Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 55: Food II

"Are you not going to eat?"

A server the survivors were almost familiar with shouted at them. He was a large man with a strange body that could be mistaken for a woman and a temper as short as a woman’s.

The survivors from the low level knew it was normal for the server—especially him—to be shouting at them, but when they looked beside the server, why were there more servers than normal?

Normally, the low level had three servers for their meals; now there were seven of them. Then they turned their heads to the middle level too, and looking at the number of servers, it was also seven.

If that was all, they would have put it behind them, but how did they explain the evolvers and policemen standing around them?

And it wasn’t only that; why was the smell coming from the servers’ pots so tantalizing?

But of course, not everyone was ready to think about the weird atmosphere.

A lanky man stepped forward with his bowl. This man had had it unfortunate for himself from the beginning. Before the fall, he was poor—he couldn’t even cater to himself, let alone have a family. Then the fall came, and instead of granting him the painless scenario of transforming into a zombie, he survived.

Though what he ate now and then wasn’t a lot different, if he was going to survive, he would do his best to survive till the end. So, he stepped forward after the server shouted.

And when he gave his bowl and received it back with food, "Mm?" He saw something that looked like meat, and the rest of the food smelled nice.

He didn’t even take another step; he sat on the floor right there and started eating.

Gulp... Gulp...

And within seconds, he finished his food. He was so concentrated on his food that it was only afterward that he noticed the changes.

[HEALTH +10]

"Huh? W-What is this?" He trembled after looking at the screen and glanced at the server.

He wasn’t only reading it; he could feel the changes in his body. It felt like he was getting healed, though he didn’t even know he was sick.

"Leave. Next." The server didn’t respond and called for the next person.

"H-Hey, please, can I just have more?" He then started stretching his plate again. It was then that the rest came to their senses.

There was something in that food. It was obvious from the way that one was acting. It was the realization they had all come to, and they wanted whatever it was, too. They wouldn’t let a random person collect more when they hadn’t even gotten any.

"Hey, leave. It’s my turn." Another man moved forward with his plate and was shouting at the one begging for more.

"Hey, I’m next."

"No, it’s me."

The front of the server was about to become chaotic. But before it could—

POW...POW...POW...

"WHAT?" The chaotic people became quiet at the sound of gunshots in the air.

"Line up and get your food orderly," one of the policemen said quietly, putting down his gun.

The survivors looked around as if asking for help from the remaining evolvers and policemen, but they didn’t react to his actions, which meant only one thing, it was allowed.

Looking at the middle-level area, they didn’t even waste time lining up upon call. Sweat started matting their backs as they looked at each other—what could make the middle level, who were usually arrogant and insulting, behave today?

Without getting their answers, they began forming a line. Lines were also formed in front of the other servers, and before long, the place became a bit orderly.

"I-I received health just now."

"I received strength."

"I..."

And the chatter continued after they got their food and ate.

About two hours later,

The serving of food had finished, and the survivors had finished eating. They were so fast at eating that before the third person was served, the first had finished eating. It was the best meal they had ever eaten, even before and after the fall. Involuntarily, smiles began blooming on their faces.

Immediately, changes could be seen all over their bodies. The sunken faces became straight, the black spots over their bodies slowly disappeared, and their sunken ribs, stomachs—even bones—began to heal.

It was like they were getting healed from their ailments. Some didn’t even know that their insides were becoming rotten due to a lack of proper food in this changed world. They were all getting their skin color back from before the fall.

And of course, some people tried to force their way to get more, but there was a reason the policemen were around them.

Those people were beaten beyond recognition. It seemed harsh, but that was how it was.

Part of what was discussed early this morning was this: Jon had called in all the evolvers and policemen to tell them a few things, and part of it was adhering to the rules.

Jon said, "Times are hard, and we will face harder times. We don’t want anyone making things tougher for us, so discipline them on the spot." And the policemen respected him for that.

