Caleb relaxed and leaned back in the car's backseat, closing his eyes and reflecting on everything that had happened.
After giving their statements, Caleb, Miku, and Yor said goodbye, mainly to Carol, and left.
It was precisely thanks to Carol that everything went quickly, though it was tiring.
He heard that Minoru was in critical condition and was in the emergency room undergoing surgery.
There were several life-threatening risks, and even if he survived, there was a chance he'd become a vegetable or demented.
The fact was, an attack like that to the head was very serious.
And even though he was attended to quickly, he remained in that state for a long time.
Whether he survived or not mattered little to Caleb.
Live or die, it didn't interest him.
He even felt strange, since he had almost killed someone but didn't feel the slightest bit bad.
'I'm colder than I thought.' Caleb thought.
Well, if he were a good person, he wouldn't have given an aphrodisiac to Ai and Miku in the first place.
He didn't want to paint himself as a 'nice guy' nor did he want to be one.
Those who offended him needed to pay the price.
With this new resolution about himself, Caleb felt even lighter.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
Caleb arrived home. After a good shower and changing clothes, he felt more comfortable.
Marin was still asleep when he got back.
His mind was thinking about a million things.
The main point was getting supplies.
Caleb put a set of Marin's father's clothes in his inventory.
It was an old set that her father no longer used.
After doing that, he left the house, leaving a note on the nightstand beside Marin's bed.
…
In an alley near a supermarket, Caleb changed clothes, putting the ones he was wearing into his inventory.
Once done, he bought a Facial Mask and changed his appearance to Makoto, the boy who had shouted, "Why hasn't this guy died yet?" at the party.
'I know it's easy to prove your innocence, but that takes at least days, and by then, the apocalypse would already have arrived.' Caleb thought.
The moment his appearance changed, he started running.
He was fast, even faster than a scooter, and could run even faster but held back.
Entering the supermarket, he went to the processed food aisle and started touching things, sending everything to his inventory.
At first, he caused confusion, but when people noticed the items disappearing, their mouths dropped open.
The only reason they didn't scream was because they thought there might be hidden cameras and that this was part of some low-budget movie using a public setting.
But when he jumped and touched the shelves, making an entire shelf disappear… that left several people in shock.
"Thief!" Someone shouted.
But how could they explain this theft? A boy, at most 20 years old, simply touched things and made them vanish.
It was something no one had ever experienced before.
Without stopping, Caleb, who saw he could put an entire supermarket shelf with merchandise directly into his inventory, simply didn't stop.
He ran faster than the security guards who started chasing him, dodging those who tried to surround him, touching more shelves, sending everything to his inventory.
"Hahahaha! You won't catch me, I, Makoto, claim all this for myself!" At some point, Caleb started having fun and shouted that he was Makoto, as if he was afraid they wouldn't know who he was.
Though many thought he was a lunatic with some strange ability and very fast, what could they do?
Not even 30 minutes later, the market was cleaned out by him!
Siren!
When he heard a siren, Caleb was already outside the supermarket and shouted loudly: "Hasta la vista, Sucker!!"
In the next instant, he increased his running speed fourfold.
Now, he was almost as fast as a car, and after passing through an alley, he zigzagged, soon increasing to six times faster and entered a building when he no longer heard sirens.
Changing clothes at the stairwell, the mask's effect hadn't worn off yet, but he canceled it through Tinkerbell.
'Hahaha, that was satisfying.' He laughed heartily in his mind while leaving the building with his hands behind his head.
Tinkerbell, flying around him, laughed while putting her hand in front of her mouth: [Hehe, Master, you're so bad~ Tinkerbell likes that~]
'Hahaha, didn't you help me too?' Caleb replied.
[You're right, Hahaha!]
The two laughed as they headed back home.
Now, in his inventory, he had enough food to last for years.
But he wasn't satisfied with just that.
He was greedy.
However, a good portion of the inventory was now occupied.
But he couldn't assume that everyone at supermarkets was stupid and wouldn't think to lock the doors, trapping him inside.
Though it wouldn't make a difference, since he could easily break the glass with his hands. Even concrete walls weren't impossible.
'I'll have Marin store these things, and I'll act again tomorrow.' He thought with a small smile.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
The next morning, Caleb was woken up in the best possible way.
Marin looked at him without stopping what she was doing.
That seductive look of hers while she sucked on the 'lollipop' was indescribable.
Pushing her hair to the side, she kept licking until Caleb couldn't take it anymore and poured all the milk into her mouth.
Sitting up in bed, Caleb saw Marin lift her head, swallow all the milk, and with a smile, she said: "Good morning, sleepyhead~"
"Is this your way of getting revenge for me calling you a sleepyhead before? If so… you're always welcome to do this every morning~" Caleb said cheerfully.
"I'll think about your case~" Marin neither denied nor confirmed.
…
After breakfast, Caleb said: "We need to talk."
Seeing him act so seriously, Marin stopped messing with her phone and looked at him.
Caleb then slowly told her about the apocalypse that would start on Monday.
"I need to call my dad!" She stood up urgently with an extremely worried expression.
"Sigh, it's no use." Caleb said: "I also thought about warning him, but without knowing what we know, do you think he'd believe it?"
"But, but…" Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Calm down first. He's in another city; even if you wanted to convince him, it'd be impossible without being there in person." Caleb said.
"Let's go to him then!" She slammed her hands on the table, determined.
"I have a better idea, but… well, it doesn't matter." Caleb said: "Though it's more costly, Uncle has always been really good to me. I want him to survive."
"What's that?" Marin asked.
"Health Potion." Caleb didn't hide… not completely: "I plan to send one to him urgently. I've already arranged for it to happen, and let's just say that producing it cost at least triple the value."
Yes, it's possible to buy items to work for other people, Tinkerbell revealed after much effort from Caleb.
However, the cost to buy items for use by people not related to the system in some way, whether conquered women or himself, would cost triple the value. In other words, the Health Potion that cost 200 would cost 600 points.
If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be willing to spend those points, but his uncle was different.
Not only did he take him in when he lost his parents, but he was always very kind and treated him like a son.
"Thank you, Caleb, thank you!" Hugging him, Marin felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
She understood better than anyone how magical this potion was. She even tested her strength and knew she had become stronger than an adult man.
Jokingly, she even imagined herself beating the current wrestling champion and giving interviews, receiving awards, etc.
"But would Dad drink it?" That's what Marin was worried about.
"Of course he will." Caleb said: "I'll call him on a video call through the laptop, and we'll make him drink it in front of us."
"He'll be furious, but it doesn't matter." Thinking about the pain it brings, Marin felt a shiver down her spine, but even knowing her father would have to go through similar pain, as long as he gained the strength to survive the apocalypse, she was willing to hear as many complaints as her father wanted to give afterward.
And, as promised, Caleb bought and sent the Health Potion to Marin's father.
The delivery was scheduled to arrive the same day, in the evening.
He had to pay 10 times the normal delivery fee, but it didn't matter. Money would soon become useless.
"After Dad takes the Health Potion, he'll believe us." She said.
"Yes, he will." Caleb agreed.
Even in the worst-case scenario, if he didn't believe and stayed in another city, at least he'd have superhuman strength and could defend himself against zombies as long as he wasn't foolish.