"If I dig out all four walls around the trader, carve out a massive pit around it, and turn the trader's house into an isolated island… would that make this place an absolutely safe zone?"
Leo stared at the stone blocks that had appeared out of thin air on the invincible wall and couldn't help thinking that way. If the wall itself was indestructible, then there was no need to worry about its defensive strength at all—he'd only need to pile defenses everywhere else.
The problem was that this would be a gigantic project.
There was no way he could finish it alone before the next Blood Moon. Forcing it would only end with him being swallowed by an endless sea of zombies.
With three people, it might barely be possible—but the cost would be doing nothing else during that time, and this place would become the only retreat. If they misjudged the zombie numbers even slightly, there'd be no way to escape at all.
Before they had flying tools—or more manpower—this idea was simply out of reach.
"…This is really something. But if I had more people, why wouldn't I just build a stronger bunker instead?"
Leo felt a bit dumb as he looked at the invincible wall.
If he had dozens of people, then with enough machine guns and ammunition, it wouldn't be impossible to mow through the zombies head-on.
After all, these zombies died when shot in the head. Tear their bodies apart and they lost combat ability. They weren't fantasy undead.
Set up a dozen machine guns, build a solid bunker, add Molotovs and other tools, assign people to fill gaps and deal with special zombies—the defense problem honestly wouldn't be that hard.
The issue was simple.
He didn't have the people.
And if he did, he wouldn't need an invincible wall in the first place.
"What a waste… I'll see if I can dig out something huge while mining."
Leo sighed helplessly. Thinking back to the sea of corpses and blood he'd seen before, he shuddered, then continued mining.
Time passed quickly. When hunger finally hit him, the sky had already grown dim.
Leo glanced at the RV that had long since turned into scrap and sighed before starting to build his house.
Two layers of wooden frames, leaving an opening as a window, then upgrading each piece with a stone axe. It didn't take long before a standard wooden "matchbox" house stood in front of him.
He added some wooden frames as fencing to keep zombies from directly attacking the house and to make combat easier—though the whole setup looked extremely strange.
At least he remembered to add wooden blocks underneath to make a wooden floor, so he wouldn't be sleeping directly on asphalt.
But there was no bed.
He flipped through the building list. No beds. No sleeping bags. Nothing.
Left with no choice, Leo returned to a few houses that had respawned due to quests and scavenged blankets and bedding, planning to make do for the night. Tomorrow, he'd check whether quest houses had beds—or just cobble one together himself.
After that, he went to the trader again. This time, he didn't do anything strange—just bought some meat, added fuel and raw materials to the furnace, and continued smelting iron ingots.
Then, without warning, he was teleported out.
"So last time I got kicked out because you're not allowed to stay in the shop at night, huh…"
Leo looked at the shop's suddenly closed doors, sighed, and returned to his house. He sharpened some branches and started grilling meat outside.
The aroma slowly spread—but at that moment, Leo felt lonely.
Erina used to be by his side. Even though she didn't dare speak loudly at night, afraid of attracting those Bolt-fast zombies, she was still there.
Now, Leo wasn't afraid anymore. Honestly, he almost wanted zombies to come deliver experience points.
Watching his experience bar—just a little short of leveling up again—Leo grilled meat and thought about what came next.
He didn't know real-world construction. Reinforced concrete bunkers were out of the question. He could only rely on this world's systems.
Which meant one thing.
Stacking armor.
"I really need to find a mixer as soon as possible."
He thought about it. There was a mixer in the trader's house, but it—and a chemical station—were broken and unusable.
He checked the chemical station requirements earlier. The materials weren't that bad. If things went smoothly, he could probably build one tomorrow. That would mean no more hand-mixing gunpowder—and much higher output.
"…Lonely."
He glanced toward the trader's location. He'd leveled up while mining earlier, but hadn't dared allocate points because of important matters—and by the time he finished, the trader had already closed.
So now he was stuck in a state where he didn't dare add points.
Even if he didn't do anything, having someone nearby would've made him feel much better.
Loneliness crept into Leo's heart as he stared at the fire, then at the silent, wind-swept ruins around him. A deep sense of isolation settled over him.
Before, with Erina supporting him, this feeling hadn't been so strong.
But now, Leo truly felt it.
Especially in such a dangerous world.
He hurriedly finished the grilled meat, returned to his house, curled up in the not-very-warm, slightly smelly blankets, and drifted into sleep.
Meanwhile, the other two outsiders weren't doing so well.
"These things just keep coming!"
Kelly rapidly pulled the trigger. The scrap machine gun Leo had made seemed reborn in her hands—every burst sent bullets cleanly through zombie eye sockets, blasting apart their skulls.
Beside her, Tsunade trembled, eyes shut tight, hugging a small tree. Whenever Kelly shouted due to zombies closing in, Tsunade would swing the tree and send the zombies flying.
"This world is seriously messed up!"
Kelly cursed. Since arriving here, many of her practical combat and shooting skills had been unusable. Her physical strength had been suppressed to that of an ordinary Sky Realm human.
Worse, Leo's bullets didn't match her revolvers, drastically reducing her effectiveness.
Tsunade was even worse off. Hemophobia alone had crushed her combat power, and the world's food failed to provide proper satiety. Even the air felt lacking—her stamina and strength were weakened dozens of times over.
Otherwise, treating injuries like Leo's wouldn't have left her exhausted at all.
"Damn it!"
Kelly cursed and threw one of the improvised grenades she'd made earlier, then grabbed Tsunade—eyes still shut—and retreated toward a bridge.
After leaving Leo, they'd gone to another town. Things were fine until Kelly fired her first shot.
They could handle daytime zombies easily, but they'd underestimated the strength of nighttime zombies Leo had warned them about.
