Chapter #29

AN: I only realized this once I started writing HOTD part but putting Zeno in this world years before the outbreak was a total mistake. Then again, I put him here to amass Karmic Virtue not develop the plot.

________

Currently, Zeno was literally fighting the waves. The river had made tentacles from the water and turned the tips into ice, while the boat was facing waves after waves.

Tentacles lunged towards him at high speeds as he parried them left and right.

In return Zeno too had shape shifted into a form that made him look like a dragon with too many arms for his own good.

Each arm held a sword and was using them to masterfully parry the tentacles.

It was truly challenging for him since not even his new supercomputer allowed him to keep up with multitasking.

He naturally couldn't win against the river but he could hold on until he arrived at the next world.

Just then an extra tentacle hit his boat, crushing it instantly but Zeno had long jumped in the air.

It was at that moment Zeno realized he was a dragon now and he could somehow fly despite not having wings.

Now he was in the air while the river could only shoot water bullets at him which was easy to dodge at this altitude.

'...' For the first time in his new life Zeno truly felt ashamed.

He quickly located a world then he gained momentum before he dive-bombed into it.

_______

Zeno didn't know whether it was because he was being chased by the river or because of his entry velocity but his new life started rather unique.

Also quite grotesque...

Zeno found his baby self hanging from his umbilical cord, his feet wasn't touching the ground.

He quickly took in the sights around him and discovered that he was in a car crash.

The car itself looked expensive and the driver was dressed like a butler, indicating the family's financial condition.

The driver apparently went too fast and couldn't take the turn, resulting in the crash.

Zeno could guess that they were in a hurry to reach the hospital for his birth but died here.

[The baby wasn't supposed to survive] System reminded him.

Zeno's mother was already dead and he was hanging in the air due to his umbilical cord being stuck in between the tree, the car and whatever remained of his late mother.

Normally Zeno wouldn't have felt anything, shit happens. He knew she would have died either way due to how he rolled in reincarnations but...

This time Zeno was high on compassion to the point he would cry for people he never knew.

And so he cried, loud enough that someone actually heard him and called an ambulance.

'...' Zeno didn't know how to react.

He was hoping to change his appearance and disappear but now he couldn't pull that off without knowing where he is.

'I should stick around as a baby for now. Who knows this might be another cultivation world.' Zeno thought.

_______

Zeno was quickly brought to the hospital and got checked out, considering the horrid crash it was truly a miracle that Zeno had survived.

Doctors wanted to name the child something that would represent him as a miracle, until they learned about his family.

From what Zeno had gathered online, his mother and Yuriko Takagi knew each other from the time they were at Wall Street doing Stockbroking.

They became fast friends and that friendship had remained the same when they got back to Japan.

Apparently his mother never got married and just got herself a shot at a random sperm bank while Yuriko married Souichirou.

Now that his mother was dead with no relatives, the hospital staff informed Takagi family.

Yuriko immediately adopted Zeno on the spot, she was pregnant as well and she couldn't let her best friend's son go to the orphanage.

Souichirou agreed immediately, while a bit cold, the money inherited will be useful for his political career.

'Also, our daughter will have an older brother.' They both thought.

_______

'High School of the Dead huh...' Zeno muttered.

[Right, you never watched that anime.] System realized.

{Good luck?} Ouryuu couldn't understand why they were being weird.

This world posed no threat to them, so why are they acting weird?

[It's because we lack information, we can cure the outbreak if it's a viral infection but what if it wasn't.]

'Knowing my luck it would be something magical.' Zeno sighed as he made some plans in his head.

He was still high on Buddhist Compassion, and he wanted to save as many souls as he could.

Being adopted by Takagi's was a blessing for him, he can just infect them with Silverlight and start working on safe bunkers all around the world.

{Ohh, we can build our own Pharmaceutical company and use the money we earn to build all of this.} Ouryuu was always ready to help people.

[I can already see Zeno enslaving the whole Japanese government... My work is going to be immense.] System was in tears.

At that moment, all three sensed something and went silent. Following that, Zeno's sight got blurred by petals of flowers until he once again found himself in Avalon.

This time however there was only Merlin, he seemed to be watching the recording of Zeno dying in Cultivation Chat Group over and over while laughing.

"Oh, man. I hadn't laughed like this ever since my daughter accidentally ate Cthulhu and got a stomach ache." Merlin wiped the tears off his face.

"..." Zeno.

"Well, I brought you here to give you a gift. Here this is the compressed version of the soul ferrying technique. You can share it with your family, though beware they must fulfill the conditions for it." Merlin snapped his fingers and a golden book shot towards Zeno.

The impact threw Zeno back to his body, he could feel the book stored inside his biomass storage.

'That happened.' Zeno still didn't know what to say about what happened.

[Yeah, I almost feel like we should become suicidal.] System commented.

{It should be hard for someone like him to laugh, I am happy for him.} Ouryuu said jovially.

Zeno and the System could imagine his smile full of warmth.

Zeno and System decided to ignore the third wheel, it seems Ouryuu was affected by Buddhist Compassion more than Zeno himself.

______

Zeno was quickly brought to Takagi Estate, the matter of adoption was handled with just a phone call from Souichirou.

Being a successful politician plus being married to a rich woman like Yuriko had its benefits.

"Saya had black hair. He must have taken after his father." Yuriko muttered as she tried playing with Zeno.

'I will name my daughter after her to honor her memory.' Yuriko thought, she knew her husband would agree since he sucks at naming.

Unfortunately Zeno wasn't being cooperative, he kept his eyes shut, seemingly sleeping as the pregnant woman tried booping his nose.

"Well, he seems... cute." Souichirou commented.

He wasn't very familiar with Zeno's mother but he isn't going to turn down his wife's request, after all she rarely asks anything from him.

Meanwhile Zeno was infecting them with the Silverlight, he just had to make sure it didn't affect Saya who's yet to be born.

'I can confront Souichirou once he is fully infected. If it doesn't work, I can just hit the reset button and continue pretending to be a normal kid.' Zeno thought.

[Huh, the wiki says Yuriko is extremely loyal and submissive towards her husband... Nice!]

{...} Ouryuu didn't know what to say, System just shot itself in the foot.

'Bitch I didn't even look up HTOD sauce online. Where did you get that information?' Zeno asked dumbfounded.

System realized it's mistake, and quickly brought up the Wiki page.

'You could do that? Since when?' Zeno asked.

He was still surprised by this revelation, his system had an internet connection!

[Like, ever?] System answered wryly.

'... You know what? I don't want to know, just make sure I won't make any glaring mistakes. It's not like everything will be the same as the wiki.' Zeno decided.

He can take support from the wiki but he won't be bound to it. He didn't want to repeat Assassin's Creed again.