Chapter 57 - Mutants and Zombies Blame Florida Man for Hoarding Weaponry, Food, Water, and Medical Supplies During T-Virus Outbreak
After taking a bath, Felix managed to calm down. He put on clothes and had a heart-to-heart meeting with Jane and Valley in the living room.
The living room was still messy as the cement golem had moved furniture to barricade the front door. It would take a day to return everything to normal. Thus, everybody sat on the floor, looking at each other.
Felix listened to Jane and Valley as they told their stories.
Jane recounted everything she did while Felix was away, including the city raid and the golem's achievements. When Jane finished, she begged him.
"I know it's sudden, but can we let her live here?"
"With us?" Felix raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. We have so many rooms. Can't we share with her?"
"What about her mansion? Her family has a freaking castle."
Jane sighed. "Haven't you seen what those Lamias did to the people? They stormed the castle and got both Lord Robert and Roland. Even Sinnet lost. If I hadn't busted Lady Valley out during the siege, she would have been killed."
Felix deeply inhaled and slightly shook his head, feeling bad for the lady. He didn't mind sheltering the daughter of his ex-employer.
"Alright. She will be in your care, though."
"Thanks, Felix," Jane said, hugging Valley, cheering her up.
Meanwhile, Valley kept averting her eyes from Felix. She was still as timid as the first day he met her.
"Right, I almost forgot," Jane changed the topic. "Our food storage is running low. Felix, I'm planning to visit another town and stockpile some grains and vegetables. Can I bring your golem with me as a bodyguard?"
Felix recalled that he had been away for several days, and Valley had joined the household. Thus, the food supply had depleted faster than usual. Still, it was unnecessary to go shopping so soon as Felix had accumulated some supply crates from quest rewards.
"There's no need for that. I've got you covered."
Felix brought out more supply crates and passed Jane some food. Since she had mentioned grains and vegetables, Felix searched the online shopping system for food delivery or something similar to add some varieties to the menus.
All assortment of regular food in the system shop was dirt cheap—one year of lifespan per ton of daily products on average. Even premium A5 wagyu ribeye steak cost only ten years of lifespan per ton.
As Felix had some lifespan to splurge, he purchased 100kg of premium wagyu, a ton of flour for baking, and a ton of various vegetables for the girls. He stored most of the food in his inventory to preserve them. Then, he brought out a few pounds, enough for the family to last for a week. He would restock them later when they ran low on food again.
As soon as Felix dropped some raw meat, cabbages, lettuces, and bags of flour, Valley widened her eyes in astonishment. As for Jane, she squealed and kissed Felix's cheek.
"You're the best, Felix!"
"Yeah, I'm the best. How about you go make daddy a sandwich?"
"Sure! It will take a while since I need to knead the dough."
"I can wait. Oh, sugar and salt are in the regular crates," Felix added, dropping another crate full of basic supplies, which contained spices and sauces for cooking.
The family didn't need extra water as the building automatically generated tap water. Felix planned to install a drinking water system in the kitchen when he had free time.
After getting their hands on food, Jane and Valley moved everything to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for everyone. As for Felix, he hit the bed and took a long break.
…
A day later, Felix, Jane, and Valley didn't leave the house. There was a reason.
After the raid, a hundred townspeople survived and returned home. However, a few died because of STDs that originated from Lamia fluids. All men whose stomachs were infected by Lamia eggs began hatching on the first day. However, the baby Lamias burst out of their bellies, killing their fathers instantly.
As the Lamias had destroyed their homes and left mental scars on everyone, no one spared the babies. As soon as they were born, they were hunted and killed by the townspeople for revenge.
Unfortunately, murdering monster children wasn't enough to satisfy their grudge. They quickly shifted their anger toward the remaining building in the city, which had never been touched by the Lamias—Felix's house.
A dozen middle-aged women, whose skin had mutated into snake scales, gathered in front of Felix's house. They started cussing and blaming him.
An elderly woman pointed her finger, "You caused all this! It's your fault they invaded us!"
Another woman bellowed, "You have the power to protect yourself! Why didn't you save us?!"
One of them, a merchant who remembered past events and the assassination incident, yelled, "I heard you are knighted! If you're so strong, where were you when those monsters attacked us?!"
"COME OUT, COWARD!"
The women screamed. One of them threw a stone at the building.
The rock bounced off the barrier. Then, another hell broke loose. A lightning bolt struck the rock thrower and killed her instantly!
The townswomen screamed again. This time, they scrambled in every direction like headless chickens. After this event, nobody dared to provoke Felix's house again.
…
Three days passed. Felix, Jane, and Valley stayed inside as it was still unsafe outside.
More townspeople showed symptoms of mutation. Women who had screamed at Felix's house a few days ago could no longer walk as their legs merged into one, transforming into Lamia's tails. Snake scales replaced their skin while their tongues split into two.
Men had it worse. Those who had intimate contact with a Lamia suffered from a deformation disease, causing their bones and limbs to swell like zombies infected by an evolved T-Virus. Some mutants began attacking other survivors, causing mayhem.
Children were also not safe from the infection. As several of them lost their parents, they ate and drank whatever they found in the city, including infected water sources. They, too, either mutated into small Lamias or became monsters.
By day seven, ordinary humans no longer existed in the city, except for Felix, Jane, and Valley. Only mutated Lamias and mindless male zombies remained. The newly mutated Lamias started commanding the zombies and set up a new civilization in the city.
By day ten, as all humans perished due to local diseases, infections, and mutations, Felix began cleaning houses. Jane tagged along, carrying a WWI rifle and a backpack full of ammunition.
The husband and wife shot down anything that moved. By day 14th, Terra City became a ghost town, where only one family occupied the whole city.
…
The movements of the Lamia Army soon caught another city's attention. The Swan House, the landlords of Ol'Water Province, had been monitoring their actions since their delegates visited Terra City, which was located on the border of their province.
The Marquis of Ol'Water, Buttus Fabulousier, was an archmage.
As a water mage, he was weak against Lamias, who mastered both aura and the same spells he had. As soon as Buttus heard about the Lamia Army moving southward to his province, he reported this to the central government of his country, the Dragoon Empire, via a magic crystal.
The capital city, Big Zoot, received the report and immediately mobilized archmages and star knights to reinforce the province. While they were at it, one of the archmages, who was a professor at the local academy, headed to check on Terra City as the Lamia Army was nearby.
On the tenth day after Felix had returned, the archmage from the capital arrived.