Chapter 169

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A day had passed since the attack by the demonic beasts. During that time, the Pegasus Raid Force recovered the corpses and fully repaired the vehicles. Now all they had to do was depart at any time. But a problem arose. The pursuit squad that had gone after the deserters had not returned. After waiting two more days, the pursuit squad still did not come back. Keldara carefully said to Lee Ji-ryeong, “At this point, we have to assume they are dead.”

“Were there other dangerous demonic beasts besides the Twin Head Buffaloes?”

“I’m sorry. I should have looked into it more.”

“Forget it. How can humans know every habitation ground of demonic beasts that changes at all times? We move first. If they’re alive, they’ll catch up on their own.”

“Understood.”

In the end, Keldara relayed Lee Ji-ryeong’s order to the Pegasus Raid Force. The vehicles set off, raising clouds of dust. Among them was the buggy carrying Zeon’s group. Inside the buggy, Mandy cautiously spoke.

“Do you think they were taken out by demonic beasts?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility that scavengers got them.”

“How on earth do scavengers sense and avoid demonic beasts? Don’t tell me they have navigators too?”

“If navigators were that common, they’d be trading with many more colonies.”

“Then?”

“Experience. They’ve mastered the way to survive in the desert over more than a hundred years. It’s precious experience the Awakened of Neo Seoul, who live inside safe walls, can never obtain.”

“Then are scavengers made up entirely of Awakened?”

“No. There are quite a lot of ordinary people among them too.”

“How do people with no abilities survive in the desert? Awakened have strength that makes it possible, but ordinary people…”

“Don’t underestimate human tenacity. Even if the strength they’re born with is weak, the will to survive is stronger than that of any life-form. I’ve seen a seven-year-old child catch a demonic beast with nothing but traps.”

“Really?”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Mm! Human tenacity really is frightening. Then again, they built a gigantic city in the middle of the desert with their bare hands.”

In the end, Mandy too had no choice but to acknowledge humanity’s powerful survival instinct. Even while they chatted, the buggy continued to cut through the sand. Fortunately, no demonic beasts attacked this time. Thanks to that, the Pegasus Raid Force was able to smoothly reach a point one hundred kilometers away from where the dungeon had been discovered. Even by then, the pursuit squad that had gone after the deserters still had not returned. At this point, they truly had to regard them as having lost their lives. Because of that, the atmosphere of the Pegasus Raid Force was at its worst. The atmosphere among the West District Awakened who had accompanied them was not good either. It was because they had suffered many injuries while dealing with the Twin Head Buffaloes. One of the weaknesses of mechanized Awakened was that if they were injured in the desert, it was difficult to properly repair them. Mechanical bodies that replaced human flesh were vulnerable to sand, and especially difficult to restore in terms of parts. Of course, they had brought spare parts, but a problem arose because there were too many injured. They were short on replacement parts. Those who had self-repair skills were somewhat better off, but the Awakened who lacked such skills had no choice but to rely on temporary repairs. Even the cold-hearted Cha Jin-cheol could not help being flustered by a situation he had not expected. ‘Damn it! We haven’t even reached the dungeon yet, and we’ve already lost a significant part of our strength.’ He had never imagined that the mechanized Awakened would suffer such heavy damage from mere Twin Head Buffaloes. His original plan had been to earn far greater merit than the Pegasus Raid Force and significantly increase the share ratio. But because there were so many injured from the very beginning, he had no choice but to revise the plan.

‘No, there’s still a chance. Pull our people back and push the Pegasus Raid Force bastards to the front.’

Of course, he could not do it openly.

If they quietly fell back during combat, even the Pegasus Raid Force would not notice.

Cha Jin-cheol muttered, ‘Hyeonmu.’

Yes! Master.

An answer sounded in his head at once.

It was Hyeonmu, the AI Kim Hyun-su had bestowed on him.

Hyeonmu, a derivative AI of Samjogo, prioritized keeping Cha Jin-cheol’s body in optimal condition at all times.

Thanks to that, Cha Jin-cheol was able to move without issue even in the desert buried in sand. But the other West District Awakened did not enjoy such benefits.

That was because Samjogo’s derivative AI was downloaded only to Kim Hyun-su’s trusted subordinates.

‘From now on, devise a detailed plan centered on preserving our forces intact.’

Yes! Master.

Cha Jin-cheol did not need to work out a detailed plan himself.

If he gave the broad order, the support AI Hyeonmu would calculate and implement the rest on its own.

That was the greatest strength of mechanized Awakened, and the reason every Awakened of the West District wanted an AI so badly.

The only people in this expedition who had suffered no damage were Zeon’s party.

Only they were racing across the sand with their strength completely preserved.

‘That bastard’s ability is too dangerous. No one saw it, but he took down the griffins alone.’

The battlefield of flying demonic beasts was the sky.

Humans were at the mercy of flying demonic beasts because they could not fly. Of course, there were those who had learned flight skills, but their combat ability was weak. That was why they were of no great help when confronting demonic beasts like this.

But Zeon was different.

As long as there was sand, he could fly through the sky as much as he wanted.

Even though he had not seen it directly, just hearing that Zeon had killed the griffins was enough for Cha Jin-cheol to understand how dangerous he was.

‘A man who manipulates sand freely in the desert. He’s practically the natural enemy of mechanized Awakened like us. Once this dungeon raid is over, I have to eliminate him. No matter what…’

That is a good decision. Shall I formulate a plan to eliminate the Awakened Zeon after the dungeon raid is over?

