After Alex killed Steve, his thoughts still revolved around the list of highly dangerous individuals. He didn’t need to guess what kind of people might have ended up there. There were two possibilities.

The first—leaders capable of rallying others. Not the ones who brainwash and turn people into obedient puppets, but true leaders whom others follow to fight and win. The second—those with immense power who could teach others the art of combat. Both types posed a threat to the Evil Corporation and were undoubtedly marked for elimination.

However, Alex didn’t understand why the Evil Corporation had put targets on them so early. He knew that the so-called director of the corporation was none other than an avatar of Nyan-Nyan. But the question that nagged at him was: why was this “director” allowing his toys to be broken ahead of time? Why were his pawns engaging in such chaotic destruction?

The only logical explanation was that the director simply enjoyed war. He was watching the battle between good and evil unfold without interference, relishing the spectacle before reaping the rewards. After all, even if humanity miraculously managed to defeat the Evil Corporation, the director would still be the ultimate winner in this farce called the apocalypse.

Alex figured that he was already profiting from the chaos: everyone who turned into a zombie lost their essence, their souls becoming empty shells trapped in undead bodies. These people no longer had the chance to reincarnate. The director won either way—his enemies lost not only their lives but also the very core of their existence.

The more Alex thought about it, the more convinced he became that his theory was correct. If he had to compare, then this avatar of Nyan-Nyan was simply sitting comfortably on his “throne,” watching a free movie, and in the end, he would still claim the prize.

“What a cunning bitch…” Alex muttered, his eye twitching in annoyance.

The girls walking beside him noticed his pensive expression, which shifted from a frown to calm contemplation and then to irritation. They wanted to ask what was on his mind, but before anyone could, Brunhilde shook her head, signaling them not to interfere.

Through their spiritual connection, she had briefly glimpsed Alex’s thoughts and quickly understood where they were leading. A few key phrases were enough for her to realize that the enemy lurking behind the scenes was deliberately pitting people against each other. And in the end, he would be the true victor.

It frustrated her as much as it did Alex. After all, she had encountered something similar in Valhalla, when the gods decided to exterminate humanity, and Odin was the one pulling the strings. The scale of the current situation was no less significant.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, drawing the others’ attention.

“Why the sigh?” Rebecca asked, giving her a curious look.

“Isn’t it obvious? We already have targets on our backs, but we still don’t know who’s truly behind this apocalypse. All we know is that the Evil Corporation is involved. And that’s it,” Brunhilde replied, shaking her head.

“We’ll figure it out sooner or later. So just relax,” Rebecca said nonchalantly, throwing her hands behind her head.

Brunhilde shot her an annoyed look but, after another sigh, decided not to argue. She hoped that, in time, they would find the clues leading them to the real mastermind.

When they finally reached the ferry, Alex pushed aside his thoughts, deciding to revisit them later when he had more information.

But something still bothered him.

The marker.

This thing was a ticking time bomb, and no one knew when it would go off. Alex hadn’t seen any traces of it yet, though he had already encountered a necromorph at the airport. Since then, he hadn’t come across either the Marker or its spawn, and that was unsettling.

The last thing he wanted was for a giant planet made of biomass, filled with dormant necromorphs, to suddenly appear somewhere in the solar system. The thought of it looming over Earth like a second moon made him rub his eyes in frustration.

If that really happened…

Well. He’d just destroy it.

Or, to be more precise, he’d give Rebecca the chance to blow that damn meatball to hell with the BFG.

Thinking about it, Alex nodded to himself.

“Gremlin’s gonna love this… And the main villain won’t even know about me. Maybe…” he muttered, continuing to nod as if he had finally convinced himself of his plan.

Once again, the girls noticed the shift in Alex’s expression. At first, he had been irritated, but then something clicked—he began nodding like he had just realized some great truth.

“Is he okay?” Shizuka whispered to Brunhilde. “I’m just worried that my new boyfriend is losing his mind.”

