Chapter 163

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 163

Chapter Title: Crippled Intruders

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I should take them back to base for now and have a little chat.

I could hear her out right here, but I can't just leave that guy with the hole I stabbed in him to die unattended.

Ignoring the woman who was thanking me profusely, I walked over to the man sprawled on the ground and hoisted him up.

"Um... what are you doing right now?"

The woman approached with a completely bewildered expression, like she had no idea what was going on.

From her perspective, it was only natural she wouldn't know what I was planning.

"Hey, shut up and come stand next to me. Grab onto me."

"Pardon?"

"Just do what I say. Or do you want me to leave you here?"

"N-no! I'll do it!"

At the word "leave," she hurriedly came to my side and gingerly clutched the edge of my collar.

"Don't grab my collar—hold onto my body. Just hug me."

"H-hug you? Like this?"

Maybe because of my slightly irritated tone, she flinched a bit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but carefully wrapped her arms around me.

Good. This way, she'll teleport with me to the base.

Confirming she had a hold of me, I grabbed the two men—one in each hand—and activated Instant Teleport.

In an instant, the scenery around us changed.

Just moments ago, the solar panels I'd set up stretched out endlessly, but now we were inside the barricades protecting us from the dangers outside.

From the building where everyone slept soundly to the small vegetable garden with crops steadily growing.

Anyone who'd been surviving out in the perilous world would think this was a different planet altogether.

As I teleported inside with these people, a system window popped up in front of me warning about unregistered intruders.

Oh? So if some unknown bastard sneaks in here, the system throws up a window like this.

If I hit Yes, I guess machine guns pop up and turn the intruder into Swiss cheese.

Of course, no reason to do that now, so I hit No right away.

"Wh-what?"

The woman who'd been hugging me must have felt something like this.

"Alright, you're good. Let go."

"O-okay..."

She'd been dazedly looking around but carefully released her grip at my words.

Seeing that, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dropped the guys I was holding onto the ground.

Then I used Instant Teleport once more to head to my room.

Yejin and Suhyun were sleeping soundly after our late-night romp, so I lifted the blanket and shook Yejin awake.

"Yejin, something came up. Get up."

"Mm... huh? Oppa? Is it morning already?"

"No sleep-talking. Get up quick. Just throw on some clothes."

Still half-asleep, Yejin did as I said and put on some clothes. Once I confirmed she even had her shoes on, I took her and teleported back to where I'd left the men and the woman.

"Gasp!"

As I teleported in, the woman who'd been glancing around jumped in surprise again. She must find my constant teleporting fascinating.

"Oppa? Who are these people? Oh, do I need to treat that guy?"

Yejin glanced at the three strangers, then pointed at the man with the deep knife wound in his gut.

I really liked how she figured it out without me saying a word.

I didn't answer Yejin and just walked over to the man, yanking the knife out of his stomach. Yejin immediately came over and applied her Healing Touch.

"Gah! Ugh... wh-what the..."

The man groaned in pain from the knife being pulled out, but his eyes widened in shock as the wound on his stomach healed in seconds.

The woman right beside him watching it all looked just as stunned.

"There. I treated him for now, Oppa, but what next?"

"That's fine. I was gonna ask them some questions right away... nah, tomorrow's good enough."

I'd planned to wake these guys up and grill them about Mir, but now that I thought about it, it was pretty late.

I'd been getting ready for bed when the alert about intruders at the factory came up, so I hadn't slept at all.

Asking about Mir could wait till tomorrow.

Nothing urgent that I had to know right this second.

I'd just take it slow in the morning.

In the meantime, to make sure these bastards didn't pull any stunts... I'd start by smashing their limbs.

Crunch!

"Gaaah! Mmph!"

"Hey, shut it. Don't you know it's bedtime?"

I stomped on one of his leg bones, shattering it, then clamped my hand over his mouth as he screamed bloody murder.

I pulled a towel from my Subspace and stuffed it in his mouth to muffle the noise.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

He seemed to be yelling something desperately, but I ignored it completely and smashed his remaining limbs.

This was the best way to neutralize someone without killing them.

Unless they had self-healing, shattered limbs meant they couldn't do jack.

If I could snag the Bind skill from the still-unconscious guy, maybe I wouldn't need to do this crap anymore.

It was a skill specialized for restraining people, after all.

I could steal skills tomorrow while asking about Mir, so I'd do the same to this one.

Just like before, I gagged him with a towel so he couldn't scream properly, then crushed his leg bone. The agony jolted him awake.

He looked down at his leg and writhed in pain, but I ignored that and shattered his arms too.

"There. This'll hold till morning. Let's head in and sleep, Yejin."

"O-okay..."

Yejin had been staring blankly at me breaking the guy's limbs but snapped to at my words and came over.

"You scared me, Oppa, smashing his arms and legs like that out of nowhere."

"It's not like this is the first time you've seen me do this. Why?"

"True, but... you still need to mentally prepare, you know? I'm not used to it yet. Of course, you have your reasons, so I don't mind... but..."

Yejin glanced back and pointed at the woman I'd brought.

"Who's she?"

"Her? No idea."

"Huh? You brought her without even knowing who she is?"

Yejin looked shocked and scanned the woman up and down.

"Even for you, Oppa, I doubt you'd kidnap some pretty girl just because..."

"Hey, you think I'm some pervert? I'm a very humane guy."

"Saying that right after casually smashing a guy's limbs is kinda ridiculous. So what about her? Just leave her here?"

I shook my head at Yejin's question.

"I'll take her to a room for now. She doesn't look like she'll cause trouble. Hey! Follow us."

"Eek!"

The woman, who'd been standing there dazed by everything happening, yelped at my voice and fell backward.

"Jesus, what a mess. Guess I'll tell her to crash in some empty room on the first floor."

Yejin walked slowly over to the woman and offered her hand at my words.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine."

"You must be shocked. Best to just do what Oppa says—it'll make things easier. I don't know why he brought you here, but get some rest and talk tomorrow."

The woman nodded slightly at Yejin's words, took her hand, and stood up.

"You should wash up before bed..."

"Water works fine on the first floor. Go clean up and sleep there."

"Got it! Come on, follow me!"

Yejin smiled at my response, grabbed the woman's arm, and headed toward the building.

I didn't know her deal yet, but she didn't seem harmful.

She'd been captured without resisting by the guy with the greatsword, so no combat skills there. She must have some ability to scale the barricade, though—I'll ask tomorrow.

But chasing after four guys and a woman with just that? Unlikely. She must be hiding some special power not obvious from the outside.

That made me even more curious about her identity.

"Mmph! Ugh..."

As Yejin led her inside and I turned to head in for sleep, a weird noise came from the men on the ground.

I first thought it was just pain from their mangled limbs and ignored it, but a chill made me look back—and I saw something unbelievable.

I hadn't touched anywhere but their limbs, yet both men were bleeding from their eyes and noses.

Blood poured from every facial orifice, staining the towels over their mouths crimson.

"What the hell? What's going on all of a sudden..."

Just moments ago, only their limbs were wrecked; the rest was fine. How'd they end up like this?

I rushed over, but both were limp and lifeless.

Removing the towels confirmed it—they were already dead.

Even if I'd brought Yejin back, it probably would've been too late.

What the hell happened?

It couldn't be my fault.

Did some unknown mechanism kick in and kill them?

Damn it.

Dying like this.

I couldn't even ask about Mir or steal the Bind skill—and now they're gone!

What a waste!

Guess I'll have to get info on Mir from the woman Yejin took in.

Just in case, I bolted toward where the woman was. If she croaked the same way, I'd never learn about Mir.

I flung open the first-floor door Yejin had taken her to.

"Kyaaah!"

I caught a glimpse of the woman naked, changing clothes.

Ignoring her frantically covering herself, I checked her over—thankfully, she seemed fine.

I was worried she'd dropped dead like the guys outside.