Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Capturing Prisoners
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The one group that had aggressively attacked our base seemed to be completely wiped out.
The remaining two groups had attacked passively, so about a third survived and fled. But with hordes of zombies drawn to them, escaping easily looked impossible.
On top of that, drones hunting their lives were still swarming actively overhead.
The few surviving enemies now had to choose: get bitten to death by zombies or shot down by drones.
'Oh. The enemies all fled outside the apartment complex, and our drones are chasing them down with grenades and bombs. The explosions are pulling zombie aggro away from the complex—nice bonus.'
With some breathing room, I quickly scanned for any pretty women among the survivors.
No luck.
Unfortunately—or fortunately—there were no women among the fleeing enemies. Just guys with dicks dangling between their legs.
'Yeah, makes sense. No reason to bring physically weak girls on an assault.'
I'd planned to capture any hot beauties among the attackers and break them in with some fun training, but no such luck.
I was smacking my lips in disappointment when Hye-yeon's voice crackled over the radio.
-“Master. During the fight, I caught a glimpse. There are guys hiding in the apartments at 210 Building lines 1 and 2, 208 Building lines 3 and 4, and 207 Building lines 5 and 6. You need to take them out.”-
“Got it.”
Guys hiding inside apartments were tough for drones to hit.
Best to handle the stragglers myself.
I swapped to a weapon suited for clearing hidden enemies inside apartments: something from the SMGs. I grabbed the first micro Uzi that came to hand.
Uzi.
The gun nicknamed a bullet sprinkler.
Gripping one in each hand—dual Uzis—I headed into the apartment where enemies were likely hiding.
“Base. Base. You copy?”
-“Yes, yes, loud and clear. Go ahead, Master.”-
“Use thermal or infrared from the drones to pinpoint enemy positions. I want to know exactly where they're holed up before I go in.”
-“On it. Hang on... Hye-yeon’s got it.”-
-“Master, Hye-yeon here. Can you hear me?”-
“Yeah. You got my position?”
-“Yes, clear as day. You're in the shared entrance for 210 Building lines 1 and 2. Locating the enemy now... one sec.”-
The drone Hye-yeon was flying bobbed up and down near 210 Building's lines 1 and 2, then looped behind the building, came back to the front, hovered a bit, and finally stopped.
-“Found him. Holed up tight in 210 Building, unit 2001, bathroom. ...Ah, no wonder he was hard to spot. He's hidden just like we would.”-
“Roger. No other threats on this line? No other hiders?”
-“None. Just this one guy in the line. Should I keep eyes on you, Master? Or scout the other hiders first?”-
“Scout the others first.”
-“Yes, Master.”-
Now that I knew where he was hiding, mopping up the remnants was a piece of cake.
Magic aside, my average stat and skill level was around 12.
Tower trial survivor level 1.
Total average level 13 specs—way overkill agility and stamina. I shot up to the 20th floor in one go.
If it was my old body, I couldn't have climbed that fast, and I'd be huffing and puffing by 20. But now? No heavy breathing, barely any sweat.
I arrived at unit 2001 on the 20th floor.
I'd already half-demolished the door here while farming, which must be why the enemy could hide inside.
'Hiding, huh? Time for a grenade appetizer.'
For guys hiding in houses, just lob in a grenade.
Standard CQB tactic—even the US military does it.
'Wait, maybe don't kill him outright. Interrogate first. Need intel. Figure out what went down, the situation around us.'
I reached for a grenade from my Subspace Storage but switched to a flashbang.
No better time to use these things I rarely need. Let's give it a shot.
I cracked open the flashbang and tossed it toward where I figured the guy was hiding.
-BOOM!!!-
'Huh? No reaction?'
Just in case, I lobbed in another.
-BOOM!!!-
I crept into the bathroom where the enemy was hiding. There he was, out cold.
“Did the first one knock him out? Or the second?”
Either way, non-lethal takedown. I trussed him up tight with cable ties, rope, and tape.
Leave him like this for interrogation later.
I left the secured enemy and moved to the next remnant.