“He’s probably thinking about blowing something up,” Brunhilde shrugged lazily, pointing a finger at Alex. “And there’s no need to guess what. It’s most likely one of the Evil Corporation’s branches.”

“And why would he blow them up?” Valmet raised an eyebrow.

“I think he’s annoyed that he hasn’t found any clues yet, so he wants to vent somehow,” Brunhilde answered calmly after a brief pause.

“But first, he needs to find that branch before blowing it up,” Saya pointed out. “And judging by everything, it’s underground. If you think about what happened to Tokyo, the explosion didn’t just erase the city—it wiped out everything below it. What’s left is a massive crater, like a meteorite hit.”

The girls nodded in agreement with her logic. That explained why no one had thought to look for the Corporation’s bases underground. But the question remained—how many such branches existed, and how could they find them?

“Smart girl, Saya! Mom is so proud of you,” Yuriko ruffled her daughter’s hair with a pleased smile.

“Mom, I’m not a kid anymore!” Saya grumbled, swatting her hand away.

“Hehe, of course, you’re not a kid,” Yuriko drawled with a sly smile. “Little girls don’t sleep in the same bed as a guy, let alone hug him in their sleep while drooling and mumbling all sorts of… amusing things. Never would’ve thought my daughter would be so… uh… romantic.”

“MOM!” Saya shrieked, turning red as a ripe tomato. “Stop talking nonsense! That never happened! You’re making things up!”

The girls couldn’t hold back their laughter. And to completely finish Saya off, Rebecca pulled out her phone and played a video.

“Oh, no way…” Valmet drawled, watching Rebecca’s smug gremlin-like expression, as if she wanted to watch the world burn.

Saya nervously turned around and froze in horror. On the screen, she could clearly see herself hugging Alex in her sleep, snuggling against him with a smile, and then mumbling something. The moment she heard her own words, her face flushed even harder.

“THIS… CAN’T BE REAL!” she shrieked, snatching the phone from Rebecca’s hands.

But the girls were already in fits of laughter. Unable to take it anymore, Saya bolted, disappearing onto the ferry.

At that moment, Alex stopped thinking and noticed her sudden escape.

“What did I miss?” he asked in confusion, tilting his head.

Rika, still laughing, explained the situation, and Rebecca even showed him the video. Alex simply smiled and shook his head. He could imagine how embarrassed Saya was right now and knew she would sulk for a while before forgiving everyone.

With a slight smile, Alex boarded the ferry with the others, preparing for departure.

“So, did you learn anything useful from your friend Steve?” Lehm asked, noticing Alex had returned.

“Not much, but I’ll explain later,” Alex replied, shaking his head.

“And in short?” R asked, stepping closer.

Alex sighed and explained to the guys what information he had gotten from Steve, adding that they were likely on the list too, since they were Koko’s bodyguards, and Valmet was already marked as a target.

The reaction from Koko’s crew was calm—they were long used to such threats because of their work. Alex asked them not to spread the word about the list, as assassinations could be prepared against them, whether by individuals or entire groups. The guys understood that Alex didn’t want to stir unnecessary panic, especially since people already had enough trouble dealing with the undead in this new reality.

While Alex discussed everything with the guys, the girls had gone ahead and, judging by the sounds, had already reached the ferry’s control room. Saying goodbye to the group and reminding them about their evening training, he moved on.

Soon, he ran into Itami’s group, which included some unfamiliar people. Raising an eyebrow, he noticed a few women in lab coats.

“Yo, Itami, Shino, Mari. Looks like you managed to rescue someone,” Alex said, approaching them.

Itami flinched in surprise, spun around sharply, and even saluted. Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise but couldn’t hold back a smile. Shino and Mari looked at Itami like he was an idiot.

Turning his gaze to the women in lab coats, Alex noticed that they seemed nervous, as if afraid of being abandoned. He frowned slightly, wondering if he looked that intimidating for them to react this way.

“Alright, Mari, can you introduce the new people?” he asked the military doctor.

