Chapter 16: Decision
Erix and others had just finished eating and walked out of the warehouse when they saw Ben with four other soldiers approaching them.
Erix briefly paused when he saw his father but continued walking with a strange grin behind his face mask.
'Heh, I knew it. This fucker doesn't give a shit about me,' Erix thought as anger bubbled in him, but he quickly calmed down. Unlike before, he could control his emotions swiftly and naturally due to his hybrid zombie situation.
He could also loosen his emotions since he had higher control over them. For instance, If he wanted to get angry, he would get angry. But if he wished for his anger to be in control, he could suppress it.
"I'm sure you know me, haha. So, I have a small request for you," Ben said with a light laugh.
"I don't know you. Who are you?" Erix questioned in a deadpan tone of voice.
"Eh, he is a senetor. Better known as Minister Ben," Rin said with a wry smile.
"Oh… I don't remember useless people's names. Anyway, what's the matter?" Erix asked in the same deadpan voice as he walked ahead of his group to face Ben.
The military officers frowned and pointed their guns at him. "Don't come closer."
"Put those toys away. If I want to kill you, it won't even take a second," Erix indifferently said.
"Haha, calm down, everyone. You too, young man," Ben said with a smile, not getting offended.
But even if offended, sly foxes like him were better at hiding their true colors.
"So, my small request was about that tamed monster eagle. If you have a skill that can tame those mutated creatures, could you help us tame a few?" Ben asked with a polite smile.
"Can't," Erix replied indifferently. "I don't have a taming skill, but I got an item that can let me tame three mutated creatures."
Rin and Isabella raised their eyebrows in surprise, but they were smart and didn't say anything.
"Oh… that's unfortunate," Ben said with a rueful smile and sighed. "I assume you are not willing to part with that item?"
"No brainer," Erix said before walking away, indicating no interest in further talking.
Ben's eyes became cold as he looked at Erix's back. 'Brat these days.'
"Erix, do you have some beef with that guy?" Rin asked curiously.
"Nope. But It was clear that he wanted to take advantage of us. No need to act politely to scum big shots because only fist talks from now on," Erix said as a sharp grin formed behind his mask.
"So you knew him, haha," Rin chuckled.
"Eh, yeah," Erix nodded with a wry smile. 'Hmm, It's fine even if I tell her about it now. It's not like that bastard can threaten me anymore. His money and political powers are useless.'
Four of them walked a bit far from other groups of people since they had Bloodwood Eagle with them, and it was intimidating to others.
"Sis Isabella, what will you do now? Erix and I will explore this city for a bit to get more powerful and then leave for Phoenix City," Rin said as she grabbed Isabella's hands.
Isabella looked at Aaron, who had now fallen asleep on Bloodwood Eagle's furry back and sighed. "For Aaron, I don't want to take the risk of traveling, but…."
"But people can't be trusted now that no law exists," Erix said as he glanced at everyone around this military base. "We never know when someone might awake a demon within them in some situations."
Rin nodded as she said with a determined expression, "Come with us. We already know that everyone is constantly evolving and getting stronger, even those zombies and mutated creatures."
"I must stay with Aaron, but the only people I can trust are you two," Isabella said with a distressed smile. "Honestly, if you two go and I stay here alone, I'll be powerless. I-I am worried about something happening to Aaron and me."
Isabella already felt a few perverted gazes on her, making her uncomfortable and worried.
"No need to say more than that," Erix said as he jumped on the eagle. "Come and get stronger with us. You have potential, so it will be a waste not to get stronger. I'll command Bloodwood Eagle to protect Aaron as they fly over us in the sky while we hunt below."
"Yes," Rin quickly nodded, "There are mutated flying creatures, but most are not flying constantly and are searching for food and fighting below."
Isabella felt what Erix and Rin said made more sense, and it was more secure in a way.
Bloodwood Eagle had 100% loyalty towards Erix, and if he commanded Bloodwood Eagle to protect Aaron at the cost of its own life, the eagle would do it.
Moreover, the Bloodwood Eagle would be flying over them constantly, so it could just descend toward them quickly if some flying monster tried to attack it.
"Alright, I've thought it through," Isabella said with a smile filled with determination. "I'll fight the danger and get stronger with you."
"Some people are coming here," Erix saw several civilians and soldiers walking towards them.
Isabella turned around and stood beside Rin as the three looked at incoming people.
"Hello, new folks. We are forming a group of people who have weapons and skills gained from defeating creatures and zombies outside. Would you like to join us?"
"After gathering people, we can go out and hunt those high-level zombies with fast abilities and power and those mutated creatures for more loot."
"Yes. If we are more in number, we can fight stronger and more creatures and, in turn, get stronger quickly."
"Not interested," Erix said before he turned to Rin and Isabella, "Get on."
Rin jumped before sitting beside Erix and grabbing his arm as she smiled at those people, "We'll hunt on our own."
Isabella also sat beside Aaron and put his head on her lap.
Some civilians and soldiers showed dissatisfaction as they saw the Bloodwood Eagle flying up and leaving the military base.
"Hmph, they don't know what's good for them."
"Let's go. We are enough people anyway."
"Yeah, with twenty-six of us, we can progress fast. Heh, they will regret not joining us when they encounter trouble in the city."
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