Gray and Oscar arrived at the cell block. Oscar didn't wait for Gray to say anything, he walked straight into his cell and closed it behind him.
The prison felt way different now, empty, and quiet except for the few noises the prisoners kept making, and as the last rays of sunshine disappeared beyond the treeline, Gray opened up the systems shop.
{Bleach (5-Gallon)} (30 Gold)
{Mop} (10 Gold)
{Broom} (12 Gold)
{All-Purpose Cleaner (5-Gallon)} (50 Gold)
{Fabuloso (5-Gallon)} (30-Gold)
{Pinol (5-Gallon)} (35 Gold)
{5-Gallon Bucket} (5 Gold)
{Microfiber Towels (Pack of 10)} (25 gold)
Gray bought five packs of microfiber towels, ten of each cleaning supply, and twenty each of mops, brooms, and buckets. After purchasing these items, he neatly stacked them next to the stairs. In total, he spent 2,115 gold, a minor amount compared to his hourly earnings.
After walking around the courtyard for a few minutes, Gray finally remembered that he needed to feed the prisoners, 'I gotta feed six people now...' His eyes drifted toward the Shop.
A second later, a ridiculous idea entered his mind. "...You know what? Screw it."
He typed "Cooking Skills" in the search bar.
Hundreds of results immediately appeared, some were ridiculously expensive, others seemed completely useless. Then one entry caught his attention.
{Joichiro Saiba's Cooking Skills} (100,000 Gold)
Gray blinked. "Wait... only a hundred thousand?"
Considering some of the nonsense he had already purchased, that was practically pocket change, without thinking too hard about it, he bought it.
The moment he confirmed the purchase, information flooded into his mind. Knife techniques, food preparation, seasoning, cooking temperatures, and recipes.
Thousands of little details he had never known suddenly felt completely natural.
Gray quickly searched the shop again for a mobile outdoor kitchen, ingredients, and tools he would need to start cooking. "I'll make something fast and easy, some white rice and veggies with steak doesn't sound too bad after a long day of work." After buying everything, he got to work.
The kitchen hummed with the comforting scent of fluffy white rice. He moved with the effortless precision of a master chef, adding the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli to a boiling pot in a flawless, staggered sequence.
On the stove, a heavy cast-iron skillet radiated intense heat. He generously coated the steaks in a custom blend of cracked black pepper, toasted garlic, a hint of ginger, and a whisper of five-spice powder.
The moment the meat hit the hot iron, a deafening sizzle erupted. In the final minutes, he tossed in a knob of butter, tilting the pan to spoon the foaming liquid over the crust.
While the steaks rested, he killed the flame and tossed the drained vegetables into the skillet. A splash of soy sauce hit the hot pan and hissed violently, instantly deglazing the iron and melding with the spiced butter and steak drippings.
He assembled two plates, starting with a steaming bed of white rice. He put the soy-coated vegetables on top, letting the dark sauce seep into the grains. Finally, he sliced the juicy steak into bite-sized chunks and layered the meat over the veggies.
Stepping back to look at his creation, he was hit by the rich, deeply savory aroma. The smell alone made his mouth water instantly, and he absolutely couldn't wait to dig in.
Before walking back into the cell block, he bought two more inventory spaces and a few cold Cokes. He used one inventory space for his meal, and left the other one empty since he still had to cook dinner for the other 4 prisoners, but for them, he was only going to make a basic meal.
Walking up to Oscar's cell, he opened it and handed him the plate, "Just a little reward for helping out earlier, you didn't complain a single time, keep up the good work." Gray said as he handed him two cold Cokes and closed the cell behind him.
Once the smell hit the other inmates, they started protesting. "What about us?!"
"You're just gonna let us starve?!"
"This is worse than torture!"
Gray ignored them, but before he reached the door, he called out, "I'll bring you guys something, just give me five minutes."
Once he was outside again, he bought two dozen eggs. After preparing a batch of scrambled eggs, he plated them and went back inside.
The contrast in the cell block was almost comical. Oscar sat quietly in his cell, moving with methodical reverence as he ate a perfectly seasoned steak, teasing the other inmates.
Gray walked down the row of cells, sliding a water bottle and a paper plate of plain scrambled eggs through the slot of each protesting prisoner.
"Eggs? That's it?" Andrew grumbled, staring down at the pale yellow dish. "We smelled steak! Actual steak!"
"You get what you work for," Gray replied smoothly, his voice echoing in the concrete block. "Oscar offered to haul rotting, infected corpses in the blazing heat. You lot just sat on your hands and kept quiet in the shade. Be glad I didn't just give you a can of room-temperature dog food."
Tomas glared at him from behind the bars, his jaw clenched, but raw hunger prevailed. He snatched the plate and retreated into the darkness of his cell without another word. Gray turned on his heel and walked out, leaving them to their meager dinner.
Back out in the courtyard, Gray walked over to one of the benches near the basketball court and pulled out the freshly prepared steak and rice from his inventory. The plate was still steaming, perfectly preserved until the moment he retrieved it.
He took his first bite, and everything around him seemed to freeze.
His eyes widened. The steak was exquisitely tender, melting effortlessly in his mouth as the custom blend of black pepper, garlic, and five-spice danced with the rich flavors of soy sauce and butter. "I knew Joichiro's skills were legendary, but now I'm afraid I can't go back to eating regular food..."
He devoured the plate in just a few minutes, finishing every grain of rice. Letting out a long, deeply satisfied breath, he cracked open a cold Coke and pulled up his system interface to check his progress.
Gold: 12,678,770
He was sitting on a massive amount of gold, well over halfway to the next upgrade. But being completely alone in a dark, cleared-out prison got him thinking. His aim was flawless thanks to Deadshot, but if a walker caught him in a blind spot, or if a living enemy got the drop on him in close quarters, he had advanced CQC skills, but his body wouldn't stand a chance.
He opened the shop search bar, looking for anything useful. His eyes immediately drifted to probably one of the best ones he would find.
{Batman's Peak Human Physique} (5M Gold)[1]
Five million was a steep price. It would drop his balance down to 7.6 million and delay his next gold upgrade by about 16 hours. But in a world where a single mistake meant getting ripped apart, real physical safety was worth it.
Right after buying it, the reaction wasn't a gentle flood of information like the cooking skills or Deadshot's marksmanship, it was a sudden restructuring of his biology.
Gray gasped, gripping the sides of the bench as a wave of intense, burning heat surged through his chest and radiated outward to his limbs. His muscle fibers tightened, condensing into hyper-dense tissue, shredding away any lingering fatigue from three days of clearing walkers. His lungs expanded, drawing in a deep, effortless breath of air that felt sharper and clearer.
When the heat receded a minute later, Gray stood up. He didn't look like a cartoonish bodybuilder, his frame was lean and dense. He flexed his hand, watching his fingers move with a fluid, lightning-fast precision that perfectly complemented his Deadshot marksmanship.
To complete his new loadout, he searched the shop one more time for a weapon he had been eyeing.
{UAC EMG Sidearm (DOOM)} (150,000 Gold)
A pocket-change purchase for infinite ammunition. He bought it instantly.
A sleek, futuristic, matte-grey pistol materialized in his right hand. It felt perfectly balanced, a high-tech energy weapon, and didn't require a single magazine to carry. With his new Batman-level body, Deadshot's flawless aim, and a gun that never ran out of bullets, the apocalypse had just become significantly easier.
Hearing the noise of a few walkers hitting the chain-link fence near the gate, Gray smirked, "Perfect timing."
He raised the gun, his arm perfectly steady. He pulled the trigger. Instead of a loud gunpowder blast, the gun made a sharp ZAP sound. A bright blue line of light cut through the dark, lighting up the yard for a split second.
The energy bullet hit the first walker right in the forehead. The force was so strong that the walker's head completely exploded into pieces, and the body slammed backward into the dirt.
