Elric and his group were only three or four hours away from the City when night finally fell completely.
Inside the SUV, cruising steadily through the darkened apocalyptic landscape, things suddenly became absolute chaos.
Why?
Because Nina finally woke up from her prolonged unconsciousness.
The moment her eyes snapped open, she looked around the unfamiliar vehicle interior with confusion, then stared out the window at the passing ruins, and immediately started barking complaints:
"What the hell—which little punk dragged me here without permission?!"
Her voice was loud, aggressive, and crude.
"Where even ARE we?! Are we still in the goddamn States or did I get kidnapped to Mexico?!"
Elizabeth didn't react at all, her expression remaining perfectly neutral.
But both Elric and Elsa immediately frowned with irritation.
This woman had an objectively attractive face—definitely pretty by any standard—but her mouth...
Pure toxic garbage.
Elsa, who normally never said more than five curse words in her entire privileged life, felt instantly disgusted by Nina's vulgarity.
"It was Elric who saved your ungrateful life," Elsa snapped back sharply, her refined voice dripping with disdain. "If not for him personally intervening, you'd currently be crocodile shit sitting at the bottom of Lakeview Lake."
"We're driving back to City right now. So could you please show some basic human manners and gratitude?"
Nina blinked at this verbal assault, but didn't pay the slightest attention to Elsa's obvious irritation.
Instead, she twisted around in her seat, spotted Elric lying leisurely in the back row with his head comfortably resting on Elizabeth's lap, and instantly changed her entire tone to something sweet and grateful.
"Oh! Big brother—you saved me? Really?"
She clasped her still-handcuffed hands together dramatically, eyes going wide with manufactured innocence.
"Thank you so much! Seriously! That crocodile was absolutely massive! How the hell did you manage to kill that monster AND rescue me at the same time?"
Elric didn't bother responding to her obvious manipulation attempt.
Because Nina's attention had suddenly shifted—and she finally really noticed Elizabeth sitting there.
Her expression changed instantly from grateful to furious.
"Wait—YOU!" Nina's voice became venomous. "You uppity bitch—why the fuck are YOU here?! Why didn't that damn crocodile eat your stuck-up ass first?!"
Elizabeth, who usually reacted to almost nothing except interesting research data, actually frowned for the first time.
She spoke in her characteristic cold, clinical monotone:
"Crocodiles typically prey on animals with severely limited intelligence—pheasants, frogs, amphibians, and other creatures completely lacking complex reasoning abilities."
She paused, adjusting her glasses with one finger.
"Your measured IQ aligns far more closely with their natural dietary preferences than mine does."
Another meaningful pause.
"Therefore, logically, the crocodile naturally wanted to consume you rather than me."
Nina absolutely exploded with rage:
"YOU CONDESCENDING DOG WOMAN—I don't even fully understand what the hell you just said, but I KNOW it wasn't anything good!"
She tried to lunge forward to physically attack Elizabeth—only to discover her hands were still bound by those reinforced ability-suppressor handcuffs.
"Hey—wait, what the—why am I STILL handcuffed?!"
Then she immediately perked up again and gave Elric her absolute best fake-sweet smile, voice dripping with false charm.
"Big brother~ could you help me out here real quick? Just take these annoying cuffs off so I can properly educate this woman's fake-classy face with my fists."
"I really, really can't stand this type of person—acting like they're so much better than everybody else!"
Elric glanced at Nina with complete disinterest.
Then calmly, almost lazily, shook his head.
"No. I'm not unlocking them."
Nina froze completely, her smile faltering.
"What? Why not?? Come on, big brother—just unlock them real quick! I promise I'll behave afterward!"
Elric leaned back more comfortably against Elizabeth's lap, his expression remaining completely neutral—a king casually dismissing a court jester's request.
"I said no. I can't unlock them."
Nina blinked rapidly with confusion.
"...Can't? What do you mean you can't? Don't you have like, super strength or something?"
But Elizabeth sighed softly and answered for him in that same flat, emotionless tone:
"Those restraints are manufactured from a fortified titanium alloy specifically designed for armed task force operations against high-level ability users."
She stated this like she was reading from a technical manual.
"Even with your particular energy-based combat ability fully activated, you cannot break them through brute force. Your current power level is insufficient by approximately 300%."
Nina's face contorted like she'd just swallowed an entire lemon whole.
"INSUFFICIENT?! LOW LEVEL?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING WEAK—JUST UNCUFF ME RIGHT NOW SO I CAN SHOW YOU—"
Elric raised a single finger.
Instant, absolute silence.
The air inside the SUV seemed to freeze solid. Even the engine noise felt muted.
Nina immediately swallowed her next threat and sat back down, suddenly very aware of the dangerous aura Elric was casually emanating.
"I genuinely can't remove those cuffs," Elric said calmly, his voice carrying undeniable authority. "They're specifically designed to be permanent until unlocked with the proper key."
He paused, then added: "And even if I could remove them easily, I still wouldn't let you attack Elizabeth."
Nina blinked, completely confused now.
"Why the hell not? She's being a total—"
"Because," Elric interrupted smoothly, "she is my woman."
