One would expect little Alice to be the first to jump on Allen, but instead, the image that appeared before everyone was that of a voluptuous woman with blonde hair, a beautiful face, and droopy amber-colored eyes that gave off a sleepy, sensual look.
The woman ran toward Allen like a wife welcoming her husband back from war.
Allen couldn't help but laugh, though he made sure not to embarrass Shizuka and welcomed her with open arms. It would've been a heartwarming scene — if it weren't for the massive breasts bouncing up and down.
Asami and Anemone were in shock, while several onlookers could only drown in envy. Still, no one dared to have indecent thoughts about Shizuka, not with the terrifying man who held her in his arms.
"Welcome~" Shizuka buried her face in Allen's chest.
"Doesn't the smell of blood bother you?" Allen asked playfully.
At this point, he had already changed clothes, but he still carried the scent of death from the Tokyo subway.
Shizuka lifted her face from Allen's chest and smiled. "Nothing about you bothers me~"
"..."
Allen blinked, feeling an urge to kiss this cute woman — maybe even take her to a room and continue what they had left unfinished at Rika's house.
Shizuka blushed under Allen's intense gaze, one that seemed to devour her. If it had been any other man, she would've felt uncomfortable, but since it was him, her breathing quickened and her body grew warmer.
"Alright, that's enough."
"Marikawa-sensei, have some decency!"
Rei and Saya appeared, grabbed Shizuka, and pulled her out of Allen's arms.
"Ah, wait, help me, Allen-kun!" Shizuka reached out her hands like a damsel being kidnapped, but Allen only shrugged helplessly.
"Brother!"
"I see you went out to collect more women..."
Saeko approached alongside Alice, who was carrying Zeke in her arms.
Allen smiled, patting Alice's head and stroking Zeke while pretending not to notice the cold tone in Saeko's words.
"They're police officers I ran into along the way."
Saeko frowned, but when her eyes landed on Anemone, her expression changed — surprise first, then a faint smile.
"Anemone-san?"
"Hello, princess," Anemone said with a smirk, not at all surprised that Saeko was still alive. "As expected of you — even if the world ends, you'd still survive, haha."
"It's good to see you're alive," Saeko replied with a small smile. "Anemone-san is very strong, but she tends to get careless~"
"You two know each other?" Allen raised an eyebrow. Saeko Busujima was the daughter of a yakuza boss, while Anemone was a police officer — what kind of relationship could they possibly have?
Realizing how odd that looked, Anemone coughed lightly. Indeed, anyone who saw them might assume she received favors from the yakuza.
"I met Saeko at Busujima-sensei's dojo. Back then, I wasn't a cop yet... well, it's complicated."
Asami's mouth fell open. She had never expected to hear the Busujima name here. On the surface, the clan was respectable, but everyone knew they were connected to the yakuza.
Allen only chuckled before scanning the rest of the group.
Kyoko stood behind everyone, hesitant to approach. Unlike Shizuka, she wasn't bold enough to jump into Allen's arms.
Yuuki was also standing at a distance, debating whether to go up to him and act like a shameless "flirt," or if that would be too much in front of everyone.
From the mansion, Allen noticed Teshima, Takashi, and Morita watching him, waiting for him to come inside. Misuzu and Yui were peeking from a window. The rest of the boys and girls were likely elsewhere — in the courtyard or inside the mansion.
Allen's gaze passed over Rei, who was pouting and scolding Shizuka, before stopping briefly on Saya. The two exchanged a look that said a lot — they needed to talk in private.
No one in Allen's group had been injured, which was already a relief.
"Looks like they managed to keep them out... but not without losses."
The Takagi mansion still stood, but it wasn't unscathed.
Several tents now sheltered wounded men groaning in pain, many enduring bullets being extracted through crude methods. Others lay under sheets — some had died instantly, others had bled out.
Unexpectedly, people were crying beside the deceased. Considering that most survivors had already lost family or didn't know where they were, this level of mourning said a lot.
"He's not doing a bad job..." Allen muttered in admiration.
Soichiro knew that to earn his men's loyalty, he had to show sincerity. One of the first things he did at the start of the apocalypse was search for his subordinates' families. Unfortunately, that sincerity didn't extend to how he treated his own.
"Yes, they fought bravely..." Saya said softly, her expression dim as she looked at the corpses. Since they were her father's men, she had seen them before — their deaths weren't something she could ignore.
Rei frowned. "Will they come back?"
These soldiers were the kind of people that if they were murdered, she wouldn't care.
"Definitely..." Allen confirmed what everyone already feared.
Allen didn't go to see Soichiro. Even though this had happened, that didn't mean their relationship would magically improve. Allen wasn't the type to forgive easily just because the man had problems. Of course, if Soichiro ever apologized, there might be room for change — but that seemed unlikely.
On the other hand, there were a few noticeable changes. The previous hostility among Soichiro's men was gone, replaced by quiet concern and uncertainty about the future. They'd be fools to stay hostile after being saved.
"Let's switch places", Allen said.
