บท 20: Humans vs humans (2)
Moving from corner to corner, the three made their way silently along a certain street.
According to Ramie's memory, in this street, there were a lot of stores, and various commodities were available here. So, he had pointed them to this street as it was the closest, considering the direction they came from.
Here, they could find several food stores, as well as stores that sell electronics, which was something that Lance suggested.
He had said that he might be able to communicate with the military forces stationed in the camp if he was to get his hand on a transceiver device. So, Ramie guided them here.
They didn't want to go to large or mid-sized stores, but to small ones. As it would be much harder to any creature to sneak on them unnoticed in such small spaces, unlike what happened to them back in the building. But on the same time, they would lose the advantage of being able to hide in such small places. And if a creature discovered them and attacked, they'd have no choice but to fight.
In short, in large places, they'd have many choices; to fight, to hide, or to escape… But in small places, the moment they get discovered, then there would have no choice other than to fight… However, on the same time; if anything tries to sneak on them, they'd be aware of its presence long before it jumps them.
So, considering the pros and cons… They decided to go to a small store!
…
As they made their way carefully along the street, Lance suddenly signaled them to stop, while gazing at a certain direction…
Following his gaze, Ramie saw the door of a certain store across the street opens up slowly…
Ramie's grip tightened on the handle of his knife, preparing to react at any given moment.
He also felt the power radiating from Lance intensifies. Apparently, he was using his life energy to boast his physic.
As the door was slowly opening… it suddenly stopped, mid way, and a man emerged. He looked at Lance and started waving them to come in, in a rather urgent manner. He appeared to be quiet anxious.
Seeing that, Ramie immediately thought of the weird feeling of being watched not long ago.
'It seems that the weird feeling of being watched was because of this man…!'
The apparent urgency in the man's face made Ramie think that there might be a creature nearby and the man was warning them from it. So, he didn't object as Lance signaled them to follow him to get inside the bakery store.
Off course, there was a chance that the man was simply afraid and wanted some companions to maximize his chances of survival. But it wasn't as if there was no logic in this line of thought. After all, strength was indeed in numbers, and it worked both ways.
Besides, if Lance got life energy, and he and Neil got the artifacts… Then, there was great chance that other people too acquired the same. So, having others join them would not be the worst idea.
There was a great chance that there are a lot of people trapped here in the city. And although he can't help them all, it didn't mean that he wouldn't help those he comes across, as long as it within his ability. Beside, this man is in the same dangerous situation as he is, and helping him was the normal thing to do.
Thus, Ramie didn't voice any objection, and silently followed Lance as he crossed the empty street to the store on the other side.
…
Scanning the men in the store, the boss emphasized: "remember! Be quick! And don't allow them to make loud noise." He then asked: "Do you all know your turns?"
The men decisively nodded to him in response.
"Good! Now prepare yourselves. And remember! No mistakes!"
Saying this much, he turned to look at the open door. A glint of anticipation flashed across his eyes, as he could barely contain the sparking thrill and excitement in his heart.
This was happening! And in moments, that amazing artifact would become his!
Although this wasn't his first time committing a crime, but it was the first time that he intends to go as far as to kill someone.
It wasn't personal! It was just their bad luck for having what he needed, and for coming this way! He was only doing this to increase his chances of surviving!
Harboring these kinds of thoughts to justify his actions, he rotated his life energy in preparation for the imminent confrontation.
…
As the three of them approached the door, the man went in while urging them to follow after him.
Lance got in first after the man, and then Neil followed. As for Ramie, he was going to get in last.
With no electricity and with the newspapers covering the store-front glass, coupled with the fact that they had come from outside, the store seemed very dim lit to Lance's and Neil's sight.
…
As the first man walked in, the boss and another one of his underlings moved closer to him, planning to take him down, as soon as the door closes, while putting up a concerned expression on their faces. They held a piece of bread and a bottle of water and extended them to him, to give him an impression that they were bringing them for him to lower his guard before striking out. They did so because when the boss saw the other two following this middle-aged man's lead, he suspected that they did so because he was the strongest among them. As such, he wanted to take care of this man by himself with another underling to finish the fight as fast as possible. And when the fellow with the artifact goes in; three men would walk closer to him, to pin him down until the fight is finished.
To the boss, only the guy with the artifact mattered, which is why he had assigned three men to him, to pin him down without killing him, or giving him the chance to use his artifact on them. Because, if this artifact was anywhere near as good as that youth's artifact, then this man can probably turn the tide on them if given time, which is why he had ordered these three to pin him down first.
As for the last one among the three, the boss had arranged for two of his men on him, one was to get closer to him the moment he walks inside, and the other would close the door first, and then collide with the other man to deal with him.
…
And last, it was Ramie's turn…
Seeing Lance and Neil go inside, Ramie followed…
What welcomed his eyes; was a dim lighted inside. But strangely, he didn't find any problem in perceiving everything clearly.
He saw that two men were standing next to Lance, handing him something. With one of them radiating an aura of power that was similar to Lance.
Sensing this power coming from the man, Ramie fixated on him, and as expected, information flowed to his mind.
Lv.1 Warrior
Life energy ignition: 38%
'So… he's like Lance…!'
Ramie felt that this was a pleasant surprise, as with this fellow addition, their chances of survival would increase by a lot. After all, who would not like someone with formidable power beside him in this creature-infested city?
Ramie also noticed that his life energy ignition value was higher than Lance, which implied that he might be stronger than Lance. He also saw three men moving toward Neil, while talking to him.
Just as he walked in, another man fixated his gaze on him, and started walking toward him, trying to say something…
However, the very moment this man's sight fell on Ramie…
Ramie felt as though a sudden gush of a threatening, ethereal bloody wind, surges toward him from this man! Even though there was no wind inside the store.
It wasn't something he saw with his eyes, but felt… with his senses.
As Ramie's scalp tingled from the inexplicable sense of crisis that had struck him, he turned to look at the man with an intense sense of alarm in his heart…
The man was walking toward him with a harmless smile, wanting to say something... But what Ramie felt; was an extremely intense murderous intent directed toward him. He felt as though this man was a snake, hiding his malicious intent behind a friendly front.
'…This man wants to kill me…'
A thought surfaced in his mind, throwing him in a state of high alarm.
This was the second time he gets this kind of feeling.
The first time was when he went into the apartment in the third floor with Lance and Neil. At that time, he had felt a sense of danger coming from the bedroom. And it was the only reason why they managed to react to the creature before it takes them by surprise, thus, they survived without losing anyone.
The second time was with the snake-headed, humanoid creature… And now, the same feeling was coming from this man…
This was the third time he feels as such. And if he was to put this kind of feeling in words, then 'killing intent' would be his choice.
This kind of feeling had saved him before, twice. So, he was not going to ignore now.
Facing the man, and holding up his knife in a defensive posture, he quickly shouted:" Lance! Neil! Be careful!!"
Bang!
The door was slammed shut after his warning…
And with that, a chaotic scene broke out in the store.
…
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