Kaito's instincts were sharp. During the night operations, he noticed that the number of creatures appearing was greater than the previous two nights, and the number of second-grade mutated creatures had also increased slightly.
Naturally, this might have been because they chose to fight farther away from the luxury complex, but the increase in both the quantity and quality of mutated creatures was an undeniable fact.
This was the system's doing, deliberately increasing the difficulty.
Even though Kaito had guns and ammunition, they weren't unlimited. He estimated that by tomorrow night, all the ammunition would be used up, even with his careful conservation.
During the battle, due to the extremely low visibility at night, aside from Kaito who wasn't hit, the other women had been attacked to varying degrees and had experienced varying levels of fright.
Fortunately, Kaito put shields on them every day when his stamina and mental energy were at their peak. So, no one was injured; at most, two or three layers of shields were broken.
But those were the thinnest shields, only capable of withstanding a single sniper rifle bullet's worth of damage or accumulated damage of that level.
Later shields could withstand several hits, and by this afternoon, he had put shields on them that could withstand a truck hitting them at full speed without issue.
Well, as his attributes increased, Kaito's ability to utilize that 5% power also gradually improved.
But he still couldn't unleash "Planet Befall"; forcing it would drain him dry.
Of course, it also depended on the size of the meteorite.
"Take off your hoods and gas masks when we get back. The smell here is terrible."
Kaito reminded Shodai, who was both tired and stifled, and waited for Kie to give everyone a simple cleansing of the bloodstains on them. Shinshui was also helping.
Her purification ability was incredibly versatile.
It could remove impurities, detoxify, and even eliminate radiation.
If her ability became stronger, she might even be able to heal mutated bodies, combined with her healing ability.
It had to be said, Shinshui truly was the protagonist of this world.
Her plant control ability was also more adept than Momo's. The only difference was that she couldn't communicate with plants, while Momo could.
After returning and everyone had a quick wash, they had a simple late-night snack and went to bed early.
...
The next day, they set off in two vehicles towards the outskirts of the city.
Here, the number of visible mutated creatures was far greater than inside the city.
Because there were so many mutated creatures here, Kaito and the group actually managed to gather a lot of food resources.
However, most of it was contaminated with excessive radiation, requiring Shinshui to slowly purify it. This once again proved how powerful her ability was.
They brought back enough food for everyone to eat freely for about 5 days. At night, they went out again to fight and collect crystals.
Afterwards, they returned, soaked crystals to increase attributes, slept, and then went to other peripheral areas to collect food.
This time, they were unlucky and almost returned empty-handed.
Perhaps because they didn't gather much food, Kaito and the others returned early in the afternoon.
And upon returning this time...
Kaito noticed several survivors lingering nearby. They didn't acknowledge each other; they just glanced and moved on.
"...Something's wrong."
Back in the shelter, Kaito's first words were these.
"What's wrong?"
Sephie sat beside Kaito, asking curiously. The other women, who were busy with their own activities, stopped and looked at Kaito.
"...Those survivors seemed more like scouts than people searching for supplies."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"It's easy to figure out. The surrounding supplies have long been stripped clean. Plus, a large group came through last week to raid shelter resources. So, after all that time, no one should logically be paying attention to this place anymore."
"Then, according to you, why would they come? What's the point of scouting?"
Misuzu asked back.
If what Kaito said was true, why would they come?
The shelters here had already been searched. Those that hadn't been searched had been abandoned by their owners who fled with their belongings. Only empty, intact shelters remained, and they couldn't accommodate many people anyway.
"I'm not sure either... perhaps our presence here over the past few days was noticed and attracted their attention."
Kaito frowned, answering somewhat uncertainly.
But he still felt something was off.
'What was their size? We only had a few people. Was there any reason for them to be of interest?'
'How many resources did we have...'
'Wait, were they after Sephie and the other women?'
'If so, that might explain it!'
"Regardless, we need to be cautious. Tomorrow and the day after... let's not go out exploring for now. We have enough food stockpiled, and besides, the wind outside is getting stronger."
If nothing unexpected happened, today's wind had reached around level 14. A few more levels, and people would be blown away, and trees would be uprooted.
What puzzled everyone was that this typhoon only brought wind, no rain.
Usually, typhoons come with heavy rain, but this time, after two days of strong winds, there wasn't a drop of rain.
Temperature-wise, it seemed to stay steadily between 8 and 16 degrees, very stable.
"Alright, we'll rest for a few days then. It might get boring, though."
"Haha, safety is more important."
"Hmm... besides playing cards and mahjong, there aren't any other forms of entertainment."
"Didn't we bring back a game console? We can connect it to the TV and play single-player games."
"But the games on it only support two players at most. None for four. Besides, I don't know how to play."
The women resumed their previous chatter.
Some played games, some played cards, some played chess.
Kaito also joined in to pass the time, or later, it was his turn to teach Shinshui various subjects.
At night, with the wind reaching around level 17, and trees inside the luxury complex being uprooted, they didn't go out to take risks.
The next morning, when Kaito went to the third-floor balcony to check the situation, he saw...