Nina's mouth literally dropped open in shock.
"Wait—WHAT? But the driver lady up front called you her husband too—so BOTH of them are your women?!"
She gave a sly, almost impressed smirk despite her situation.
"Oh damn, big brother. That's actually pretty wild. You really out here playing the field during the apocalypse."
Elric raised an eyebrow, his expression shifting to something slightly amused.
"Not only those two."
He looked directly at Nina.
"You will also become my woman."
"HUH?!" Nina shook her head so violently her ponytail whipped back and forth like a helicopter blade.
"Brother, no. Absolutely fucking not. Hard pass."
"First of all, I don't date younger guys as a personal rule! And second, there's no way in hell I'm sharing a man with that condescending bitch!"
The absolute moment those words left her mouth, she met Elric's eyes directly—
And saw nothing but pure, concentrated killing intent staring back at her.
A wave of supernatural cold rolled over her entire body.
She felt like she'd been thrown naked into an arctic ice cave with no escape.
In that single terrifying instant, Nina understood with crystal clarity:
If she refused again—even once more—Elric would tear her into literal pieces without hesitation or remorse.
She forced out a dry, nervous laugh that sounded completely fake.
"Oh—oh, big brother, I was totally just joking! Obviously joking! Ha ha!"
She nodded frantically.
"I agree, okay? I'll definitely be your woman! No problem! Sign me up!"
Then she held up her handcuffed wrists hopefully, like a prisoner begging for parole.
"So, uh... since I agreed so quickly and everything... can you maybe, possibly remove these handcuffs now?"
Elric's answer came immediately, with zero hesitation.
"No. Not until you're actually my woman. Properly."
Nina's face crumpled with frustration and defeat, but she absolutely did not dare push back or argue further.
She could only pout silently like a scolded child, crossing her arms and slumping in her seat.
Right at that perfect moment, Elizabeth delivered what was essentially the final knife blow.
She smiled ever so faintly—the first genuine smile anyone had seen from her—and casually rested one hand on Elric's shoulder in a possessive gesture.
"You made the completely correct decision," she stated clinically. "Placing strict physical restrictions on individuals who possess combat strength but severely limited intelligence quotient is absolutely essential for maintaining proper group order and preventing chaos."
"YOU CONDESCENDING DOG WOMAN!" Nina screamed at maximum volume. "You go WAY too far with your fancy insults!"
And just like that, the two women started bickering again at full volume.
The heated arguing continued for quite a while—back and forth, insult trading, with neither woman backing down an inch.
Until Elric finally completely lost his patience and snapped at both of them, ordering absolute silence.
The car became instantly, perfectly quiet. Both women immediately shut up, not daring to test his authority further.
When they finally rolled back into the outskirts, the sun was already beginning to rise on the horizon—around 7 a.m. by Elric's estimate.
After spending time in that absolute hellscape they'd just escaped from in Chicago, this almost felt... civilized by comparison.
Most buildings weren't collapsed into rubble. The streets were damaged but still navigable. There were even people walking around—some obvious thugs and gangsters, plenty of desperate refugees, but at least they were alive and moving.
Compared to that Chicago wasteland where corpses outnumbered the living?
This was practically running for "Top 10 Most Functional Cities of the Apocalypse."
Maybe not quite #1, but definitely solidly in the top 3.
Elric was half-amused by his own optimistic thoughts when—
"RUN! EVERYONE RUN!!"
"THE MONSTERS ARE COMING AGAIN!"
"OH GOD, THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US—"
The SUV turned onto a broad main avenue, and suddenly—
From the intersection directly ahead, hundreds of people came sprinting desperately around the corner, screaming in absolute terror.
Men, women, some carrying children, all running for their lives.
Their faces showed pure panic—the kind of fear that came from seeing death approaching.
Elric immediately sat up from his comfortable position, his relaxed demeanor vanishing instantly.
"Elsa, stop the car."
She hit the brakes immediately, bringing the SUV to a halt.
Elric activated his Clairvoyance ability, his vision extending far beyond normal human limits, scanning through the fleeing crowd and past the intersection to see what was chasing them.
His eyes narrowed.
"Mutant beasts. A whole pack of them."
Not just one or two strays. At least twenty creatures—wolf-like things, but grotesquely enlarged and covered in bone-like armor plating. Moving in coordinated hunting formation.
Behind him, Nina had gone completely silent, pressing herself against the window to look.
Elizabeth adjusted her glasses, her scientific interest immediately piqued despite the danger.
Even Elsa looked nervous, gripping the steering wheel tighter.
"Should we... should we turn around?" Elsa asked quietly.
Elric considered for exactly half a second.
Then smiled slightly, that familiar confidence returning to his expression.
"No. We're going straight through."
"But there are so many civilians—"
"I know." Elric opened the door and stepped out onto the street. "That's exactly why we're not running."
He stretched casually, as if preparing for a morning workout rather than a battle.
"Besides," he added, cracking his knuckles, "I need to test out my new abilities on something anyway."
"And these mutant wolves just volunteered."
There is 60 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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