Strongest Boyfriend In The Apocalypse: Every Girl Depends On Me!-Chapter 33: Questioning

That was in fact not one of the questions Ethan was expecting from the Commander at that point, as he froze the moment those words came in.

It wasn’t even part of the questions the Daily Intelligence had revealed, which left Ethan confused and dumbfounded.

The demanding look on the Commander’s face made him understand that he had to start talking, and he quickly had to respond at once.

"Umm... They... They never made it," Ethan said, a look of unease very vibrant on his face.

"Oh really? The girls just happened to stay stronger than the boys? Is that what you are trying to tell me?" the Commander asked.

"That’s what I’m trying to tell you, sir," Ethan responded without fear, because no matter what this would say, nothing was going to make him say anything else.

The Commander turned to Mister Fred, who gave a slight yet noticeable smile.

Ethan figured that there might be a reason for these questions, and since all the people he was traveling with were girls, that was enough to bring up suspicion.

"Okay," the Commander managed to deliver a smile as he sat on his seat.

He gave Ethan a signal to have his seat as well, as only Mister Fred stood almost at the door side, observing and listening to the conversation.

"So tell me, kid. How did you manage to survive in New Land?"

"A place so crowded with thousands of zombified students. It’s amazing how you were able to get out with your friends."

"It was hard," Ethan began. "We barely had meals, and the zombies kept trying to get to us. But somehow, we managed to survive," Ethan responded so casually.

"Hmm, just like that?" The Commander’s face twisted into a smirk.

"Yes, sir..."

"It’s Commander... not sir," the Commander suddenly frowned and said.

"Sorry, Commander," Ethan corrected himself at once, and they continued their conversation.

"You didn’t explain how the M16 rifles did most of the jobs... why?"

Ethan flinched as a sudden glare appeared on his face.

He didn’t respond to that, because certainly he actually didn’t have exactly what to answer.

"Where did you get them from?"

And without wasting a second, the Commander asked again.

It was at this point that Ethan realised that he wasn’t here for an ordinary interview...

He was here for questioning!

Still, at that point, he couldn’t respond. Telling people about the system wouldn’t only result in it getting publicly exposed, it would also result in him getting targeted by top individuals or organisations, including the Special Force themselves.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him that.

"So we are guessing... maybe you are one of those students who engage in criminal acts on campus. Must be handy enough to get an M16... your group would be investigated," the Commander said.

Ethan was already seeing this as a threat, knowing that not telling them the truth would result in making them believe he had arms before the disaster.

"But since civilization is slowly crashing, we won’t be hard on you and your friends, Ethan Reyes. We need you to become one of us, fighting together with us to rescue humanity. If you can do that with us, you would erase every criminal act you have committed in New Land University."

Ethan’s face turned dark.

’I never committed any crime!’ Ethan inwardly thought.

But for the sake of not prolonging the case, he didn’t speak.

If he revealed that he got the guns after the disaster began, they would still have to ask him where he got them from.

It was better he just let it slide, and certainly, it was just a matter of time before he would get the group out of here.

With the way he saw things, it didn’t look like things would go well here.

"Also..."

It didn’t seem like the Commander was done yet.

"We found a red monster on the Augusta City Road, which was exactly where your Ford van had taken if coming from Gibson City... I hope I’m not mistaken?"

"Yes, Commander," Ethan nodded, knowing where all this was heading.

"So... I would like to know... did you, by any chance, happen to know how the Red Monster died?" the Commander asked.

Ethan shook his head at once.

"No... no way. We never saw a trace of any monster apart from the zombies," Ethan said, his face so serious, like it had really happened the way he had said it.

Ethan hoped that saying this would end the questioning completely, but then he didn’t know it had just started.

The Commander chuckled and shook his head, then lowered his head to the drawer and brought out a pack of bullet cases.

Ethan flinched at once, recognising the case.

