A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1438 - 975: Stealing Home?

Chapter 1438: Chapter 975: Stealing Home?

Cleaning up the streets wasn’t exactly an easy task. Everyone had been at it for the entire morning and was exhausted, so they decided to find a nearby restaurant to sit down and have lunch—of course, there wasn’t a single living soul in the place, no staff to serve them either, but hey, isn’t the whole point the atmosphere?

Sitting at a proper table in a restaurant is a completely different experience compared to eating in the rubble outside, right?

"Hey, check this out, I found a bottle of brandy!"

Aiden, true to his Wanderer nature, wandered around the restaurant without saying much and somehow managed to dig up an unopened bottle of brandy from the kitchen. With a grin on his face, he went to have a drink with Joel—hey, adults need their fun too, don’t they?

Duanmu Huai wasn’t interested in such things. He took a stroll around and ended up at the bar outside, where he lit a fire and started grilling meat for a DIY feast. After all, he was always well-prepared, with a stash of items in his inventory that often overflowed. And let’s not forget, he had the Mage’s Mansion, his ultimate trump card, so he never had to worry about provisions.

The aroma of charcoal-grilled steak filled the air, making everyone else drool uncontrollably—then they looked at the compressed biscuits in their hands.

Is this even edible?

"Come on, take a piece each. There’s plenty more."

Duanmu Huai noticed the envious glances directed his way and chuckled warmly, breaking the steak into portions. The others, upon hearing this, instantly swarmed around like a group of students rushing to the cafeteria after class, gleefully grabbing steak to eat while drinking merrily.

"Uh, is it really okay for us to be doing this?"

While eating his steak, Komuro Takashi couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

"What if we attract zombies?"

"Don’t worry about it."

Duanmu Huai waved dismissively.

"Ogis and Gavi are keeping watch outside. Those zombies won’t get near us."

"But... aren’t they still just kids?"

Miyamoto Rei frowned slightly. At least from appearances, Ogis and Gavi seemed to be around the same age as Hillary Alice and the others—just young girls in their early teens. Until now, they had mostly been perched on Duanmu Huai’s shoulders without much action, so everyone assumed the two girls had no real combat ability. From their perspective, Ogis and Gavi sat on Duanmu’s shoulders purely for safety reasons.

They never considered the possibility that these two could fight as fiercely as Duanmu Huai himself.

"They’re not ordinary kids... In any case, just wait and see. If they were to get serious, clearing out the zombies in this entire city wouldn’t be an issue."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai glanced outside. The pair of sisters were seated at a table just outside the restaurant, lazily surveying their surroundings. Ogis maintained her usual silence, while Gavi, true to form, couldn’t stop chattering...

Well, they seem to be getting along okay now.

Watching them, Duanmu Huai nodded approvingly while munching on his steak. He recalled how things had been back in the Holy City, when Gavi tried to claim some title like "The Perfect Puppet" and had declared all-out war on Ogis, shouting things like "It’s either her or me!" Back then, who could’ve imagined that this quarrelsome girl would end up as today’s motor-mouthed chatterbox?

Duanmu Huai scratched his head. Since taking care of Gavi, he had come to realize how much trouble twins could be. Technically speaking, Gavi’s abilities and combat strength were on par with Ogis. Both of them controlled puppets with strings during battle. But, apparently due to some stubborn sense of pride, Gavi absolutely refused to adopt the same fighting style as Ogis.

And thus began the chaos.

Duanmu Huai had selected a variety of weapons for Gavi, but she rejected each one, insisting she had to use something her elder sister didn’t. Evidently, Gavi was determined to compete with Ogis, no matter what it took.

It was the first time Duanmu truly experienced what raising a pair of twins was like. Gavi didn’t want to look identical to Ogis in every way—no, she wanted to be the exact opposite.

Take their outfits, for example. Ogis wore a black Victorian-style dress, so Gavi donned an all-white one. Ogis carried a black parasol, so Gavi countered with a white one. Ah, the incomprehensible rivalry between twins—Duanmu Huai just let them have at it.

At least it made them a bit cuter.

Even if, strictly speaking, these two weren’t crafted by the same "father."

After all, Duanmu Huai had noticed that, despite her stoic demeanor, his little "darling" seemed to secretly compete with Gavi as well. For instance, Ogis didn’t always wear a full black outfit before. But ever since Gavi showed up, Ogis hadn’t worn anything but that black dress.

Turns out, this elder sister has quite the competitive streak.

Eventually, Gavi did find her own combat style to differentiate herself from Ogis, and that style was...

"Bang!!"

A gunshot rang out. Duanmu Huai raised his head and looked out the window, spotting Gavi hugging a sniper rifle taller than herself. She giggled mischievously as she lined up a target in the distance and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!!!"

"Hahaha, got another one! Their heads burst like watermelons—hilarious!"

Hearing Gavi’s manic laughter, Duanmu Huai’s eye twitched slightly. He quietly chose to stay silent. Yep, in the end, Gavi decided to specialize in ranged combat!

Honestly, this choice turned out to be a blessing for Duanmu Huai. Most of the people around him were skilled in melee or mid-range attacks, but he lacked a dedicated long-range sniper. There were plenty of moments when having a reliable ranged ally would have been a game-changer. So, upon learning this, Gavi volunteered herself as the team’s sniper.