Although it was already late at night, almost no one on the entire campus could fall asleep.
Fear, worry, excitement, anger, and grief gripped every student and faculty member, keeping them awake.
But Elric was different. He had no fear of the looming apocalypse—in fact, a strange sense of expectation and excitement filled his chest.
Among the snacks he scavenged earlier, he had found a package of barbecue-flavored pork jerky, two loaves of bread, and a pack of instant noodles. After a satisfying late-night meal, he took a shower, then curled up under the small quilt in his dorm room and fell soundly asleep.
The night passed without incident.
At 6 a.m., Elric got up and immediately began exercising.
Devil Fruits demanded extreme physical endurance—especially the Ope Ope no Mi, the surgical fruit. From this day on, he knew he'd have to constantly strengthen his body to keep up.
After training for over an hour, Elric was just about to take a break when—
"ROAAAR!"
A beastly roar tore through the campus, shaking the dormitory windows.
"What the hell was that sound?"
"This isn't a zoo—how can there be wild animals here?!"
Startled, Elric shot up and turned toward the quad in front of the school. The roar had definitely come from there.
Frowning, he activated the scanning ability of his surgical fruit. The distance was too far, so he shifted his Room multiple times, changing positions until he finally reached the corridor of his dorm building where his field of vision just barely covered the quad.
"Buzz."
White light flickered in his eyes as his scan projected the scene before him.
"What the…?"
His jaw dropped, cursing aloud at what he saw.
In the center of the campus quad stood a massive cocoon, ten meters long and chalk white. Its surface pulsed faintly as if something inside was alive. At the end of the cocoon was a grotesque mouth the size of a well.
The lips resembled a human's, but jagged fangs lined the inside, glistening wetly.
"Crunch… crunch…"
Something was chewing. Elric focused closer and realized with a jolt that stray cats and dogs—ones often seen roaming campus—were being devoured inside that maw. Their mangled corpses were already unrecognizable.
"What the hell is this thing?" Elric muttered, his throat dry. "There's no way anything like that exists on Earth…"
He thought of the multicolored mist that had blanketed the world since the apocalypse began. There was no other explanation—this monster was born of it.
Before Elric could process further, a frantic shout broke the silence.
"No, let me through! I have to get out!"
A man in his forties bolted into view, panic etched across his face. Elric recognized him instantly—it was Professor Carter, one of the associate professors from the science department.
"I can't reach my daughter—I need to find her!" the man shouted desperately, fumbling for his car parked nearby.
The only exit path led straight past the quad. Thick red mist obscured the cocoon, and Professor Carter didn't notice it at all as he floored the gas pedal and sped toward the gates.
"ROAAAR!"
The cocoon's maw split wide, stretching to ten times its size. A long, spike-covered tongue lashed out, wrapping around the car like a whip.
"AHHH!" Professor Carter screamed, but the sound was drowned in metal screeches as the car crumpled.
The tongue dragged both man and machine straight into the cocoon's mouth.
"Crunch. Crunch."
"Gulp."
With a sickening swallow, both car and professor vanished into its gullet. The campus fell eerily silent again.
Elric's face hardened. For the first time, the true horror of this new world stood before him.
After swallowing its "meal," the grotesque white cocoon released a burst of pure white gas.
Then, before Elric's eyes, the ten-meter-long cocoon began to swell.
Its length tripled in moments, stretching to over thirty meters.
It had eaten one man, a car, and a handful of animals—and already it had grown several times larger. If it kept feeding, how massive could this thing become?
And more importantly—since it was a cocoon, what exactly would emerge when it finally broke open?
Elric gritted his teeth, scanning it again with his Surgical Fruit. But no matter how much he focused, his ROOM could only map its surface. The inside remained blocked, like a wall his power wasn't strong enough to pierce.
"Damn it… is my ability level too low?" he muttered, fists clenched.
The thought chilled him. If this monster's growth continued unchecked, it wouldn't just devour the university. It could swallow the entire city.
"This world just got a hell of a lot more dangerous," he whispered, his eyes hardening. The urgency to grow stronger burned hotter than ever.
He turned his focus away from the cocoon and back to survival. The apocalypse wouldn't wait for him. Supplies were just as vital as strength.
Activating his scan again, Elric swept through the surrounding dorms and apartments, looking for empty rooms. Yesterday he'd struck gold—seven or eight abandoned apartments had yielded three bags of snacks and over twenty bottles of water and milk. That was enough to last him weeks if he rationed carefully.
But it wasn't nearly enough for his plans.
Today, he decided, he would sweep the entire faculty housing building.
—
Three hours later, Elric dragged his haul back to the apartment he had claimed.
The collection was impressive:
30 packs of instant noodles
40 bags of chips
15 packs of dried ramen
20 boxes of frozen dumplings
2 vacuum-packed sausages
30 bottles of unopened milk and yogurt
Over 60 bottles of mineral water—36 of them from a single apartment, where some cautious professor had stashed two full cases beneath their bed.
He also found a dozen fully charged power banks and a sturdy survival knife. The knife wasn't the legendary "Devil Cry" blade that Law used in One Piece, but it would do for now.
The power banks were especially valuable. Electricity was still running, but for how long? In a collapsing world, backup energy would soon be worth more than gold.
Elric lined up all the supplies neatly, then pulled out his phone. After snapping a few pictures, he began to draft a message.
"Dear faculty and students of University," he typed.
"I'm Elric, sophomore in Civil Engineering. I have food and water stored here—plenty of it. Enough to last weeks."
"Those in need, reach out. But I will only share with women who meet certain… qualifications."
"Proof required. No filters."
A cold smirk tugged at his lips. The system's conditions were clear—gaining "deep connections" with compatible partners would grant him upgrades. The faster he attracted candidates, the faster he could evolve his powers.
It wasn't just any school. It was known for its beautiful student body. Natasha certainly wouldn't be the only one who fit the requirements.
He pressed send, blasting his message into every university group chat he was in.
The reaction was immediate.
The moment his words appeared, the chats exploded.
Students panicked, raged, gossiped—especially after hearing the professor's horrifying screams earlier.
And in the chaos, Elric leaned back against his chair, satisfied.
The bait had been cast.