Tolya and The boss couple learned through viral videos and online discussions that Carnation Community had become a hotspot for green-blooded zombies. They also watched Nemo's televised interview. While his blatant lies might have fooled boss Liu and Sunny Jie, blinded by their unwavering faith in Nemo's golden boy image, they couldn't escape his roommate's sharp eyes.
Nemo's claim that he had no contact with critically infected Greens was utter nonsense. Look at how the little chef single-handedly took down armed robbers and bloodsucking giant mosquitoes!
Matthew Grimm believed he had to take responsibility for the fact that hiring Nemo as a bodyguard had dragged him into a terrorist attack, so he invited Nemo to the headquarters for a thorough examination. Nemo informed Tolya and other close friends about his whereabouts, but then went silent for a full day and night.
Tolya's main worry now was that Nemo might have been exposed to something but wasn’t saying, while Matthew Grimm—known for being fiercely protective—was likely imposing an information lockdown, secretly instructing his team to go to any lengths to cure Nemo.
Just as the Russian roommate was spiraling into wild speculation and preparing to storm the Grimm Group for answers, Nemo suddenly opened the door to the hospital room, carrying the distinct aroma of caramel popcorn.
"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Nemo shoved the popcorn Tolya had requested into his arms.
"You’ve been out of touch for a whole day and night. Even if the exams were complicated, you should’ve contacted us a few times! We were worried sick, thinking you might’ve undergone general anesthesia or something." Tolya ripped open the popcorn tub, grabbed a handful, and stuffed it into his mouth in frustration.
"Uh," Nemo said, a rare look of embarrassment on his face. "I kind of overslept at the Grimm Building."
"Overslept? For how long?" Tolya gave Nemo a once-over. He didn’t seem injured or post-op. In fact, Nemo looked fine—better than fine, with a slight sheen on his lips, carrying not just the scent of caramel popcorn but traces of other foods and a faint hint of alcohol. Clearly, he’d eaten well.
"Fifteen hours. Damn it! Matthew tricked me. He said he’d wake me up but didn’t, and my phone ran out of battery." Nemo explained that the rest of the time was spent obediently completing various superpower assessments. Starving afterward, he joined Matthew for a full-course meal at a fancy restaurant, which took two hours from appetizers to dessert—not counting time to change and travel. Finally, Nemo detoured to buy the caramel popcorn Tolya wanted.
It turned out even billionaires could get tired of bento.
"Wow, you must’ve been exhausted for him not to wake you up. I told you overtraining is bad for you. You definitely fought in Carnation Community! Did you avoid the surveillance? Some influencers claim they were saved by 'V.' I bet that was you! There are so many empty houses there; it’s not hard to grab some casual clothes, mask up, and go undercover!" Tolya chewed the popcorn aggressively while Nemo dodged, avoiding the flying crumbs and spittle.
"The surveillance systems and drones were disabled by the terrorists at the time. Without evidence, I can’t comment on baseless accusations."
"Oh, stop pretending! The killing techniques in the Beelzebub case were professional-grade. Even the patients I personally sent to the hospital had been roughly stuffed into a refrigerated truck. That so-called vigilante clearly didn’t value life. Sure, they were beyond saving in hindsight, but at the time, they were still alive."
"Of course, it wasn’t me. It must’ve been some nameless, kind-hearted hero passing through!" Nemo shot Tolya a glare that promptly shut him up. "By the way, the combination of a metal dog leash and a mop has opened up a whole new era. You might want to try it if you ever run into zombies."
"Thanks, but regular robbers are fine by me." Tolya suspected any catastrophe Nemo jokingly predicted would inevitably come true. "Oh, just so you know, New York City has started stockpiling food and wooden boards. It’s better than waiting until supplies run out and prices skyrocket when people start boarding up windows. But seriously, with all those superheroes there, what’s there to be afraid of?"
"Matthew Grimm has already moved to Lone Star City. Heroes doing charity still need to eat, and they can’t afford to foot the bill for battle damages. That’s when the government has to step in to fundraise or negotiate with certain heroes’ supporters. Besides, where there are heroes, there are villains. Didn’t the East Coast Kaiju make landfall there? New York currently looks like the least affected place by the Meteor Shower Event—not because the damage wasn’t severe, but because too many people and vast amounts of capital are invested in restoring it. You could even call it America’s façade. Things aren’t looking great for Washington D.C. and California after the disaster." Nemo offered his analysis.
