Edward and Fablo stared at each other for a long time without either of them moving from their positions, the sound of the rain seemed to have suddenly turned calmer as time appeared to pass by slowly.

The corpse of the zombie cat lay motionless in between them but neither of them was in the mood to study the features of the abnormality, well, Fablo appeared to be less bothered compared to the panicking look on Edward's face.

After finding out the strange things that had happened to him, Edward had promised himself to never allow any of his secrets to be exposed no matter what, and had even thought of countermeasures to prevent such from happening.

He had thought of this because he did not know how the others would react if they eventually found out about his secrets, he honestly did not want to find out what their reaction would be either and would have very much preferred everything to remain as it was. But that did not stop him from imagining what the consequences would be if he eventually got exposed, after living on this ruined planet for three years although he was escaping and running most of the time, Edward knew well enough what could happen if he showed signs of being contaminated with the virus.

It would be seen as merciful if they simply let him leave and abandon him to his fate but that was if they were merciful. After all, who would allow a potential threat to roam about freely? Edward could already foresee himself getting the same treatment as that woman who got scratched back then, she was cut down despite her pleading.

Not to mention that she did not have any grudge against Lia, still, Lia did not let her off immediately after she turned into a future threat in their eyes. Then what hope those he, who was already on that swordswoman's bad side have to survive? She would probably chase him to the end of the world if that was what she had to do.

And the others would most likely not let him off the hook either considering that he had somehow caused Lucas's death.

Looking at the smirk on Fablo's face, Edward could not guess what the man was thinking. Even though it had been a few days since he got to know Fablo and the others, the way the huge man treated him and his kindness was already starting to slowly get to Edward.

At first, he had found it suspicious as to why someone would show so much kindness to a total stranger. Such actions were rare even before the calamity three years ago but after Fablo had shown him the picture of his kids and told him a bit about them, Edward concluded that everything the man did was because he had an astonishing resemblance to his son and treating Edward well probably gave him a the feeling that he was doing everything for his son.

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Although Edward knew that following along would be selfish and taking advantage of the huge man, who didn't want a free pie? Besides, Fablo did not look like someone who was out of his mind and would just do anything, he definitely had limits to his actions too and while his actions were not extreme, they were sincere. This was what had made Edward gradually start seeing the man as a fatherly figure and slowly trusting him but this just had to happen.

Edward could not tell if Fablo was smirking because he was having wicked thoughts or was angry that someone he cared for turned out to be infected, like the feeling of being betrayed.

'Damn, my head hurts!' Edward groaned inwardly. He was having conflicting thoughts on what to do next. Run? Or try to talk things out with Fablo?

Running might be possible but how long could he survive on his own? He still did not know the limit of his healing ability. The deep gashes and wounds that he had received from the zombie cat had all almost healed up but what if he had encountered this type of zombie alone and got his throat sliced instead or his heart pulled out or even worse, his head got removed? Would he be able to grow a new one? And that was still on the basis that Lia would not personally hunt him down after finding out his secret.

Then try talking things out with Fablo? Edward stared at the smirk on Fablo's face again and whatever was about to come out of his mouth went back down his throat, he had no idea what to say so he could convince Fablo to keep quiet about what had happened or even if Fablo was in the mood to listen to whatever he had to say.

Besides, he did not know how to explain his change to Fablo.

"Sigh! What's with that face of yours? You look like someone having a mental crisis" Fablo suddenly said after a short sign and sat on the ground. His face displayed tiredness and amusement as his eyes remained on Edward who looked like he was frozen in place.

Fablo's sudden words surprised Edward so much that his eyes widened. He had thought of different things that Fablo might do or say first but the question he got instead was completely unexpected. Fablo did not sound like he had imagined at all, angry? Betrayed? He did not sound like someone who had just discovered a shocking secret; rather, he even sounded amused like he was enjoying Edward's panicked expression.

"You…you!" Edward tried to speak but all he found himself doing was stuttering repeatedly.

"What? Do you think this is shocking? Hmm, it indeed is shocking…for others but I'm only surprised that you managed to hide it despite how clumsy you usually are. Turns out that there's a bit of craftiness in you kid, hehe" Fablo laughed and waved tiredly at Edward while resting his back against one of the chairs that was still intact.

"You didn't think that I was suddenly going to start behaving differently toward you, attack you, or something, did you?" Fablo asked as his eyes turned into a sharp glare. Edward could feel the disappointment from his words and did not know what to say. It was as if Fablo had read his mind and put everything out without a chance of him being able to defend himself.

"Sigh, I guess I'll just have to show you then. Maybe you can trust me more after seeing this" Fablo let out a long sigh before suddenly picking up his bat and placing it above his arm.

Edward was still fumbling with his thoughts to form something meaningful when his eyes suddenly widened, he was shocked by Fablo's next action and what followed next.