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June 7, 2021 CatatoPatch Leave a comment

Devil Evolution Catalogue Chapters 645 to 648

645 to 648 are out! Updated. I might have messed up the previous post links.

NOTE: The previous arc will have certain chapters either omitted or summarised, as voted on by patrons. The slice of life bits will skipped.

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 645 «

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 646 «

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 647 «

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 648 «

Chapter 648: A Fan… Girl?

Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

If we ever make it out of Southern Plains, I promise I will bring you to the best hospitals, to see the best doctors, and to eat the best medicines!

—-Mo Ke

“I’m sorry but I don’t drink. Also, I’m a guy!”

I made sure to emphasize that last part, though judging from his expression, he probably did not believe me.

During the time we were arguing over my gender, his partner, armed in an exosuit as well, arrived and called out, “4511, I’m here.”

“In that case, let’s start escorting these beautiful ladies out of this warzone.”

Just like 4511, 3007 was immediately taken aback by the pile of corpses in the restaurant. “4511, was there some kind of battle just now?”

“Not at all. These zombies had already been taken care of by this beautiful lady over here by the time I arrived.” 4511 pointed in my direction. “Not only is she beautiful, but she’s strong as well… perfection at its finest…”

“Ke… No way… it’s Goddess Ke!!!” As if it was even possible, 3007 was more surprised by my presence than even 4511. “What is the Goddess doing in Southern Plains? It’s dangerous…”

Wait… she’s a fan of mine?

“You know me?” I stared blankly at the imposing exosuit. Because of the armoring, I couldn’t see her face… but now I could.

3007 quickly turned on the holographic projection on her helmet, allowing me to get a glimpse inside. She was a beautiful girl, young and probably below the age of twenty.

Honestly, she could be the belle of the police department with looks like that.

“If it wasn’t for that urgent mission last week preventing me from taking leave, I would have already been in Phoenix City, taking part in the War for the Goddess!” 3007 excitedly prattled on about herself. “I even prepared a million fan points for that. If it wasn’t for the team leader dragging me off to catch some smuggler… blasted team leader… and curse that smuggler too… Of all the times he could get caught, he had to choose then…”

So she’s not just a fangirl, she’s a rich fangirl as well.

Seeing her so bothered, I gingerly asked, “So… did you catch him then? The smuggler.”

“I did. I made sure to knock his teeth out as well!” She continued on to explain the exhilarating details of her chase, finally ending as such, “Even so, I can’t believe that guy had the nerve to cause me to miss the War for the Goddess. Of course I had to teach him a lesson!”

Really? That violently, though. Maybe I shouldn’t point that out to a violent cop girl… I bet her family has issues!

“And because of your brashness, you almost injured some innocent civilians. Your unrepentant attitude afterwards even got you an offense…” Judging by how 4511 was more than happy to tease 3007, the two were probably quite close. “Also, you’re not supposed to reveal your face during a mission. That’s against the rules.”

“Tsk. Mind your own business!”

“I am. I’m just reminding you not to commit another offense.”

Watching the two police officers bicker with each other without a care, or at the very least they had forgotten about our current situation, I was both a little annoyed and amused at the same time. “I say, shouldn’t we be leaving this area first? You two are all nice and comfy in your exosuits, but we don’t have an air filtration system on us… and it stinks here!”

I was extra careful to emphasize that last point, at which point both of them finally realised as well.

3007 anxiously apologized. “My bad, Goddess Ke, I’ll get right to it.”

Having said that, she slowly extended a mechanical arm to me.

“What are you doing?” Startled, I stepped back a few steps out of reflex, eyes sharp as a hawk.

“A princess hug, of course.” 3007 explained.

My face immediately soured upon hearing that strange explanation.

However, 3007 didn’t seem to notice that at all as proceeded on to say, “It’s only common sense to use a princess hug when escorting the Goddess.”

… An idiot. This girl is definitely an idiot!

