Third POV.
Somewhere in Gram, stood a burger stall with three customers sitting on the chair, waiting for their orders.
Behind the stall, a man was humming his favorite song as he watched the patty on the grill, patiently waiting for it to be cooked. Above the grill laid five patties and bread.
After some time, he flipped them in mere seconds before putting the bread to the side. He then put salad and onion, spray sauce before putting the patty and put tomato and cucumber before ending it with the top, round bread.
He wrapped it in a few seconds before giving it to the customers. They paid the required sum and he received it with a smile.
He continued until there were no customers, while humming and using his scrapper to flip the patties in fluid motion, seemingly dancing.
"Thank you, come again." He gave a girl her order with a smile.
"Yeah." She nodded slightly. Eyes uninterested, stuck on her telephone. She accepted her order and gave him the money before walking away, leaving a rather rude impression to those around her.
"People nowadays…" the burger man said slowly. He returned to the grill and lowered the heat, and then he checked if the vegetables had run out or were short.
Just then, a man in a business suit approaches his stall. He cleared his throat to catch the burger man's attention.
"How's business going?" The man read the menu.
"It's usual." His voice is calm.
"I still can't believe you continue doing this, I thought you were just bored. Right, lamb burger please."
The man opened an orange box and pulled out a bag of patties. Cold smoke emits from it.
He then put one to the grill, before returning the bag to the box, and close it.
"It's fun." The man turned the stove slightly, increasing the heat. Following that, he put butter on the grill. It melted instantaneously, creating hissing sound. Smoke rose.
The man chuckled, "That's a surprise, especially coming from you."
The man gave him a sidelong glance. "Is it weird?" His voice was low, almost amused.
"Maybe... Not for you." The man responded. A nervous flicker crossing his eyes.
"So, what is your purpose here, Wo?"
Wo said in realization. "I'm here to tell you about something."
"Speak."
"Sunny has found out about the massacre." His words were solemn and heavy.
The burger man paused for a moment, before smiling. "It's about time he found it."
"What? Aren't you worried?" Wo paused with a frown, realization struck him, perhaps slower than a lightning. "You're alright with this?"
The burger man flipped the patty, creating a sizzling sound.
"Rather, I've been waiting for this."
"He's going to destroy you if you let him do as he likes, Zeppelin. Are you okay with that?" He said in concern.
"Rather, I let him do as he likes." Zeppelin halted whatever he's doing and turned to his left, where his last customer had just gone.
A few moments later, a shriek of agony and pain reverberated in the area. It slowly faded away.
Wo turned to the side with a frown, "Is that your doing?"
"Can you clean up that filthy corpse?"
"What did she do?"
"She takes advantage of her workers, blackmails them, and forces them on unpaid overtime. Making them kill themselves." He explained.
"Why do you care again?" Wo looked at him, his brows furrowed
"It's a request, and it's nice to remove a few monsters in human skin." Zeppelin flipped the patty again. It had a golden, brown-ish color from previously raw.
"With burgers?"
"With burgers." He nodded, and flipped the bread, letting it stay on the other side for a few moments before moving it to a tray. He then put in the necessary vegetables.
"I never understand how your powers work." Wo sighed.
"Which is exactly what I want." Zeppelin finished setting up the burger. He wrapped it and gave it to Wo in a plastic bag.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." He paused slightly. "About Sunny, let him do as he pleases, don't do anything to him and complete your mission."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, you should worry more about yourself than worry about me. How's your progress?"
"It's going smoothly. I managed to retrieve the device and gave it to the Priest."
"You use such a round way method to get it. Is it worth it?"
Wo used the Phoenix squad and also Scarecrow, making them fight.
"Yes, as long as it can end this war."
"My power surely can kill those creatures and make humans thrive on the surface once more, but have you wondered why humanity is forced to live underground? Sure, there are some of us that live on the surface, but a single misstep meant death." Zeppelin turned the stove off and took a few cucumbers. He peeled them, cut them into a few pieces and swiped them against a flat board with a grater, turning them thin and short.
"Isn't it because those creatures wanted to take over the planet?" Wo replied, but his voice carried a bit of uncertainty, as though those words were repeated over and over again, that he, himself, doubted it.
"Certainly they're here not to take the planet. Their sheer numbers that won't decrease and immense strength are more than enough to eliminate humanity. That aside for now, have you noticed something?" Zeppelin finished grating the cucumbers and wipe his hands.
Wo fell silent, contemplating for answers. Eventually, he shook his head.
"They never, not once, set foot inside this city."
"Perhaps because the Divine Tree protects us."
"That thing only grants us powers, nothing else. You already know that shadows can live everywhere, underground, sea, mountains and even outer space. The question arises, with their great adaptability, why haven't they attacked this place? The nearest nest from the city is only fifteen kilometers away, isn't it bizarre?"
"Zeppelin, what did you just discover?" He frowned a bit.
"Something you shouldn't know. Sometimes I envy you, Wo. You're not cursed with knowledge."
"Cut the crap, Zeppelin! Tell me what you know about them!"
"Is it important now? We're about to eliminate all of them once and for all. Right, I forgot to tell you, but it will not be me that's going to do it."