Chapter 33
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Salvation Church Immunity
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Salvation Church believers don't get attacked by zombies.
It was a rumor openly circulating among survivors.
Of course, it was just a rumor, and hardly any survivors believed it to be true. They dismissed it as nonsense spread by cultists to propagate their faith.
Scavengers in the factory district thought the same. But those who actually encountered Salvation Church believers had to change their minds.
As they fired at the zombies charging ferociously toward them, the scavengers thought:
The rumor was true.
'No, this is even worse than the rumor.'
Not only did the zombies not attack them, but the believers controlled the zombies at will to attack others. It was unbelievable, even seeing it with their own eyes.
Was the Salvation Church's leader really a god?
Thud. Thud.
The zombies closed in. One, two—at least dozens of them howling savagely as they approached.
The scavengers' armament was superior to that of ordinary survivors, but they had no way to fend off an uncountable horde of zombies, especially on a rainy day like this.
In the end, they began falling one by one, seized by zombies. The scavengers turned and fled. They barely managed to mount their motorcycles.
But gunfire erupted from behind, and the lead scavenger tumbled. The Salvation Church believers who ambushed them had opened fire.
Some scavengers pushed through the bullets and kept riding. But more failed, and Maria was among those who couldn't.
She ran for her life. Legs pumping relentlessly at the thought that zombies might catch her, or that the cultists might shoot.
But her efforts were in vain; she was soon overtaken. Zombies surrounded her. She collapsed, eyes resigned to death, expecting them to tear into her.
Yet the zombies didn't bite. They just stood by, growling. A man pushed through them.
"Even filthy scavengers shall know the Lord's glory, oh Lord."
The cross he held gleamed unnaturally compared to those of the other believers. He forcibly yanked off Maria's hood, which had fallen back.
She resisted, but it was futile. Though her hair was matted, he confirmed her decent looks and let out a mad laugh.
"The Lord has provided our daily bread."
His eyes gleamed like a beast spotting prey. The other believers nearby were the same. They were grinning.
Even as a battle-hardened scavenger, Maria couldn't help feeling primal terror at the sight of the Salvation Church believers.
"P-Please, spare me!"
Other captured scavengers begged for their lives, but the believers swung their blades without hesitation. Slash. A scavenger's headless body swayed before toppling forward.
"Y-You murderers!"
Guessing their own fate, the scavengers resisted fiercely, but the outcome was no different. Maria closed her eyes.
It's a dream, a dream. Before the apocalypse, she was an elementary school teacher. Just tending a garden at a weekend farm with her students, living 'normally'...
But the apocalypse shattered everything. The teacher became a scavenger, preying on other survivors.
'Just die like this.'
As she finished the thought and lunged her dagger at the laughing cultist before her—Bang! A gunshot rang out.
Nothing new. Gunfire had echoed everywhere moments ago. But it didn't stop at one. Bang, bang, bang.
Only then did the cultists staring at her with lustful faces start looking around in panic.
Bang, bang, bang.
More shots. Believers sprayed blood as bullets hit them, collapsing. The man fled into the crowd of believers and zombies.
The zombies growling beside her took bullets too. Spotting something, the zombies charged toward it.
Only then could Maria see the shooter. An East Asian man. Even accounting for East Asians looking younger than Westerners, he didn't seem old.
Zombies closed in on him. He swung his sword. Astonishingly, the zombies touching his blade were sliced apart like tofu.
Zombie strength surpassed human strength—this shouldn't be possible. Yet the East Asian man cut them down effortlessly.
'Am I dreaming?'
Maria could only think that.
Soon, not just around her but all nearby zombies were dead. Then it happened. As she stared blankly at the man, a frog-like tongue wrapped tightly around her body.
"Eek!"
She screamed desperately, but the tongue yanked her. Only then could she turn and look. A grotesque frog-like zombie extended its tongue at her, eyes glowing red.
