THE STORY CONTINUES

A century later, a man with white hair enters the cave and discovers the flower bubble. He touches the flower's stem and reflects that he's heard stories of someone from the past who tried desperately to save his daughter. According to the rumors, all paths lead here, confirming that the child who nearly saved the land of Nara lies within. He performs divine magic on the flower bubble, causing it to tremble and eventually burst, releasing a cascade of pink liquid and dust. Runica, now naked, falls into the man's arms. The man then carries him out of the cave.

Moments later, Runica awakens in a chamber, finding Simbad tending to him. Simbad is astonished to see Runica conscious and mentions that he should take it slow, as Runica has been in slumber for a hundred years and needs time to readjust. Runica, disoriented, asks about Alice. Simbad, puzzled by the question, is curious why Runica is asking about his sister. Runica is confused, recalling that Alice never had a brother. At that moment, Alice opens the door, and Runica realizes that Simbad's sister shares the same name as Alice. Simbad tells Runica to stay calm and informs him that Master Ryuga will take care of him from now on. Alice then asks Runica for his name. He responds with "Runica," but Alice thinks it's a bit long and decides to call him "Rune" instead.

The story telling ends here.

Finally back at the campfire, Simbad, in tears, recounts Rune's story as dawn approaches, with most of the camp already asleep. As sunlight touches his face, Simbad realizes he has been sharing the story all night. Mai, barely awake, finishes writing in her journal about Rune's backstory. Simbad then mentions that there's more to the story, including details about Rune and Simbad in Nemura City. Exhausted, Mai heads to the RV, saying she heard enough and can continue another time. Simbad, puzzled, notices that most people have missed the story. Rune wakes up and begins to prepare for the day. Simbad tells him that everyone fell asleep before he could share the most exciting parts of their tale. Rune, yawning, assures Simbad that he can continue the story another time, acknowledging that it's a long one. Suddenly, a magical beam shoots from Rune's eyes, briefly connecting with Adam's. Rune, puzzled, asks what Adam is doing. Adam explains that after hearing Rune's long story, he wanted to directly witness Rune's memories. Within seconds, a multitude of memories flash in Adam's eyes. Adam then remarks that Rune was indeed exceptionally strong. Rune, however, brushes off the comment and continues preparing for the journey ahead.

Later that morning, Simbad is seen sleeping in the living area while Rune drives the RV. Jayden sneaks into Mai's room to check her notes about Rune's story, reading them with excitement. In the kitchen, Ezzy and Michael chat, with Ezzy expressing surprise that Rune is over 100 years old. Michael clarifies that while Rune didn't spend 100 years in the magic bubble, time outside the bubble passed by 100 years, so Rune is still only 28. Kiren climbs up to the roof and asks Adam if he would have been able to defeat King Gaica, Rendez, and Fen during Rune's time. Adam confidently replies that he could have defeated Rendez and King Gaica, but Fen is on a different level based on Rune's memories. Kiren then asks if Adam could beat prime Rune. After some thought, Adam says it would be a tough battle, but he believes he would eventually win.

Moments later, Rune stops the RV as he spots a slow-approaching car ahead. He exits the vehicle, wielding his butcher blade, while everyone watches. Kiren remarks that he's surprised to see survivors this far out. Adam closely observes the car as Rune approaches it. Looking inside, Rune finds no one, but then hears banging from the hood. When he opens it, a half-zombie emerges, and Rune quickly decapitates it. The RV occupants clap in celebration. Distracted by the applause, Rune doesn't notice the headless zombie attempting to grab him from behind. Adam jumps in just in time, kicking the car away. The car slides and then suddenly drives off. Everyone is confused by what just happened. Adam explains that it's a zombie car, a strange but weak super zombie, and from his heat vision, he can tell it doesn't have a second heat core. Rune notes that he assumed it was just a regular zombie since its chest wasn't glowing, but even after decapitating it, it didn't die. This leaves everyone wondering what's going on. Adam adds that the car zombie is heading towards Ribbon City. Mai then comes out and yells at Rune and Adam for not using the zombie terms she had discussed with them nights ago.

