BXBX NOVEL Chapter 138: Odd Feeling
Instead, he allowed them to chase him first, and whenever their numbers grew, he would stop, wait for them, and then instruct Arc to dispatch them quickly.
He repeated this process until he finally reached his Hammer Truck near one of the small community he destroyed.
The town was atop of a hill, and once boasted a magnificent view, but now, that vista was obscured by the thick, swirling black miasma that blanketed the landscape.
CLICK!
Reluctantly, he opened the door and stepped out of the truck, forced to abandon the vehicle as its engine finally gave up.
The thick miasma, laden with corrosive particles and toxins, infiltrated the engine, coating its delicate components with a layer of noxious residue.
Over time, this corrosive substance ate away at the metal, causing critical parts to degrade and malfunction
'On the bright side, at least I made it this far,'" he reflected inwardly before stepping into the desolate town.
Inside the town.
As he walked through the familiar surroundings, he noticed the houses slowly degrading.
In just a few years, this place would completely disappear.
The sight before him was haunting: roofs rusting, wooden buildings crumbling, and an eerie silence hanging in the air .
The scene resembled something out of a horror movie: the thick black miasma enveloped everything, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
Then, in the background of those movies, ominous shadows danced, hinting at unseen horrors lurking just out of sight.
It was the kind of setting where characters in horror films would be oblivious to the lurking danger, unaware that they were being watched by malevolent forces.
'Talk about a... Silent Hill,' Reign thought to himself, as he heard no sound aside from his own footsteps echoing in the silence.
'I ended up saving you guys from this hell,' he muttered to himself, feeling that he had done the people of this community a favor by killing them much earlier than the Corrupted would have.
Being dead was certainly better than being a mindless monster, in his opinion.
Look at this place, because he had killed everyone, there were no Corrupted strolling around, making this place much worst.
'There it is,' he exclaimed after finding his Truck after walking further .
The exterior of the truck was now a little rusty, but the interior remained in somewhat good condition.
He double-checked the engine to see if it was still functional, and fortunately, it could still run.
After securing it, he went to the back of the Hammer and searched for a briefcase.
This contained his spare mask, which was important, especially when he decided to venture to another city.
Along with it, he saw a gas mask, the kind with filters typically used by the military to avoid inhaling harmful substances.
George had bought this one after the fire incident, and Reign had just put it there without much thought.
'That old man has some good intuition,' he chuckled to himself, finding humor in how useful the mask would be now for normal humans.
After retrieving the briefcase and the mask, he decided to look around his surroundings again.
Even the trees had died now; they were so dry that when he touched them, they broke into ashes. The ground was also crumbling away too.
At this rate, this place would become a desert someday, with only dust and the black sand, colored by the miasma, remaining as silent witnesses to its destruction.
To think that this area used to be a green forest, teeming with plants and wildlife.
'This place is beyond salvation,' he thought as he entered the truck, took the wheel of the Hammer, and drove back to the highway.
There was no way humans could survive in this environment for long.
The air was so toxic that even his demon and enhance body refused to absorb it.
Plus, he doubted anyone would want to salvage this place.
It was pretty obvious that Summit City had already been abandoned.
Well, that's what he thought, but along the highway, he saw something unexpected; a group of people flashing light in the distance.
Hurriedly, he put on his mask and disguised himself.
As he drew nearer, he noticed that all the people were armed with rifles and looked rough.
They wore thick clothing and gas masks, giving them a rugged appearance.
"Stop!" Six men pointed their guns at Reign's truck, so he decided to hit the brakes and slowly come to a stop.
They slowly inched towards the truck and flashed their lights on the windshield.
"A survivor?" One of the men spoke after seeing Reign, who was now also wearing a gas mask to blend in.
"Where did you come from?" The man asked.
He was wearing a black combat suit, and judging from his stature and clothing, it looked like he was part of the military before everything went to hell.
"Industry Sector," Reign replied as he slowly opened the door and raised his two hands to show that he was unarmed.
"Industry Sector? How did you survive?" asked the same man.
Reign paused for a moment to think of the best way to answer.
"I'm a Divergent," he replied.
If that man was military, then he would likely know about Divergents.
"A divergent?" The man's voice quickly change after hearing him.
"Good, good. Come with us, we need powerful people like you! My name is Vincent, by the way," the man said, lowering his weapon and shaking Reign's hand.
"Rain, my name is Rain," he replied, shaking the man's hand.
He was surprised by how quickly Vincent changed his attitude, but he just assumed that humans became erratic after experiencing such hardships.
So, he decided to play it cool; humans were now rare commodities in this godforsaken place, so killing them too quickly would be a waste.
It was better to learn about their base first.
For all he knew, he might found a place with a lot of survivors for him to prey on
"Come with us, we have a base nearby," Vincent exclaimed, excited to bring Reign along.
'He's too trusting ,' Reign found Vincent's actions odd.
And that was not the only question he had in mind.
How were these people still alive?
Could it be that the Wall of Summit City was still standing?
He had a lot of question, but for now he decided to just go along with the flow.
Reign was instructed to ride another truck, but when he looked at it, he was visibly shocked to see that it was not rusting at all.
In fact, for some reason, the black miasma was avoiding it.
Seeing this, he realized that it wasn't just the truck; everyone here had some kind of Aura that repelled the black miasma.
"You're confused, right? Don't worry, you'll be even more amazed once we get to the base," Vincent reassured, his voice warm and strangely positive.
"I'm exited ," Reign replied with a chuckle.
He found all of this odd phenomenon amusing, his curiosity was stimulated by the origins of the Aura, and who was responsible for it.