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In an abandoned building near the base of a Sewer Snakes, Oliver and his party were on standby with only cement powder, dirt, and rusty steel bars surrounding them.
Places like this could be found all over District X, and if you were willing to take the risk, you could rest there like this.
As they waited, Oliver provided extra emotions and Life-force to the children in the corpse dolls, while Joe and Sam sat together in the corner talking.
As for Owen, he volunteered to guard the outside, while also keeping an eye out for anyone coming in from the Sewer Snakes at dawn.
“Krrrrrrrr…”
“Kyakyakyahhh.”
“Kikikikikikikiiii.”
The children in the corpse doll cried as if saying what Oliver gave them was not enough.
Oliver, who saw such children, said after checking the inside of his clothes.
“I’m sorry. We may have to work soon, so I can’t give you any more. Instead, I’ll make you a special meal when we get back from work. Can you hold it until then?”
The children nodded to Oliver’s soothing and mature words.
They used to eat well from the beginning, but now the amount they ate has increased a lot. As expected, not recklessly increasing the number of [Child] seemed like a good choice.
Oliver, who was tidying up the empty test tubes thinking like that, unknowingly turned his attention to Joe and Sam.
The two talked nervously.
“Will the Sewer Snakes really help us? Like their name, they’re like serpents– sneaky, dirty, and harmful.”
“There’s nothing we can do. We can’t fight them. So, all we can do right now is trust them and wait.”
Sam closed his mouth and nervously bit his fingernails as if he had nothing to say.
And at that time, Oliver cut in and asked.
“Why can’t we fight them?”
Joe and Sam turned their heads in unison at Oliver’s question.
Oliver added words to clear up the misunderstanding.
“No, I don’t mean to fight. I just wanted to know why. Why can’t we fight Sewer Snakes?”
Joe and Sam looked at each other and after a while Joe replied.
“It’s a big gang around here. Not just the number, their power is also great, so it’s risky to fight them.”
As soon as Joe’s words ended, Sam added.
“In addition, there is a rumor that they have connections with Districts Y and Z.”
“Connections?”
“Oh, it’s not grand, but there are organizations that deal with them, and there are organizations for which they provide protection tax to protect them. If something goes wrong, we could be in trouble.”
Joe got the baton again.
“Even Districts X, Y, and Z, which are almost abandoned by Landa, have their own order. Breaking it without thinking will result in a great deal of collateral damage. Of course, the person who’s responsible for it will take the most damage.”
Oliver nodded as if he understood.
Indeed, an order gets created whenever there are people involved, and breaking those orders, only results in varying degrees of damage.
Like the Orphanage, Mine, and Joseph family…. District X was no different.
It might not be a big thing for an outsider like Oliver, but it was a very important issue for anyone who lives here, like Joe and Sam.
A question suddenly came to Joe’s mind as he organized his thoughts.
“Hey, Dave. Can I ask you a question?”
“Question? Yes, go ahead.”
“How did you know that Guile, the leader of Sewer Snakes, was a Warlock?”
“Was he a Warlock?”
Sam asked in surprise, to which Joe nodded and pointed to Oliver.
“I saw it.”
Oliver replied.
“Do you remember the guards at the entrance of the stairs to the office?”
“Those Muscular guards with masks on?”
“Yes. The masks on their faces had black magic energy on them. Maybe, it’s the mental manipulation among the manipulation series.”
“Mental manipulation?”
“Yes… Black magic is largely divided into firepower, disease, manipulation, and creation, and even among them, there are subdivisions. For example, in the case of the manipulation class, it is divided into the type that manipulates the corpse, the one that manipulates the shadow, and lastly the one that manipulates the mind of the creatures.”
Oliver recounted the rudimentary black magic he had seen in Joseph’s study.
Joe and Sam were amazed to hear it for the first time.
Although Oliver wondered why their Captain didn’t teach them, he soon realized they were far from being properly educated since their Captain taught them through processed emotions.
Oliver went on to explain anyway.
“By the way, mental manipulation is one of the most difficult in the manipulation series.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In the case of corpses or shadows, they don’t resist, but life does. Animals are easy, but humans have high resistance, so it needs several preparations  and assistive devices.”
