Winter had arrived.
No matter how absurdly hot the previous days had been, it was now snowing.
But this snow was toxic.
It wasn't the usual pristine white snow, but rather a grayish color. Looking out, all one could see was gray snow.
At this time, the temperature had plummeted to around minus 30 degrees. Such a terrifying change in just one day.
After a night of heavy snowfall, by noon it was already this cold. And judging by the current situation, the snow wouldn't stop, and the temperature would continue to drop rapidly.
As for mutated creatures, they were nowhere to be seen. Even those still wandering the city were mostly covered by snow, their hiding places unknown.
Kaito and the group stayed in the underground shelter, eating and drinking well, spending their final days.
Until the next day, when the heavy snow stopped and the sky temporarily cleared...
Even though it was daytime, the moon was clearly visible in the sky.
They prepared the remaining weapons and resources, used up the last of the crystals, cleared some open space near the villa, and set up numerous traps in advance.
...
Night.
With a terrifying monster's roar, countless mutated creatures and plants surged towards the city.
Their only goal was to devour living beings.
Even the snow, piled more than half a meter thick, couldn't stop their advance. They even cleared paths for themselves.
Soon, Kaito's location was discovered by a large number of flying creatures, which then began gathering land-based mutated creatures to attack.
The first to arrive were mutated rats, insects, birds, and the like, in such vast numbers that they stretched as far as the eye could see.
After Kaito and the group held their ground for a while, a large number of mutated cats, dogs, and other common animals, as well as various creatures from the forest, appeared. Not only were they huge, but there were also several bosses that could use superpowers and even control other mutated creatures.
Mutated plants were also carried over by larger mutated creatures, launching attacks with vines and other means.
"It's about time."
Taking a deep breath, Kaito stood on the villa's rooftop and waved his hand.
[Planet Befall]
A pre-prepared meteorite, twenty meters in diameter, fell from the sky, crashing directly into the area with the largest concentration of large creatures.
With that impact, the park within the luxury complex was instantly destroyed. Countless fragments of rock began destroying surrounding buildings and wreaking havoc among the mutated creatures.
This beast wave was similar to a zombie siege.
They weren't endless. Especially after Kaito targeted and eliminated several large mutated creatures, including boss-level ferocious beasts or aliens, the intensity of the beast wave directly decreased.
After killing enough, they even tried to retreat.
Since they were already here, how could he let them leave?
Although he couldn't see how many points he was earning, who would complain about having too many points?
He raised pre-prepared rock walls around the outside of the luxury complex, nearly draining himself, and most of the mutated creatures were trapped inside.
Next, naturally, was to clean them all out.
However, after killing all the mutated creatures, a painful task awaited.
There were simply too many corpses. Slowly digging out the crystals was a tedious process.
It took a full three days to dig out all the crystals.
As for the corpses, most were left unattended. Over those three days, it snowed gradually, covering them.
The total number of crystals obtained was over thirty thousand. After everyone raised their strength to fifth-grade, Kaito reached sixth-grade.
The remaining crystals were given to Shinshui, for her to take and use slowly later.
They used up all the high-grade crystals first. The remaining first-grade ones would be loaded into the armored vehicle.
After explaining Shinshui's importance to the officials, they would surely nurture her.
-Ding
[The final key hidden mission has been triggered.]
[Mission Content: Safely escort Shinshui out of Wuming City!]
On the morning of the thirtieth day, Kaito and the group reluctantly escorted Shinshui to the official shelter.
After explaining her importance, official He became serious and even vowed to treat her like his own daughter, protecting her from harm.
Naturally, a bird must eventually fly. She had to face what she needed to face.
The military had also sent a small team. After searching Wuming City for a while, they finally located the official shelters and began having everyone pack their supplies. The most important items were loaded for departure.
They would embark on a month-long journey to Qin Land, possibly joining up with survivors from other provinces along the way.
However, things didn't end so simply.
The appearance of the hidden mission meant Kaito had to accompany them. When they reached the highway checkpoint out of Wuming City in the afternoon, they indeed saw a large number of mutated creatures attacking the military convoy, seemingly trying to block their departure.
Similarly, Shinshui refused to leave Kaito's side no matter what.
But Kaito had no choice. He took her to a corner and told her the truth.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take her, but that he couldn't.
...
Kaito and the group completed the final part of the hidden mission.
After killing the large number of mutated creatures, they took an extra hour to rest quickly.
"This is my parting gift for you."
Twenty layers of protective shields, capable of withstanding a thousand-ton nuclear bomb, were etched into Shinshui's body.
Additionally, a rock golem with rock-manipulation and healing abilities was also given to her.
Afterwards, Kaito, drained of stamina and mental energy, collapsed unconscious before Shinshui.
Sephie and the others also gave her gifts, then helped Kaito back to the checkpoint at the exit of Wuming City, intending to see everyone off.
Finally, Shinshui ran back, kissing Kaito's lips for a long time...
With tears in her eyes, she returned to her group. When she couldn't help but look back, Kaito and the others were nowhere to be seen.