Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Bread and Candy (1)
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"B... B-Boss...! Big trouble...! In our turf... the drug cartel bastards...!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Los Jaguares Cartel.
One of the massive criminal organizations smuggling drugs into downtown Omega Detroit.
Their influence extended not only to the police and public authorities but also to the politicians and corporations that dominated this city.
Rather than a mere smuggling outfit, they were more akin to a vast corporation equipped with systems and immense funding.
And the force now threatening this street was the Ricardo Family, one of their subcontracted organizations.
In terms of scale, they couldn't compare to the main family at all, but when it came to brutality, they were infamous throughout the neighborhood. Word was they'd started expanding their territory at a frightening pace lately.
The gangster brothers, who had clearly taken a beating somewhere, explained all this to me.
"All the gangs in the neighboring blocks have already been wiped out! We're next!"
Once his younger brother Donny finished speaking, the older brother Danny picked up the story, displaying his battered face.
"Last night, they showed up out of nowhere and warned us to clear out of this turf right away. Said they'd kill us all if we didn't."
The merciless wounds from their savage beating proved the threat was no bluff.
After hearing the brothers out completely, I fell into brief contemplation.
"........"
Truth be told, incidents like this were commonplace. In the original game, they were just everyday events.
Territorial squabbles on the city outskirts. No big corporations involved—just small-time gangs shoving each other around. I'd never paid them any mind, nor had there been reason to.
That was probably why, up until then, I'd been treating the situation somewhat lightly.
"Why not just... wash your hands of it and pull out?"
Even though I'd gotten some brief "cooperation" from them, they weren't truly loyal to me—they'd only bowed to Esty's threats. It was a connection that tenuous at best.
They were criminals, gangsters themselves. No room for sympathy.
I had no desire to meddle in their infighting.
But the two brothers thumped their chests in unison, frustrated by my naive response.
"No way! Absolutely not! Those guys are... on a whole different level of evil!"
Donny protested in near tears.
"Most gangsters around here grew up in this neighborhood! So even when they do shitty stuff, they don't cross the line. Petty theft at worst, running illegal gambling joints, shaking down shops for protection money—that's about it!"
"But those cartel bastards, the drug pushers... their whole mindset is different...!"
Danny cut in, spitting the words with contempt.
"You know what happens when they take over a neighborhood? They flood the streets with drugs. Fentanyl, cocaine, whatever they've got. And that's game over. Drugs are insidious—as long as the supply's there, demand springs up on its own. Even normal people get hooked in seconds, and once you're addicted... no escape."
Danny slammed his fist against the floor. His bruised eyes flickered with desperation.
"Then the locals stop eating, bathing, sleeping—just drugs all day. No work gets done, shops shutter, the whole place dies. Streets end up littered with junkie corpses starved to death...!"
Danny's shoulders slumped after his impassioned plea.
"That's why we call drug gangs locust swarms. They devour everything in their path and leave nothing behind... So please, Boss—help us."
"........"
Their desperate attitudes made me regard the situation more gravely.
'Honestly, no matter what, it won't affect me directly.'
Drug cartel or whatever, their target wasn't me. No ties to the 'miracle's' secret. Worst case, I could just leave the area.
'But...'
Certain faces sprang to mind.
The kind owner of my part-time job spot, always treating me gently.
Karen and Sophia, the mother-daughter pair who'd teared up in gratitude after I healed them.
And the siblings Joseph, embarking on his precarious path of atonement, and Yoanna, just now stepping back into the world.
This neighborhood was their home. Unlike me, they couldn't just pick up and leave.
As I recalled each person I'd connected with here, I found I couldn't simply turn away.
'Still... I don't have the power to fight them myself.'
Of course, any physical clashes could be left to Esty.
With her skills, she could probably handle the cartel's underlings without much trouble.
But that was all the more reason to remember: she wasn't truly my subordinate.
By contract, Esty's duty was solely protecting my safety. Dragging her into full-scale gang wars—especially ones unrelated to my personal security—didn't sit right.
I swallowed a sigh and turned back to the brothers.
"For now... any chance of negotiating with them? What's their exact goal? Just territory expansion?"
At my question, Danny and Donny shook their heads with hollow expressions.
"No idea. That's the frustrating part. Nothing but 'get out or die.' They're just bulldozing in."
Donny added, his voice laced with fear.
