January 17
(Side story)
January 17, 2026. Reiwa 8. Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku.
At Imperial General Headquarters, the operation conference designated with the character "Decisive" was now underway.
With the exception of those who had already fled to Hawaii, the core members of the Japanese government were all present.
Around the round conference table, the seats were arranged in order: first, the empty seat of honor—reserved for the absent sovereign; to either side sat Charles Marshall, commander of U.S. forces in Japan; then Prime Minister Ryotaro Nishimoto; Defense Minister Isshin Tsuchida; Joint Operations Commander Mao Honda; Chief Cabinet Secretary Taichi Akita; and, finally, Shigetake Fujiwara, formerly Minister for Special Incident Response and now the highest-ranking official of the Global Committee in Japan.
Once everyone had finished reading the reports in their hands, Ryotaro Nishimoto adjusted his hearing aid and began to speak.
"Gentlemen, I trust you have all finished reading the latest global war briefing from Hawaii. Tell me your thoughts."
The report had laid bare the scale of the threat the infected now posed to the entire world.
Far away in Europe, several small countries had already lost all contact with the outside world.
In Africa, only coastal states such as South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria still retained functioning official governments. The interior had gone dark entirely.
Closer to home, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia had entered the final stage of collapse. Their population centers were largely gone. The island strongholds would not last much longer.
India was in even worse shape. Apart from heavily armed fortress-cities, most urban centers had already fallen. Every possible disaster seemed to be happening there at once. More than a billion infected now roamed the basins of the Ganges and Indus rivers.
Most of the smaller countries in Southeast Asia were finished as well. With weak militaries, many had devolved into scattered enclaves ruled by local groups. Only Thailand and Vietnam seemed to be faring somewhat better.
Australia, New Zealand, and the island nations of the South Pacific remained question marks. The last report from Australia claimed its military had destroyed a mass outbreak of infected kangaroos in the Great Dividing Range.
New Zealand had lost control of the South Island.
Among the great powers, the worst performer by far had been Britain. The mainland had been almost entirely swallowed by the zombie catastrophe. The royal family and surviving military forces had fled to the Isle of Man and parts of Wales.
Russia's greatest enemy at present was not the infected, but winter itself. Under the global cold snap, Russia—most of whose territory lay in temperate and subarctic zones—was struggling simply to maintain heat and keep machinery operational.
In some areas the snow was nearly three meters deep, burying the first floors of houses. Vehicles lay hidden beneath white drifts. Outdoor temperatures averaged around minus thirty degrees Celsius. Even the infected roaming outside had frozen into statues of ice.
France, by contrast, was holding up relatively well. Making use of its terrain, it was fighting the Apostle Organization and its infected on roughly even terms. Though much of its territory had fallen, parts of its heavy industrial zones remained intact, and the military was still functional.
Germany and Italy, too, had more or less stabilized after the initial shock. Eastern Europe, however, had become an afterthought in everyone's calculations.
Then came the United States—and there the situation was disastrous.
The federal government was operating with crippling inefficiency, and since both the infected and the Apostle Organization were monsters of America's own making, the backlash was correspondingly severe.
North and south of the Appalachians had become heaven for the infected and hell for humanity. On both sides of the Mississippi and Ohio River basins, cities had been consumed.
Worse still, because this was the homeland of the Apostle Organization, the U.S. military was forced into one high-end battle after another against special infected and bio-weapons of every imaginable type.
To describe the Americans as "retreating steadily" would have been generous. "Collapsing in a rout" was more accurate. In many places, their standard response had become little more than fleeing at the first sign of contact.
The quality of American troops—particularly those fighting on the mainland—had plainly deteriorated. The National Guard had become the backbone of domestic operations.
To make matters worse, every state government was pulling in its own direction. Political infighting and ideological obsessions were still poisoning the system, even now. The stupidity of the American public had only accelerated the nation's decline.
As a result, the United States had become the lowest-performing major power in this crisis.
South America, meanwhile, had in some ways reverted to something like the era before Columbus. In Mexico, infected forces had destroyed the local government. In Central America, the Apostle Organization had directly occupied the Panama region. Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Chile were still holding on somewhat better.
At the very least, parts of those countries remained under military control.
As for the East…
Its response had been strikingly effective. Its systems for containing the infected were exceptionally sound. More importantly, the Apostle Organization had failed to establish a foothold there. That was precisely why its pressure against the Korean Peninsula had intensified so dramatically.
