I didn’t know when Harry’s group would try to negotiate with the survivors’ camp in the north. It would take a few days for them get ready, but even so, I hurried toward the north. Because I avoided all the monsters, I managed to reach their camp at noon on the next day. However, instead of attacking, I decided to observe them for the rest of the day.
The northern part of the city didn’t have many tall buildings, so the better place that I found to observe them was a fifteen meters tall warehouse, which was three hundred meters away from their base. But that was good enough for me because when I arrived, many of the survivors were one hundred meters away from the base. I was near a group of one hundred survivors, they didn’t have any weapons, and their clothes were pretty light considering the current weather of the city.
‘I guess they are being forced to transfer their coins too, that would explain why they didn’t buy appropriate clothes.’
Or maybe they were wearing light clothes to make their smell spread more quickly, either way, thanks to that fact; the survivors looked pretty haggard. Fifty meters behind the survivors, I could see a group of ten men armed with assault rifles and machine guns. They were shooting at the monsters which were attracted by the survivors, and they looked pretty carefree.
‘I wonder if they are not worried about hitting by accident the survivors…’
When I thought that, I heard one of those one hundred survivors screaming, and I also saw blood dripping from his arm. The guy who shot him scratched his head, it seemed to him that he had made only a small mistake.
‘I wonder if the others would still try to negotiate after seeing this.’
But that scene was just one of many crazy things that I would see. Until that moment, only one monster at a time appeared to attack. But suddenly, two mutant polar bears appeared. Those guys’ firearms could kill the monsters, but it would take a while. And just like I had imagined, five survivors got hit by the rampaging beasts and they flew in the air for dozens of meters. But what surprised me, what the fact that the other survivors didn’t move an inch. They trembled like hell, but they didn’t try to escape.
‘What the hell…’
It was surprising, but since I could become invisible, another person could control other people with magic or some item. It wasn’t that hard to believe, and if that were possible, maybe I wouldn’t have to kill every single of those armed guys. If I discover how they are controlling the survivors, I could do the same with them.
‘But I probably won’t have enough evolution coins to buy it, and I’ll have at least to get rid of their leader.’
The last time I saw it, this survivor camp had more than six hundred survivors. So, they are probably doing that exact same thing in the other three directions. Which means, there were at least forty armed men.
‘That will be a pain in the ass; I can’t just attack them because they will lock themselves inside the hotel.’
My explosive bolt could kill at least five of them since they were close to each other, but that wouldn’t change a thing, after all, they split their forces in all directions. Not only that, occasionally, another guy with also armed with a firearm would appear and give them fully loaded guns. Besides, I couldn’t kill them with my crossbows.
‘Maybe I should follow them when they return to the hotel. If I use the invisibility of my cape and follow exactly the marks they left in the snow, I don’t think they will notice me. But I can’t attack them inside the hotel.’
I was ridiculously outnumbered, and I couldn’t attack them inside the hotel. So I thought of instead of killing all of them, I should kill those who held more power among them and put in my control the others.
‘If I succeed in doing that, I should forbid them of telling about my actions to anyone. But if it is possible using that power to control other human beings… using that power, can I also control monsters?’
It was a very convenient power, but probably had a few severe restrictions. Once I obtain the knowledge about it, I’ll seriously test it.
‘Come to think of it; I should test the analyze skill on those guys.’
Survivor A: HP: 240/240 MP:120/120 STA: 240/240
Survivor B: HP: 266/266 MP:82/82 STA: 266/266
Survivor C: HP: 304/304 MP:120/120 STA: 304/304
The analyze skill could tell me their status, but couldn’t tell me their names. That was weird, but their names wouldn’t stay in my mind for a long time. The skill was getting better a lot faster than the concentration skill, probably because it was a non-combat skill. Anyway, those three were the most powerful ones of that ten armed men. The others seemed to be really behind them in terms of status; those three were probably among the group who found the hotel.
‘As I thought, they are focusing on breaking their physical limits, but they are probably breaking the mental and sensorial limits once in a while too. I guess that is the safest choice.’
It was hard to admit it, but I was only breaking the sensorial limit, because I was obsessed in not suffering any ambushes, and also to increase my movement speed to increase my chances of escaping dangerous situations. In other words, I was a coward, and I wanted to keep some distance from the monsters, at any cost.
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‘In any case, they are weaker than I thought. I jumped conclusions when I thought they were stronger than us. It’s probably because they don’t leave the hotel. But they still have the numerical advantage and a lot of firearms, I have no chance but to decrease their numbers and kill the big guns.’
The problem was, I didn’t have much time. Identify their leaders in a group of forty or fifty people would be too troublesome. Not to mention, I had to deal with them without making them aware of my presence.
‘If only I could find someone inside of that hotel who could help me…’
But that was easier said than done, who would fight against armed guys alongside a stranger? Well, I only needed the information. Besides, a person without weapons wouldn’t help much. Luckily, the mutant polar bears created a good situation for me. Their attacks managed to kill two survivors, but I saw three moving a little to take cover in an alley. They suffered a lot of damage, so they probably wouldn’t join the others survivors, at least until the time to return to the hotel.
‘Maybe I can make one of them talk and give me the necessary information. But I wonder if they will cooperate.’