Maria Kurokawa was a tall young woman with beautiful flowing black hair tied in a half-ponytail with a blue ribbon, a squared fringe, and a long side lock. Her blue eyes looked calm but held a hint of caution. Alex remembered her from the anime—kind and caring, but only until you pissed her off. In Itami’s team, she was like the “mom” of the group—gentle when needed but more than capable of smacking someone with a slipper if the situation called for it.

Kurokawa nodded and began explaining.

“When we went out for supplies, we prioritized finding medicine. In one of the family clinics, we found these girls—they were hiding there.”

“Heh, not to mention that one of them tried to impale Itami with a mop,” Shino interjected with a smirk. “You should’ve seen his face at that moment. Too bad I didn’t take a picture! It was hilarious.”

Alex turned his gaze to Itami, whose expression was a mixture of pain and shame, as if he were reliving that moment all over again. Understanding, Alex patted him on the shoulder and suppressed a laugh, but Itami couldn’t hold back and, almost with tears in his eyes, muttered:

“I felt like I was back at the proctologist’s… with very thick fingers…”

Alex suppressed a chuckle, but Shino, on the other hand, was openly laughing.

“Ladies, don’t worry, no one will kick you out or make you do anything you don’t want to do. I’m just curious, how long have you been studying medicine?” Alex asked, ignoring Shino’s laughter.

One of the girls gathered her courage and answered:

“We were finishing our residency. We were supposed to become full-fledged doctors next year.”

“Great,” Alex nodded, smiling contentedly. “The more doctors, the easier it will be for Shizuka and Mari, not to mention that my little helpers can’t keep doing this forever. So, make yourselves at home, treat people, and don’t worry.”

Hearing this, the girls relaxed a little and sighed with relief.

Meanwhile, Alex turned his attention to Itami and Shino, who was still teasing him about the unfortunate mop incident.

“Shino, enough, he’s already having a tough time,” Alex said, placing a hand on her head. “He lost his entire collection, and the only joy he has left is watching anime.”

“Hey! I’m not a kid! And by the way, I’m older than you!” Shino retorted, shrugging off his hand. “You think if you pet me on the head, I’ll become obedient? Not a chance!”

“But I’m still taller and stronger,” Alex smirked. “So stop it.”

Then he grabbed her by the nose and, turning to Itami, added:

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something for you… if I don’t forget.”

Shino tried to pry Alex’s hand off her nose, but she wasn’t having any luck. Hearing Alex’s words, Itami’s face brightened, and fully motivated, he saluted. Alex laughed and said goodbye to Itami, Shino, and Mari.

Passing by his motorcycle, Alex thought that maybe it was time to return Zenitsu’s katana to his heirs. However, his collector’s nature wouldn’t let him part with such a rare artifact so easily. Quickly scanning his surroundings, Alex came to a decision: if you don’t want to give up the original, you can give a perfect copy.

Approaching his motorcycle, he glanced around one more time, like a real thief, then opened the weapon compartment, took out Zenitsu’s katana, and instantly hid it in his inventory, making sure no one saw. After that, he retrieved another katana from his storage and, using magic, turned it into an exact replica of Zenitsu’s sword. Satisfied that everything went smoothly and no one noticed, Alex nodded contentedly, closed the compartment, and set off to find the Agatsuma family.

It didn’t take long to find them—they were quickly located on the deck. However, as soon as Alex approached, the granddaughter of the elderly couple, Kana, immediately shot him a hostile glance. Alex even thought he could hear her grinding her teeth.

Eijiro and Tomiko noticed their granddaughter’s behavior, followed her gaze, and, seeing Alex approach, smiled awkwardly before looking at him apologetically. Alex simply waved his hand, signaling that he wasn’t bothered by Kana’s behavior.

He understood her hatred—after all, he had killed her brother and father. But to him, those people were nothing more than scum, and he wasn’t about to make excuses like “I had no choice” or “it was an accident.” He did it because he could, and because he couldn’t stand people like them.