At present, the power preserving its strength best was that eastern nation.
The meeting continued.
"We have strong objections," said two men who rose first. "Prime Minister Nishimoto, please yield the floor to Minister Nishiya and myself."
Their sudden stand caught the room off guard. Neither man belonged to the military or the Global Committee. Logically, they should have spoken much later.
Defense Minister Tsuchida, who had already half-risen from his chair, quietly sat back down.
Still, since the two had already stood, no one objected. They all moved in the same circles; there was no need to sour relations over speaking order. Even the commander of the U.S. forces in Japan made no move to interrupt.
"Finance Minister Maeda Ryusei, and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Masaya Nakajima—please proceed."
Time was precious. Battle reports were streaming in from the front. Men and materiel were being consumed like flowing water. This meeting could not afford delay.
After all, once broad policy was decided here, countless people further down the chain would be waiting for orders.
The two men did not even consult prepared notes. After bowing, they turned directly to address the room.
Nakajima Masaya and Maeda Ryusei spoke in alternating turns, explaining the situation as they saw it.
"The urgency of the international report," Nakajima began, "could have been placed lower on the agenda. The fall of Korea was largely of their own making. Seoul's surrender resulted from internal failure. Its implications for us are limited.
"The infected would still have to cross the sea to attack Japan, and they would have to pass Jeju Island first. The surviving Korean military there should still be able to resist for a time.
"The real internal crisis—the truly urgent one—is food."
He paused, then continued in a grave voice.
"As of now, food reserves in Shikoku are nearing critical levels. Counting evacuees from other regions, residents already on the island, and stranded foreign tourists, the combined military and civilian population across Shikoku and the surviving fortress-cities on Honshu has already exceeded ten million.
"Under the most optimistic assumptions, our current emergency reserves can support us only until autumn. At best, we have enough for five more months.
"If we do not secure more grain before July, the consequences will be severe. The government and the refugees could easily turn against one another."
He was right.
Shikoku had never been one of Japan's main grain-producing regions. The northern granary of Hokkaido, the fertile Kanto Plain, Kyushu's rice and tropical cash-crop zones, Hokuriku's wheat and soybeans, the mixed farming regions of Akita and Miyagi—all had already been lost.
Shikoku was an agriculturally weak region, with fragmented farmland and an average household cultivation area of only 1.5 hectares. Fruit and vegetables had always dominated over staple grains.
Even so, the current food situation was only manageable because of extraordinary measures taken before the disaster.
Imports had been massively increased in the months leading up to the crisis. Grain purchased through foreign trade had reached Japanese waters before December and was now anchored in the Seto Inland Sea. Retreating forces had also seized and transported food stocks from other regions as they fell back.
Without that, the question would have been whether the current reserves could sustain ten million people for even a month.
Japan, after all, had long depended on imports for more than 80 percent of such staples as wheat and soybeans. Once trade collapsed, the country could not hope to become self-sufficient overnight.
Nakajima went on:
"In last year's food crisis—the rice shortage of 2025—our emergency grain reserve system already revealed its weakness. After the government's emergency release of reserve rice, only three hundred thousand tons remained.
"That was a grave warning. In the months that followed, the government massively increased imports of flour, rice, soybeans, and other staples precisely to prepare for the crisis we now face.
"On top of that, Japanese households had already been encouraged to keep three to seven days of emergency food and drinking water at home. Survey data from 2021 showed that 86 percent of households had implemented some form of emergency stockpiling, with some keeping enough for as long as two weeks.
"That is one of the reasons the current situation remains barely manageable. Otherwise, the continued existence of this government itself would already be in question."
Then he moved to the next problem.
"There is also the issue of drinking water. The cold wave has burst pipes, and disinfection operations are proceeding too slowly. We have already had to cut many categories of non-essential water usage entirely, prioritizing only potable water and industrial needs.
"And the planting season is approaching. Once agriculture begins drawing heavily on the supply, conditions will become even harsher.
"I ask for the cooperation of all my colleagues in dealing with this disaster."
Having finished, Nakajima yielded the floor to Maeda.
"As Minister of Finance," Maeda Ryusei said, "I strongly oppose the current strategy of indiscriminate bombardment in the fallen zones. It brings more harm than benefit. I have already discussed this with the Defense Minister.
