Return
It had been nearly a week since our last return home.
"Any hostiles nearby?"
"No reactions on the radar."
I nodded at Arva's report.
"Then let's head in."
The Ark's location was our lifeline.
It could never be exposed to the outside world.
We double-checked our surroundings one final time before slipping through the entrance disguised as a concrete barrier.
With a grinding screech, the door sealed shut behind us. We passed through several massive containers masquerading as warehouses before finally breathing in the familiar air of the Ark's interior.
"Commander—!"
"Commander!"
The moment we passed through the main gate, Karen and Luna came rushing over.
It seemed the Central AI, Wanderer, had tipped them off about our return in advance.
"You took way too long! I was seriously starting to worry something horrible had happened!"
Karen's scolding was laced with unmistakable relief.
Looking at her, I scratched my head and gave an awkward smile.
Truth be told, even I hadn't expected the mission to drag on this long.
Of course, as long as Wanderer was functioning normally, they could've known I was fine.
But in this hellish apocalypse, days without contact were bound to spark worry.
"Helena! Silva!"
A small figure came barreling like a bullet, throwing herself into Helena's arms.
She hugged Helena's waist tight.
As if used to Luna's antics, Helena staggered slightly but scooped her up gently.
Luna's long tail, cradled in Helena's arms, swished rapidly back and forth.
"We're back. You holding up okay?"
"Yeah! I took my concentrated nutrients like a good girl, practiced my shooting, and... Karen and I even built a big indoor farm!"
Once set down, Luna proudly pointed off to one side with her finger.
She looked just like the baby sister eager for praise from a big sis she hadn't seen in ages.
Not that it was strange, given their appearances.
Though they didn't really resemble each other.
Anyway, my gaze naturally followed where Luna pointed.
Sector D-3.
Off in the distance, a hazy structure that looked like a small indoor farm cobbled together from unused space came into view.
"You built it already?"
It was something I'd tasked Karen with before leaving, and it already looked pretty respectable.
"It was small-scale, so it was easy. We solved all the soil issues too."
"Soil issues? There was something like that?"
"Yeah! The soil was contaminated, so we neutralized it all with concentrated nutrients."
"......"
Did nutrients have that function? First time I’d heard of it, really.
"So we planted mushrooms, potatoes, and sweet potatoes!"
"Whoa, already? Wait, more importantly—did this Ark even have seeds left?"
"Yep! With Wanderer's help, we opened the seed vault and found some inside."
"Seed vault? We had one of those here?"
That was surprising.
I figured the idiot Chinese Fleet Commander of Ark 69 would've scrapped everything like that.
"Oh, nothing was left intact. It was all smashed to bits."
Yeah, figures.
Anyway, the Chinese—or rather, those petty small-minded fools—were no help to anyone.
"But we couldn't just give up, so Luna and I scoured the vault. That's when Luna found a few viable seeds."
"Nice."
My eyes shifted to Luna's perky ears and tail at Karen's words.
Maybe because she was a dog, or rather a wolf-like beastkin ECHO?
With her superior sense of smell for sniffing out hidden items, she'd managed to uncover them somehow.
It really was a stroke of luck that the Cerberus squad had joined our Ark.
We might've built the farm only to twiddle our thumbs otherwise.
"What about other seeds?"
"Uh, yeah. Leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach, and some herbs were found too. But I figured root crops would be better for now, so I planted those on my own."
Karen glanced at me cautiously as she spoke.
She seemed nervous about starting crops without my orders.
"Good call, Karen."
I openly patted her head, and her face lit up instantly.
"Oh! And we planted strawberries too—they're fast to harvest in tight spaces."
Was that why?
Karen puffed out her chest proudly.
She was so cute I nearly reached out to give her a firm hug, but I barely held back.
Gotta be careful here.
I hadn't built that level of rapport with Karen yet.
ECHOs were loyal to their commander, but they each had their own feelings. I had to mind my manners.
"—!"
Right then, I felt Arva flinch beside me.
Her eyes had locked onto Karen the moment the word strawberry came up.
[Arva / Likes - Strawberries, Strawberry Smoothies, Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Mochi]
Of course.
Arva's profile from Echoes of Humanity — ECHO.
Cool and rational always, but she had a massive weakness for strawberries.
For reference, to find her in-game, players just hit up the Ark cafe—she spent off-duty time gorging on strawberry treats there more often than not.
Naturally, gifting strawberry items was the fastest way to boost her affinity.
Not for nothing did I prioritize the farm.
Beyond her, plenty of ECHOs clueless about fine dining had events where they'd taste human food, freak out, or express a craving after just one bite.
Especially first-gen ones made back when human civilization still lingered.
