William stopped once he reached the end. He turned around and roared, "Everyone, stay here until I find the portal and bring back Alissa." He changed his mind. ’They would only come in my way.’ They cannot even fend off one zombie properly, much less lend him a hand.
"Tch!" Leo clicked his tongue as almost everyone around stayed put, nodding. They felt it was better to hide until the portal was found, and then enter under William’s lead.
Henry exchanged one glance with Leo, who gestured at him to do something by pointing at William, who was about to enter the next block. "Wait!" Henry yelled, gaining everyone’s attention. William, who had already drawn his katana, couldn’t control his itch to swing. He took a breath and placed it back at his hip, then pivoted to Henry.
"What is it, Uncle Henry?" He asked plainly, rubbing his weapon’s grip. "I need to hurry."
Henry smiled apologetically and coughed. "It’s just, what if you gain a reward for finding the portal within a certain time?"
Everyone paled. "Indeed, what if he gets a good reward?"
"It should be important for the upcoming battle."
"No, I want it too."
"Should we join in?"
Many members of William’s faction were still clearly looking out for themselves, while there were also people who truly joined him. Nefarious individuals were against letting William go alone and wanted to tag along.
"Only the first might get the reward." Before William could reply, Grandma Jenny snarled, "Or no one. You all want to trouble him more?"
Her words were enough, as there were still many good people out here, true faction members of William’s, who stepped out. "What nonsense?" John yelled, raising his hammer. "Henry, stop causing trouble." He pointed the hammerhead at him. "I think you’re trying to break the faction before it can work."
Henry’s face twitched as he noticed many gazes on him in an instant. "Yes, everyone. Now big brother William is our leader." Chris stepped in, his voice bringing silence.
"We should follow his orders."
"What if there’s a reward?"
"What if not?" True faction members all at once stood up, causing ill-intentioned members to back down. They just clenched their fists and glared furiously. Some remained silent.
’Good, now I can relax.’ Grandma Jenny smiled, satisfied with the reactions.
William grinned. "I think it’s decided." He waved his hand. "I’m going."
’I wanted to see how things would turn out.’ He mused, focusing on his Spatial Ether Sense skill. ’It seems I didn’t have to step in.’ In fact, if things went out of order, he would have let them follow him while trying to keep them safe.
"Damnit." He cursed himself. "No wonder those guys commented that I couldn’t survive without Alissa’s help or handle things properly." He was not a tough guy to make hard decisions.
"Wait?" Gray raised his voice. He had recovered his bearing a bit. "I didn’t tell you where the portal is."
"It should be near Carter’s store," William replied, running his hand through his hair. ’Almost got caught.’ He didn’t want to make up a random reason yet again. Once or twice is fine, but many could one day tear apart his lies.
"The portal is on subway platform two." Gray straightened his back as his breathing calmed down. "Next to Carter’s."
"Good." William broke into a run.
"There are many zombies on the way," Gray warned, his voice filling the street and reaching the next block.
William raised his thumb. He soon returned to the street they had started from. The four thugs he had knocked out had vanished. "It seems they had run away." His lips twitched.
He found a cycle in someone’s garden. He leaped in from a small fence, sat on it, and rode it out, opening the front gate.
’I need to be quick.’ He pushed the pedal with his full strength. He dashed ahead at full speed. He almost rivalled a less-powered motorbike. Within two minutes, after crossing a few blocks, he entered a small road.
He also spotted a few dead zombies along the way. ’Gray and Alissa must’ve killed them.’
The black asphalt road had many zombies, who growled, noticing him. "Those thugs..." William sighed as he found four prisoners among the crimson mindless creatures.
They slowly shambled towards him. He was in a hurry, hence he didn’t stop cycling. With swift speed, he moved ahead, crossing the zombies in a zigzag. "Grr!!" William noticed seven zombies standing together with a little to almost no gap. He scanned his surroundings while his legs started to burn and ache. He didn’t slow down as he knew even one second could be important. He found nothing good to jump over them.
"Looks like I’ll have to smash." He gritted his teeth. Once he got close enough, he turned his cycle horizontal and bent down, sliding forward.
Thud!
Three zombies were knocked off their feet as they were flung from the top of William due to the clash and fell to the ground behind him. He was drifting at a low height, so the zombies’ hands missed William’s body by at least half a meter.
William didn’t even glance back. He just straightened his bike and pedalled hard. "Damn! Weak body." He uttered, wincing. His legs started to feel heavy. He had just performed an acrobatic feat that required decades of training, and it had put a strain and stress on him. His breathing became uneven and heavy. His chest felt heavy and hot, and his heart started to beat rapidly.
Due to his experience, he could pull off crazy things, but his body would respond in the same way as now. ’I need to level up.’ He thought as he dodged another zombie by slightly leaning to his right, missing the zombie’s nails by a finger’s length. Due to his speed, once an undead was crossed, it could no longer catch up.
Time ticked by as he finally entered the market section of the city. He scowled as he found many zombies spotted him. He scrutinized the block. He was in the middle of the road, where many stores were present on both sides, from restaurants and hotels to supermarkets. On the ground were a few dead zombies. His eyes were drawn to the biggest five-story building, which was Carter’s.
’In my past life, it was in underground basement 1.’ He closed his eyes for a bit and recalled all the troubles he went through to find it. He opened them a moment later.
Zombies had already started to come towards him. He rushed down the street by leaning left and right or drifting while bending down to dodge them as he finally reached the subway entrance. It extended down into the underground. A big board was next to it, with the title "Subway" and an arrow pointing down.
’This is it.’ He exhaled as he stepped down from the cycle. "Whoa!" He groaned as he fell down, his legs trembling. The cycle fell down on him. Bang! He pushed the heavy object on top of him first and then tried to stand up, but failed again. His legs were not responding properly. He had lost sensation in his legs. He slammed his fist into his knees to get them working again. Thud! It did work as he stood up, but he felt them heavy.
"I’ll lose my legs if I don’t level up." He muttered, still wincing. He entered the subway as "Growl!" Zombies’ howls echoed out.