"Sir… your hands are fine now?"
While taking small bites of a sausage, Bob suddenly stared at Lux's perfectly intact hands in confusion.
He clearly remembered that the blood on those bandages had still been fresh.
"Cough. New rule—don't ask questions you shouldn't. Otherwise, I'll turn around and leave with my people."
Lux spoke flatly.
"No, no, no— I won't ask anything."
Bob said in a panic. If Lux left, his daughter was guaranteed to die.
Lux drew his blade and walked alone at the front of the group.
Chopping down two zombies earlier that morning had greatly boosted his confidence.
Before that, watching people get tackled and torn apart by zombies from the balcony had slowly worn away his courage to fight outside.
But once he had personally killed zombies, that fear dissipated.
Anything that could be killed by him wasn't worth fearing.
Not to mention that he had been enhanced by the gene modification serum.
[That's right. You've been enhanced. Hurry up and deliver— ah no, hurry up and get moving]
The system's sudden voice in his head startled Lux so badly that his hand twitched.
"Lux? What happened?"
MDR immediately scanned the surroundings alertly.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Lux replied awkwardly. With Bob present, he obviously couldn't say he'd been scared by the system messing with him.
"Don't push yourself. Want me to take point instead? Miss MDR here is extremely outstanding!"
"No. I'll stay in front. You're only equipped with a rifle—if we run into more than two zombies, you'd have to fire."
"Understood. But if you get tired, remember to say so and we'll switch."
"Mm."
After leaving the museum area, Lux spotted four zombies running straight toward them from the road.
"What the hell? Zombies almost fifty meters away noticed us already?"
Lux stared at the four zombies in disbelief. Based on previous experience, as long as no loud sounds were made, zombies wouldn't notice people even within twenty meters.
"MDR, have those zombies spotted us?"
"There's no doubt—we've been exposed. Should I open fire?"
"No. I'll handle it. Shoot only if I can't."
As they spoke, the four zombies closed in to about ten meters.
Instead of retreating, Lux surged forward, katana in hand. With a single horizontal slash, he cleanly took off the head of the lead zombie.
Then he swung the scabbard in his left hand, sending the leftmost zombie flying two meters as if hit by a car.
The remaining two zombies lunged at him. Lux instinctively kicked one to the ground, then drove the katana straight into the center of the last zombie's brow.
Without pausing, he pulled the blade free and dashed to the fallen zombie, splitting its head cleanly in half with a vertical chop as it tried to get up.
The zombie that had been knocked aside charged again without fear, but Lux turned and bisected it cleanly at the waist with a backhand slash.
After driving the blade into its brain to finish it off, all four zombies were down in less than a minute.
Even Lux himself was surprised. His strength was at least three times greater than before, and his speed exceeded his previous full sprint.
The sudden boost in strength and agility perfectly compensated for his lack of technique.
The gene modification serum had been terrifying and expensive, but the results spoke for themselves.
"Wow… sir, you're actually this skilled?"
Bob said in delight, his legs that had been trembling from fear finally steadying.
The stronger Lux was, the higher the chance his daughter could be saved.
However, neither HK416 nor MDR responded to him, which made Bob feel a bit awkward.
After flicking the blood off his blade, Lux returned to the group.
"This is strange. Maybe I was being careless and got detected? MDR, you take point. If only a few zombies approach, I'll handle them."
"Okay"
MDR carefully moved ahead using her previous scouting method.
Five minutes later—
"Lux, two zombies are running toward us from sixty meters away… get ready. We can't avoid them."
"Tch. This is ridiculous. There's no way walking sounds alone could attract them from that far."
Lux frowned. When the zombies entered the ten-meter range, he stepped forward and swiftly decapitated both.
"Go check that lingerie shop. You and HK grab a few sets of underwear."
Lux gave the order. He still remembered that HK was currently… running without proper equipment because of him.
MDR and HK416 entered the lingerie shop, while Bob and Lux stayed outside.
MDR smashed a section of the display glass. After confirming no zombies emerged, she grabbed several sets of underwear and stuffed them into her bag.
HK416 stopped in front of a pair of white lace lingerie panties and hesitated.
"Oh? Feeling bold? Planning to use that to gag Commander next time?"
MDR teased.
"Shut up! There's no way that would ever happen! I just… think they look kind of nice."
"Then wear them."
"H-how could I wear something that lewd?!"
Blushing furiously, HK416 turned to the more ordinary styles.
MDR smiled and stuffed the white lace panties into her own bag.
"Hurry up and find a place to change. You can agonize over it later during a break."
"Why are you taking so many?"
HK416 asked helplessly as she picked up a pair and headed to the fitting room.
"Wasn't it Lux's order to grab multiple sets? So he doesn't get bored. Besides, don't you think he'd have a really interesting reaction if you wore something super provocative for him?"
MDR grinned mischievously.
"…You really are a nasty piece of work."
HK416's exasperated voice came from the fitting room.
"What? This is Miss MDR's heartfelt complimentary fanservice~"
"Enough. Let's go."
After changing, HK416 quickly exited the lingerie shop.