Bab 72: Chapter 72 - Revenge and Payback
For the past few days, Zach didn't go out to explore but spent all his days in the base while traveling to other countries wanting to see the progress of the branches of Eden in France, Japan, India, Brazil, and the Philippines. It was also one way for him to see how the Lifestyle Group was living and also to distribute the Job Class Scrolls that he had acquired from his exploration.
Zach also planned on having a meeting with the other shelter owners to discuss the progress on their respective shelters and Rangers however, as all of them were out of their shelters most of the time, he could only wait for everyone to be back and it only happened after two weeks of waiting.
At this moment, Zach could now finally be found in the meeting room together with Ethan, Mike, Carl, Isabelle, Viktor, Patricia, Kevin, and Allen. The meeting was very smooth until Zach started to inquire about the current situation of their shelters and the Rangers who were with them.
"Mike lost 1 Ranger and the same with Viktor. 2 Rangers were lost in Patricia while 6 Rangers were lost in Kevin." Zach said after hearing the reports of their dead comrade Rangers. In fact, he already anticipated such a thing to happen since no one knew well about the danger of Pluto Sanctuary however, something was quite not right from the report.
"Kevin. How come you've lost too many Rangers? I know that it's dangerous exploring in Pluto Sanctuary but I just can't imagine that you lost 6 since I'm quite sure that every Ranger has a complete set of items with them." Zach said while looking at Kevin as this was the thing that was bugging him.
"I am so sorry and feel guilty after losing 6 Rangers under me, but those Rangers weren't killed by beasts or monsters. In the place where my shelter was situated, there was a hostile shelter not that far from us. We never thought that they would cruelly ambush us after we've hunted down a bronze-class beast. We were too tired and were caught off guard which resulted in the 6 Rangers under me to be dead." Kevin replied while looking at Zach with quite a sad and guilty expression on his face.
"Why didn't you report it back to the Rangers' Office?" Zach heard Kevin and he was quite surprised by the sudden turn of events. He then just wondered why no one, even Zoey, didn't know about such a thing.
"In fact, I have come back to the headquarters to report, however, you've already gone to explore. So, I tried my luck with the other shelter owners but they are also not around. So, I decided to make things right and handle it on my own." Kevin answered since it was really the truth.
"T-That. Sigh. Then what happened to the hostile shelter next to yours? Have you destroyed them or something?" Zach couldn't help but sigh as he really couldn't blame him as everyone's focus right now was to level up and get strong. He then just asked what happened after that since this thing is quite important.
"No, we didn't but it was not because we were afraid. It's just they were just too many for us to handle alone." Kevin said.
"How many?" Zach asked again.
"I don't know the exact number but I guessed they have at least 30 people." Kevin answered.
"30 people, huh. I actually had something to tell everyone but this matter is of great importance and shouldn't be delayed anymore. I want every shelter owner here to gather 10 of your best Rangers and have them all go to Kevin's shelter immediately. Let's destroy the ones who were harassing our people." Zach said as he stood up with great seriousness. This is not the first time they would be dealing with people, so he kind of curious as to how it unfolds since everyone pretty much has changed.
"Yes, Chief." Ethan was the first to answer then followed by everyone.
After that, Zach then didn't let them stay in the room and have them gather their men. He also went back to his shelter and called on some people to join him in this campaign. Following that, it did not take long for everybody to teleport to Kevin's shelter, the Frozen Haven Shelter.
Everyone was surprised by the environment in which Kevin's Shelter was situated as the place was just too cold upon seeing snow everywhere. The place had its unique eeriness as aside from the cloudy sky, it was also snowing without stopping as they continued to pile on the ground.
"Are all your men ready?" Zach, wearing all his old and new gear, asked while looking at everybody. Looking closely at his back, there could be found five Rangers with him which are none other than Patrick, Kazuya, Maria, Ishaan, and Luciana, the best five Rangers he had in his shelter.
"Yes." All the shelter owners answered in unison.
"Good. Let's move out as we still have a long way to go." Zach said since Kevin had told them that it would take at least two days to reach the hostile nearby shelter, however, this time approximation also depends on whether they will encounter some trouble on the way which might delay them.
Without wasting time, Zach and 88 Rangers started their first operation as a group and while following the map given by Kevin, Zach, however, always chooses the easiest path given by the Survival Path of the system as he doesn't want to make this operation long knowing that they still have something more important to discuss back in the headquarters.
Time passed by and after two days of traveling, Zach and his group of Rangers finally reached their destination. They could now be found hiding in the pile of snow as they were looking at the shelter in the distance through their night vision binoculars as it was already evening when they arrived.
"We need to destroy the Shelter Protective Shield first before we think about killing them." Ethan suddenly said since he knew after being a shelter owner that no one could enter a shelter without the permission of the owner or its manager.
"No need to worry as I may have an item that can probably destroy it. In the meantime, I want you all to spread and kill all the people who were outside the shelter. Finish them quick as I will open the path in twenty minutes." Zach said as he was sure that the enhanced Fire Bomb he had was more than enough.