"I’d never want to live there. And I’m sure New York still has plenty of hidden Greens. There’s no way to completely eradicate those patients. It’s like the fentanyl crisis—legal, no penalties, impossible to crack down on fully. People are just going to keep dying." Tolya harbored no illusions about the metropolis.
"The transmission rate for Greens by contact is probably not 100%. Otherwise, New York City would already be a nightmare." Nemo speculated.
"Or maybe it’s just a matter of varying incubation periods," Tolya retorted sourly.
"The kaiju’s blood in seawater doesn’t contain any new viruses or bacteria. That was tested immediately, which is why the New York mayor initially claimed it was something like an allergen. Though now we know patients are contagious, perhaps it’s better described as something akin to prions—the infectious proteins behind mad cow disease."
"That does make a weird kind of sense," Tolya admitted. Allergic reactions could range from mild itching to deadly, while prion diseases were undeniably lethal.
"Also, the likelihood of transmission through sexual contact and blood is highest. You could think of it as a kind of kaiju AIDS." Nemo didn’t forget to caution Tolya about staying safe during his bar-hopping escapades.
"The Greens are way worse than AIDS, they actually leap at you and bite!"
Tolya felt that the changes in the real world were happening even faster than in comic book series.
"The human body has rejection responses and immune functions, not every bacteria, virus, and microorganism can easily infect humans. Research on the East Coast Kaiju and the Greens is still limited. The intelligence I gathered from Matthew is that soaking the Greens in water significantly alleviates their symptoms, but the government, after receiving infected patients, has done the opposite. They think that if the Greens soak in water too long, they’ll quickly transform into fishmen or monsters’ subordinates, taking over the world." Nemo explained.
"So, the rotten appearance of the crazy Greens is because of lack of water? You’re saying if we prepare large aquariums, we can turn them into mermaids?" Tolya asked incredulously.
"It might be that they’re missing other necessary nutrients and environmental conditions, causing their skin to rot and mental breakdowns, but mermaids are still a bit of a stretch. For example, if you’re long-term deficient in vitamin C, you’ll end up looking like a zombie." Nemo replied.
"I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables!" Tolya puffed out his chest proudly.
"This is confidential, so don't spread it. Matthew has conducted human experiments, but it was because some of his employees got too curious about the East Coast Kaiju and tried to get close. After getting infected, they studied themselves. Some people have already sacrificed their lives for science." Nemo wasn’t sure how Matthew planned to make the kaiju contagion a recognized field of study, but the Carnation Community had already become the starting point. If Tolya had to speculate, he’d rather let his roommate think about the efforts some people had made, rather than the truth.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Perhaps the Darwin Awards would someday change their criteria for praise and punishment. This was the stupidity and wonder of humanity.
"Well, let’s just say that if we can, we really shouldn’t let these kinds of things happen again." Tolya paused and sighed deeply.
"The East Coast Kaiju incident has already severely damaged the ruling party’s reputation before this election. The Carnation Community will definitely become a major political issue. The ruling party is more eager than the opposition to replicate the successful model of the Grimm Group and Lone Star City handling the bloodsucking giant mosquitoes. But there’s only one Grimm Group, and it’s clear that resources are invested on our side. Louisiana has a bit of hope for cooperation because it’s a neighbor and also dealing with secondary disasters caused by the same bloodsucking mosquitoes. Now, the Greens treatment plan is all about votes. This will determine whether they can shake up the solid voter districts or swing states."
"We don’t have voting rights."
"But my legal status is still within the registration range for the SSS (Selective Service System), which now applies to those aged 18 to 30. I also registered when I applied for asylum." The SSS in the U.S. requires all Americans, regardless of gender, to register upon turning 18 (this differs from his prior understanding that the SSS was only for men, likely reflecting progress in gender equality). After the Meteor Shower Event, Congress, in a rare bipartisan effort, passed a new law raising the upper age limit for registration to 30. Non-citizens and refugees are also subject to this rule; anyone entering the U.S. must agree to potential military service. Although the law allows for drafting in times of need, in practice, conscription rarely occurs.
"How does this relate to the presidential election?" Tolya asked, looking confused.
"I need to observe which side has the worse foreign policy, the one more likely to waste military funds or cut defense budgets, and pull people into service to solve domestic meteor shower disaster issues, all while slandering others. This coming year is a critical period for the Taiwan Strait. I want to remain free to choose my battlefield and not be stuck sanitizing the Carnation Community or guarding meteor disaster zones. Anything can happen after the Meteor Shower Event." Nemo said seriously.
"Although I can somewhat believe you’re 30, considering Matthew Grimm’s point of view, but now you can’t change your identity. If anything, blame the Chinese boss who thinks you look too young!" Tolya laughed every time he remembered Nemo’s frustrated reaction about this matter.
"Military registration isn’t all that scary, really. It’s just a way to ensure they can contact you when needed, and you have to make sure your information is up to date before turning 32. If you don’t register, it will be difficult to study or work in the U.S. You’ll miss out on a lot of benefits—it feels a bit like social death, and you might even be unable to apply for citizenship. In case of a draft, it requires both presidential and congressional approval to authorize it. If I don’t want to serve, I can refuse to fight on moral grounds, like citing religious beliefs against war. If I’m drafted, I’ll just explain my belief in Taiwanese independence and why I’d rather join an international legion. Either way, if a stupid government tries to draft me to clean up their policy mess, I won’t be happy." This was where Nemo’s real problem lay.
Before his migration, Taiwan was like this. The three major parties—the blue, green, and white factions—had trivialized war, something that should be approached with seriousness, making it seem like a children's game. The blue and white camps naively believed that singing songs of peace would keep them safe, while some pro-China factions shamelessly revealed their ugly faces by serving the Chinese Communist Party. But when the enemy was clearly demanding Taiwan's surrender, some people were still trying to strip him of his pants, and Nemo couldn’t stand it.
Perhaps every major party in Taiwan had compromising photos or documents with the CCP? The U.S. and Australia likely had similar leaks. If it were up to Nemo, he wouldn’t just bring a fishing rod to the game; he’d make sure to throw some bait into the fish pool, sparking internal conflicts to wear down his opponents.
The Russian didn’t even move his caramel popcorn, but with a look of camaraderie, he picked up another box and offered it to Nemo. Nemo replied that he had just eaten, then mentioned a restaurant name that made Tolya feel jealous.
“Matthew Grimm causes trouble wherever he goes. Luckily, the Carnation Community has already offset today's bad luck, or the restaurant would've exploded,” Tolya said sourly.
“You guessed wrong this time. The mastermind behind it might be a group from the Beelzebub files, targeting the corruption problems in Louisiana and New York City. But they released all the crazy Greens into a buffet. I only managed to escape thanks to Matthew’s black tech cover,” Nemo replied. No matter how much the billionaire deserved a bit of ridicule, he couldn’t blame Matthew for the kidnapping, assassination attempts, and false slander. Matthew had been quite generous and narcissistic when it came to protecting the surrounding people, even to the point of disregarding his own safety.
The curly-haired youth threw a charged personal phone to Tolya, signaling him to open the latest photos.
“Here, behold the moment of a miracle.”
The album contained a series of photos taken by Nemo. It began with the target hiding under the table, his butt facing the camera, followed by a shot of his red-eyed face sending a message through a broken window, and finally a picture of him smiling and waving goodbye to Nemo—looking like a surreal dream.
“Wow, man, you’re amazing! You actually found the missing Taiwanese informant this way?” Tolya couldn’t believe it. He never expected Nemo to take his forwarded help request and investigation report so seriously, going so far as to use the billionaire’s backdoor to search for the missing person at the Carnation Community.
“I brought both of my phones this time—one for bodyguard use and one for daily use,” Nemo explained. He wouldn’t just leave an audio recording as evidence; after all, it was hard-earned to find that fool of a contact. He even dreamt of being chased by a screaming mother-daughter duo, so he had to get a few souvenirs.
There was also an audio file of the full conversation between Nemo and the missing informant. After Tolya listened, he was silent for a long time.
“What’s wrong? Were you scared by the male-male issue?” Nemo even translated the parts of the Chinese conversation that Tolya couldn’t understand.
“No, I just think you Taiwanese are quite romantic,” Tolya remarked.
“What? Really?” Nemo was surprised.
“If it were the last meeting—no, the last sentence—I’d confess if I truly liked someone, no matter if they’re male or female. I’d just tell them!” Tolya said with a sigh.
“But I don’t think it was the last meeting. The governor of LA is about to undergo a criminal investigation, and he might resign and let the lieutenant governor take over. New York City is in a similar situation. The Carnation Community treatment plan won’t stop; it’ll actually need to accelerate in order to make political achievements. The acting governor needs to defuse this bomb before the election, and once the filth is cleared, it will be much safer. If conditions allow, families or partners might be able to visit too. Of course, it will take time, and it’s uncertain if people will last that long. But the research on the Greens has just begun, and the informant was only recently indirectly infected—not through direct contact with kaiju blood—so he has two extra months of opportunity compared to others,” Nemo analyzed logically.
