Genius Warlock-Episode 81
The inside of the contaminated area looked like it might have been Area F, which collapsed over a long period of time..
I could say it felt like I had time traveled to the fallen Landa.,
It was completely desolate, with damaged roads and walkways, buildings and research centers slowly collapsing, and alleys stained with darkness even in the daytime..
Literally an abandoned place.
But that doesn't mean I was really abandoned..
Although they may have been abandoned by their original owners, new residents were nesting in distant alleys, inside buildings, streets, and even under the ground..
‘There are some strange things though.’
Oliver didn't move right away, but checked the map and photo he received from Forrest..
I roughly figured out the geography and planned to move around this place, but then I heard a loud noise..
"Let's go guys.…!”
With loud shouts, a group of solvers armed with knives, axes, and firearms moved..
The person leading the way was a man with a large scar on his face. Looking closely, I saw that it was Chip who had asked the former civil servant what would happen if he hurts someone..
It didn't seem like they were just going to catch zombies and polluted creatures..
"You better be careful.”
Someone spoke to Oliver.
It was Arthur, a famous solver in Area N..
"hello? Mr. Arthur… . That's right?”
"okay. Asked about me in the warehouse?”
"Ah, yes… I'm sorry if you were offended."
"No, it's not that unpleasant. Even if everyone pretends not to be the case, we get to know each other and see if there is a problem solver that stands out. Same goes for me. Anyway, nice to meet you.”
With those words, Arthur held out his hand made of stone..
Since he had no ulterior motive, Oliver held his hands together, but surprisingly, the prosthetic hand made of stone was not cold, but had a strange warmth to it..
"Are you planning on going alone??”
“yes?”
"I couldn't ask you earlier because I was in a hurry. What is special black magic??”
It’s a specialty… .. There was nothing special about Oliver. So he answered accordingly.
"It is a firearms series..”
"Oh, firearms? It's perfect. At the time, we lacked long-range firepower... . how is it? If you don't mind, work with us. Besides you, there are several other area X solvers..”
Arthur pointed to a group of slightly less than twenty solvers behind him..
The composition was quite diverse, including a female sniper wearing a top hat, a man with a mechanical arm and goggles, and those armed with exoskeleton gloves..
It felt like everyone was a famous solver in their own way..
In fact, as if representing this, Arthur pointed out one thing..
"Oh, just for your information, I hope you don't misunderstand..”
"yes?”
"I've heard rumors about you, but I'm not suggesting that you just bury yourself in peace..”
I meant it..
"These are people who have made a name for themselves in their own way. If the city hadn't ordered it in the first place, there would be no one to do such a low-level job... .. Unless you need urgent money..”
"Ah, yes.”
"As with you, our goal is to fill our quotas and get out of here as safely as possible. how is it? There are a lot of talented people here too, so the best way to finish it quickly is to work together..”
Everything Arthur said was sincere..
Everyone here had confidence as a problem solver in their own way..
The only reason I made this suggestion to Oliver was to make it more efficient and safer, but honestly, it was an attractive proposition..
Cant said that as you work, you will meet many problem solvers, and as long as you do not meet them as enemies, it is not a bad idea to build some friendships..
If you become friends with people in the same industry, you can hear good things or information. Of course, there are people who want to use it...….
Anyway, looking at their confidence and words, it didn't seem like they were bad people to know. However..….
“….I really appreciate your offer, but I will decline it..”
Arthur wasn't particularly surprised or disappointed..
The same was true for the solvers behind them. They had an atmosphere where if you do it, you can do it, and if you don’t do it, you can’t do it..
"Well, it’s personal freedom… .. Still, it was fate that we met like this. Let me give you some advice. Be careful not only of zombies and polluted creatures, but also of people. There are many marauders here who prey on people like us. Be careful of the chip-like solver you saw earlier..”
"Chips?”
"Yeah, he's more interested in the looters, villagers, and warlocks here than he is in the zombies. There are secretly rich people... .. There are probably mercenaries with the same thoughts, so it would be best for your personal life to not get involved with those guys as much as possible..”
"Thanks for the advice.”
"Okay, I hope you finish your work safely..”
"Ah, yes. Mr. Arthur too. Finish your work safely.”
***
After a short conversation with Arthur and the others, Oliver also started to move after a while..
Before moving on, several problem solvers approached him and suggested collaborating, but Oliver politely declined, as he had done before..
From the beginning, the goal of cleaning up the contaminated area was to look around the contaminated area and collect useful items..
It didn't seem like a bad idea to team up with Arthur if they were free to visit the contaminated area, but Oliver insisted on his original plan..
If you make a connection, you will have the opportunity to work again someday..
KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE——!
Hahahahahaha——!
[Hate Bullet]
Along with the chant, the bullet of hatred hit the neck of the approaching zombie..
The zombie's neck, which was as thin as a chicken's neck, burst open, separating the head from the body, and the zombie fell down with it..
I was back to a corpse again, and all I could do was move my jaw, clenching for life..
Certainly, naturally occurring zombies felt very different from artificial zombies created by warlocks..
The zombies revived by the hook wizard were nothing more than dolls with no will unless additional black magic was cast and commanded, but naturally generated zombies moved on their own and constantly sought vitality..
