Chapter 68
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Holy War Declared
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"Beasts?"
"If we're talking before the ones caught on camera, a total of five. All of them superpowered."
"The south chapel was their doing too?"
Someone had lured a Tyrant into the south chapel. The chapel had been turned into a complete wasteland by the unprecedented tyrant's rampage, and in the process, Goyle—who they'd expected to become the cult's top fighting force—had died.
"Witnesses say the man who broke in back then used superpowers too."
"So it's basically a hundred percent hunch."
The blond young man fell deep into thought after his curt remark. Superpowered or not, Shelter C was no pushover. Even for them, a war with Shelter C wouldn't be easy.
Shelter C had been built with backing from Green, a massive corporation with immense capital. They possessed power incomparable to other shelters.
Of course, that didn't mean they could avoid war. Backing down here would violate the teachings of their leader, the Pope, whom they valued above all else.
The blond youth looked at the bishop and the followers. They gazed back at him with faces full of madness. And he knew the answer they craved.
At last, he spoke.
"In the name of I, Archbishop Mikael, I declare a holy war on Shelter C."
The next day, I grabbed the healing potions Zixuan had made, along with my guns, and headed outside. With my internal affairs wrapped up, I planned to hit the subway for some EXP grinding, just as I'd thought.
With healing potions on hand, I wouldn't run into any real danger unless I bumped into a group of monsters like Tyrants or Salvation Cult followers.
I checked the map on my smartwatch. The closest station to the industrial zone was Somang Station. My goal for the day was to ride the connected tunnels, clear the city's subway stations, and level up.
Today, I rode a regular motorcycle instead of the Diablo RX. Given the nature of the subway, bringing a fancy bike would just be extra baggage.
The distance to Somang Station wasn't far, so I arrived without incident. I parked the motorcycle nearby and fired into the subway entrance.
My plan was to lure the zombies inside with the noise.
Bang!
How long did I wait like that? Zombies started swarming from inside Somang Station. Not just one—dozens of them. Plenty of variant zombies mixed in too.
I blocked the entrance using Metal Generation and Metal Transformation. The zombies trapped inside battered my barricade furiously.
The barricade began to bulge and heave. As expected of variants—even barricaded, given enough time, they'd break through. Of course, I had no intention of giving them that time.
Just then, a tentacle rose up through a hole I'd left in the barricade. It stiffened rigid, then launched straight at me. I dodged easily and grabbed it.
The tentacle, rigid for a moment, went limp as if drained of strength. I tied it to a bomb from my backpack and tossed it into the hole.
The tentacle dropped below with the bomb.
'And when it stiffens again...'
Boom!
Inevitably, the tentacle would trigger the bomb. A situation straight out of the game.
The barricade shook violently. A sign the bomb had been delivered successfully.
「Job experience increases. (Solo party bonus +150%) (Massacre bonus +250%) (Chain kill bonus +150%)」
Judging by the multipliers, I'd taken out a huge batch of zombies at once.
My level being what it was, the EXP gain was a measly 5 percent.
Through the widened hole stretched a vision of hell. Most regular zombies were dead, and the surviving variants were all badly mangled.
But stepping over their remains, fresh zombies climbed up. They'd heard the blast just now, so their numbers would only grow over time.
I waited patiently, taking my time.
Zombies from the city started converging on me one by one, drawn by the noise. I raised my rifle and fired at them. My gun handling had grown familiar, and the accuracy buff was still active.
Every bullet I fired pierced a zombie's head without fail. After roughly clearing the approaching ones, I pulled out two bombs and lobbed them into the hole.
「Job experience increases. (Solo party bonus +150%) (Massacre bonus +350%) (Chain kill bonus +250%)」
After two chained, thunderous explosions, things went quiet below. Peering through the hole, I saw only blood—no big deal. I sealed the barricade.
That's when a Chaser that had been lurking silently inside lunged at me. I didn't panic, twisted aside to block the attack, then squeezed the trigger at its head.
Bang.
Unfortunately, the bullet failed to penetrate its skull. For it not to pierce even at this range was proof of the thing's absurd durability.