Instead of trying to cooperate, they could reveal my presence or worse, lie to me and lure me to a trap. After all, they were hostages. Their lives are on the line, and probably the lives of their families too. I analyzed those three wounded survivors carefully while thinking if I really should approach one of them, but then something strange happened.
Charles: HP: 30/180 MP:50/50 STA: 40/180
‘Why I see his name but not the others? That name sounds familiar… do I know him?’
I looked at that survivor, and I couldn’t really recognize him, he was covered in blood after all. But he looked young, perhaps we had the same age, and he looked a little bit familiar.
‘Is he a classmate perhaps?’
I wasn’t really sure about that since I was too busy working and studying. I couldn’t really remember my classmates’ faces. If he were a classmate, probably he would help me. I was trying to get rid of his captors after all.
‘I wonder if things will go that smoothly.’
I decided to approach him, but something was bugging me, and I couldn’t understand why. Carefully, I left the warehouse and approached while not trying to reveal my position. Since I was walking near the buildings’ walls and the others were too busy, no one noticed me. But my steps still left marks in the snow, so I tried to make those marks as unnoticeable as possible.
Fortunately, that guy was still conscious, and the other two weren’t close enough to see my footsteps on the snow or hear me.
“Hey, are you alright?”
“That voice,” Charles whispered in pain. “I’m dying, and in my last moments, I have to imagine that fucker’s voice. Fuck you, Ethan.”
“Do I know you?”
“Even his voice in my head is annoying,” Charles said with a hint of anger in his voice. “You almost killed me two years ago, fucking bastard.”
How could I be so unlucky? He was one of the guys who I beat two years ago, he wouldn’t help, and he probably would even sell me to his captors. It was clear that he hated me that much.
“Yeah, I’m the voice inside of your head. But I’ll leave you now, rest and don’t comment about this to the others, or they will think that you are crazy.”
It was a stupid thing to say, but he was wounded, and he probably would just pass out soon. The next time he wakes up, if he wakes up, he will think that had been just a dream. So, I slowly began to walk away, following the marks I left in the snow.
“Wait,” Charles said. “You are here, aren’t you? I can see your footsteps.”
Damn it! Next time, even if it’ll make things more complicated, I’ll do everything by myself. No more asking questions and no more interaction with people who looked familiar. I didn’t move, and I didn’t say anything, maybe he would pass out and forget everything, but that was just me being too naive.
“Answer me, you bastard!” Charles said, trying without success to shout and scare me.
“Sorry, just keep your voice low, I’m not your enemy.”
“You say this even though you almost killed me in the past?” Charles said after coughing a little. “You have got some nerve.”
Although he couldn’t see me, he didn’t look shocked. I thought those guys who were used as baits were cowards, but Charles looked the type who could adapt very quickly. Maybe my first impression about this place was wrong after all. Another thing to write down on my notebook, I guess.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Charles asked frowning. “I thought all the other nerds like you died on the first day.”
“I think it’s surprising that you are still alive; after all, you and your friends lost a fight against a single person.”
“Go to hell, asshole!” Charles shouted.
This guy was really getting on my nerves. Here was I trying to help him, and he was doing everything possible to reveal my presence. Luckily the other two guys already passed out, and I could hear some gunshots. No one had heard his voice.
“Let’s forget about the past for the time being, okay? You and the others are being controlled, right? How’s that work? No, wait. Can you even answer my questions?”
“How did you know about this?” Charles asked, surprised.
“I have been observing this place for a few hours. The other survivors didn’t look brave enough not to run away from the monsters, so that was the only explanation.”
“I see… you obtained a handy skill.” Charles said. “Moving around without been seen. It fits a sneaky bastard like you.”
I wonder if this guy were capable of stop insulting me for a few minutes, he probably would if he could see my crossbows.
“I didn’t obtain this skill; I bought it.”
“What? Can we do that?” Charles said, looking surprised and frustrated. “Now I finally understand, those assholes used our evolution coins to obtain new powers. No wonder, they can control so much of us.”
“I see, so it’s a skill. Explain it in detail.”
“Don’t give me orders!” Charles shouted. “There’s no way in hell I will help an asshole like you!”
I sighed, I have been trying to learn from my mistakes and forget the past, but I guess I didn’t have any other choice. I equipped the vampire hunter’s crossbow, and I made Charles feel the weapon touching his head. Thanks to that, he froze on the spot.
“I already said that I’m trying to help, but since you don’t want to be helped, I’ll get rid of you. I can’t let the others know about my presence after all. Too bad, if only you could forget the past, you could have received an opportunity to be free again. Oh well, death is also freedom for some people.”
I really didn’t want to do that, but what choice did I have? By helping me, he could help the others and stop an inevitable fight between the people in that place and Harry’s group. He didn’t seem like a bad person, but his grudge would cause the death of many people.
“Wait,” Charles said with a pale face. “Do you really will help us?”
“Maybe, I intend to clean the city a little bit. Maybe you will obtain some benefit from it, now, what will you do? Continue insulting me and test my patience or help me get rid of the people who used you as bait?”
“Sorry I’ll help,” Charles said after he calmed down a little. “I have to save Theresa and Laura.
I had no idea who those two were, but if he had someone who he needed to help, he wouldn’t lure me into a trap. Probably.