"Even two-ton aerial bombs cannot reliably destroy many of these new-style reinforced buildings. Their main structures often remain standing. And the effect on the swarms is disappointing.
"Under organized control, the infected advance in dispersed formations. Large-scale artillery and air bombardment only waste our precious ammunition reserves.
"Worse, we are damaging historical sites, commercial districts, and even our own industrial areas.
"That will greatly complicate postwar reconstruction. I hope the military can adopt more efficient methods of action. Otherwise, the efforts of generations of Japanese people will turn to ashes."
By then, the elderly minister—who had served in public life since the 1950s—was already choking back tears.
"How can I even imagine what Japan will become," he said, voice trembling, "when nearly ninety percent of the population is dead, outside aid is gone, and the major industrial zones have fallen?"
He wiped his eyes and forced himself onward.
"The wartime economic system under military administration has already been assembled. Every person still able to move has been assigned work.
"But in terms of production, we must retake the Hanshin industrial zone and the industrial belt along the Seto Inland Sea. If possible, we must retake Kitakyushu as well. Otherwise, Shikoku alone cannot provide sufficient industrial capacity.
"And Japan is poor in natural resources. We import more than ninety percent of our raw materials. Metals, chemical fuels, minerals—we are living entirely off stockpiles.
"…In the end, all I can do is pray that we endure."
When he finished, a nearby guard had to help him back into his chair.
"The military is already moving on those objectives," Defense Minister Tsuchida replied. "The Hokkaido Group's operations in the Hanshin region are progressing in an orderly fashion. So long as supply remains sufficient, our soldiers will retake Osaka and Kobe before long.
"That area is our lifeline. It cannot be lost."
Others at the table sat in silence, considering the implications.
Japan's three major metropolitan zones had all collapsed into paralysis. The overwhelming majority of their residents had become part of the infected hordes.
Before the outbreak, the Greater Tokyo Area had held around thirty-seven million people, spanning Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, and beyond. It had been the largest megacity on the planet.
Now it was completely lost.
Only a fraction of its residents had been evacuated. Along with them had gone selected scientists, the wealthy, celebrities, and others fortunate enough to secure passage with elements of the U.S. military by sea to Hawaii.
The Osaka metropolitan area, with a pre-outbreak population of roughly 16.67 million, had fared only slightly better. Because of its proximity to Shikoku, survivors from Osaka's port zones and parts of Hyogo had managed to flee south in the first few days and resettle there.
The Nagoya metropolitan area, home to around nine million people before the outbreak and famed for its automobile and robotics industries, remained largely a black box. Some isolated military units were still believed to be operating there.
The loss of industrial zones remained among the government's deepest anxieties.
The Kitakyushu industrial district in northern Kyushu, Japan's first great steel base, built on steel, chemicals, and machinery—and more recently hydrogen technology—had been among the earliest zones to fall.
The Seto Inland Sea industrial belt, spanning places like Hiroshima and Kurashiki, with its petrochemicals, steel, and automotive manufacturing, had fallen as well. Not long ago a breach in Yamaguchi had allowed infected forces to sweep straight into Hiroshima and Okayama.
Only parts of the Hanshin industrial area—around Osaka Bay, Osaka, and Kobe—remained under Japanese control. Kyoto was gone.
That region, with its steel, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, textiles, and long industrial history, was now the backbone of what remained.
At last, a plan was proposed.
"The food issue is indeed grave," one of the ministers said, "but it is not without solutions. Frontline personnel must continue to receive normal rations. Volunteers, doctors, workers, and other personnel actively at their posts should receive allocations according to their labor.
"As for students, the elderly, the infirm, and other non-essential populations, ration controls must be imposed. They will receive only enough to maintain ordinary life.
"Labor-for-relief programs can absorb them into infrastructure work. Construction of local defensive lines will require a great deal of manpower. This will also help solve the problem of having too many idle people to manage.
"Across Shikoku, farmland is already being shifted toward staple production. Search teams and frontline troops are also gathering supplies.
"Industrial recovery work is underway. Preparations for the current cold wave have been completed. Winter clothing and cold-weather materials are being distributed.
"Please be assured."
That was Transportation Minister Yuya Matsumura, explaining that contingency planning was already in place.
The ministers of education and the environment remained silent. In this new order, they had been pushed to the margins.
Now it was time for the ministers of justice and foreign affairs.
