Chapter 69: Chapter69-Leader of the Whitehat organisation
Emily leaned forward, concern flickering in her eyes. "Do you think he's okay? He doesn't usually miss meetings."
Liam shrugged slightly, breaking his silence. "He'll show up when he's ready," he stated calmly, his confidence unwavering.
"I'm okay with him being late, and now for my second question," I said.
Emily finally spoke, her voice gentle. "Um, sir, there's no eighth member in our group. It's just us six."
"Oh, I get it..." I replied.
But then, a moment later, a realization struck me.
Hold on! What? Only seven members
That guy...
He intentionally did this...
You bastard.
I was seriously pissed off.
When Marcus said Group 8 didn't have a lieutenant, I thought that was the only empty position.
But after coming here, I realized another spot is also vacant.
A seven-member team is good, but not as good as an eight-member one.
But what can I even do now?
I don't have any choice but to join them since I don't want to get kicked out...
I stayed quiet and waited for the leader to arrive while Aeron kept chatting with Emily and the others.
I noticed Emily glancing at me occasionally.
From the way she kept looking at me, I could tell she was attracted to my good looks.
It might be love at first sight for her, but I didn't have any feelings for her.
After all, we just met, and her feelings could just be infatuation.
She does have a nice face and body, but I didn't get that inner feeling I should have when I saw her.
Clearly, she's not my type.
After that, I ignored my surroundings and set some goals for grinding today, knowing we would be going out to get food supplies.
As I thought about the food supplies, a question came to mind:
How much food does each group bring back each day?
I learned from Jack that about 100 peoples are living in this shopping mall and in the nearby area up to 500 metre away.
I was very surprised to find out that the maximum amount of food in the mall was used up within four days by the people living here.
So, Marcus created these groups primarily to gather food and possibly rescue stranded people.
They must bring back a lot of food, considering how many mouths they have to feed.
Just as I was thinking about this, the leader finally arrived...
Aeron exclaimed cheerfully, "Yahoo, the leader is finally here!"
I didn't understand why he was so cheerful upon seeing the leader.
The leader was Zeras.
I figured he must be the leader since the others were already leading their own groups.
Yes, the same Zeras who was the first one to fall on the floor during the meeting...
He's a well-known writer in the humanities and secretly a potential future leader of the Whitehat organization.
Not much to say, the Whitehat organization is famous for successfully facilitating secure trading on watches...
They were the ones who made my company's transactions safer and helped the government secure the 70-30 percent deal with my company.
Now, returning to the current situation, he arrived as quietly as possible and took his seat...
He stood at an average height with a lean, athletic build.
His dark hair was neatly styled, framing a face with sharp features and intense hazel eyes that exuded contemplation.
Zeras dressed casually yet stylishly, blending comfort with a personal sense of fashion.
After glancing at everyone, his eyes finally settled on me. "So, you're Michael Frostburne," he stated.
I remained silent and didn't respond.
Why should I?
Surely, by now, others must have informed him that I'm joining his team today as a lieutenant.
And yet, here he is asking if I'm Michael Frostburne or not?
Does this guy think I'm a joke or something?
After a few seconds of my silence, he nodded. "I'll take your silence as a yes."
After that, there was another moment of silence until Aeron spoke up.
"So, leader, where are we heading today?" he asked.
Natalie chimed in, "Yes, leader, where?"
He was about to reply but...
Before he could answer, Natalie added, "Please don't say the same place again. We've been going there for the past two days, and we've practically cleaned it out by now."
Zeras looked around the table, his face serious as he considered Natalie's request.
Aeron eagerly awaited his response, but Emily and the others seemed less interested, their expressions casual and unassuming.
"Emily, did you bring the map?" Zeras finally asked, his voice calm yet slightly uncertain.
"Yes, leader," Emily replied softly, pulling out the map from her bag. She unfolded it carefully and laid it out on the table, smoothing the creases so everyone could see.
Zeras leaned forward, studying the map intently.
His fingers traced over various routes and landmarks, a sign of his meticulous nature.
"Alright, let's see..." he murmured to himself, more than to the group.
After a moment, he straightened up, his decision made. "How about we head east today?" he suggested, his tone inviting feedback.
Natalie nodded approvingly. "East sounds good. We haven't explored much in that direction yet."
Aeron chimed in enthusiastically, "Yeah, east could lead us to some new areas. It's worth a shot."
Zeras glanced at me briefly, but when our eyes met, he quickly looked away, shifting his attention to someone else before returning to the map.
It seemed like he wanted my opinion earlier, judging by the way he looked at me.
However, since he didn't ask, I didn't bother to offer any input.
But, I still found him a bit odd, so I decided to use my appraisal skill on him to check.
