or other mutant animal?" Erix looked around at everyone before asking.
"No. We lived near this base, so we rushed here when zombies started coming out of the ground, and people started turning."
"We lived a bit far, but I rushed here in my car with my family."
'Families... And all of them seem well-off,' Rin thought as she looked at people in the bunker.
Kids, teens, young adults, parents, old folks…
'Since they've never killed a zombie and are level 0, they will get good drops if they kill zombies,' Erix thought as he formed a plan in his head. 'Some of them might also get healing skills.'
Erix was slightly desperate to regrow his leg because he felt incomplete with only one leg. His combat ability was also affected, and he didn't like it.
"Can we get strong like you and get powers?" a young man looking similar age as Erix questioned with desire in his eyes.
"You all can get strong like us and get powers," Erix said with a smile behind his mask and moved his finger a bit as he controlled some metal plates on the table several meters away.
Seeing him moving around metal plates, people were startled, and young ones got excited.
Isabella wryly smiled upon seeing their expression. 'They are getting baited. But it's good if Erix finds a good way to make them strong. Hmm, I guess he wants them to kill zombies so they can get good drops like a healing skill since they are level 0 people.'
While Erix and Rin spoke to the people, Ben Melkan's family was in their room in Bunker A.
"What's going on?"
Ben's wife, Bertha, the woman with red hair and fair skin tone, and her two nineteen-year-old kids, Hathor and Marisa, exited their room upon hearing the commotion.
The first thing they saw was a large frost shield.
"Even bullets can't pass through this shield, so safety is guaranteed," Erix said as he told a soldier beside him to shoot.
The people watched with anticipation as the soldier pointed his rifle at the Frost Shield and fired!
"No way, right?" Marisa muttered. She had red hair like her mother, but hers were dark maroon, and kept a short ponytail hairstyle. She also had a developed and hot figure like her mother, with a fair skin tone and a more beautiful face.
*Thak, Thak, Thak!*
The bullets hit the Frost Sheild, but the shield didn't even crack!
"Woah!"
"T-This… just how tough is this Frost Shield?"
"It didn't even get a single scratch!"
"Yeah. Those were rifle bullets, not pistol's!"
Erix and Rin glanced at each other upon seeing people getting excited.