Eijiro noticed the katana in Alex’s hands and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Young friend Alex, what brings you to us?” he asked, trying to guess the reason for the visit.

“It’s simple. I decided to return what belongs to your family. But it seems your granddaughter doesn’t wield the Thunder Breathing style,” Alex noted, finally noticing that Kana wasn’t a swordswoman.

Kana just snorted and stormed off, stomping her feet angrily. Alex shook his head. The elderly couple again apologized for her behavior, but he simply gestured to show that he understood her feelings. Such anger was hard to suppress, and at least it was good she didn’t attack him with a weapon, seeking revenge.

“Thank you for returning the katana,” Eijiro said, glancing at his granddaughter, who had moved to the far end of the deck to calm down. “And yes, you’re right. She didn’t want to train in the family dojo and chose a different master.”

“May I ask who?” Alex asked with interest.

“One of our old acquaintances from Ryōzanpaku. She took up the fighting style of Ma Kensei. He’s certainly a talented and powerful master, but… well, he’s a bit of a pervert. I don’t know how many times we fought when we were younger because he tried to spy on my wife. And when our granddaughter was born, that old man didn’t stop—again, I had to beat him up a few times for trying to spy on her,” Eijiro said, shaking his head with a crooked smile.

Hearing this, Alex was now sure that Ryōzanpaku existed in this world as well. He remembered that these people were incredibly strong fighters, but they had one foolish rule—no killing. Because of this, they often suffered, and even the head of Ryōzanpaku, Hayato Furindji, had lost his daughter-in-law in his time. Later, his granddaughter, Miu Furindji, was brainwashed by one of their enemies.

“Masters of Ryōzanpaku are indeed strong, but they follow the path of the ‘merciful fist,’ which forbids killing. I hope the zombie apocalypse will open their eyes and make them abandon that principle,” Tomiko said doubtfully, shaking her head.

“Let’s hope so. If we meet them, they may need help. If the city they live in is on our path, I think we should offer them to join us,” Alex said thoughtfully.

“That’s a good idea. I think they won’t mind,” Eijiro agreed.

Alex nodded and asked Eijiro in which city Ryōzanpaku’s dojo was located. The old man nodded in response and named the city. Without wasting any time, Alex pulled his phone out of his pocket, entered the city’s name, and, to his relief, found that it was directly on their path. The distance wasn’t too far—only two days’ travel.

He wasn’t worried about the safety of the Ryōzanpaku masters, as they could surely take care of themselves. But Alex knew that there was always a chance for an unexpected turn of events. Tapping his finger on his chin, he tried to recall the enemies of Ryōzanpaku, but no names came to mind. The only thing he remembered was that they were called something like “The Shadow of the Nine Fists.” However, the specific martial arts they used also eluded his memory. Sighing, Alex shook his head.

“Young friend Alex,” Eijiro suddenly addressed him. “My wife and I heard that you conduct training for your people. They all talk about some force of youth, and as I understand it, they wear those strange devices on their wrists as weights. If you don’t mind, may we observe your training?”

“Why not?” Alex replied with a wide grin, giving a thumbs-up. “Maybe some of your students will want to ignite the fire of their youth.”

Eijiro and Tomiko smiled at his enthusiasm and decided to watch how Alex trained his people. He chatted a bit more with the elderly couple, trying to find out if they had met other heirs of breathing styles. But, to his disappointment, neither Eijiro nor Tomiko had met anyone else besides Alex and Saeko’s father. Nodding, he said his goodbyes to the elderly pair and headed back to the girls to not delay the evening training.

As soon as he left, Kana approached Eijiro and Tomiko.

“What were you talking about with that guy?” she asked.

Eijiro didn’t hide anything from his granddaughter, but Kana only frowned, nodded, and said nothing more.

Returning to the control room, Alex saw Saya sitting to the side, pouting, while the other girls giggled, glancing at her. He smiled, noticing that Saya was busy with something on his laptop but still frowning. Walking up to her, Alex picked her up without saying a word and sat her down on his lap.

