The next five days passed by relatively peacefully. Relatively, because bringing the survivors under the new management (i.e., government) is far from peaceful. These people are survivors precisely because they have the skills needed to survive the apocalypse.
A good part of the current survivors came from the civilians with great adaptability and special skillsets. Another came from the zaibatsu's privately-commissioned armed forces prior to the apocalypse. Finally, there were the government staff and officers.
The first and the third groups weren't a problem. It could be inferred that the people who joined the zaibatsus were merely attracted by their prospects and opportunities. So long as they did not cause a mess and worked honestly, the government won't make things too hard for them. They are destined to not hold important positions, still.
The most troublesome group were the die-hard loyalists. They are people brought up by clans to do their bidding, ranging from ordinary servants down to special forces groups capable of taking their enemies down with violence. The campaign during that night wiped out most of the zaibatsus' forces, but it was inevitable that some would slip out.
After several days of waiting, they re-emerged. They sought to seek 'revenge' against the government through guerilla attacks.
Fortunately, the government was quick to respond. They got the 'esper combat force' into action. Their sheer numbers, now sitting at two thousand, was more than enough to deal with the remnants.
To the outside world, it was pure chaos. Everyone worried about public safety, unwilling to go out late at night. It was different from Eishi. All he had to do was to wait for the 'output' of the farmer couple while becoming stronger.
He looked at the wall clock showing 9 PM, and then to his hand filled with sticky fruit juices.
"If only there was a glove or something…'
Eishi was careful not to let a single drop stain the mattress he was sitting on. He took out several tissues and wiped them off of his palm. His panel popped up right as he did so.
[Eishi Hiraoka]
Innate Talent: Time Dominator (SSS, Third-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Spatial Backpack (3,210,000 Cubic Meters), Constitution Boost (SS, Third-order), Weak Electricity (A, Third-order), Spirit Boost (B, Third-order), Metal Sharpening (A, Third-order), Clairvoyance (A, Third-order), Regeneration (A, Third-order), Law Penetration (S, Third-order), Qi Burst (S, Third-order), Cosmic Barrier (S, Third-order), Sun's Essence (SS, Third-order), Dragon Blood (S, Third-order)
Life Level: Third-order, Nine-stars
Strength: 1,049 > 1,369 (1,780)
Agility: 1,046 > 1,366 (4,508)
Constitution: 2,746 > 3,066 (10,118)
Spirit: 2,015 > 2,335 (3,036)
Feeling the hot boiling sensation gradually die down inside him, Eishi heaved a sigh.
'What a crazy thing I did…'
After ransacking the entire New Tokyo Shelter, he came up with several S-rated evolution fruits and one SS-rated fruit. The moment he took out the latter, Eishi immediately sensed an extremely strong craving for the fruit. He barely controlled himself and allowed Saeko to 'destroy' the fruit in order to gain thousands of copies of it.
Its effects were vague when he first saw it, but Eishi felt it over the past five days. Through his strong spirit attribute capable of performing introspection (self x-ray), he saw an orb of golden liquid curled up inside his heart. It was merely a single drop, yet his entire body felt different when he did not have it.
Eishi's physical and mental recovery speeds skyrocketed dozens of times. The intangible 'genetic energy' used to supply other superpowers also increased by several notches. His wounds healed in a split second. When his drop of blood fell to the ground, it emitted a sizzling sound before piercing a hole through the concrete!
Most importantly, his hormonal imbalance seems to have disappeared ever since he took it. Eishi no longer experienced bouts of losing control. He felt clearheaded despite the growing power of his physical body.
The strange effects came when his blood came in contact with an animal. Instead of being melted like inorganic cement, it was absorbed through its skin. The hamster completed its evolution in an instant, turning into a first-order evolved beast.
Thus, Eishi felt free to let go at that time. The moment he came into Saeko and Shino, however, they 'inherited' a small part of that golden blood's effects. It posed zero changes to their four attributes, but when it comes to their recovery rates and resilience, it pushed them to sky-high levels. This process wasn't a one-time thing as the effects grew stronger the more he did it with them.
Then came the [Dragon Blood] and [Qi Burst] talents. Their functions overlapped with each other. They could be activated at will to gain a temporary 100% boost to Eishi's three attributes. Once that temporary boost dies down, he would have to experience a period of overexertion. The [Sun's Essence] served to deal with that shortcoming.
As if that wasn't enough, the three previously stated talents all enhanced his vigor. Though the hormonal imbalance issue was fixed, it still hit differently once Eishi and others were in the 'mood'. It was just as worse as when he had that issue, only that he could now decide when it would break out.
'They just had to deal with this…'
Eishi's attention shifted to [Law Penetration] and [Cosmic Barrier]. The former is the 'karmic-type' fruit he snagged from the joint treasury. It imbued a 'sure-hit' effect whenever activated, allowing him to penetrate all types of superpowers and 'strike' at the opponent. The latter is an active shield similar to the Buff that saves their lives once a day. Only, it could be actively called out.
With so many talents, Eishi's capability to use them with 'genetic power' comes down to his SSS rated innate talent and the Sun's Essence. As for the rest of his improvements, it all came down to his four attributes enhanced by eating second-order fruits. While the improvement speed they have lagged behind third or even fourth-order zombie crystals, they could be consumed in an instant. To Eishi who kept piling on resources to grow, it was the most efficient way to level up.
'Fourth-order…'
He closed his attribute panel and stood up. The overwhelming strength possessed by his body made him feel like a god in the past few days. Only he himself knew that wasn't the case. Hence he kept fighting the urge to revert to his previous bad habits.
'Today… we're going home.'
*****
Tokyo is the heart of modern Japan. Its weight far surpasses Kyoto and Yokohama, the cultural capital and the sea capital of Japan, respectively. Its population and resources are at the top throughout the entire country. The government's full take-over of the Tokyo shelter, followed by their esper forces' ever-growing strength, consolidated the remaining survivors within Tokyo, both inside and outside the contained living zone. This prompted a lot of survivors who lived by hiding up until now to show up one by one.
In the midst of the busy streets filled with people carrying boxes and carts, five eye-catching identical women stood out from the rest. They were no exception to the task, pushing metallic carts filled with all sorts of boxes. Sweat stuck closely to their clothes, making them uncomfortable. The summer heat added further into their discomfort, yet none of these girls voiced out any complaints.
It wasn't until there were less people did they drop their tense expressions.
"Phew. It's not as bad as before."
"The others didn't look too tense…"
Two of the youngest spoke up. They all uniformly possessed light pink hair save for the youngest who had a noticeable red hair. Though they spoke to liven up the atmosphere, they saw their third eldest remaining silent. They stopped their attempts in an instant as they headed to the building plastered with a large 'clinic' sign.
Before they entered, the eldest of the quintuplets, Ichika Nakano, spoke up. Her shoulder-length pink hair matched with her mature vibe. The slightly loose shirt hid her figure, as did the other four.
"Do not speak of your powers to others. We will check out the situation first… on whether the government is still trustworthy."
Her hushed whispers floated to her sisters' ears. They took Ichika's words extremely seriously. They were no exceptions to the suffering imposed by the apocalypse. Their parents happened to be in another city when disaster struck. The five sisters were left to fend for themselves.
Fortunately, two of them happened to be drenched in the blood rain during the first day, awakening their superpowers. Their usual habit of stockpiling supplies every half a month saved them from hunger. They simply stayed inside their high-end apartment at the topmost floor. By the time the government and zaibatsu forces cleared up the area surrounding them, they mustered the courage to get some food.
That was when one of the privately-contracted mercenaries noticed the quintuplets. They could not control their lust, prompting them to 'capture' the five sisters. The third of the sisters was almost assaulted when Ichika acted up. They promptly left the place and made sure they weren't followed.
With that experience and the information shared through the Internet, they are very apprehensive towards the zaibatsu and the government alike. Even when they found out that the latter wiped out the former, they did not lower their guards. Only Ichika registered as an esper while the remaining four sisters, all of whom have consumed evolution fruits, remained hidden.
Ichika's superpower happened to be something related to 'medicine', hence she was sent to a clinic. She was able to bring her four sisters along due to her privilege as an esper.
The scent of disinfectants and blood filled their noses. No matter how much the clinic's floor was mopped, it could not completely remove the scent of blood etched deeply into the flooring. The five of them resisted the urge to retch as they moved towards the cold storehouse on the first floor. Its door was guarded by two armed guards. It remains unknown whether they were espers or not, but nobody dared to cause trouble with their presence.
"You must be the new esper? Nakano-san, correct?"
The five sisters were stunned when they saw the supervisor of this clinic. Her short height immediately made them think of her as a gradeschooler. The girl, Miko, caught their strange looks.
"Don't look at me like that. I am already eighteen. Eighteen!"
"Um…"
Ichika and the others could only blankly nod. Miko proceeded to check Ichika's credentials, including her submitted picture, on her tablet. Only after this verification did she hand over an access card.
"Press it against the scanner to open the store room. Remember, there are corresponding punishments for shortages of supplies than the ones recorded. Also, only you can enter the room. Your sisters have to stay outside…"
Miko proficiently listed out a bunch of do's and dont's to Ichika. The four sisters behind her looked at Miko with a hint of admiration. The stern atmosphere she gave off was completely misproportional with her height!
Just then, the air around them felt somewhat warmer. A strong urge to look in a certain direction arose in their hearts, to which they followed. That was when they saw a tall and handsome young man standing at the end of the hallway.
The surge of temperature wasn't an illusion; it all came from him. His presence was so strong nearly everyone blanked out for a moment. The concussive effect of his 10,000% temperament and the increased mental damage made wonders when used to lower-order lifeforms. His third-order, nine-stars life level stands at the absolute pinnacle of humans on this planet!
Tap.
Tap.
His footsteps seemed deliberately slow. His pitch-black eyes glanced towards Miko, and then the five identical women.
'No wonder I saw a strong green light.'
Eishi came to this clinic solely due to this reason. He thought there were overlooked evolution fruits or treasures in this place. He did not expect it to be five qualified confidantes.
'They must have something special…'