After spending these past few days together, Mamako's relationship with Kaito had steadily improved. So, when they were all in the bathtub in their underwear to escape the heat, she wasn't as shy as before.
Instead, she sat openly next to Kaito, chatting.
Even Chiyo was the same. The mother-daughter pair, leveraging their status as newcomers, squeezed in next to Kaito, chatting happily.
The others didn't mind either. In this environment, no one could really do anything; trying would just cause chaos.
But while Kaito was enjoying the view, weren't they also enjoying a different view?
At night, after a good meal, they went out exploring again.
It was still hot at night, the temperature remaining above 55 degrees, but it was much better than during the day.
Fortunately, with everyone's improved attributes, there were no cases of shock, heatstroke, or dehydration.
The only downside was that everyone got a little tanned, right?
But with Shinshui's ability, they quickly regained their original skin tone.
It had to be said...
Shinshui's holy light superpower was incredibly powerful, almost a versatile ability!!
It could be used for attack, defense, and even support!
Naturally, its defensive aspect wasn't too strong yet, but with increased strength, creating a light shield was theoretically possible.
These past few days, no one had been idle. They had been teaching Shinshui, giving her a wealth of knowledge.
Unfortunately, despite all these days, the hidden mission hadn't reappeared. This made them consider whether to start contacting the official faction.
Now Kaito knew the approximate location of the official shelter and also knew that near the mountainous area, there was a nuclear power plant.
As for the research institute from the mission...
No leads yet.
After clearing all nearby mutated animals and plants and digging out the crystals, everyone returned to the shelter.
Given that so many days had passed, the Wuming City United Chamber of Commerce must have started investigating Zhao Hao's disappearance. They might find this place any day.
In fact, Kaito had planned to go to their shelter in a few days, but considering their large numbers and the intense heat, he postponed it until after he reached fourth-grade attributes.
At least then, Kaito wouldn't be a weakling who got exhausted every time he used his abilities.
"Is winter finally starting?"
On the 18th day in this world, with only 12 days left until the one-month survival mark, the beast wave that would occur on the full moon was approaching.
Kaito had already reached fourth-grade powerhouse level and needed just a little more to reach fifth-grade.
The other women had reached third-grade, with only Shinshui at second-grade level.
There was no helping it. Shinshui didn't have their 10x enhancement effect, and there weren't enough crystals to go around. She couldn't max out every day. Even Kaito didn't max out; he only took second-grade and above, leaving the rest for the others.
"Food reserves... given our current appetite, they won't last more than 8 days, maybe even less..."
"So, we need to get food from our enemies."
As for weapons and ammunition, Kaito no longer needed to rely on them for combat. His abilities alone could sustain continuous fighting for hours.
Of course, that was under normal use, like creating and throwing rock knives.
Kaito gathered everyone. After informing them of the plan, everyone except Misaka Mikoto and a couple of others agreed to carry it out.
Even Shinshui had matured over these days, shedding her initial naivety.
After all, everyone had taught her a lesson: if you don't take from them, they'll take from you!
One must be wary of others, and one must eliminate threats.
On the Wuming City United Chamber of Commerce side, after Zhao Hao had left with his men many days ago and not returned, the original four bosses had become three.
They had looked for Zhao Hao, but since he had left secretly, they followed the direction he had taken for a considerable distance. When they found no clues, they gave up.
Whether he came back or not depended on his luck.
However, they did suspect that maybe another shelter had taken him out. But there were no other shelters nearby.
In Wuming City, besides their shelter, there were only three official shelters and a slightly inferior private joint shelter.
Naturally, the private joint shelter had dealings with the officials. So, their Wuming City United Chamber of Commerce was the most disliked.
But everyone was just trying to survive, and no one really fought major battles. If people died fighting over resources, they just had to swallow their anger.
Wuming City only had a few tens of thousands of people left; could they kill them all?
Besides, they were one of the major forces sharing the pressure of the beast waves!
"Old Zhao... I've been feeling like something bad is going to happen lately."
"Hahahaha, Old Qian, you're overthinking it!"
"Tch, if you ask me, we should be worrying about the coming nuclear winter. Who knows what the climate will turn into? The experts I have are talking nonsense! They gave me their assurance, and then the recent weather slapped them in the face!"
"Old Kong, before the apocalypse, what the experts said might have been worth listening to. But now it's the apocalypse, the environment has changed so drastically. How can they calculate anything without networked computers to assist them?"
"Sigh... I wonder where Zhao Hao went. No matter what, his gravity ability is an indispensable asset for our Chamber of Commerce. Especially during the beast waves. A wide-range gravity slam can suppress so many mutated animals!"
"Alright, enough. Come on, let's drink!!"
"Oh no! Someone's broken into our shelter!!!!"