Chapter 227: Haisa 10

The man’s infection was severe, so Perry Yates prepared two full, large vials of antidote and injected them into his body, pulling him back from the brink of zombification.

"There."

The bluish-green tint on the man’s back had vanished, his skin returning to normal flesh. Even the faint, rotten stench in the air had dissipated.

Upon hearing this, the man in the trench coat moved his limbs. He was startled to find the earlier stiffness gone; his body felt nimble again. Only then did he truly believe in the medical prowess of the person before him.

"Is that item in your hand for sale?" the man in the trench coat asked, looking at the syringe she was holding.

"Not for sale!"

Perry Yates put the item away immediately, making her stance clear.

The man in the trench coat, having expected as much, sighed in disappointment but didn’t press the matter.

"Do you know the source of this virus, then?

Felix Flynn was infected because he went near those shipping containers, but I never did."

’Or has the virus evolved to be airborne?’

’But if that were the case...’ The man in the trench coat looked at Perry Yates and thought it unlikely.

"Barring any surprises, the virus is likely coming from the food and water on this cruise ship," Perry Yates said, not hiding the source. "Direct skin contact won’t cause an infection. It only happens if you ingest it."

After speaking, Perry Yates sized up the man before her.

So far, she hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the other people on the ship, and certainly no one in the state the man had just been in.

’Based on my estimates, the virus must need time to activate,’ Perry Yates thought. ’And knowing how these games work, the first wave of the outbreak probably won’t hit until day ten or fifteen.’

’For someone like him, with no obvious wounds but such advanced zombification... it can only mean he’s been eating and drinking quite a lot lately.’

Although she revealed the source of the zombie virus, Perry Yates didn’t mention what she’d been up to for the past few days. More importantly, she didn’t reveal that the shipping containers weren’t just full of zombies—some held supplies.

Of course, even if she didn’t say anything, plenty of people had probably already figured that out. But what she didn’t reveal was that the food inside those containers was safe and untainted by the virus.

「Day Seven of the Game.」

After a full day of preparations, Perry Yates got rid of another shipping container.

Current tally: seven zombie-filled containers left.

Containers filled with supplies: one and two-thirds.

Too many zombies, not enough supplies. The mission’s not over yet; Perry still has work to do.

Following this trend, even if she managed to get rid of all the zombie-filled containers, more zombies would inevitably appear in the mid or late game. Still... every little bit helped.

’Worst case, I’ll just have to be more vigilant on the ship. If I see anyone suspicious, I’ll get rid of them.’

’As for using items to save people? Forget it.’

「Day Eight of the Game.」

This time, Perry Yates made a big move, getting rid of two shipping containers at once. Five zombie containers now remained.

Speaking of which, she had the "consultation fee" from the man in the trench coat to thank for it.

Initially, Perry Yates hadn’t thought much of the two cards he’d given her; they were only one-star cards, after all.

But one of the cards piqued her interest.

It was a toy car—to be precise, a moving toy car that could carry things.

With this item’s help, the speed at which Perry Yates could plant Space Grass doubled.

At this rate, she should be able to get rid of all the shipping containers by day ten.

「Day Nine of the Game.」

With incidents happening for several days straight, the patrol team’s numbers had multiplied. To make up for the manpower shortage, the captain had even resorted to frantically recruiting male passengers, offering them handsome rewards to join the patrols.

Now, almost every shipping container was guarded by several people, 24/7.

Perry Yates had a way to deal with this, but first, she needed to get rid of the last container on the upper stacks.

With a massive SPLASH, Perry Yates, even from the seventh floor, could hear the captain’s hysterical roars.

「Day Ten of the Game.」

Due to the recent string of incidents, the patrols had become more frequent in their searches of passengers. Before, they would just ask a few questions at the door, but now they were entering rooms to conduct full searches.

Fortunately, Perry Yates had mostly stayed in her room lately, going nowhere, so she easily managed to put their suspicions to rest.

Thinking about her plans for the evening, the smile on Perry Yates’s face grew even gentler. She had decided to get rid of the remaining four shipping containers tonight, all at once.

Since these four were all on the bottom level, she couldn’t plant the Space Grass in advance and wait for nightfall as she had before.

This time, Perry Yates was planning to go big.

Just as Perry Yates was mulling over these things, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

Curiosity piqued, she opened her door to see what was going on.

She saw a patrol team member, covered in blood, being carried away. Trailing behind was a terrified woman with her hands bound.

The woman was in her pajamas, her hair a mess across her face. There were bloodstains on her hands and face, especially around her mouth.

It wasn’t hard to guess that she was the one who had bitten the patrol member.

Most importantly, Perry Yates caught a familiar scent from the woman: the stench of decay.

The woman herself looked as if she’d had a terrible shock, her eyes vacant.

’No saving her.’

Perry Yates thought to herself, then closed the door. She considered using the chaos tonight to get rid of the woman, along with the patrol member who’d been bitten.

’They’re both going to turn into zombies anyway. Getting rid of them now will stop them from hurting anyone innocent.’

With that decided, Perry Yates continued preparing for her evening operation. She mixed soil with Space Grass seeds and then simply waited for night to fall.

She waited and waited, and finally, night came.

This time, Perry Yates didn’t use the toy car. Instead, she sent out her Clones.

She hadn’t forgotten, after all, that she had a Skill called Moon Shadow Stealth, which allowed her to move freely through the shadows cast by Moonlight.

Perry Yates looked up at the sky. The moon was perfect tonight.

When night fell, Perry Yates’s three Clones moved out simultaneously.

She didn’t bother with misdirection. As a player, dealing with ordinary people was no problem, especially when her Clones were doing the work. Even if they were destroyed, it didn’t matter.