Do Not Look Out the Window

Chapter 27: Do Not Look Out the Window

In the end, Robert didn't load all the Night Demons onto the truck. He transported only twenty of them, including the Higher Night Demon, while Si Ming locked the rest deep inside the vault. Given how hardy these monsters were, they should be able to go a day or two without food without dying too quickly.

Or perhaps not.

Robert's attitude toward the Night Demons was also different from the version Si Ming knew from the third generation.

"I thought you'd consider what I'm doing inhumane." Si Ming sat in the truck bed, keeping a close watch on the Night Demons bundled into sleeping bags. Shizuka Ishikawa sat obediently in the passenger seat, holding Sam. As the truck rolled along, the colonel chatted with him through the partition, making small talk that didn't amount to much and never got particularly deep.

"Hah, is that how people in the future describe me? Then I must've polished up a lot of things in my memoirs." The colonel looked quite cheerful. Even without the truck's stereo on, he nodded to the beat like a rapper.

"I've killed a lot of Night Demons." A wistful look crossed his eyes.

"When the virus first broke out, we treated the first Night Demons like ordinary zombies. When they bit and killed people indiscriminately, we opened fire without hesitation. We killed many of them on the spot. After that, as the number of living people around me dwindled, I occasionally went out with an action team to hunt Night Demons."

He shook his head.

"They aren't human... and they aren't sick people, either. They're... something else. The Night Demons that have survived until now must have eaten the flesh and blood of countless living people. But when I could no longer see any other companions, I had to force myself to believe that Night Demons were still a kind of human."

There were no living people left in the world.

If he didn't believe the Night Demons could turn back into living people, how could Colonel Robert convince himself to carry on researching alone, day after day?

But now, everything had changed.

"Even so, when I head out with a gun, it's not because I plan to talk about humans and demons coexisting with the Night Demons hiding in apartments, basements, and dark corners. I know perfectly well that when I see a living Night Demon in the dark, usually only one of us will leave alive. And if I die, there probably won't be another living person left in this city."

The colonel sighed.

"Don't record that part... Actually, never mind. It's fine if you do. A headline like 'The Colonel's Unknown Side' would be nice."

"I'm not recording." Si Ming really wasn't. He was using Night Battle Qi to examine them through the sleeping bags, making sure the Higher Night Demon and his daughter—the Night Demon with a butterfly mark on her back, originally chosen as an experimental subject—were still maintaining stable vital signs.

"Ah, good." The colonel didn't seem to care much either way. Then he suddenly asked, curious, "By the way, in the era you came from, was life difficult for humanity, too? I feel like you have something in common with me, but Miss Ishikawa seems... well, more relaxed."

"She's a newcomer." Si Ming smiled. "As for my era..."

He thought back to his old experiences in another world. The malice that was everywhere, the twisted sky that might have been shattered or burning. The deranged creatures that looked alive but were already twisted and rotten, covered in maggots and poisonous mushrooms. And the twisted living things that could occasionally manage a logical sentence, but were usually dazed and confused, unable to tell friend from foe, and impossible to communicate with unless he beat them senseless.

It really was...

A rather nostalgic old land.

"...It was all right." Si Ming lightly tapped the corner of a sleeping bag with his fingers. "Every now and then, I ran into a troublesome situation, but most of the time, solving problems wasn't all that difficult."

"You've been through a lot, Professor Si." The colonel hesitated. "By the way, Professor Si, you mentioned earlier that necromancy could bring the living back to life... Can it do that without a corpse, too?"

He asked with hope, though there wasn't much of it.

"I'm sorry about your wife and daughter." And he received the answer he'd expected.

Yet the details were a little different.

"But I think you can still start a new life, Colonel. Maybe after a while, you'll meet some other survivors?"

"There are other survivors here!?"

"You've been broadcasting for so long. It had to do some good." Si Ming raised a hand and pointed toward a building in the distance, one he vaguely remembered. "Aren't we almost there?"

Robert's house was large, just as he'd said, and more or less like it was in the movie. It served as both his base and his research center. With Si Ming and Shizuka Ishikawa's help, the Night Demons were quickly moved to restraint beds in the lab or into cages used to hold experimental animals.

