102. Bait (1)
However, as I crushed the iron bars, their eyes changed.
Expressions filled with terror.
To ask "What the hell did they go through..." would be redundant, as I had already seen plenty.
They must have sexually abused them. In fact, there were many signs of abuse on their genitals and other places.
After all, Na-yeon, who was right next to me, was trembling.
I should get them dressed before explaining anything.
I stepped outside.
Fifteen humans, surprisingly intact.
"Bring some clothes for them to wear."
I had Na-yeon go get the clothes.
#
I explained what followed.
When I explained that I'd basically fucked these bastards up and saved them, the women started crying.
The two men didn't show it, but their faces betrayed a sense of relief that they had survived.
"So you were all captured from around here? From the apartment complex?"
"Yes..."
"That's right."
Of course, some were shedding tears, likely having lost family or friends.
I decided to take them to Seo-yoon later to ask what exactly they had been through.
"Anyway, does everyone have a place to go?"
I asked.
At that, the people started looking at each other.
I decided to give them a chance.
"Choose one of two options: either leave as you are, or come with me. I promise I won't pull this kind of bullshit like those guys did. Of course, there will be some constraints."
"What... kind of constraints?"
"I can't tell you that right now. It won't harm you, though. Decide and let me know."
The two men and four women took some time, but they agreed.
Good.
The two men's abilities were especially good.
Plant manipulation is an ability I've never seen before, but since it's a 70-something level ability, it must have some use. If not, I can always swap it for the next ability.
Same goes for water manipulation.
"First... you two, Seung-jin and Dong-wook, right?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"You two take care of the two women and stay here. Maybe talk to each other or something."
"Uh... where..."
"Understood."
Dong-wook cut off Seung-jin before he could ask. Seung-jin shut his mouth.
At least they have some sense.
As for the women, they were pretty enough that they'd clearly been fucked quite a bit. They were in such a devastated state that they weren't in any condition to do anything.
I should have the two men take care of them.
The two men took the initiative and led the women inside.
I stepped outside.
The count is sixteen. Perfect.
"Jong-hoon."
"Yes."
"Where's the pig farm?"
The farm was nearby. I flew there and arrived in no time.
There were indeed a lot of pigs. Definitely around 50? Just as Jong-hoon said, I found the people and subdued them.
Nine people. 2 women and 7 men.
Total of 4 women and 21 men.
16 plus 9 makes 25. There might be more, but I can just use the Contract to verify that.
I dragged the humans back down to the village and gathered them in one place.
The men and women, subdued and unable to do anything.
None of them seemed to have strong abilities. Well, the ringleaders earlier had speed and paralysis abilities, after all.
I was in front of the police station.
I pinned them to the ground and opened my mouth.
"Alright, I killed your leaders. Who was it again? Jong-hoon?"
"It's Yoon-hoo, Jeong-un, and Jang-hoon."
"Right, speed, paralysis, and arm enhancement abilities, right? Anyway, I killed those bastards. And I've subdued you all as well."
I continued.
"Originally, I was going to slaughter you all, but I've decided to give you a chance. I think I'll need you guys to take down the Chungju Warlords you're trading with. From now on, you'll only work with me."
To be precise.
"Actually, I don't really need you, but I just want to try this out. So, I'm going to cast an absolute obedience mental ability on you and use you however I want. Any questions?"
Then, I released their mouths.
Here's what they said.
"Fuck you, you think we're going to follow you just because of that! You little shit, where the fuck did you crawl out from!"
"That's right. We have our own rules!"
"Just because you got a good ability, you think you're hot shit, you fuck! If you want to cooperate with us, you have to pay the price!"
Three of them shouted at the same time.
To be precise, seven of them.
I looked at the panting bastards.
"Fine."
And a moment later, the seven of them went quiet.
"So, any questions?"
The seven men died, blood streaming from their heads.
17 out of 25 remained.
"Jong-hoon."
"....Ye...Yes! Boss!"
"Among those dead people, was there anyone with the Taming ability?"
"No. That guy over there has Taming."
I asked again.
"Alright, raise your hand if there's someone I knew who isn't here."
"......"
"......"
The space was quiet.
I asked Jong-hoon again.
"Is this really it?"
"It, it really is...!"
"I see."
I just need to cast the Contract on Jong-hoon, whose abilities are confirmed, and verify.
Then this should be enough.
"Those bastards. How often do they come from Chungju?"
"Once a week."
"Really? Then how many days until they come?"
"In two days."
"Two days. What time do they come?"
"Like I said before, they contact us first. Using Yoon-hoo's smartphone."
"Do you know if they come in a black car or a military truck?"
"I don't know that."
"Alright then, do you have the smartphone?"
"It's in Yoon-hoo's room."
"Good. Go get it. Does Yoon-hoo usually answer it?"
"No, the guys here answer it."
"I see."
Today is the dawn of the 26th. So they're coming on the 28th.
"Right?"
"Yes."
"Then does no one else come? From Chungju, Jeungpyeong, or Cheonan?"
"Yes. Since Jeungpyeong and Cheonan were cut off, we only trade with Chungju."
"I see."
Then that meant there would be no problem taking all these bastards.
"Do you have a car?"
No, wait, I can just get a bus or something.
I found an express bus nearby and shoved them all inside.
The terrified gangster men and women sitting there, tied up.
And Dong-wook and Seung-jin, who had been untied, looking at the gangsters with weary eyes.
And four women who were trembling for some reason.
I moved the bus while keeping it floating.
#
I radioed ahead so the base members wouldn't be surprised, then brought Seo-yoon and Eun-bin.
I gave them a summary of what happened.
And grabbed some food.
The usual Bugang-myeon Office.
I left Dong-wook, Seung-jin's group of six, and Na-yeon for now.
I plan to feed them, treat them, and send them to the Multi.
First, it was the gangsters.
"So, this person is a bad guy, right?"
Seo-yoon looked at Jong-hoon with narrow eyes.
Jong-hoon lowered his gaze.
Seo-yoon said poutily.
"He really looks like a fence-sitter."
"That he does."
"He acts just like he looks."
Seo-yoon said something mean.
But it was true.
I wrote up the contract.
Jong-hoon, as expected, signed the contract without a fuss.
"Is there any lie in what you've told me so far?"
"Uh, no."
He's telling the truth.
He looks cunning, and he acts just as cunning. In that short moment, he found the only way to survive, didn't he?
He's an absurd bastard, though.
"How many women did you fuck there?"
"None... sir."
"Huh?"
What, did the contract not take?
"What's your porn preference? Tell me your sexual fetish."
"Yes? Ugh... fe, femdom preference. Specifically, it's called Amazon Press, where a woman gets on top of a man to have sex, and she chokes the man's neck..."
"Shut up."
"Yes..."
"Ugh..."
Seo-yoon, next to me, made a disgusted face.
"That's a fetish, sure. But you could have fucked the women, why didn't you touch them?"
"Th-that's because my preference is dangerous... so I decided not to touch anyone unless it's a woman I really like."
"Ah."
I guess so.
Because you could actually die playing that choking game with a woman.
This guy is ridiculous.
"But you killed people, right?"
"Yes..."
I suppose so.
"You abused them too, right?"
"No."
"Why?"
"That's enough for the underlings to do. If it was too cruel, Yoon-hoo's gang would secretly take care of it, so I had to walk the line."
Anyway, he was a guy who was walking the line even within the gang.
Scumbag.
"He's a scumbag, right?"
"Ye-es... that's right."
"And you're a scumbag too."
"That's right.."
But that's exactly why he was useful.
He's a bastard who does fucked up things, but I need someone like this too.
"Jong-hoon."
"Yes."
"You want to live, right?"
"Yes."
"List the abilities of those gangster bastards one by one."
"Yes."
Excluding Lee Jong-hoon, there were 17 surviving gangsters.
Four women and thirteen men.
The women were mostly just eye candy. You know, the kind of women who do things for high-ranking people when they visit.
That kind of vibe. Their abilities were also just strength and stamina.
The men didn't have any good abilities either, except for one Taming.
Strength and stamina.
However, since they were gangsters and thugs, they had basic physiques, and since they had secured the area and acquired firearms, they could hold their own in Naesu-eup, where there were no dangerous Infected or Warlords.
"Now, spill everything you know. About Warlords or surrounding groups."
"Yes..."
He doesn't know a single thing.
Just a bunch of retards.
A bunch of retards who got lucky and were acting tough.