‘For now, just make the plan. I’ll decide on the execution when the time comes.’

Yes! Master.

***

“Urgh…”

Kim Gi-gwang, captain of the Pegasus Raid Force pursuit squad, lay on the ground and groaned.

Corpses were strewn around the bloodied Kim Gi-gwang.

They were the pursuit squad, Kim Gi-gwang’s men.

Kim Gi-gwang had lost one arm, and his abdomen was split open.

It was almost miraculous that he was still breathing in that state.

Kim Gi-gwang was still alive only because he was a high-rank Awakened. An ordinary person would have lost his life long ago.

Sitting in front of him was a large man.

His face was covered in tattoos whose meaning was impossible to know, and his ears were pointed.

He was not human, but an elf.

The elf’s identity was Urtian.

It was the scavenger group led by him that had ambushed and slaughtered the pursuit squad and the deserters.

“Look at this bastard’s equipment.”

“Jackpot!”

“Fuck! This bastard was loaded.”

The scavengers searched the dead Awakened and stripped away every useful item and piece of gear.

This was how the scavengers of the desert survived.

The scavengers looted not only equipment but food as well.

In truth, what mattered most to them was not equipment but food. But there was no way a hastily assembled pursuit squad would have been carrying much food.

Still, there was some food loaded on the vehicles the deserters had been riding. Thanks to that, they could put out the immediate fire.

Without changing the posture in which he looked down at Kim Gi-gwang, Urtian gave orders to his subordinates.

“Distribute the equipment as you see fit, and have Deborah handle the food distribution.”

“Got it.”

Deborah, who was nearby, answered.

Deborah was Urtian’s wife and the one responsible for the scavenger group’s internal affairs.

All the food looted by Urtian and the scavengers was fairly distributed through her.

Kim Gi-gwang opened his mouth with difficulty.

“You… think… you’ll get away with this?”

“If we don’t?”

“Our raid force… won’t leave… you bastards alone.”

“Really?”

“The captain will avenge us.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

Urtian grinned.

A personality far too cruel for an elf showed clearly on his face.

It was different from most elves, who hid their emotions behind expressionless faces.

Just then, “Here’s a sword.”

“Can’t you give it to me?”

“No!”

“Ah, hyung!”

Children who looked just like Urtian chattered as they held up a short sword they had taken from an Awakened corpse.

Kim Gi-gwang looked at them with dim eyes.

“Half… elves? Mixed breeds?”

Crunch!

At that instant, Urtian’s fist smashed Kim Gi-gwang’s head apart.

Kim Gi-gwang, having lost his head, died on the spot.

Urtian shook off the blood and brain matter on his hand and muttered, “How dare you call anyone a mongrel.”

Children born between Urtian, an elf, and Deborah, a human.

They possessed both the traits of elves and humans.

For the sake of his children, Urtian was prepared to gladly throw away his own life.

Urtian beckoned Komac over with a gesture.

“Urtian!”

“Where is these bastards’ main camp now?”

“They set up a temporary base seventy kilometers away.”

“Looks like there’s a dungeon nearby?”

“Most likely.”

“If they brought this many people, it must definitely be a very large dungeon, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then there should be plenty to eat too.”

Urtian smiled brightly.

“Yes! The greater the danger and burden, the bigger the reward will be.”

“Danger is something we always bear.”

“But…”

“What?”

“Their fighting strength isn’t negligible, so we’ll have to mobilize all our forces too. If that happens…”

Komac’s gaze turned toward Urtian’s children.

The children were still bickering over who would take the short sword.

If the scavengers were mobilized in full, even the children would have to be thrown into battle.

“Those children should experience real combat too.”

“They’re still young children.”

“Komac!”

“Yes?”

“How old were you when you killed a person for the first time?”

“T… twelve.”

“The eldest is twelve, and the second is eleven. They’re old enough to be thrown into real combat. Even if they’re my children, there are no exceptions.”

“Even so…”

“For reference, I killed a person for the first time when I was seven.”

“Understood.”

Komac finally bowed his head.

As Urtian had said, scavengers were thrown into real combat from childhood.

It was an unavoidable choice if they wanted to survive in the desert.

Just because they were children did not mean they could be watched over forever.

The moment they began to walk and run, they had to learn how to wield a weapon.

The lucky children awakened, but there were more who did not.

The children who awakened were thrown into plunder from an early age, and even the ones who did not had to provide rear support and do their part.

That was how the scavengers united as one for the sake of survival.

They too had once wanted to enter Neo Seoul.

They wanted to live a comfortable life inside Neo Seoul’s towering walls. But Neo Seoul had no intention of accepting rootless scavengers.

Forget Neo Seoul, not even the slums were permitted to them.

Those who were not permitted had to wander the desert and find food by their own strength.

Demonic beasts, and other scavenger groups.

All of them were their enemies.

In order to survive against their enemies, even children had to take up weapons.

They had to kill demonic beasts, kill the humans of other groups, and survive.

Now Urtian’s children too had to step into that harsh world.

That was the fate of those who lived in the desert.

Urtian clenched a handful of sand and muttered, “Until we’re granted even a handful of land where we can live, we kill and kill again, and steal and steal again. That is our fate.”

Red sand trickled down between his fingers.