“Let go, let go of Leo”
“Why… just when everything was starting to get better, oh father…”
“You scum! Bastards! Freaks! Instead of using your strength to fight Tainted Corpse, to fight monsters, you turn it against us, you’re worse than animals!”
“You won’t have a good end! You will go to hell for this! You will go to hell!!”
Hearing the angry roar of this young survivor in the warehouse, the scavenger thugs only laughed in response.
One of them, with a cruel grin, shouted crazily, “Hell? Do we even need to go down there? Isn’t this world we live in hell already? You, me, everyone is already in hell!”
“So, you should actually thank me. It’s me who is sparing you from struggling in hell, from worrying and fearing for your life every day. Don’t worry, we will soon grant you release. Your suffering will go into our stomachs, we will bear it for you. But before that, hmm, let’s have you pay a little price.”
“Haha, that’s right, the chief will definitely like someone with a strong spirit like you!”
The scavenger thugs, upon hearing their companion’s suggestion and observing the young man’s decent appearance, immediately showed evil grins on their faces. They promptly grabbed the boy, one on each side.
“What are you doing, let me go! Let go!”
Ignoring the boy’s struggles, the thugs dragged him in front of their leader.
The female leader, resembling a female gorilla, upon seeing the still resisting young survivor, indeed showed a trace of interest. Her rough hand, like grabbing a small chicken, lifted the boy up.
“Tell me, what’s your name?”
*SPAT!—*
The boy spat fiercely onto the large face of the female leader.
Instead of getting angry, the leader extended her thick, long tongue, licked off the spit from her face, and then showed a look of enjoyment.
“I like spirited ones. From now on, I allow you to be a manservant by my side. Don’t worry, as long as I favor you, no one will eat you. I will protect you.” .
“Get the f*** away from me! Disgusting freak of a gorilla! You scum deserve to be hunted and killed by mechanical maids, just like Tainted Corpse!”
Hearing the boy mention mechanical maids, the female leader actually smiled even wider.
“From the sound of it, you seem to admire mechanical maids?”
“Watch your f***ing words! Mechanical maids are the true guardians of this world, our saviors, infinitely stronger than you cowards who only bully the weak! The words ‘mechanical maid’ are an insult when spoken from your filthy mouth!”
Even though he was being lifted up in front of all the scavenger thugs, who were just there to watch the show, the young boy’s curses didn’t lessen at all, his eyes filled with rage towards the scavengers.
“Savior? Hahaha! Did you hear that? He’s actually talking about a savior, actually believing in that prophecy, believing that a savior will come to this hellish world.”
After the female leader spoke, a burst of raucous laughter erupted from the scavenger thugs on the plaza.
“Come, let me tell you, do you know where we got the hand cannon that broke open your settlement’s gate, the guns that killed your fire-bearers?”
“Yes, right from those ‘mechanical maids’ you speak of.”
“Impossible! Mechanical maids never interact with anyone, let alone sell weapons to you!” The young boy’s eyes began to show a red glow in his excitement.
The female leader nodded and then shook her head.
“You’re right, that’s a rule of the mechanical maids. So, we didn’t buy them, we took them from the mechanical maids.”
“Hahaha! That’s hilarious. With your little strength, you can only bully emerging settlements like ours. Rob mechanical maids? Are you even worthy?”
“But what if they’re mechanical maids fighting against Tainted Corpse?”
After the female leader’s words, the boy’s pupils shrank, and his whole body showed an expression of disbelief, the red glow in his eyes intensifying.
“Your so-called saviors, those mechanical maids, they are nothing in the face of Tainted Corpse, monsters, and that witch. They only get torn to shreds. In that case, it’s better to make use of them for us. These high-quality weapons are wasted in fighting Tainted Corpse; it’s meaningless. What we’re doing now, that’s meaningful.”
“You don’t know, huh? As you said, those mechanical maids do indeed only attack Tainted Corpse. Even if we attack them from behind, as long as there are Tainted Corpse nearby, they will still prioritize them as targets. Tsk tsk.”
Hearing the female leader’s mocking tone, the young boy’s mind seemed to envision the mechanical maids fighting for them, yet being sneak-attacked by those they protected.
‘This kind of thing… this kind of thing…’
“I, I’ll kill you all!!” The young boy’s eyes turned completely blood-red, and a certain power, along with his erupting emotions, finally descended upon him.
In this state, he successfully transformed into a Tainted One.
Unfortunately, the boy who had just become a Tainted One was clearly unfamiliar with his new powers and still couldn’t break free from the grasp of the female leader. Surprised for a moment, the female leader then aimed a powerful slap at the boy’s head, which would surely have crushed his skull if it connected.
Playing with a human slave was one thing, but a Tainted One, especially one with the potential for sudden power growth and harboring hatred towards her, must be eliminated without mercy.
But just then…
Bang!*
The sound of a sniper rifle echoed from the direction of the warehouse, followed by a laser beam piercing through the large hand of the female leader, causing her to scream in agony. She immediately dropped the boy and clutched her now bloody, hole-ridden palm.
The scavenger thugs on the plaza were stunned by this sudden turn of events. When they regained their composure, they pulled out their weapons, looking in astonishment towards the source of the sniper beam.
The warehouse where the survivors of the settlement were being held as food.
And there, where the thugs had been standing guard, now lay nothing but silence, the warehouse door wide open, and numerous liberated villagers emerging.
In front of these villagers stood a young man in a grey coat, holding a sleek, high-tech sniper rifle glowing with a cyan light, its barrel still smoking. He was a stranger they had never seen before.
“Who are you?”
In response to this question, Renji looked at the boy who had just risen from the ground, who had not wasted his perseverance and had finally evolved into a powerful Tainted Corpse. After a moment’s thought, he said: 𝘪.𝘤𝑜𝘮
“Me?”
“Probably… the savior you were just talking about?”
𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