Chapter 187
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: Interrogating the Alliance Remnants
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Having subdued all three remaining enemies hiding in the apartment complex, I continued the interrogation.
What I was curious about was information on the "Half Apartment Alliance," or specific details on the survivor groups around here, and what had happened near our base.
'Hmm, the alliance that opposed us was looser than I thought. "If we attack, fight together..." something like that? It's surprising that three groups even showed up.'
From what the captured prisoners said, the apartment complex that I and my Pussy Slaves had claimed as "our territory" was seen by those nearby as both a cleaner that reduced the zombie population in the area and an object of terror.
"Why are we an object of terror?"
"...B-Because! ...Y-You just shot and killed everyone...! Regardless of age or gender, you killed them all, didn't you!?"
One of the guys being interrogated by me seemed to have harbored resentment toward us for a long time.
And it looked like he saw attacking us as some kind of justice or judgment.
"That's because they approached our territory in the apartment complex. And they were dragging tons of zombie aggro with them, too."
"...A-Are the rumors wrong? ...Even without dragging aggro, you still killed them, didn't you??"
"Yeah, that's true. Even without aggro, if they pissed me off, I killed them."
If it had been a pretty girl, I wouldn't have killed her, but weirdly enough, it was always these bearded, shirtless asshole guys who showed up.
Seeing them bare their hairy chests made anyone feel disgusted. Was it because it was the middle of summer and hot?
Or maybe it was those short-haired women who looked similar to that girl from last time wearing the "Girls Can Do Anything" T-shirt, with similar builds.
They were chubby with short hair, so I wasn't sure if they were men or women and killed them, but when cleaning up the bodies, I saw they were women.
'Now I finally get the gist of it. I was just handling trash.'
".... ...H-How can you say that so easily... As a human being, how can you...?"
"You mean even without dragging aggro, I still killed them? Yeah, I did. But they approached our territory. This apartment complex is our land. Approach it, and it's the death penalty for everyone. Usually, for those who came without aggro, I'd fire a few warning shots, and only kill them if they didn't leave after that. I never killed them right away."
"......, ...S-Survivors, other survivors don't shoot and kill each other just for entering someone's territory. In a world crawling with zombies, why would you do that...? That's exactly why you're an object of terror...!"
"Is that so? What a trivial reason."
I was gradually losing interest in the conversation with this guy.
At my nonchalant reaction, the man being interrogated bristled a bit.
"We were fleeing from zombies and came to this apartment complex because there were no zombies here, hoping to rest a bit, only to see you mercilessly gun down young people and the elderly like devils...! That's the general opinion of you all...!"
"Hmm.... Listen, you're seriously mistaken. This place didn't become a zombie-free zone naturally. My Pussy Slaves and I worked our asses off to make it that way. I'd rather be an object of terror than let freeloaders invade the clean zombie-free zone we busted our asses to create."
"...In a world where zombies are rampaging, humans need to band together. But you shoot just for approaching...? Honestly, you weren't much different from the zombies. If anything, you felt like boss mobs... Of course, everyone has their own opinions, but that's how I saw it at least...!"
"Killing a few who approached makes us an object of terror? Hmm..., that's all it is...?"
If a pretty girl had approached the apartment complex where I lived, I would have spared her.
...Ah, of course, only if I was monitoring the surroundings at the time.
I had told my Pussy Slaves not to kill pretty girls who approached, but honestly, if they killed one and played dumb, I wouldn't know.
I left the guy who harbored resentment toward me and moved to another prisoner.
"Got any other info? I might let you live, so spill everything you know."
Of course, I had zero intention of actually letting him live.
"...W-We tried to lure zombies here to this apartment... We hid alarm clocks around the apartment complex walls on purpose... Or other noisy things at specific times. If they kept ringing, you'd spot them while scouting the complex interior..., so just 5 or 10 minutes at a time...!"
"What?! Alarm clocks...? You mean to draw zombie aggro...?"
"...Y-Yes..., after the power went out, in the silent city, alarm clocks are pretty loud. ...The braver ones even sneaked into the complex at night and planted them in the 201 Building flower beds, parking lots, or even inside houses.... They were too scared to go near 210 Building because of you guys.... Among the 2nd complex apartments, 201 is the farthest from 210...!"
"Y-You ruthless bastards...!"
How had I not noticed this tactic until now?
If I'd left the windows open without running the AC, would I have heard it?
But with the AC on and windows closed, external sounds didn't come through well, and the outdoor unit noise drowned it out.... That's probably why I missed it.
"...B-But it wasn't just our group; all the nearby organizations did it.... That way, zombies come here, we're relatively safer, ...a-and you guys have so many guns and bullets rotting away.... S-So...!"
"Heh.... No wonder zombies seemed to swarm our apartment complex more than usual...!"
I'd extracted all the necessary info, and after getting the most important piece last, I decided their fate.
"So, your hideout is here, and the other groups are here and here?"
"...Y-Yes...!"
"Good. And how many women are in your hideout?"
"Women..., there are 7 in total. M-My wife, sister, niece..., daughter.... Sob..., P-Please spare us. ...J-Just overlook it this once. We had no choice because of the alliance, the alliance request. Please, just once...!"
"Sister, niece, and daughter? How old? Are they pretty?"
"...M-My daughter is only 13 months old now. ...P-Please spare us. For the sake of my young child. Just once...!"
"13 months? Tch, just a baby. Hey, buddy. I'd like to let you go if I could. But you guys came to kill me in the end. And if things went south, you'd have raped and gang-raped my Pussy Slaves. Right? ...What's this? Why'd you come to our turf with this M16 rifle? To kill me, right? Got anything to say?"
"......"
"We were all out to kill each other, so no need to go out pathetically. Honestly, if you were so worried about your kid, you shouldn't have come to kill me and just protected her instead. Right?"
I injected zombie blood, smeared it on wounds, or fed it to the guys thrashing to survive, infecting them with zombification.
I did it because I wanted to run some experiments.
"Grrraaagh..., Kraaaak, Grraaagh...!"
I pulled out a pistol with a suppressor and shot the now-zombified guys, still bound tightly with rope and tape, right in the head.
You have defeated an injured common zombie and received 9 points.
-Pfft!-
'Even if I infect them myself, killing them still gives points. A zombie's a zombie, I guess.'
Experiment result 1.
Even zombies I infect myself give points when killed.
The second experiment was whether killing a subject before full infection completes yields points.
Enemy prisoner not yet fully zombified.
Infected via zombie blood on a wound from me, but not yet a full zombie.
Looking like it might turn soon..., but what if I kill it right on the cusp?
-Pfft!-
No system response at all.
Experiment result 2.
Must fully turn into a zombie before killing to get points.
The final experiment was to verify and draw conclusions.
So I fed zombie blood and waited until it fully turned into a zombie, then killed the prisoner.
-Pfft!-
You have defeated an injured common zombie and received 9 points.
'Based on the stats, it should have been a healthy common zombie. But because it was tortured and missing fingers and toes, it counts as injured?'
Experiment result 3.
If injured before turning, it becomes an injured zombie and gives fewer points.
'Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Check on the Pussy Slaves' status..., then finish raiding the attackers' hideouts.'
For now, to check on my Pussy Slaves with my own eyes, I climbed up to the 10th floor using the tactical climbing rope.
The Pussy Slaves burst into tears upon seeing me, perhaps because they'd been scared until now.
Especially Seo-yeon cried the hardest.