Bonus – Visit to the Unknown – 13 Moving House, And A Guest

The party moved along very comfortably.

Traveling by bus was so comfortable that many of them wondered why they had been made to suffer so much up until now.

First, there was air conditioning.

And they no longer had to wear the hot protection suits and could sit on cushioned chairs.

Everyone was smiling.

The harsh march of yesterday seemed so unnecessary now. Zaza almost wanted to complain.

No, this was no time to complain about anything. But with such luxury before them now, it was hard not to think about it.

Zaza was not used to such things happening, and so he was slow to adapt, unlike the children.

But then again, he had believed Rindo to be much like himself, and yet Rindo had become fully occupied in driving the bus and appeared to be enjoying it very much.

“Ahahaha! This is amazing!!”

It was almost as if he were a different person.

(Rindo. I never would have expected this from you…)

Zaza muttered.

Still, he could not complain.

After all, he had been driving for quite a while now, and so this much could be overlooked.

The other bus drivers were probably doing the same thing.

He believed this because they were all following the lead bus very closely.

And the children were really enjoying this too.

Barren, cold wasteland spread out before them on the other side of the windows. It wasn’t the kind of scene that made you happy.

However, Rindo was driving in a way that would entertain them. He drove at breakneck speed, showing off his driving skills as the vehicle just barely avoided being hit by boulders.

Instead of honking, he would use the Pulse Gun to smash boulders that were in the way.

The Pulse Gun was the only weapon that remained after the others were removed. However, it was ridiculously powerful.

Even on such rough terrain, he was able to main an average speed of 80km/h, and it handled better than any small vehicle.

It could even float in the air for a short duration, which made it seem more advanced than the tanks used by the Empire.

Apparently, it could even go underwater.

Anti-radiation, anti-toxic gas, anti-bacteriological weapons were just some of the things it offered protection against. And it was sealed so tightly that not even a drop of water could get in.

And it went without saying, that the air was kept clean as well.

As long as you stayed in the vehicle, you were guaranteed a much more comfortable living space than any bomb shelter.

Was this really just a bus? It was all very hard to believe.

Rindo wasn’t the only one who was getting carried away.

Karman was as well. And his men were incredibly excited.

“Captain Karman. This is amazing! I just came back after scouting the area. This Powered Suit is so much more powerful than before. I just need to think about it while flying, and I can accelerate to Mach 2 in an instant!”

“And no blackout is caused by it. I can see perfectly. Even if I’m in an electromagnetic storm, all the sensors are displayed in my brain…it understands everything and I can control it.”

“Also, there is this thing called ‘Telepathy Line.’ I don’t understand how it works, but it allows us to communicate with our thoughts even if we’re in an electromagnetic storm!!”

“These modifications are amazing. I think as I am now, I could take on the old team by myself!”

“You idiot. That’s going too far!”

“Really. Ahahaha!”

Like that, they talked about how the features had been upgraded and laughed.

But they had a right to be so excited.

Of course, they did. Zaza understood it very well.

After all…

He had undergone the same surgery as well.

This new body–this Battle Body boasted such features that changed everything Zaza understood about such things.

Veldora had told him that it was the same in structure as Michelle, in other words, the Machinery Four.

He could hardly believe it at first. But when the surgery was over, he realized that it was not a lie.

This was because his body was reacting in a completely different way to before.

The reaction that had troubled Zaza and had to be suppressed with drugs–that rejection he felt in his brain, had somehow disappeared.

It was almost as if he had returned to his human body. It was that natural.

For instance, he felt pain when he bumped against a chair. He felt coldness when touching the walls. And he felt the heat when he tried to touch fire.

There was a pain when he slapped his own cheek.

In other words, he had regained the sense of touch all over his body.

His brain was happy at the return of his five senses, including pain.

This had resulted in a decrease in stress.

While he was a cyborg, he was now much more like an ordinary human—that was Zaza.

However, he had not returned to flesh and blood either.

He knew this, by the monitor that would appear in his brain when he wanted.

He could see ‘Normal/Battle,’ displayed on that monitor.

Now push it! The switch in his brain seemed to shout at him.

He was currently in normal mode.

But Zaza was too afraid to push the switch.

He only had to move his will towards pressing it…but he knew that he would be assaulted by more realities that would be hard to accept.

Karman’s men had likely already done it.

That’s why they were so excited now.

“Ah, Zaza. Let me ask you something. In your brain…”

“Don’t ask me, Karman. If you’re talking about the switch, I don’t feel like answering that.”

Zaza was going to ignore it for now.

He had thought he was prepared for anything, but he was even more anxious now than before the surgery.

It was the anxiety of suddenly being given too much power.

Karman might have felt the same because he nodded knowingly at Zaza’s answer.

In other words, he also had a similar display in his brain.

“I see. Well, I understand that. But this really is amazing.”

Zaza looked at him.