Eric shook his head. "Have you forgotten that Jasper fainted? It was not out of shock… I guess, partly, but you will faint in the process of evolving. Of course, I am confident I will not faint, but I just wanted to say that there is a best time for evolution. Furthermore, to prepare for the next evolution, you have to completely assimilate the energy inside your body, or the foreign energy will continue to accumulate, causing you to mutate."
Eric was silent for a while and added, "That is why, I left the Evolution Crystals to the girls. Don't worry, they don't know about it."
Andrew nodded.
Eric caught on his peripheral vision that Nicholas and Axel had recovered and was now staring at him in disbelief. Eric turned to them and said with a smile, "Now, do you want to follow me?"
Nicholas and Axel looked at each other and lowered their heads. Axel's forehead was still aching in pain, and so was Nicholas. It was a reminder to them not to underestimate another individual–more like, don't judge the book by its cover.
Axel said, "I don't mind following you. Just that, we want to fight zombies, too. I just wanted to take the lead."
Nicholas followed, "I'm just a bit skeptical of Andrew's narration. However, now that I see it in my own eyes… experience it even, I am willing to follow you."
Eric nodded. "Well, if you follow me, I'll teach you how to evolve and continue to fight zombies. Of course, you can form your own squad to lead. By then, you will know how difficult it is to be a leader."
Eric could not help reminiscent on his past.
The boys stared at him in a daze, having different reactions. Nevertheless, since it was almost evening, they knew they had to move to another house now.
Leonel said, "I think everyone now acknowledges that you are more suitable to lead since you know a lot about the world than us. Since it is almost evening, I will now pack my things, including the food and water jugs, so we can move out."
Eric nodded.
"Just know your limits. If you think you can't carry it for less than a kilometer, don't force yourself. Ask us for help."
Leonel's eyes gleamed with gratitude and nodded with an appreciative smile. "I will take note of it. Thank you."
He turned around and entered the house, followed by Nicholas and Axel.
Jasper and Andrew were left, and Eric stared at the former.
"Do you still need something?"
Although Jasper was still incensed by what Eric had done to him, he knew that further blaming him would do nothing. Hence, he had to move on and share what was on his mind ever since he woke up and realized they were now in the apocalyptic world.
He discussed it with Andrew earlier, so it was better to share it now with Eric.
"Me and Andrew discussed the possible blackout and its consequences. Hence, we realized that we still need electricity. We have discovered that only you have a personal computer. Can you allow us to use your computer so we can create a portable power generator?"
Eric said, "It will be useless to me anyway, so I will allow you. By the way, the energy in the Evolution Crystal can be an excellent electric generator."
Andrew and Jasper were taken aback.
Andrew, an aspiring electrical engineer, immediately asked, "How do you know?"
Eric pondered for a while and replied, "Because the energy in the Evolution Crystal is a universal element. Just like what I said earlier, the energy inside Jasper has metal affinity with it, that is only possible after evolution. After all, the energy changed to adapt to the affinity with the owner."
"So, what you are saying is…" Andrew ruminated for some time and continued, "The energy inside the Evolution Crystal is flexible enough it can be altered just so it could blend?"
"You explain it better." Eric nodded.
"Amazing…" Andrew was in awe. "So, what do you call this energy? I don't believe there is an element in the periodic table with similar properties like this."
Eric shrugged. "You and I don't have to name it. It's just that, it is an energy that was crystallized. Hence, it is called Evolution Crystal."
"So you still named it."
"Whatever."
Andrew said in an excited tone, "Thank you for this valuable information. I will research more about this."
Eric nodded in satisfaction. "You can collaborate more with Jasper, that is, if you want to produce something."
Jasper replied, "I will let him be if he wants to research on the energy fully."
Eric nodded, not minding his words. "If that is all, we must move now. It is almost evening."
Although, there was not much difference if they moved at night or now, Eric still wanted to settle everything as early as possible. After all, he still has a mission to complete.
I really have to exercise. He shrugged.
Despite battling zombies for hours, his attribute points only increased by a minor grade. He calculated it would be faster to increase his attribute points by completing the mission.
He sighed helplessly and turned around, following Andrew and Jasper to pack his clothes and help them carry the food and water jugs.
…
After almost half an hour has passed, they now gathered outside the door, packing things as though they were on vacation.
Eric saw there were too many bags they carried, most of them were clothes, rather than food ration. Furthermore, there were three five gallon water jugs, too. As for the water container…
Most of them were for washing clothes. Thankfully, there were four water buckets that were used for showers–only that, it did not have a lid.
After judging their situation for a while, he asked, "Do you all believe you can carry that? We don't have to transfer everything, we can still come back here. The most important thing is to secure the food and water as much as possible."
Everyone scratched their heads awkwardly.
Eric sighed. "We will leave the water buckets for now. Although it would be wasteful for the water to be contaminated, it will not be drinkable anyway once we travel it outside. As for the water jugs…"
Eric pondered for a while before he continued, "Axel, Jasper, and Leonel will each carry five gallon water jugs. I can carry two buckets, while the remaining two will be carried each by Andrew and Nicholas.
Andrew and Nicholas will also carry the food ration bag."
All the food ration was stored in the travel bag, so it could be carried by two people. Eric's arrangement was just perfect for them.