Research institute...
The officials were unaware of this, but Kaito didn't pressure them. After all, on the surface, their faction was on friendly terms with that group.
Maybe it was just a few people within that faction causing trouble?
At least he knew the location of the research institute now.
Regarding how to approach the nuclear power plant, they also needed to discuss. Kaito talked with them for several hours, gathering a series of information. He even learned that a boss-level "alien" was inside, which made him smile.
After so many days, he hadn't seen a single boss. He didn't expect them to be there...
In fact, Kaito had also wondered whether those so-called bosses would appear during the beast wave.
Later, Misuzu drove over. After everyone agreed to set off in two days, they declined the invitation to stay at the official shelter and went back.
After all, they had to kill mutated creatures and plants at night.
Even though the crystal mission was long completed, they still needed to improve their strength quickly to complete the other missions.
Preferably before winter fully set in.
Night, they roamed far and wide...
Actually, they went directly to the city's edge, attracting countless mutated creatures.
With sufficient food reserves, they had an early, exceptionally hearty dinner, then went out full of energy, slaughtering in all directions.
Under these circumstances, everyone developed some combat ability. Even those who were essentially ordinary people before had become capable of fighting.
For example, Mika, Sayuri, and Shodai.
Mika could transform into a slime, which could defend against any physical attack, but wearing a protective suit limited her to the only additional ability available in her current slime transformation.
Firing water bullets, ice bullets.
After upgrading her slime transformation card, it now had attributes and attack characteristics.
Well, the operation method changed. She now condensed a water or ice ball in her palm and launched it like a cannonball.
Akina had chosen Phantom Sword, attacking by manipulating light swords.
Sayuri's ability surprised everyone. No wonder she had waited until coming to this world to show it.
It was Crest Magic. It allowed recording various magics into crests. When needed, she could manifest the crest, bypassing the chanting or magic circle drawing process, and use it directly.
The only magic she had recorded so far was fire.
It seemed simple, but its operation was different from standard magic. It could only be used for direct attacks and couldn't be maintained for long.
For example, Sephie could use her fire like a flamethrower, spraying it at will, stopping at will.
Sayuri, on the other hand, used hers like a flintlock, shooting a fireball, then manifesting a new crest to shoot another fireball.
However, Crest Magic did have an advantage: it was completely beginner-friendly.
You only needed to slowly engrave the magic into the crest once. After that, even if you forgot the incantation, it didn't matter. You just needed to remember which crest recorded which magic.
It consumed less magical power than usual, but correspondingly, its power was also lower.
In this way, almost all the women had learned to fight in this environment, and their mindsets had improved in various aspects.
In the future, if they encountered similar situations requiring fighting or killing, they wouldn't be overly timid.
"The outskirts of the forest really do have a lot of mutated creatures."
It was like an endless supply. Kaito and the others spent twice as much time as usual, finally resting close to 5 AM.
They rested in a house, placing the collected crystals into the rock bathtub he had created to enhance their attributes.
After that, everyone had a big meal!
"Kaito, what's the plan next?"
"Let's go to the research institute."
50,000 points each was very tempting.
Even though everyone was tired and wanted to sleep, the attribute enhancements kept them more energized than usual.
Deciding to go to the research institute, Shinshui acted as guide again. They arrived at the intended location around 10 AM.
It was a massive factory.
A pharmaceutical factory with an attached medical research institute.
Next door, there was even a medical university.
An underground shelter had been built under the medical university, similar to the Wuming City United Chamber of Commerce, though with fewer people, around 1000-1500.
Starting from tens of thousands, numbers had dwindled due to various incidents down to 3000, and over the past six months, further down to below 1500.
It was an underground shelter built by several business owners, and officials occasionally visited.
After Kaito drove near the pharmaceutical factory, the group began searching for the research institute beneath it.
"The main gate is sealed, huh..."
The elevator was broken.
The stairs were fine, but they looked like they hadn't been used in a long time.
Upon reaching the research institute, it was a complete mess, with many items scattered, as if abandoned.
However, Kaito decided to go deeper. Finally, in an inconspicuous spot, he found a hidden door.
Or rather, he used his ability to find the hidden door in the concrete wall. After opening it, they were blocked by a metal door.
"It seems... the owner of this pharmaceutical factory wasn't as good as they seemed."
The original pharmaceutical research institute was normal, but what lay deeper was a different story.
Ignoring the metal door, Kaito used his ability to directly open the concrete wall, revealing a long corridor.
At that moment, a laser sight's red dot appeared on Kaito's forehead...
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!
Several bullets flew precisely towards Kaito's forehead. At the same time, Kaito saw that along the walls at the far end of the corridor were several prison cells, holding disgusting creatures resembling Lickers...
"Is this... researching some kind of zombie virus!!!"