BXBX NOVEL Chapter 264: To the letter [1/2]
Normally, I had very little trust in other people. One general rule I had already accepted was that everyone had a price. People will look out for themselves, even if it meant screwing you over.
It didn't mean they were bad people, it just meant that whatever you had to offer was worth less. So it was a question of how much you were worth. Those who were of little value would rarely find people of integrity and impeccable worth.
That was what I used to believe.
But the women before me were different.
Each from a different continent. Each carried scars that twisted them. But they all had a fire burning inside of them, and their pasts didn't make beautiful roses.
Scratch that, they were immensely desirable blossoms. They might be divine roses, but they also had some poisonous thorns.
During the enlistment, I had hardly anything to offer. Only my {Fate} and a single promise. Now that I've learned what I didn't know before, my words back then were cringeworthy.
Yet they all followed me.
Even though I had nothing, they followed.
Against the undead, against the brute, and even against fate.
Though Lilly was not with us during the enlistment, she showed the same faith.
She and I dueled, dated, and retrieved my father's weapons. She told me what it meant to be a Reaper, and it was something I refused to accept.
When I made more promises that I had nothing to back up with, this woman neither mocked nor ridiculed me. Instead, she accepted and believed.
Since then, the Sirens had acted as my agents. They saved Haru, gave Trinity the middle finger, and protected my family.
After we reaffirmed our love for each other, I already knew that these women would die by my side. My life was already a battle, but they didn't care.
This Saturday I would be fighting the Saviors.
If I survived, I would simply go back to killing undead. And after hearing the stories of my girls, I had even more people to kill.
For Liv, I would smash Luk's face in. I would also unleash so much Freedom on Antarctica that the dead would disappear.
For Lilly I would brawl with David. And find a way to free her from killing Rogues.
For Robyn, I would find the terrorist group that kidnapped her and kill them all. I also plan to have Bella find her parents.
For Jo, my confrontation with Clive Zanardi was already set. I wouldn't kill him right away, but I would kill him eventually. That would include anyone who harmed Margaret, her beloved nanny.
For Bella, I would wage war against the Comando Vermelho. It didn't matter how big their organization was. I was a bastard who never tired and had unlimited supplies. None of them would escape me.
For Jas, I wanted to go to Syria and kill everyone associated with the Assad regime. If the rebels were bad, I would kill them too.
For Aki, although she already killed Miroku, I cannot forgive Trinity for kidnapping Haru. If I originally hated them for their shit, this time it was personal.
Unknowingly, I was already on a collision course with three of the seven Revenants. David Thomas the Invincible, Clive Zanardi the Virtuous, and Erick Odinson the Unbreakable.
This was on top of my already existing war with Hellsgate. If what Lilly, Liv and Bella had said was any indication. Hell was about to burst open. If that was the only precedent, then there was literally no other choice but to prepare for it.
If I was operating under the assumption that America would eventually be swarmed by the living dead, my actions now had rules to govern them.
First, I had to secure my family. For now, the Simmons and the Sirens made up that group. This was non-negotiable, I would do everything in my power to make sure they were as safe as possible.
Second, I needed to establish a base where I could ride out the storm. Most military bases needed three things: supplies, fortifications, and an army capable of both reconnaissance and combat.
The 2nd Amendment intended to move near my home. It would, of course, help ensure our defense. If you add Vincent's group, so much the better. I should also get Phillip and the LLG to move as well, if possible.
Third was allies. It was impossible to never need help. Zach's words convinced me of this.
"Hell breaks open. Everything you see in Hellsgate that comes to the surface. Hellsgate is a doorway to hell. Once Armageddon arrives, the number of undead would swell to a thousand times what it is now."
Take any weeb familiar with adventure stories, and they have a name for such an event.
'Dungeon Breaks.'
The event was something common to most fiction that had dungeons in their world.
"Right now, Hellsgate can resist, so we can even have peaceful days. But soon we will not be able to stop it. The only solutions are either to raise an army strong enough to become a breakwall, or to close Hellsgate from the inside."
When such events happen in fiction, it takes a massive amount of effort on the part of the heroes to stop them. This was usually used to get the MC closer to his heroine or to make allies along the way.
Zach's words actually helped me understand that dungeon breaks were included in the media for a reason. They were a warning. It was not a possibility, it was a certainty.
It meant that even if we could withstand the onslaught of the undead. These dungeon breaks, if left unchecked, would not only overwhelm most defenses, but destroy them altogether.
From my perspective, things became extremely simple.
Defenders had a huge advantage over attackers. And mankind has made giant leaps in this regard. Howitzers, mines, you name it. Give me enough time and I will make sure that not a single undead would be left standing.
'After all, I am Limitless. Ammunition, supplies, stamina. None of these things were a problem for me.'
To support another country or continent, ICBMs and nukes were always an option. Lilly's words were right. This age would be the best time to resist Hellsgate. Everyone knew what zombies were and what to do with them.