"Enough," said Zoe. "My decision is firm. Only the Emperor can change it."
Axel replied, "If you say so." His eyes lit up. "By the way, if you want to, I have a pair of brass knuckles on my back. I can give it to you."
Zoe was stunned. Her eyes went upward, contemplating, and nodded. "Thank you in advance, then."
Axel smiled brightly and nodded. "I will give it to you later." He swept his gaze to others and said, "Who is more crazy like her? I still have a pair of brass knuckles left."
Andrew hesitatingly raised his hand and said, "M-Me?"
"You stutter?"
Andrew was taken aback. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued with a solemn expression.
"I want to."
Axel nodded and smiled brightly. However, inside his mind was chaotic. No shit, Andrew is more like girls and Zoe is more like boys. Is this also because of evolution or whatnot?
He tossed the unnecessary thoughts at the back of his mind and swept his eyes to others.
"Has anyone decided on their weapon? Care to share? Mine are dual knives."
Samantha said, "Me, too."
Axel glanced at her, eyes sparkled in excitement, and nodded in satisfaction. "Good choice. If only you were present during the battle between the Emperor and the Bulwark Zombie, you would feel the excitement like I do."
Samantha stared at him in silence and suddenly said, "I'm saying it's not the butcher knives. More like daggers."
"Damn." Axel uttered under his breath. He nodded. "Mine are butcher knives. How about you, Leonel?"
Leonel said, "After a lot of consideration, I think I'll prefer the staff."
Axel stared at him in silence… He thought. He preferred staff… Obviously, he's scared of zombies and wants to fight in the distance. If there were long-range weapons, I would not be surprised if he chose them.
This can't do… our pride as a man is being tested at the moment.
He glanced at Michelle and his eyes lit up. He asked, "How about you, Michelle?"
Michelle stared at him and said without an ounce of emotion, "Since the Emperor has already said I'm good at being a sharpshooter, I have decided on the Y-shaped slingshot."
Axel was about to get elated by her choice of weapons when he realized that it was indeed a weapon suited for her. If the Emperor said she would do better in close-combat, she wouldn't hesitate to follow him, right?
He swept his gaze to the boys and mumbled. "Damn."
"What are you thinking?" Zoe was annoyed by his strange behavior.
"I-I…" Axel was about to reply when they heard a light explosion reverberating in the direction of the backgate.
They looked at each other and Michelle could not help but get worried.
"The Emperor went there, right? What if—"
"Shhhh." Samantha covered her mouth. "It's better to say nothing."
"Don't worry," said Zoe with a face filled with confidence. "That is definitely the work of the Emperor. I accompanied him earlier and his fists produced similar noise, albeit, this was the biggest one. Perhaps, he's going all out."
The light explosive noise echoed once again as everyone heaved a sigh of relief, believing Zoe's words. The Thunder Quail on her shoulder abruptly opened his eyes and glanced at the direction of the backgate and flapped his wings, going to the nest.
Ever since they have been together and performed breathing techniques earlier, Zoe could more or less grasp his emotions and intentions. The Thunder Quail was clearly disturbed. Discerning the direction he stared before flapping his wings to his nest, seemingly ready to protect his wife and eggs, he must have sensed something dangerous.
Even so, since the Thunder Quail did not tell her about rescuing the Emperor, then the latter must be fine. Zoe turned to Axel and recalled their narration of the Emperor defeating the Bulwark Zombie.
According to them, they and the Emperor could not defeat the Bulwark Zombie and the Emperor even failed to defeat it in single-clash, barely leaving a scar on the Bulwark Zombie's armor. However, when Axel opened his eyes, the Emperor's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot and was able to sever the Bulwark Zombie's limbs before decapitating it.
Is there an ability that made the Emperor go berserk? But the repercussions should be immense, right?
She then recalled the state of the Emperor after defeating the Bulwark Zombie. He walked like a mindless zombie and he was clearly exhausted—despite trying to hide it by controlling his breathing rhythm. However, the Emperor recovered after taking an hour or two of rest, conveying the absurdities on his body.
As Zoe did not notice she was staring at Axel, the latter felt uncomfortable. If it was before, he would delude himself Zoe might have feelings for him, but the way she stared—piercing, solemn, terrifying—certainly conveyed otherwise.
He said, "W-What are you staring at me like that for?"
Zoe was taken aback. She realized she was immersed in her own thoughts and hastily recalled her questions.
But then again, her assumptions answered it.
She said with a straight face, "If the Emperor's eyes went bloodshot, his power multiplied manifold but it would leave him exhausted. I think he is in that state. We should wait for him here."
Axel was stunned. He nodded without hesitation.
"Let's meditate and perform breathing techniques here, then. I will guard in the meantime."
However, the girls were not in the mood to meditate when they realized the Emperor might be in the same state he was after the battle against the Bulwark Zombie.
The boys felt the same, too. They stared at Axel with a piercing gaze, causing the latter to sigh helplessly.
"I'm not heartless. I just want you all to stop wasting time when we can make use of it by improving our breathing exercise. The Emperor does not even sleep just so he could improve his body as soon as possible. That's why there's a great disparity between us and him."
They looked at each other and were finally convinced. Axel was smugful when he saw them, especially girls, who meditated and performed their breathing technique.