**Name:** Zeras Voidman
**Height:** 5 feet 9 inches
**Weight:** 168 pounds
**Personality:** Introverted, socially awkward, self-conscious, Panic and, losses temper quickly in dangerous situations.
**Evaluation:** Gold-Rank Hunter
**Probability:** There's a 30% chance of reaching Platinum rank by the age of 27.
Ah, now I understand why he approached me with that question initially.
He's not very skilled at initiating conversations.
And that quick glance at me explains his self-consciousness.
"East it is then. We'll start with this route," he declared, pointing to a path marked on the map.
Emily nodded in agreement, folding the map back neatly. "Sounds like a plan, leader."
Zeras nodded in return, a hint of relief evident in his demeanor. "Alright, let's prepare and head out. We'll gather our supplies and come back within few hours."
With that settled, the group began discussing the logistics of the journey, their voices blending into a harmonious exchange of ideas and plans.
I wasn't paying attention to their discussions or anything else because my goal was straightforward: to defeat as many monsters as possible in this short amount of time.
***
Sunlight filtered through the wrecked remains of once-towering buildings, casting eerie shadows over the desolate and ruined streets.
Everywhere the eye could wander, it was met with scenes of utter destructioncrumbling structures, abandoned vehicles, and the remnants of a world long lost to chaos.
Amidst this apocalyptic wasteland, a lone figure darted through the rubble, moving with purpose and urgency.
That figure was me.
Currently, I was on a rampage, killing zombies.
Suddenly, a towering zombie, grotesque and menacing, let out a bone-chilling roar and charged directly at me.
Its eyes, filled with a hunger for flesh, locked onto me as it closed the distance.
Before it could get any closer, I fired a bullet and blew its head off.
A huge pool of blood exploded from its body, splattering on my shirt and exposed skin, including my face.
I didn't stop firing as more zombies poured out of the hospital.
Yeah, I was standing at the entrance, taking down the lease ranked ones.
In excitement, I shouted, "Guys, I request all of you to hand over your lives peacefully and become my essences. If not, the consequences will be severe!"
The zombies didn't understand a word I said and kept swarming towards me from the hospital.
I didn't mind; this was what I wanted from the beginning.
The thrill of the fight was intoxicating.
The sound of gunfire, explosion of bullets, and zombie roars filled the air, creating a loud and chaotic scene.
The hospital, once clean and orderly, was now filled with the sickening smell of blood and putrid odor of the disintegration of monsters.
Despite the chaos, I remained focused, my senses heightened.
However, in the frenzy, I missed two zombies by a wide margin, allowing them to close in on me.
But I didn't panic because I knew they couldn't even lay a scratch at me.
Why?
When both zombies got just a few meters away from me, I heard a "swish" sound.
Four arrows narrowly missed me and struck the zombies in the head.
Though the arrows made holes in their heads, the zombies were still moving, just slower.
They didn't last long, as two bullets fired into their heads, finishing them off.
"Shit!"
I sidestepped, and their blood splattered on my foot instead of my face this time.
The person who shot the arrows was Emily, and the one who fired the bullets was Aeron.
Aeron shouted, "Sir, this wasn't part of our plan! Why are you engaging with the monsters in the first place?"
Hmm, why?
"The answer is simple: grinding."
I understood their shock.
When we arrived, Zeras split us into two teams.
As a lieutenant, I was put in charge of the second team, which included Aeron and Emily.
Zeras and his team headed northeast while we were sent southeast.
Their plan was to gather food and return, which they were doing.
But that wasn't my plan.
I completely ignored it once we got here.
Instead, I ordered Aeron and Emily to follow me as I rushed towards the zombie hordes.
For now, I decided to focus on killing the lesser rank zombies since taking on Iron rank zombies in a horde would be too difficult to handle.
I kept firing as many bullets as I could to finish them off.
But they continued to roar like hungry beasts and kept coming at me.
Despite their efforts, nothing changed; I still dominated them all with my gun alone.
It felt to me like I was destroying their home base, given that more than 75 zombies had already swarmed out of the hospital...
"Let's see how many more you can send at me."
I'm always ready to take more essences.
***
And like that, an hour passed by, and I finally managed to kill the last remaining struggling zombies.
I touched my knees and panted heavily, feeling like I had just finished an Olympic race a few minutes ago.
Man, that was an exhausting fight.
It was noon, and the time had just crossed 1:00 p.m., clearly indicating that the sun's heat rays were still beating down on my head and body...
The surroundings were in the same condition as during my last fight with the zombies earlier.
The lingering odor of disintegrating monsters filled the air everywhere, but I ignored the smell and focused on something else.
I called up my system and opened my character profile right in front of my eyes.
(Congratulations, Host...)