CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 45 – POSSIBILITIES

Chapter 45 – Possibilities

For the next hour or so, Jack explored the entirety of the base from top to bottom, thoroughly. He checked every room and every part of the large building. The first thing he noticed was how complicated the hallways were.

Even with his impeccable memory, Jack took several wrong turns throughout his exploration. That was both good and bad.

’If monsters infiltrate the building, navigating and finding people would be a nightmare. I can’t really imagine most people memorizing every turn,’ he mused. ’That also leads me to the second major problem of this building.’

The base was simply... way too crowded. That thought became more and more real as he explored and realized how many people were inside. Almost all the rooms were being used in one way or another, with kids, women, and old men everywhere he looked.

If he had to guess, there were at least ten thousand people within the base. That was clearly far more than what the entire building could handle.

’Keeping ten thousand people alive in these conditions is quite literally impossible. Just the food and water needed for that is a nightmare to get, let alone electricity, medicine, and other necessities,’ Jack rubbed his chin. ’But you can’t really kick them all out.’

Even though Jack had no business with this particular problem — since he only wanted to focus on himself — it still posed hurdles for his future plans. This crowded base wouldn’t last long.

"Sigh, that will be a headache." Jack rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you think they can survive for long, Jack?"

"Without expanding this base and getting a constant and stable stream of supplies?" Jack asked. "Absolutely not. This base will turn into a graveyard in no time. Famine, disease, and other problems that come with putting ten thousand people in a place made for only a few thousand at most will eat everyone here."

"Oh, is that so?" Liliana asked.

"I’ll give it a few weeks to a month or two at most."

"Hahaha..." Liliana then, for some reason, started laughing. "I wouldn’t be that confident, Jack."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well, I cannot tell you. But, you shall see very soon," she said, almost in a mocking tone.

"..." The boy squinted his eyes, clearly suspicious of the demoness’s words. "In any case, they won’t last long unless some major changes happen, which I doubt those idiots in control would ever do. They need a push to actually start working on getting stronger."

"Are you really going to take time teaching them?"

"’Teaching’ is a strong word. I’ll simply guide them a bit, and they’ll figure out the rest. If this army starts getting stronger, it’ll be useful to me."

’If they can somehow slowly expand and clear out paths for me, I wouldn’t have to think about it.’

"Well, we shall see what I can do with these idiots. Hopefully, they won’t be another headache to deal with."

Other than those downsides, Jack found great and important upsides that made him decide to stay there. The first major advantage was the electricity — since this entire base could run on giant engines in the basement, he only needed to focus on finding fuel for them, rather than trying to fix electrical wires and other major components ruined by the city’s destruction.

The second major advantage was, ironically enough, how big the base was. It was spacious and had many facilities that made living there easier. That was why Jack was a bit annoyed about the number of people inside.

If he could clean it up a bit, this could be the perfect base for a permanent stay. He could use it as his central point of movement and simply focus on getting stronger and gathering supplies.

The third major advantage — and arguably the most important one for Jack — was the location of the base itself.

It was located on the outskirts, tucked in a strategic corner that made penetrating it much harder for the monsters. Jack would even dare to say that this was one of the main reasons why the horde hadn’t broken through quickly enough.

’It’s well protected by its surroundings and yet also very open to the city and the routes that lead to nearby cities,’ Jack thought. ’That’ll make transportation a lot easier, with way less fear of sudden ambushes.’

All in all, he really liked what he was working with.

As he was contemplating what he could and couldn’t do, he suddenly heard someone rushing toward him. It was one of the soldiers looking for him.

"What?"

"The General is looking for you."

"Hm. Is it time already? I’ll be there in a moment."

The man nodded and walked away. Jack stretched his limbs and looked around. "Well, that’s it for today, I think. I’ll take more time judging if I can make any major changes later... after some rest."

"You’re so cool when you’re focused, Jack~"

"..."

"Hehe, and also when you don’t know how to take a compliment~"

"You’re... sigh, forget it." Jack facepalmed before he finally started walking back to the main area, where he found that all the people had gathered. They’d been notified that the general wanted to speak to them all.

Jack could immediately hear loud whispers and a boiling room filled with uncertain people. The atmosphere was a mix of worry, fear, optimism, and exhaustion. Everyone was truly tired, hurt, terrified, and grieving their dead family members and loved ones.

They couldn’t afford another blow to their mental state, or they would crumble. Amidst the chaos, Jack walked to the front of the crowd where the general had a stand and a mic to speak. Around it stood Alex, Evan, and Emi.

"What is going on, Jack? Why are we here?"

"Just watch."

"... What are you planning?"

A few moments later, the general stepped in, and the whispers grew even louder.

"Quiet, please, we want to announce something," the man said as he adjusted the microphone. "Some good news that we’ve all awaited."

"Oh?"

"Good news..."

"Are they really good news, or just another disappointment?"

"Everyone, please be quiet. As you may already know, earlier today, we faced a large horde of monsters trying to infiltrate the building and kill us all. The numbers were unimaginable, and stopping them was impossible. We truly thought our end had come. However... as if they were sent by God, these kids appeared and single-handedly saved us. They put their lives on the line to pull the hordes away from the base."

"What?"

"Kids?"

"So it was true after all... Who could’ve thought?"

"Those kids? They look so innocent..."

The reactions varied, but most were surprised and skeptical.

"As weird as it may seem, they possess supernatural powers — ones this world has never seen before. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we witnessed the sheer devastation they left behind in the enemy lines. It was something I’ve never seen before. These kids are the true heroes who saved us all."

As he said that, the general stepped aside and let the group stand before everyone. They got many looks as the citizens’ expressions shifted — from suspicion, to slow realization, and then to amazement.

"They... saved us?"

"Really...?"

"The general can’t be lying... These are the actual heroes!"

Then, like a domino effect, the crowd erupted in cheering.

"We actually have a chance against those creatures!!"

"We aren’t completely hopeless!"

"They have supernatural abilities, he said! Like actual superheroes!"

The reactions were immensely positive, and the crowds lost in fear and hopelessness saw — for the very first time — a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel on that horrific day.

A glimpse they wished would finally embrace them.