Zongman: Evolution Paradise

Saeko Busujima stood up and muttered to herself.

"It's not a foul; I was just stating an objective fact."

Jolyne responded.

In fact, Jolyne didn't really feel anything about it. Saeko Busujima's psychological problems likely stemmed from the post-traumatic stress disorder that arose after she killed Ciriales, triggering a buildup of guilt stemming from her violent tendencies. Jolyne didn't think Busujima's violent tendencies were a big problem; after all, she couldn't beat him.

As they stepped outside the gate, a group of zombies appeared outside the shrine. Jolyne took out her katana and handed it to Saeko Busujima.

Saeko Busujima stared at the gleaming sword before her, her eyes still showing hesitation and struggle.

Her lips trembled as she asked softly, "You...don't you really care about me being this twisted?"

Will you really stay by my side forever?

Jolyne did not answer directly, but instead brought up the battle against Ciriace.

"Don't forget, I haven't accepted your apology yet."

"Your mistake put me in a dangerous situation; an apology alone is not enough."

"So, until I forgive you, I'll just have to trouble you to stay close to me."

Jolyne handed the katana to Saeko Busujima again. This time, she didn't hesitate and took it. She gripped the hilt tightly, feeling its heavy weight.

Saeko Busujima smiled and said, "I understand, Jolyne."

As she approached the horde of corpses, Saeko Busujima lowered her body, her blade slightly unsheathed, the cold white surface gleaming with an arc of light.

Draw your sword and chop!

Saeko Busujima brandished her knife, swiftly weaving and slashing among the zombies. When she stopped, blood spurted from the necks of several zombies as they slowly collapsed.

"This is it!"

Her swordsmanship became increasingly fierce, and each swing took the life of a zombie.

“This feeling!”

Saeko Busujima couldn't help but smile, her cheeks flushing red. After resolving her inner conflict, she seemed even stronger than before.

Watching Saeko Busujima charge into the horde of zombies and wreak havoc, Jolyne followed not far behind her, preventing any accidents, while also thinking to herself.

Are my words really that effective? Do I have the potential to be a motivational speaker?

In a short while, all the zombies around were killed, and Saeko Busujima stood on the corpses, panting heavily.

"How does it feel?"

Jolyne helped wipe the blood off her face, but then realized that something was wrong with her.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were filled with longing, and her legs were strangely pressed together.

“I feel very happy, Jolyne.”

The first time I was completely free from constraints, the mental stimulation was beyond my imagination.

Saeko Busujima looked at Jolyne with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Now that we've vented our emotions, it's time for us to go back."

"Okay."

……

"Hey, you guys are really messing around."

At this moment, Shizuka Marikawa was applying medicine to Saeko Busujima. The recoil of the sniper rifle was quite strong. Fortunately, she was physically strong and her arm was not broken, but she had some bruises. The more serious injury was to her chest, which received most of the impact due to her posture as a buffer.

"There's no other way. I'm afraid regular firearms won't do enough damage, and I only had one grenade, which I've already used up."

Saeko Busujima lay on the sofa, letting Shizuka Marikawa do as she pleased. The cool ointment made her skin feel better immediately, and she couldn't help but let out a soft moan.

Such an enticing scene! Although Saeko Busujima seemed to have suddenly lowered her guard and didn't mind him watching, Jolyne unfortunately had more important things to do and went straight into the workshop.

(Workshop energy storage: 967.8)

(Special Virus Infected Body - Ciri Alice)

(Data retrieval completed, 5 energy consumed)

(1: Physical Enhancement: The physical body is partially enhanced)

(2: Regenerative Evolution: Possesses high regenerative ability and has the potential to evolve again)

(3: Blood Flame: One's own blood can turn into flames, which can react with air to cause an explosion)

(4: Fusion and Assimilation: It can fuse and assimilate lower-level infected organisms, producing new mutations)

(5: Queen Ant's Will: Can control lower-level infected to a certain extent)

(Warning: According to the Sacred Baboon Law, any viral experiments on curly-haired baboons are prohibited.)

"This thing is terrifyingly powerful."

Jolyne stood at the operating table, looking at Ciri Alice's report with some amazement.

During the battle, this special infected entity basically did not exert any strength, simply using its regenerative ability to withstand damage.

According to the sacred baboon law mentioned in the workshop, he is not allowed to graft virus-type abilities. However, Jolyne had no intention of grafting these abilities in the first place. He had a better idea, which would take some time.

"Examine that body again."

Joren controls the workshop, and data retrieval only consumes a small amount of energy. With his current energy reserves, he doesn't care about this small loss at all.

(Data retrieval completed, consuming 1 energy points)

(Ordinary corpse)

(A list can be made in advance)

(1: Intelligence with relatively high development potential / Consumes 5 energy points)

(ps: According to data retrieval: This human being is related to the special infected being Ciri Alice as father and daughter.)

"Family?"

Looking at the corpse that resembled a middle-aged man, Jolyne pieced together what had happened.

When the apocalypse broke out, the hospital survivors sought refuge in the morgue located in the basement to escape the zombies.

Ciri Alice's father brought her there as well, but perhaps the people inside were too afraid to open the door and refused him refuge, or perhaps they were afraid that his pleas outside would attract zombies, so the people inside opened fire.

Instead of being killed by zombies, he was turned into a corpse by a bullet.

Ciri Alice was infected, perhaps by hatred and pain, or perhaps by the protagonist's luck, and she became a special infected.

Then, the morgue door was broken open, and the killing began.

After everything was over, Ciri Alice was trapped in the morgue, too afraid to approach her father's body.

The reason for this is probably an uncontrollable appetite.

Only two days after the apocalypse began, the empty morgues had already proven its astonishing appetite. It was precisely because of this that it dared not approach its father's corpse, fearing that it would be unable to resist eating it. Also because of the corpse's identity, Ciri Alice drove away all the zombies near the hospital.

After that, this is what Jolyne and Saeko Busujima saw when they arrived.

Jolyne whispered to Ciri Alice on the operating table, "Don't worry, you won't die a miserable death while protecting your father. I will arrange a better home for you."

Jolyne did not regret killing her, but she felt a slight murderous intent towards the originator of the virus.

"Is there something wrong with your mental state? Why are you talking to a corpse?"

A banana floated over and asked in a monotone, mechanical voice.

"Artificial intelligence, it seems your internship prefix needs to be retained for a while longer."

Jolyne spoke with a blank expression, threatening him.

"I was clearly concerned about your health, why are you scolding me?"

The banana asked, puzzled.

"I won't call you an artificial idiot anymore once you understand the reason yourself."

Jolyne waved goodbye to the banana, not giving it a chance to ask any more questions.

Chapter 15 Deciding to Stay or Leave

[This chapter has been ordered to be revised; please excuse any omissions or missing details.]

Because Saeko Busujima was injured, Shizuka Marikawa volunteered to take on the task of cooking, but unfortunately, her skills seemed rather poor.

She frantically kneaded the dough in the kitchen, adding water when there was too much dough, and adding more dough when there was too much water, and then repeating this process.

Seeing the dough growing bigger and bigger, Jolyne realized that she wouldn't be able to eat anytime soon, so she decided to take a bath first.

The villa's bathroom is quite large, especially the bathtub, which allows Jolyne to easily stretch out.

After preparing the hot water, Xu Lun lay down inside, but before she could soak for long, the bathroom door opened again.

"Teacher Juchuan?"

Jolyne asked in confusion, but instead of Shizuka Marikawa's slightly ditzy voice, Saeko Busujima's voice responded. Shiraki was startled, and the hot water in the bathtub was splashed onto the floor.

"Shizuka is cooking. I'll help you take a bath today."

"Bukushima-kun, I remember you just applied some medicine, didn't you?"

Jolyne asked Saeko Busujima, recalling that the ointment from Professor Marikawa seemed to be sensitive to water.

Saeko Busujima, holding a bath towel, brushed past him from behind, and upon hearing Jolyne's words, she looked somewhat troubled.

"Just call me Saeko, okay? Shizuka didn't tell me."

"They probably forgot, so I'll have to repaint it."

Thinking of Shizuka Marikawa's personality, Jolyne said helplessly.

"Then, Jolyne."

Saeko Busujima rose slightly, hugged Jolyne from behind, and rested her face on Jolyne's shoulder.

"Could you please help me apply the medicine later?"

Jolyne felt like she had raised Saeko Busujima's favorability rating too high.

……

Shizuka Marikawa watched expectantly as Jolyne put the black, unidentified object into her mouth.

"How is it? Is it edible?"

"I asked Shizuka Marikawa."

Jolyne paused for a moment, then said to her, "It's delicious."

"real or fake."

Shizuka Marikawa also took a piece and put it in her mouth. A cloyingly sweet and burnt taste immediately spread from her taste buds, and she couldn't help but spit it out.

"Jolyne is malicious; it's clearly awful."

"Making such terrible food is your punishment."

If it weren't for Shizuka Marikawa's pleading, he wouldn't have tried this strange-looking dough dish, which turned out to be inedible.

"That's so unfair! I've worked hard for a long time too."

Shizuka Marikawa raised her hand in protest.

"Shizuka, I found cup noodles in the cupboard."

Saeko Busujima's voice came through.

Shizuka Marikawa gave up protesting and chose to throw it away.

Xu Lun chose a seafood ramen, and looking at the two people eating noodles at the table, he felt a sense of warmth.

"Marikawa, Busujima, where are your families?"

Jolyne asked a question, after all, even in the apocalypse, she had never seen them worry about their families.

“My father’s swordsmanship is far superior to mine, so there’s no need to worry. Besides, he’s at a dojo abroad, and given the current situation, we can’t meet him.”