“Preparation, assistive device?”
“Preparation refers to the deterioration of the mind of the person to control, and the device refers to a medium such as a mask, tattoo, or necklace that will amplify the effect of black magic.”
“Oh…”
“Nevertheless, it is said to be difficult, so, in that sense, Guile, who controls not one but two, is a pretty good Warlock.”
“…….”
Joe and Sam stared at Oliver without saying anything, while their emotions shone with fear, tension, and respect.
And at that moment, the wooden door, that randomly hung, opened with a loud noise.
It was Owen.
“Came… Someone came from Sewer Snakes side.”
Oliver, Joe, and Sam stood up at the words.
Looking at the gloomy night sky and the clock, it was almost dawn.
That means it was a situation that Guile predicted.
“Are you Joe? Knuckle Joe?”
A skinny gangster with the phrase “Survive” on his forehead asked while looking around anxiously.
“It’s me, what’s going on?”
“Leader asked to tell you that the customer ran away. They killed our guys who blocked their path…You can find them if you go here.”
Saying that, the gangster held out a note.
Joe took the note, opened it, and checked. There was something similar to an address written on it along with numbers.
“It looks like an address. Do you know where it is?”
Joe, who was holding the paper, answered Oliver’s question.
“Uh… the sewage discharge plant at the left end of District X.”
Sewage discharge plant at the left end of District X.
It was said that it was one of the least abandoned places in District X, which was completely abandoned by the city.
The reason was that the sewage from the vicinity of District X was collected there, and even the city, which does not care if anything happens in District X, responds accordingly if it was touched.
“So even the people in District X don’t make any fuss here. Even if they’re lucky enough not to be caught by the cops, they would be beaten by people living here for causing trouble by making a fuss.”
“By the way. Kell rebels, they’ve got brains. Don’t tell me they’re thinking of getting out through the sewer. Did they hire a broker?
“Well, we’ll be able to check it out soon.”
What Sam said was true.
When they went to the place where Guile, the leader of the Sewer Snakes told them, they reached the entrance of the sewage discharge plant where all kinds of bad smells spread.
Although anyone would be hesitant to go in because of the smell, Oliver, Joe, and others were ready to go in, ready to fight in case of emergency.
Joe wore a knuckle, Sam loaded the twin pistols with black magic bullets, and Owen gripped tight his iron club.
Oliver extracted his emotions and put a black suit on his body.
Joe looked at the figure silently and opened his mouth.
“…Well, let’s go in. Be careful, everyone. Contaminated creatures frequently appear in sewage discharge plants and sewers.”
As everyone nodded silently, Joe led the way into the sewage discharge plant.
SPLATTER. SPLATTER.
When they entered the sewage discharge plant to some extent, they met with wet floors.
There was a slope on the floor, and it felt like if they were careless they would slip and fall.
“Kyakyakyahhh…”
First child, who worried that Oliver might fall, cried low.
As Oliver replied that he was fine, he observed Joe and Sam walking in the lead.
Joe looked at the note, while Sam asked a question to Joe.
“Do you know where to go?”
“Uh, it’s written here. We should go to the central intersection through sewerage 3. That’s where they decided to meet.”
“How the hell did the Sewer Snakes find that out?”
“Who cares about that? The important thing is, our target is there?”
With that remark, Oliver and his party’s steps became faster.
Initially, they got lost, but soon they checked the note Guile sent and the wall’s number and began moving in that direction.
The scale of the sewage discharge plant was larger than expected and complicated, so it took a while, but eventually, Oliver and his party were able to reach their destination.
“There. There they are.”
Joe said, hiding against the aisle wall.
Beyond the gurgling sewage waterway, they could see a wide space, and more than twenty people gathered.
It was a shabby group, but they also gave off an air of familiarity with violence, and there were a few warlocks among them as well.
“Hey, that’s more than I thought”.
said Sam, looking at the numbers.
“I think there are some people who were hiding somewhere else besides Guile’s place. Dave, are there any Wizards or Warlocks?”
Oliver looked over and replied.