“S-stop!” Saya squeaked, blushing and staring at him.

“Still pouting?” he asked with a smile, stroking her head.

“Hmph! Their teasing doesn’t mean anything,” she replied proudly. “I’m just busy with more important matters. I don’t have time to pay attention to them.”

Alex smirked, wrapped his arm around her waist, and peered at the laptop.

“And what are you doing here?”

Saya nodded and began explaining. She didn’t forget to throw a glance toward the other girls, which conveyed a sense of triumph—like she had won. The others quickly realized that this pink-haired know-it-all was much more cunning than she appeared at first. Alex noticed the exchange of glances but said nothing. For now, he was more interested in finding out what Saya was occupied with.

Suddenly, he remembered something important.

“Oh, right! Before I forget: we’ll have not one, but two stops before Okinawa.”

Koko, lazily sprawled on the mattress, opened one eye.

“And why is that? Didn’t G.I.R. already plot the most optimal route?”

“I spoke with Eijiro and Tomiko,” Alex explained. “They said we might meet some useful allies in one of the cities on our path.”

Those who didn’t know who Eijiro and Tomiko were stared at him, waiting for an explanation. The girls who were with Alex when they visited the Agatsuma dojo had already figured out what he was talking about.

“To put it briefly,” he continued, “it’s the Ryōzanpaku dojo. But there’s one problem: their masters refuse to kill enemies as a matter of principle. I don’t know if that’s changed in the zombie apocalypse, but even with this limitation, they are incredibly strong. You could say that in their martial arts style, they have no equals. We’ll reach their city in a few days.”

The girls exchanged glances, considering what they had just heard.

“Well then, let’s see how strong they really are,” one of them said with interest.

Alex smirked, looking forward to meeting the Ryōzanpaku masters.

Alex decided to explain in more detail who the Ryōzanpaku masters were and what they were famous for, so the girls would understand the kind of people he wanted to invite into his group. Even Saya, who had been sitting on his lap the whole time and focused on her work on the laptop, stopped typing and turned to listen. The girls nodded, understanding that such allies could be very useful.

However, Brunhilda was thoughtful—could these masters kill zombies, or would they continue to follow their principles even when a person had already turned into the undead? From a rational standpoint, their philosophy wasn’t exactly ideal for survival in this world.

“Are you sure they’ll be able to start killing zombies?” Koko asked, voicing the question that concerned everyone.

“They must,” Alex replied. “If they can’t, then at least they can teach others. Even if they just handle protecting the group of survivors, that’ll lighten our load when we go on raids.”

“As you say, my love,” Brunhilda said with a smile, looking at Alex. “Your decisions usually don’t disappoint. And if these masters take some of my responsibilities, that would be just wonderful.”

Alex raised an eyebrow, surprised that Brunhilda openly admitted her desire to slack off a little. Even the Valkyries in his spiritual space were so shocked that they left him and hovered in spectral form behind him, staring at their sister.

Brunhilda, noticing their looks, simply rolled her eyes, clearly unwilling to explain anything. Alex began to suspect that their spiritual connection was so strong that she had started adopting some of his personality traits… including bouts of laziness. He even wanted to shout that someone had replaced his strict and sweet Valkyrie!

Brunhilda heard his thoughts and glared at him and the sisters in annoyance. The latter, sensing the warning in her gaze, tactfully returned to the spiritual space, not wanting to catch her wrath.

Until the evening, Alex and the girls rested, but when it was time for training, he lazily groaned, got up from the mattress, broke free from Koko’s embrace, and stretched. With a quick glance, he scanned Saeko, Rei, Beatrix, and Valmet, who, clearly influenced by the general mood, weren’t eager to get up either.

When everyone finally gathered, Alex, along with the girls, left the control room and went down to the deck, where the students, including Eijiro, Tomiko, Kana, and the Agatsuma dojo trainees, were already waiting.

“I see you’re all ready, so let’s start the training,” Alex said, struggling to suppress a yawn.