The other three walkers didn't even have time to react. Gray flicked his wrist instantly. ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Three fast shots echoed in the night. The blue bullets slammed into the remaining walkers, instantly popping their heads like water balloons. All three headless bodies dropped into the grass at the exact same time.
Gray lowered the gun. He watched the blue glow fade as the battery recharged itself. There was no kickback, no loud noise to attract a crowd, and no empty bullet shells to clean up. "Oh yeah, now we're talking!"
He casually spun the pistol around his finger and then made it vanish back into his inventory.
Gray looked up at the dark prison towers and smiled. Tomorrow, the cleaning supplies would be put to good use. He was going to turn this hellhole into a fortress.
He walked back into the cell block. His body felt lighter, sharper, and completely full of energy. "Why didn't I do this earlier?" he muttered to himself.
His boots clicked against the concrete floor. Tomas stepped up to the bars of his cell, narrowing his eyes. Gray looked totally different now. He wasn't slouching anymore. The exhaustion from three days of killing walkers was completely gone.
"Hey, buddy," Tomas called out. "We got a problem in here. These cells don't have a working shitter. Andrew and I need to use the real bathroom."
Andrew nodded eagerly from the next cell. "Yeah, man. Can't exactly sleep in our own shit."
Before his upgrade, Gray might have waited for backup. But now? He just smiled. Keeping these guys in check wasn't a chore anymore. It was an afterthought.
"Sure," Gray said smoothly, stepping forward.
He unlocked Tomas's cell first, then Andrew's. The heavy iron gates swung open. The air in the hallway instantly shifted. Tomas didn't walk toward the exit. He exchanged a quick look with Andrew. They saw a lone, unarmed guy by himself. To them, this was their only shot to take over the prison.
"Appreciate it," Tomas grunted, stepping into the walkway.
Then, without warning, Tomas lunged forward. He threw a heavy, desperate punch straight at Gray's jaw. At the exact same second, Andrew dove low, trying to tackle Gray around the waist.
To the old Gray, this would have been dangerous. But to his new body, it looked like they were moving underwater.
His new reflexes kicked into overdrive. Tomas's fist seemed to crawl through the air. Gray didn't even flinch. He simply shifted an inch to the left, letting the punch miss completely.
Before Tomas even realized he missed, Gray brought his right hand down, smacking the back of Andrew's head mid-dive. With his new superhuman strength, Gray redirected Andrew's momentum straight down. Andrew's face slammed hard into the concrete floor. A loud CRACK echoed through the block as his nose shattered. He rolled over, groaning and clutching his bleeding face.
"What the fuc-" Tomas gasped. His eyes widened in pure horror. His brain couldn't process how a human could move that fast.
He didn't get to finish the thought. Gray stepped in close, grabbed Tomas by the throat with one hand, and lifted him completely off his feet. Tomas's shoes dangled a foot off the ground. He clawed desperately at Gray's iron grip.
Gray looked up at him, completely calm. His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "I gave you food. I let you out to use the bathroom. And this is how you repay the hospitality?"
Tomas couldn't breathe. His face turned a deep, panicked shade of purple. Gray turned and casually tossed him backward into his cell. Tomas hit the floor hard. Gray then grabbed a sobbing Andrew by his pants, dragged him across the floor, and threw him back inside, too.
He slammed both iron doors shut with a heavy BANG! The locks clicked into place.
The cell block fell into a dead, stunned silence. Axel and Big Tiny stared out from their bars, wide-eyed. Even Oscar looked up from his bed.
Gray didn't even have dirt on his shirt. He wasn't even breathing hard. He just wiped a speck of dust off his sleeve and looked at the cages.
"Bathroom privileges are suspended for the night," Gray announced casually. He turned his back on them without a single care. "Try it again tomorrow, and I won't bother putting you back in the cells."
He walked out of the block, leaving the prisoners in absolute, terrified silence.
[1] I was planning not to give him any physical enhancements until he bought the Saiyan Physiology, but honestly, it would be dumb not to buy this upgrade. He still has human strength and would need to train every day to keep it.