“There are three Warlock and five people who artificially modified their bodies. I don’t think they’re reinforced humans, probably they’ve been modified by a Warlock.”
Joe nodded.
“Well, by any chance, do you have any effective attack against a large number of people?”
“Yes, there’s [Black dart] mixed with [Targeting].”
“That’s a relief. I don’t know what it is, but….. Sam, first you shoot them in the middle with smoke bombs.”
Sam nodded and replaced the bullet in the magazine.
“Dave, you then attack them extensively with the black darts you mentioned. Then, I’ll charge in with Owen and your corpse dolls and wrap it up.”
When Oliver nodded, Sam nodded again and held guns in both hands, and the moment he tried to take a pose and shoot, Oliver grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him.
“?! What are you doi…?”
—Ping!!
Even before Sam could finish his sentence, a pointed thorn pierced the air and landed on the place Sam was standing.
Everyone looked up in surprise, and their eyes met a very large insect hanging from the ceiling.
The worm, with countless hairs on its brown shell, looked like a good mix of scorpion and earwig.
It was the size of a medium-sized dog, with an elongated belly, a curved tail like a scorpion, and a spike-like thorn hanging over it– a length that would be lethal to humans.
“Uh, contaminated creature?”
Sam, who almost died and survived, said without realizing it, while Joe punched the giant bug to death and shouted.
“IT’S A TRAP!”
As if to prove his words, two grenades rattled down from the entrance of the sewer to where Oliver and Sam were.
Sam, Joe, and Owen froze at the sight. If Oliver hadn’t been there, they all would be dead.
[Black Cube]
The small black shields encased the grenade inside the cube.
Thanks to this, even though the grenade exploded, the black shield held tight and did not spread damage to the surroundings.
“What? Did it fail?”
“Who cares? Shoot!”
With that remark, the Kell Liberation Army people began to shoot in unison.
Dudududududududududududududududududududududududududu
While everyone hid close to the wall, the bullets kept striking the cement wall.
Although it did not seem to be a gun with high firepower, with the concentrated fire, there seemed to be considerable damage even if it was a corpse doll.
Even if the durability was increased through treatment, it was still a corpse.
Meanwhile, Sam, who saw the situation unfold before his eyes, exclaimed and said.
“Sh*t! Did the Snake basta*ds sell us out?”
“No, there’s no reason for them to do that. I don’t know how, but they noticed us somehow.”
“How?”
“How do I know!”
As Joe and Sam bickered, Oliver looked at them closely.
Then he noticed something strange. There was a faint cobweb hanging from the shin part of the pants.
And at that moment, Owen shouted.
“Isn’t this strange?! Why are they only shooting? Definitely…”
PUKHA PUKHA!
Even before Owen could end his words, something popped out of the thick filth.
It was an amphibian that looked like the combination of a frog and a crocodile, larger than humans in size, and had sharp teeth in its mouth.
In addition, they began to hear strange sounds from behind them.
It was a sharp, nerve-racking sound that sounded like claws scratching at a stone.
“…Naked rat?
Oliver said, looking at the mysterious creatures that came running from the back with a squeaking cry.
The hairless mouse, which was over two meters tall, had wrinkles all over its body, and something was sprouting around its face as if it had a skin disease.
It looked just like a situation that Oliver experienced in the past.
A situation where surrounded by contaminated creatures on all sides.
The Kell Liberation Army people, who were sure of their victory, stopped shooting and shouted.
“It’s the end for you, you money-sucking hyenas. You dared to come here without fear?! This nasty sewage will be your grave.“
It wasn’t actually very wrong.
If you were surrounded by contaminated creatures back and forth in a not-so-wide passage, that would be the normal result.
It was not that difficult to catch most contaminated creatures if you had sufficient equipment and preparation, but it was impossible in an unexpected situation like this, where you are surrounded by contaminated creatures on all sides.
Even coming into contact with them, whose bodies are covered in filthy germs, was dangerous.
Knowing this, Joe gave orders to Sam and Owen, while asking for help from Oliver.
“Dave, is there any way?”
Oliver extracted the emotion instead of answering and cast the spell.
[Brainwash]