บท 22: Experiment

"Drop your weapons and kick them away from you."

Rick was looking at Nathan who was holding a dagger against his girlfriend's neck. He was filled with regrets that they decided to come to this convenience store.

Before these group came to the convenience store, while Nathan was deciding what to have for lunch, he was also thinking about the water being contaminated and doing a water experiment that he had in mind. So when he saw this group of people appear before him and were hostile (in his opinion), it made him smile before disappearing in front of them, because he found potential test subjects.

Wasn't he afraid that they might be powerful? Yes, that thought did cross his mind which is why he didn't just charge in like a maniac and instead took them out one by one. Moreover, he was still pissed about what happened a few days ago when that wannabe Ada Wong bitch stole "his" things so he wasn't letting these people go unless they prove to be extremely powerful or offer something extremely useful.

Seeing how he was able to knock out one of the men with one punch, he started to feel confident but was still a little wary. When he knocked out the second member of the group, he was now fully aware that this group was no match against him. However, he still maintained a cautious attitude after remembering how the D1 slapped him – he didn't want any surprises.

Rick dropped his sword and the [Grade D] Wooden Stick on the floor and kicked them away.

"Where are your other companions? Answer me!" Nathan pressed the Short Dagger against Erica's neck, causing it to bleed a little.

Erica started crying and held unto Nathan's left arm that was wrapped around her, "Please no, please don't hurt me! It's just us! It's just us!!!"

Rick also joined in as well, "She's telling the truth. It's just us four. Please don't hurt her. We've already surrendered."

The moment he heard what they said, Nathan knocked Erica out and then immediately charged towards Rick.

"You…!" Rick said as he tried to evade Nathan.

But with Nathan's speed, he immediately got in front of Rick and punched him on the gut, causing Rick to fall on the floor as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

Nathan sent another fist. This time it was on Rick's face, making him dizzy for a moment and then shouted back at Nathan, "You bastard! We've already surren—"

Nathan kicked him on the jaw and was finally knocked out. Luckily, he didn't bite his tongue.

Nathan was having a hard time controlling his strength. He didn't want to accidentally kill his potential test subjects.

'Damn, this is really annoying. What if my strength reaches 50 points? Will I have to be careful in holding items like spoons, glasses, and doorknobs by then?' he complained.

He grabbed the rope from the side of his waist and started cutting 8 pieces. Each piece was 5ft long.

After doing so, he then proceeded to tie their hands and feet. He also took Rick and Josh's shirt, tore them, and used them to gag the 4 of them.

Nathan didn't want them to be noisy while he was conducting the experiment. What if they decided to shout and therefore attract any unwanted attention?

As for the chances of them breaking the rope with their own physical strength, he wasn't worried about it all unless they have some skill that could do it. In fact, he even tried it with his own strength which is 23 (+1) and he couldn't break it.

So how much strength is needed to break away from it? He doesn't know, but he concluded that it should probably be around 40.

'I wish I had Lelylin's A.I. chip,' he thought.

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Rick's POV.

An unknown amount of time passed and Rick opened his eyes.

He noticed that he was lying on the floor. He also noticed that he was wearing nothing except his underwear and his mouth was gagged. In addition to that, his hands were tied behind his back and his feet were also tied as well.

He looked at his surroundings, trying to remember what happened and how he got here.

He was inside a room, there was light, and there were no windows and furniture except for a single steel chair which was near the door.

'A basement?'

He also saw his companions: Josh, Sarah, and Erica. They too were bound, gagged, and wore nothing except their underwear.

They noticed him waking up so they looked at him, trying to make eye contact.

There was a weird stench in the room because one or two of them wet themselves due to fear.

After a few minutes of trying to recall how they got here, he finally remembered what happened at the convenience store.

It was then they started hearing footsteps.

Kacha!

The door opened.

"Oh, you guys are finally awake. Just in time," it was a man's voice as he dropped 2 jugs of water.

They all looked at where the voice came from and it was the man they fought earlier at the convenience store.

The three of them except for Rick started crying and making muffled noises.

***************************

Nathan's POV.

Nathan was looking at the four young adults.

After knocking them out and tying them, he quickly looked for a nearby place that still had electricity.

When he found the perfect place, he killed about 15 the zombies nearby so that he can safely transfer them one by one to that place, making his exp points now at 59.375%, while his Short Dagger was 7/11 and his Scimitar 8/12. He also picked up two [Grade D] Repair Kits.

After transferring all of them to this place, he removed their clothes except for the underwear. He wanted to make sure that they weren't hiding anything. As for a cavity search, that thought didn't cross his mind.

Seeing them crying and making muffled noises as if begging him not to kill them, he said with a very friendly smile, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just need you to help me with a little experiment."

They still didn't stop making noise and were now thrashing around.

He approached one of them, it was Josh, and kicked his stomach.

Pah!

"Shut up."

Seeing what happened to Josh, they stopped moving and making noise.

"Good. That's more I like it."

He pulled out the only chair in the room and sat.

"Like I said, I need you to help me with a little experiment. In fact, this experiment will also help you."

No one made any sound. They just stared at him in horror.

"What I'm offering you is a chance to redeem yourselves for trying to kill me earlier at the convenience store," he shamelessly said.

But who could deny that? They went to the convenience store with their weapons on their hands. And with the zombie apocalypse, wouldn't it be understandable and safer to assume that everyone is out to take advantage of you?

"If you try to make any unnecessary actions that will disrupt the experiment, I will immediately kill all of you and leave. You guys are fully aware of my little magic trick, right?" he sneered.

"Nod if you agree to participate in this experiment."

Everyone nodded. What choice did they have? If they disagree, they will without any doubt die, eliminating all chances of survival. But if they cooperated, at least they have a chance to survive.

Nathan had two jugs of water to which he labeled as J1 and J2.

J1 was taken directly from the faucet while J2 was also taken from the faucet but was mixed with zombie blood.

He let them kneel and said, "Wait here. I forgot to bring a glass."

When he came back with a glass, he grabbed the J1 and poured a glass of water.

He ungagged Sarah and said, "Drink this," before shoving it to her face.

Sarah was holding back her tears as she started to drink.

He did the same to the other three as well.

After having them drink the water from the J1, he sat on the chair and said, "Now we wait. In the meantime, let's talk about something else. Tell me everything you know about the System."