If we ever make it out of Southern Plains, I promise I will bring 3007 to the best hospitals, to see the best doctors, and to eat the best medicines!

Naturally, I did not need any princess hug -not even Jiaojiao needed them.

After forcefully rejecting her princess hug and ignoring her look of disappointment, I turned my attention to 4511.

Even if 4511 didn’t come off as a particularly reliable person at the start, he seemed a lot more serious than his partner.

“The chief has already given the order, we are to bring all civilians to the shelter. We will escort you there now, it should be safe.”

“Alright, let’s head off now.”

Just like that, it was decided we would head to the nearest shelter. 4511 in the front and 3007 at the back, us four civilians bumped into a lone zombie immediately upon leaving the inn.

Swinging his exosuit sword, 4511 quickly beheaded the suit-wearing zombie, then stepped forward. “Make sure to guard them well, 3007, I’ll take point. Given our distance to the shelter, this shouldn’t require more than five minutes of walking.

Five minutes? Before the disaster happened, probably.

It didn’t take long before we bumped into more zombies. Men, women, old, young, you name it. As if drawn to us like flies to a light, they immediately picked up on our presence and began swarming us.

Yet even when faced with nearly a dozen hobbling zombies charging at us, 4511 maintained a calm, collected demeanour. He pulled out the machine gun secured behind his waist and let loose a barrage of fire in a cone.

A split second later, a veritable light show of blue lasers blasted at the zombie swarm. Accurate, these lasers basically hit a head seventy to eighty percent of the time. As for the other twenty to thirty percent, they ended up hitting a zombie’s limbs or body instead.

In just a few seconds, the zombies were all mowed down without ever coming close to us.

“Woah! That was good shooting!” I couldn’t help but marvel at his efficiency.

“Heheh, no big deal.” 4511 happily agreed.

“Hmph. That’s just his system helping him to aim. Even I can do that…” Hearing her colleague being praised, 3007 couldn’t help but get a little jealous in the process.

But 4511 was quick to rebut. “If the person isn’t good with a gun, even the system can’t help her achieve a perfect accuracy rate.”

“What did you say?!”

I honestly thought they were going to have a go at each other then. However, 4511 did not pay her little tantrum too much attention. He kept quiet and instead focused on leading the way.

Seeing him so reticent, 3007 had no choice but to swallow her temper as well, stewing in her own juices as she covered our back.

I guess we do have a little princess on our hands…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

Chapter 647: Rescue

Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

“Your Highness, perhaps it would be better to arm ourselves first, then consider other plans.” Lixiang quipped, unusually helpful for once with her suggestions.

She was right. The zombies transmitted their virus through wounds and ingestion. Normal people like us would get injured easily if we fought them unarmed and without protection.

“Lixiang’s right. We should procure some weapons for ourselves first.” I wholeheartedly agreed with her suggestion. I had Icy Inferno with me, so I was fine for the most part, but the girls were different.

The ‘Antidote’ sold on the marketplace could cure them, but how could I ever allow my girls to get hurt like that?!

Unlike Lixiang, however, Jiaojiao was of a much timider mindset. “Big brother… I’m scared… can we just stay here instead?”

Not going out… wasn’t possible.

The inn was definitely the safest option right now. But while communications remained shut off, and without knowledge of the outside world, staying in the inn wouldn’t work out in the long term.

Putting aside all other issues for now, the food in the inn wasn’t going to replenish itself, so how long could those stores last?

“It’s okay, Jiaojiao, your big brother will protect you.” I said as I ruffled her long hair. I knew she wasn’t being willful, but rather she was afraid of the zombies, thus I explained our situation to her.

Finally, I ended as such. “If everything were to proceed smoothly, we might even be able to fight our way out of this city.”

Hearing that, she immediately perked up. “You mean we can leave Southern Plains?”

“Of course. Just trust in your big brother, he will get you out safely…” I leaned in and kissed her gently on her forehead, then turned to Bitong and Lixiang. “There’s still your big sisters over here as well, everyone is getting out of this safely, I promise!”