She was dragged away without resistance. Bang! A bullet pierced the frog zombie. One wasn't enough; it leaped dynamically.
The frog zombie bit her shoulder.
The late-arriving East Asian man slashed the tongue with his sword and aimed his rifle at the gaping maw. Bang! The bullet burrowed into its mouth, piercing its throat.
"Hic... sob."
Maria sobbed miserably. She realized she would die. The wound wasn't deep, but from a freak zombie.
She'd become a zombie soon. No, she decided to think positively since death was inevitable. Whether soon or late, everyone dies.
Just experiencing it a bit sooner. As a scavenger, dying clean was better anyway...
Watching her despairing face, the East Asian man clicked his tongue and effortlessly hoisted her onto his back.
Where was he taking her, bitten by a zombie? To use as bait? If dying, she just wanted it painless. No more suffering.
She struggled, shaking her body.
"Put me down. I've already been bitten by a zombie."
She knew bites couldn't be cured. Well, there was a way—amputate before the virus spread.
But her shoulder bite, and who knew how far the virus had spread? Of course, the man suppressed her resistance effortlessly.
'What strength...'
Of course, it made sense. If he could handle zombies, suppressing her was nothing. Carried like that, she was taken somewhere. Her heart pounded.
Whether from the zombie virus, fear, or hope, she didn't know. After a while, the man stopped in front of a building.
He touched the wall, and astonishingly, a door protruded from the blank surface. She doubted her eyes. What did I just see?
He opened the door and entered. Then she saw her. A beauty with long hair neatly tied. She was stunning. Maria had never seen such a beautiful East Asian woman.
It felt like her standards of beauty were upended. The beauty's eyes sparkled at her. Then the man spoke.
"Please treat her."
Treatment? Was it possible? Maria doubted her ears.
"Who is she?"
"A scavenger, probably."
She realized the East Asian man had pegged her identity. Scavenger—the word for raiders who plundered survivors.
Knowing she was a scavenger, why save her? Why treat her? Maybe like the cultists, to rape her...
'No, with such a pretty beauty there, why me?'
"Scavenger? Well, Si-hyun must have his reasons."
The East Asian beauty, Zixuan, shrugged and began treatment. And Maria was 'saved' by her. The pain gripping her vanished in an instant.
Her racing heart calmed.
Maria blinked in disbelief, then burst into tears.
"Th-Thank you! Angel!"
"Angel? Not bad to hear."
Zixuan shrugged and draped a blanket over her, noticing her chills.
"What do we do with her? We saved her life, but letting her stay here is another matter."
Zixuan's words were reasonable.
We saved the woman, but had no obligation beyond that. Plus, she wasn't a normal survivor—she was a 'scavenger.'
That is, assuming the Salvation Church hadn't appeared. Their emergence threatened all shelters. They wielded the imperfect but real 'zombie lord' ability.
They appeared once in the factory district; no guarantee they wouldn't again. So I planned to expand our forces a bit early.
"I dug into her background. She's a scavenger, but doesn't seem evil at heart. And she has experience tending gardens."
"Gardens?"
"Yeah. We're planning to start our own soon."
The munitions factory remained the 'safest' main shelter.
But with sentry guns and metal walls, we could expand shelters as needed.
And it was feasible in our current situation.
"Okay, but won't she betray us?"
"I have no intention of doing that. I committed unforgivable sins as a scavenger... but I had no choice. If I hadn't scavenged, I'd have starved to death right away—the situation was that dire..."
The listening woman replied with a guilty expression.
"Ah, damn. I forgot this is the translated world."
Hearing the curse, Maria fell silent like a mute covered in honey. Was this girl crush, or what?
"Anyway, no betraying, and you have to help us. Can you do it?"
"...Yes."
And so, the scavenger woman, Maria, was temporarily incorporated into the munitions factory. Of course, not fully trusting her yet, Queen would monitor her for a while.
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