Two days later.
After storing the final bag of rice from the warehouse, Lux slumped against the wall and weakly pulled out a chocolate bar, stuffing it into his mouth to rest.
He had seriously underestimated the amount of grain here.
He originally thought his 100-cubic-meter system space was huge, but it filled up in less than an hour once he started loading grain. Meanwhile, the warehouse still looked endless. Since he had come all this way, he couldn't bear to just leave.
Helpless, Lux spent the 10,000 resource points he had reserved for antivirus serum to expand the system space. Even then, after the expansion the previous night, it filled up again.
In the end, Lux had no choice but to go into debt with the system—borrowing 40,000 resource points to expand the space to 15,000 cubic meters, finally allowing him to take all the grain.
Just as he suspected, the system wasn't lending resources out of kindness. After one month, it would begin charging daily interest of 0.1% of the borrowed amount—40 resource points per day at his current debt.
If his debt exceeded 100,000 points, the system would judge him as unable to provide sufficient value and directly erase him.
"Tch… looks like I need to figure out how to earn resource points quickly."
Lux sighed and slapped the ground as he stood up.
Fortunately, he had already confirmed that gasoline was also accepted by the system, and that it could provide him with large quantities of empty fuel containers for free.
Once they reached a gas station, he should be able to repay the 40,000-point debt.
Lux then spent another 7,000 resource points to redeem a VSS for M99, as well as 3,000 points for 3,000 rounds of 9×39mm VSS ammunition and five magazines.
Candice was also assigned by Lux to assist M99 with reloading ammunition.
Loose rounds were much cheaper than buying loaded magazines, and M99 would need sustained fire to clear zombies near Walmart. That meant magazines would need to be constantly refilled and reused.
Candice's combat ability wasn't outstanding, but reloading took a lot of time—making it a perfect task for her.
Lux pressed the button on his tactical headset.
"All personnel, assemble at the vehicles. Departure in fifteen minutes. Destination: large Walmart supermarket downtown."
After speaking, Lux headed toward the pickup truck outside with HK416.
Within ten minutes, everyone else had boarded the vehicles. UMP45 drove the van at the front, leading the way into the city.
"Lux, give me two lollipops. I'm feeling a bit nauseous."
AA-12 weakly extended her hand from the driver's seat.
"Got it."
Lux took out two lollipops and handed them to her.
"Bunny, 416, want one too?"
"Huh? Sir, I get some too?"
"Of course. You'll probably have the toughest job near Walmart. Think of it as an advance reward. Besides, big supermarkets have plenty of candy anyway."
Lux smiled and handed M99 two lollipops.
"What about you, 416?"
"Sure~ Let's share one."
Two heart shapes appeared in HK416's golden eyes.
"Okay. I'm really happy to share one with you."
HK416 unwrapped the plastic and put the lollipop in her mouth.
Lux glanced at her and smiled as he held the steering wheel.
"What? Is my face funny?"
HK416 asked seriously.
"No, no. I just feel that even in such a dangerous world, I'm very happy right now—with all of you by my side."
"Back then, my life felt kind of muddled. Go to work, eat, sleep—an endless loop. Preparing to become a mortgage slave and a car loan slave. Thinking about it now, it was pretty boring."
"Being with you now, having to figure out how to live better every day—it feels much more fulfilling."
"Living that kind of carefree life is happiness, isn't it?"
AA-12 muttered lazily, lollipop in her mouth, leaning against the window and watching the scenery outside.
"I guess I never experienced the life-and-death struggles you had on the battlefield, so I didn't know how to cherish that kind of life."
"Humans tend to stop feeling happiness when they're too happy."
"Then, Commander… do you want to stay with us, or go back to that stable life you had before?"
HK416, standing to the side, brought the lollipop to Lux's mouth and asked seriously,
"Of course I want to be with all of you. I never really liked that dull, walking-dead kind of life anyway. It never felt like I was truly living."
"Mm. I'll always stay by your side, Commander."
HK416 said firmly.
---
A van and a pickup truck sped along the road one after the other. Trees swept backward in a blur, and now and then the van in front swerved to avoid zombies wandering along the road.
Inside the vehicles, everyone chatted casually, as if this were nothing more than a journey.
Suddenly, the van in front came to a stop, and Lux immediately slammed on the brakes of the pickup.
A massive helicopter lay tipped over in the middle of the road, black smoke billowing from it, completely blocking the way into the city.
"Commander, what should we do?"
UMP45's voice came through the tactical headset.
"I'll get out with 416 and take a look. You stay in the vehicles for now."
Lux opened the door, jumped out of the pickup, and cautiously approached the helicopter.
Anyone who could use a helicopter was usually part of an official force. If he could establish a friendly relationship with them, it might help him in the future.
After all, offering help in desperate times earned the deepest gratitude.
Even if the pilot hadn't survived, there might still be something useful inside.
Helicopters were usually used to transport important personnel, critical research data, or valuable supplies.
Lux circled to the side of the helicopter. Two zombies sat in the cockpit, weakly opening and closing their mouths. Their throats had been pierced by steel bars, so they couldn't make any sound.
"They've already turned…"
As if drawn by fresh flesh, two zombies wreathed in flames struggled out of the cabin, limping stiffly toward Lux and HK416.
"Rest in peace."
Lux stepped forward, drew his katana, and slashed twice. Two flashes of steel passed, and the zombies' heads fell to the ground.
Stepping around the bodies, Lux entered the cockpit and began searching.
A black password box came into view. Lux picked it up and shook it, but heard nothing inside.
"Documents…?"
He slipped the box into the pocket of his hoodie and continued searching.