Chapter 204: The Formation
Hours passed before the group slowly began waking up. One by one, they emerged from the rooms, still looking exhausted after everything they had gone through the previous night.
Bong-gu was the last to come downstairs. He walked into the living area while rubbing his sleepy eyes, then immediately looked toward Jaxon. "Jaxon, I’m hungry. Can you do that thing again? You know, the food-summoning thing?"
The moment he spoke, everyone turned toward him.
Bong-gu stopped and looked around. The serious expressions on everyone’s faces made him blink several times. "Uh... what happened? Why does everyone look like that?"
"You’re just in time," Jaxon said, gesturing toward the empty seat beside them. "Come sit down, Bong-gu."
Bong-gu glanced around suspiciously before walking over and taking the seat. Besides Natasha, Na-rin, and Jaxon’s family, everyone else was watching him with a mixture of curiosity and expectation.
They had seen too much during their escape from Mongoloid Safe Zone to keep ignoring the strange things surrounding Jaxon. Thomas was especially attentive. He had only recently joined them, and everything he had witnessed the previous night had left him with more questions than answers.
Jaxon looked around the room before speaking. "Before anything else, I want to continue with what I mentioned before. I want us to form our own group."
"Ah, it’s the one you mentioned before," Elaine said, giving him a small nod.
"Exactly." Jaxon nodded. "But this time, I want to make it official."
Elena frowned slightly. "What exactly are you asking us to do?"
"It’s nothing complicated. We’ll continue operating the way we have been, but officially as one group. We prioritize each other’s safety, protect one another, share information, and help each other survive."
Claire exchanged a glance with Hannah before looking back at Jaxon. The two had already considered his offer before, and after everything they had experienced together, neither needed much time to decide.
"I’ll join," Claire said.
Hannah nodded beside her. "Me too."
Jannah and Hiromi immediately raised their hands. "We’re joining too, Big Brother!"
Jaxon couldn’t help but smile at the twins. Their decision had come much faster than he expected.
Elena and Haris also exchanged a glance before Elena gave Jaxon a tired smile. "After everything you did for us, I don’t think I need to think about it anymore. You saved our lives more than once, and I trust you."
Haris nodded in agreement. "Same here."
Bong-gu leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, pretending to think deeply. "So, let me get this straight. I get to stay with the guy who can pull food and weapons out of nowhere?"
Jaxon stared at him.
Bong-gu grinned. "Of course I’m joining."
A few people couldn’t help laughing.
Bong-gu then pointed at Jaxon. "Seriously, though, you saved us multiple times. You even saved our asses back at the school. I’m not stupid enough to walk away from someone like that."
Haris chuckled. "That’s probably the most honest reason I’ve heard so far."
"What’s wrong with that?" Bong-gu protested. "I’m being practical."
"Sure you are," Haris replied with a grin.
Jaxon couldn’t help but smile at Bong-gu’s response before turning his attention toward Thomas. "What about you?"
Thomas remained quiet for a moment. He looked around the room and realized that everyone else had already made their decision. With a small sigh, he leaned back in his chair. "I guess I’m the only one left."
"You don’t have to join if you don’t want to," Jaxon said. "I’m not going to force you."
Thomas gave him a suspicious look. "And you’re not going to silence me if I say no?"
Jaxon stared at him for a second before shaking his head. "We’re not doing that."
Thomas chuckled. He glanced around the room again, his expression becoming more relaxed. "You and the others have saved my life more than once already. Besides, it’s actually pretty fun being around you people."
After losing the safe zone and watching the military struggle to protect even a fraction of the civilians, he knew things wouldn’t be the same anymore. He paused before giving Jaxon a small smile. "So... let me join you."
Jaxon nodded. "Welcome."
With Thomas agreeing, the decision was finally settled.
"Then it’s decided," Jaxon said, looking around the room. "All of you will be the core members of this group. Anyone we recruit later will become a regular member."
Everyone nodded, but before the conversation could continue, Jaxon raised his hand. "There’s something else you all need to know."
The room became quiet again.
"The ability you’ve seen me use isn’t summoning."
Bong-gu raised an eyebrow. "It’s not?"
"No. It’s a Storage Space."
"Storage Space?" Hiromi tilted her head. "Like the ones in games?"
"Pretty much." Jaxon nodded. "I can store things inside it and take them out whenever I want. Right now, it can hold about seventy-two cubic meters of items."
Those who hadn’t known about it stared at him in disbelief.
"Seventy-two cubic meters?" Elena repeated. "That’s... huge."
"So that’s where all those supplies came from," Bong-gu muttered. "That’s such a cheat ability."
Thomas’s expression became more serious as he considered the possibilities. "With something like that, you could gather and transport resources far more easily than anyone else."
"Exactly," Jaxon then reached behind him.
The DMR suddenly appeared in his hands.
Several people flinched despite having already seen him do it before.
"This is another thing I can do. I can upgrade weapons."
He held up the rifle. "My DMR has been upgraded several times. The shotgun I gave Bong-gu has been upgraded too."
"Ohh." Bong-gu picked up his shotgun and looked at it with a grin. "So that’s why this thing’s so powerful."
Elaine suddenly looked at the submachine gun resting beside her. "Then my weapon..."
"It’s upgraded too."
Her eyes widened slightly. "So that’s why it became so much stronger."
Elena looked down at her Twin Uzi and laughed awkwardly. "I thought so."
Natasha, who had been sitting beside Jaxon, finally spoke. "And there’s something else you need to understand."
Everyone turned toward her.
"Those weapons don’t just become stronger. Each one has an effect that makes the person using it stronger."