-----
-----
Early the next morning, Julian woke up feeling refreshed.
Ever since everyone else moved out of the warehouse, he'd stopped sleeping in the tent. The place already had plenty of mattresses, pillows, and blankets, so he simply laid out a bedding roll right in front of the large monitor screen.
That way, he could keep an eye on the surveillance cameras anytime.
"Master, breakfast is ready!"
The well-behaved Hana brought over a plate of steak and fried eggs.
The steak had been carefully sliced into thin strips and sprinkled with black pepper. Hana's cooking skills were honestly top-notch.
"Master, let me feed you!"
She scooted closer to Julian, speared a piece of steak with a fork, and held it up to his mouth.
"Wow, this tastes great!"
Julian praised her the moment he took a bite.
"Thank you for the compliment, Master!"
Hana blushed slightly before asking shyly, "Then… do I get a reward?"
"I feel like you're setting me up somehow," Julian said, rubbing her small head, "but I have no proof."
Hana kept feeding him, piece by piece.
"Hey, where's Mafuyu?"
"Where'd she run off to so early?"
Julian asked curiously. It was strange not seeing Mafuyu around when he woke up.
"Big Sister Mafuyu saw on the monitor that a lot of zombies had gathered around the warehouse," Hana explained. "So she went out early to clear them out."
"Hiss…"
"You two have been performing way too well lately," Julian muttered, rubbing his lower back. "Makes me feel like you've got some kind of ulterior motive."
Ever since the past couple of days when they'd been "helping each other improve their strength," his back actually felt a lot stronger.
Not nearly as sore as before.
Giving them an occasional extra reward didn't seem like a bad idea after all…
Before long, Hana finished feeding him breakfast.
"Master, I'll go wash the dishes."
She stood up to leave, but Julian suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Hm?"
"Master… what are you doing?"
Hana looked confused.
But it didn't take long for her to figure it out.
Master was about to give her that reward.
The plate was tossed aside. The blanket was pulled over them.
Another energetic morning began.
Not long after, Mafuyu returned to the warehouse after clearing out zombies.
"Well, well!"
"You two actually…"
She stood at the edge of the bedding with her hands on her hips, looking thoroughly displeased.
She'd been out there working hard killing zombies, and these two had been sneaking around in here…
They were completely ignoring her schedule!
Too much!
"Big Sister Mafuyu!"
"Master was just praising you earlier. He said he wanted to reward you too!"
Hana jumped out from under the blanket, holding a pillow in front of herself like a shield.
"Reward me…"
Mafuyu felt secretly delighted when she heard that, though her face still looked like she was sulking.
Girls—even zombie girls—still needed a little coaxing.
"Alright, alright. Our Mafuyu is the most obedient one."
Julian waved at her.
"Come on over. It's still warm."
He'd already given her an out, so Mafuyu didn't bother pretending to be reserved anymore.
What an energetic… noon.
After the "battle" ended, Julian leaned comfortably against a cushion, enjoying lunch as Hana fed him again.
Eat after exercise. Exercise after eating.
Julian's life felt suspiciously similar to that of a breeding stud pig.
Before long, figures appeared on the surveillance screen.
Nanami Kento and his group had arrived.
The business partners were here.
Outside the Warehouse
Nanami and his men stepped out of their vehicles.
"That's Hammerhead's car…"
"They disappeared early this morning. Looks like they snuck over here after all."
"Those damn idiots!"
Nanami couldn't help cursing.
"Boss, do you think Hammerhead and the others succeeded?" one of his subordinates asked.
"Succeeded?"
Nanami snorted.
"Think about it. Someone who can occupy this place—do you really think they'd be weak?"
"Forget Hammerhead. Even if all of us came together, we might not be able to take this warehouse."
"The world may have collapsed, but some rules still matter."
"Hammerhead broke those rules. I'm not even sure if we'll still be able to trade with them."
Nanami sighed.
The group walked forward with the diesel and gasoline barrels they'd gathered, still feeling uneasy.
"Boss, why are there so many zombie corpses here?"
"There weren't this many yesterday!"
"They look fresh too. Must've been killed recently."
One of the men muttered.
"At least two hundred bodies," Nanami said after scanning the area.
"Even if it were us, we might not be able to kill that many in a single day."
"Now you understand their strength."
"In the apocalypse, don't casually set your sights on other people's territory."
The men nodded.
They weren't the same type as Hammerhead. Their morals were still relatively intact, and they took Nanami's warning seriously.
"Boss, look…"
"Isn't that Tanaka's body?"
One of them pointed at the upper half of a corpse lying on the ground.
"Holy crap…"
"Cut clean in half at the waist."
"The cut is neat. One strike."
"I remember that guy here carries a Tang saber, right?"
"That says a lot about his strength."
Nanami analyzed the scene, visibly shocked.
For a normal person, cutting off someone's head with a blade would already be impressive.
But slicing someone in half at the waist…
How much strength would that take?
The men beside him shuddered at the thought.
Someone that terrifying was not someone you wanted to provoke.
Just then, the warehouse door opened.
A young man wearing a bathrobe stepped out slowly, a blade resting on his shoulder.
It was Julian.
"Brother, before anything else, I owe you an apology," Nanami said.
"I only just found out that a few unreliable people under me came here last night to cause trouble."
"That's my failure in management. I apologize."
"As compensation…"
"Half the fuel we brought today will be yours, free of charge."
"I hope you won't hold it against us."
Nanami tapped his chest with one fist to show sincerity.
"Well, since you put it that way…"
"Alright. Let's do it your way."
Julian nodded with a smile.
Now he understood why Nanami had become the strongest Awakened and the leader of N City.
The man had a solid moral compass, good character, and decent strength.
Someone like that naturally attracted followers.
Soon, the two sides completed the trade.
"Oh right, brother!"
Nanami suddenly remembered something.
"Last time you mentioned you needed gold."
"I have no idea what use gold has in a world like this…"
"But I did discover an interesting place."
"There's a big bank with an underground vault."
"One of the older ladies in our camp used to be the vault manager there. She still has the key."
"If you're interested, we could go check it out together."
"As for how we split the gold, you can name the terms."
Nanami said loudly.
"....."