After hearing Andrew’s account, Ray sighed.
“It’s hard to imagine. The apocalypse hasn’t even been going on for five days, and some people have already turned into monsters.”
Andrew hadn’t gone into much detail, but Ray had read plenty of post-apocalyptic novels.
The moment he heard what Andrew had to say, he could already picture the miserable conditions in that camp.
Leon frowned as well.
Having a neighbor like that was definitely not good news for their survivor camp.
Still, the one piece of good news was that, judging by the current situation, the Anke camp probably wasn’t the most immediate threat they faced.
But then another thought occurred to Leon.
June—that woman had an overwhelming sense of justice.
If she found out what was happening at the Anke camp, she would undoubtedly rush off to set things right.
Leon warned Ray, “Don’t tell June about this for now. You know what she’s like. If she finds out what’s happening at the Anke camp, she’ll definitely take people over there to rescue those survivors—or even go by herself.”
Ray’s eyes flickered.
After weighing it over briefly, he nodded solemnly.
Like Leon, he didn’t want the camp to end up with a different leader.
If June went over there and something happened to her, Leon would definitely take over.
Just thinking about how shrewd Leon was—and how he was always using him as bait—sent a chill down Ray’s spine.
Following a leader like that would be exhausting, so he chose to keep the matter quiet.
“You all need to keep this secret too. Hide it from her for as long as you can. June is too kind. If she finds out what’s happening over at Anke, she’ll definitely step in,” Ray warned the Anderson family as well.
Andrew hurriedly nodded and promised, “Don’t worry. We absolutely won’t say anything about the Anke camp.”
Andrew had interacted briefly with June and had also met her several times before the apocalypse.
He knew exactly what kind of person she was, and he likewise didn’t want June risking herself for the people at the Anke camp.
Seeing how cooperative he was, Leon took a closer look at the man in front of him.
Andrew wore gold-rimmed glasses and had a refined, scholarly appearance, but he was also the type who looked slim in clothes while hiding a muscular build underneath.
It was obvious that Andrew exercised regularly.
Combined with how well he took care of himself, Leon privately guessed that Andrew had probably been a successful professional before the apocalypse.
Anke Residences was different from the other two residential complexes.
It included a villa district, which meant the Anderson family had either been wealthy or influential before the apocalypse.
Curious, Leon asked, “Mr. Anderson, what did you do before the monsters appeared?”
Andrew answered with considerable modesty, “I managed a branch of the Federal Bank.”
“A management professional, huh?” Leon murmured thoughtfully.
“Take him to June later. Isn’t she planning to introduce a contribution-point system in the camp? Mr. Anderson should have plenty of experience with that sort of thing,” Leon told Ray.
Leon genuinely thought highly of Andrew.
The fact that he had managed to bring his entire family here safely in the middle of the apocalypse showed that luck was definitely on his side.
More importantly, Pokémon had already been in this world for six days, yet the whole family was still together and unharmed.
Without some serious luck, that simply wouldn’t have been possible.
And the fact that Andrew had managed to use a Machoke to relocate his family showed that he was intelligent.
Between that and what Andrew had already shown he was capable of, Leon decided to give him a push.
The camp needed more intelligent people—especially intelligent people like Andrew, who had an entire family and therefore something to lose.
Ray understood immediately.
He knew Leon intended to give Andrew an opportunity, so he readily agreed.
When Andrew heard this, his expression remained perfectly composed, but a barely perceptible flash of delight crossed his eyes.
Compared with Andrew’s excellent control over his expression, Lily was far more transparent.
She immediately realized that her husband was probably about to be entrusted with an important role, and an irrepressible smile spread across her face.
“All right, I still need to get back to my research, so I’ll leave it at that.” With that, Leon turned and left.
After returning to his small living quarters, Leon continued feeding Feebas.
Feebas’s eyes had grown noticeably brighter, but it still had that same vacant look.
Still, progress was progress.
Every time Leon fed it, Feebas’s eyes would now lift slightly toward the food.
That tiny movement shouldn’t be underestimated.
It was actually a considerable improvement.
In the past, whenever Feebas ate, it would simply wait until the food reached its mouth before opening up to take a bite.
Before that, the little guy had shown virtually no reaction to food at all.
Once he’d fed it enough, Leon scooped Feebas out of the aquarium again.
He wasn’t sure whether it was his imagination, but Leon found that scooping Feebas out seemed much easier this time.
In the past, whenever he tried to scoop it out, the little guy liked to stay at the bottom of the aquarium.
Now, however, Feebas had learned to float up on its own.
“Looks like you’ve grown pretty fond of this part too. Though I suppose that makes sense. As a silly little fish, how could you turn down the chance to become beautiful?” Leon murmured softly.
Leon deliberately avoided calling it an ugly fish in front of it.
After all, if it had to choose between being a little uglier and a little dumber, Feebas would probably rather accept being dumb than ugly.
As Leon continued grooming Feebas, he also talked to it, teaching it the language of this world.
He had no idea whether it would actually accomplish anything, but it cost him nothing to try, so Leon did it without hesitation.
Once he finished grooming Feebas, Leon returned it to the aquarium.
He glanced at the clock beside the tank and saw that it was only 13:00, so Leon decided to find June and see whether they could head out together to search for supplies today.
When Leon arrived at June’s office, she was discussing the contribution-point system with Andrew.
As soon as June saw Leon come in, she quickly stood up and greeted him warmly.
“Leon, come here. Let me introduce you.”
“This is Andrew Anderson. Before the monsters appeared, he was the manager of a Federal Bank branch in the Federation’s New City District.”
Looking at June, who could be surprisingly absentminded sometimes, Leon reminded her, “Mr. Anderson and I have already met. Did you forget? I’m the one who recommended him to you.”
“Uh… right. I remember now. You two have already met.” June smiled somewhat sheepishly.
Leon could only shake his head helplessly before asking, “So? Have you finished working out the contribution-point system?”
“We’ve settled on the basic system, but we’ll still need to test it first. During the trial period, we’ll also have to keep revising the areas where problems are likely to arise,” Andrew explained, keeping his words as simple and easy to understand as possible.
June responded politely, “I’ll have to trouble you with that, then.”
“It’s no trouble. I’m more than happy to do my part for the camp,” Andrew said earnestly.
He wasn’t merely being polite.
He genuinely meant it.
After what he’d seen at the Anke camp, the camp June had established was better by far.
Its rules and regulations might still have been somewhat incomplete, but at the very least, everyone here was still treated like a human being.
Before arriving here, Andrew hadn’t even dared imagine something like that was still possible.
June in particular—compared with Victor next door, she was practically a saint descended to Earth, the kindest of the kind.