After Mai's scolding, she suggests they make the roads safer by eliminating the main source of the zombie cars. The group agrees and heads towards Ribbon City. As they approach, they see many cars driving nearby. Adam, speaking into his mic, informs them that all those cars are zombie cars. The zombie cars closes in on the RV, and Adam jumps onto one, breaking it in half with his scaled bat. Rune expertly drives the RV, dodging incoming zombie cars, while Mai instructs the team to fire their weapons. The side windows open, and Megan, Ezzy, Kiren, Simbad, and Jean begin shooting their assault rifles at the nearby zombie cars. Adam continues to destroy the zombie cars coming from behind the RV. Meanwhile, Nhia rolls around the living room, panicking and holding onto his head as the RV makes sharp turns. Meanwhile, Michael is in the bathroom, struggling to keep his balance. Mai and Nakao deploy their mini-guns on the second floor, firing at the zombie cars ahead. Rune spots a large zombie bus with numerous half-zombies on its roof rapidly approaching. He tells Simbad to take the wheel and opens the RV door, launching himself off the front of the RV with his butcher blade. Using the blade's tip, he strikes the front of the bus and swings it upwards powerfully, causing the bus to flip backwards into the air. The RV narrowly avoids the flipping zombie bus overhead. Rune then catches himself on the throne chair above the RV.

Adam, standing on the storage container, sees the flipping bus and smashes it with his bat, sending it flying into the woods where it explodes. Simbad spots over 20 zombie cars ahead forming a roadblock. Adam jumps onto the RV roof, and Rune tells him he'll handle the cars on the right while Adam handles the left. Before they can act, Simbad uses his magic to lift the RV, flying it over the zombie cars and dropping it onto the road leading into Ribbon City. Exhausted from using so much magic, Simbad relinquishes the wheel to Nhia, who drives the RV deeper into the city. As they reach a large intersection, Nhia slams on the brakes, seeing that they are surrounded by hundreds of zombie cars from all directions. Each car's hood opens, revealing half-zombies roaring. Nhia, scared, exclaims that they're all going to die. All the zombie cars converge on them from all directions. Adam and Rune jump ahead, destroying the oncoming vehicles ahead. Kiren announces they shouldn't be afraid, reminding everyone that their group has faced tougher situations. He leads the charge, fighting the zombie cars with his shield and hammer. Megan, Jean, and Ezzy join the battle with their weapons and guns. Michael, dizzy, emerges from the bathroom and collapses on the floor. Nhia looks at Simbad and Michael, wondering if they're going to join the fight. Simbad says they need a moment to rest. Meanwhile, Mai and Nakao continue shooting their mini-guns at the approaching zombie cars, causing several to explode. Kiren swings his hammer, sending one car crashing into another and triggering a chain reaction of crashes. Megan shoots her rifle, killing many half-zombies on the car hoods, while Jean and Ezzy punch and kick away those vehicles.

Jean draws his katana and begins slicing the incoming cars in half. Ezzy leaps onto a half-zombie on a car hood, grabs it by the neck, and ignites in flames, causing the car to explode. She then jumps to the next car, still wreathed in flames. Amid the chaos, one zombie car manages to evade the others and heads straight for the RV. Michael opens a window and fires a lightning spell, sending the car flying away, but then collapses, saying that's all the electricity he had left. The flood of cars keeps coming. Rune takes several hits, and Adam struggles to use his full strength without endangering the others. Simbad emerges from the RV, but a car strikes him, sending him flying over the vehicle and crashing in front of Megan clumsily. Several cars collide with the RV from both sides, and the storage container is crushed by the relentless onslaught of zombie cars. Suddenly, a masked hero jumps in and touches all the cars near the RV and storage container, causing them to drive backward into other cars, resulting in numerous explosions. Kiren recognizes the masked hero as Mr. Direct. Mr. Direct(32) continues leaping onto cars, sending them driving backward. Kiren explains that Mr. Direct is a famous hero in Nemura City, with the power to redirect things. For example, if he touches you while you're walking forward, you'll walk backward instead. Jean is amazed by Mr. Direct's abilities. Kiren elaborates that even in combat, if Mr. Direct hits you with a right hook, his magic makes it feel like you're also getting hit with a left hook, effectively striking from both directions.

Mr. Direct leaps over to Adam and acknowledges that Adam is holding back for the sake of the others. He assures Adam that he doesn't need to worry and that he'll give the signal for him to go all out. Mr. Direct then goes around touching the whole crew and grabs a hold of the RV, lifting it up. He shouts for Adam to go all out. Adam swings his bat powerfully into the ground, sending all the zombie cars into the air. The entire crew is also lifted, but Mr. Direct uses his magic to keep them in the same spot by repeatedly reversing their upward motion. The RV also moves up and down rapidly in the same spot as well. A massive aura bursts from Adam as he roars and summons a powerful energy ball in his palm. He tosses it upward and hits it with his bat, sending it into the center of the airborne cars, where it explodes into thousands of beams, causing hundreds of explosions in the sky. Mr. Direct then casts a magic barrier to block all the falling car parts. Everyone lands back on the ground, a bit dizzy. Adam notices 100 more zombie cars approaching and prepares for a second round. Suddenly, an alarm sounds throughout the city, and the zombie cars turn around and drive away. Megan wonders what is happening. Mr. Direct explains that the car zombies just ran out of time because it's time for them to race. Kiren is confused and asks for more details. Mr. Direct reveals that he lives underground in the city with a dozen survivors. Every day around 4 PM, the main car zombie sets off an alarm that summons all of his car zombies it has gathered to the stadium for a race. 

Mr. Direct invites them to his camp, promising to explain more when they are safe. Later that night, they reach a bar. Mr. Direct instructs them to enter the large garage. Once the RV is inside, the garage door closes, and Mr. Direct steps out to press a button on a panel. The floor opens, revealing a staircase that he descends. The floor beneath the RV slowly drops, and everyone inside is amazed as they descend four levels to reach the underground camp. They are greeted by a few people, including a little girl who runs up to hug Mr. Direct. He introduces her as his younger sister, Grace. Mai uses her wrist panel to control her drones, recording everything and taking notes as she interviews the survivors. Meanwhile, everyone else settles down, sharing a huge feast and equipment. Megan then questions Mr. Direct about what happened to the city, he explains that Ribbon City met the same fate as other cities, but with one notable difference: a super zombie named Ewan, the fastest racer in the city. After becoming a zombie, Ewan overpowered all other zombies in the city using his cars. His cars would captured weaker zombies and humans, merging their bodies with the cars to create zombie cars. The purpose of these cars is to capture zombies or humans to race later in the day.

Kiren asks if a human would be captured by these cars would they become a zombie inside the car. Mr. Direct nods to confirm. Simbad mentions that they encountered a zombie car that tried to capture Rune. Mr. Direct adds that if a car already has a zombie and is pursuing humans, it is theorized that the more humans a zombie car consumes, the faster it becomes. He also mentions that merely cutting off the head of the zombie isn't enough to stop the zombie car; the whole car must be destroyed. However, this becomes a challenge when Ewan can simply produce more cars with his zombie magic. Kiren suggests that killing Ewan would make the roads and city safe again. Mr. Direct responds that if it were that simple, he would have done it long ago. Rune asks if Ewan is truly that strong, even for a hero like Mr. Direct to struggle against. Mr. Direct explains that Ewan isn't particularly strong, but he is immortal to all kinds of attacks and magic. The only way to defeat Ewan is by winning the race he hosts every evening.

Ezzy then asks if anyone has ever participated in Ewan's race. Mr. Direct says that many have in the past and loss every time. Kiren is surprised to learn that Ewan accepts human racers. Mr. Direct confirms that as long as someone shows up with a vehicle, they are considered part of the race. Determined, Kiren declares that they will save the city now that they are here that Adam is also up and coming Hero. Mr. Direct acknowledges Adam's strength but emphasizes that raw power alone won't suffice—they need a skilled driver. Simbad cheerfully points out that both he and Rune used to race a lot back in Nemura city, with him focusing on car racing and Rune on motorcycle racing. Grace steps up and says they need to prove their worth as racers by competing against her and her team; only then will they be allowed to join Ewan's race. She approaches Rune and warns that even if they win against her team, there's no guarantee they'll win Ewan's race.