At that, the two girls lowered their heads and shyly nodded, ears slightly red at the corners.

Hmm? Did I say something wrong, why is the mood so strange all of a sudden?

Yet just when I was about to ask, I heard a set of heavy footsteps echo from a distance away. They were familiar… Where have I heard them before?

“Exosuits… those are police exosuits!” Lixiang was the first to react. She ran out of the kitchen and stuck her head out of the nearest window.

Police exosuits? She can distinguish that just from those footsteps? No way.

I did not have long to doubt as Lixiang soon turned around, eyes sparkling with hope and excitement. “It’s the police, they are here!”

The police are here?!

This sudden news seemed to have stimulated the flagging morale of the girls as well. Both Bitong and Jiaojiao immediately jumped to their feet in a most unlady-like fashion and ran as fast as they could to the nearest opening to have a look for themselves.

By now, Lixiang had exited the inn and was waving furiously. “Over here! We are here!”

Bitong was a lot more composed than her, though her face clearly showed her relief and happiness.

Even if there was a zombie apocalypse happening, the fact that basic order was still functioning was a relief.

In actuality, as long as people still had faith in society, it would never collapse. Hope was the key. The true danger was losing sight of hope entirely.

Even though we had lost connection to the web at large, my guess was three hours or so had passed since the zombie outbreak started.

The fact that all civilian communications had been halted meant that this was a planned disaster. The mastermind of all this probably would not have been able to interrupt the military-use airways, so the police and the army should still be functioning.

With trepidation in heart and Icy Inferno in hand, I walked out of the kitchen, just in time to see a stark white contraption walking up to the inn. It was similar to a knight in full plate armor, but it was probably three meters tall and could be easily seen across the restaurant hall.

On the left of its chest was a black insignia with the words, Southern Plains 4511, embossed on it. As the machine walked towards us, it spoke into its communicator, “ 3007, I’ve discovered some survivors in a restaurant. Four in total, all young girls.”

Based on the pilot’s voice, he was most likely a young male, suave, and perhaps almost flippant.

He stood there for a few seconds, probably listening to his colleague’s reply. “In that case, maybe you should meet up with me instead. The inn has already been searched, these are most likely the only survivors.”

Having said that, 4511 hung up on his colleague.

4511 first swept his eyes over the restaurant then finally landed on me. “Hey there, I’m officer number 4511 from the Southern Plains Police Department (SPPD), a pleasure to meet someone as beautiful as you, my lady.”

Bitong boldly stepped in front of the officer and said, “Greetings, officer, could we leave this area first?”

“Mhm, I agree. This area isn’t suitable for ladies such as yourselves.” 4511 pointed at the headless zombies at that point. “Before that however, would you mind me asking what happened to those zombies?”

Throughout all that, 4511 kept his eyes glued to me. Even through his exosuit, I could feel that his gaze wasn’t right… How did I know that? Because I’ve received that look more often recently!

Such a distasteful look! I was clearly packing something down there, so why did I always end up treated like a girl?!

“I was the one who took care of them. Using this.”

I raised Icy Inferno up high at that point. As if in response, it gave out a mist of both red and blue, a typical sign of its dual nature. Mysterious yet beautiful.

“Such a graceful lady. Truly a sight to behold…”

Hey now. Shouldn’t you be saying, beautiful sword, instead? Or at least, impressive skills?

And what do you mean by lady? Do I look like a girl to you? You’re clearly looking at the wrong things here!

“Don’t call me lady. I’m a man!” I forcefully interrupted him and emphasized, “We should leave. Now. There’s no time for idle chat.”

“Oh. Right, right. Once my colleague arrives, we can leave this place.” 4511 immediately answered, as if afraid of displeasing me further. “Definitely. Only a place of fresh flowers and rich wines would fit someone of your beauty.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 646: Deciding on a Path

Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

Having finally sorted out the two feuding girls, I took the lead in scavenging for food in the empty kitchen.

