“I don’t know, Gwen, Freya.” Jane, still in the roots’ cage, took a deep breath. She and Stella had just heard about Cody’s experiences until he entered the underground. “But one thing is for sure, I haven’t been able to feel any signal from Cody since a week ago.”Gwen covered her mouth with a sob. Freya stared ahead with an empty gaze. Her tears were also flowing.“What about Cody’s actual body that’s there?” Stella pointed at the giant tree trunk. “Maybe we can open it and pull it out by force, then try to wake him up.”“You don’t understand, Stella.” Jane wiped her face. “Cody’s soul has moved to another body, not his actual body that transmits signals containing consciousness to another body. In other words, Cody’s real body, which is there, isn’t even connected to the body he’s using now. Moreover, it’s impossible to open the tree with our powers. Maybe only Cody can do it.”“But all of this should die if Cody is dead, right?” Gwen didn’t give up. “This giant tree, these roots,
“We have lost a great person. I often disagreed with him, but I can’t deny that my community would not have thrived without this man named Cody Wolfe.” Akira gave a speech in front of the farm residents, plus Jane, Stella, Emily, Shawn, and several people from his community and Agatha’s. “We can grieve for losing him. We can mourn to heal ourselves. But don’t forget his accomplishments…”The people listened solemnly, and occasional sobs could be heard among them. The others chose Akira to give the speech because no one else was able to do it. They were too sad about what happened.Akira continued his speech. After that, one by one, they paid their last respects by praying in front of Cody’s painting, because they didn’t have his picture. Some of them put things like wreaths and so on there.“I don’t know if I believe in God or not. I don’t even understand what God is, so I don’t know who to pray to.” Freya spoke when it was her turn. “My life may not have been long, but in my short ti
After he had enough strength, Cody possessed one of the special zombies on his farm in the early morning. He noticed the small altar under a tree.“I’ve been gone too long, huh?” Cody muttered, looking at his painting that was still a little wet from the rain.“Cody, is that you?”The voice made Cody turn to the side, and he found Freya standing close to him. It seemed the woman was suspicious because one of the special zombies was acting differently.Cody changed his face to look like hers, then smiled. “I’m home.”Freya hugged her lover’s body and shed tears. “I thought you were gone.”“A lot of things happened,” Cody answered. “It’ll be a long story, but the important thing is that I’m back.”Cody thought maybe they were already prepared to live without him. After all, he had been ‘disappeared’ for quite a while underground.“I’ll have a lot to catch up on.” Cody let go of his hug, then kissed Freya’s lips. “How are you?”Freya smiled with tears still flowing. “Now, I feel okay.”“
After resting for a few days at the farm, Cody traveled to the beach in the south. However, because he didn’t know which part of the south he meant, he searched with a vehicle made from special zombies.He had been walking along the beach for quite some time, but he found nothing that caught his attention. The location was deserted, and he occasionally found traces of tourists visiting several tourist spots. The sight was eerie, but for Cody, who had seen many things, it was something common.He had even tried to make some of the special zombies swim in the seawater. However, because they weren’t designed for that, Cody had difficulty controlling the special zombies when he tried to make them swim in the seawater.It had been the third day since Cody had been searching along the beach that was thousands of kilometers long. He had intended to return to the farm to make a new plan and perhaps try to interpret Aronis’ words. Maybe the fourth commander had another meaning in his words.Bu
“So, one day the male mermaids suddenly became hostile and attacked the women?” Cody concluded after hearing Alena’s explanation.Alena was still leading the way. “That’s it, Cody. They started attacking us mercilessly. They became mindless. Finally, the female mermaids gathered in one place and since then, we have been trying to survive from them. Unfortunately, as the days went by, the male mermaids killed us and our numbers decreased.”Cody felt this situation was like the zombie apocalypse on the surface of the earth, but with some different aspects. One of them was that Cody did not feel that the male mermaids were zombies.He had a suspicion that only their minds were disturbed. As for who did it, Cody already had a guess. This was Aronis’ doing who was giving Cody a test.Cody wondered if other system users also got tests like this? Maybe they had to expel other sentinel beings on earth, not always mermaids.“We were so desperate, and we also had difficulty contacting other kin
Luna could only lower her chin after listening to Cody’s explanation.“I’ll repeat it once more.” Cody smiled at that woman. “I ask you to become a zombie, then I will change your body to survive in seawater. Your job is to make the male mermaids that I have turned into humans back to how they were before.”It took a while for Luna to respond. “Sorry, but I still can’t comprehend this well. Mermaids? Make me able to survive in seawater? It’s... All of that is too overwhelming.”“I’ll give you 3 days to prepare before we carry out this plan.” Cody patted Luna’s shoulder while widening his smile. He did not ask for Luna’s approval to avoid rejection. “Don’t worry, you can still turn back into a human, right?”Luna flabbergasted again, and Cody frowned.“They came for the female mermaids.” He hissed, then walked away from Luna. “Bye, I have to lead the defense for their place.”Not waiting for a response, Cody continued walking into the house. As he passed Helena and Freya, he said. “I’m
Cody checked the defenses for the female mermaids. This time, he used a new formation that he had optimized to withstand attacks from the male mermaids. Not only that, Cody had also changed his special zombies a little, hoping they would be more effective fighting in the water.Shana had asked Cody to bring in more troops, but Cody couldn’t afford that. Many of the special zombies in the big tree had not yet reached full maturity.This time, Cody paid more attention to the surroundings while patrolling. The female mermaids no longer paid attention to him and showed nothing suspicious, except for one.Cody found some of them carrying a sack towards one of the rooms attached to the coral at the bottom of the settlement. When using his small zombie fish to check what it was, he didn’t have time to enter because the door to the room was closed too soon. He didn’t find a single window or gap to peek through.Getting information that Alenna had come to the body he used in the sea, Cody re-p
“I am a bad king because I can’t activate the special skills of the royal lineage properly.” The king closed his eyes with trembling lips. “I can only activate the male mermaids as soldiers at random times and for a limited duration, and even then, only a small portion. During sunrise, I can’t even do it at all.”Alenna looked at the king with teary eyes. “Is that why you send them in small numbers from time to time? To save people like us whose minds haven’t been completely contaminated?”“Yes, along with those I made mindless and attacked you all, I also sent those who can detect the female mermaids whose minds haven’t been completely contaminated.” The king smiled again, but this time, it was bitter. “People like them are the ones who still have a chance to recover.”Alenna gulped. “Do the male mermaids love the women that much? This isn’t just a matter of denial from the men, is it?”The king nodded and said, “Our kingdom’s foundation lies in the powerful love of its people. Even