Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: A Zone (1)
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Ah.
I understood the people's reactions.
“It's quite tasty.”
It didn't look all that appetizing.
“We hunted them casually for meals every time we camped overnight.”
“I don't know how far to trust your 'it's tasty.'”
Yoon grumbled sourly.
“It's not some weird flavor like those noodles, is it?”
“Lexik.”
“Yeah, that.”
“It's not a taste that divides people that much.”
They didn't trust my palate.
I chuckled while grabbing the senior's gear that was sliding sideways from the vehicle's jolts.
Even Ricardo was giving me a skeptical look.
“Everyone ate land whales just fine without complaint. Hardly anyone disliked them.”
“Who likes Lexik noodles? Objectively, they taste bad.”
What did he know.
“There are fan sites made by enthusiasts. Don't badmouth Lexik noodles too much.”
“Why don't we investigate those members? They must all be your kin.”
“But you liked the apple cider I made.”
“To compare, what's it like?”
Kal cut into Yoon and my conversation with a voice laced with a metallic edge.
The vehicle jolted again. I grabbed the gear spilling toward the opposite side and set it back in place.
Ami must have sped up again.
If nothing happened, we'd arrive an hour earlier than expected.
I gauged the speed as I replied.
“If anything, it's similar to pork.”
“No way!”
Ami shrieked.
“Land whales don't even have necks!”
“Necks?”
“Yeah. They look super weird because they have no necks.”
“Ah, well, they're whales, so no necks makes sense. But if you prep them right, they're tasty. And they're not hard to hunt.”
Everyone loved it when we caught land whales. It was the first creature I butchered as a rookie knight.
They were untainted magical beasts, often used for food.
Speaking of which, it's weird—no creatures are following us this time.
What could they be thinking.
While gauging my kin's positions, I asked the seniors if they'd ever tried eating creatures. They said they'd never even attempted it once, so I explained which ones were edible one by one.
I told them for reference in case they ever got stranded, but they seemed surprisingly interested.
And just like that, we arrived at the base camp.
B Zone.
A place to fall back to if problems arose on the way to A Zone.
***
B Zone was deserted.
The Badgers who'd been in C Zone had finished setting up the base camp and returned to C Zone. The difference between B Zone's base camp and the safe points in C and D Zones was the presence of a Breath barrier.
The safe houses in C and D Zones were surrounded by small Breaths. But there was no Breath in B Zone.
Just one sturdy building that wouldn't collapse, stacked with supplies.
We parked the vehicle and entered the building.
It was 12:30 p.m.
“Do we really have to eat land whale~?”
Ricardo muttered as he set down the supplies.
He didn't seem keen on it.
I turned to him and smiled faintly.
“There was one right next to the building. I'll catch it now and grill it up. If you're not feeling it, you don't have to eat any.”
“We still have plenty of rations, don't we~?”
“Wouldn't it be best to conserve supplies as much as possible?”
Our goal was the seed repository at the top of this mountain.
The one in this zone wasn't a Seed Vault but a Seed Bank, apparently. Meaning it wasn't just for preserving seeds—it was for using them.
They'd bring in seeds as needed and take them out for research or propagation.
We didn't have to reach it no matter what. The mission was to check the state of the untouched A Zone and find a spot for the next base point.
But checking the seed repository while we were at it would be nice.
According to Yoon, the refrigeration had stopped, so any surviving seeds would be extremely rare.
They probably had a backup generator, but even that had limits.
Still, we couldn't say for sure every seed was dead.
Go get some seeds, and make it a base camp too.
A clear, meaningful mission.
But first, we needed lunch.
I set down my gear and walked to the building entrance.
“I'll go catch it. Rest up.”
“Alone?”
Kal asked.
I nodded and answered readily.
“It's right there, and it doesn't need backup. I'll be quick.”
“What makes you think we can trust you to go alone?”
Sophia suddenly broke the silence.
Heads turned. Ami, who had been muttering about how the kids had made a decent base camp; Yoon, checking the water supply; Kal, straightening up like he was about to come along; and Ricardo, inspecting the stowed rifle—all looked her way.
I met Sophia's gaze too.
“You can come if you want.”
I'd half-expected as much, but sure enough, Sophia seemed like an HR Director pick to watch for betrayal.
“Though it won't be fun.”
“Sophia, you've heard more about Hilde from HR Director, right?”
Ami spoke in an even tone.
“He told you everything, didn't he?”
“That's exactly why I can't trust it more.”
Sophia didn't take her eyes off me.
Black eyes shadowed with desolation.
“How much you must hate humans.”
I smiled thinly at her words.
This was the normal way to think.
It didn't annoy or sadden me.
I gently covered Ami's mouth as she opened hers to speak and replied.
“It'd be a lie if it wasn't sometimes.”
Humans had often left me with just one choice. I hated the humans who hadn't given me any choices.
It'd be a lie if I didn't hate them.
“But sometimes it's the exact opposite. Though you won't believe it.”
When I recalled the researchers chasing after my fleeing kin.
The ones who'd decided to side with humans. The researchers who couldn't even fire a shot properly to protect those who'd chosen to live among us, charging in en masse. Every time I thought of the humans desperately grabbing my kin's hands and running to their vehicles, I vowed to love humans.
Scientists rushing to computers, not to escape the lab, but to erase records calling us creatures.
Intel agents wrapping their bodies around my kin for evacuation, prioritizing 'human' lives.
There were innocently pure ones like Eve, and even if not innocent, good ones.
I had the dream again last night.
A forgotten memory fragment rolled into my dream.
“Put on lab coats!”
Researchers rushed to me and my following kin, handing out coats.
“Then they'll think you're human!”
“Let's prevent the angry soldiers from mistaking you for hostiles.”
“Hang ID badges around your necks. That'll make it more perfect.”
“Tytans with unique eye colors—sunglasses!”
Even as gunfire made our ears ring, they smiled brightly, waving sunglasses.
“We prepared by group size!”
Many didn't make it.
I remembered looking down at their bodies in agony. People I should have saved but couldn't.
Radiant souls.
“But it's justified if you hate all Tytans. Humans have no reason to like Tytans.”
I grinned.
A heavy silence had settled over the base camp. The drip of water felt noisily loud in the air.
Everyone sat motionless, mulling over my words.
Maybe too heavy a topic before lunch.
But it was something I always thought I'd have to say someday. Because that dazzling kindness they'd shown crystallized in my heart.
Maybe that crystal kept me from breaking.
“Anyway, I'll go catch that land whale.”
I resumed my paused steps.
“If your hands are free, could you prep the barbecue?”
I felt Sophia's gaze following, but I didn't look back this time.
She'd judge for herself.
Man, looking forward to tasting land whale after so long.
Hand on my sheath, I stepped out of the base camp.
***
“It's so good!”
Ami cried out, eyes wide round.
“It's really tasty! Just like Hilde said—pork!”
“Good thing.”
She's cute when she's happy.
I smiled, tongs in hand.
“I'll teach you how to butcher next time.”
“Yeah!”
“It's fine.”
Yoon muttered low after swallowing.
“You just need to drop that noodle obsession.”
The noodles are really good...
Anyway, with picky eaters Yoon and Ricardo steadily eating the land whale, I felt relieved.
I exhaled in relief and flipped the land whale meat.
Ricardo had squinted at the meat for a while first.
But being cautious with new food isn't unusual. I was just glad he'd eaten several bites without issue since.
Sophia chewed her meat quietly.
Kal, who'd helped with the butchering, was poring over the creature guide.
Memorizing which ones were edible, probably.
“What's this one taste like?”
He came over to me grilling the land whale now and then with questions.
“And this one—doesn't it have poison?”
“Yes. Remove that, and it's delicious. I'll show you how later.”
Kal nodded quietly.
Even this makes him seem so soldierly.
No wonder his master rated him highly. I mentally thanked the HR Director for putting him on the Task Force, out of earshot.
If he'd come under me when I was Knight Commander, I couldn't have not favored him.
I kept sharing info with him steadily.
Even as we tidied the base camp and headed to A Zone.
Until Yoon, driving the cracked road, suddenly slammed the brakes.
Screeech!
“What is it?”
I turned my head.
No creatures targeting us.
From the passenger seat, I braced on the glovebox and looked at my master. The rear seat's air had shifted instantly.
Sounds of gripping rifles, clipped words.
Air taut with tension in a flash.
Yoon, who'd caused it, stared out the window with pitch-black eyes.
Piercing gaze.
“Something's off.”
His dry voice echoed in the military truck.
“Why is the traffic light on?”