chapter 11:I Became Abigail and Started Making Trouble in the multiverse

A military Humvee was driving down the empty street. 

Strangely, not a single zombie could be seen as they drove. Even the planes that had been flying everywhere earlier had disappeared. There were no survivors in sight either. It was as if the main characters were suddenly the only people left in the world.

However, this didn't last long.

"Zombies spotted! 300 meters ahead on the right!" Hirano Kohta called out. 

Everyone was relieved to finally see zombies again. Truthfully, no one wanted to encounter these living corpses, but it was unavoidable.

"Turn right," Takagi Saya quickly instructed as zombies blocked their path ahead. 

Although the zombies weren't very dense, there was no need to take unnecessary risks. However, after turning right, they encountered another group of zombies.

"Damn, there are zombies this way too. Should we turn again?" Qi Zhou asked, glancing at Takagi Saya.

"Turn left at that intersection up ahead," Saya directed urgently.

But after turning, they were once again faced with a horde of zombies blocking the road. Worse yet, there was nowhere else to turn.

"To hell with this!" Qi Zhou swore and slammed on the accelerator. 

The Humvee's tires screeched as it surged forward. A series of thuds rang out as zombies were mowed down by the vehicle.

"Ha! Take that, you bastards!" Qi Zhou yelled triumphantly. 

"Qi Zhou, slow down! There's a wire fence ahead!" Ding Muyu shouted. She had been watching the road carefully, remembering this was a key plot point. Sure enough, she spotted a wire fence behind the zombie horde.

However, Ding Muyu had underestimated their current speed. Even though Qi Zhou immediately tried to turn, the blood on the ground acted like lubricant, causing the Humvee to slide straight into the wire fence.

With a sound like snapping guitar strings, the Humvee finally came to a stop.

The others in the vehicle breathed sighs of relief, but Ding Muyu's face fell. They were in trouble.

"Everyone, now's not the time to relax. We just accidentally broke through someone's wire fence meant to keep out zombies. What should we do?" Ding Muyu asked gravely.

"What do you mean, Ding?" Busujima Saeko inquired.

"I just checked - there don't seem to be any zombies inside the fenced area. The fence was likely set up to keep zombies out. But we've broken through it, which means zombies can now enter this area. If the people inside don't realize what's happened, many lives could be lost," Ding Muyu explained.

A heavy silence fell over the group as they absorbed this information.

"Maybe we should drive in quickly and warn the people inside," Miyamoto Rei suggested.

"But we don't know what the situation is like in there," Takagi Saya pointed out.

"We can't just leave things like this. This is our fault - we have to take responsibility," Komuro Takashi declared.

"What do you propose we do, Komuro?" Saeko asked.

"I say we just kill all these zombies. Then there won't be a problem," Qi Zhou interjected, turning to face the others.

"You're the one who caused this mess in the first place!" Saya snapped at him irritably.

"I know, that's why I'm trying to fix it," Qi Zhou replied. He opened the car door and stepped out, raising his shotgun and firing.

"Qi, don't be rash!" someone called, but Qi Zhou had already begun his attack. The others quickly exited the vehicle as well.

"Takagi, you and Rei go inside to find people and warn them about what's happened. We'll hold off the zombies here," Komuro instructed Saya after they got out.

"But what about you guys?" Saya asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about us. We'll run if we have to," Komuro assured her before turning to face the oncoming zombies.

"Let's go, Takagi. Have faith in them," Rei said, opening a side gate.

Saya took one last look at the others before following Rei. "Wait for me," she called back to them.

Gunshots rang out as Hirano fired from the roof of the Humvee. Inside the vehicle, Alice cowered in fear, covering her ears. Abigail held her, trying to comfort the frightened child. Seeing Alice's state, Abigail considered simply eliminating all the zombies herself, but decided against it. Everything was building towards the final climax.

Looking out the window, Abigail had to admit the main characters and other travelers were impressive. Zombies fell one after another. But this couldn't last forever - humans would eventually tire while the zombies kept coming. Soon they'd likely have to abandon this position and flee.

Of course, Abigail had no doubt they would retreat when necessary. Even the overly kind Komuro knew when to cut their losses.

Perhaps it was time to set the final act in motion? Abigail had planned to cause more trouble involving Komuro, Rei and Shido, but plans change. Maybe it was time for the boss to make an appearance.

Suddenly, the gunfire from the roof ceased.

"I'm out of ammo," Hirano called down. He had used up all his spare magazines as well.

"Does anyone have more of these magazines?" he asked the people inside the Humvee. At this point, only the two children and Marikawa Shizuka, who was ready to drive at a moment's notice, remained inside.

"Do you need these?" Abigail crawled over to a backpack and pulled out two magazines, handing them up to Hirano.

"Thank you, Abi-chan," Hirano said gratefully as he took them.

Alice then came over with two more magazines. "I want to help too," she told Abigail.

"What a brave, strong girl you are! I'll have to give you a special gift," Abigail praised her.

"What kind of gift?" Alice asked curiously.

"It's a secret," Abigail replied with a wink.

Outside, the battle raged on. But as Abigail had predicted, the group was slowing down in clearing the zombies.

"Everyone, we need to give up and leave!" Komuro shouted, seeing the endless horde of zombies while feeling his own fatigue.

"Looks like we have no choice," someone agreed reluctantly.

But just then, Saya's voice rang out: "Everyone, I've brought help!"

---

A day had passed since reuniting with Takagi Saya's family. During that time, everyone had a chance to rest and recuperate. They enjoyed a peaceful, safe day that almost felt like life before the disaster. As for the issue of Ding Muyu and the other travelers' identities, they had already warned the main characters before entering the Takagi estate, so no unnecessary complications arose.

The group of travelers, including Abigail, gathered in a small room.

"Everyone, we've reached the final stage. The mission will likely end once we leave the Takagi estate," Ding Muyu addressed the others from her seat on the bed.

"It's finally ending? We can finally leave this godforsaken world? Though I still don't understand what the hell this 'Main God' thing is all about," Qi Zhou remarked.

"Qi Zhou, in the Main God space, worlds like this are child's play. Even that giant monster we saw earlier wouldn't be a big deal there," Jing Tianhua chimed in.

"How long are you going to keep kissing ass?" Ding Muyu retorted, exasperated by Jing Tianhua's behavior.

Jing Tianhua was standing next to Abigail, dressed in a butler's uniform he had acquired from somewhere. He certainly looked the part.

"Anyway, let's focus on the matter at hand," Ding Muyu continued with a sigh. "According to the original plot, we need to wait one more day until the defenses outside the Takagi estate are breached. Then we can leave with Komuro and the others. Once that happens, the storyline ends and we complete our mission."

"Sounds like everything's settled then," Qi Zhou commented.

"Not quite. I'm concerned about the monster Jing Tianhua mentioned earlier," Ding Muyu replied.

"What about it?" Qi Zhou asked curiously.

"In the original story, no special zombies appeared before the plot ended. But we've seen that huge monster. I suspect it might be something the Main God introduced," Ding Muyu shared her theory, surprising even Abigail with her deduction.

"But what does that matter? The monster's been dealt with. We don't need to worry about it anymore," Jing Tianhua said dismissively.

"Are we sure it's really been dealt with?" Ding Muyu questioned.

The others quickly grasped her meaning.

"It must have been killed, right? Otherwise it would have caught up to us by now," Jing Tianhua said uncertainly.

Abigail sipped her tea, thinking to herself: *If only you knew. Not only is the Flesh Mountain alive, it's preparing for its next appearance.*

"Can you be certain? Besides, if the Main God could create one such monster, who's to say there aren't more?" Ding Muyu argued.

"No way. This is just the beginner level. We don't even have any veterans with us. It can't be that difficult," Jing Tianhua protested.

"Don't get worked up. It's just a theory. But I think there's a good chance we'll face that creature again in the final moments. And at that point, escaping may not be an option," Ding Muyu explained.

"If we can't escape, we'll just have to kill the damn thing. No big deal," Qi Zhou declared nonchalantly.

"You really are a brute," Jing Tianhua scoffed.

"Jing Tianhua, Qi Zhou is right. We need to eliminate this creature," Ding Muyu stated.

"Wait, you can't be serious. How do you plan to deal with that thing? We're not near any rivers," Jing Tianhua said in disbelief.

"You coward. Are you really that scared of this thing? Worst case, we die. So what? In 18 years I'll be a new man," Qi Zhou taunted.

"You're just a reckless fool. I finally have this opportunity - I don't want to throw my life away," Jing Tianhua retorted.

"Enough. We're not going to face the monster head-on. We're human - we need to use this," Ding Muyu said, tapping her forehead.

"Fine, you're the smart one. Tell us what we should do," Jing Tianhua conceded.

"Yeah, I'll listen to your plan," Qi Zhou agreed.

"Actually, it's quite simple..." Ding Muyu began outlining her strategy. She was indeed clever - if everything went according to plan, they had a good chance of defeating the Flesh Mountain.

But would things really go smoothly? A certain mischievous individual thought not.

"Alright, we'll do it your way," Jing Tianhua said once Ding Muyu finished explaining.

"So I guess our next step is to talk to Takagi Saya's family?" he asked.

"Yes, but that can wait. There's one more thing we need to discuss," Ding Muyu replied.

"What's that?" Qi Zhou inquired.

"How we make our exit," Ding Muyu answered.

"What do you mean?" Jing Tianhua asked, confused.

"Right now we're undoubtedly part of the main group. But once this part of the story ends, we'll be leaving. Ideally, we'll defeat the monster. But we have to consider the possibility of failure, in which case we'd rely on completing the mission to be retrieved by the Main God. So we can't let the main characters stay with us - they need to continue the plot. Which means..."

Ding Muyu turned her gaze to Abigail.

Noticing Ding Muyu's look, Abigail wondered if she had some task for her as well.

Indeed, Ding Muyu addressed her: "Abi, big sister has a favor to ask. Can you help me?"

"Of course! What is it, big sister?" Abigail replied with a bright smile.

"Tomorrow, when Komuro and the others are about to leave, I need you to tell them that we have some other business to take care of, so we won't be going with them. And make sure to tell them not to come looking for us. Can you do that?"