Chapter 110

We made a few stops in towns along the way through the desert.
A small hamlet, cramped and inhospitable compared to Timorta. There were factions controlling the town at every turn, but we were able to get past the entrance without much conflict.
They were simply too small to take on Nuova Era. They come in with dozens of armed vehicles, and it’s suicidal to try to fight them with less than 30 people at most.
“We’ve gotten this far, but it’s the road ahead that’s the problem.”
In the center of the rented tavern, Ekidna pressed hard against my temple. Instead of food, a map of Banzar was spread out on a crude wooden table.
Four regions surrounding Naraka.
She’d drawn the zones, each with a different color pen. The boundary lines continued outside the city, creating a seamless division.
“Coonie-Barg. That’s what we call the whole region. As you can see, there are four cities… each occupied by a single, large faction.”
“You mean I need to drill a hole somewhere.”
“Exactly, and that’s what’s giving me a headache.”
Click, click, click.
The pen tapped rhythmically on the table.
“From what we know about them, they’re all deadly, and we can’t even come close to matching the Ricardo family in terms of numbers, equipment, and the skill of their soldiers.”
“Are they all after Naraka?”
“Well, maybe at first, but now I don’t know.”
Rumor has it that Naraka is not only full of historical sites, but also rare minerals. You can make a fortune selling just a little bit of it. It’s a story that’s been around for a long time.
“They say it’s not circulating at all right now.
The culprit is the group that is currently in place in Naraka.
They are very exclusive, and do not normally venture out of their territory. There is no place for a spy to hide, and information is all but cut off.
“But it can’t be that they just ran out of resources.
It’s not just the minerals, there’s something about the place that invites greed. The four regions of Kuni-Varg have long been considered staging posts for the advance to Naraka.
But you never know. It wouldn’t be surprising if some organizations stopped being greedy. Maybe they’d rather live in the city than spill blood for nothing.
“Maybe it’s good.
Reformed or not, the fact remains that it’s distracting.
“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with breaking through, you just have to find the lowest possible surveillance and get past it, but then you’re in trouble again.”
“The location is too isolated.”
“That’s right.”
There is no way to escape unless you take Naraka. You’ll have to roam and loot small towns for food, and you won’t be able to keep up with proper maintenance.
It’s a camp of multiples.
“Ideally, we’d like to eventually take away one of those four.”
Ladakh, Kavarati, Tamirdu, Pinakkadimi.
It takes time, but it’s much more realistic to capture a place and make sure it’s ready to go. This is what many factions have done to reach Naraka.
“Where are you going?”
“That’s what we’re going to decide now. You have your say.”
Ekidna winked at Antonio, who handed Kim a thick stack of papers. As she skimmed the contents, she gasped.
“Good research.”
It contained information about the groups in each city. It lists the approximate members, photos of cadres taken from afar, and even their past behavior.
It was more detailed than I expected.
“Then I’d be wasting my time. They’ve been through Timorta before, and if you brush up on old informants, you’re bound to get something useful out of them. And…….”
Ekidna clicked her tongue.
“I’ve seen them with my own eyes.”
“What?”
“What do you mean, literally?”
“Tell me more.”
“Um, I don’t know. They left as soon as we got to Timorta. There were quite a few of them, so there was some trouble… but honestly, they’re not the kind of people you want to mess with. They’re kind of unpleasant.”
At my impatient glance, she explained.
“It hasn’t even been a couple months, and I feel like I’ve been eating kabarati.”
It was a familiar story.
Kim flipped through the pages quickly. A militia of pure-blooded half-Zar, a large mafia group, and a mercenary organization that had once been infamous across the continent.
So far, so good.
And the other one, Kabarati.
In the game, the area was controlled by a terrorist organization made up of various mutant races, including the Pekatum. Compared to the other three, it has a lot of internal stabbing points.
“It was a city that Rap and Nuova Era worked together to steal.
After the Professor’s troubles in Timorta, he travels to Kabarati, where he becomes involved with Ekidna. Outraged by the inhumane cannibalism in Kavaratti, they unwittingly align themselves with the mafia.
However, what was written in the documentation was completely different.
“Ramaz?
Its history before Timothy is unknown. Originally numbering no more than fifty members, but growing. Uses firearms of unknown origin, most notably the presumed leader…….
The eyeball that had been scanning the letters froze in place.
Kim’s expression didn’t change much, but his mood was different. It went beyond bluntness and became serious.
“What, what’s wrong?”
Ekidna’s voice was barely audible. Kim could only stare at the paper, a blurry photo of a man from the side.
His face was unrecognizable.
“Mithril.
The person you met in Atlanta.
A man whose fate was completely twisted by Kim’s actions. Just when you thought he was done with the Legion, he finds himself in Banzar.
“Is this someone you know?”
I got a piercing glare. It didn’t matter, she’d blurted it out. There was no need to hide it in the first place, Kim admitted easily.
“We have a history of bad blood.”
“I want to hear your story.”
“There’s nothing I can’t say, but I have a condition, no, a favor to ask.”
He laid the material down on the map.
He then poked his index finger at Mithril’s photo.
