"What the hell is 'silicone poisoning'?!"
Minami Rika and the SAT team members exchanged exasperated glances. If he didn't want to tell them, fine, but such a ridiculous excuse was practically an insult to their intelligence!
As the core creature died, the colossal mountain of flesh began to deflate like a punctured balloon. Within the thick layers of sagging fat, a man's face became visible – distinguished by a rakish little mustache.
Damn, he was actually kinda handsome.
"Huh?" One SAT member, shining his tactical flashlight closer, gasped in disbelief. "Captain Minami! Look! It's Mr. Sagashiri!"
Minami Rika rushed forward. After a careful examination, her expression shifted, settling into a grimace. She sighed heavily. "We were too late... Abort the rescue mission. Prepare to extract!"
"Um... Who's Mr. Sagashiri?"
Although it wasn't really his business, Yejie (Luo Jie) couldn't suppress his curiosity. After all, this 'Sagashiri' character hadn't existed in the original Highschool of the Dead storyline.
"You don't know him?" Minami Rika seemed genuinely surprised. "The chairman of the Higane Financial Group – Sagashiri Tomaru. The man was legendary for his... appetites. He had affairs with countless women, particularly targeting those related to him. It's no exaggeration to say he single-handedly kept half of Japan's tabloid journalists employed."
Sagashiri Tomaru? That name sounds vaguely familiar...
Holy shit!
A long-buried memory flashed through Yejie's mind.
This Sagashiri Tomaru was none other than the infamous absentee father of Itou Makoto, the protagonist of the legendary eroge School Days! The very man who, armed with nothing but his... ambition, had built the entire XX Days franchise universe – systematically seducing sisters, daughters, even the daughters born from those affairs. Dubbed the "walking dildo," he made Zeus look like an amateur!
Who could have imagined this walking scandal had somehow blundered into the Highschool of the Dead dimension and mutated into this tentacled monstrosity – practically Japan's national monster archetype.
Well, this form kinda suits him. Probably even fulfilled some twisted fantasy of his.
"Captain!" Another SAT member yelled, firing controlled bursts while backing towards Minami Rika. "The escalators and emergency stairs are completely blocked by dead bodies! We can't get back to the roof!"
"This..."
Minami Rika frowned, biting her lip in concentration. She racked her brain, but no viable alternatives emerged.
Going up was impossible. The white, viscous slime secreted by the flesh mountain was still drawing hordes of the dead downwards in their thousands.
Descending was equally perilous. Their earlier blockade of the escalators meant countless dead bodies had plummeted to the ground floor, likely forming a mass just as dense as the one above them.
Minami Rika instinctively glanced towards Yejie, who was still crouched beside the deflated blob of fat, examining it intently. His focused demeanor gave her the unsettling impression he might carve off a chunk for impromptu BBQ any second.
"Yenagi-kun..."
Minami Rika didn't even realize it herself, but somewhere along the line, she'd started forgetting her role as SAT captain. Her instincts kept pulling her towards following Yejie's lead.
"Got it."
Yejie flashed an OK sign without looking up. He hadn't been idly contemplating BBQ; besides retrieving the [Treasure Chest of the Mutated Sagashiri Tomaru] the creature dropped, he'd been meticulously studying its anatomy. Distinguishing belly from leg in that mountain of blubber was no easy task.
"Found it!"
Yejie suddenly snapped his fingers. With a swift motion, he plunged his katana deep into the lower abdomen of the fleshy mass.
While the flesh mountain possessed incredible regenerative abilities, its skin wasn't particularly tough. The legendary sharpness of [Meitou·Fugu Poison], capable of bisecting five dead bodies in one swing, easily sliced out a large chunk of meat.
Gripping one of the now-limp tentacles within the chunk, Yejie yanked hard. Two strange, yoga-ball-sized orbs tore free from the layers of fat beneath.
"These are...?" Minami Rika's eyes widened with sudden understanding.
"Yep. Exactly what you're thinking."
Yejie grinned, giving Minami Rika a mischievous, knowing look worthy of a downhill racing champion.
Go!
Swinging the tentacle like a lasso in a powerful 720-degree windmill arc, Yejie hurled the two massive orbs high into the center of the atrium.
Minami Rika instantly grasped his plan. After a split second of shock, a captivating, dangerous smile curved her lips.
Two searing-hot bullets spat from her rifle barrel in rapid succession. They struck the soaring orbs dead center just as they reached the apex of their trajectory.
BOOM! BOOM!
The orbs exploded mid-air, showering the vast atrium below in a thick, milky-white, viscous fluid – raining down like spilled milk over half the open space.
What followed was nothing short of spectacular.
A cacophony of frenzied shrieks erupted. Like demons summoned from hell, countless dead bodies surged from every corner and level of the mall, converging with single-minded purpose on the central atrium.
SCREEEECH—
The stainless steel railings surrounding the atrium groaned and shrieked under the immense pressure of the crushing horde. Within moments, they buckled and gave way.
A literal flood of corpses – tens of thousands strong – poured through the shattered barriers. The sheer density created the illusion of solid black curtains falling around the atrium's edges.
The spectacle of ten thousand dead bodies simultaneously committing mass suicide-by-falling was staggering. Minami Rika and her SAT team stood frozen, momentarily mesmerized by the apocalyptic scene. It took them precious seconds to snap back to reality – it was time to move.
"Yenagi-kun," Minami Rika said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. The strap accentuated the deep curve of her chest. "The helicopter's on the roof. Want a ride out?"
With the immediate danger gone, the offer was straightforward.
"No thanks, Officer Minami..."
"Call me Rika."
Minami Rika smiled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She pulled a small notepad from her tactical vest, scribbled a series of digits, and pressed the paper into Yejie's palm.
"What's this? Your room number?" Yejie teased, raising an eyebrow.
Minami Rika valued strength above all else; only a man who surpassed her earned her respect. Though unintended, the events of the night had clearly pushed her regard for him to a significant height.
Minami Rika rolled her eyes. "That's the payment I promised you earlier – for the intel. There's a hidden safe under the floorboards in the storage closet beneath the stairs at my villa. That's the combination. Be careful typing it; one wrong digit, and three kilos of TNT go off."
Yejie's hand holding the note stiffened slightly. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. If I hadn't accidentally completed that hidden quest, even if I'd found that safe, I'd have been blown sky-high! Who the hell booby-traps their own house?! Seriously messed up!
"And one more thing..."
Suddenly, Minami Rika grabbed the front of Yejie's jacket. Before he could react, her fiery lips were pressed against his. Her soft, insistent tongue slipped past his teeth, tangling aggressively with his own.
The two remaining SAT members blinked in surprise, then exchanged knowing grins, whistling and whooping encouragement.
Yejie was completely blindsided. His eyes widened in shock, locked onto Minami Rika's close, tanned face. She didn't close her eyes either; her gaze held the same playful, predatory challenge that defined her personality – direct and wild.
Finally, they parted, breathing lightly.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Minami Rika said, her voice husky but her expression deliberately nonchalant. A mischievous glint sparkled in her eye as she gave him a slow, deliberate wink. "Just a little bonus for saving the whole team. One time only... and don't you dare tell Shizuka."