But embedding the bullet was enough.
I swung my fist at it. Its claw-like hand swatted mine away. But my other hand was already touching the lodged bullet.
Activating Metal Transformation in that state, the bullet began to morph. Into the shape I envisioned. A spike that could pierce its skull.
The creature's body convulsed. I stepped back. It snarled at me again, but the movement was neither fast nor threatening anymore.
It even staggered, as if losing its sense of direction. Putting down an off-balance Chaser was no challenge for me now.
I generated a metal sword and cleaved its head.
The severed head rolled across the ground. True to its tenacious vitality, the body kept reaching for me even without its head.
But that was it. A kick sent the torso tumbling down the stairs. I slowly stepped into the subway. The interior was shrouded in total darkness.
Wearing night vision goggles, I picked up my motorcycle without hesitation and headed down.
Even after cleaning the station stairs, plenty of zombies remained inside.
Of course, mostly regulars, so wiping them out didn't take long. I placed my hand on a train car and used Metal Decomposition.
The wheels were made of mithril. Not a huge amount, and not the purest, but mithril nonetheless. I stored the mithril powder in a spare backpack.
With multiple cars, gathering every scrap could let me build another work android. Assuming it worked, anyway.
'All done?' After harvesting all the mithril from the trains, I wheeled my motorcycle into the tunnel. Pitch-black darkness. Even with night vision, it was downright eerie.
A chill wind seeped in from the station just then. I revved the throttle. Vroom. My bike shot down the tunnel, and soon I reached the next station, cleared it the same way.
Then, at the third station—Sangnok Station—I ran into a young man.
"Damn! I'm saved! Please, save me!"
Through my night vision goggles, he looked human for sure. But a human in these tunnels? Suspicious as hell.
I aimed my gun at him and shouted.
"Affiliation."
He flinched and froze.
"Damn! I'm saved! Please, save me!"
His body twisted grotesquely as he repeated himself. An Echo. Absorbs survivors' voices and mimics them. I fired without hesitation.
Bang! Bang!
Not even an elite, just a variant, so the EXP wasn't much. I looted the corpse and stood.
Finally reaching the next station, I immediately spotted a gaunt old man. Forewarned, I fired without pause.
But he bent at the waist, and the bullet grazed him. Variants could apparently dodge even point-blank shots.
I raised my gun again.
The old man knelt, trembling, and pleaded.
"P-please, spare me!"
"You want to live? Say something else."
I smirked bitterly. Echos can only repeat one phrase. That's why they're called Echoes—mechanical mimics.
This one had revealed its true nature, so all I had to do was pull the trigger like before. But then the old man trembled and asked.
"W-what do you want me to say?"
'A Devourer?' But too gaunt for that. Would a Devourer ever get this skinny? Normal ones would've gorged on zombies and ballooned up.
Unless it had some 'anorexia' trait or something. Side note: even in the game, I'd never seen that combo.
"If you're really human, reveal your identity."
"Used to be with Shelter C."
"Not anymore?"
"They probably think I'm dead. Got captured by Salvation Cult bastards."
"But how are you still alive?"
"Those cult freaks don't eat much. I deliberately starved myself skinny. No meat, just bones—they ignored me completely. That's how I survived."
I offered him some water as he coughed dryly.
"Thanks. I was clinging to that sliver of life, and by sheer luck—total luck—I got released."
"How?"
"They said the holy war was starting soon, that the Pope's grace would free us. But I should've known better. The bastards just dumped us in a subway station."
'Holy war?' Sounded like the Salvation Cult was gearing up for a fight soon. With which shelter? Not ours, I hoped...
As I thought, he kept talking.
"'Survive if you can,' that kinda thing. Dead here or there, didn't matter, so whatever..."
"What about the others?"
"They threw the rest to the zombies. But the zombies ignored me. Too skinny, no food value or whatever. Still scared of 'em, so I kept walking endlessly. No idea how much time passed... until I met you."
"Your name?"
"Me? Warren Jones."
In that moment, I couldn't believe my ears. Warren Jones?
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine