January 23
Roughly eight hours after the battle ended, brilliant sunlight poured over the resort high in the Azuma Mountains.
The lazy afternoon light made people want to stay indoors and do absolutely nothing.
A mellow fire crackled in the hearth. It would have made a perfect scene for an old man dozing on the sofa with a cat curled up on his lap—except there was no old man here, and naturally no cat either.
Most of the high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere were still locked in the depths of winter.
Yet here in the Azuma Mountains, a rare warming spell had arrived. At last, the endless snowstorm that had hung over this land of frozen earth, ice, fallen leaves, pine needles, foxes, and wandering squirrels had temporarily withdrawn. The glass windows still blunted the warm, gentle sunlight, but even the softened rays were enough to make Xiangzi shift her bandage-wrapped body and turn onto the side of the bed away from the light.
Though last night's battle had been perilous, they had managed to come through it without losing anyone. Other than their guns, ammunition, outer barricades, and solar panels suffering heavy losses, their food, vehicles, and clothing had all survived without undue damage.
Thin trails of smoke rose from the house once more. It was a domestic, almost cozy scene—one that sat in complete contradiction to the mountain of shredded flesh and twisted metal just outside.
Like some system that simply refused to run anything from another operating environment.
Of course, with a mountain of corpses right outside, there was no such thing as real peace. Last night's survivors had been too exhausted to clean up the battlefield immediately.
But for the sake of health and safety—because leaving those bodies piled up outside would only invite more trouble—they had dragged themselves back to work despite barely being able to stand.
Having slept for only half the morning, Miranda, Brent, and Saitō Koinakawa bundled themselves up in heavy clothing, gloves, masks, and rubber boots and went out to clear the corpses piled around the house. After hauling them together into an open patch of ground, they set the heap ablaze.
Burning the bodies was the fastest option.
There were simply too many of them. Moving them one by one would have taken forever.
Under normal circumstances, corpses cleared during sanitation work were supposed to be buried or cremated as quickly as possible. Decomposing bodies should first be sprayed with a high-concentration chlorine disinfectant, then either buried in a high, dry area away from water sources and living quarters—with lime and disinfectant spread beneath and over them—or burned completely.
But under present conditions, none of that was practical.
So they did the only thing they could: pile them together and burn them where they lay.
Any proper burial work would have to wait.
There simply was no time.
Outside, several of them were busy with shovels and makeshift snow sleds. Inside, the rest had their own tasks.
The newly arrived Kuriyo and Chihaya Ai were helping Huaxiu tidy the kitchen and prepare food. Tao Ruisi was upstairs, sorting through the shell casings and firearms scattered across the second floor after last night's fighting.
And in Xiangzi's large bedroom—
Xiangzi, who had only just woken up, felt as though ants were crawling all over her body. Her wounds itched maddeningly, but the skin was wrapped tight in bandages, and she could not exactly tear the scabs back open like a child scratching at mosquito bites.
That would feel great for about half a second, but it was far too stupid. It would only make scarring more likely, and Xiangzi had no intention of covering her body in ugly marks.
The battle last night would definitely have broken bones if she had not been wearing her full single-soldier armor.
But the "Samurai-3" armor itself had paid the price. The main structure had been heavily damaged, with only a few sections still intact. The helmet, in particular, now bore a huge crack—it had taken a strike that would otherwise have killed her outright.
On the other bed nearby, a large soft pink fox was gloomily playing with her own tail. Ye Ling looked utterly miserable, her ears drooping flat against her head. She was deeply unhappy.
Her injuries were lighter than Xiangzi's—mostly bruised muscles, soft tissue damage, a little internal shock, and a near-fracture. The previously smooth skin of her body was now marred with bluish-purple bruises.
But what depressed her was not the pain.
It was the loss of her equipment.
"My plate armor… my weapons… they're all gone…"
Ever since waking up, she had been muttering the same miserable refrain.
The battle last night had simply been too intense. Even metal would give way under that sort of punishment.
"All I've got left now are a few short daggers. Xiangzi's miaodao belongs to her—there's no way she'd hand that over to me…"
She flopped onto the bed in despair.
"As things stand, I'll probably be stuck using a logging axe for a while. But short weapons are way too dangerous in close combat. Before, I had no choice but to make do with knives, but I finally got a decent weapon… and now it's broken. Aaagh! This is the worst!"
Xiangi, propped on one arm and turned toward her, said, "What are you mumbling about over there?"
"How did you even hear that, Xiangzi?"
"A loud conspiracy is still a loud conspiracy. Don't be ridiculous." She looked at Ye Ling for a moment, then said quietly, "A fighter without a weapon won't do. When you're healed up, my miaodao is yours. Use it well."
Ye Ling froze.
"Th-that really… thank you, Boss Xiangzi. Seriously."
She had not expected Xiangzi to be so generous. A capable, thoughtful leader like Xiangzi really was a blessing in the apocalypse.
"No need to make such a fuss," Xiangzi said. "We're all part of the same family now. In times like these, helping each other is only natural."
"I'll stay with everyone," Ye Ling declared solemnly. "I won't abandon anyone."
Then she moved too much, tugged at her injuries, and instantly twisted into a mask of pain.
Seeing that, Xiangzi burst out laughing.
And then immediately regretted it.
The laughter pulled at her own wounds, and her face crumpled in agony.
"Don't laugh!"
The room devolved into total chaos.
Just then, the bedroom door creaked open.
Huaxiu stood there.
"What are you two doing? Since when do injured people act like this?"
"Ah—Huaxiu, you're here."
Faced with the disinfectant in Nurse Huaxiu's hand, the two injured troublemakers could only submit meekly to the woman who currently held absolute power over their survival.
And so the afternoon passed little by little. Before long, it was nearly time for dinner.
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 147)
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 (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
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 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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