....
Allen gathered everyone in a large room and even called the rest of the group over. Once inside, he dropped three bags and two suitcases he had taken from the car trunk.
When he opened them, everyone was stunned — inside were weapons of all kinds: a bat, a machete, a metal pipe, a knife, two katanas, a tonfa, a police baton, two Glocks, two crossbows, two revolvers, a sawed-off shotgun, an SMG, an M4, an AK, and a carbine. Allen had also bought several grenades, but he'd used them all in the subway.
"I also got more cures, but we'll only use them in emergencies..."
"Oh my god!" Hirano's eyes sparkled like a kid on Christmas morning.
"This feels so surreal..." muttered Takashi.
Asami and Anemone were speechless. Wasn't that car something he'd stolen? When did it have all this inside? And this was Japan — not an action movie! Where had all these weapons come from?!
"..." Anemone was now even more interested in the secrets Allen was hiding.
The reward from the red zone had been great — hundreds of hearts. If Allen saved them, he could soon buy a proper shelter. But, as he had said, his main goal was to improve the group's combat capability so they could defend themselves.
"Listen up. I want everyone to have one firearm and one melee weapon. BUT don't expect to go around shooting everything — guns are a double-edged trap."
Firing a weapon attracts zombies, so shooting should be a last resort.
Everyone's eyes landed on Hirano, who immediately dropped the weapons he had grabbed.
"I'm sorry..." said Hirano awkwardly.
Allen sighed when he noticed everyone's worried faces. Some were afraid because they didn't know how to use weapons; others because they feared being too weak.
"I don't expect you to be experts. Anemone and Hirano will teach you how to use firearms. Saeko and Rei can help with melee weapons. The important thing is to practice. Until then, stay in the rear and make sure you don't get yourselves killed."
Allen's words brought some relief to most of them. Several girls smiled, while Anemone and Asami exchanged surprised looks.
Allen was young, so it was already surprising that he led a survivor group — but the fact that he was actually a good leader left them speechless.
Allen picked up the M4 and tossed it to Anemone. She caught it instinctively, confused — among all the weapons, the M4 was the best one.
"Are you sure?" the woman asked, sipping her beer.
"Something tells me it'll be fine in your hands."
Allen hadn't seen Anemone fight, but his instincts told him she was strong — both in close and long-range combat. In fact, the only reason she'd been hurt before was because she protected Asami. Still, she'd never reveal that, not wanting to make the younger woman feel guilty.
"Alright, I hope you're ready. We leave in one hour. I want to find a shelter before nightfall. Tomorrow, we'll search for our closest relatives... and send them here."
Allen didn't have a family of his own, but technically Rei and Saeko's parents were his in-laws, so it wasn't wrong to say that. Of course, more than one girl noticed the implications of Allen's words and blushed.
"One hour?" Saya, who had been looking down, raised her head in surprise when she heard Allen's words.
Allen gave the pink-haired girl a faint smile. "I told you I wasn't planning to cut ties. I already talked to Yuriko-san — for a while, we'll use this place as a temporary shelter for everyone's families."
It made sense. While they searched for their loved ones, they needed a safe place to leave them. They couldn't possibly drag small children, like Teshima's nephews, into dangerous areas.
Saya nodded. "Besides, we need to find out if this is only happening in Japan. If it is, then we'll eventually have to leave the country. But if it's global, we'll be forced to establish a camp."
Saeko looked out the window before speaking. "I'd prefer it to be far away from Tokyo..."
Tokyo was extremely dangerous. Just seeing how deadly a horde of a thousand zombies could be was enough to imagine what would happen with larger ones — and there were definitely larger ones.
Saya had also thought about that. Staying in Tokyo was dangerous. However, she couldn't be selfish. She had already found her parents, but the others hadn't.
"I'll say this once more — you're not obligated to continue. Once you find your families, you should focus on your own safety."
Allen's words brought silence to the room. At that moment, no one intended to back out — but, for instance, if Takashi found his mother, would he really keep risking his life after that?
"Don't answer now... you'll have time once you've found your families and seen the depths of what this apocalypse has to offer..."
After Allen's words, everyone began to disperse to rest. He asked Kyoko to prepare some clothes for Anemone and Asami — those police uniforms weren't exactly comfortable, especially the skirts.
Allen also touched Saya's shoulder and whispered something to her, to which the girl nodded quietly.
...
Allen returned to his room. They already had weapons, medicine, and supplies — they'd be fine for now. But there was something that had been bothering him for a while, something related to the metallic container Alice's father had given him.
He sat on the couch and took it out of his inventory. In appearance, it looked like a suitcase, but that was just a disguise — it was actually a metallic container with biometric and code locks. Allen could bring Alice to open it, but he had another way.
"System, can you?"
[Of course~ I might be restricted in other things, but when it comes to unlocking doors, safes, or containers, there's no problem~]
Allen could almost picture a smug Onee-san pounding her chest proudly as she said that. Not only was Allen limited — the system itself had to obey the rules set by Allen and Lucifer, which restricted its capabilities and the help it could offer.
"I'm sorry... and thank you, for everything."
[Don't worry~ we're in this together~]
"That's true," Allen said with a soft smile.
With a hiss like a cryogenic seal breaking, the suitcase-sized container opened, releasing a faint chill. Allen's face lit up from the glow inside.
"What the hell is this?!"
Arranged in pairs, there were glass vials of different colors, each with a double-helix pattern resembling DNA.
Allen picked up a blue one. It had a label.
"Virus T."
He put it back and grabbed a pink vial.
"Uroboros..."
Then he took another, green this time.
"Green Glu..."
Allen's breathing quickened as he set it down and picked up an orange vial.
"Virus C..."
Finally, with an expression filled with murderous intent, he took a crimson-red vial.
"Virus Harran!"
The worst thing is that these viruses were only half of what was inside the container.
The chat went silent. In all the worlds they had seen, some people wanted to destroy everything — but this was the first time they'd seen so many world-ending threats gathered in something as small as a single container.
...
Tony – Wow, these people are insane!
Hestia – Isn't once enough?! They've endangered their world a dozen times over!
Hippolyta – What kind of deranged minds made this?! This goes beyond madness — they're trying to kill their world, not once or twice, but completely!
Rick – Honestly, I'm impressed. They turned the destruction of their planet into a sport... one where extinction's the only possible outcome. Idiots!
...
Allen stayed silent...
It was a possibility he hadn't wanted to believe. It was easier to think this was all Lucifer's fault, but this proved otherwise — someone in this world had caused the apocalypse. Someone had truly created enough viruses to wipe out humanity. But for what purpose?
— "If you want to know the truth, go to Shibuya..." —
"Shibuya..." Allen muttered, narrowing his eyes as he recalled Alice's father's words.
...
(Tokyo Square, Shibuya)
The famous pedestrian crossing, once filled with hundreds of thousands of people every day, was now overrun by a massive horde — a hundred thousand zombies raising their arms toward the helicopters flying overhead.
The helicopters had come from the sea, landing one by one on various rooftops.
In one of them sat a Caucasian man with blonde hair and sunglasses, wearing a black trench coat. Beside him was a blonde woman with a condescending yet intrigued gaze, dressed in a white lab coat.
They landed, then both got out of the helicopter and were greeted by a man in a suit with golden-rimmed glasses.
Despite being the branch director, the man looked nervous. Upon seeing the pair, he quickly stepped forward.
"Mr. Wesker, Miss Ashford — it's an honor to have you in Japan."
The man's name was Albert Wesker. He didn't respond right away, instead analyzing the director with a piercing gaze. "Director Akitaka Igarashi, I won't be polite. You're aware of the crimes you've committed, aren't you?"
Igarashi turned pale. "My men have already located the container with the samples. It was... unfortunate and unexpected that Doctor Maserato betrayed us."
The woman, whose full name was Alexia Ashford, let out a mocking laugh. "Oh, come on, Director, are you really going to make excuses like that? This isn't some minor lab accident — your incompetence has cost the lives of a hundred million people~"
Next to the director, an armed man tensed up. He didn't know whether to defend his superior or not — after all, the two people before him came directly from headquarters.
"Captain Hotaka," Wesker said with an inhuman glare that made the veteran soldier freeze. "I'd advise you not to act. Otherwise, not only you, but all your men will be annihilated."
Wesker's gaze returned to the trembling director.
"Akitaka Igarashi, you have twenty-four hours to recover the container. Otherwise... you're fired."
Wesker walked past him, followed by Alexia, entering the building as if it already belonged to them.
The director collapsed to his knees while Captain Hodaka looked at him nervously.
"You heard him, didn't you?!" Igarashi shouted. "If you don't want to die, bring me that container! Use everything — I don't care how, just do it!"
Hodaka saluted and immediately rushed off.
Wesker and Alexia stepped into the elevator.
"Wesker, is that container really so important? We have other samples of the viruses in other branches."
"Yes. There are three that exist only in Japan... and one of them is essential for my next evolution."
Alexia smiled. "My Veronica Virus is perfect. Once it's complete, I won't need anything else to transcend. Still, I find it wasteful that you use your body just to collect viruses..."
Wesker didn't respond. In a way, they both sought the same goal, but while Alexia — a narcissistic genius — desired the perfect virus, Albert Wesker aimed to absorb and mutate the strongest ones to evolve his body beyond human limits.
Two twisted paths, born from two sadistic minds who didn't care if the world burned for their ambitions.
"By the way, do you think he will interfere?" Alexia asked with a frown.
"Always..."
Wesker gazed into the distance with cold indifference. "But it doesn't matter. If necessary, we'll burn Tokyo to the ground."
Alexia chuckled. "Do as you wish, but you'd better make sure that container is recovered intact. It's the only reason our cooperation exists."
"I know..."
===
If you want to read more, there are up to ten chapters ahead on Patreon.
Patreon.com/_Aizen