"The gangs in the next block over and the one after that? Wiped out without a sound. Even we're gangsters, but watching people drop like that... even the bribed cops won't budge. Everyone trembles at the cartel name."
After deep deliberation, I let out a short sigh. Their account alone wasn't enough to fully grasp the situation.
"...For now, I need to check things out myself."
I wanted to be cautious before making any big decisions. To see for myself what was really happening around here—and if the Ricardo Family was truly as monstrous as they claimed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next morning, Esty and I headed to 12th Street, the neighboring block the brothers had mentioned.
It wasn't far from our original lodging—just a few blocks away. But the moment we stepped inside, the atmosphere felt utterly different.
'No sign of... people.'
Not a soul on the streets, just an eerie stillness devoid of any life. Most shops along the main drag had their shutters down.
'Where did all the pedestrians go?'
It went beyond quiet—positively chilling.
A faint, unidentified stench hung in the air. Sweet yet nauseating, a smell I'd never encountered before.
I swallowed dryly and edged closer to Esty. She scanned the surroundings with sunken eyes.
It was then, a few steps further in.
As we turned the corner into an alley off the main street, I involuntarily caught my breath.
"....!"
There were dozens of people there.
Deep in the alley, huddled between rundown building walls and trash heaps.
Some bent at grotesque angles at the waist, others slumped against walls as if their heads were nailed there, still more swaying precariously on the verge of collapse.
Up close, the sight was even more wretched. Unnaturally gaunt bodies, flaky skin, and hollow eyes hard to believe belonged to living humans. They were utterly indifferent to their surroundings, merely existing.
The so-called "drug zombies."
The living corpses left behind in the cartel's wake, just as Danny had described.
"......."
I was momentarily overwhelmed by the bizarre, repulsive scene.
For the first time, I realized that seeing living people could be more revolting than actual dead bodies.
Thud, thud—
That was when new footsteps echoed from deeper in the alley. A haggard young woman appeared.
She was leading two toddlers who had just started walking into the depths.
"Mommy... hungry... hold me..."
"Where we going? My legs hurt..."
The children clung to their mother's frayed pant legs, whining through tears. But she didn't spare them a glance. Her vacant stare was fixed solely on the drug dealer lurking in the alley corner.
She staggered up and thrust out some crumpled bills. Her voice was frantic.
"H-Heaven Candy, a week's worth—hurry! I need it now!"
The man spat on the ground, counted the money, then shook his head.
"Not even close. Take the scraps if you want. Otherwise, settle the rest... same way as always?"
Before he even finished, she began unbuttoning her top.
"Mommy! Mommyyy!"
The children's wails grew louder, but she irritably shoved them away and threw herself at the man. She collapsed onto the filthy mattress as he led her.
What followed... was too grotesque to witness with open eyes.
'My God...'
I swallowed a rising groan and turned away.
"Waaah, waaaaaah!!!"
Utterly abandoned by their mother, the children collapsed onto the dirty alley floor and burst into heartbroken sobs. But no one paid them any mind.
Just a few steps away, beastly grunts mingled in sickening harmony.
After escaping that place, the scenes I witnessed were similar or even more horrific. People collapsed in drug stupors, others prostituting themselves for drug money, bystanders ignoring it all or joining in the depravity.
Along the roadsides, bodies seemingly dead from overdoses lay discarded like trash.
Children's cries echoed from somewhere, but no one cared. It was suffocating. The stench assaulting my nose wasn't just physical—the most unbearable reek emanated from humanity itself, abandoned.
Suddenly, I recalled the [Omega Detroit] from the original game.
The game city had its slums, depictions of crime and violence—but nothing like this.
Of course. Games are for entertainment. They avoid overly disgusting content as a rule. But this world was different. No filters—it laid bare the depths of human depravity.
'I thought I'd seen every horror this city had to offer, but this...'
Beyond imagination.
Far beyond the pale.
Even in a city where the line between guilt and innocence blurred, this... this was unambiguously wrong.
That was when it happened.
"Lady Eve."
At the quiet call, I turned instinctively.
Esty approached with worried eyes and gently wiped the corner of my mouth with a pristine white handkerchief.
"....?"
Only then did I notice the red bloodstain spreading across the cloth.
I'd been biting my lip without realizing.
"Are you alright?"
"...No. I feel like throwing up."
I wiped my eyes with a trembling hand.
"It's too disgusting... I can't stand it."