Those that were cooked were naturally edible right away, but those that were raw could only be stowed away in my inventory for later usage.

As I did so, Bitong’s warning about the zombie virus potentially infecting the food stuck in my head. Thus, I decided to seek out System Lady and ask her about a method of detecting the virus.

System Lady, are you there? I need your help.

“No.” The system immediately cut me off with a refusal.

Awkward…

All I wanted to ask was if our kind, generous and oh so big hearted System Lady could help me check if the food has been infected…

“Valued host, you may spend points to scan the food for the virus.”

Don’t be like that. Why is it always about points this, points that. How cold.

“Cold, hard points, you mean.”

…

Sometimes I really wonder if my System Lady is actually even a system at all. Every other system I’ve read about were all like that doting grandmother you had when you were young. Always protecting and looking out for the needs of their hosts. Always warning their hosts about any detected dangers. Even providing an appraisal service so that they can identify their items. You know, stuff like if an object is poisoned or not. Or maybe a map for someone bad with directions, one that will label all the enemies with a big red dot.

As for mine? If it isn’t points, it’s about how she wanted to find another host… heartbreaking… heartbreakingly cold…

Finally fed up with my whining, the system caved in.

“Honestly, using points to scan your food is both cheap and reassuring for your mind. Would you rather spend some meager points, or always worry about whether that carrot you just swallowed would end up biting you in the back?”

Smooth as always when it came to pushing her services, I unfortunately wasn’t going to bite this time…

Yes, but there are also antidotes for sale in the Marketplace. I could just drink those if there’s a problem.

“An antidote will cost you 10 points, and it will only cure the virus within you, not prevent it. Using points to scan your food is a preventive measure, and cheap as well. Besides, isn’t eating zombie food disgusting? Who knows what part of the zombie infected that plate of food.”

That actually makes sense… I don’t even have anything to say to that…

But even if that’s true, it’s not like points grow on trees. Constantly spending points like this is painful on my wallet as well. I still need to buy skills and name slots for the Book of Oaths…

“If that’s the case, our valued host can actually consider buying an appraisal necklace from the Marketplace. As long as the necklace is recharged with spiritual energy, it will help our valued host detect if any object or person nearby has been infected with the virus.”

Wait. Really? How much? I’ll take it!

“50 points. Thank you very much.”

50… that’s expensive…

“Not at all. Think about it, valued host. Spending these 50 points won’t cost you much in the long run, and you can be assured about the quality of our products. What can you even buy with 50 points that can compete with the sheer convenience of checking every object or person nearby for the virus? 50 points is practically a steal. As long as you maintain it well, it will last for eternity. In comparison, those skill cards…

The system continued on and on about how I was making a bad investment choice right now until I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

But I can’t afford it!

As I said that mentally to the system, I gazed at my measly 18 points on the status menu like a crestfallen child looking into a fancy sweets store. Pitiful and helpless… and definitely wanting a treat…

Sigh… I guess I will have to find a way to scrounge up points for the necklace. As for the food, the system will have to check them for now. I might as well have her scan Bitong and the girls too.

In truth, I wasn’t all that afraid of this zombie virus. After all, I had already been bitten once and I was still perfectly fine. But the safety of the girls was paramount. I wouldn’t want them to be infected by some strange virus unknowingly.

Until the situation in the city was confirmed, we should take every precaution possible. Like for example, gathering up more supplies and food; we couldn’t be sure how long we would have to camp out in the city.

Yet if there was something that truly frightened me now, it would be the prospect of encountering more humans. Everyone was a potential zombie in the waiting. They might be fine one moment, then clawing for your brains a moment later.

That necklace was a necessity. For now, spending points on the system to scan others would have to suffice, at least till I slayed more zombies and earned more points.

As for that single name slot… Perhaps now wouldn’t be the best time to mention it… a war might just start because of that… definitely not something I wanted now.

