They Went to America
"Why aren't they coming back?"
"Maybe the distance is further than we thought."
"You don't think they're all dead, do you?"
"Hey, John. Don't say such ominous things... A tough guy like Michael wouldn't die that easily."
"True, and he has those guys from the other world with him, so it's unlikely he'd go down that easily."
"Still... it's definitely strange that there's no news at all."
It had already been four days since the nine-man Spring Expedition, including Nick and Michael, had left the Trapped Nest. The people at the East American Camp were agitated by their continued absence. After all, those who had left were the unrivaled powerhouses of the camp and the real power brokers who effectively led it. Their absence meant a weakening of combat strength, which meant the camp would be in immediate danger if a threat arose. Moreover, there wasn't a single person in the East American Camp who hadn't been helped by Nicholas's past good deeds, and everyone had grown accustomed to Michael's command, making their absence felt all the more acutely.
In a situation where both Nick, the spiritual pillar of the camp, and Michael, the practical leader, had vanished, the people occupying the Trapped Nest began to feel a sense of unease. This was the same for Erickson, who had taken over as the leader of the Abyss Raid Team in Michael's stead. He, too, could not hide his worried heart. Unlike what had been agreed upon, there had been no contact even after three days had passed.
'Did they really... run into some kind of disaster? No way...'
As the only Black man trusted by Michael, Erickson was quite perceptive and sharp-witted. That was why he suspected that Michael, who still hadn't sent any word, might have crossed a river he shouldn't have.
'I'm anxious. Even if it took a long time and there were many dangerous situations... Michael would have found a way to contact us...'
Erickson called together the people who were in the middle of raiding the Trapped Nest. It was no time to be leisurely raiding a nest. They had to find Michael and his party, who hadn't returned. Since Michael, the practical leader, had handed over all authority to Erickson before leaving, most people responded to his call. Of course, there were quite a few people who didn't like Erickson, who had served as the camp's judge, so there were those who disobeyed his assembly order or sent him sour looks. And among them, there were many Black men who pointed fingers at Erickson, calling him an idiot who stuck to the side of white people and licked their asses. Most of them were Black men from the slums who had long resented Michael, the racist who managed the camp, and Erickson, the Black man who was favored as the camp's judge.
"It's already been four days since Michael didn't return. According to the original plan, he should have sent Alex back or returned himself by yesterday evening... The fact that there is no news means we must assume the worst. So, some of us need to go outside the nest and find their tracks..."
Erickson proposed forming a team to find the whereabouts of Michael and the rest of the party. They needed to at least grasp what had happened to set up the next countermeasures. Then, Adam, a middle-aged Black man who had been looking at Erickson with displeasure, said in a slightly irritated tone:
"Hey, we haven't even properly occupied this place yet. And what? Go outside and find Michael? It's only been four days! Michael isn't a kid; he'll be doing just fine on his own."
He hoped that the ruling class, composed of the white people who had gone outside, including Michael, would never return. He thought that if they all died out there, he might be able to lead the remaining Black people and become the actual ruler of the camp. He still didn't properly understand the power struggle between those called Evil Gods and Good Gods. He didn't have much of a sense of crisis regarding the existence of the Cultists who were reaching out their evil hands toward them. He didn't properly grasp the fact that a camp of thousands could be smashed to pieces overnight and everyone dragged out to be branded with slave marks, and he wasn't particularly worried about external aggression. It was because they had always won until now. No matter what organization came, they had always won. That made Adam arrogant. He thought the achievements made by a few powerhouses, including Michael and Nick, were things he and all the camp's people had achieved by gathering their strength. Therefore, he arrogantly thought that even if he became the ruler of the camp, he could block external aggression just as well as Michael. He thought there was no way he couldn't do what white people could do. He was truly a frog in a well.
"Yeah! Don't make a fuss. It's so dangerous here, who knows how much more dangerous it is outside. I'm out. Why don't you go out and find your 'white master' yourself?"
