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Mafuyu walked down the road with a walkie-talkie in hand.
"Master, should I kill them all?" she asked.
Julian's voice crackled through the radio.
"Yeah. Anyone who tries to scam me gets killed."
Mafuyu nodded and slipped the walkie-talkie into her pocket.
Time to start killing.
"Hey, pretty lady! Your people ran ours over and killed him!"
Brother Gaku put on a fierce expression as he spoke.
"There's no settling this without at least a hundred grand… or, at the very least, ten whole boxes of instant noodles!"
"Yeah!" one of the lackeys behind him chimed in.
"If you don't have enough food, you can make up the difference with yourself!"
The thug stroked his chin, staring at Mafuyu with a lecherous grin.
Mafuyu ignored the idiots in front of her and slowly raised a hand.
Sharp claws extended from her fingertips.
Brother Gaku felt a chill run down his spine.
What kind of manicure was that? Since when did fake nails grow like that?
And why did they look so… dangerous?
Just then, strange growls echoed from behind the three men.
They turned around—
Messi was sprinting straight at them.
The speed was ridiculous, like a striker charging in alone on goal.
Behind him, Tiger Brother staggered forward, his mouth smeared with blood.
"Shit!"
"They turned into zombies!"
The three men froze for a split second. Then they completely forgot about Mafuyu and bolted toward their truck.
As one of them rushed past her, Mafuyu suddenly lifted her hand and gave a casual swipe.
The man ran two or three more steps before something felt… wrong.
His vision suddenly stopped moving.
But his body kept running forward.
Thud.
A head rolled across the ground.
Blood splashed all over Brother Gaku's face.
"What the hell just happ—"
He turned his head and nearly died of fright.
Did she just rip someone's head off with her bare hand?!
Run!
Mafuyu flicked the blood off her hand, then burst forward, rapidly closing the distance between herself and the two fleeing men.
Shlk!
Her claw pierced straight through the back of another lackey's chest.
When she pulled her hand back, several pieces of his spine were still clutched in her fingers.
One left.
Brother Gaku didn't dare look back. He sprinted forward with everything he had.
Just fifty more meters.
The truck was right there.
Once he got inside and slammed the gas pedal, he'd survive.
The hope of living pushed his body to its limits.
Despite his bulky build, he somehow managed to run the hundred meters in about twelve seconds.
Unfortunately…
Mafuyu caught up in just a few strides.
Long legs. Naturally faster.
Slash!
Mafuyu slashed out with her claws and raked across Gaku's back, snapping his spine in one clean strike.
Gaku instantly lost control of his body. He staggered forward a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
"Don't! Please don't kill me!"
He cried and begged, snot and tears running down his face.
What terrified him even more was the sudden realization that he couldn't feel his hands or feet anymore.
He couldn't move at all.
"Sorry," Mafuyu said casually. "My master said anyone who tries to scam him has to die."
She glanced behind her.
Messi was kicking a severed head along the ground, running in Gaku's direction.
Looks like I can slack off a little.
This guy didn't need her to finish him off anymore.
Mafuyu picked up the walkie-talkie.
"Master, it's all taken care of!"
Her voice was bright and cheerful.
Another task for Master completed!
I wonder if there'll be a reward later.
"Get back in the truck," Julian replied. "We've still got a lot to do today."
Mafuyu clipped the walkie-talkie back on and climbed into the cargo truck.
Behind her, Gaku's screams rang out.
Sounds like Messi had started his meal.
The two trucks drove off one after the other, heading toward the coast…
At the entrance of Donghu Villa.
A dozen security guards and several representatives from the homeowners' committee were already waiting outside the gate.
Partly to clear out the zombies near the entrance, and partly to show Julian the respect he deserved.
After all, in a world like this, he was the one bringing them supplies.
Soon, the two trucks rolled up to the neighborhood gate.
"Ah, Julian! You're here!"
"Let's bring the trucks inside to finish the exchange. It'll be safer."
The homeowners' committee representative, Shimada, greeted him warmly.
The guards moved the barricades aside, and Julian and Mafuyu drove the trucks into the central courtyard.
A large crowd of residents had already gathered there.
Most of them were holding boxes or bags.
Judging from the weight and how carefully they carried them, they were probably full of gold.
Seems like these rich villa owners all kept a bit of gold at home, one way or another.
"Keep things orderly," Julian announced through a loudspeaker.
"I'll handle the trades at my own pace."
He'd grabbed the loudspeaker from the warehouse earlier. He hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.
Next came the counting and exchanges.
The property management staff even brought out several large electronic scales.
Everything moved along smoothly and in an orderly fashion.
Before long, all 4,000 jin—about 2,000 kilograms—of food had been traded away.
Next came the luxury goods exchange and auction.
The so-called "luxury goods" were things like massage chairs, refrigerators, and bottles of fine Cognac. Stuff that couldn't exactly fill your stomach.
Julian was a bit surprised these items were so popular among the wealthy residents.
The refrigerators made sense. More food meant you needed more storage.
But massage chairs?
What was the point of that?
To make your meat more tender so the zombies enjoy eating you more?
Clearly, these people hadn't experienced the brutality outside yet.
Even so, most of the miscellaneous items from that truck were traded off as well.
At that moment, Asuka rode over on her hoverboard.
She had her twin ponytails tied high and was wearing a plaid skirt.
This time she wasn't carrying her crossbow.
Instead, she had Frostmourne slung over her shoulder—though the blade wasn't sharpened.
Probably because there were so many people here. The place felt safer.
"Did you bring the mouse?"
Asuka held out her hand directly.
"Logitech G502. I'll throw in a pair of Bose Bluetooth headphones too."
Julian handed them over.
"No need for freebies. I'm not broke."
Whether she was just that rich or simply didn't like owing favors, Asuka stuffed two gold bars into Julian's bag.
Julian certainly wasn't going to refuse that.
"Oh right…" Asuka added.
"If you find any gaming consoles or console games, bring them next time. I'll buy them."
"Online games barely match me with anyone lately."
She sighed helplessly.
"Play Civilization VI," Julian suggested. "Slow the game speed down. One match can last for months."
As far as killing time went, Civ VI was definitely a solid choice.
"Oh, and…"
Asuka looked at him curiously.
"People online keep saying the situation outside is terrible."
"So how exactly are you getting all these supplies and transporting them here?"
Just yesterday, the top author of the web novel she'd been following had suddenly stopped updating.
Probably dead.
That alone showed how dangerous things were out there.
"Sorry," Julian said with a shrug. "I don't offer a question-answering service."
Asuka pulled out two more gold bars and stuffed them into his bag.
When rich people handled things, they did it straight to the point.
"Well… actually, I'm a superpowered individual," Julian said casually.
"Dealing with zombies is pretty easy for me."
He was just making stuff up.
Some things were hard to explain anyway. Might as well bluff.
"Give me my gold back."
Asuka held out her hand toward him.
Clearly, her intelligence was telling her that Julian was talking complete nonsense.
"....."