Zongman: Evolution Paradise

Saeko Busujima said calmly.

"I see. What about Professor Marikawa?"

"I'm an orphan, I don't have any family to worry about."

"Uh, sorry."

After hesitating for a moment, Jolyne finally asked about his true intentions.

"If one day I have to leave this world, would you be willing to come with me?"

He would leave once the mission was over. Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima had helped him a lot these past two days, and leaving them now would be somewhat irresponsible. Jolyne wanted to know their thoughts; if they didn't want to leave, he would try his best to get them to a safe place before he went.

Jolyne's sudden question startled both Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima.

Leave this world?

Although I already knew Jolyne was no ordinary person, the idea of ​​her leaving the world still sounded somewhat fantastical, like the fantasies of a delusional middle schooler.

"Don't rush into a decision. My world might not be any safer than this zombie world. Following me might mean facing even more dangers."

Although the real world appears peaceful on the surface, he has now stepped out of the safe zone and become a player. Especially since player identity can be transferred directly through killing—such a bloody setting leaves Jolyne wondering how much his peaceful life will be changed.

Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima exchanged a glance, then looked at Jolyne with determined expressions.

Shizuka Marikawa tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "Hmm... if it's Jolyne, I can."

"Don't forget, I haven't paid off my debts yet."

Hearing their answers, Jolyne felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Then, a headache began to creep in. If both of them left with him, where would they live, and how would they resolve their identities?

Diary located in the workshop

On the third day, Saeko Busujima and Shizuka Marikawa decided to leave with me. I led them into the workshop, and Shizuka Marikawa asked me curiously, "Did you release the virus?" I flicked her head. We continued dealing with the zombies, and Shizuka Marikawa appeared that night.

Day four, killing zombies. Today it's Saeko. I just want to take a simple bath, why is it so difficult?

On the fifth day, we killed zombies. Today, it was Shizuka who appeared. Did they reach some mysterious agreement? Why do they take turns coming every day?

On the sixth day, the power went out in Tokoname City! They continued killing zombies, saying it was because there wasn't enough hot water. Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima went into the bathroom together.

-

The survivor camp of the Takashiro family.

Takashi Komuro was patrolling the wall, holding a gun. A hideous scar had appeared on his face, stretching down to his neck, looking somewhat terrifying in the darkness.

Just like in the original story, they chose that school bus and met Koichi Fujito. Rei Miyamoto refused to follow Koichi Fujito's orders, so they both got off the bus. The difference was that, because they didn't have many ties, the chubby Hirano Toda and the pink-haired Takagi Saya chose to stay on the school bus.

After that, Komuro Takashi struggled to survive with Miyamoto Rei. His wound was caused by encountering thugs at a gas station, but fortunately they happened to run into the Takashiro family's vehicle that was out searching for supplies.

So he appeared here, and thanks to his connection with Saya Takagi, he was "gifted" this job that didn't require him to go out and face zombies.

Yes, that's what Takashi Komuro considers "charity." His various experiences have made him increasingly impulsive and irritable; even Rei Miyamoto has been avoiding him lately.

When Rei Miyamoto and my best friend were together, the zombie outbreak occurred. My best friend died in front of me, and I regained Rei Miyamoto's favor. I should be the protagonist.

The thought suddenly popped into Takashi Komuro's mind, and it lingered like a spell, while a nameless rage burned in his brain.

At that moment, a nuclear bomb exploded over Japan. It wasn't the fat man and the little boy who had been there before, but a completely new one. The electromagnetic pulse swept through the entire city of Tokoname, and the power grid around the camp stopped working. In an instant, the camp was plunged into darkness.

Panic-stricken cries, gunshots attacking zombies, and the roars of rampaging zombies outside the camp—countless sounds echoed throughout the camp.

"The camp... is about to fall!"

Takashi Komuro, gun in hand, stared in astonishment. Without hesitation, he turned and left the wall to find Rei Miyamoto, but was instead punched hard to the ground.