I confirmed the expenditure of 5 points to scan those around me and the food we had gathered. To my relief, all of them checked out clean.

“I’ve just used my system to scan the food -they are safe. We should eat more while we can, and preserve our strength. I doubt we will get many chances like this to rest in the future.”

Because the kitchen was empty except for us and the prepared food, we casually found a clean spot and all sat down together.

However, just outside of the kitchen was a room full of rotting corpses. No one was in a particularly hungry mood; Jiaojiao almost puked a few times while trying to eat…

I looked at the poor girl and couldn’t help but sigh to myself. Honestly, the amount of corpses I had seen today was more than all the other days combined. Let alone Jiaojiao, even I was feeling uncomfortable. Facing hell on earth at the tender age of 11 was truly a tall order for her…

I quickly finished my food and gently reached out for her spoon. As I did that, she had just finished retching again, and her eyes turned red with tears.

I began feeding her while comforting her, and strangely enough, she seemed to be able to keep down the food…

Because my inventory wasn’t able to preserve food, we could only choose food with a long shelf life. Thankfully, its storage space was rather large so that wasn’t even a concern.

I had originally intended to search the kitchen for anything that could also function as a weapon, but I came up short in the end. Kitchen knives were too short, and there was no metal pipe to attach to them as a hilt.

Finally, we left the kitchen and held a simple meeting on our future path.

Right now, the first order of business would be to ascertain what happened outside. Though from what we’ve seen in the inn, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant sight.

Normally, the rational choice would be to seek out a place with survivors and find shelter together. However, this zombie virus made that essentially impossible…

I wiped Jiaojiao’s mouth clean with a paper towel while stating my observation. “The communication airways still seem to be closed. Barring short-range communications, the whole city should be cut off from the outside world.”

Bitong nodded and calmly continued down that train of thought. “I’m sure the surrounding cities and the military should have noticed this abnormality as well. Help should already be on the way. The police in this city aren’t weak either, so I’m sure they are already enacting a countermeasure. Besides, every city has at least a division guarding it. We should be fine on the military front. What we need to do now is survive till help arrives.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 645: Zombie Restaurant

Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

No fighting! I’ll have whoever fights on a plate if they do…

-Mo Ke

Upon confirming that the zombie apocalypse was indeed upon us, our first thought was to scavenge some food in the inn. However, we entered the restaurant only to find a mess of overturned plates, vegetables and furniture.

Nearly twenty zombies were lumbering around the restaurant mindlessly. Of them, there were a mix of both genders, mostly tourists, though some were dressed in the typical white garb of a chef or waiter.

Judging by the time all this happened, it should have been lunch time right as the zombies started appearing. This level of chaos was only to be expected. A number of the zombies had bite marks on them as well. Most likely, they were zombified after death.

Not too long ago, the system had given out my first zombie-related mission. Its reward was a name slot for the Book of Oaths. Using the name slot on one of the girls would allow them to access part of my system as well, turning them into a veritable magical girl.

“Sis, look after Jiaojiao for me. Lixiang, just stay here and be quiet. I’ll go handle these zombies.” Then without waiting for Lixiang to even agree, I gripped down on Icy Inferno and charged into the restaurant.

Even though I might not have my memories, according to Sister Bitong who found me afterwards, I was as strong as the strongest superhuman! And even without actual combat experience, I had more than faced my fair share of monsters in those VR games. If that counted, I was more than a seasoned veteran.

My feet never once slowing down, I smoothly unsheathed Icy Inferno, lopping off a zombie’s head…

While Icy Inferno might still be in its sealed state, that didn’t change the fact that it was an epic-grade weapon with a sharpness to match. Even steel was like butter before my Icy Inferno!

To begin with, my superhuman abilities made me faster and stronger than a normal human. With Uncle Yuexiong’s Martial Sage Arts of Primordial Chaos, my speed was further raised to a new level by my incorporation of spiritual energy.

“Ding! System mission: complete. Reward: name slot for the Book of Oaths.”

In just the span of a couple minutes, over a dozen zombies were all dead to my sword!

However, now wasn’t the time for me to check my rewards. After taking care of the zombies, I promptly returned to the area where the girls were hiding.

“It’s all clear now. Come out.”

Of that I was certain. The zombies’ weakness was their heads. Unless their heads were destroyed, they would always be a threat, even if their mouths were the only part whole…

“Uwah… big brother… that was so scary…” Jiaojiao stepped out from Bitong’s shadow and leapt into my arms with tears in her eyes.

“There, there. It’s alright now.” I gently hugged the little girl, her fragrant scent washing over me in an instant, somewhat blocking out the nauseating smell of zombie blood on me.

Naturally, that was just an innocent hug. Absolutely innocent hug…

According to what we knew so far, this zombie outbreak was caused by some genetic serum, and it was said to be extremely popular as well. In other words, the city was probably crawling with these zombies right now. And based on what we saw in our room, this zombification wasn’t instant and could lay dormant, undetected.

While I was comforting Jiaojiao, Bitong and Lixiang took the opportunity to come over, slightly shaken by the idea of real combat. Even though everyone here had faced a zombie apocalypse in the VR world, actually facing it in real life was different. There was no revive button here.

“Let’s get something to eat for now. We can also scavenge some food at the same time.” Sword still in hand, I held Jiaojiao’s shivering hand tightly then led everyone towards the kitchen.

With every step we took, Jiaojiao would press in tight, feet trembling and eyes glued to every zombie corpse we passed by, as if afraid one of them might just suddenly jump up and bite her.

Even now, the girl was still terrified. I could only grip her hands tighter to reassure her quickly. “Don’t be scared. This area is safe now. Everything is going to be fine with your big brother here.”

By now, we had reached the door of the kitchen, and could peer clearly into the insides.

There were no zombies at all. The room itself seemed clean even.

In all likelihood, the kitchen staff had rushed out when they heard the commotion in the restaurant… Then things went to hell.

“Other than the Gene Enhancement Serum, the rest of the food should be safe.” I said as I picked up a nearby plate of pancakes and gave them a sniff. Because of the time that had passed, there wasn’t that freshly fried scent as one would expect.

“Ke! Maybe we shouldn’t eat them yet, how about testing them first?” Bitong quickly stepped in when she saw me put the plate up to my nose. Worried, she activated her electronic implant and scanned the plate itself.

The results were inconclusive…

To begin with, the zombie virus was probably magical in nature, else the electronic implants on everyone else would have picked it up already, and the whole outbreak could have been prevented.

Lixiang seemed to agree as well.

“Hmph, as if some fancy gadget could ever hope to pierce the veil of the arcane so easily…” Ever ready to throw Bitong under the bus, she swiftly grabbed at this opportunity to make fun of Bitong’s attempts.

“Well then. Since you’re some sort of magical girl, how about you tell us how to check the food?”

“A method… I … Of course I have one.” Unwilling to back down in front of her rival, she finally said that after rubbing her neck a little. Yet that bravado did not last long. “It’s just… I still have a seal placed on me…”

“So you can’t then?” Bitong sneered.

“Hmph! Who says I can’t do it?” Livid and face completely red, she shot back. “Just not right now. In the future… Once I get my seal unlocked, I will show you what’s what!”

“No need for that, we can do it now.”

“All right. That’s enough out of you two! No more fighting, you hear me?” I quickly stepped in when I saw that their argument was only growing more heated by the second.

Because of our situation, my words were a little harsher than usual. Even I was a little surprised and apprehensive about what I just did. I wasn’t afraid of Lixiang or anything, I was just scared that Bitong might just lose her temper…

Thankfully, the two girls stopped arguing when they saw the look on my face.

Sigh…why can’t they just be a little more united? I don’t care if they argue, but won’t they look at the situation first? The world is ending, for crying out loud!

Shameless Self-promotion