Chapter 31 31: Unknown is Always The Scariest

— — — — — — Takagi Saya listed out the advantages of building a new base in Antarctica one by one, making it sound more and more appealing. But after laying out all the pros, she paused briefly and then moved on to the downsides of actually pulling it off. The biggest one? Distance. Right now, they were located at over 30 degrees north latitude. Antarctica, on the other hand, sits deep in the southern hemisphere—beyond 66 degrees south. That meant, even flying in a straight line, they'd have to travel over ten thousand kilometers just to reach it. And it wasn't like they could just grab a backpack and start walking. This wasn't some casual road trip. Food, clean water, energy reserves... Sure, some stuff could be sourced locally along the way. But other things had to be prepared in advance. No exceptions. Next up: the freezing temperatures. Antarctica averages dozens of degrees below zero. Sure, that kind of cold could help preserve their supplies. But the second someone slacked off on staying warm? Boom—future archaeologists would be digging up their frozen bodies alongside their rations. And surviving in those temps? It'd take a ridiculous amount of energy—daily. Compared to that, the fact that nothing really grows there, and raising animals is pretty much impossible? That's honestly the least of their worries. What left Veyron speechless was that the undead needed oxygen. Like—why the hell would they need it? But he just shrugged. Not every zombie world followed the same rules, so whatever—no point wasting brain cells on it. --- "...Why are you all looking at me like that?" Merlin looked around, totally speechless. Not just Fujiwara Chika—everyone else in the group, even Veyron, was staring at her like they were expecting something magical. "Do you guys think I'm some kind of wish-granting machine? What, you want me to wave my hand and poof—all the zombies in the world vanish, and the virus is just magically purified?" "Wait, can you do that?" Chika asked, totally serious. "...You're really dreaming big, huh." Merlin twitched. "Honestly, transporting supplies is probably the least of our problems," Veyron said, casually picking up a cup of orange soda from the table and sending a red envelope into the chat group. Half a second later, the drink appeared in Hancock's hand. "Oh right! As long as someone goes ahead first, we can just send stuff over like that!" Hancock said, and everyone else suddenly got it too. A little farther off, the survivors didn't quite understand the mechanics behind it. But seeing that soda vanish from Veyron's hand and reappear in Hancock's was enough to make anyone realize—these mysterious people clearly had the ability to teleport objects through space. And apparently, there were no major restrictions either. As long as there was someone at each end, it worked just fine. "So the plan now is to gather as many supplies as possible, and start preparing to move out?" Fubuki asked, glancing toward the survivor group. "This base should have some U.S. military stockpiles, right? Have you estimated how long they'll last for your needs? And if you really do go to Antarctica, how much more would you need to survive there?" "...That's a tough calculation," Takagi Saya admitted with a stiff smile. "And to be honest, we haven't planned things out that precisely yet. I mean, even though it sounds like Antarctica is the ideal place, just the nine of us going off to build a new life there... it's kind of unrealistic." Just nine people. The strongest among them was Busujima Saeko. Even with her legendary Murata-tou blade, if she got surrounded by dozens—maybe even hundreds—of zombies, all she could really do was go down fighting with some dignity. And then there was little Alice—what could a second-grade loli do? Just not dragging them down was already asking a lot. Trying to cross over 10,000 kilometers and bring all the supplies needed for both survival AND rebuilding? Yeah, no. Total fantasy. "...Still, if it's just for the nine of us, the supplies here should be enough." This time, it was Takagi Yuriko who stepped in to smooth things over. "This base is the second-largest U.S. naval base in Japan. It's also their frontline outpost and logistical support hub in East Asia. There were already large stockpiles here meant for the stationed troops." "Plus, when the zombie outbreak started, there just happened to be three fully loaded supply ships and a fuel tanker docked at the port..." "Then how come I saw you heading into the city earlier with backpacks? Were you out scavenging?" Chika asked curiously. "Yeah, partly," Miyamoto Kiriko replied. "Right now, we don't know when—or if—production will ever resume. Supplies—especially life-saving medicine—once you use them, they're gone. So while we still have the ability to go out, we're trying to collect as much as we can." She paused, then added, "Also... staying cooped up in here for too long, when the world outside's literally ended? That's a fast track to mental breakdowns." Chika was stunned into silence. 'So this... is what the end of the world feels like?' "Then let's split up and handle both at once," Fubuki suggested. "Some of us can organize and check the supplies here. The rest can head out to scavenge more, especially for medicine and other essentials, before we leave." "You guys stay and handle things here," Veyron said after a moment of thought. "I'll go to Antarctica first. I can check for any potential dangers, and start receiving supplies from your end when you're ready." "You're going alone?" Hancock asked. "..."Veyron didn't answer—he turned to look at Merlin. Even if this was just a pure apocalypse world, he couldn't guarantee he could just steamroll through everything on his own. Back in his original world, the story had been left unfinished after the author passed away. It ended right when the main crew met Rei's mom, Kiriko, and were about to set off to find her dad. In other words, the world of Highschool of the Dead as he knew it? He'd only seen the tip of the iceberg, limited to one City. Sure, the zombies there seemed like your typical undead—nothing special. But that was just the first few days of the outbreak. Who's to say they wouldn't mutate into something weirder after a while? Or evolve after feeding on enough flesh? It's always the unknown that freaks us out the most. And let's not forget: thanks to this crazy "World's Will" nonsense, the T-Virus had been thrown into the mix too... So yeah—traveling solo into the unknown? Even with a safety net like 'just bail and teleport home if things go south,' he was still a little nervous. But if Merlin came along? That'd be a whole different story. "OK~" Merlin raised her hand and gave a relaxed 'no problem' sign. A tiny version of her, about ten centimeters tall, flew out of her body and landed on Veyron's shoulder, legs crossed like she owned the place. . . . --- PS: Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter! 50+ advanced chapters available at???? patreon.com/_Coreal