——— — ——
Half a day later - somewhere over the Arafura Sea.
Located near ten degrees south latitude, between New Guinea and the northern coast of Australia, the Arafura Sea is a shallow region resting on a continental shelf.
Thanks to its moderate temperature and salinity, it's a haven for coral polyps, shellfish, and other ocean life, especially near the shore, where reefs and ocean resources abound.
But today, the sea was eerily quiet. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the rocks, carried by the wind—until...
Whoosh—!
A crimson slash split the ocean, cleaving a massive infected sea creature—grayish-pink, at least several meters long—clean in half.
The remaining force of the attack carved a shallow channel hundreds of meters long through the seabed.
"That's amazing."
Perched on his shoulder in her chibi-sized form, Merlin tossed out her praise with casual ease.
"You're the amazing one, not me," Veyron replied, shaking his head.
After all, the only reason he could even fly right now was thanks to Merlin's support magic.
And that wasn't all.
Before they left, Merlin had sprinkled a "light" over him that boosted his movement and reaction speeds, accelerated his stamina, energy, and mental recovery, enhanced the power of every strike, and even gave him an invincible shield that automatically blocked any form of damage once per hit.
She also gave him access to a 3D minimap, built from her highest-tier clairvoyance, centered around the two of them.
It displayed all terrain in real time and marked every nearby infected creature as red dots—perfectly syncing with his Observation Haki for a flawless combo.
Basically, she was an all-in-one cheat-code assistant.
"Obviously, I meant even without all the buffs I gave you," Merlin added with a grin. "Honestly, the 'spiritual power' of your world gives way more benefits than we expected."
"Yeah... you're right."
Veyron nodded slightly after thinking about it.
Once he fully grasped the energy system that allowed for a complete circulation loop, the genetic lock framework underwent a qualitative leap—bigger than he'd imagined.
He had always assumed spirit energy and Haki wouldn't conflict—and that much he'd already confirmed.
But what he didn't expect was that using spirit energy as the 'bones,' Haki as the 'flesh and skin,' and tuning it all through the genetic lock would result in a synergistic effect. It wasn't just (1 + 1 = 2) — more like (1 + 1 = 3), maybe even (4?)
Even in his base state, any casual strike that fused the two powers could outclass the full-force attacks he used before awakening spirit energy.
And his spiritual power trait level still wasn't even at Lv.10 yet! So no buff.
"Anyway, never mind that for now—you saw that just now too, right?"
Veyron gestured toward the infected sea monster he'd just sliced up.
"Yeah… guess you could say 'life always finds a way,' huh?"
Merlin turned to glance at a part of the sea nearby that had several red dots flashing on her minimap.
Normally, the infected—called "undead"—needed oxygen, so they couldn't operate underwater
This was the biggest reason why the survivors back at the Tokonosu Naval Base had managed to hold out for so long.
The undead couldn't swim, which meant they only had to defend the road connecting the base to the city. If a massive wave of zombies ever came from the city, they could just blow the road up, and the base would become a fortress.
But now, Veyron and Merlin had discovered sea creatures—infected ones—capable of moving freely in shallow waters...
It was like they're evolving, and their need for oxygen is disappearing.
"We better let them know ASAP."
Veyron opened the group chat interface and shared what he'd found with the rest of the group still back in Tokonosu City.
---
『Earth's Cancer: ???』
『Earth's Cancer: So the ocean isn't a safe zone either?!』
『Hellish Blizzard: Makes sense when you think about it. For humans, swimming is something we have to learn. But for creatures that live in water from birth, it's as natural as breathing.』
『Hellish Blizzard: The waters near Tokonosu City still seem safe… probably because their local infected haven't adapted yet?』
『Catwoman: Or maybe it's because five out of the nine people there are "fate-bound." If this world were a movie, then the 'Will of the World'—aka the writer/director—is clearly giving the main cast plot armor』
『Ghost Spider: That's a solid take.』
Gwen gave Selina a thumbs-up.
『Ordinary Person: Yeah, that actually makes sense. I always thought it was kinda sus that the undead needed oxygen in the first place.
---
Meanwhile, even after Veyron had left, things at Tokonosu City hadn't gone idle.
Merlin stayed behind with her adorable keychain buddy, Chika, to secure the base.
Hancock, Fubuki, Gwen, and Selina headed into the city to raid hospitals, pharmacies, and wherever else might have supplies. They didn't care what they found—everything got packed up and sent back to Chika, just in case.
The survivors, meanwhile, split into pairs to inventory all available resources. That left Maresato Alice without a group, so she got "assigned" to help Chika with the logistics.
During this time, as Chika livestreamed her chats with Alice, everyone got a clearer picture of what had actually happened to the survivor team—details that had only been vaguely mentioned before.
The group originally formed when Busujima Saeko, third-year kendo club captain at the private Fujimi Academy, fled with second-years Miyamoto Rei and Takagi Saya, along with the school nurse, Marikawa Shizuka.
When the infected overran their school, they broke out in a school bus. The bridge leading out of the city had been destroyed in an explosion, so they ended up crashing overnight at a friend's apartment—someone Shizuka had promised to check on.
That's where they rescued Alice, who'd been sent running by her father at the cost of his own life.
The next day, on Takagi Saya's suggestion, they tried heading to her house, hoping her parents might have resources or a plan—only to find the Takagi estate already overrun.
Had they arrived a minute later, they probably would've found Takagi Yuriko already zombified.
After saving her mom, Saeko swapped her family's traditional wooden sword for a real katana from the collection of Takagi Souichiro—who was already one of the infected.
They then headed to the Miyamoto residence. On the way, they ran into Nakaoka Asami, a traffic officer from the Tokonosu City East Police Department.
At the Miyamoto home, they saved Miyamoto Kiriko, who had been holding out on the rooftop.
While searching for another route, they happened to meet Shizuka's friend, Minami Rika—a sniper and senior officer in the local police's Special Assault Team (S.A.T.).
It was Rika who clued them in on the real situation.
The undead weren't just in Tokonosu City—they were everywhere. Most countries were in the same situation, too swamped to offer help. Any rescue would take ages, if it came at all.
The only promising safe zone left was the U.S. military base west of the city.
They set out immediately—but when they arrived, even that base had already fallen.
The good news? Unlike the school, which collapsed in minutes, the military base had put up serious resistance.
While the infected had eventually overwhelmed it, not many were left inside. After a bit of cleanup, the survivors turned it into a secure shelter.
As Selina sarcastically put it: even the best Hollywood Film would get roasted for this kind of plot armor.
The whole world's gone to hell, even military bases are falling… and somehow a squad made up of high school girls, a nurse, and a few cops managed to survive?
Clearly, that "fate-bound" luck was doing overtime for those five chosen ones.
.
.
.