Hearing Zach, everyone was a little surprised but they still moved out as he believed in him, and with that, their hiding place then became quiet as only Zach, Patrick, Kazuya, Maria, Ishaan, and Luciana were the only left as they continued to look at the shelter.
"Is this your first time killing another human being?" Zach suddenly asked.
"T-This is my first." Kazuya replied while stuttering a little.
"Me too." Luciana also said.
On the other hand, Patrick, Ishaan, and Maria remained silent which meant that this was not their first time killing a person.
"You need to get used to it since nowadays, we are not only facing dangers coming from beasts and monsters. Sometimes, humans like us were way more dangerous." Zach then just said as he wanted the two to wake to reality.
Hearing this, Kazuya and Luciana then just stayed silent while Patrick, Ishaan, and Maria just nodded at his words as they knew very well what he was trying to imply.
Time passed by and when the twenty minutes were up, a sudden huge explosion happened which illuminated the night. At the same time, the protective shield of the shelter was completely destroyed which immediately caused the resident inside to panic as their shouts could be heard everywhere.
Meanwhile, Zach, after successfully destroying the Shelter Protective Shield, immediately told Patrick and the rest to start moving. They were not the only ones who were on the move as Ethan and the rest of the Rangers also took action after seeing the path and signal that he created.
They all knew that when the Protective Shield was destroyed, the houses in the shelter would no longer be invincible so everyone started to massacre even those who were hiding inside. Skills after skills were cast while there were also sounds of gun firing and weapon clashing.
On the other hand, while the Rangers were busy looking and killing people in the shelter, Zach himself wasn't doing anything as the first thing he did after entering the shelter was to guard the Sanctuary Portal blocking the only retreat of the survivors back to Earth and right now, he could be found facing five men.
"W-Who are you people?! And why did you attack the shelter?!" One of the men asked loudly but no matter what he did to intimidate Zach, his body was completely shaking as he had seen how the rest of them were killed without any mercy.
"Who is the owner of this shelter?" Zach, however, didn't answer and asked a question instead. He has been curious now as to what will happen when he kills the owner of the shelter since it would be a waste not to take advantage of the place where the Sanctuary Portal leads to Earth.
However, even after seconds had passed, no one had given him an answer so Zach took out the War Pistol and shot one of them randomly.
….Bang….
A body fell down to the ground which woke the other four making their eyes wide open not in shock but in fear thinking about what kind of weapon was that after seeing how it killed one of their companion in one shot as they were sure that a regular gun wouldn't kill them that easily.
"I'll ask once again. Who is the owner of this shelter?" Zach asked once again while looking at them coldly.
"M-Me." The man who shouted to him a while back suddenly replied and admitted that he was the owner of the shelter. He was too scared not to step up as he could see Zach looking at him and fearing that he might shoot him next prompting him to admit that he was the owner.
"I'll ask you. Have you ever attacked another shelter and killed some of its residents? You better choose your words carefully before you answer." Zach said and asked once again wanting him to feel what it is to be scared.
"I-I-I did. I-Is that your shelter? P-Please spare us. We don't know that we have attacked someone that we shouldn't. Please spare us this time and give us the chance to live. We promised not to attack your shelter anymore." The man immediately understood Zach's words and he immediately kneeled to the ground while pleading for his life as he was already sure that there was no longer a way out of this aside from hoping that Zach would forgive them.
"Do you remember how many men have you and your men killed?" Zach wasn't moved by his actions as he continued asking.
"F-Fiv..No. Six. Six had died. Please spare us and let us have the chance." The man answered while recalling everything that happened that day before pleading once again as he was already scared after being asked over and over again.
"Yeah. Six of my men had died. So, how would you justify their death?" Zach said while looking at the man before finally hearing that the place had now become quiet and not long after that, he then could find Ethan and the rest coming to his location.
"P-Please. I'll do everything you ask. Please." The man pleaded.
"That won't do. Well. To the four of you. Kill each other and whoever survives in the end, I promise that I won't kill him. You have my word." Zach said with a smile.
Without even waiting for a second, one of the four men suddenly stabbed the person next to him whereas the man kneeling on the ground had already killed the other one with his weapon that looked like a Scimitar. Not before long, he and the other man fight it out before the shelter owner wins in the end.
"I-I hope you are true to your words." The shelter owner said while breathing heavily but he did not care about that as he felt quite relieved since Zach promised that he wouldn't kill the one who survived.
"Of course." Zach said before taking back the War Pistol on his inventory. With that, he then just moved away and started heading towards the main house of the shelter but before that, he took a glimpse of Kevin first.
Seeing the Sanctuary Portal no longer guarded, the shelter owner hurriedly walked to it wanting to escape this place once and for all however, never would he thought that someone had just stabbed him in the back from which he saw a familiar man coldly looking at him.
"Zach was the only one who said that he wouldn't kill the one who survived. We never did." Kevin muttered as he understood the reason why Zach looked at him before he left. With that, he then just makes sure to kill the man certainly before taking out the Steel Sword on the man's back.
After that, the whole shelter then finally became quiet after all of the Rangers stayed in place because aside from the shelter owners, no one had any clue as to why Zach had entered one of the huts inside. They then just waited until Zach would come out and tell them new instructions.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone