81. Reunion (1)
Inside the contaminated area, there was a spectacle of whether it was Area F, which had been destroyed for a long time.
It was as if I had traveled back in time to the ruined Landa.
There was no place to be bleak, including damaged roads and footpaths, slowly collapsing buildings and research institutes, and alleys stained with darkness even in the daytime.
Literally abandoned.
But if it was really abandoned, it wasn’t.
Although they were abandoned by their original owners, new residents were nesting in distant alleys, in buildings, in streets and even under the ground.
‘Although there are some strange things.’
Oliver didn’t move right away, but checked the maps and photos he had received from Forrest.
It was an image that roughly grasped the geography and moved based on this place, but then, a loud noise was heard.
“Let’s go, kids…!”
With a loud shout, a group of solvers armed with swords, axes and firearms moved.
The man at the forefront was a man with a large scar on his face, and looking around, it was Chip who asked a former public official what would happen if he harmed someone.
For some reason, it didn’t seem like they were just going to catch zombies and polluting creatures.
“You better be careful.”
Someone spoke to Oliver.
It was Arthur, a famous solver in Area N.
“hello? Arthur Mr. Are you right?”
“okay. Did you ask about me in the warehouse?”
“Ah, yes…. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“No, it’s not that bad. Even if everyone pretended not to be, we found a solution that stood out to each other. me too Anyway, nice to meet you.”
Arthur held out a stone hand with the words.
Oliver didn’t really have any intentions, so Oliver held his hand, but to his surprise, the stone prosthetic arm was not cold, but rather warm.
“Are you planning to go alone?”
“Yes?”
“Before, I wasn’t able to ask because I wasn’t in a good mood. What is your special black magic?”
It’s special… There was nothing special about Oliver. So I answered appropriately.
“It’s a firearm series.”
“Oh, fire? That’s good. At the same time, we didn’t have long-range firepower on our side… how is it? If it’s okay with you, work with us. There are several other Area X solvers besides you.”
Arthur pointed to a few dozen or so solvers behind his back.
The composition varied considerably, from female snipers in silk hats to men with mechanical arms and goggles, to those armed with exoskeleton armor.
They all seemed to have a name for themselves.
As if to actually represent this, Arthur pointed out one thing.
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand me.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve heard of you, but I’m not suggesting that you just bury it comfortably.”
It was sincere.
“These are also people with thick bones and well-known names on this floor in their own way. If the city hadn’t ordered it in the first place, no one would do such a low-level job… Unless it’s urgently needed.”
“Oh, yes.”
“As you are, our goal is to just fill the quota in moderation and get out of here as quickly as possible. how is it? There are only talented people in this place, so we need to work together to finish it quickly.”
Everything Arthur said was sincere.
Everyone here had confidence as a solver in their own way.
The only thing I made to Oliver like this was to make it more efficient and safe, and frankly, it was a tempting offer.
Cant said that while working, you will meet many solvers, and unless you meet enemies, it is not bad to make some friends.
It’s okay to get close to people in the same industry, but you can get information. Of course, there are people who want to use it…
Anyway, given their confidence and words, they didn’t seem like bad people to know. However….
“…a very grateful offer, but I will decline it.”
Arthur wasn’t particularly surprised or saddened.
So were the solvers behind them. They had the kind of atmosphere that should and shouldn’t have been.
“Well, it’s personal freedom… Still, it’s a relationship that I met here. Let me give you a piece of advice. Beware of people as well as zombies and polluting creatures. There are a lot of looters here who target people like us. Be careful with the fixer like Chip, whom I saw before.”
“Chips?”
“Yeah, he’s more interested in the looters, villagers and warlocks here than the zombies. There are secretly albums… There are probably mercenaries who have the same thoughts, so it would be good for you to not associate with them as much as possible.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Yeah, I hope you get it done safely.”
“Oh, yes. Arthur too. Finish your work safely.”
***
After a brief conversation with Arthur’s party, Oliver paused for a while and started moving.
Before moving on, several solvers approached and offered to collaborate, but Oliver politely declined, as before.
In the first place, the goal of cleaning the contaminated area was to look around the contaminated area and pick up useful items.
It didn’t seem like a bad idea to team up with Arthur and the others if he was free to visit the contaminated area, but Oliver insisted on his original plan.
If we get to know each other, we will have the opportunity to work again someday.
Kee ee ee ee!
hahaha
[Hat Bullet]
Along with the chant, bullets of hate hit the head of the approaching zombie.
The zombie’s neck, which had become as dry as a chicken’s neck, exploded, and the head and body were separated, and the zombie collapsed with it.
He had returned to his corpse, but the only thing that moved was his jaw, which was craving for vitality.
Obviously, the naturally occurring zombies felt very different from the artificial zombies created by the warlock.
The zombies resurrected by the warlock were nothing more than dolls that had no will unless they cast additional black magic and gave orders, but the zombies that occurred naturally moved on their own, constantly seeking vitality.
I’ve read books with this in Anthony’s book, but it’s just a description of the phenomenon and nothing about the cause.
Oliver thought that if he could afford it, he might want to check it out.
Aren’t you curious?
“But now things come first.”
Oliver smashed the zombie’s jaw with a quarterstaff and carefully placed the zombie head in the magic bag provided by the city.
Although it was only the size of a small bag, there were already fifteen zombie heads in it, and surprisingly, I did not feel any significant increase in weight.
He seemed to understand the reason why they said that even if it was cheap, they would do thousands of them.
That’s why the looters hiding in the polluted area are willing to take it at the risk of attacking the solvers.
“Then why doesn’t it show up?”
Oliver looked around and muttered.
In addition to safe paths and dangerous areas, the data provided by Forrest included cleaning precautions, among which the looters inside the contaminated area were clearly written.
They do not appear until several hundred meters of the barrier surrounding the contaminated area,
It is said that when they cross that point, they appear from time to time and aim for a careless or injured fixer, but strangely, Oliver has never seen them until now.
Of course, he didn’t want to meet the predators.
Just what to say… I felt a sense of disparity.
When I first entered the polluted area, I focused my attention and looked around, but there were only zombies and polluted creatures, but there were no people.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
No, it was more than that.At that time, the zombies were distributed evenly, but suddenly, only one or two were on the outskirts, and the rest of the zombies all flocked to the inside and were nowhere to be seen.
it was not clear The reason you want to clean in the first place is because there are too many zombies or polluting creatures trying to get out of the polluted area, but when a solver appears, they all rush inside.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Naturally occurring zombies are hungry for life, so when they see a solver, they have to run away from it, instead of running away… All of this made no sense.As I thought about that, I suddenly remembered what Forrest had said.
There is something suspicious about this cleaning in the first place.
It was originally started after 4 months, but suddenly zombies and polluting creatures appeared exponentially.
I wondered if some dangerous warlock was actually playing an artificial prank, just as he said.
Then I wondered if this was also the work of the warlock. (Is it the work of the warlock?)
[Hat Bullet]
Oliver jumped out of his seat and fired bullets of hate towards the floor.
At the same time, a huge rat with yellow teeth appeared from the damaged dirt floor and thrust its teeth into Oliver.
Jjijijijijijijiik ━━━!
An ugly appearance with a noise that pierces the ears.
have seen it in the past
It was a polluted creature called a naked rat that I saw in the mole’s hideout.
Puck-!
The Naked Rat was hit by a Hat Bullet shot by Oliver and collapsed, but Oliver was vigilant and re-extracted his emotions and injected them into his shadow.
Then, he commanded the shadow to stretch it forward, and he used Vine Shadow to catch the ugly dog and cat that were attacking him on the collapsed wall, and then cut off his neck.
It was rather organized to be just a ferocious contaminant attack, but Oliver touched and inspected the dead contaminants in case they were to die.
Contrary to expectations, the mechanism seen in the puppeteer Glyph was not visible.
“It’s strange. Am I wrong? Or is it only controlled by the obi? ····I’m sorry, can you come out soon? I am concerned.”
Oliver spoke into the air.
There was no reply for a few seconds, but after a while, someone showed up.
A group of mercenaries hiding behind the building, fewer than ten, one of whom was a familiar face.
“long time no see. Knuckle Joe.”
“·····Dave.”
***
Oliver confronts Knuckle Joe.
It’s been a while, but Oliver did his job first.
It was to use Vine Shadow to cut off the throat of a polluting creature and then put it in a magic bag.
Fortunately, Knuckle Joe and his comrades waited with minimal vigilance.
“Thank you for waiting.”
Oliver wiped his hands and walked over to Joe to say hello.
It was because he didn’t look like he was living or malicious, but he looked at Oliver for a while and then opened his mouth.
“Are you really that brazen in the first place?”
“Yes?”
“Being too friendly for the last kidnapper of my employee.”
“ah·····. right. I did. But I thought you would understand. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“understanding?”
“Yeah, the last time you fought me, I said that my hands were going to hurt, but did you say that you didn’t even know that you had come to this floor? …so I thought it would be fine. Isn’t this the floor?”
“·················ogue.”
“Well, I hope you understand. It’s my job too… Also, strictly speaking, Associate Professor Herbert broke his promise first, so my employees were exercising their legitimate rights. Anyway, I’m sorry about that.”
Knuckle Joe let out a small sigh and said, “Crazy….” ‘ he whispered a little.
He didn’t seem to have the energy to pursue it any more.
“What did you come here for?”
“I’m going to clean up.”
“I know you came to clean up. You must have come to clean the polluted area. What I was asking is, why did you come here among the vast polluted area?”
Oliver was silent. Joe’s question was that sharp.
The area around this place was managed by a group of warlocks called the O’Toole family.
According to the information Forest gave, they were the ones who collected the corpses and zombies dumped in the contaminated area, converted them into weapons, and then sold them outside the contaminated area.
It was quite a skill, so Oliver looked at them and planned to surprise them and steal their books and surgical instruments.
Because it was said that it is a place where nothing happens in the polluted area.
However, it seemed that Oliver was not the only one who had such a thought.
“We came here because of that.”
“ah·····. okay. So, did you get the O’Toole family books?”
Joe slowly shook his head.
“No, it’s already been stolen.”