Foreign Minister Yusuke Ogasawara spoke first.
"The global situation remains dire. Our allies are overwhelmed. The Americans have already withdrawn once more from Hawaii to the mainland and are now directing operations from Los Angeles.
"The Global Committee, however, remains in Hawaii. Its defensive position there is still very strong. It has already driven the threats in surrounding waters into other seas.
"Hawaii's laboratories have begun research into specialized anti-virus weapons. The first batch of viral suppression agents has shown strong effectiveness against ordinary infected in field use.
"Korea is asking us for help—specifically, for air strikes against the Seoul swarms. Yet they are in no condition to help us solve our own predicament.
"Our isolation will continue for a long time.
"That eastern nation currently retains the greatest reserves of strength. However, we have no safe means of approaching its waters. Maritime threats from the infected are even more severe.
"The one piece of good news is this: in the worst case, they have indicated a willingness to conduct nuclear strikes on Tokyo, or even all of northern Japan, in order to eliminate the threat it poses to the surviving south."
At once, objections were raised.
"Nuclear attack must not occur on our soil unless there is absolutely no alternative. And even then, it must be kept away from urban cores whenever possible. The blast efficiency against infected in dense city zones is poor, and we would lose what remains of our built-up areas."
Next came Justice Minister Ryosuke Suzuki.
"The suppression of destabilizing elements at the local level has been completed. Cultists, gang members, and other such figures have all been apprehended.
"We are now under military administration. Such controls will only grow stricter in the future.
"Please rest assured."
At that, the military men could hold back no longer. The Defense Minister, the Joint Operations Commander, and the commander of U.S. forces all seemed ready to speak at once.
"Our troops are concentrating in Hyogo Prefecture," one of them declared. "Three divisions, reinforced with civil militias, are constructing a comprehensive defensive line before the great swarm from northern Japan can arrive.
"In the meantime, the air force will conduct reduction strikes against incoming infected in open terrain.
"At the same time, more than fifty thousand troops will be committed to assaults in Hiroshima and Okayama to reopen our connection to Kyushu.
"A successful operation requires full preparation. We expect full cooperation from the rear.
"My boys," the American commander added grimly, "are more than ready to settle old scores."
After further detailed discussion, the conference reached its conclusions.
Japan would wage a static defensive battle in the Osaka–Kobe region, holding the line without further retreat.
A large-scale clearing operation would be launched in Kyushu to retake the Kitakyushu industrial area.
Prime Minister Nishimoto also issued instructions regarding civilians trapped in occupied zones.
"Rescue operations for the civilian population in the infected regions are to be suspended for the time being.
"Our resources must be concentrated on the main campaign now underway. Aviation fuel and relief supplies are limited. We cannot continue like this.
"People in the fallen zones have supplies and relatively fewer survivors. They will have to fend for themselves.
"The Japanese people," he concluded, "have always been able to survive hardship."
In other words: those already outside government control would be made to bear the cost.
If a recording of this meeting ever reached the front lines, it might very well provoke a mutiny.
After all, Seoul had fallen for much the same reason. The indifference of the upper ranks had driven common soldiers and internal infiltrators of the Apostle Organization into the same camp, and the city's gates had opened from within.
At last came the final address of Shigetake Fujiwara, former minister for special incident response and now supreme representative of the Global Committee's Japan Branch.
"We have reached the most dangerous point.
"Only unity can see us through this greatest of trials. The member states of the Global Committee will stand together under humanity's common interest.
"Hawaii has already dispatched transport aircraft carrying secret weapons. They will arrive here in the coming days.
"…The future will be decided this month. The Apostle Organization will never take the entire archipelago from us!"
"Victory!" the room roared in answer.
Everyone rose and applauded. The atmosphere in the conference hall reached its peak.
And then, just like that, it was over.
"The meeting is adjourned. Gentlemen, you may go."
The "Decisive" conference had ended. Those present would now have to move on to the more detailed layers of implementation. A meeting could only determine broad direction; the machinery beneath it still had to turn.
Throughout the proceedings, anti-aircraft guns outside the windows had continued to thunder at the sky.
The flying enemy units were becoming an intolerable nuisance.
They often dropped infected biomass from above, spreading contamination wherever it landed.
Now streets everywhere were strung with anti-bird netting—much like the wire cages fitted over tanks in modern wars to defend against drones.
That was the reality of Japan's surviving heart.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin