Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 81: Parent Replacement

Gideon greeted them as Daphne pulled another chair beside the bed and tapped the seat.

"You don’t have to do that, Daphne," he said, though he sat down anyway.

"What do you mean? I owe you a lot! Especially my grandpa’s life!" she exclaimed. "He’s alive and well just because of you."

She then turned to the old man sitting on the bed and spoke in a softer voice. "Grandpa, this is the man I told you about. He’s our landlord now, and of course our savior too."

Johan gave Gideon a bright smile. His hair was completely grey and thin, and wrinkles covered his face. When he smiled, they deepened and made his eyes narrow slightly.

"It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Gideon. I never thought you would come to visit me here yourself."

Gideon chuckled. "Oh no, Mr. Johan. We’re not living in the medieval age anymore. Just call me Gideon or Chief. Some people even call me Boss."

"You even know my name? What a polite young man."

"Yes. Jade told me about you before I came to visit." Gideon then turned to Daphne. "Though we never had a proper introduction."

Daphne’s eyes widened and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"You’re right. We met during all that chaos, so we didn’t really have time for it."

She straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat.

"My name is Daphne Addison, and this is my grandpa, Johan Addison. We’re from Holis City, at least before the apocalypse. We didn’t have anywhere to go until we met you."

She suddenly grabbed his hands.

"So once again, thank you for saving me and my grandpa. Without you, we might have already become sacrifices for those zealots."

"Don’t worry about it, Daphne. I’m just glad both of you survived," Gideon said. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He noticed her shoulders relax as she let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had probably been worried he might demand something in return. In a post apocalyptic world where resources were scarce, receiving help was rarely free.

"Daphne, I think you should rest," Johan suddenly said. "You haven’t slept since yesterday, have you?"

"Of course I couldn’t sleep when you were in such a critical condition! Just a few hours ago you were in a coma, Grandpa. The fact that you can wake up and even sit up now feels like a miracle."

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

She looked terrified. Her mouth opened and closed slightly, like she wanted to say more but could not bring herself to do it, as if speaking it aloud might make something bad happen.

"I’m fine now, aren’t I? So you should get some rest," Johan said gently, rubbing her back. "It would be troublesome for both of us if you ended up getting sick too."

"I will never get sick... you know that." Daphne lowered her head for a moment before finally saying, "But fine. I’ll get some rest. Just call me if you need anything, Grandpa."

She stood up and walked slowly to the empty bed, clearly reluctant, before finally lying down to sleep.

The room slowly fell silent.

From outside, Gideon could hear some of the patients moving around with a nurse. It sounded like they were doing light exercises, probably trying to keep their bodies from getting stiff or weaker.

He waited.

Johan kept staring at the white blanket covering his feet. The old man clearly wanted to say something but did not know how to begin.

The room was so quiet that Gideon could even hear Daphne’s soft snoring from the other bed.

"Has the pr... no, I mean Ms. Jade already told you everything?" Johan finally asked.

"Partly," Gideon answered.

It was a lie. He wanted Johan to reveal the truth himself.

But Johan only chuckled. "I know you’re lying. You shouldn’t lie to a sick old man, you know."

Gideon narrowed his eyes. "I’m not lying. For instance, I know you have something to do with the Children of Eden. You might have been one of the researchers. You might even be the reason the Order of the West is hunting anyone with superpowers."

Johan took a deep breath.

"You’re lying because I’m not the reason those dogs are barking and causing trouble across other factions. And I know for sure Jade would never tell you even a bit of that information, especially about herself. That’s why she sent you here."

"And why is that?" Gideon asked.

"That, son, you need to figure it out yourself. The princess really has a bad temper," Johan said with a shrug.

’Princess?’ Gideon thought. ’What does he mean by that? Is that Jade’s real title or just sarcasm?’

He didn’t ask about it further, he knew the old man wont answer it and he could press Jade about it.

"Then who are you?" Gideon asked. "And why did Daphne end up living with you and calling you her grandfather?"

His tone turned firmer. If Johan still refused to answer, Gideon was ready to force the truth out of him.

"They called us parent replacements," Johan began slowly. "And they called children like Daphne the future of humanity, the children that come from heaven."

He paused before continuing.

"All the babies we received came from one source, the Mother. Something that should have been impossible. They wanted those babies to grow up with a normal childhood. They wanted to see if they would develop the same way as regular humans."

"The Mother?"

He remembered what Freya had said about Genome IX. In her explanation, it was a substance capable of merging animals and plants, not creating humans with superpowers.

"Is it the core of the asteroid?" Gideon asked. "The one with Genome IX?"

"They never told us exactly what it was or how they created them," Johan said quietly.

"After all, we were only low level researchers working for the government. They simply wanted us to raise those children. In return, they promised promotions and a ’generous’ retirement plan."