Chapter 231
Chapter 231
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Entry
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Philip took advantage of the moment when Park Un-ho's group headed out for supplies to move with Edward and Richard—three in total—to retrieve the shelter key.
In Philip's eyes, Grace wasn't likely to change her mind.
Park Un-ho, that guy, was the same.
Even if Park Un-ho tagged along, there was a problem.
Carrie might follow.
No, she would follow.
Seattle was a dangerous place beyond comparison to scavenging supplies.
He couldn't take Carrie somewhere like that.
So, there was no time to waste.
Thinking it over, this actually seemed like the better choice.
They weren't hauling heavy supplies—just heading out simply to grab the shelter's master key.
Philip figured they didn't need a large group.
Mobility was key.
Fortunately, Richard was on board.
Richard had a wife and daughter.
The shelter idea must have appealed to him.
If even Richard had opposed, this whole plan would have fallen apart.
And so, Philip's group set off toward Seattle with Edward as their guide.
Philip pulled the car to a stop.
The road ahead was jammed solid with cars that had tried to flee Seattle.
This was as far as they could go by vehicle.
Philip's group climbed out, grabbed their weapons from the trunk, and began moving on foot.
According to Edward, the key to the shelter was at a place called Future Industry.
It didn't seem like a massively famous company on the level of Apple or Tesla, at least not one Philip knew well.
Still, it felt like a vaguely familiar name he'd heard once before.
Edward had been an employee there before the world went to hell, handling shelter construction projects.
The stories of wealthy Americans building shelters were well-known. Future Industry was the company that built them for those rich folks.
Naturally, a master key was needed to enter the shelter, and it was located in that company's building.
As Philip moved toward the city, a question arose in his mind.
There were no zombies in sight.
Last time he'd come with Grace, there had been plenty of them. They'd fought their way deep inside and nearly died.
Compared to then, it was strangely devoid of zombies.
On the bright side, it made travel easier.
Philip's group reached the city without issue and beheld a bizarre sight.
"What the..."
Seeing the city come into clearer view, Philip couldn't help but be horrified.
"Wh-what is that?"
"I-I don't know..."
"..."
Grotesque, thick vines had enveloped the buildings.
They even looked like masses of flesh.
And upon closer inspection, the flesh was pulsating and writhing.
Seeing it, Philip's group felt an inexplicable chill, their faces hardening with gravity.
It was an ominous lifeform, no doubt about it for anyone who saw it.
Flesh-like roots protruded onto the roads as well.
They instinctively knew not to touch them.
No zombies were visible.
But Philip sensed this journey might prove even more grueling.
Still, they couldn't turn back after coming this far.
Philip's group steeled themselves and pressed onward toward their goal.
"That's the camp's spare truck, right?"
Grace spotted the pickup parked on the road. Ahead of it, the way was blocked by a tangle of wrecked vehicles.
They couldn't proceed by car any further, so Philip must have left it behind.
We were in the same boat.
"Philip, respond if you hear this."
Grace tried radioing Philip.
No reply.
I stepped out of the car and turned my back to Carrie, crouching low.
She gave me a puzzled look.
I told her,
"Hop on."
"Hop on?"
"To move quickly, it's better if you're on my back."
Grace's awakening ability was unique but carried traits of body enhancement.
Carrie, who wasn't awakened, lagged far behind Grace in physical prowess.
There hadn't been enough time since injecting her with the awakening agent for Carrie to awaken.
She would someday.
For now, though, she was just a regular person.
Carrying her was no burden for me at all, so this was the better option.
"Did... did I come along for nothing?"
Carrie seemed to feel like dead weight seeing me prepare to carry her.
"Don't think like that. Hop on."
To me, carrying either Carrie or Grace made no difference. To avoid being a burden, she'd need to be on the level of Ignis or Liliana.
Carrie let out a sigh and climbed onto my back.
Her soft body pressed pleasantly against me.
The fresh scent of her young form tickled my nose.
I gripped her butt and stood up.
"Can you fly a drone?"
"A drone? Yeah, I can... You have one?"
I pulled a drone from my inventory and handed it to her.
"Use that to find Philip."
"Got it."
At least giving her a task lifted her sulky mood.
Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten details on exactly where Philip's group was headed.
Grace had opposed fiercely before we reached that discussion stage.
「Un-ho: Blackie, report if you spot any humans in the city.」
「Blackie: Got it. I'll keep a close eye.」
Blackie had already reached the skies above the city.
He was so high up that from here, he'd look like a mere dot—no need to worry about Grace or Carrie freaking out.
Grace equipped the weapons from the truck bed: axe in hand, spear and shotgun on her back, machete at her waist.
She looked every bit the fully armed female warrior.
Carrie launched the drone.
With her on my back, Grace and I began moving swiftly.
And we laid eyes on the city's landscape, overrun by grotesque flesh masses writhing like vines.
"Wh-what the hell is this..."
Grace panicked at the sight.
"What's wrong?"
"It wasn't like this before... And there are no zombies..."
She meant the city, once teeming with zombies on her prior visit, was now empty of them.
No zombies?
From past experience, that meant something far worse was present.
In that case, there was something to do before entering the city.
"Hold up."
Grace gave me a quizzical look.
I set Carrie down and cloaked both women in my mana, forming armor around them.
Sleek black suits that accentuated their curves took shape.
"Th-this is a superpower too?"
"Y-yeah."
Having superpowers around made explanations simple—no need for complications.
Grace and Carrie examined their new suits in awe.
"Un-ho! This is like a hero suit!"
Carrie sparkled with childlike excitement.
I had hunter combat suits too, but these seemed better for now.
My mana armor might lack some utility compared to hunter-grade combat suits, but its defense was in a league of its own.
With preparations complete, we ventured into the city where the flesh-vine masses writhed.
A grotesque lump of flesh appeared before Philip's group.
The mass, about the size of a small car, clung to the ground like a wart and wriggled.
Beyond that, it showed no particular movement.
"Ph-Philip... We shouldn't get too close..."
Edward warned Philip, who was inspecting the lump.
That was when it happened.
A tentacle burst from the flesh mass and shot toward Philip. A normal human wouldn't have reacted to the speed, but he was an awakened superhuman.
Philip dodged with ease and brought his axe down on the tentacle.
-Squelch!
The severed tentacle writhed on the ground.
"No big deal?"
"Philip."
Richard called out to him gravely.
"Huh?"
The flesh mass churned and began to change shape.
Into a humanoid form covered in grotesque flesh. Its size easily topped three meters.
The monster's skin rippled with hideous tentacles.
-Thud. Thud.
The flesh monster lumbered toward Philip's group.
"Ph-Philip, we should fall back first..."
Edward looked terrified.
It appeared a bit larger than a variant zombie.
To Philip, it didn't seem particularly agile.
With Richard, they could take it down without much trouble.
"Richard, I'll draw its attention."
With that alone, Richard circled behind the flesh monster.
As Philip pulled its focus, Richard— just like against variant zombies—slammed his axe into the creature's right knee with all his might.
-Squelch!
The axe sank in with a sticky sound, but the monster showed no sign of pain.
Richard tried to yank it free for another strike, but it wouldn't budge.
Worse, the flesh began proliferating up the axe handle.
Sensing danger, Richard dropped the axe and retreated swiftly.
"Philip, let's pull back for now."
Without a clear way to damage the flesh monster, retreat was the right call.
Fortunately, it wasn't that fast, so creating distance was easy.
Just as Philip's group started to relax—
The flesh collapsed from its humanoid form and morphed into something else: a four-legged beast shape.
"Run!!"
Philip shouted, sensing the imminent threat.