-“Master. All other enemies are dead except the hiders. We pursued and took out all the runners.”-
Hye-jeong's report came in. Guess they got every last fleer.
From what she said, zombies chasing on the ground and drones from above—they got scattered and annihilated without proper response.
“Good work. Hye-jeong, Seo-yeon, you two killed it. ...Seo-yeon? Found the rest?”
-“Yes, Master. Got 'em. One in 208 Building unit 2003, another in 207 Building unit 1506.”-
“Roger.”
I went to neutralize the rest the same way—capture for intel.
First, 208 Building unit 2003.
“Damn, this guy's hiding on the 20th floor too. Asshole.”
I raced up the stairs.
Caught my breath outside 2003.
Hye-yeon had radioed during the climb: he wasn't in the bathroom but right inside the front door, lying in wait.
He'd definitely heard me coming up the stairs.
Combat boots make a lot of noise—thud thud thud. No way he missed it.
Knowing full well he had a gun trained on the door, I didn't poke my head in. Flashbang instead, like before.
-BOOM!!!-
“Argh!!!”
Someone tumbled across the floor.
Blinded and stunned by the flashbang, he'd dropped his gun and was rolling on the ground.
I subdued him, bound him tight with tape and rope like the first, and headed straight for the next target.
In the end, flashbang plus takedown combo netted all three as prisoners.
After capture, came the interrogation—with a side of torture.
People break under torture easier than you'd think.
Just snap or stab fingers and toes, smash them, slice off bits from the ends—they spill everything.
“...Ughhh! ...I-I'll talk. ...E-everything, I'll tell you everything, aaahhh!!!”
“Good. Spill it all. When did your alliance form?”
“...N-not long ago. R-really recent... h-hic...”
“Hey, asshole. Man up and stop sniveling, fuck. You came to kill me, right? Crying like that just makes me wanna hit you more. So keep talking. About that 'alliance.'”
“Y-yes, yes! ...I-I'll tell you everything. ...S-so... it was recent. The party that proposed the alliance first had a military guy. Marine, they said. He joined late but took over the group. Anyway, he convinced us the apartment guys were dangerous, said we needed a half-complex alliance. We all... I'm sorry. Really sorry... sob...”
“Then what about those bitches who came to our turf last time, dragging a ton of zombie aggro? Spill what you know.”
“...D-don't know the guy much, but the fat chick? We kicked her out. She wouldn't work, just blamed men, threw tantrums, slacked off 'cause she's a girl, but ate twice what men did... Kept stirring shit in the group... And had weird victim complexes and delusions. Looking back, maybe mental illness, or just a pitiful headcase...”
“And?”
“So... everyone was pissed, we booted her from the group... Honestly, in a zombie apocalypse, keeping a bitch like that is riskier. Y-you know how it is, right? Movies even, those types cause massive troll shit. Even weak old folks get some slack. Ha... We voted to exile her and 24 others—unanimous. Rare as hell. Her antics were that bad. If she hadn't tried false rape accusations to dodge work by grabbing men's weak spots... she might not have been exiled...”
“...Huh? So she came to us? That's it? Hey. Truth only, fucker. Before I beat you more.”
“...B-but, we felt bad just dumping her outright, so... a few days before, we lied—said the apartment complex had handsome guys with guns, lots of food, electricity and water flowing free... Y-yeah... Then when we exiled her days later, she screamed she'd go somewhere better, full of grudge... Yeah...”
The guy I was interrogating kept peeking at my face.
Like a litterbug caught red-handed.
“Ah... You fuckers made us your garbage dump... Non-recyclable waste too. Group troll bitch, food-guzzling idiot pig—loaded her up with zombie aggro and yeeted her like a bomb, huh? Fucking trash?”
“...Haha, ha... N-not just that... AAAHHH!!! Uwaaahk!!!”
I snapped a few of his fingers.
“Wanna die, motherfucker? No wonder only ugly weird bitches kept showing up. Fuck.”
These assholes kept the pretty normal girls for themselves and dumped the ugly crazies on me like trash—with zombies as a bonus.