The bearded man shouted from the wall, "Don't even think about running away! There are zombies outside! If you're a man, hold the line! Hold the line!"

"Kid, get up and shoot!"

After shouting, the bearded man kicked Komuro Takashi again and continued to unleash his firepower on the zombies below.

Komuro Takashi got up from the ground, picked up his gun with resentment, and began guarding the wall.

The camp was obviously impossible to defend. Without lighting or other machinery, the roar of gunfire would only attract a constant stream of zombies.

The defenses lasted less than ten minutes before zombies climbed over the ramp and entered, and the side of the camp had already fallen.

Seeing his bearded officer die under the zombie siege, Komuro Takashi ran away without hesitation. He couldn't die here; he had to live!

Unbeknownst to him, a zombie had already appeared behind him in the darkness, and pounced on him upon hearing the running sound.

His neck was being torn apart, blood spurting out. Komuro struggled violently, punching and kicking, but he couldn't break free. This painful, suffocating feeling suddenly reminded him of the last time his throat was gripped.

The relentless rage seemed to be burning through his lungs. Amidst the intertwining of anger and pain, his consciousness gradually blurred, and he eventually succumbed to darkness.

When he regained consciousness, the camp had returned to calm, with only a few zombies still wandering around. Komuro looked at his cracked skin, which seemed to have firelight flickering within it.

"I think I really do have the protagonist's halo, Jolyne."

Chapter 16 The Workshop Becomes Stronger

Jolyne woke up in bed, expressionlessly moved Shizuka Marikawa's thigh off him, and went downstairs to the living room.

After a sudden flash of light in the sky last night, all the machinery became unusable. Fortunately, everything was ready, and we can leave today.

Saeko Busujima was busy in the kitchen, wearing only an apron.

Jolyne said to her helplessly, "Saeko, although I also like watching it, it still bothers me to some extent."

"What's wrong? Are you unable to suppress the impulses of puberty?"

Saeko Busujima placed the plate in front of Jolyne, humming a song as she did so.

Because of the power outage, she couldn't even cook anything hot, so she served a plate of vegetable salad garnished with mayonnaise.

"Wake Shizuka up, we should get going."

"I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

Saeko Busujima went upstairs to wake Shizuka Marikawa, her heart beginning to stir with unease.

A moment later, all three of them entered the workshop.

(Workshop energy storage: 10086)

This is what he has accomplished these past few days. His method is to find a gas station, attract a large number of zombies, enter the workshop before detonating the gas station, and then come out to harvest the corpses.

This operation made harvesting energy quite easy, but attracting zombies and traveling took up a lot of time.

Besides the energy, his biggest gain was the four tubes of extracted viral stock solution in his hands.

(Virus stock solution: A virus with extremely high instability. After injection, there is a high probability of turning into a monster, a very low probability of becoming a special mutant, and a very small probability of allowing the organism to achieve a higher level of life evolution.)

Although the curly-haired baboon certified by his workshop can't use viruses, Saeko Busujima and Shizuka Marikawa can. Who knows what dangers they'll encounter when they get back? It's better to strengthen them.

"Where's the banana?"

Shizuka Marikawa's eyes searched around the workshop. She had a strong liking for bananas, explaining that it was because the color of the bananas matched her hair.

"It has already hidden itself."

Jolyne pointed to the dome of the workshop, where a yellow object was floating.

That's right, this AI is also socially awkward; it will become withdrawn when there are many people around.

"Is this the beginning of this apocalypse?"

Saeko Busujima looked at the virus stock solution in Jolyne's hand and asked.

"At least for the zombies in Tokoname City, yes."

Jolyne answered Saeko Busujima's question, explaining that the original fluids were extracted from zombies in Tokoname City, and that this virus was the cause of all this.

"When I get the chance, I will personally slaughter them."

"Saeko Busujima said with a menacing air."

Jolyne reassured Saeko Busujima, saying, "Don't worry, I've prepared a big surprise for them."