I read a book written about this in Anthony's book, but it was just a description of the phenomenon and nothing was written about the cause.,
Oliver thought that if he could afford it, he would like to look into it..
Aren't you curious??
"But now work comes first.”
Oliver smashed the zombie's jaw with a quarter staff and carefully placed the zombie's head in a magic bag provided by the city..
Although it is only the size of a small bag, it already contains 15 zombie heads, but surprisingly, I couldn't feel any increase in weight..
Even if it was cheap, I could see why they said it would cost several thousand per piece..
That's probably why the looters hiding in the contaminated area are trying to take it even at the risk of attacking the solvers..
"But why doesn't it show up??”
Oliver looked around and muttered..
The material given by Forrest included precautions for cleaning in addition to safe routes and dangerous areas, and among them, information about looters inside the contaminated area was clearly written..
They do not reveal themselves until hundreds of meters of the barrier surrounding the contaminated area.,
It is said that beyond that point, they appear from time to time, targeting unwary or injured solvers, but strangely enough, Oliver has never seen them until now..
Of course, I didn't mean to meet the marauders..
But what should I say… . I felt a sense of foreignness.
When I first entered the contaminated area, I focused my eyes and looked around, but there were only zombies and contaminated organisms and no people, and the same was true even now that I was quite deep in..
No, it was more than that..
At that time, the zombies were fairly evenly distributed, but now only one or two were on the outskirts, and the rest were all crowded inside and out of sight..
It wasn't clear. The reason we were trying to clean it in the first place was because zombies and polluted creatures had increased so much that they were trying to escape the contaminated area, but when the solver showed up, they all flocked inside..
Naturally occurring zombies crave life, so when they see a problem solver, they should run rather than run away. This whole situation didn't make sense..
When I thought about that, I suddenly remembered what Forrest said..
There was something suspicious about this cleaning in the first place..
It was originally started 4 months later, but zombies and polluted creatures suddenly appeared at an exponential rate..
As he said, I really thought that some dangerous warlock had pulled off an artificial prank..
Then I wondered if this was also the work of that warlock. (Could it be the work of that warlock??)
[Hate Bullet]
Oliver jumped up from his seat and fired a bullet 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 at Oliver..
Jjijijijijijijik———!
Deafening noise and hideous appearance.
I've seen it before.
It was a polluted creature called a naked rat that I saw in the mole's hideout..
puck——!
The Naked Rat was struck by the Hate Bullet fired by Oliver and fell down, but Oliver was alert and extracted the emotions again and injected them into his shadow..
He then ordered the shadow to stretch forward, and used Vine Shadow to catch the ugly dogs and cats that were attacking him along the collapsed wall, then cut off their heads..
It was a fairly well-organized attack to be considered just a vicious attack by polluted organisms, but Oliver touched and examined the dead polluted organisms just in case..
Contrary to expectations, the mechanical device seen on puppet master Glip was not visible..
"That's strange. Am I wrong? Or was it controlled only by Ovidian? ....Excuse me, but could you please come out soon? Because I was worried."
Oliver said into the air.
There was no answer for a few seconds, but after a while, someone appeared..
A group of mercenaries hiding behind a building, less than ten people, one of whom was a familiar face..
"long time no see. Mr. Knuckle Joe.”
“..…dave.”
***
Oliver faces Knuckle Joe.
It's been quite a while, but Oliver still does his own thing first..
The plan was to use Vine Shadow to tighten the neck of the polluted organism, cut it off, and place it in a magic bag..
Fortunately, Knuckle Joe and his colleagues 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 seem to want to live or have any malicious intent, but he looked at Oliver for a while and then opened his mouth..
"...Is he really that shameless??”
"yes?”
"For someone who kidnapped my employee last time, he was acting too friendly..”
"ah..… . right. It was like that. But I thought you would understand. I'm sorry if you were offended..”
"understanding?”
"Yes, the last time you fought me, I told you that it was hard on your hands, but you said that you thought you came into this world without even preparing yourself for it. ....So I thought it would be okay. Isn’t this the floor??”
"......."
"Well, I hope you understand. That's my job too... . Also, strictly speaking, since Associate Professor Herberton broke his promise first, my employees were exercising their legitimate rights. Anyway, I'm sorry about that time..”
Knuckle Joe sighed softly and muttered "Crazy...".
I didn't seem to have the energy to argue anymore..
“..…What did you come here for?.”
"To clean..”
"I know you're here to clean. They must have come to clean up the contaminated area. What I asked was why did you come here out of the vast contaminated area?.”
Oliver was silent. Joe's question was that sharp..
The area around here was managed by a group of warlocks called the O'Toole family..
According to the information given by Forest, they were collecting corpses and zombies abandoned in the contaminated area, converting them into weapons, and then selling them outside the contaminated area..
Since they had quite a bit of skill, Oliver planned to inspect them and, when the time came, attack them and steal their books and surgical tools..
It is said that in polluted areas, even if something happens, it is a place where nothing happens..
However, it seemed like Oliver wasn't the only one who had such thoughts..
"That's why we came here too”
"ah..… . okay. So did you get the O'Toole family's books??”
Joe shook his head slowly..
"No, it's already been robbed.”
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