When Kelly saw a zombie approach their camp and reflexively fired—
The entire town came alive.
"So what he said was true!"
Panting atop the bridge, Kelly spoke to Tsunade, who was also catching her breath.
"Hell, I really did become a player!"
Seeing the "Press E to pick up" prompt on her weapon made Kelly curse—and her trust in Leo skyrocketed.
"…Seems like most of what he said was true. But why say that kind of thing? And—these are explosive tags. Throw them, now!"
Tsunade, feeling slightly better away from the smell of blood, suppressed her fear and slapped two strange talismans onto a rock, handing it to Kelly.
Kelly threw it without hesitation. Zombies were blasted skyward—but more sounds came from the distant forest.
"This never ends!"
Kelly felt helpless. She fired rapid shots, but just as she considered finding higher ground, Tsunade suddenly grabbed her waist and hoisted her up.
"What are you doing?!"
Kelly yelped—then saw strange markings spread across Tsunade's body. In the next instant, Tsunade charged forward like an off-road vehicle.
Her heavy breathing stopped, replaced by calm explanation.
"This is one of my secret techniques. It temporarily boosts strength and speed. These monsters have limited detection range—once we're out of it, we're safe."
"Ohhh! Got it!"
Kelly cheered—then immediately shut up and stopped firing.
Tsunade sprinted nearly two hundred meters, carefully suppressing footstep sounds, then collapsed to her knees, trembling.
Kelly landed lightly and saw Tsunade's pale skin covered in fine sweat. The markings remained—but it was clear the psychological strain had immobilized her again.
Looking back, Kelly saw the Bolt-fast zombies stop where they'd been, wandering aimlessly.
"Detection range of about a hundred meters… ten times daytime. Yeah, that's a nightmare."
Checking her dwindling ammo, Kelly sighed and gently carried the trembling Tsunade back toward Leo's location.
At least now, part of what Leo said had been proven true.
Which meant cooperation was possible.
Still…
"That 'return method' sounds too shady, though."
The way back was much smoother. During the day, they'd already cleared most zombies along the route.
By the time they returned to town, it was nearly two or three in the morning. Thankfully, Tsunade recovered enough from her hemophobia that Kelly didn't have to carry her the whole way.
Seeing the charred ruins—and the strangely intact buildings—both thought they'd gone the wrong way.
But the collapsing gas station and pristine trader shop confirmed it.
"These houses… did they appear because of that guy? Is it related to those UI options I'm seeing? This feels like some high-ranking Imperial military video game!"
Kelly pointed at the buildings, twitching her lips. She clearly remembered this place being ruins.
"Probably. This world is full of strange things."
Tsunade wasn't surprised. Her grandfather could do instant construction too. More importantly, Kelly herself had gained similar abilities—storing weapons in a strange space and crafting odd items.
Exactly as Leo described.
That was one of the main reasons they returned.
As for whether Kelly was secretly Leo's accomplice…
Tsunade glanced at Kelly's boyish grin and dismissed the thought.
Her weakness had already been fully exposed. If Kelly were an accomplice, she would've acted by now.
And honestly—it didn't matter.
With hemophobia, Tsunade couldn't survive alone here.
They soon spotted Leo's wooden matchbox house beside the trader's shop. Its completely different aesthetic—and the lingering smell of food—made it obvious Leo was nearby.
They exchanged a look and chose not to disturb him, setting up a simple tent instead. They grilled meat and waited for dawn.
Morning came quickly.
When Leo woke, he immediately smelled grilled meat through the window he'd deliberately left. He opened the door and saw the two sitting by the fire again.
"Morning, kid! Come eat!"
Kelly greeted him cheerfully. Seeing how battered they looked, Leo tacitly avoided asking questions. He walked over and pulled two bottles of honey from his inventory.
"Sweet stuff's best in the morning."
He'd already explained honey's benefits before. Kelly and Tsunade accepted them but didn't drink—proof they weren't injured.
Kelly's grilled meat was still mediocre and a bit greasy for breakfast, so Leo brought out canned peas. The three shared most of it in silence.
After eating, Tsunade finally spoke.
"Make me a player. Because of my hemophobia, I can't fight. I'll have to rely on you."
At the same time, Kelly sent party and friend requests.
Leo didn't hesitate. He didn't ask why Tsunade didn't have Kelly do it. He simply placed a hand on Tsunade's shoulder and selected the option.
A hollow sensation washed over him as his experience dropped sharply.
At the same time, Tsunade felt something loosen slightly inside her.
"Interesting… I feel like some of my strength has returned."
Kelly blinked, then flexed her arm and swung it.
"So it wasn't my imagination?"
She'd thought it was just wishful thinking.
"Yeah. My chakra recovery has improved too—though not by much. Looks like full recovery will require leveling up."
Tsunade summarized calmly. Leo didn't comment—it didn't concern him directly.
But assessing teammates mattered.
"So strong people get suppressed here. Ms. Tsunade—what level can you manage now?"
Leo asked cautiously.
Tsunade tilted her head, stood up, walked to a surviving concrete utility pole, and punched it.
The pole snapped cleanly and collapsed into the ruins.
"About that level."
She was clearly dissatisfied. Before, that same punch would've ripped up fifty meters of ground.
"One punch breaks a pole…"
Leo nodded.
"How many times can you do that?"
"Three times. Chakra recovery is slow. But if it's just swinging my fists, I can go all day."
Leo thought for a moment, stood up, and took out his iron pickaxe and axe.
"Then, Ms. Tsunade."
He bowed deeply to the one-point-six-meter-tall woman with absurdly large… assets.
"Hm?"
"From now on—mining and digging are all yours!"
A top-tier laborer.
A miner.
Perfect.