Oliver wondered whether he was in District F as soon as he entered the Contaminated zone.
It was as if he had traveled back in time to the fallen Landa.
There was nothing but damaged roads and footpaths along with slowly collapsing buildings and research centers, and alleys drenched in darkness.
A place that has been abandoned.
But that really wasn't the case. Although they were abandoned by their original owners, new residents were nesting in distant alleys, in buildings, and even under the ground.
There seems to be something strange about the place.
Oliver didn't make his move right away, instead, he checked the map and photos he had received from Forrest.
It was intended to understand the geography and move based on the situation, and at that time, a loud voice was heard.
"Let's go, boys…"
With a loud shout, a group of Solvers armed with swords, axes, and firearms started to move.
The man at the forefront was a man who had a big scar on his face, and it turned out that it was Chip, the person who asked the official what would happen if he harmed someone.
For some reason, it didn't seem like they were here to just catch zombies and contaminated creatures.
“You better be careful.”
Someone said to Oliver.
When Oliver turned his head, he found it was Arthur, a famous solver from District N.
"Hello? Mr. Arthur… isn’t that right?"
“Yeah. Didn’t you ask about me inside?”
“Ah, yes… I’m sorry if I have offended you.”
"No, it's not that bad. Even if everyone pretended as nothing, we are after all Solvers that stood out. Anyway, It's nice to meet you.”
Arthur held out his stone hand with those words.
Oliver, who found that he had no ill intentions, took his hand and to his surprise, the Golem prosthetic arm felt strangely warm rather than cold.
“Are you thinking of going alone?”
"What?"
“Before, I couldn’t ask because the mood was not good. What’s your specialty in black magic?”
His specialty…
There was no particular specialty when it comes to Oliver. So, he answered vaguely.
“I specialize in firepower.”
"Oh, firepower? That's great. We didn't have long-range firepower on our side at the moment… How about it? If it's okay with you. There are several other Solvers from District X beside you who work with us."
Arthur pointed at the few solvers, around a dozen or so behind his back.
The composition was quite diverse, including female snipers that wore silk hats, men wearing mechanical arms and goggles, and soldiers armed with exoskeleton gloves.
They all seemed to be someone who made a name for themselves.
“Ah, I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
"What?"
"Don’t look at those guys lightly just because they are following me.”
His words were sincere.
“These guys have earned themselves a name on this field. If the city hadn't ordered them, no one would have taken this low-level job in the first place… unless it was urgent.”
“Um, I see.”
“As for us, our goal is to just fill the quota in moderation and get out of here as fast as possible. What do you think? There are some talented people here, so it's better to work together and finish it quickly.”
All of Arthur's words were sincere.
Everyone here had their own self-confidence as a Solver.
The only suggestion he said to Oliver was to make it safer and more efficient, and honestly, it was a tempting one.
Kent said that, while working he will meet a lot of Solvers, and if they aren’t enemies then it was not bad to make some friends.
-If you make friends with people in the same industry, you can hear good things and information.
It was okay to get close to people, and it was good to hear information. There were people who tried to take advantage of him, but Arthur didn't seem like one. However…..
"… I'm very grateful for your offer, but I have to refuse."
Arthur was surprised rather than disappointed. The same was true for the Solvers behind him.
"Well, you’re free to choose… and it's great to know someone like you. Let me give you a word of advice. Be careful of not only zombies and contaminated creatures, but also people. There are a lot of guys here who target people. So, be careful.”
“You mean like Chip?”
"Yeah, he's more interested in robbing residents and warlocks than the zombies. There are some wealthy people out there… there are also some mercenaries with the same thoughts, so it's best not to associate with them as much as possible."
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Yup, I hope you get through this safely.”
“Um, yes, Mr. Arthur too. Finish your work safely.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
After a brief conversation with Arthur's group, Oliver paused for a while and then started moving.
Before he moved on, several Solvers approached him and suggested joining hands, but Oliver politely declined everyone just like before.
Oliver’s real goal to participate in the cleaning was to look around the contaminated zone and pick up useful items.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to team up with Arthur and the others if he were to participate just to clean the contaminated zone, and Oliver thought he would have a chance to work again with them someday if he were to stick to his original plan.
Uuuuuuuuuu!
Uuuuuuuuuu!
[Hate Bullet]
Along with the chant, bullets of hate hit the head of the approaching zombie.
The zombie's neck got twisted like a chicken's neck making the head and body get separated. Along with that, the zombie collapsed and returned to being a corpse, and the only thing that moved was its jaw, in greed for Life-force.
The naturally born zombies were very different from the man-made zombies created by the warlock. The zombies resurrected by the warlocks were just dolls that had no will to do anything unless they cast additional black magic and give orders, but the zombies that are born naturally moved on their own and constantly sought Life-force.
Oliver read about this in Anthony's books, but it was just a description of the phenomenon and there was nothing about the cause.
Oliver was curious.
"But still, work comes first."
Oliver smashed the zombie's jaw with his quarter-staff and carefully placed the zombie's head in the magic bag given to him.
Although it was only the size of a small bag, there were already fifteen zombie heads in it, and surprisingly, he did not feel any significant increase in weight.
