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"B-brain… big bro… let me off…"
Amano's tongue was being yanked, his words coming out slurred and broken.
"Go to hell!"
Nanami Kento didn't hesitate. He brought his axe down in one brutal swing, splitting Amano's skull clean open.
At last… the zombie outbreak here was fully dealt with.
"Brother Julian, we really owe you this time…"
"I won't bother with empty thanks."
"If you don't mind…"
"From today on, I, Kento, will follow you!"
He spoke with complete seriousness.
"Yeah! We all want to follow you, Boss Julian!"
The other four Awakened echoed him in unison.
That fight just now—Julian had held the line alone, wiping out more than two-thirds of the zombies. Watching him had set their blood boiling, and their admiration came straight from the heart.
Moments of life and death stirred emotions the most.Trust like this… was forged right on the edge of survival.
Julian blinked, a little stunned.
Wait… something's off here.
Kento, you're supposed to become the top guy in N City in the future!
If you end up as my subordinate… how are you supposed to grow into that?
Logically, it'd be way more profitable to let him rise first and repay the favor later.
Still… taking them in now wasn't impossible.
No way he was feeding them, though. Food would be their own problem. At most, he could offer some protection.
"Brother Julian… is something bothering you?" Kento asked when he saw him hesitate.
"It's not that," Julian said after a pause. "I just… haven't figured out where to put you guys yet."
He thought it over.
Letting them into Donghu Island Base? Definitely not.That place was his and his follower's private territory.
Wait—Donghu Villas!
Plenty of space. Tons of houses. Housing dozens of people wouldn't be an issue.
Sure, the elderly couldn't fight zombies, but they could grow vegetables and fruit.
And with these five Awakened, the security level would jump quite a bit.
Not bad… actually a solid plan.
Once the security guards over there eventually revolted, he could lead a cleanup and take the place over. It would become his colony.
As for the rich folks still there—if they didn't want to fall in line…
Well, he could always send a few zombies over to "chat" with them.
"Alright," Julian said. "I've thought of a suitable place.""But now's not the right time.""Hold on for a few days. When the time comes, I'll let you know."
"Got it. As long as we don't run into something like today again, we can hold out," Kento nodded.
Julian agreeing to take them in was already great news.
"Still, fighting really does make me stronger," Ryuji said excitedly. "From now on, we should go out and risk our lives more often. That's how we'll keep improving."
"Too bad not everyone can Awaken," Kento sighed. "Those guys who ate gold…"
Their camp had suffered heavy losses today.Without Julian's help, they might've been wiped out completely.
"Alright, I'm heading off," Julian said. "Handle the aftermath yourselves. We'll stay in touch."
He said his goodbyes and left with Mafuyu.
Kento and the others watched them go, faces full of admiration.
"Master, are we still going to N University?" Mafuyu asked.
The original plan had been to find seeds and saplings there.
"We lost some time today," Julian said.
"Let's go tomorrow."
"For now, let's see if we can find a big iron gate on the way back. We'll install it at the bridge entrance."
He drove the truck while scanning the roadside with Mafuyu.
These days, most schools and offices used automatic sliding gates.Old-fashioned iron gates were surprisingly rare.
After a long search, they finally found one at the entrance of a warehouse complex.
"Perfect width," Julian said. "This is the one."
The two of them got out and started dismantling it—violently.
Before long, the two massive iron doors were torn free.
Working together, they hauled them onto the roof of the truck and tied them down with rope.
Done. Time to go.
Just after Julian disappeared around the corner, a group of armed people rushed out of the warehouse.
"Wait—where the hell's our gate?!"
"Who the hell steals a gate?!"
"This is outrageous!"
"What do we do now? This place isn't safe anymore!"
"Move, move! Everyone relocate!"
They were completely dumbfounded.
Even back in the old days, at worst people stole manhole covers. Who the hell steals an entire iron gate?
Meanwhile, Julian drove cheerfully toward Donghu Island.
"Master, after that fight, I'm starving," Mafuyu said, sneaking a glance at him. "Can I just… grab a quick bite?"
Julian: …
He'd killed over two hundred zombies himself. He was exhausted too, okay?!
"…Fine. Do whatever you want," he sighed.
They weren't carrying anything important today anyway.
Mafuyu immediately perked up and tied her hair back.
About ten minutes later, they arrived back on the island.
"Mafuyu, go get my Destruction Hammer," Julian said. "And find some rebar—I remember there's leftover construction material in one of the villas."
They needed to get that gate installed quickly. At least then they wouldn't have to worry about zombies lurking outside at night.
Soon, everything was ready.
Since they were setting the gate up from scratch, Julian went with a brute-force approach.
He used the Destruction Hammer to drive several steel bars halfway into the ground, then secured the gate's base to them.
After that, he bent the spikes at the top outward, angling them away.
Of course, with Julian and Mafuyu's strength, this makeshift gate could be smashed down with a single punch.
But it wasn't meant for real defense.
Just something to keep wandering zombies out.
"Alright, this'll do for now," Julian said, dusting off his hands.
"Master, does that mean I can scream freely at night now?" Mafuyu asked curiously.
"…Uh, probably," Julian said. "Regular zombies shouldn't be able to get in."
"Let's leave it like this for now. Later I'll find someone with construction skills to build a proper gate."
Dragging the Destruction Hammer behind him, Julian headed into the hotel with Mafuyu.
Near the lobby was a large swimming pool—not an infinity pool, but big enough, with a nice view.
Hana had somehow found an inflatable yellow duck float and was lounging on it, drifting lazily.
"Master, you're back?" she called out, paddling to shore."Dinner tonight is seaside barbecue!"
"....."