Setting aside Abominations, even if just a Hunter, or even just a Sentient Cluster came, they would have been wiped out in an instant.
Well, that's probably why Chungju or whoever used them without a second thought.
But that's exactly why they were good to use.
I need to check the others too.
Because I have to be sure about these things.
I brought them in one by one and cast the Contract on all of them.
Level 4 Contract. I don't know how much the duration increased, but I reached Level 4 on May 19th, and now it's June 26th, so it's definitely over a month.
I'll have to see when to do it.
And I tried to extract any useful information, but there wasn't much.
I only found out how they tortured people.
Scumbags.
They were all the same bastards, so it was actually easier to just leave them be.
"Jong-hoon."
"Yes."
"I guess your position wasn't that high?"
"Yes."
"How high was it?"
"Just... honestly, it was just a position I held because of my ability."
"I see."
Doesn't matter, though.
"I'm thinking of killing all these bastards."
"......"
Lee Jong-hoon, who didn't say anything and was watching my reaction.
"But I'm thinking of giving you a chance. You have that ability, right?"
"Yes..."
The man was sweating cold sweat.
"Don't get too comfortable, though. You know IN Company, right? They're the ones who caused this situation."
I explained about IN Company.
About the Infected, Chairman Elias Sinclair, and the connection between IN Company and the Warlords.
Lee Jong-hoon's face became serious.
"Compared to them, your group was a bunch of nobodies who could have been wiped out at any time. Those Chungju guys probably thought of you as disposable pawns, too. You know that, right?"
"Yes."
"I kept you alive just so word of me wouldn't get back to Chungju unnecessarily. Those gangster bastards also agreed because they were wary of me, but they're probably regretting it like crazy right now. They don't know about mental abilities. Right now..."
I asked.
"What do you think of me right now?"
"Ugh... I think you're a fucking retard acting tough... huff...!"
Lee Jong-hoon's face turned pale.
I continued nonchalantly.
"You think that right now, don't you?"
"No... ugh! Yes..."
"So, once I take care of that, I'm thinking of killing all the gangster bastards over there."
It's awkward to use them in the Multi.
I can't keep those bastards with normal people.
So it's either slavery or death.
"If you want to use them as obedient dogs, you'll have to do your job very well."
That way, we can handle this, and...
If it goes well, I can leave them at the pig farm.
"I'll make all those people follow your orders. Clean up the village so it looks like nothing happened, and when they come later, make sure you handle it well."
They won't be able to do anything anyway because of the contract.
This time, I set it up tightly so that the precedent with Cheol-woo wouldn't happen.
"Got it?"
"....Yes!"
Lee Jong-hoon replied, swallowing hard.
I loaded the gangsters from the Bugang-myeon Office and sent them to Naesu-eup.
And after sitting him down as the boss, I returned.
Absolute obedience.
Since I've set everything like non-disclosure, etc., there's no problem on this side.
I didn't say there was anyone else, either.
Well, it wouldn't matter if there was a problem anyway.
"Go safely, Boss!"
I watched Lee Jong-hoon quietly and returned.
#
And I called our poor Seung-jin and Dong-wook's group.
Inside the vehicle.
I explained the contract and fed them.
The women ate with tears in their eyes. Seeing the two men wolfing down their food, they must have been starving.
On top of that, treating them with Eun-bin's healing ability seemed to have greatly increased their trust in us.
The more manpower, the better.
On top of that, Dong-wook's water manipulation for farming, and the new ability, plant manipulation, I checked.
"Compatibility 74.4, you said."
"Yes."
"Level 2, right?"
"Yes."
"What can you do right now?"
"Uh, I can use plant stems as much as I want."
Stems, huh.
This means I can use it in another way.
It would be especially good to use it together with Young-jin's ability.
As for the women, well, since it's strength and stamina, they can only be used for farming. But that's something.
The more people we have who are favorable to us to cast the contract on, the better.
Especially Na-yeon, since she's Area Surveillance. It'll be more effective for defense.
It would be nice to have a construction ability user, too.
Or a bunker.
Then I could merge the Multi and the main base.
Well, it'll show up someday.
That's how I sent the seven people to the Multi, introduced them to the people, and spent the last two days.
"Boss."
ㅡVrrr
The smartphone vibrated.
"They're here."
"Answer it."