Oliver understood the reason why they said that even cheaper ones would cost billions.
That was also the reason why the Looters hiding in the contaminated zone were willing to steal it, even at the risk of being attacked by the solvers.
“Why is there no one?”
Oliver looked around and muttered.
In addition to safe roads and dangerous areas, cleaning precautions were written in the data given by Forrest, and among them, there were clear details about the Looters inside the contaminated zone.
It said that they do not appear near the few hundred meters of the barrier that surrounds the contaminated zone, but once he crosses that point, he has to be on his guard.
It said that they appear from time to time and aim for careless or injured Solvers, but strangely, Oliver hasn’t seen them until now.
Of course, it wasn't that he wanted to meet the Looters, but because he felt something strange.
When he first entered the contaminated zone, he looked around with his warlock eyes, and there were only zombies and contaminated creatures, there were no living creatures.
He didn't see anything even after going pretty deep into the contaminated Zone.
The strangest thing was not just that.
As soon as he entered the contaminated zone, zombies started attacking him, but all of a sudden, only one or two remained on the outskirts while the rest of the zombies all flocked deep inside the zone and could not be seen.
He was not sure. The reason they wanted to clean them in the first place was because of zombies and contaminated creatures that had grown so much that they were trying to get out of the contaminated zone, but as soon as the Solvers appeared, they all rushed inside.
Natural-born zombies were hungry for Life-force, so when they see a Solver, they should run toward them instead of running away from them… All of this didn't make sense.
As Oliver was thinking about it, he suddenly remembered what Forrest said.
-There is something suspicious about this cleaning. The cleaning should have originally started 4 months later, but suddenly, zombies and polluted creatures started to appear exponentially.
Oliver wondered if some dangerous warlock was playing a prank, just as he said.
Then he wondered if this was also the work of the warlock.
[Hate Bullet]
Oliver jumped up and fired the bullet of hate toward the floor.
At the same time, a giant rat with yellow teeth appeared from the broken dirt floor and rushed toward Oliver.
Jjijijijijijijiki–!
A mouse with an ugly appearance and a noise that pierces the ears.
Oliver has seen it in the past.
It was the contaminated creature called a naked mouse he had seen in the Freckle's hideout.
Puck!
The Naked Rat was shot down by Oliver's Hate Bullet, but Oliver did not let down his guard, he re-extracted the emotions and injected them into his shadow.
Then he commanded the shadow to stretch forward, and he used Vine Shadow to catch the ugly dog and cat that were about to attack him from behind the collapsed wall, and then cut off their throat.
It was quite organized that it was difficult to say that it was just an attack by some ferocious contaminated creatures.
Oliver investigated the dead contaminated creatures by touching them.
Contrary to his expectations, the mechanism used by Puppeteer Gylph was not seen in their bodies.
“It’s strange. Am I wrong? And was it only controlled by hunger?… I'm sorry, can you come out? I'm concerned."
Oliver spoke to the thin air.
He got no answer for a few seconds, but after a while, someone showed up.
It was a group of mercenaries hiding behind the building, about less than ten people, and one of whom was someone Oliver knew.
“It’s been a while. Mr. Knuckle Joe.”
“… Dave.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Oliver confronted Knuckle Joe.
He was someone Oliver met while doing his first job as a Solver.
Oliver used the Vine Shadow to strangle the contaminated creatures and then put them in the magic bag.
Fortunately, Knuckle Joe and his comrades waited with minimal vigilance.
"Thank you for waiting."
Oliver wiped his hands, walked over to Joe, and greeted him.
It was because he didn't see any ill or evil intention from them.
Knuckle Joe looked at Oliver for a while and then opened his mouth.
"… Are you really that brazen in the first place?"
"What?"
“Because you are being friendly with a person who nearly killed you last time.”
“Ah… that’s right, but I thought you would understand. I’m sorry if you were offended.”
"Understand?"
"Yeah, last time when we were fighting, you said you came into this field with some resolution, right?… So I thought it would be okay. It's all part of the job, isn't it?"
“…..”
"Well, I hope you understand. That's the best thing for me too….and technically, it was Assistant Professor Herbert who broke his promise first and my employee was only exercising his legitimate rights. Anyway, I'm sorry about that."
Knuckle Joe let out a small sigh and muttered
"Crazy…".
It didn't seem like there was much more to argue about.
"…what brings you here?"
"For the cleaning."
"I know you came for the cleaning. You must have come to clean the contaminated zone. My question is, why did you come here among the vast zone?"
Oliver was silent.
Joe's question was so sharp.
The area around here was managed by a group of Warlocks called the Otul Family.
According to the information provided by Forrest, they were the ones who collected the corpses and zombies dumped in the contaminated zone and converted them into weapons, and then sold them outside the contaminated zone.
It was quite a unique skill, so Oliver planned to surprise them and steal their books and surgical tools.
However, it seemed that Oliver was not the only one who had such an idea.
"That's why we're here"
“Um… I see. So, did you get the Otul family’s books?”
Joe slowly shook his head.
“No, it had already been stolen.”
(To be Continued)
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