Chapter 313

Chapter 313

“Has the bastard got his earholes plugged? I asked what the hell you are.”

One of the Scavengers approached Zeon.

He came swaggering toward him like a thug, but his hand was gripping the dagger at his waist. He was fully prepared to draw and swing the dagger at any moment.

Unlike his delinquent attitude, gaze, and speech, his movements belonged to someone who knew how to fight properly.

“Kaaak! Ptooey!”

The Scavenger who had come right up to him spat phlegm onto Zeon’s shoe.

It was the Scavengers’ unique way of intimidating others.

CRACK—!

In that instant, with an explosive sound, the Scavenger’s body flew into the air.

That was because, the moment the Scavenger’s spit touched his shoe, Zeon kicked him in the jaw.

The Scavenger’s head, now airborne, bent backward as if his neck were about to snap.

In the moment when tremendous pain made his mind grow distant, the thought that surfaced in the Scavenger’s head was, ‘What?’

That was his final thought.

That was because his jawbone shattered and drove into his brain.

THUD!

By the time the Scavenger fell to the floor, his breath had already stopped.

Zeon wiped his shoe on the dead Scavenger’s clothes.

“Filthy......”

At Zeon’s indifferent words, the Scavengers felt chills run down their spines.

The man who had been sharing lewd jokes with them until moments ago had turned into a corpse in an instant.

The Scavenger who had died to Zeon’s foot had been a Grade D Awakened.

It was not a particularly high Grade, but he was a veteran with a cruel personality and great familiarity with murder.

He was not the kind of fool who would die from a single kick from someone. Yet such a man had lost his life in an instant.

Without putting up any proper resistance.

The Scavenger had not been weak.

Zeon was strong.

Shing!

The Scavengers drew their weapons.

The oldest among them spoke with a smiling face.

“Well now, someone quite impressive has walked in. I don’t know where you’re from, but if you’ve entered our nest, you need to follow the rules.”

“Rules?”

“The rule is that no matter what happens, Scavengers who enter a nest don’t kill one another.”

“Then I suppose I don’t need to follow that rule. I’m not a Scavenger.”

“If you’re not a Scavenger, how did you know about our nest and come here?”

His eyes turned red with killing intent.

The other Scavengers also released killing intent and surrounded Zeon.

To Scavengers, a nest was no different from life itself.

It was one of the few safe spaces where they could rest without worry.

An absolutely inviolable sanctuary that must never be exposed under any circumstances.

Someone who was not a Scavenger had entered such a place.

For the Scavengers, this was a grave matter tied to survival.

Zeon looked around inside the nest and said,

“I’m looking for someone. But it doesn’t seem like he’s here. Do you perhaps have any hidden secret spaces?”

“Secret spaces?”

“Yes! I wondered if he might be hiding there.”

“Fuck! How ridiculous.”

“At a glance, there doesn’t seem to be one, but we’ll know once I search.”

“Who says we’ll let you search?”

“You’d better let me.”

“Fuck off!”

In that instant, the Scavengers who had surrounded Zeon attacked all at once.

Swords, axes, and kukris flew toward Zeon’s vital points.

Every weapon was designed to maximize killing power.

A graze meant a serious wound, and a proper hit meant death.

But that only mattered if they landed.

Crunch!

Zeon grabbed the wrist of the Scavenger attacking with a kukri and twisted it.

“Kraaah!”

As his forearm broke and dangled limply, the Scavenger screamed in agony.

Zeon struck his mouth.

CRASH—!

With an explosive sound, the Scavenger’s head snapped backward.

All of the Scavenger’s teeth shattered and tore wounds throughout his mouth.

The Scavenger collapsed in an instant, covered in blood.

Zeon did not stop there.

With the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet, he struck the war axe flying from behind.

CLANG—! CRACK—!

The war axe shattered like glass.

Into the temple of the Scavenger whose eyes had widened at the unbelievable sight, Zeon’s elbow slammed.

“Ghk!”

With a death rattle, the Scavenger’s body collapsed as it was.

Zeon kicked the falling Scavenger.

The huge body, more than two meters tall, flew through the air and crashed into the other Scavengers.

“Hrk!”

“Kgh!”

Like bowling pins, the Scavengers tumbled in every direction with screams bursting from their mouths.

The face of the older Scavenger who had spoken to Zeon stiffened.

Zeon had subdued many Scavengers with only simple movements, without even using any notable Skill.

‘And those bastards are martial-type Awakened who are supposed to be pretty strong too.’

He had his read.

Clatter!

He threw away the sword he had been holding and raised both hands high.

“I surrender.”

“Why not keep going to the end?”

“I think I lost my mind for a moment, Hyung-nim!”

“Hyung-nim?”

Zeon looked baffled.

That was because the Scavenger seemed at least twice his age. But the Scavenger remained shameless.

“The strong one is the elder brother. Haha!”

“You judge fast.”

“For bastards like us to survive, fast judgment is essential. My eye for situations is also excellent.”

“Then you know why I came here.”