“Are you planning to give all this evidence to his friend in New York, who was warned by mysterious agents not to continue investigating and has now gone into hiding?” Tolya asked.
"Let’s hand over that recording for now—it’s the client’s request, after all," the curly-haired young man said confidently.
"Isn't that a bit cruel?" The Russian asked, knowing there were photos and a complete recording, yet Nemo insisted on withholding more evidence that could prove the informant was still alive.
"I’ll see if his next move earns him more clues. Isn’t that only fair? Back when I was trying to recover from amnesia, Matthew played plenty of jokes on me! He had way too much fun with it!" Nemo still spoke with a tone full of resentment as he recalled it.
The billionaire’s attempts to get on his Taiwanese roommate’s good side could definitely be seen as a bit of a joke, but the level of indulgence was pretty freaky! Luckily, Nemo had thick enough skin to take it. Tolya thought it would be wiser to stay silent—saying nothing was preferable to making things worse.
“If his friend feels that the message is acceptable, or if there’s no progress after a while and he give up, then it’s better not to give false hope. After all, this involves the national plans for the kaiju and the Meteor Shower Event. People who stick their noses in too far might disappear. Plus, they’re all refugees and don’t have the same protections as U.S. citizens,” Nemo said, sending the Chinese audio recording to Tolya separately. “Try to pass it along anonymously to the original poster of the missing person’s request. Just say it’s from a passerby who kindly helped forward the message.”
“Indeed,” Tolya said, staring at the English file name of the audio, which simply read “farewell.” That was Nemo’s perspective.
“Why aren’t you eating the popcorn anymore?” Nemo wanted his dark plan of fattening up his roommate to proceed smoothly.
“Nemo, if something happens to you one day, please don’t leave me such messages. I won’t be able to sleep.”
“What else should I leave?”
“GPS coordinates in detail, or at least landmarks that can triangulate your position. Take a photo with your phone or someone else’s and send it over. Even if you turn into an octopus, I’ll find a way to use a water-carrying vehicle to get you to Matthew Grimm for treatment. If he can’t help, then I’ll let you go into the sea,” Tolya said seriously.
“Thanks, Tolya. You’ve given me new inspiration,” Nemo said, opening an online map of the U.S.
“Did you even listen to what I said? What inspiration?” Tolya asked, bewildered.
“I did listen, but the inspiration part is more important. It’s still Louisiana, but the focus isn’t on New Orleans; it’s on the Mississippi River mouth and upstream,” Nemo said, tracing the broken terrain with his fingertips.
“Not only the mayor and the senators with headaches want to get the Greens out of New York. The patients themselves could also play a part. Do you think they’re all hiding in New York? No, the cost of living is too high. What if they let themselves go?”
Tolya tried to imagine that scene, his mouth hanging open.
“Forget about the family road trip. Even if it’s just individual patients, they could cooperate—those with money could contribute money, those with cars could drive. Let’s say there’s a group of patients willing to exile themselves to a remote, water-filled, forested area, and they have secret support from healthy individuals. With the current local government’s lackadaisical attitude, they probably wouldn’t notice. After all, everywhere is short on money and human resources, and the central government is focused on superhumans, giant monsters, and Fragments research.”
“But that might be the best way out for the early-stage infected,” Tolya said.
“Until it spirals out of control, and they’ll use every violent method humans are capable of—tools for striking, biting, tearing, and even rape. The fate of the healthy people closest to the Greens can be imagined. Actually, it’s not certain that there aren’t rational, mild Green who won’t be victims themselves,” Nemo said, his eyes lowered. “But how do you stop people from hiding and protecting their family and friends, thus exposing themselves to infection?”
Tolya took a deep breath and said hoarsely, “Why can’t this all end after the superheroes defeat the monsters?”
“Life isn’t just a hundred and twenty minutes. It continues, with both good and bad.”
Nemo grabbed a handful of popcorn from Tolya’s box. “I’m going to call Matthew now, be right back. Actually, it might not even be the Mississippi River. We don’t know how the Greens’ hunting skills and cold tolerance will change after being semi-aquatic for a long time. If they are affected by other sea monsters, they’re more likely to gather in shallow, food-rich estuaries or brackish areas, because human bodies still can’t adapt to long-term exposure to seawater osmotic pressure. And you know what? Skin is actually a respiratory organ.”
“Nemo, how do you even come up with this stuff?”
“Maybe it’s because I used to raise fish a long time ago?”
“How are those fish doing?”
“They didn’t suffer too long.”