“Hey, asshole. Can you leave it with me?”
The past is long overdue to gather dust.
I remembered what I had promised myself the day I left Atlanta.
Never twice.
* * *
Kavarati neighborhood.
A closed tower car races through an old ruin. The exact same route as usual. It’s a routine, driving on a set route, at a set time, doing a set job.
“Pooh-pooh. Boring.”
A man with a scruffy beard puffed smoke from the driver’s seat. Cigarettes, which had made me shudder with delight when I first received them a few months ago, but not so much now.
You’ll get used to anything in no time.
It’s not just the irritation, it’s the work. On the first day, I was so squeamish that I threw up several times during the workday, but eventually it was just a matter of frowning.
In the future, you’ll be even more carefree than you are now. Repeat, and one day I will be able to work like a machine. Even as I grew duller and duller, my doubts grew stronger and stronger.
“Mr. Soldier, I’ve been wondering all along, what are you using all this for?”
“What?”
“The ones you threw in the luggage compartment earlier.”
Earthworms, centipedes, scorpions, lizards, and bats.
Mutations in various animals.
The cargo hold is piled high with beasts hunted by Ramaz’s soldiers. Shahrukh was a contractor who traveled a prescribed route to collect them. It was unintentional.
I don’t say “dead” because sometimes they carry the living. I had to brace myself. Many of my colleagues were crippled during the loading and unloading process.
The natives of Kabarati are used as laborers for Ramaz. It’s an old story. Before Ramaz came, they worked for other groups, and before that, they worked for others.
It’s unreasonable and absurd, but it is what it is.
They don’t know beyond the well. Some people can only live where they were born. Few are willing to risk their lives to escape the city.
I have neither the power nor the will, so I’ll just go along with it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know.”
“Eh? Eh, just listen. I’m not going to go and tell anyone.”
“I’m not bluffing, I really don’t know.”
The soldier in the rifle holster sighs heavily. He’s been working with him for two months now. He’s hardly a colleague, but he’s saved my life.
We’re on good terms. Not enough to make small talk at work.
“I’m just a low-level person. I just do what I’m told. We put it in the warehouse like we’re told, and then someone else with another set of instructions will come and move it, and then the higher-ups will do something with it. We don’t have to think too deeply.”
“So, you’re telling me to shut up and drive.”
“You know your stuff.”
It was about this time that the conversation broke off again and silence descended.
Ding!
“Billion, Mr. What.”
My car started to shake and then stopped driving. The car lurched to the left. As Shahrukh impatiently mashed the accelerator, the soldier stuck his face out the window to check the road ahead.
“A pit. A worm must have gone through it.”
“Oops. I’m going to have to touch that tire.”
“I’m aware of my surroundings.”
They get out of the car.
While Shahrukh was deflating his tires, the worms attacked and a brief skirmish ensued. It was a rare, if not unheard of, encounter.
Even in the seemingly deserted desert, anything can happen. It’s not safe for a carrier to roam alone, so a soldier will accompany him as a watchdog and bodyguard.
But risks become routine when they are repeated.
It was a day like any other.
At least as far as they’re concerned.
* * *
The pagoda car has finally arrived in Kabarati. Barbed wire and barricades were erected in tight rows. The checkpoint, manned by dozens of armed men, was a fortress.
“The pass, oh, here it is.”
“Shahrukh Hamdamov. What’s your pass number?”
“0136.”
The soldier at the checkpoint looked at the record. You’re issued a one-time number to leave the city. If you get it wrong, there’s no immediate punishment, but you’ll be interrogated relentlessly.
Number 0136, transporter, Shahrukh Hamdamov. The soldier nodded, only after further checking the identities of his companions.
“Clear. Have the cargo hold inspected from the inside.”
“Yay. Good for you.”
It’s a hassle to have to double and triple check every time. Shah Rukh couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud, but he thought it was a real shame.
At least cargo inspection was simple.
“Ugh, that smells bad anytime. You may pass.”
They seem to check everything else thoroughly, but they don’t want to touch the unfrozen, live, decomposing beast carcass. It’s a tough job for a sane man.
Or, to put it another way.
The reason they didn’t notice was because they were sober. None of them realized it. No one realized that there was a man buried in the carcass of a beast.
“Woof, fuck…….”
Kim forced herself to swallow the regurgitated gastric juices.
He knew the route the carrier took, caught the worm, and threw it away. He slipped in under the radar, before borrowing Echidna’s hand to return the lock to its original state.
It’s a time-consuming infiltration.
I couldn’t afford to get caught with a silly mistake.
“Look at it twice, then look at it again.
I’ve done this to my body and mind. I can’t go back barehanded, even if it’s injustice. It’s going to be hard to get out quietly in the first place, so I have to make it work somehow.
If you have a plan, you’re set.
“There’s no point in using helixivir.
As it stands, she can still defeat Mithril. It’s a cowardly move, and if all goes as expected, Mithril will meet a hollow end as a boss…….
“Al Banya, take the easy way out.
Kim waited breathlessly for the door to open. He made a futon out of the monsters, their guts hanging out like sausages.