"Hehehe… Commander, it seems we'll get along quite well. Your way of thinking really suits my taste."
UMP45 put down her bottle of Sprite and stared at Lux.
"That's great to hear. I know how capable you are, and your help is very important to me."
"But I have one question."
"To you… which is more important? Tactical Dolls, or humans?"
"45! Asking that—what are you trying to do?!"
HK416 immediately became alert and grabbed her rifle.
The other Tactical Dolls also raised their weapons, staring at UMP45 warily.
"Hehehe, I'm just curious about the Commander's stance. Look, I'm not attacking him, am I?"
UMP45's smile never changed, but HK416 did not relax.
"Of course you're the most important to me."
Lux answered without hesitation.
"Hehehe… such a decisive answer. Either it's a lie meant to fool me… or you're not a normal person."
UMP45's gaze sharpened.
"Tactical Dolls are tools created to replace humans. Even though we have human-like appearances and simulated thinking, we're ultimately not human. If what you said is true, then you're betraying humanity, aren't you?"
"Or would you like to explain? I'm listening."
UMP45 smiled like a fox, waiting for Lux's answer.
"As a human, I'm well aware that humans themselves are capable of betrayal and selfishness."
"Even among those I save, there are people who want to drag me down with them, people who repay kindness with hatred. I don't intend to treat such people as my companions."
"But you're different."
"In the beginning, I was too afraid of zombies to leave my room. It was HK and MDR who threatened me with self-destruction orders and dragged me out of that safe—but slowly fatal—room, allowing me to survive in this world."
"My life itself was saved by them. So I'll live on for all of you."
Lux spoke earnestly.
"A beautiful counterattack. You pass."
"If… I had met you earlier, that would've been nice."
UMP45 glanced at her scarred left eye and grabbed the opened Sprite beside her, chugging it down.
"If you're talking about 40(UMP40), then as long as I gather enough resource points later, I'll be able to summon her. You might meet again."
"In theory, I can summon all Tactical Dolls, and it's not an endless resource sink."
"Then I'll look forward to it a little. If I really get to see 40 again, I'll offer you my complete loyalty."
UMP45 set down the empty bottle. The smile she always wore vanished, replaced by a cold, serious glint in her golden eyes.
If Lux was lying to her, she would probably find a way to kill him someday. That thought crossed his mind.
"I'll do my best to summon her."
"Hehehe, what a cute Commander. Then, is there anything I should do? Summoning requires a huge amount of resources, right?"
UMP45's gentle smile returned. Seeing the tension resolved, Sten and the others lowered their weapons.
"For now, I have two leads for obtaining resource points."
"One is hunting mutated zombies. That one was worth one hundred thousand resource points, but I don't know where to find them yet. We can gather intel on that."
"The other is locating a mining area and starting mining operations, trading minerals for resource points. The difficulty lies in finding an active mine and having enough manpower, but the advantage is steady output."
"Heh, sounds like I'll be gathering intelligence?"
UMP45 asked.
"Hmm… splitting up makes rendezvous points hard to establish, and we might get separated. Let's act together for now. If we hear news about mutated zombies along the way, we'll deal with them."
Lux shook his head.
"Also, if we want to run a mine later, I'll need large amounts of supplies to support the survivors working there. So tomorrow I'm heading to the grain depot, and after that, a large Walmart to collect supplies."
"Hehehe, looks like you've thought things through, Commander. Then I'll stand by for now."
UMP45 smiled.
"For future operations, I plan to split you into two teams."
"Team A will be HK, MDR, and Sten. Team B will be you, 45, AA-12, and M99."
"For hunting mutated zombies or other special missions, you and AA-12 will escort M99 to find suitable sniper positions and handle the retreat."
"Roger~"
45 nodded.
"For night watch…"
"I'll do it. I'm a night owl. Honestly, I don't like moving during the day. I don't like sunlight either."
AA-12 volunteered.
"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll try to let you sleep during the day. Are you sure you'll be fine alone at night?"
"No problem. Don't worry."
AA12 replied calmly.
"I'll teach you how to use the smokeless stove. If you get hungry at night, you can cook hotpot."
"Ah? Then MDR wants to stand watch too!"
MDR immediately raised her hand.
"You just want to eat all night, right?"
"Hehehe, you caught me."
MDR scratched her beautiful silver hair and smiled brightly.
"That was obvious. But we really can't finish all this food before it spoils. If you want to eat hotpot all night, go ahead."
Lux shrugged.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! MDR is so lucky to meet a Commander like you. Ah, wake me up again when it's time to eat tomorrow."
"Alright, alright."
Lux spread his hands. Tomorrow would probably be spent on the road anyway, with no real combat.
"Oh right, these sleeping bags are for the four of you. Keep them in your packs."
Lux took four sleeping bags out of the system space.
"Thank you. Good night, Commander!"
M99 took a sleeping bag, walked over to Candice, and crawled inside.
Lux found another corner and lay down. He didn't want M99 to misunderstand his intentions.
"Um… Lux, can I… sleep next to you?"
HK416 hesitantly asked while holding her sleeping bag.
"Of course. You're more than welcome. Having a cute girl sleeping beside me is clearly my gain."
"C-cute… me…?"
A faint smile appeared on HK416's face. She laid out her sleeping bag and lay down beside Lux.
"Good night, Commander."
HK416 closed her eyes.
Surrounded by the faint fragrance coming from her, Lux's consciousness gradually sank into darkness.