"Be careful. These Night Demons are intelligent. If they spot a weakness, they'll work together to escape their cages. There are also exceptional individuals among them whose physical strength is far greater than that of their kin."

Robert's movements stiffened slightly. Then his expression and manner grew more solemn. If the Night Demons had intelligence and could work together, then no matter how much he deluded himself, he had to regard them as a new species rather than a special form of sick person. He'd been mentally prepared, but when it actually happened, he still felt a pang of sorrow.

It didn't take long to secure them.

One of the tougher Night Demons pretended to be asleep and tried to launch a surprise attack, but Si Ming saw through it in advance and used his large stun baton to knock the unlucky creature into a deeper sleep. This served as further proof, ensuring that Colonel Robert wouldn't fall into the trap laid by the Night Demons, as he had in the original story.

"I recommend starting with these two. And even if things don't go well at first, don't worry."

Si Ming pointed out the Higher Night Demon and the Night Demon girl with the butterfly mark on her back. The original story never said whether the girl had been a human with a butterfly tattoo who was transformed into a Night Demon, or whether she was born naturally to Night Demons. Either way, this successful sample ought to prove useful.

"You mean I might fail at first?"

"Exploring the unknown always comes with the risk of failure." Si Ming shrugged. "Maybe you'll use too little or too much in your first dose, and have to inject the test subject with KV Virus again so you can reuse it."

"That sounds like something I'd do." The colonel nodded, injecting different doses of Compound Six into the bodies of the Night Demons restrained on five beds. "Especially if I were alone and had only caught one Night Demon."

The medicine took effect quickly. The Night Demons' features faded at a visible rate, and their vital signs rapidly approached normal human levels. But within seconds, the five creatures began to convulse violently, letting out sharp, agonized cries.

"Their vital signs are dropping. I'm injecting different doses of KV Virus now."

With Si Ming's warning, Robert remained calm as he worked. As the KV Virus was injected again—or left alone—the Night Demons gradually quieted down. The two that had received the highest and lowest doses grew weaker and weaker, until their breathing and heartbeats stopped.

One Night Demon died, poisoned by an overdose of Compound Six.

But the other one that died had partially regained a humanlike skin tone and eye color as its other physical traits disappeared.

"Compound Six works." The colonel looked at the two dead test subjects and silently breathed a sigh of relief. "My immunity to the virus really can be transferred to the test subject. But I'll need to keep testing and observe carefully to find the right dosage."

Si Ming clapped his hands in congratulations.

"Congratulations, Colonel Robert. You've taken an important first step."

"This is all thanks to your help, Professor Si." He nodded gratefully to Si Ming and to Shizuka Ishikawa, who was carefully assisting nearby. "By the way, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I've got plenty of good stuff in the fridge. Want to try some local specialties from this era? They might taste different from what you're used to."

"I'd love to."

Si Ming gladly accepted.

They tidied up quickly and gave all the test subjects enough sedatives. Si Ming even left a few Skeleton Soldiers in the lab as emergency guards. Once they had plugged every possible gap, the group headed to Robert's kitchen.

He really had stocked up on plenty of good food. Although there was no fresh meat, the fridge held some excellent bacon and sausages. The only woman among them finally had a chance to shine. Compared with the two grown men, who cared more about efficiency than finesse, Shizuka Ishikawa, a high school girl, was clearly a better cook than Si Ming and Robert combined.

She made a delicious meal, and all three people and the dog ate their fill. Robert even opened two cans of beer and shared a drink with Si Ming. Then he put on his favorite animated movie, Shrek, to share with his two guests.

They ate and drank their fill, and everyone was in good spirits.

After a short rest, Robert threw himself back into his experiments and research on Compound Six. He worked until night gradually fell outside the windows.

Si Ming had no plans to leave.

On the first night, he would stay inside Robert's base with Shizuka Ishikawa. He'd already triggered a side quest, and he didn't believe he could complete a B-rank side quest without facing any challenges. Now was clearly the perfect time for the mission's difficulty to show itself.

He sat by the window, looking into the distance. When the protective shutters came down, he gave Robert a piece of advice.

"It'd be best not to turn on the exterior cameras tonight, and don't get curious about any noises coming from outside."

"This is for your own good, Colonel."