The Commander looked up and captured the change of expression on Ethan’s face, and he let out a wide smile.

"We found this around the corpse of the red monster. We noticed none of them penetrated, and the cases were all on the ground.

Turns out that the bullet cases are the same as the ones in your M16’s magazine."

Ethan swallowed hard.

"30-60 Springfield. Same in everything... exactly."

"Do you have anything to say about this, Ethan Reyes?" the Commander asked.

Though Ethan knew the Commander was already having the upper hand in the investigation, that still wouldn’t stop him from denying it.

And he had already been ordered and tasked by the system...

[Normal Mission 9: Deny killing the Red Monster no matter how the Commander tries to bring proofs.]

[Reward: +200 Boyfriend Credits. +3 Intelligence.]

He needed that additional intelligence so much that he would do anything possible to complete this mission.

Ethan already knew he would need to be smart enough to deal with people like this. He must continue to survive, and being intelligent enough was one of the things he needed.

"No, Commander. We never came across any monster apart from the zombies, like I already said. This must be some other group who had the same bullets as mine," Ethan responded, maintaining the serious look on his face.

The Commander frowned, not saying a word for a moment as he looked Ethan straight in the eye.

All he could feel in his mind was that this young man sitting in front of him was lying, and he was holding strong to that belief.

"Ethan Reyes," the Commander called again, staring right into his dark eyes.

"Yes, Commander," Ethan responded.

"I’m going to be straight. I’m going to ask you one last time..."

Ethan nodded.

"Did you kill the Red Monster?" he asked, this time more serious-looking and stern.

"No, Commander."

Yet, Ethan still denied it, and it was at that time the Commander agreed that he was done.

"All right. You can go," he said, with his face still unrelaxed.

Ethan nodded and stood up, making his way.

"How many are they?"

Another question called Ethan back.

"Your family in Atlanta..."

Ethan turned and glanced at the Commander.

"Many," Ethan replied in a low tone, and with the Commander nodding to that unclear answer, Ethan gave a wry smile and walked away.

Mister Fred was still standing by the door side, and before he followed Ethan, the Commander faced him.

"The Second Raid Group clearly saw him kill the Red Monster with an axe. He thinks he has gotten away with it, but he’ll know very soon that he hasn’t."

"Keep an eye on him..."

"He’s special."

That was what he told Mister Fred before he left the building and led Ethan back to the compound. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Upon reaching the steel house, Mister Fred tried to remind him about the goal.

"Training starts tomorrow, Ethan. Looking forward to seeing you with the boys."

Ethan gave a weak nod and walked back in with a long, relieving sigh.

He had just denied every obvious act that he had committed before the Commander, and he was glad he got away with it.

However, he still knew he’d have to be more careful and keep a low profile.

He knew that he was going to get eyes on him.

******

Nina soon entered the cleared area, but she didn’t dare head to the entrance.

Instead, she headed towards the back of the cottage, trying to make a few observations before deciding whether to meet them or not.

Nina hid by one of the windows and sunk her eyes into one of the small openings.

However, all she saw was darkness, and there was no trace of any person around.

Staring in confusion, she checked through another opening, and it was the same outcome.

She then checked another. And another...

Same outcome.

At that point, she got confused.

After pondering about what to do for a while, she decided to head through the door and approach them like a normal person, even though they were no longer in a normal world.

At that point, when she was about to turn and walk away,

She suddenly turned to face a gun pointed towards her head, and a young lady in black was standing right in front of her.

The next moment, another lady in white dashed out from nowhere. She appeared to be the woman Nina had been following.

"And who are you? Are you trying to steal from us? Attack us?" the armed one asked.

Nina gave a serious head shake and responded.

"No."

"So why are you trying to get in from the window?" she then asked.

Nina, not having the perfect answer for that question, was suddenly caught off guard, and the next moment, the armed lady took her judgement.

"Fine..." She looked at the lady in white.

"Another monster captured. Let’s take her to father."