259 Responsibilities

"Oh, I'm interested to learn everything about your skills. However, if I take a guess on where she lived according to your descriptions, there's a high chance that she lives uptown. And if my hunch is right, that's the land over there on the other side of the bridge. If it's true that you can see through sound, then you could see enemies before they could even see you. So, what's stopping you from searching for her?"

After listening to Jun, Matt could only stare down at the ground. His hands formed a fist while he gritted his teeth.

"People die when they get bitten. That's a fact! I've seen it numerous times!"

"Then, how many times was she bitten?" 

"I was able to save her quickly and she only got bit once. After that, she paid more attention to her surroundings as she runs away from me."

Jun frowned. "Why did you let her go? Is there anything she said that allowed you to let a little girl travel on her own?"

"That... her butler would be waiting around the corner, so I don't need to worry."

"You believed that?" Jun scoffed then turned to Edward. "I thought there were only three people left? It seems like there are four. Nevermind that, things became easier since we found some clues."

Jun looked at the time and saw that they still had an hour before the actual meetup time. He decided to do a good deed for the day, so his soul could be cleansed, even slightly.

"Edward, you take care of him. I don't care whether you bring him back with us or leave him here. From now on, he's your responsibility."

"Yes, Boss Jun!"

At this time, Sheila and Adrian came out of hiding. Adrian's face was looking blissful as if something good happened. There was even a few specks of fierceness remaining on his eyes. What plans he had tonight? No one knows.

Jun waved his hand and said: "Prepare the jeepney. Drive towards that butler's home you guys are acquainted with. If I guess correctly, the little miss we are looking for is resting comfortably on her mansion. One bite gets you sick. If the mansion had medicines, then she'll be fine."

Matt felt that things were going in a strange way. He resented himself for not being able to protect the friend he got and when he chose to end himself, a random person denied him of what he wanted.

After hearing Jun's words, he was able to think more clearly. There were a few unknown pieces of information that he learned of but he kept them in the back of his mind. 

He stared at the young man called Edward. Even though the man still appeared inexperienced and had a sense of naivety, he could sense that the young man can be trusted.

Hope? I already lost it once. Can I really believe in it once again?

—

On the way to the butler's mansion, Edward told Matt some basic information, "Bites don't kill you, the side-effects will."

Small groups were common inside the jeepney. The newbies stick together while friends and those who know each other grouped up together.

Errol and King sat on both ends of the left and right bench near the entrance. Anna, Erin, and Emman were seated on the left bench together while Adrian and Sheila leaned on each other on the right bench. 

After getting Matt to explain his skills did only Jun feel contented and went back to watching the scenery outside. If you call toppled cars and trash-littered streets scenery, then it was passable. 

Matt had the trait Echolocation which allows him to see his surroundings through sound vibrations. He also had Blindness, a debuff skill that temporarily blinds the target and Hyper Sensitivity, a skill that allows him increased awareness.

Those were great skills but something that he can't learn. 

Edward learned to drive after gaining experience on mostly free open highways. He was driving smoothly and even announced that they were near to their destination.

After turning a curve, he suddenly shouted: "Carriers! Hold onto something!"

Everyone except Jun and Matt was able to react. The moment they realized what was going to happen was when the carriers were already sent flying away. Their bodies moved forward due to the inertia but still didn't cause much trouble for them.

It was troublesome when "things" get stuck in the hood and the engine, and it is troublesome to get out of the jeepney to manually deal with them, so Edward had the front bumper reinforced with a solid ram.

When the bumper was reinforced, it kept the engine clean by pushing bodies to the front or to the side, however, it also increased the jeepney's weight. Fortunately, the increased weight can be used as an advantage when dealing with Evolved Carriers.

Hunters when hit would receive grievous wounds while Destroyers would be stunned, or even pushed back depending on its rank.

After mowing the few regular carriers, everyone let go of the handlebars at the center of the ceiling and continued chatting.

Jun realized from everyone's attitude that the event was a normal occurrence and didn't bother himself about it.

The jeepney parked in the middle of the road, in front of the place they were headed to.

Edward, Jun, and Matt were the first to react to how things are looking at their destination. 

The mansion was isolated from other villas. The black metal fence surrounding the mansion appeared sturdy. Also, the grass inside appeared regularly maintained despite the apocalypse already on its way to its second month.

The mansion's front gate was already destroyed with pieces and parts lying on the ground. Rank 1 Hunters and Destroyers can be seen inside wandering around aimlessly.

After scanning the area, Jun couldn't help but smile. "Now things were finally making sense. I was wondering why scavengers keep dying here when the town was already cleared. It seems like those Evolved Carriers formed a group."

Jun jumped down from the jeepney and everyone else did the same.

Usually, Adrian would form the plan after assessing the situation, but he refrained from acting by himself and waited for Jun to make a decision.

"The Hunters keep going back and forth. They're tracing the scents of people who lived here. That either means, both the butler and the young miss is alive, or one of them is still alive. This is a bit troublesome since they partnered up if we deal with this quickly, we can do it. There are seven pairs of Hunter-Destroyer and a bunch of regular carriers. Adrian, how is everyone's fighting power?"

Adrian responded. "Aside from Errol, everyone can handle an Evolved Carrier on their own. King is slightly troubled with fighting Destroyers but Hunters are no longer a problem with him. Most of us had thirty points in power while the newbies hover around fifteen points. We planned to feed them power stones when they reach level ten, so they could safely pass the tribulations. In regards to Matt, I can't really say anything but since he's able to survive on his own, he could probably deal with regular carriers."

Jun assessed the mansion once more and came up with a plan. "We go in, we fight them, we kill them."

"That's the gist of it, but I have a more elaborate one."

"Edward will deal with two groups, then Anna's group will take care of another two. King would join Adrian and Sheila to deal with the other two and I'll kill the remaining one."

Edward raised his hand and asked a question. "Is there a misunderstanding? I can't kill four Evolved Carriers on my own yet..."

Jun was a bit surprised to hear Edward saying "yet", which means he was confident that he could deal with them if he was a bit stronger.

"Don't worry about killing them and focus on defending. Anyone who finishes their targets first would help those in need. I'll go for you after I finished mine. By the way, Errol and Matt would take care of the regular carriers. We will go once everyone gets ready."

Without further instructions, everyone readied their weapons. 

Anna and Emman pulled out their bow and crossbow, while Erin brought out a round padded-iron shield and a glistening iron sword. The iron shield had stacks of leather to reduce impact while the sword was the newly improved recipe that Old John made.

Errol and Matt stayed together and focused on the mission in mind. Even though it was upsetting to be treated like this, they could do nothing but to follow orders.

Jun ran ahead with his Warhammer followed by Adrian and Sheila. Adrian held a crossbow and plans to switch to a sword after firing once, while Sheila had no other skill aside from the spear. The extended reach the spear gave her, allowed confidence to blossom within her.

King and Edward ran behind Adrian's group both unarmed. To be fair, Edward taught King a few things about energy control since he found someone who practices the same art of combat as him. The two had their hands covered with yellow energy.

Although the front yard was vast, there was little to no space to hide their advance. It was impossible to sneak ahead unnoticed. That's why Jun decided to charge forward and deal with things in a rather straightforward manner.