“You’re looking for someone, aren’t you?”

“And?”

“There’s a high chance he may be in our nest?”

“That is also correct. Then you should know what to do.”

“I’ll contact the other nests right away.”

“I hope you aren’t too late. As you can see, I’m not that patient.”

“Don’t worry. If you wait about ten minutes, I’ll bring you the information you want right away.”

The Scavenger bent ninety degrees at the waist.

He looked as if he had thrown pride to the dogs.

For survival, something like pride did not matter.

What truly mattered to him was getting through this situation without any injury.

He knew all too well that an injured Scavenger would only become prey for other Scavengers.

In fact, once he got through this crisis, he intended to strip the other Scavengers lying on the floor.

Zeon saw through the thoughts of the Scavenger, whose eyes were busily rolling.

It was so absurd that it almost made him laugh.

So he asked,

“What’s your name?”

“My name is David.”

“David? Is that your real name?”

“Of course. I have no reason to lie, do I? Haha!”

David answered smoothly without blinking. But Zeon guessed that his name was fake.

It was probably just a name he had thrown out at random.

Even so, it did not matter.

He was not curious about the Scavenger’s real name anyway.

“Fine. David! From now on, you have ten minutes. If you don’t find out what I want within ten minutes, you’ll end up like those people on the floor.”

“Oh dear! That won’t do. Please tell me every feature, name, and detail you know about the person you’re looking for.”

“The Helbrin Mercenary Corps.”

“Pardon?”

“They were active in the desert under the name Helbrin Mercenary Corps.”

“Ah!”

David let out an exclamation without realizing it.

That was because he knew them too.

David spoke carefully.

“There are quite a few of those bastards, so finding them won’t be difficult.”

“There aren’t many left now.”

“Pardon?”

“Hassim and one subordinate. Two who entered Neo Seoul earlier. Around four in all.”

“Four people?”

David looked as if he could hardly believe it.

That was only natural, because he knew very well how strong the Helbrin Mercenary Corps was.

Ordinary Scavenger groups could not even put their name forward before them. David was not stupid enough to miss what it meant that only four members of such a Helbrin Mercenary Corps remained, and that Zeon knew this fact.

‘This man must have annihilated the Helbrin Mercenary Corps.’

Goosebumps rose all over his body.

He hurriedly took a black jewel from his chest.

It was the same kind of jewel Zeon had.

The official name of the black jewel was Morse.

It could be used the way Zeon had used his to find a nest, and it could also send simple messages through Morse code.

Of course, to use Morse code, one had to match mana frequencies with the other Scavenger in advance.

David had been active as a Scavenger for a long time, so he knew many people.

Tap-tap! Tap-tap-tap!

His fingers busily tapped the Morse.

Zeon watched David’s hand movements closely.

‘So that’s how it’s used.’

Urtian had roughly told him how to use it, but seeing it in person was different.

A short while later, David smiled broadly and said,

“I’ve contacted everyone, so good news should come soon.”

“Good work.”

“May I ask just one thing?”

“What are you curious about?”

“Could I perhaps know your name?”

“Why, are you going to take revenge?”

“N-No. Absolutely not. I’m just curious......”

“It’s not difficult to tell you. But once you hear it, you have to die.”

“Gasp! No, I’m not curious at all.”

David panicked and waved his hands.

Zeon smiled and said,

“I was joking. Why are you so surprised?”

“Pardon? But......”

“My name is Zeon.”

“Gasp! The Sandmancer? Good heavens!”

David covered his mouth.

There was not a single Scavenger who did not know Zeon.

To them, Zeon was a being no different from a disaster. However, there were not many who had actually seen Zeon.

That was because most Scavengers who had met Zeon had lost their lives.

Instead of answering, Zeon smiled.

His smile felt as eerie as the blade of the Grim Reaper.

Cold sweat streamed endlessly down David’s back.

‘Fuck! The Sandmancer? If I’d made a wrong move, I would’ve been buried alive in sand.’

He praised himself for not rashly attacking Zeon.

David nervously waited for his comrades’ reply.

‘Why are these bastards taking so long to answer? Don’t tell me they’re ignoring me.’

One minute felt like ten.

Just when Zeon’s silent gaze from beside him was becoming too heavy to bear—

Tap-tap-tap!

A signal from the other side sounded from the Morse.

“It’s, it’s here.”

He hurriedly focused on the other party’s Morse code.

A moment later, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,

“They say Hassim and his subordinates are at Nest No. 5.”

“Is that certain?”

“Those bastards apparently caused a mess at Nest No. 5. The bastard who contacted me also said he’s pissed off because they beat him up, so I don’t think it’s a lie.”

“Where is Nest No. 5?”

“Well......”

For some reason, David hesitated.

Zeon’s voice grew cold.

“Where is it?”

“Near City Hall.”

David squeezed his eyes shut.

Zeon looked dumbfounded.

No matter how dark it was beneath the lamp, making a Scavenger nest near City Hall was crossing the line.

“They have guts, don’t they? To dare make a nest near City Hall.”