Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Globe Luxation.

That was the medical term used when referring to an eyeball when it 'pops' out of its socket that could occur due to a rare condition or a sudden head or eye trauma. Those rare conditions could be from Floppy Eyelid Syndrome, Thyroid Eye Disease, etc., but nevertheless—as soon as it happens—it would be considered a medical emergency and it should be treated immediately.

Well, in our case, it was a little more than Globe Luxation because I put in a little too much force, it caused the skin to the side of his eye to break open a few centimeters straight through the skin of his temple.

Blood was just dripping down on the ground and I'm not sure whether it came from his recent or recent-recent injury.

At this point, no one had received electric shocks for the longest time so I just assumed that Jericho could manually turn it on and off instead of it being programmed to run randomly.

Everyone else that was trailing could've made some proper headway but my fight with Mr. Castillo's right hand stopped them in their tracks. However, the person in front of me was already posing for another attack—even if his whole body was shaking—but I managed to make him flinch just by simply moving my hand that I used to gouge his eye out.

I chuckled as I looked at his working eye, "I'll let you forfeit now so you could get your eye looked at. Trust me, you don't wanna have a go with me now that your vision's impaired. If you're lucky, you'll still get your eyesight back with minimal damage but—"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU—"

The guy shouted at the top of his lungs while releasing copious amounts of killing intent but I simply shook my head as I moved back half a step.

It only took a fraction of a second before he shakily lunged at me but I gave him a taste of his own fucking medicine—for the second time—as my foot made its way between his crotch.

I didn't even hold back as I drove my foot up as hard as I could and I even followed it all the way through.

The sound it made almost made every person with a dick close their legs subconsciously though his past victims were already cheering me on.

But after that, I only needed to push him with minimal force as he tumbled down on the floor while clutching his balls and bleeding from his head and his right eye. He couldn't even breathe normally as he was only using his mouth to gasp for air, but he was still trying to crawl in my direction.

I could only imagine the pain he was going through but he couldn't tell me I didn't warn him.

In a sense, I could've gone easier but in this case, you need to have a bigger stick than everyone else present. However, it was all just pure violence and everyone was here to witness it, whether it was inflicted on a friend or foe.

With that said, a mix of reactions came from the viewing platforms as I casually made my way to Jericho's side.

No one even dared to try and get past me because almost all of the participants stood in their place while the rest of the De Leon Family forfeited to get Number 68 help.

Even Mr. Castillo's right hand was escorted out of the play area but they made sure that he'd be far from his earlier opponent. However, I doubt he'd do something stupid while he's close to being blind in one eye.

At this point, the bracelet I was wearing lost its grip on my arm, and Jericho—who was giving me an approving look—casually took it from me before giving everyone else one last surge of electricity.

"AHHHH—"

"FUCK!"

"JERICHOOOOOOOOO~!!!"

"MOTHERFUCK—"

"HNGH!!!"

"SHIT!"

"I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER—"

I didn't think he would actually do that but he was just cackling the whole time while the rest of the participants were this close to tackling him down.

After that, it didn't take long before their bracelets finally loosened and each of them threw the bracelets at the stage as a protest. They landed on different spots but they were built sturdy enough to sustain damage while being in working condition.

'That's rare. Most things built before the world ended had a fuck ton of features but only a few of them could survive a drop… It's great to have something built that could take a bit of violence…'

With that said, one member of the De Leon Family brought back my shoes and she promptly thanked me before returning to her group.

I slowly put on my shoes after dusting off my socks and Jericho took a bit of time picking his bracelets up before speaking to his earpiece.

[C'mon~ C'mon~ It's funny, right?! Haha! You guys are too serious! You're bashing heads outside and you all go crazy for a broken bone and a poked eye?! Hah! Ah— Right! The winner~ The Ishiyama Family~! Congrats, bro! You'll be in for a treat!]

'He's calling me 'bro' now, huh? I wonder what's the prize—'

[Here ya go!]

Before I could even finish speaking to myself, Jericho just handed me a brick of cocaine.

I would've lost balance the moment I saw the brick fall on my hands but I was lucky I was still in the process of putting on my shoes. Good thing I had to wipe the blood off of them or else I would've lost composure.

It's just that I was still speechless from seeing something like that thrown like it was nothing.

"Ah—"

[Don't snort it in one sitting, alright?]

"Umm—"

[Hmm? Something wrong?]

"N-Not exactly…"

[Ah— Do you want 1000 pills of ecstasy instead? Oh! I can bump it up to 1300 pills. Wanna have a deal? They're very rare now so that's from my stock! If you have something else in mind, let me know!]

At this fucking moment, I never tried so hard to keep a straight face but Jericho was waiting for my answer. He was patiently looking at me with an easygoing expression but I pointed to the bracelets we wore instead.

"As much as I love to have a good time, I had a bad experience with this stuff. Why don't I get your expertise instead?"

Jericho was taken aback, [M-My expertise?]

"I want you to make something for me. I'll even give back this brick as payment," I said as I motioned to return my prize.

However, the moment I said that, Jericho seemed to have turned off his earpiece before he spoke to me at the same volume. He never looked so excited that someone took interest in his work and he was willing to hear my pitch.

"Alright, what do you want me to make?"

"You probably made more bracelets that had different functions, right?"

"Maybe. If you have some rowdy prisoners, I could make something that does more than shock the shit out of them."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. I can make something to chop their arm off, release poison, burn, cut off circulation—"

"Not like that—"

"Oh. Non-lethal? Something like sending you their location or making loud noises when they go too far? Isn't that how some clothing tags work? That'll be too fucking easy. I can do that in five minutes and for a pint of beer."

I shook my head, "If you're talking about that, I could make it too. I'm something of an engineer myself."

Jericho snorted, "You? Hah! That's what people that don't know shit always say."

I chuckled as I put my hands up in defeat, "I got my own place to run, I can also have my people do it but they're busy doing something else—"

"Really~~~? I'm kinda special, I could do some things other people can't."

"I was told that you are. You probably even made a Pip-Boi for yourself. D'you know what those are?"

"Hah! A Pip-Boi! Oh my fucking god! Hahaha! I'm neither confirming nor denying the—"

"Jericho, I want something like that."

"HAH?! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! Tell me, you have 'that' armor stashed somewhere else? Do we have more than zombies to face now? You're gonna tell me these things, right? Right?"

I chuckled as I finally stood up, "I hope not but they're changing—as slow as it's happening—they are turning into something else, something more than what a regular deadhead could accomplish. Heck, something a regular human is capable of."

Jericho shook his head, "Cheh. And you think my bracelets are the solution?"

"Hah! Fuck no! It'll help but— you can't even fix the feedback on your own earpiece!"

"Ah—"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"FUCK! I'LL GET YOU BACK LATER, HAHAHAHA!!!"

The two of us looked at each other before we started dying-laughing but Jericho seemed to have received a message from Mr. Cuervo. I could barely hear what Mr. Cuervo was saying through Jericho's earpiece but Jericho just kept nodding with each instruction given to him.