Gifting human grub was the ticket to their affinity events.
That felt like ancient history now.
It'd been over a month since I dropped into this world, after all.
No.
After risking my neck battling zombies so many times, it felt like years had already passed.
Anyway, once we started growing rice, wheat, and other crops in the indoor farm, we'd finally ditch this damn concentrated nutrient routine.
"It's small-scale for now, but we can definitely hit food self-sufficiency inside the Ark."
"Yeah. You did great, Karen."
I gave her a thumbs-up and patted her head again to build some rapport.
Karen was weak to praise, after all.
In the game, light skinship like this bumped up her affection for the MC.
Even if she wasn't a character that you could pull with gacha.
"See? Keeping the Ark running takes tech-savvy ECHOs like you."
"Y-Yeah? R-Really?! Y-Yes!"
Her face turned tomato-red, so my plan was working.
Designed to be loyal to their commander by default, ECHOs were pure souls who responded eagerly to just the barest of kindness.
"B-But... we need people to manage the farm."
"Yeah, crops don't just grow themselves."
"Me! I'll do it!!!"
Luna shot her hand up like she'd been waiting for it.
I nearly nodded on instinct.
Something told me she'd handle farm duty just fine.
But Luna was a precious original ECHO.
She had bigger roles beyond farming management.
Plus, her squad, Cerberus, specialized in external recon and combat, not production.
So after a moment's thought, I spoke up.
"Hmm, actually—Luna, how about you take charge as farm manager instead?"
"Manager?"
"Yeah. I'll fabricate mass-produced ECHOs for the actual work. You'll oversee them and run the whole farm."
"Huh?"
The grunt work would fall to the mass-produced ones anyway, so she wouldn’t have much to do anyway.
But she clearly hadn't expected such responsibility—her eyes went wide in panic.
And right then, a lazy voice tinged with jealousy drifted from behind.
"Oh my, the commander's back?"
"Pomen."
Turning, I saw a beauty leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
Pomen was in her battlesuit, not hiding her glamorous figure one bit.
She sauntered over and pressed her body against my arm like it was on display.
"Commander, that's not fair. Leaving me behind for days on an external mission? I was so lonely."
The feel of her ample chest against my arm was blatantly provocative.
Ignoring all the stares around us, she clung to me brazenly. It was classic Pomen, alright.
Reuniting with the ECHOs left in the Ark, I finally felt like I'd truly come home.
That day, I toured the Ark facilities while resting up.
Damn, they did good.
I checked the indoor farm Luna and Karen had built, and eyeballed the defensive wall Pomen had repaired.
And at the same time—
"C-Comm…ander?"
The door of the commander’s quarters slid open silently as Pomen slithered in like a snake. She wrapped around my waist naturally, burying her face in my neck and inhaling deeply.
"What the hell were you doing out there?"
"Hm?"
"You reek of all those other ECHOs."
Her jealous touch was already burning hot.
Clinging to me, Pomen soon pressed her lips to my chest, nipping lightly to leave her mark.
"Commander. You must be exhausted from the long expedition. How about a special massage?"
"......"
Shortly after, Noah, who had come under the pretext of a massage to openly drain me, looked surprised to see Pomen already clinging to me.
But only for a moment before her eyes curved into crescents.
"Pomen?"
"I'll go first on top."
"Sounds good. Let's do that."
"???"
Does my opinion not matter or what?
Pomen effortlessly lifted me onto the bed, and Noah deftly unbuckled my pants, pulling out my cock and taking it in her mouth.
And Pomen...
"Time to punish the commander. So—"
With a sultry whisper, she straddled my face and began grinding her hips against me.
The pent-up lust from my external mission poured out in her hot, relentless movements.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of Hongwei-7 Command.
"Sis, try this too."
What Ria handed over was fresh military-grade concentrated nutrients, still well within expiration.
Moi took the pack with wide eyes.
"What? This? No way—how's something this valuable just lying around?"
"Mm. If it's intact like this, maybe the other recon squads missed it?"
"Huh. Probably because of that popo anomaly?"
"Yeah, that tracks."
Rai nodded while gulping down the nutrients at her sister's words.
Moi savored the proper nutrients she ingested after so long but kept her guard up.
"Still, stay sharp. They haven't spotted us yet, but that anomaly could strike anytime. Mmm—tastes good."
The Anomaly— Hachishakusama.
The grotesque monster prowled Hongwei-7 like it was its territory, massacring any zombies that dared approach.
Thanks to it, the sisters had escaped zombie threats, treated their wounds, and caught a breather.
But who knew when it'd find them.
They had to play it ultra-safe until they fully recovered.