“Seems like the flame of your youth is starting to fade,” R smirked, watching his sleepy appearance.

“No, I’m just too lazy to move,” Alex replied, tiredly rubbing his neck. “It was so nice lying down, hugging Koko… For a moment, I even thought, ‘Maybe I should just forget about all this?’ But as you can see, I still came… to torture you… I mean, to train you.”

Everyone clearly heard his slip of the tongue, and in an instant, they all stared at him, fully understanding that he did it on purpose. Alex just laughed, watching the expressions of his lovely students, and was about to start the training when suddenly…

“Fight me!” Kana Agatsuma loudly declared, looking at him challengingly.

“Um… Why?” Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Everyone stared at Kana like she was suicidal. They all saw how Alex effortlessly tossed a huge zombie around the stadium, and then kicked a heavy armored tank straight at it. And now, here stood a fragile, at first glance, girl who decided to challenge him. Some shook their heads, mentally writing her off, while others even pitied her for such an ill-considered decision.

However, Kana ignored the looks around her and stared at Alex as if he were her arch-enemy.

“You said I could get revenge on you. I want to know how strong you are,” she declared firmly.

Alex sighed heavily.

“Ugh, I really don’t want to move… Fine,” he lazily stretched. “I’m not too fond of sparring, but I’ll show you the skill difference, so you’ll have motivation to get stronger.”

He stood up from the chair and gestured for everyone to make space. As soon as it was clear that Alex had accepted the challenge, the crowd buzzed with excitement.

And then, the gremlin reappeared in the form of Rebecca.

“All eyes on me! Bets are being accepted for this fight! Our undefeated leader Alex vs. the ignorant girl! Place your bets on how long she’ll last before she starts crying like a spoiled child!” she loudly announced.

As soon as people heard about the bets, they immediately rushed to Rebecca to make their predictions.

Alex’s eye twitched. He glanced at the elderly Agatsuma couple, signaling that he wasn’t planning to seriously hurt their granddaughter but would simply demonstrate the difference in skill. Eijiro nodded but still asked Alex not to go overboard.

Kana took a combat stance and then, without warning, lunged forward, attacking Alex’s face with a palm strike. He calmly dodged, not even moving from his spot. Kana continued to strike with her hands and feet, but Alex merely shifted his head slightly, dodged, or easily redirected her attacks. He didn’t even take a single step.

After a few minutes of fruitless attempts, Kana was forced to retreat, breathing heavily.

“Are you serious? Are you just going to stand there and dodge? Fight, damn it!” she shouted in frustration.

Alex shook his head.

“Alright.”

He took a stance, extending his palm forward. Kana tensed but didn’t retreat and charged again. But as soon as she got close, she heard his soft voice:

“Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms.”

Kana didn’t even have time to realize what had happened. Alex struck her acupuncture points in the blink of an eye—two strikes, then two more, then four… In the next second, there were eight strikes, then sixteen, thirty-two. Her body froze, paralyzed by the series of precise blows.

Eijiro hurried over to his granddaughter, checking her condition.

“She’s fine,” he said calmly. “Her points are just blocked.”

“Young friend Alex, thank you for your mercy,” Eijiro said, lifting his granddaughter in his arms.

“It’s fine, old man. I wasn’t trying to harm her. Let this be a good motivation for her,” Alex smiled. “She’ll be able to move in an hour. Let her lie down and think about how there are enemies against whom fighting without enough strength is pointless.”

“Heh, you’re right, young friend. Now she’ll definitely have more motivation to train harder,” Eijiro smirked.

Alex clapped his hands.

“Why are you all standing around? The training’s not over yet! Those who won the bet can claim their prize later. For now, back to work!”

The crowd buzzed—some students groaned in disappointment, while others celebrated their victory in the bets. Alex shook his head and sat back down in his chair.

He began the training with warm-ups, explaining to the students the important points, what they should strive for, and why certain exercises were necessary.

To be continued…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep