Humanity

"Shut up!"

Lu Shiyan's gaze turned cold.

"Have you forgotten what I told you?"

"No shouting in here."

Lu Shiyan pointed at the rain lashing outside the window, his voice grim.

"Otherwise, I won't hesitate to throw you out there right now and make you that thing's next meal."

"I'm sorry... Mr. Lu. I know I was wrong."

At those words, the boy, who had been on the verge of losing his mind, instantly calmed down.

He glared at Hoshino, hatred still burning in his eyes, but fear made him choose to obey.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly retreated to the corner and sat down, burying his head between his knees.

The classroom sank back into oppressive silence.

Hoshino stood there, stunned and helpless.

She didn't understand.

Why?

Why would her own people see her as an enemy more frightening than the monsters?

"Go over there first."

Yekaterina pointed to the other side of the classroom, where several girls huddled together, trembling.

"Treat them first. Don't let them die here."

With that, Yekaterina went to keep watch by the window, apparently unwilling to say more.

Hoshino took a deep breath, forced a friendly smile, and cautiously approached them.

"Um... I'm a healer... Let me take a look at your wounds..."

But—

"Get away!!"

One girl suddenly swung her hand, knocking Hoshino's outstretched hand aside.

Her eyes, which should have been clear and bright, were now filled with fear and disgust.

"Don't touch me!! You devils! Stay away from me!!"

"But... your leg is bleeding..." Hoshino said anxiously.

"Even if I bleed dry and die, I don't want your fake help!!"

Another girl clutched her companion and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Get out of here!!"

Someone even snatched up a book from the floor and hurled it at Hoshino.

The book knocked Hoshino off balance. In the end, she could only retreat dejectedly to the teacher's desk.

She looked at Lu Shiyan, her eyes full of hurt and confusion.

Before she could ask, Lu Shiyan—leaning against the blackboard and smoking—spoke first.

"You're confused, aren't you?"

Hoshino nodded, her eyes red. "Why do they hate me so much?"

"I've never even met them... I came here to save them."

Lu Shiyan blew a smoke ring, his expression amused.

"They don't hate you."

"They hate the skin you're wearing."

"The skin?"

Hoshino looked down at the yellow-green Special Operations Uniform she wore.

"That's right."

Lu Shiyan tapped the ash from his cigarette and began to explain the truth about the school.

"It all started when we were transported here."

"The children in this classroom are all students from your Cherry Blossom Country's Rose Middle School, as were the people whose bones are piled up outside."

"To be honest, it was quite a coincidence."

Lu Shiyan sneered.

"Back on Blue Star, your Rose Middle School was built on the very site where Rose Middle School had once stood, before it disappeared long ago."

"Perhaps that coincidence, that Space-Time Overlap, sent the entire school here, teachers and students alike."

"Yekaterina and I were just unlucky enough to be passing by the school. By sheer chance, we became the outsiders here."

"On the first day, we ran into a huge horde of Wandering Corpses."

"Unlike the zombies in movies, these things were intelligent. They could open doors, smash windows, and even work together to hunt."

"Students and teachers died in droves. That chairman or whatever his title was got chewed to pieces on the spot by his own secretary."

At that, disdain filled Lu Shiyan's eyes.

"Yekaterina and I worked together and barely managed to kill three Wandering Corpses."

"We made it through to the next morning, awakened our Supernatural Abilities, and started clearing the campus of Wandering Corpses and setting up a Safe Zone."

Hoshino couldn't help interrupting him.

"Th-then what was that monster outside?"

The images of her team leader, Sato, and Ikeda dying for no apparent reason came to mind. Even now, they chilled her to the bone.

Lu Shiyan didn't answer directly. Instead, he blew a smoke ring in her face, making her cough.

"Don't rush, little girl."

"You have to hear the story bit by bit to understand what it means."

Lu Shiyan's voice grew low.

"Originally, with Yekaterina and me protecting them, these students wouldn't have had to die in such numbers."

"But ever since... yesterday morning, when a special operations unit from your Cherry Blossom Country arrived, everything changed."

"I still remember that bastard in charge. What was his name again... Village Entrance... Nichita Tree?"

"It's Muraguchi Nissuu, M-Mr. Lu."

Hoshino corrected him without thinking.

But then a roar erupted in her mind.

Muraguchi Nissuu?!

Wasn't he their commander-in-chief?

Why had Mr. Muraguchi come yesterday?

Why did her team leader and Kujo not seem to know anything about it?

"Oh, that must've been it. I'm old; my memory's not what it used to be. Either way, it's close enough."

Lu Shiyan shrugged.

"That Muraguchi brought a fully armed squad and said he was looking for some 'Terminal Signal Tower.'"

"But he didn't want his own elite soldiers risking their lives to scout the way."

"So..."

Lu Shiyan pointed at the students huddled in the corner.

"He held these students at gunpoint and sent them out in batches, using a Human Wave Tactic to help him test for traps and find a path."

"And what happened?"

"You should know."

"They never found the Signal Tower. Instead, they managed to release the monster that had been sleeping underground."

"Those students... were all used as bait and food."

Lu Shiyan leaned close to Hoshino's ear, his voice like a devil whispering.

"Next, think about how you escaped here."

"Then think about this... Why did your Muraguchi Officer come here but never tell you there was a monster?"

"Why send your squad here to try again?"

Boom!

Hoshino felt the world spin.

Even she could see it now.

Searching for a Signal Tower...

Setting up a stronghold...

It was all a lie!

They were nothing but pawns!

Sacrificial pawns sent to test whether the monster was still there—

And whether it had eaten its fill!

"Ugh..."

Hoshino crouched down in despair, hugging her trembling body tightly.

Being betrayed by her own people and superiors was more devastating than death.

Just then, Lu Shiyan spoke again, delivering the final blow.

"By the way, didn't you ask what that monster outside was?"

"I can tell you now."

"Actually, at first, it didn't have that freakish Water Drop Teleport ability."

"It evolved that ability only after Devouring a Supernatural Ability user from yesterday's squad!"

"And I even gave it a grand name. I call it..."

"Hungry Ghost!"

"Ahhh!! Stop talking!!"

Hoshino clapped her hands over her ears and screamed in despair.

"Ahhh!! Stop talking!!"

On the wasteland, Yu Shishi clapped her hands over her ears as the others closed in on her. She let out the same desperate scream.

"I really can cook! I'm not lying to you!!"

But clearly, no one there believed a word she said.

Wang Meng scowled and pointed at the huge black pot in front of him.

Inside, an indescribable brown-black mass, reeking of fish and burnt food, bubbled away.

"Shishi..."

The corner of Wang Meng's mouth twitched. "You call this stuff food?"

"Ugh!"

Liu Yuqing covered her mouth and hurried aside, fighting back the urge to throw up.

"This smells... even worse than that corpse in yesterday's cellar! It reminds me of my great-grandma!"

Even Chen Tong, usually so composed, couldn't help asking, though her expression remained fairly relaxed.

She was already used to the smell, after all.

"Shishi... how did you make this?"

Yu Shishi answered with complete confidence.

"I learned from the older generation! It's called 'everything-in-the-pot stew'! I wanted everyone to rediscover the charm of tradition!"

"I just tossed all the ingredients in together and stewed them! There's even a fish and five packs of compressed biscuits in there! It's definitely nutritious!"

"Um..."

Guo Shuai raised his hand and stared at the fish, its eyes still wide open in the brown sludge. He posed a question that cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"So... did we wash the fish? Or, you know... remove its guts?"

At that, everyone's gaze shot toward Yu Shishi like knives.

Especially Jiangnan, standing by the car door, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Yu Shishi blinked and planted her hands on her hips, answering confidently.

"Of course I didn't!"

"I preserved all its fishiness!"

"That way, you'd know you were eating a completely natural fish!"

"..."

Faced with the murderous looks from everyone, Yu Shishi finally gave up pretending.

Thump!

She dropped to her knees with practiced ease.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!!"

"I actually can't cook at all! I didn't even believe what I just said!"

"Waaah!!"

Yu Shishi burst into tears and grabbed Jiangnan around the leg.

"Please, boss, don't abandon me! I really know I was wrong! I'll never show off again, sob, sob!"

Seeing how sincerely she apologized, the others' anger faded by half.

She was their companion, after all. They couldn't really throw her out over one meal.

Liu Yuqing sighed and took the blame herself.

"Boss, it was all my fault. I told her to cook and didn't keep an eye on her."

She looked at the pot of dark cuisine, gritted her teeth, and declared with the air of someone ready to face death.

"I... I'll eat all of this! We mustn't waste food!"

"I'll help! I'll help!"

Wang Meng seemed to realize something. He suddenly grinned crookedly and hurriedly chimed in, pledging his loyalty.

Guo Shuai didn't understand a thing, but he knew that if Brother Wang was quick on the uptake, following his lead couldn't go wrong. So he joined in, too.

"It's not like this is inedible! In a sense, it's just high-protein energy paste! It really is quite nutritious!"

But Jiangnan still wore a dark expression and said nothing.

Seeing this, Chen Tong stood up shakily.

Not because she was afraid, but because a certain part of her body was still aching.

Liu Yuqing quickly steadied her.

Chen Tong smiled and spoke gently.

"Actually, I was supposed to cook from the start. Shishi should have been helping me. This was my fault."

"Let me eat it."

As she spoke, she reached for the spoon.

However.

Just as her hand was about to touch it, a large hand firmly seized her wrist.

Jiangnan.

The next moment.

Clang!

Jiangnan raised one foot and kicked the huge black pot flying!

The steaming brown mush traced a perfect arc through the air.

"Caw?!"

Splat!

In a withered tree nearby, a Mutated Crow watching the show hadn't even had time to react.

The unnameable blob struck it dead-on, plastering it into a lump of shit on the spot.

Only a pair of terrified little eyes poked out.

"Caw..."

The crow twitched twice, then dropped straight to the ground.

Who knew whether it had been scalded to death or poisoned.

"..."

The group was horrified, thinking Jiangnan was truly angry. They were about to hurry and apologize again.

But Jiangnan had already pulled out a memo pad, scribbled a few lines, tore off the page, and slapped it down in front of them.

[Enduring Hardship is Goujian; suffering for no reason is a damn fool!]

[Even pigs wouldn't eat this stuff. There's nothing to regret about throwing it out!]

[Starting today, Chen Tong and Yu Shishi will take turns cooking! Liu Yuqing will supervise! If this happens again, you're out!]

[I have no use for dead weight!]

[Now, get to the Terminal Signal Tower at once! Make do with compressed biscuits for now!]

Seeing those lines, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, boss! We'll move out at once!"

Wang Meng and Guo Shuai looked as if they'd been pardoned. They immediately returned to the cab and the lookout post.

Yu Shishi wiped away her tears, too, her face bright with relief. Thank goodness she hadn't been kicked!

Liu Yuqing gave her a meaningful pat on the shoulder.

"That silly girl still hasn't caught on~"

"If she can't cook, she's the one who'll get 'eaten'~"

But Chen Tong looked at the note and smiled happily.

For some reason, her legs didn't seem to hurt quite so much anymore.

She looped her arm through Jiangnan's and followed him onto the vehicle.

"I thought I was already pretty impressive for my age, but Jiangnan's like a perpetual motion machine..."

"Now that someone else is sharing the cooking, maybe they can share 'that' too..."

"That's wonderful~"