"That's right! In the first place, Nicholas, who lost his memory, is the problem! If it weren't for Nicholas, we wouldn't have had to come in here and suffer like dogs!!"
"Right! No matter how great a friend Nick is for saving us, I can't understand Michael for irresponsibly abandoning us for the sake of one Nick! Yeah, he abandoned us here! Doesn't everyone think so? He abandoned us!!"
"Yeah! Maybe he used that great insight of his to figure out that the outside is much better than here! That's why they went out among themselves while we were working our asses off here!"
"They made us work like slaves and ran away!"
Other Black men from the slums began to rapidly agree with Adam's thoughts and shout. They opposed finding Michael's party. Furthermore, they wanted to bury Erickson this time and take command of the Abyss Raid Team themselves. The Black men from the slums, who had been ruled by Michael until now, harbored the fantasy that they were being subtly discriminated against and that they were always behind white people in priority or quantity when it came to food distribution. Eventually, a rebellion against the previous power broke out due to the agitation of a few Black men. Adam and his gang carried out what they had been thinking about for a long time.
'Is it because they're uneducated?'
Adam's faction began to dismiss the opinions of others just by shouting and yelling. Erickson sighed as he watched the Black men, led by Adam, begin to run wild.
'These bastards... what the hell is in their heads...'
Watching the Black men from the slums who were shouting and seemed ready to cause a bloodbath at any moment, Erickson even began to think that Michael's racist remarks might not be entirely wrong. It was because the shouts of those who were screaming for petty power, while they had no idea what kind of enemies might be coming, were disgusting and unbearable to listen to.
"Hey! You guys! That's going too far!!"
"Yeah! You guys were helped too!!! If it weren't for Nick, you'd all be dead already!!!"
"You guys are double-faced parasites who owe Nick your lives too!!"
People who had experienced trouble once or twice because of Black men from the slums who would riot, smash shops, and plunge society into misery when shouting didn't work, had accumulated quite a lot of dissatisfaction with the Black men from the slums who continued to cause trouble and be greedy even though the world had perished. At that moment, as a few uneducated Black men began to gather and speak with one voice, the white people, who felt anxious that a large-scale riot might break out, as well as the Hispanics and the very few Asians who didn't belong anywhere, also began to shout back, and it soon began to spread into racial conflict. In fact, this discord hadn't just arisen today. The rift in their feelings had already deepened, and as the people who had been forcibly holding it back disappeared in an instant, the dissatisfaction between them began to erupt. Rational conversation was already impossible. All that remained was the collision of emotions. Just when the squabbling of those who had lost their center was about to begin:
"Aaaah!!! Help me!!!!"
Anton, one of the Russian-Americans who had intentionally ignored Erickson's assembly and gathered on the outskirts of the nest with his own thoughts, came running while screaming. He was covered in blood. Also, he had several... black bugs on his body.
"Wha, what is that!!"
"What on earth is that..."
"Co... cockroaches?"
Soon, they confirmed the swarm of bugs that were pouring in after Anton. They were a completely different species from the bugs inside the Trapped Nest. Dozens, hundreds of black, hideous, palm-sized bugs that looked more like cockroaches than larvae were following closely behind Anton. As soon as Erickson saw that, his mind snapped to attention.
'They deliberately... didn't kill him... and followed Anton...'
That meant they had that much intelligence, and through the way that many of them moved as if for a single purpose, Erickson thought there might be something like a hive mind, which he had only read about in the SF novels he used to enjoy. His thought was correct. The Jet-Black Cockroaches, whose penalty of the offspring dying after 3 hours had disappeared, were holed up in a corner of the Crimson Zone, laying eggs like crazy on the corpses brought by the parasitic trees. Since the Jet-Black Cockroach already knew that all its offspring would die the moment it died, it no longer stood on the front lines but was holed up in a back room, mass-producing offspring and commanding them from the front.