"Now, you all need to take a nap."

Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima lay down in the glass capsule. Saeko Busujima had long been looking forward to becoming stronger, while Shizuka Marikawa was more laid-back, thinking that after strengthening her body, carrying heavy loads every day wouldn't be too tiring.

Jolyne began to take control of the workshops.

(1 point of energy has been consumed to complete the data retrieval for human-Saeko Busujima. Virus stock compatibility is 23%, with a high probability of mutation.)

(1 point of energy has been consumed to complete the data retrieval for human - Shizuka Marikawa. Virus stock compatibility is 47%, with a high probability of mutation.)

(Low-temperature, long-term fusion can significantly increase the success rate, and it is estimated to take 21/17 years.)

Surprisingly, Shizuka Marikawa's compatibility was higher than Saeko Busujima's, which Jolyne hadn't expected. He decisively refused to fully integrate; more than twenty years had passed, and he still needed this tube of virus?

It is possible to use energy to directly accelerate time, but the energy consumed is too much, and the benefits are not proportional to the effort.

To prevent the emergence of two monsters, Jolyne chose to nerf the virus's effects, removing some completely unnecessary abilities that would actually increase the probability of mutated monsters from the original virus solution.

(Special toxins have been removed)

(Special social structures have been removed)

(Ecological assimilation ability has been removed)

(The ability to cause cell proliferation mutations has been removed)

(This task will consume 2000 energy points to complete)

No injection is required; the two tubes of modified viral stock solution are transformed into light spots and enter the glass chamber.

(770 energy points have been consumed to begin strengthening the human - Saeko Busujima, estimated time 7 days)

(530 energy points have been consumed to begin strengthening the human - Shizuka Marikawa, estimated to take seven days)

Just two simple enhancements consumed 3300 units of Jolyne's energy storage, with the majority of the cost being the cost of modifying the virus. This kind of behavior, which directly alters the virus's composition without destroying its basic functions, consumed more energy than he had imagined.

(Workshop energy storage: 6784)

He still doesn't understand the workshop's energy consumption problem. He doesn't know the principle behind it. Sometimes, ordinary tasks consume an astonishingly high amount of energy, while difficult tasks consume an astonishingly low amount.

"Workshop, optimize stealth capabilities."

Jolyne began to enhance himself; what he was about to do required the full stealth ability, and simply making one's head invisible wouldn't suffice.

(1500 energy points have been consumed; the ability seed - Invisibility is now fully yours.)

"1500 points!"

(Workshop energy storage: 5284)

Jolyne's face twitched violently, somewhat incredulous. He had only spent 15 energy points to obtain the Gecko's invisibility ability, and the optimization had simply added two zeros to the end.

Fortunately, the optimized functions did not disappoint him. With just a thought, his body became transparent and disappeared into the air.

It's like having an extra organ; this ability has become an instinct like breathing, requiring physical strength to maintain, and it seems there's even a possibility of further improvement.

Back at the villa, Jolyne immediately set off, determined to complete the mission and achieve the highest rating before the trial world ended.

Heading to the hospital again, the road was still filled with zombies, which made Jolyne's expression turn serious.

Logically speaking, after his cleanup over the past few days, there shouldn't be many zombies here. After all, without any noise to attract them, zombies won't suddenly head to a certain place.

What exactly happened this time?

As they continued forward, the density of zombies increased. Jolyne smashed an approaching zombie with a single blow, then stared intently at the figure on the streetlight ahead.

It was clearly a special infected entity, covered in strange cracks and emitting a red glow.

The figure covered his face in ecstasy, making a sound like snoring.

"Aren't you surprised to see me again?"

"I've been looking for you all night to make this meeting possible, Jolyne!"

A relentless stream of zombies surged from all sides, and Jolyne asked the peculiar infected creature helplessly, "So, who are you?"

Chapter 17 Your next sentence is

"I'll make you remember."