The first sign that the world was spiraling further into madness wasn't the monsters.
It was Saya's silence.
The girl who never stopped talking—who complained, analyzed, insulted, and lectured with a frequency that could generate electricity—stood frozen in front of the truck. Her pupils dilated, shoulders trembling, breath stuck halfway in her throat.
She looked like someone who had just discovered fire for the first time in human history.
No, not fire.
Limitlessness.
All because of what Su Chen casually dumped onto the ground as if he were tossing scrap metal.
Bars of steel.
Sheets of titanium.
Composite alloys that shouldn't exist on a high-school campus.
Materials that modern military labs considered "classified."
Saya's lips parted. The words escaped like steam leaking from a broken valve.
"Y-You… just… made these…?"
Su Chen didn't bother answering.
He simply gave her a look—calm, detached, mildly amused—like a manager waiting for his intern to catch up on the onboarding process.
Saya understood that look instantly.
Her hands clenched, trembling not with fear but with a feverish, brilliant excitement.
Her brain was going 300 mph.
"You can generate… infinite amounts… of any material you understand."
"Mm," Su Chen replied simply.
Saeko stood beside Saya, blade resting against her shoulder, watching the entire exchange with a quiet, predatory curiosity. Her eyes flicked between Saya, the materials, and Su Chen—slowly piecing together what this new revelation meant.
Infinite steel.
Infinite titanium.
Infinite potential.
Saya inhaled, then released a shuddering laugh.
She wasn't okay.
She wasn't calm.
She was on the verge of a genius-level meltdown.
"Do you even realize what this means?" she muttered, pacing back and forth like she was about to split atoms with her thoughts. "Resource scarcity is the primary limitation in all engineering, all construction, all modern warfare—hell, even civilization itself. But you—"
She jabbed a finger at him.
"—you're basically a one-man industrial revolution!"
Saeko tilted her head. "Is that a compliment or an accusation?"
Saya ignored her completely—already in another world.
"Metal alloys normally require complex refinement processes, furnaces, vacuum environments! And you— you just— you literally—"
She threw her hands toward the pile.
"Spawned them like loot drops."
Su Chen's expression didn't change.
"Can you work with it or not?"
That snapped her out of it.
Saya straightened, pushed her hair behind her ear, and her eyes sharpened with a terrifying clarity.
"Oh, I can work with it," she said slowly.
Her voice dropped, tone shifting from shocked genius → war strategist.
"But you need to understand something too."
She stepped closer.
"With unlimited materials… I can build things humanity has no business building."
Saeko smiled faintly. "Then build."
Saya exhaled sharply, as if anchoring herself back to reality. She inspected the truck from top to bottom, tapping its body, peering beneath the chassis, measuring structural angles with her eyes alone.
Her mind was racing.
Her cheeks slightly flushed.
She was—absurdly—excited.
"This truck… it's solid, but it's not built for high-impact collisions. If we're using it to plow through mutant dogs, I need to reinforce everything—frame, bumper, engine housing—"
Su Chen snapped his fingers.
A fresh stack of steel dropped beside her.
CLANG.
Saya froze.
Turned.
Stared.
Then let out a tiny, manic laugh.
"Okay. Yeah. This is happening. I'm actually going insane."
Saeko raised a brow.
"This is her proudest moment."
"Shut up," Saya muttered, grabbing a wrench.
---
The Work Begins
The sound of metal striking metal filled the air.
Sparks crackled.
The scent of burning alloy spread.
Saya's body moved like she was dancing—each strike, adjustment, weld, and measurement executed with methodical precision.
She wasn't just modifying a truck.
She was creating a monster.
With every clang, with every pulse of heat, Su Chen watched silently, monitoring the surroundings and occasionally spawning more material whenever Saya barked a request.
"More steel bars!"
CLANG.
"Titanium sheets for the plating!"
CLANG.
"Composite armor—no, thicker!"
CLANG.
Saeko whistled softly.
"You're spoiling her."
Su Chen shrugged.
"She works better spoiled."
Saya didn't even deny it.
After thirty minutes, she stepped back and wiped sweat from her forehead.
"Front reinforcement complete," she declared proudly.
The entire truck's front now looked like something that belonged in a military convoy—angled plates, shock absorption reinforcement, and a thick armor layer designed to reduce impact force.
But Saya wasn't done.
"Next, the chassis. I want this thing to survive multiple high-velocity collisions."
Su Chen generated more material.
Saeko leaned against the wall, watching Saya with amusement.