When they entered the camp, they had been immediately posted to monitor the perimeter, so most of them didn’t know much about what was going on inside the camp.

So, these men were still loyal to the rules and regulations that were set, though they still hadn’t accepted the act of killing whoever wronged them. But could they stop Jon?

After everyone had finally eaten, they were told to wait behind. The evolvers and policemen didn’t leave their spots; they remained still as if they were waiting for something.

And a few moments later—

WHOOSH

"Huh?"

"What..."

"Who are those people?"

The low-level survivors, who now had strength, were looking at the people who had suddenly appeared in front of them, some still glancing at the pot of food that was still there.

However, the middle-level survivors began shivering at the sight of the trio.

Jon, Jenny, and Cynthia had just appeared in front of the crowd and glanced at them all.

It worked, and they look like they can work immediately. At first, Jon was skeptical when he heard of feeding them to gain manpower, but it worked so well that he already forgot the hit on the remaining food it took.

If there was one thing he had figured out about the ’Brilliant Mind’ skill, it was that it worked in logical and tough situations, but in situations that had to do with human behavior and emotions, it was useless. So, according to his skill, his gains outweighed the loss by a huge margin.

"Nice one, Jenny. Now we introduce the carrot-and-stick method for them." Cynthia’s lips were curved way too far up. She was enjoying every bit of this time. It hadn’t even been a day, and her mindset had changed.

"What’s the carrot-and-stick method?" Jon asked, tilting his head sideways, his mind thinking about something else.

"Pfft... It certainly isn’t what you’re thinking of," Jenny said between giggles.

"What?" Jon stretched the word as if to deny it. Then he quickly continued, "Anyway, let’s finish this."

"But we just started," Cynthia looked with a face full of disbelief.

Jon ignored her and applied mana to his voice. "Again, my name is Jon, and this is Jenny and Cynthia. We are the new leaders of this camp. Due to the actions of the former leaders, I’m sure many of you don’t have anything to do, but that will change very soon. You will be told more in detail now."

And like that, he left, with Cynthia disappearing the way they came. And before the survivors could even say they didn’t understand, Jenny continued, "From where he stopped, everyone will be given an opportunity.

"A headcount with your summarized details will be taken after everyone chooses their area of choice. That is, if you want to be an evolver or part of the beast dismantling team, your areas of specialization before the fall are all important. Even if they aren’t needed now, they will be soon enough. You..."

With a few more detailed explanations, Jenny also left. They also had things to do. They had been reorganizing the people occupying the highest level and planning since the previous day, leaving no spare time for them.

The hardest part of a plan was starting, and normally, Jon didn’t want the people already at the high level of the camp to have anything to do with the plan, but he later realized that they could be assets depending on how they were used.

Most of them were talented, even before the fall. Some were very talented and young analysts, managers, and even event planners. So, what he told them was, "All of you here are in temporary positions. It can be taken from you anytime, so work hard."

So, with that made known, they were included, and there, about 60% of the whole plan was made like that.

Two hours later,

Jon came out again, this time standing in front of about two hundred and fifty people.

A call had been made for those who wanted to be evolvers, and—shockingly or not—most of the volunteers were among the low-level evolvers in the camp.

When Jon had said they were assets, this was what he meant. The people in the low level had seen things, a lot of things, and to avoid experiencing them again, they would hang on to that thread of hope and survival like a beast.

There were normally double this number, but they were grouped into two parts. Not everyone could be taken out to level up at the same time, at least for the beginning part, so this was what they could do.

And now that proper details were being carried out, the correct number of survivors, evolvers, and policemen could be accounted for.

There were already about 50 evolvers in the camp. It was fair, considering it was only about 12 days since the fall, but it was still small, considering that in the university, with a lot of scared students, there were still about 80 evolvers, and 30 of them in this camp. However, there was the issue of the overall leader of the camp minimizing the number that could be evolvers.

So, including the 30 Jon came with and the already 50 evolvers in the camp, the number of people who volunteered reached 600.