"Th, this...!!!"
"Stop them!!! Stop those bugs!!!! Isaac!!! Cast a barrier!!!"
"Kyaaaa!!!!!!! My hand!!! My fingers!!!!"
"Isaac!!! You fucking bastard!! There are too many of these bugs!!!"
It was pandemonium. Those who had been fighting for power until a moment ago were falling prey to the bugs in an instant. Erickson quickly shouted at the people.
"Each one is weak!!! Don't panic, everyone!!! If you get overwhelmed by their numbers, it's over!!! Get a grip!!! Don't scatter, stick together!!"
Erickson noticed that the bugs had lower durability than he thought and that there were just an insane number of them. He quickly pulled out a hammer and swept the bugs away, securing a safe zone. As he judged, the offspring of the Jet-Black Cockroach were not very strong. If they fought the parasitic larvae in the Trapped Nest one-on-one, they might have been easily suppressed. However, their strength didn't come from the power of a single individual. It wasn't easy to block a swarm of cockroaches pushing in with an absurd number. Moreover, their shitty appearance, which caused mental pollution to the viewer, forced the enemies to tremble in fear. Causing mental pollution to enemies with a nauseating appearance. This was also an additional effect that the Jet-Black Cockroach had acquired after its past achievements were recognized and it was strengthened. And that effect was inherited by the offspring, affecting them to some extent. Those with low Will stats fell into a panic with no way to handle it. Screams filled the air. Blood filled the air. The number of people falling and being buried increased. Already, over a dozen people had been swallowed by the swarm of baby cockroaches and lost their combat ability. At this rate, they wouldn't avoid annihilation. Erickson shouted again.
"Retreat!!! Everyone fall back!!! Mages, prepare fire magic!!! They're weak to fire!!!"
"You fucking bastard!! Erickson!!!"
Adam and his gang were isolated by the swarm of cockroaches. Erickson abandoned them immediately. It was because he judged that there was no need to keep them alive. It was clear that even if he kept them alive, they would cause a power struggle again. It was better to quickly clear out those who didn't know their place when an opportunity arose.
"Everyone, retreat to where the main base is!!!"
"You're dragging these bugs all the way there!!?"
"There's no other way!! We don't have enough firepower on our own!!"
"This!!! What is that again!!!!"
-Pusssss....
"Uooooo...."
"Umm...."
Monsters spewing spores walked out from behind the swarms of bugs.
"Mush, mushroom..!?"
Adam, who had been abandoned by Erickson, was overwhelmed by the large mushroom-man that had approached right in front of him and was looking down at him, and he couldn't do anything. Soon, the mushroom-man raised its arm.
-Crunch!!
"Kyaaaa!!!!"
"Fuuck!!!! Adam!!!!"
Adam, who had been standing stupidly, was crushed by the mushroom-man's fist and turned into minced meat. Soon, the bugs rushed at his corpse, and red roots crawled into Adam's corpse, which had been swallowed in an instant and left with nothing but bones. Also, the Black men next to Adam were stabbed by the long fingernails of the parasitic humans that had torn through the walls, and their arms and legs were ripped off. Watching that absurd scene, Erickson wondered if all the monsters of the Abyss had gathered here.
'Crazy...'
Erickson felt his head turning white. Also, his hands were trembling at this absurd situation. He was certain that Michael and Nick must be dead. At that moment, a man with a blurry face walked out from among the monsters, dusting off his shoulders for some reason. It was Jojun, wearing a memory-conversion ring. He kicked the shin of the mushroom-man that had crushed Adam and wiped his face.
"Hey, I told you not to kill him. Ah... seriously, you don't listen at all... Just break his arms and legs moderately."
"Umm... Pusssss..."
"Ah, I won't let it slide even if you spew spores. You're banned from mating for a week."
"Pusssssss..!!"
"Cough, cough!! This bastard..!"
Jojun had come in person to eat America.