Veldora said with a smile.

Obviously, this was his way of bullying him.

He liked to tease Zaza, who could not eat.

“Stop this at once! In the first place, problems always seem to arise whenever you start cooking! It’s almost as if that grill is cursed!”

“How rude! I had this grill prepared for making snacks. It is by no means a haunted item!!”

“That’s right, Zaza. Master’s grill is a normal grill. But then again, saying that could raise a flag!”

“Kahahaha! Don’t say that, Ramiris. What will you do if something really does happen?”

“That’s true, master. I will be careful!”

“Yes! You should do that.”

Zaza couldn’t stay angry while these two talked.

He finally regained his calm and asked the biggest question that was on his mind.

“This is such a dirty place. How did you even…”

Zaza said that much before suddenly freezing.

He had been so angry that it had escaped him at first, but he now realized that the sight before him was incredibly strange.

After separating with Mich.e.l.le, they had gone down an underground pa.s.sage that led to the surface.

This was so they could head to a different hideout that Mich.e.l.le had prepared for them.

As they were nearly one thousand people in all, progress was slow.

And the journey would have been hard even without factoring that in.

This was because they had to gather protective suits that were left at different bases along the underground pa.s.sage, and everyone had to wear them.

They were like astronaut suits in structure, and supplied the wearer with enough nutrition and water to survive for a week without taking them off.

But while there was some mechanical aid, the suit was still heavy and a burden on the wearer.

It was one thing for adults to wear them, but it was very hard for children.

After some time, there were some people who started to get sick, and so it had become necessary to stop and rest…

You couldn’t even eat with the suits on.

While they did offer nutrition, that just meant drinking liquid food from a straw.

You could not eat the meat that Veldora was cooking unless you removed the suit.

And this was the surface.

The atmosphere was polluted by radiation and toxic gases.

Taking the suits off here was the same thing as comitting suicide. Only a crazy person would start cooking meat here.

And yet…

Right in front of Zaza’s eyes.

Children were happily eating cooked meat and vegetables.

(What the h.e.l.l is happening?)

Zaza could only watch in shock.

“While it may be hard to believe, Zaza. This area here isn’t polluted for some reason…”

Karman, who was also part of the rear guard and also very surprised, said as he reported the substance a.n.a.lysis results.

In surprise, Zaza asked Rindo, the captain of the advance team.

“Ri-Rindo! What’s going on here?”

“Ah, this. It really tastes amazing!”

“You idiot! That’s not what I was asking!!”

“Haha. Mister Zaza. I am only joking. Well, Mister Veldora suddenly said, ‘If we’re going to have a picnic, let’s make it a barbecue! The weathers great for it!’”

“So it was him after all?!”

“Yes. But I thought it was odd that he would say that about the weather…”

Just then, Zaza realized that it was oddly bright around where they were.

As his vision was seen through mechanical eyes, it had taken him a while to notice it.

But in fact, the place was filled with a light he had not seen in years. In other words, it was sunlight that shone down on them.

“…Can it be…the sun?”

Zaza looked up in surprise.

There was a light that shone so bright that it was blinding.

It was the sun.

The sun should have been covered by thick clouds, but now it was showing its face.

The truth was that Veldora had used his power to blow away the clouds and purify the atmosphere in this area.

After that, he had used ‘Probability Manipulation’ to adjust things so that more pollutants wouldn’t fly towards them.

It was an incredible thing to do so casually, but only Ramiris and Beretta knew of it.

“I can’t believe it. The sun!?”

“The environment here is not normal…and…”

Zaza was stunned.

However, Rindo spoke to him calmly.

“There’s no point in thinking about it. According to Mister Veldora, ‘We’re lucky. Such a thing can happen with enough amazing ‘probabilities’ overlapping!’”

He had said it with a smile.

(That’s ridiculous!!)

Zaza screamed inwardly.

However, the reality was that this place was safe, and everyone had taken their suits off and were enjoying the barbecue.

As Rindo said, it was stupid to worry so much about it.

And so Zaza returned to Veldora.

With no purpose in particular, he sat down on a rock and watched Veldora work.

He looked so happy as he cooked the meat–which had unknown origins—on his trusty grill.

Karman came to down to sit next to Zaza and then offered him one of his cigars.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Zaza, I’ve been thinking. That guy is probably a lot greater than we’ve a.s.sumed.”

“Aye. I think so too. I don’t want to admit it, but his boundless cheerfulness has saved us. However, it pains me to see things that way. After all, he’s also quite the troublemaker…”

“That’s true. Even when General Mich.e.l.le came, he started frying pancakes on his grill.”

“Right? And this meat. Where did he get it from? The more I think about him, the more mysterious he seems. I don’t even know how to talk to him anymore.”

“Hahaha. But he doesn’t seem like a bad fellow. However, uh, ‘flags’, was it? I would not be surprised if something happens again.”

“Hey-hey, stop that Karman. Everyone’s out here without their suits on. We wouldn’t be able to deal with any trouble.”

It was just as Zaza had finished saying this.

Karman’s expression froze on his face.

“Hey-hey, stop it. Do you think this is funny?”

Zaza laughed as he slapped Karman on the shoulder. Then he followed his eyes–and saw it.

That thing that should have been in the world of the underground.

The thing with paranormal abilities, mankind’s enemy.

It was called—the Super Beast.

“I told you this would happen!! That grill is cursed!!”

Zaza’s scream thundered.

And with that, the sudden arrival of the beast turned the scene into one of chaos and fear.