"You're enjoying this too much."
"I am operating at 200% brain capacity," Saya said without shame. "Let me have this."
The reinforcement continued.
Then came the engine protection.
Then the underside armor.
Then the door reinforcements.
By the time Saya finished, she wiped her face again, looked at her own creation, and let out a shaky laugh.
"This is not a truck anymore…"
Saeko nodded.
"It's a behemoth."
---
Saeko's Awakening
Su Chen glanced at Saeko.
Her posture was straight.
Breathing controlled.
Eyes a deep, dangerous shade of anticipation.
"You're next," he said.
Saeko nodded without hesitation and stepped forward.
She closed her eyes.
Her sword hummed faintly—the spirit within responding to the shifting energy.
Su Chen placed a hand on her back.
Warmth surged.
A golden ripple of spiritual force entered her body.
Saeko's breath hitched.
Her muscles tightened.
Her fingers curled.
She felt her blood boil—violently.
Like something buried within her bones was waking up.
The spiritual energy rushed through her meridians, carving, expanding, tearing, rebuilding.
Her instincts sharpened.
Her awareness stretched beyond the physical.
She gasped—
—not in pain.
But in hunger.
A deep, primal desire she kept hidden for years surged to the surface.
—the desire to cut.
—to hunt.
—to dominate.
Her eyes snapped open.
Purple aura flickered around her blade.
Her hair lifted slightly from the spiritual current.
"I…" she whispered.
Her voice trembled.
"…feel… alive."
Su Chen nodded once.
"You awakened perfectly."
Saeko exhaled a long, trembling breath, gripping her blade with renewed purpose.
Saya shuddered.
"Okay, seriously—seeing you two evolve like Pokémon is starting to scare me."
Su Chen ignored the comment.
"Time to test the truck."
---
The Test Run
They climbed into the freshly modified beast.
The reinforced seats creaked under the added weight.
Saya adjusted the controls.
Su Chen sat in the driver's seat.
Saeko sat in the back, blade resting across her lap, eyes sharp and hungry, spiritual energy still simmering beneath her skin.
Su Chen turned the key.
The engine roared.
Deep.
Heavy.
Powerful.
"Damn," Saya whispered, eyes sparkling. "It sounds like an armored personnel carrier."
Su Chen drove forward, steering toward the street packed with mutant dogs roaming in disorganized clusters.
The monsters lifted their heads at the sound—growling, snarling, baring teeth.
"Target acquired," Saya muttered like an unhinged military operator.
"Brace yourselves," Su Chen said.
He pressed the accelerator.
---
Impact
The truck slammed into the first cluster.
BOOOOOOM.
Bodies flew.
Bones snapped.
Flesh splattered across the reinforced plating.
The truck didn't even shake.
Saya burst out laughing.
"Oh my god—OH MY GOD—this is insane!"
Saeko's eyes gleamed.
"Again."
Su Chen didn't hesitate.
He steered sharply and tore through another pack.
CRUNCH
CRUSH
SHATTER
Dogs exploded against the armor like water balloons.
Blood splattered across the windshield but the protective coating repelled most of it.
Saya pressed her hands against the dashboard, vibrating with excitement.
"This is better than any tank simulator I've ever played—holy crap!"
Su Chen accelerated again.
Another pack.
Another series of brutal, efficient kills.
Saeko leaned forward slightly.
Her breath deep.
Her aura thick.
She wanted to fight.
She wanted the challenge.
But watching the truck tear through hordes of beasts gave her something else:
A satisfying realization.
With this team—with their abilities—with their synergy—
survival wasn't just possible.
Dominance was inevitable.
---
Aftermath
When the last dog corpse was crushed beneath the tires, Su Chen slowed the vehicle and parked beside a demolished building.
Saya, still panting from excitement, turned around and looked at him with wide, shining eyes.
"So? How did it feel?" she asked.
Su Chen shrugged.
"Acceptable."
Saeko scoffed.
"He means he enjoyed it."
Saya laughed breathlessly.
"Well… Behemoth is officially combat-ready."
Su Chen stepped out of the truck.
The metallic scent of blood thickened the air.
Corpses lay scattered for twenty meters in every direction.
He stretched slightly.
"Next hunt begins in five minutes," he said calmly.
Saeko smiled.
Saya gulped.
The apocalypse had just started.
But with a reinforced behemoth, an awakened swordswoman, a genius engineer, and a man who could generate infinite resources—
the world wasn't ready for them.